The Golden Prince | Solangelo Royal AU

Chapter III: The Plans That Kept Failing

Around a week later, it was Bianca's funeral. An unexpected guest made an appearance.

It was the Golden Prince. This time he was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with the hem of the sleeves slightly golden. He was wearing black pants with the pockets sewn on with gold thread. He was also wearing the same masquerade mask as the day Nico first saw him.

Everyone looked at him in shock but said nothing, and the Golden Prince said nothing either.

When the funeral ended, silent tears were streaming down Nico's face. Felt someone staring at him, so he looked behind him. He saw the Golden Prince looking at him. The Golden Prince mouthed I'm sorry to Nico. Nico assumed he was talking about Bianca, so he turned away. He didn't need the sympathy.

When Nico went back to his room, he thought about Austin's theory on the Golden Prince. He still didn't believe it. He wanted to, though. He wanted to believe his best friend was alive.

He started to believe it a little when he remembered a detail about Will. His freckles. That's a random thing to remember, but it was important to Nico. The golden prince had those same freckles. That plus his hair and eyes brought Nico to slightly believe Will was really the Golden Prince.

He talked to Kayla and Austin about it. The three decided to investigate. Hazel was brought in on it too, when she was found eavesdropping on the three when talking about the theory.

The plan they settled in was simple: the next time the Golden Prince showed up, Austin would basically kidnap him and take off his mask. Little did they know, that was going to be much harder than they thought.

When the Golden Prince showed up in the town, Austin attempted to grad him but he failed miserably. Next time it was in the graveyard, by Bianca's grave. Failed again.

By that point, King Apollo and Queen Naomi already left. Kayla and Austin requested to stay there for a few more weeks, so that's what they did.

The Golden Prince didn't show up again after he visited Bianca's grave until two weeks later. He was found in front of Will's grave. As Austin slowly approached him, he said, "stop trying to kidnap me, I know you are there." Austin paused. The Golden Prince turned around. "Austin Lake, Kayla Knowles, Hazel Levesque and Nico di Angelo. Been awhile," he said. "D-do we know you?" Kayla asked. "Not anymore, but you did," he answered. "What?" She asked. He chuckled and shook his head. "Why do you look so familiar?" Nico asked. "Because, like I said, you knew me," the Golden Prince said. "Who are you?" Nico asked. "As I said before, I am the Golden Prince," he said. "What's your real name?" Hazel asked. "That's information that is unavailable for you at the moment," he said. He started walking away and said, "oh, and don't bother with your plan. It's not gonna work. I know when it is coming."

"So, plan a failed, what's plan b?" Kayla asked. "Steal his mask off his face?" Hazel suggested. "Okay. Anyone got any others?" Kayla asked. No one answered. "Okay, stealing the mask off his face is now plan b, which is the plan we are using now," she said.

They would have done it, if they got the chance. The one time they did, they failed, as usual.

After that, Austin declared it was impossible. "I don't know how he keeps evading our attempts but if it continues we'll never find out who he is," he said. Nico sighed.

"Don't you think it's weird?" Kayla suddenly said. "What do you mean?" He asked. "How the golden prince shows up once, then he starts showing up more often? It's like he wants us to see him," she said. "I doubt that's true. If he wanted us to see him why would he keep evading our plans to find out who he is?" Nico asked. "No idea, but still," she said.

"I FOUND IT!" Hazel said, bursting into the room. "What?" Austin asked eagerly. "I was in the library and I found this book. It's about a place called The Golden Kingdom," she said.

"Inside, there is a section on the golden prince. It says, 'the golden prince is a prince chosen from a different kingdom. The boy is then taught about what the golden kingdom dies, then he is given the choice on whether or not he wants to stay or go back to his old kingdom. Usually, he chooses to go back, but there have been times when he stays. '" She said. "So... what does it mean?" Kayla asked. "It means, it's likely that Will is the golden prince because he was a prince from a different kingdom," Hazel replied. "No," Nico said. "No?" Hazel asked. "No. I don't believe that Will would willingly leaves his kingdom," he said. "But Nico—" "No! I don't believe it. I-I can't believe it. And besides, he's dead! The Sun kingdom's royal guards even found his body. I saw it! There's n-no way the golden prince could be Will," he said, choking up. He got up from the chair he was on, then left the room.

He sat on his bed as silent tears streamed down his cheeks. A sob escaped his lips. He thought about what Hazel said. Will... he's dead. Even if he was alive, he wouldn't have purposely left his kingdom, right? He thought.

"Nico?" Hazel said from the other side of the door. "I don't want to talk right now," Nico said. "Um... right. Sorry," she said. He heard retreating footsteps.