King Hades and Queen Maria held hands as they stood before the large gathering of royalty. After two years, they had finally had a son. Normally, the oldest child would be heir, but Princess Bianca was plagued with visions and seizures, and many believed she was insane. So the birth of Prince Nico came as a relief for much of the kingdom.
The faeries stood together at the front of the crowd. They would bestow gifts upon the young prince, ensuring that he would be fit for ruling the kingdom.
Demeter stepped up first. "I bestow upon this young prince the gift of good crops." She said.
Next, it was Aphrodite's turn. "I bestow upon this young prince the gift of finding true love."
Poseidon went next. "I bestow upon this young prince the gift of never drowning."
Hera gave him the gift of a loving family.
Dionysus gave him the gift of good parties.
Artemis gave him the gift of good hunting.
Athena gave him the gift of wisdom.
Ares gave him the gift of well trained armies.
Hephaestus gave him the gift of always having the newest technology.
Persephone gave him the gift of beautiful flowers.
Hermes gave him the gift of smooth roads and good messengers.
Just as Hestia was about to announce her gift, a streak of lightning flashed through the hall. When the light had faded, a man stood there. Zeus.
Hades and Maria paled at the sight. Zeus was Hades' younger brother, but he would be extremely insulted not to have been invited. Hades hadn't invited him, however, because Zeus had been out to kill Maria for years.
Zeus glowered at all the people around him as they cowered in fear. He stalked up to the royal crib where Nico lay.
"As soon as this boy turns fourteen, he will prick his finger on a black rose and die." With that, Zeus disappeared in a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder.
Maria burst into tears, and Hades looked furious.
But then Hestia stepped forward. "My king, I have not yet given my gift. While I am not strong enough to completely undo this curse, I can change it. Prince Nico will not die, but rather sleep for one hundred years."
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Prince Nico ran down the hall. It was his eleventh birthday, and he was excited.
He was especially excited to see Percy, not that he would ever admit it. After Percy had saved him and Bianca some weeks ago, he was completely in awe of the older boy.
He turned a corner and then another, until he was at the doors to the outside. Bianca was out there in the garden maze, the one with the twenty foot tall walls, probably with Percy, Zöe, Grover, and Thalia. Sometimes Nico was jealous that Bianca had so many friends while Nico had none, if you didn't include the ghosts, but Bianca told him not to talk about the ghosts. She saw them, too, and everyone thought she was mad. That was why Nico was the heir and not Bianca. Nobody wanted a crazy queen.
"Biiiii-aaaan-caaaaaa!" Nico called. He could hear some voices not too far off, so he started heading towards them. He could make out Bianca's voice, and Percy's, Thalia's, Grover's, and Zöe's. He started running, but before he could get there, he heard their screams.
"Bianca! No!" Percy called out. Nico's heart filled with dread. And then the walls exploded.
When he could see again, he saw that the explosion had blasted through the walls of the maze, making a clear path to where they were.
He saw Percy, Thalia, and Grover, huddled together, and sprinted toward them.
They were surrounded by chunks of metal, with several fires as well.
"Percy!" Nico called.
Percy turned around, a look of dread on his face.
"Nico." His voice was sad.
"Where's Bianca? Where is she?" Nico demanded.
"She-she didn't make it. There was a robot... Bianca got inside it and managed to destroy it, but... she didn't make it out."
Nico turned away, tears streaming down his face.
"Leave. All four of you, leave." He demanded.
"What?" Percy's voice was surprised.
"LEAVE! I NEVER WANT TO SEE ANY OF YOU EVER AGAIN!" He shouted, pain laced into his words. Percy, Thalia, Zöe, and Grover exchanged looks and started to back away. Nico fell to the ground, sobbing, and curled his hands into fists.
The explosion had attracted the attention of the guards. Percy, Thalia, Grover, and Zöe sprinted away.
Nico was alone.
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It was Prince Nico's fourteenth birthday, but the curse was forgotten. After Princess Bianca's death, the royal family had been in mourning. Nico hadn't talked for a long time.
Then, just when Nico had begun to talk again, Zeus struck Maria with a lightning bolt, killing her.
Hades was rarely seen anymore, and Nico ran the kingdom mostly on his own, but the ghosts gave him advice. He never told, though.
Nico was bringing a bouquet of black roses to Bianca's grave.
Suddenly, the flashback hit.
He was playing with Bianca in the garden.
"Bianca!" He called. He heard her giggle.
"Biancaaaa!" She giggled again. He rounded a corner just in time to see a girl duck around the corner. He ran down the path and around the corner. Bianca jumped out at him, and they rolled around together on the ground, laughing.
Nico clenched his fists. "Why did she have to die?" He shouted, tears running down his face.
He felt a sharp pain in his hand and gasped, dropping the roses. A thorn was stuck in his finger. He pulled it out, and a bead of red appeared. His blood. He stared at it, at that little drop of red, red blood.
And then he swayed and collapsed, the curse come true.
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Hades stared at his sons body. The last of his small family, in a cursed sleep.
He ordered the prince to be placed in the top of the tower, adorned in black silk. Then he left, to join his faerie siblings again.
Three years later, Hades had a daughter, Hazel. But when she was thirteen, the faerie's ancestor rose from the dead and attacked the kingdom. Hazel and Marie, her mom, sacrificed themselves to save the kingdom.
Hades retreated to the Underworld, to look over his family.
After another ten years, the plague struck, and those that stayed all perished.
Some escaped and eventually, another kingdom was born, not too far from the castle where Nico lay. The new kingdom was under the rule of the faerie Apollo.
But still Nico slept on, and giant black roses grew, surrounding the kingdom, and making it unable to be entered for many years.
By the time Will comes along, the roses have pretty much died.