unforgivable | solangelo royalty au | sequel to unattainable

Chapter One

"Nico, Annabeth, we need your help." Thalia bursts into the room, her short, black hair plastered to her head with water and panting heavily. The ship pitches to the side and she has to grab the doorframe to stay upright.

I hear Leo shout something over the roar of the raging black ocean and see Percy clinging desperately to a rope attached to the sails as he dangles over the water before swinging back over the ship, almost slamming into the mast. Even from this distance, I can see him grinning proudly.
"Oh god." I hear Annabeth mutter, equally concerned and sick of his antics. I can't see any reason why he's up there, so I can deduce that it's either a crazy, unnecessary scheme, or a dare. It's just like Percy to do something stupid at a time like this.

We emerge from the cabin together. We're both little use in storms like this, and so we were instead trying to plan how to get to calmer waters, pouring over maps and discussing ideas. Annabeth, along with being the captain, is smarter than me, but I'm cunning. And besides, I'm terrible in storms, as I have a terrible phobia of them. Annabeth doesn't fare well in them because of her injured leg, which never really healed properly. She now walks with a stick, but is still a brilliant fighter.

However, I swallow my fear and walk over the slippery deck to Leo, who is having trouble steering the ship. Neither of us are particularly strong, but together we manage to hold the wheel steady. A giant black wave looms overhead, then crashes down on the ship. For a moment, there's nothing but cold, salty water, almost slamming me down onto my hands and knees, then it passed and I gasp and pull the wheel straight again as Leo laughs manically. I'm pretty sure he's insane.

"We need to find land!" Reyna, our first mate, yells.
"No shit!" Thalia snaps in reply. Reyna glares at her. The pair are kind of dating, but they'll never admit it. Bianca died almost four years ago, and Thalia is finally starting to let people in again. I'm glad, as I doubt Bianca would want her to be alone forever after her death. I, however, am still as shut up and unwilling to accept any compassion as I was the day she died. Thalia and I grew closer after her death, and Reyna and I are also friends, but that's about it. I simply tolerate everybody else.

"There's land to the left of us, but it'll probably take about an hour before we can even see it." Annabeth tells Reyna. She looks around at us: Percy, Leo, Thalia, Annabeth and I. Hazel, Jason and Piper stayed on the island with Rachel, where it's safer.
"Well come on then!" Reyna shouts, exasperated. "Why are we waiting here?"

We turn the boat ana start to sail through the churning black waves, following Annabeth's directions as she stands in the eagle's nest, looking around desperately for any sign of land.

Eventually, she calls that she can see it, and we approach, relieved. The ocean is still angry, but now we've found land, we should be okay. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. The port is strictly guarded, and we're known outlaws in many kingdoms, so entering may be harder than we hope. Reyna is a known criminal in many kingdoms, so we get Annabeth, who almost unidentifiable, to ask for entry.

Some guards search out ship and us, suspecting we're pirates, but they only find evidence that we're traders. Thankfully, we're all so drenched, we're not recognised. Besides, it's been almost four years since we went on the run, so most of us are taller and look a bit older. Begrudgingly, the guards let us enter.

"Nico." Thalia hisses as we sail into the harbour.
"What?" I reply, also whispering beside she is.
"Did you see their uniforms?"
"Not really."
"Well..." she glances around nervously, then looks back to me. "I saw their coat of arms. We're in the Solace's kingdom."