Two Odd Princes ~ A Solangelo AU ~

Chapter 51 (Pt 2)

Nico paced for next hour while shuffling his deck of Mythomagic cards. Frank, who had ran into the room a few minutes after the challenge had been declared, was doing his best to encourage Nico but it didn't seem to be helping. Hazel joined in but even with both the children's efforts, the ex-prince was still anxious.

The game was going to be played online so that neither of the players could cheat. Nico only had his cards out so he had something to do with his hands. The deck he was holding was one he already had set up online, and was also the one he was planning to use during the tournament later that month.

"You can do this, Nico!" Frank repeated for the tenth(?) time. "You're the best Mythomagic player ever."

"Yeah," Hazel agreed. "The bestest."

"Thanks, guys, but I'm still worried."

Will frowned. He wanted to do something to calm his boyfriends nerves, but he couldn't think of anything that would work.

Time came for the game to begin. Nico took a deep breath, handed his cards to Frank who, promised to look after them with his life, and whipped his palms on his pants.

Hades was already waiting when Nico entered the room. Two laptops were set up on a table with wires hooked up to a few broadcasting systems; no doubt this was being televised all over the country.

Will caught Nico's hand before he sat down, giving his a quick squeeze. Nico turned to give the blonde a kiss. When they parted, Will wished him luck, letting go of his hand.

Nico took the seat opposite of his opponent. On the screen before him was the game's page. There was a pending request, obviously from Hades. Bracing himself, he clicked on the notification and accepted the invite, glancing up at he did. Hades was looked at him, a grin plastered on his face.

The sound of virtual cards being shuffled was heard and the game started.

Hades got to go first, choosing to place two land cards. Nico, unfortunately, had no land cards to place, so he had to discard a card of his choosing and pick the first card off the deck. Now his turn was over.

Hades took the opportunity to set up a druid on one of his lands, ready to attack once Nico gave him the chance. Luckily, the boy had drawn a land card, and already had a stone wall to protect said land card. It wasn't the best defense, but it was all he could do for now.

The game went on like that for the first ten minutes. Nico was having no luck when it came to drawing cards, meaning his father had the upper hand. That was, until a miracle happened.

The black haired boy just so happened to pick up a stunning spell for the wizard that he had on the battlefield. The stun would only work of certain creatures, two of which Hades had playing right now. So he did the most logical thing and played the stunning spell. Nico smirked, knowing that he was safe from two enemies for three rounds. Hades, however, was irked by the action.

The playing field started to level out. Both boys had different cards but with the same attack damage. The game slowed down a bit, making them think more strategically than before. Nico had to extra careful because Hades had a higher health bar than he had.

And, as if the gaming gods heard his prayers, Nico drew two healing spells; one for his soldiers, and another for a land card. By using both at the same time, his overall health went back up 80 points. Now he was the one with the better health.

And then it all took a turn for the worst, as most things with Nico do.

Hades played all the most powerful cards he had in his deck at once, dropping Nico's health points down to 105. Everyone, even those who didn't understand the game, gasped. Obviously, 105 HP wasn't a good thing.