Solangelo Week Day 6 (Fairy Tale Retelling): Tangled AU (I'M AWARE THAT TANGLED IS TECHNICALLY NOT A RETELLING SHUT UP)

Word Count: 3693

My contribution to the Solangelo Tangled AU pool <3

—

The lanterns had been there for as long as Will could remember. Little dots, almost like stars but not quite, illuminating the sky every year on his birthday. Every year, he would sit at the window, watching as they floated up one by one into the night. And every year he prayed to the gods to see them in person one day.

I'll never ask to leave the tower again he would beg silently, to no one in particular in the dead of night. Just once, please let me go.

Will would give the same arguments to his Mother, but she would always shut him down.

"It's not safe out there," she would say, "There are people out there who want to hurt you. Stay right here. Things never have to change."

Will wanted things to change. Not forever. Just for one day.

—

Will was going to ask today.

Mother Nyx was right in front of him. She wasn't paying attention to him, instead looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her hands were on her face, stretching and squeezing her skin in between her fingers.

"Mother?"

Nyx turned to him, clearly irritated he was interrupting her. "What?"

God. He rehearsed this a hundred times, but his well-practiced speech suddenly abandoned him. "So, tomorrow is my birthday," he started, "and I'm turning eighteen."

Mother Nyx nodded.

"And...I've been living in this tower for pretty much my entire life. But there are these floating lights that appear every year on my birthday. At night. You can see them from eure but I really, really would love to see them up clo—"

"Will," she interrupted him, "I've given you this tower filled with everything you could ever want, and you want to leave? Do you know how ungrateful you are?"

Something in Will's stomach twisted, "Well—"

"I'm keeping you safe! If people knew about your power, do you know what they would do to you? Hold you captive, force you to work for them—"

"It's just one night! I'll come back as soon as it's over!"

"Don't ever ask to leave this place again." Nyx ordered. Will knew that tone. End of discussion. But that didn't stop the tears forming in his eyes.

His mother rolled her eyes. "They're just lights. It's not that special. Besides, you said you could see it from the tower."

Will bit back the 'It's not the same' from leaving his mouth.

"Yeah. I'll just watch from the tower."

—

Will was alone.

Mother Nyx had gone into a town a few days' journey away for Will's birthday gift. He couldn't even remember what he asked for; he had just wanted her to go for a few days.

Then he heard it: a noise coming from below him.

Click! Click! Click!

It was getting closer.

Panic surged through Will. Was somebody trying to break into the tower? Nobody had ever done that before. The point of the tower was that it was supposed to be hidden!

Will grabbed the nearest heavy object—a frying pan—and hid in the shadows of the tower. About a minute later, a figure appeared in the window. As soon as he stepped in, Will ran forward and swung his frying pan with no real plan. The metal hit the intruder's head, and they fell to the floor.

Now that he was passed out on the floor, Will was able to get a better look at him. He was a boy who looked around the same age as Will. He had dark hair and pale skin. He was dressed in dark clothing, with a satchel on his shoulder.

Carefully, Will pulled the satchel away from the intruder. It was black, and a little heavy. He opened it.

Inside was a crown, the kind Will recognized from the illustrations in his books (he couldn't really read that well, but the pictures were pretty to look at). Golden with diamonds and other jewels encrusted in it. This had to be expensive, probably from somewhere in the captial—

Oh.

Oh.

An idea surged through Will, making him bounce with excitement. Before he could fully process whether it was a good idea or not, he slid the crown underneath his bed and grabbed some rope.

—

Nico woke up to a frying pan two inches in front of his nose.

His eyes followed the pan to the hand that was holding it, to the arm until he was looking at another boy's face. He didn't look like he could do any harm. In fact, he looked scared.

Nico tried to move, but found his arms bound to his sides. He looked down and saw that his entire body was covered in rope, and he was tied to a chair.

As he recalled what could have possibly brought him to this situation, a horrible realization came over him.

"Where's my satchel?" He asked, looking around. He tried to move again, but the rope was too strong.

"Fighting is pointless," the other boy responded, his voice shaking. His arms were shaking too, probably from holding up the frying pan for so long. "And it's hidden. And it will stay hidden unless you help me."

Nico resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Okay," a pause, "What do you want?"

"To see the floating lights,"

Nico stared at the boy. The boy stared back.

Oh. He was serious.

"The floating lights? The ones for the Prince?"

"The Prince?"

Nico blinked. "Y'know, the lost Prince? The one who got kidnapped?"

The other boy stared at him.

"Nevermind. So... I take you to see the floating lights in Jupiter and you give me back my satchel?"

Frying Pan Boy nodded.

Nico narrowed his eyes. "You didn't take anything out of it, did you?"

"You mean the crown? I don't really need it. I don't know why you have it, but I don't have any reason to keep it."

Nico studied the boy's face. He was handsome, with blond hair and bright blue eyes. Blue eyes that seemed to be telling the truth.

"Fine. But if you want to see it this year, we have to move quickly."

The boy nodded. "I can do that. I'm Will, by the way."

"Nico."

—

Will was conflicted.

He had finally left the tower; the rope he used to tie up Nico was sturdier than he thought. It was better than he could have ever imagined. The grass was soft between his feet and the breeze was a nice change from the drafts that blew in from the tower. On the other hand, he had betrayed Mother Nyx. She had said to never leave the tower and now Will was face-to-face with a tree, trying (and failing) to climb it.

He also had a new companion. Nico was watching Will struggle from the ground, occasionally providing unhelpful commentary.

Nico was...interesting. Clearly, he wasn't a normal citizen. His clothes were dirty and ripped. He looked over his shoulder every few minutes, like he was waiting for someone to come after him. But he was letting Will explore the outside world and helping him, so he let the snide remarks slide.

Nico was also gorgeous. To be fair, Will hadn't met that many people (or any people), but he was a lot prettier than the pictures in Will's books. Now that he wasn't knocked out, Will could see that his eyes were brown, so brown they were almost black. They were mesmerizing.

After falling down from the tree for the sixth time, Will decided to move on.

"Good. It's almost sunset, and we have to be in the cowries—Jupiter—by tomorrow if you want to see the lights."

At the mention of the lights, Will bounced up from the ground.

"Then we better move!" He exclaimed, gesturing for Nico to lead the way.

They continued walking, and when the tower faded from view, Will felt like he could finally breathe.

—

Will couldn't breathe.

Apparently, Nico was a wanted thief—number one in the kingdom. And apparently, the crown Will had found was the lost Prince's, which he had stolen from the castle. And apparently, they had been searching the woods for Nico near the tower. Now, the Royal Guard was chasing them through the forest, and Will's entire body was burning from the run.

"Hurry up!" Nico screeched, barely avoiding an arrow. Oh yeah, the Royal Guard was shooting arrows at them.

"I've been in a tower for eighteen years! There wasn't much space to run!" Will shouted back, panting in between his words.

Nico suddenly stopped running. Will stopped just a few inches behind him, almost bumping into him.

"Fuck," he heard Nico mutter.

Will looked down (which wasn't very hard, since he was already bent over, wheezing). The two of them were standing on the edge of a cliff.

"Uh...Nico—"

The guards were closing in on them, their arrows getting closer and closer to hitting their targets. Will looked back at them and then down at the cliff. About fifty feet below them was a river. Shit. Will had read enough books to know that a drop from there would seriously injure them, maybe even kill them.

Unless...

"Nico, grab my hand."

"Wha—hey!"

Will grabbed Nico by the wrist and jumped off the cliff. Together, they fell, leaving the guards behind.

As the wind roared in Will's ears, he brought Nico's hand to his chest and began to sing.

Please. Please please please.

They hit the water.

—

Nico opened his eyes to discover he wasn't dead. Instead, he was underwater in a river. Though the sight before him might've been more bizarre than whatever was waiting for him in the afterlife.

Will was holding his breath, his eyes closed. And his hair, normally just blond, was glowing.

The other boy opened his eyes too, and a panicked look crossed his face. It suddenly occurred to Nico that if Will had spent his entire life in a tower (which Nico is pretty sure is the case—they would need to talk about that later), he never learned how to swim.

Nico grabbed Will, whose hair was still glowing, although Nico guessed they could unpack that later, and kicked his legs. Will performed a weak imitation, and after a few seconds, their heads broke the surface.

Both of them gasping for air, Nico dragged the two of them to the riverbank. They sat there for a few minutes in silence, catching their breath. After, Nico came to the realization that he wasn't just alive, he was completely unscathed.

He turned to Will. "What did you do?"

Will turned to him, an awkward smile plastered on his face. "I should probably explain the hair."

"You should," Nico agreed. He looked down and saw that he and Will were still holding hands. Nico quickly let go.

Will took a deep breath, kicking his legs in the river. "So...when my mother had me, she realized I had this power. When someone sings this song, or when I sing it. My hair glows. And it can heal people."

If Nico hadn't already seen it, he would've burst out laughing. "The river," is what he said instead.

Will nodded. "We would've died. But I started singing when we fell, so it protected us when we hit the water."

"What about the tower?" Nico asked, "Why do you live there?"

Will's bottom lip twisted. "When I was a baby, there were all these people who tried to kidnap me. Use me to keep themselves young or something. So my Mother brought me to this tower that she found in the middle of the woods. I've lived there my entire life."

Nico had so many questions.

Luckily, Will didn't have anyone else to talk to, so he answered them all. Could he cut it? (Yeah, it didn't really do anything). Could he bring someone back from the dead? (He never tried). How did he even get these powers?

"I don't know," Will responded.

They stayed like that for a while, until eventually Will started asking Nico questions. Why did he become a criminal? (The orphanage didn't really do much to provide for the kids). What happened to his family? (Nico didn't answer that one). Why did he take the crown? (He needed money).

Eventually, they hauled themselves away from the riverbank, and created a small camp. The small bag of supplies they had brought was soaked, but a soggy tent was better than none.

They fell asleep next to each other in the tent. Nico woke up in the middle of the night, but when he saw Will next to him, he was overcome with the sensation that he was safe. He fell back asleep again, his head on Will's chest.

—

The next day, Will and Nico arrived in Jupiter.

Most of the guards had gone out in the woods to look for Nico, so they spent the day window shopping and roaming the streets, watching the townspeople go about their lives.

There was a festival for the lost Prince's birthday happening in the center of town. Nico didn't want to go.

"Please!" Will had begged, "It's my birthday too!"

Nico had sighed and followed Will into the crowd. They danced with the adults and drew pictures with the children. He finally learned the story of the mysterious Prince he's heard so much about.

"He was taken as a baby," a woman told her children, "It was a miracle he was born at all. The Queen got very sick just before he was born, but she got healthy when a guard found a magic flower and gave it to her. Now, every year, we celebrate the Prince by releasing the floating lanterns in the sky. Maybe he can see them, wherever he is."

When night fell, Nico led Will away from the crowd. It was a comfortable silence, until Will broke it.

"I don't think I want to go back to my tower," he whispered quietly.

Nico turned to him, "Where do you want to go?"

Will paused. "I don't know. But the Festival today and all the people...it's so much nicer than being locked in a tower."

Nico nodded, not saying anything. They walked together for some more time, until they veered away from the crowd.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"You've wanted to see this your entire life, right? So let's get you as close as possible."

They got on a boat and Nico rowed them out until they were about 30 yards away from shore.

"It's starting," Nico said, pointing to the sky.

Will looked up and sucked in a breath. The lights were even more beautiful up close than from his tower.

It started with only a few at first, but soon there were hundreds, then thousands, floating into the sky. They illuminated the night, like a thousand fireflies on a Summer night.

Then there was a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Nico was holding two makeshift lamps, each already lit.

Will took one from Nico, and their eyes met. At the same time, they slowly let the lanterns go into the air, watching them float up from their boat.

Will looked back up at the lights, a small smile of awe stretching across his face.

He didn't see Nico looking at him, a small smile on his face too.

—

When they got back to the docks, Will told Nico about a surprise he had.

It was the satchel. Somehow, he had kept it with him during the river, and concealed it well enough that Nico didn't notice. The crown was still inside.

Nico hugged him.

Even Nico hadn't expected it, he hadn't hugged anyone since his sister died, and that was years ago. But he felt safe in Will's arms, like nothing could harm him.

That moment ended quickly.

"Will?" A voice asked incredulously.

Will tensed around Nico's body.

"Mother Nyx!" He exclaimed, letting go of Nico.

Mother?

When Will had been talking about his Mother before, Nico had assumed they looked fairly similar. But this was the opposite. Nyx had long black hair and eyes that were filled with rage. Nico couldn't imagine Will ever looking like that.

"What are you doing here?" Nyx asked, her voice a mix of fury and confusion and fear.

Now that Nico thought about it, Will did look similar to someone. But it wasn't Nyx. He looked like the King and Queen.

"I went to go see the lights," Will countered, "What are you doing here?"

The Queen had gotten better through a flower right? One that was rumored to be magical. Will had healing powers.

And Will has said that today was his birthday...

"Oh shit," Nico whispered to himself. Neither Will nor Nyx heard him.

"I went to get your birthday gift, remember?"

Realization flooded Will's face. "Oh," he responded in a small voice.

"And who is this?" Nyx asked, turning her attention to Nico. Although he was barely paying attention, he focused on the pieces of the puzzle falling together inside of his head.

"That's Nico," Will responded quietly. He sounded the same as the first time they'd met, when Will's voice was shaking as he held the frying pan to Nico's face. Scared. "He helped me get here."

"He did?" Nico had fought a lot of people before, but none of them were quite like Nyx. Those people were usually ready to fight. Nyx looked calculating.

She was still a few paces away. They had time.

"Will, you need to run," Nico was close enough to whisper it and still have the Prince here him.

"What?"

"Just run. Into a crowd or something, so it's harder to find you. Go up to the Palace. Tell them you're the lost Prince,"

"But I'm not?" Will's response came out like a question, confusion twisting his face. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine," Lie, but if it meant Will would be safe, it was fine. God, when did Nico become so soft? "But you have to go. Show them your healing powers if they don't believe you. Take the crown."

"But I'm not leaving y—"

Will had no time to finish his sentence. Nico shoved him to the side and ran at Nyx. He didn't really have a plan, but he did know how to fight. And the only thing running through his mind was 'don't let this person take Will again.'

But Nyx was more calculating.

She pulled out a knife—ugh, Nico's knife has gotten lost in the river—and slashed him across the chest. Nico fell to the ground. He didn't feel anything for a few seconds, but then his chest was burning.

"No!"

Apparently, Will never left. Thank god he didn't listen.

Nico's vision was getting blurrier, but he saw Nyx with a bloody knife in her hand—oh, that was Nico's blood—and Will stepped toward her. Will opened his mouth—

Nico's vision went out.

—

Will was getting closer to Nyx, singing the healing song.

Except he wasn't trying to heal. He was trying to hurt. And if he could make someone feel better...he could also make them feel sick, right?

Will's hair began glowing, but this time, it didn't stop just there. There was a glow just beneath his skin, spreading to his wrists, then hands, then—

The light left Will, hitting Nyx. She started coughing, her nose running and her eyes red. She seemed to be getting hit with every single disease Will had blocked from reaching her.

She was getting older too. Will remembered her telling him about how people wanted to kidnap him so they could stay young. And Nico wanted him to tell the Palace that he was the lost Prince, which meant...oh.

In a few seconds, she was gone. Her body had completely disintegrated into ash.

But Nico was still there, his body growing cold next to him. Will gasped, running to his side.

"Please," he whispered, "Please, no."

Nico wasn't breathing.

Oh god. There had to be something Will could do right? He couldn't leave Nico like this, not after everything.

In his desperation, an idea emerged. He thought back to the conversation the two of them had at the riverbank.

"Can you bring someone back from the dead?"

"I've never tried."

Now seemed like a good time to try.

Will started singing again, once again trying to heal. The words came out faster this time, his breath quickening as he prayed to whoever might be listening for this to work.

The gash on Nico's chest started closing up.

Will's eyes widened in excitement. He kept singing.

After a whole minute, Nico's eyes opened.

"Holy shit," Nico muttered, but he got cut off my a wheeze halfway through when Will pulled Nico into a tight hug.

"Why would you go to her alone?" Will demanded, breaking apart the hug and shaking Nico's shoulders.

"Uh...so you could run?"

"And you cared about me more than you?"

"Well, that tends to happen when you love someone."

Will stopped. "What?"

Nico must've seen the bewildered look on his face and laughed. "Was that not obvious when I took a knife for you?"

Will stared at him for a few seconds, and then smiled.

He pulled him back into another hug.

—

The kingdom was celebrating again. After years of searching and years of grief, the lost Prince had finally returned.

Nico had been cleared of all charges. They even gave him a place to stay in the castle when he gave the crown back (although Will was pretty sure that was because he had told his parents that Nico was his boyfriend).

His parents. They were so much nicer than Nyx ever was. Nico was right. He did look like them. They welcomed them immediately with open arms. It was perfect.

Sometimes, Will went into the village to heal people. He spent a lot of time at the local hospital. The little kids there loved when he came, always shouting over one another to get his attention. Nico came too, though he mostly just sat in the corner and smirked.

But the most important thing was that Will was happy.

He was home.

—

I take back what I said yesterday. THIS is the longest thing I've ever written.

I really like the concept of Nyx being Mother Gothel because like staying young forever = things never changing yk? I did have to cut a lot from the movie but this still ended up being much longer than expected lol.

Thank you for reading!