By Amanda Pizzolatto (alias Aurora Mandeville)

Word Count: 31845

Rating: PG for scary situations

Summary: Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades, is used to being alone, until one day a girl with auburn hair waltzes into his life…

Riccio gasped for breath as soon as they got back out into the light, making Nico worried that he shouldn’t have done it, after all. But the grin on Riccio’s face soon proved him wrong.

“Nic, that was awesome!!”

“I want a turn, I want a turn!” shouted Bo, surprising the two as he latched onto Nico’s hand.

“No, Bo, not now. Nico looks like he needs to rest,” stated Prop, pulling the little rascal away.

Nico looked at him quizzically, wondering if Prop was telling the truth, or if he didn’t exactly trust Nico’s powers.

Lucy walked over, grabbed Nico’s arm, and pulled him under the streetlamp. “He’s right, you look extremely tired. Shadow-travel wears you out, doesn’t it?”

Nico blinked. “Uh, yeah, but not a whole lot. If I do shadow-travel a long distance again tonight, I’ll be sleeping long and hard tomorrow.”

“Alright, looks like we’re walking to Spavento’s,” sighed Mosca.

Riccio glanced at him, his mood instantly turned sour.

“Sh! Let’s get into the Stellar before we talk about that! You don’t know if anyone’s still out there and could be listening!” Hornet chastised him.

“Oops, sorry,” muttered Mosca.

The group quickly made their way back to the theater, where yet another surprise awaited them.

“He’s gone! We shouldn’t have left him by himself!” Riccio fumed when Mosca returned with a note from Victor Getz.

“But he says that if we leave off the theft, he won’t tell Prop and Bo’s aunt where we are, or anyone for that matter,” stated Mosca, glancing at the note.

His eyes grew wide as he finished reading it and gave a shout of joy as he bounded up the stairs. The others looked at the movie screen as it jumped to life with a cartoon. Mosca began making swishing sounds to go with the rowing of the boat on the screen, much to the others’ delight. The boat landed at a deserted island where a haggard-looking man waved to the boy in the boat.

Mosca changed his voice level to differentiate between man and boy. “Dad, I’ve found you! I’ve missed you! I’ve missed you too, son! Yeah! I can’t believe it, he fixed it!” he exclaimed, his face lit up. Nico had a half smirk on his face as he glanced up at Mosca, but when he glanced around at everyone else, it began to falter. Lucy’s face had a sense of longing to it that he began to wonder if she was going to cry. She caught him looking at her and gave him a bright smile. But he had seen that look, she was missing her family just as much as Mosca. Nico was amazed by her strength, she had not once complained of her pain and had let the craziness of the past couple of days keep her occupied. Why hadn’t he noticed it before? Riccio’s voice broke through his thoughts.

“Okay, he fixed it, whoop-dee-doo. But now we know the truth about Scipio, the snoop’s gone, and we have a job tonight!”

“You’re still going through with it?” Lucy asked.

“Of course, that’s a lot of money; we don’t want to lose this opportunity,” Hornet replied.

“Wait, have any of you actually stolen something before, or has it always been Scip?” Prop asked. The other three glanced down, their answer pretty obvious.

“It shouldn’t be that hard; Mosca and I are pocket thieves, so we have some knowledge of how to pull this off.”

Nico sighed, massaging his forehead. “Let me guess, I have to go as a back-up plan?”

“More like a back-up escape route, Ghost King.”

“Fine, but Bo and I are not going.”

“Prop, come on!”

“No! We’re not thieves!”

“I’ll stay with them as well; you don’t want too many people on this trip,” stated Lucy, glancing at Nico with a bit of worry on her face.

“Alright, fine, let’s go, we’ll take the boat. Jumping to a nearby shadow shouldn’t be too hard, right?” Hornet asked as Riccio and Mosca headed off towards the door.

“No, not too hard. Well, if you’re intent upon doing this, let’s go,” sighed Nico as he followed Hornet out.

“Be careful!’ Lucy waved to them, her hand placed upon Bo’s shoulder, for the little rascal was not exactly pleased about being left behind, or not getting a taste of shadow-travel. Nico wasn’t sure which one was more dangerous, and was in total agreement with Prop’s decision. Riccio and Mosca had gathered a few things, and once Hornet and Nico joined them in the boat, they were off. Nico’s heart began to race from the mere thrill of it all. They were a bit like pirates! A smirk materialized on his face; maybe this wouldn’t be that bad after all, stealing a priceless artifact and no monsters! It would be a good night, that is, until a little monster disturbed his daydream.

“You guys forgot something—me!”

The quartet turned to the owner of the voice, and nearly lost control of the boat.

“Bo! You shouldn’t be here!’ exclaimed Hornet as Mosca got the boat to slow down.

“Yes, I should! And I’ll shout so loud that everyone will wake up if you try to take me back!” threatened Bo.

The quartet glanced at each other, and sighed.

“Alright, but you’re sticking to one of us at all times, understand?” said Hornet as Mosca got the boat going again.

Bo grinned. “Perfectly, and I want to stick by Nico.”

Nico glanced at the little cherub in shock, an argument raging on within his head. But he told no one of it, only gave a little nod letting them know that he was fine with the arrangement, for now. Bo grinned from ear to ear as he grabbed Nico’s hand, surprising Nico by the strength and firmness of the little fingers upon his hand. Glancing into the bright, hopeful eyes, Nico couldn’t help but give a small, sad smile, for he remembered what is was like at that age. As he ruffled the blond hair, he mentally swore that he would make sure Prop would stay alive.

“So, what happens when Prop notices your absence?”

“Oh, he and Lucy will probably be joining us soon,” Bo replied nonchalantly, glancing at the water beneath the boat.

Hornet sighed, “I’ll wait at the wall with the rope for them.”

Riccio secured the boat when Mosca docked while the others grabbed the supplies. They quickly attached their rope to the top of the garden wall and, starting with Riccio, they climbed up. Hornet, being last, simply swung her leg over the wall, sitting on it a like a rider on a horse, keeping a sharp eye out for the last members of their party. Mosca pulled out a couple of small tools when they reached the back door and proceeded to pick the lock. Nico started to say something, but Riccio shushed him, wanting Mosca to have his concentration. Nico merely rolled his eyes and tapped Bo’s shoulder, pointing to a shadow. Bo caught the hint, grinned and nodded. The small hands firmly gripped the larger ones as they melted into the shadows, ending up on the inside of the house. Nico went to the back door, unlocked it, and stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, Bo standing behind him, grinning from ear to ear. Riccio and Mosca glanced up at Nico, grinning a bit sheepishly, before Mosca put away the tools and followed Riccio into the house.

“Where do you think she would have hidden it?” Mosca whispered.

“I don’t know, I was only in the kitchen.”

“Well, we’re in the kitchen now, let’s check it out.”

“What, are you stupid? Nobody would put anything valuable in the kitchen; most people look there first, anyway!”

“Oh, why?”

“Because there’s food.”

“Oh, right. So, um, more like her bedroom, then?”

“Maybe, that tends to be the first place people put their valuables. That, or an office. I know from the map that there’s a space on the first floor that could be used as an office. So, let’s check the rest of the first floor before heading up to the second floor, alright?”

“Oh good, you’re still here,” said Hornet as she joined them, followed by Prop and Lucy. Prop didn’t look too happy about Bo’s little stunt, but he seemed resigned to see the theft through.

“Why bother with the office if the first place you can think of is the bedroom?” muttered an all-too familiar voice.

Everyone, even Nico, jumped at the sound of Scipio’s voice as he emerged seemingly just as easily as Nico from the shadows.

“What? What are you doing here? This is our job now, we don’t need you anymore!”

“Shhh, be quiet, Riccio! We don’t want Spavento to wake up! Come on, let’s check the rest of the first floor,” whispered Hornet, ushering the group out, though Prop and Nico stayed behind.

With a sigh, Scipio took off his mask, seemingly waiting for whatever reprimand the two had for him.

“Riccio and the others, they don’t understand,” Prop said.

A hope flickered in Scipio’s eyes, “Do you, Prop? Do you understand?”

“I-I wish I could,” muttered Prop before walking off to join the others.

But the hope in Scipio’s eyes didn’t die; instead, it was directed at Nico. “If we had been switched, would you have done the same?”

“Quite possibly, though I might have revealed the truth sooner. With these guys, you can never really tell when a good time is.”

Scipio smiled slightly. “Right, I’m going to check the second floor, where the piece is most likely located. I might have only stolen from my own house in the past, but I still know how to steal.”

Nico gave a slight chuckle as Scipio disappeared up the stairs before he joined the others. The group went methodically through the living room and the dining room before Mosca and Bo drew their attention to a room filled with red light, Ricco’s office. As the gang piled into the room, they could see it was full of pictures, some hanging on the walls, some on a line, others piled high on the tables up against the back wall. Curiosity got the better of them and they moved forward to get a better look at the pictures. The majority of them were of tourists, spending happy days in Venice. Others were of various spots in the city, but the ones that were hanging held their attention the longest. It was of the plaza where they had met the Conte just a few days ago, and in several of the pictures stood their blond cherub.

“So, the one night I decide to go out, I come back to find a bunch of cat-burglars creeping around in my house.”

The gang snapped out of their stupor when the lights came on, and turned to face the owner of the house, pointing a gun at them. Nico was startled to see the lady who had told them to go on an adventure. She would be thrilled to find out that their adventure involved her, especially once she began to recognise them.

“Please don’t shoot.”

“Well, if it isn’t the rude boy from the kiosk. And the girl. And Mr. Quiet. Oh, and the poor orphan boy. Alright, what are you after? My photos, my equipment?

“No, Signora, that’s not what we want, we uh . . .” Hornet paused, glancing around at everyone else.

They all had come to the conclusion that this was Ida Spavento, but was it really a good idea to tell her that they were here to steal her wooden wing? Then Bo, who had been hiding behind Hornet and Lucy came out.

Ida lowered her gun at his appearance. “Oh my, and how old are you?”

“Six and a quarter.”

“Starting a bit young, aren’t you? So what exactly is this all about? If you’re not here to steal my equipment, what are you here for?”

The gang looked at each other in surprise, then Nico met Prop’s eyes as they both remembered that the Conte had said that the wing was of great value only to him.

“Well, I want to know why you have pictures of my brother,” blurted Prop.

“I’m a photographer, that’s what I do, in case you hadn’t already figured that out. Now will you answer my question?”

“We were asked to steal your wooden wing,” blurted Lucy.

“You were asked to steal my wing?”

“Yes, well, more like the Conte is paying us to do it.”

“Oh, really? Out of curiosity, how much is this Conte willing to pay you for stealing my wing?”

“Fifty thousand.”

“Fifty thousand? That’s an awful lot, isn’t it?’

“No, it isn’t. We don’t have parents, so we have to pay for everything. Riccio needs his teeth fixed, Hornet wants a bookshelf and new clothes, and Mosca wants to buy a boat to find his dad,” explained Bo with a rather calm expression on his face.

The rest of the gang chuckled at Bo’s outburst, much to Ida’s surprise.

“Come on, I’ve got it,” said a voice from behind Ida.

Somehow, Scipio now had the gun in his hands and pointed it at Ida. She grabbed at the gun and the two got into a tug-of-war over it.

“Oh, just give it to me! It’s empty, anyway.”

Scipio let go, and Ida slung it over her shoulders. Then she pointed at something behind him. “And I assume that’s my wing? You know, now I’m curious as to how this Conte knows of my wing. Everybody to the kitchen, please.”

They followed her in, taking the wing with them. Then, with Hornet and Lucy’s help, she made hot chocolate for everyone while the boys took turns telling about their meeting with the Conte before unwrapping the wing and setting it on the table.

“Wow, it’s beautiful. Is it an angel’s wing?”

“No, a lion’s,” said Ida.

“Told ya,” grinned Bo.

“Where’s the rest of it?”

“I really don’t know. One of the sisters at the orphanage gave this to me when I came of age to leave.”

“You were an orphan?”

“Yes, I was. You know what, I think it’s time we find out the story behind this wing and why this Conte wants it so bad. And I know just the person to contact.”

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