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…

The four boys clambered over the darkened cobblestone streets and dainty iron bridges. Nico had shadow-traveled them part of the way there, but they still had to run the rest of the way. When they reached Ida’s house, she and Scipio were already waiting for them in the boat with the wing. They quickly climbed into the boat, and Ida moved to the front where a large canvas tarp lay.

“I’d better hide myself,” she said. “I don’t think the Conte would be too thrilled to realize that the owner knows about the transaction. I hope you know how to steer.”

“Oh, Scipio knows that,” blurted Riccio, a bit grumpily.

Mosca shot him a quick glance as the four of them took positions around the boat while Scipio took the steering wheel and Ida hid under the tarp. Scipio steered the boat out into the open, all five pairs of eyes peeled for the signal.

“Over there!” Prop pointed to the left.

“I see it,” replied Scipio, expertly pulling the boat alongside a boat with a red lantern.

“Salve, Thief Lord, I sense that you’re as cold as we are. Let’s get this transaction over as quickly as possible.” The Conte stood at the railing with an elderly lady, both wearing black cloaks.

Scipio handed the package to the Conte and the lady, who eagerly ripped the brown paper and held the wing over their heads like a sacred artifact. The boys glanced at each other; if they hadn’t known about the truth behind the wing, they might have burst out laughing at the absurdity of the two, but they could only watch with a bit of fascination. The Conte gently placed the wing down in his boat, and the lady handed a bag to Scipio, who turned and gave it to Prop.

“If I were you,” said the lady, “I’d use this money to find another occupation. You are so young—how old are you? Fourteen, fifteen?”

“With this money, I can be any age I want,” Scipio declared. “I won’t have to be a child any longer.”

“Did you hear that, Renzo? He no longer wants to be a child!”

“Nature will soon grant him his wish,” said the Conte. “Don’t you want to count the money, Thief Lord?”

Scipio looked at Prop and gave a slight nod.

Prop placed the bag on the deck and opened it, Nico, Mosca, and Riccio crowding around. Their mouths fell open at the many wads of cash in the bag.

“Holy moley.”

“Uh, how much does it cost to go to the dentist?” Riccio wondered.

Mosca made a face at his question.

Nico, however, straightened up and moved closer to Scipio. “Why does he want us to count the money?”

Scipio only gave him a small shrug before turning to face the Conte. “Looks like it’s all here. I believe you to be a man of your word.”

The Conte smiled. “Safe returns, Thief Lord.”

The two pulled the hoods of their cloaks over their heads and left the area. The five boys returned to their positions, Scipio waiting a few minutes before following the Conte’s boat. He gave a little nod to Nico who tapped the tarp, letting Ida know it was safe to come out. She moved to the helm, wanting to get a good look at everything, and making sure Scipio stayed well out of sight, but not losing sight of the Conte. They followed the duo for a ways in silence until they noticed the Conte’s boat quickly approaching an island.

“How far is the Conte’s boat going to go? If we go on like this, we’ll be as stiff as frozen chickens!” Riccio complained.

“Oh, my gosh!” Ida suddenly said. “I know where this is. Don’t go any farther, turn off the engine.”

Scipio quickly turned off the engine, the other boys tense with excitement.

“Isola Segreta, the Secret Isle,” Ida explained. “I thought it was deserted, but it seems I was wrong.”

The Conte’s boat docked and the lights came on in the covered port.

“You said Isola Segreta? Isn’t that the island where nobody goes?” whispered Mosca.

Ida nodded. “They say it’s haunted.”

Prop leaned towards Nico. “Sounds like your kind of place.”

“And that anyone who ever steps foot on the island never returns,” continued Ida.

“I’ve had it, let’s go, I’m not going near no haunted island. Deal off, time to get our money home,” Riccio stated.

“Wait, they’re looking this way!” Scipio pointed at the cove.

The Conte and the elderly lady had noticed the boat.

“Renzo, can you see anything?” the lady’s voice echoed over the water.

“There’re just intruders, they don’t know what we’re doing,” the Conte’s voice reached over the water to their ears. He was holding back two large dogs which had begun barking.

“Oh no, I think the woman’s got a gun.” A shot rang out, proving Ida right and making everyone duck. “Heads down!”

“Get out of here!”

“Don’t you know this is private property?!” came a shout.

“Keep your heads down!” ordered Ida as she got the boat running, just as another shot rang out across the water.

“Don’t come back!” The Conte’s voice began to fade as the boat raced farther and farther away from Isola Segreta.

It wasn’t until the island was a small dot on the horizon that Ida let everyone get back up. “Is everyone alright?” she asked. “I am so sorry I dragged you into this madness.” Everyone just sat back, trying to slow down their racing hearts. Scipio, Nico, and Prop seemed to be fine after a few minutes. Prop moved to where Scipio was standing behind Ida, while Nico and Mosca moved closer. Nico caught a bit of their conversation.

“It’s there, Prop, it has to be on that island.”

Nico glanced at Scipio; the boy was certainly desperate to grow up and get away from his father. He sighed. At least Hades wasn’t that bad, just unable to spend quality time with his only son. Being a god had its ups and downs.

The ride back was completely silent, each lost in his or her own thoughts. They separated at Ida’s port, Scipio and Ida back to their homes, while Nico, Prop, Riccio, and Mosca went back to the Stellar with the money. Nico had thought of offering to shadow-travel at least Scipio home, but after what had happened, Nico wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, much less safe. But when they reached the Stellar, Nico had another reason for not shadow-traveling anyone else that night. He was going to need all his energy to shadow-travel just himself, for the doors of the Stellar had been cordoned off with police tape.

“What were the police doing here?”

“How should I know?” snapped Mosca.

“Just shut up and come on!” Prop ran to the side door, followed by the others. “Bo! Hornet! Lucy! Where are you?” he shouted as soon as they reached the auditorium, but no one answered.

“I knew it! Why didn’t you listen to me? It’s the snoop, he’s conned us!” shouted Riccio as they searched the theater.

Nico turned on him, growling, “Oh shut up, Riccio! I don’t think he turned us in!”

“Oh, and what makes you so smart about the whole thing, eh, Ghost King? Were you in on it?”

“No! But I know how to find out. You stay here and pack everything.”

“And where are you going?”

“I’m going to see Scipio,” Nice explained. “The police would have gone to his house.” He ran and jumped into the nearest shadow, hoping that the others would do as he said. He jumped out just outside of the big posh mansion where Scipio lived, and was immediately grabbed from behind. He spun around, and came face to face with Scipio.

“Scipio!”

“Shush! You’re going to have to shadow-travel me back inside, to the attic.” He pointed to a window at the very top of the house.

Nico nodded and Scipio held on tight. The next minute, the two of them were inside the dusty attic.

“The police just left with Hornet and Lucy; they’ll probably take them to the orphanage. The girls were able to tell me that Bo is with his aunt.”

“Riccio thinks that the snoop told,” Nico said.

“What do you think, Nico?”

His eyes grew wide, and he gasped, “Does Barbarossa know we were staying at the Stellar?”

“No, but it wouldn’t be beneath him to have us followed, or to follow us himself. You think he did?”

“Had to have been. Prop and Hornet took Bo with them to see Barbarossa earlier! Prop told us there were a few wanted posters out with Bo’s picture on them and a reward. Knowing Barbarossa, he would have done anything to pack his pockets with some extra cash. Besides, the snoop said he would have told only if he knew about the theft. Ida was in on the whole thing with us, so there’s no way she would have known about it!”

“I think you’re right; let’s also not forget that Barbarossa was the only other person who might have known we’d be gone tonight. He seems to be on close terms with the Conte.”

“So now what? Knowing Riccio, he’s probably trying to get Prop riled up to go after the snoop.”

“Right, so I’ll make this quick. Go to the snoop . . .”

“What?”

“Let me finish,” Scipio said. “Go to him, ‘cause I’m beginning to think you were right about questioning the Conte. Check to see if the money is alright, also. Maybe he can help in some way, since he and Ida are the only two other people we can trust at this moment. I mean, we don’t have to tell them about you being the son of Hades, or Lucy being a queen of Narnia; that’s still between us, but for right now, we need someone we can go help to sort this out, like getting Lucy and Hornet out of the orphanage.”

“Right.” Nico turned to leave, but Scipio stopped him.

“One more thing; why were you and Lucy so eager to get us away from the orphanage the other day? Was it one of the monsters who’s chasing you?”

Nico sighed. “Well, more like both of them, and they’re…well, they’re aliens.”

“Aliens?”

“Yeah, sorry Scip, but you can’t go to Isola Segreta, not without me, anyway, I’m the only one who can defeat them.”

“What? I don’t understand. Can you please explain?”

“Alright, this will have to be quick. The aliens are known as Weeping Angels because they look like angel statues when you look at them. It’s when you look away that they move.” He paused; Scipio’s eyes had turned wide.

“I’m still listening.”

“Alright, well, there’s another alien called the Doctor, who’s protecting our planet from other aliens, but as I mentioned, I am the only one who can defeat them, so he asked me to kill them all before they get to the merry-go-round.”

“What?”

Nico nodded. “Yes, the merry-go-round is emitting time energy, just enough to alert the Doctor and the Weeping Angels of its presence. The Angels feed on time energy; the Doctor said that they’ll turn off the sun if they eat as much as they want, something he’s afraid they’ll do with the merry-go-round.”

“But you didn’t know about the merry-go-round until we talked with Sister Antonia.”

“No, but neither did they until we led them straight to the answer. Ugh, I should have realized it! The Doctor says that they can sense Lucy and her siblings because they’ve time-traveled!”

“Oh, really?”

Scipio paused and thought for quite a bit before glancing back at Nico with a mischievous grin on his face. “This might work, after all. Listen, go ahead and see the snoop, then find somewhere else to spend the night, maybe at Ida’s if she’ll let you, and get Lucy and Hornet out of the orphanage.”

“Wait, is that it? That’s your big plan?”

“I’ll explain later; you have enough on your plate at the moment. Once you’ve taken care of all of that, I’ll let you know what the next part is, but I have to make sure I can get out tomorrow before we can get it to work,” Scipio quickly added before Nico could protest.

Nico sighed. “Fine, we’ll go see the snoop, find a place to stay, and get the girls out of the orphanage. All in a day’s work.”

Scipio smiled. “Yup, good luck. I’ll come and see you as soon as I can. The faster we get this done, the better it will be.”

Nico nodded and quickly shadow-traveled back to the Stellar before Scipio could say anything else, but he was too late. He found a note from Mosca telling him where they had gone. He groaned. This was turning into one of the strangest adventures ever, made stranger by the very fact that everything fit into place just perfectly, somehow.

He left the Stellar and followed the boys’ tracks to the snoop’s office, hoping that he would get there before they did anything to the detective.

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