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…

“Where is he? He’s never late,” muttered Riccio as the four waited outside Ida Spavento’s house, standing so inconspicuously in front of a magazine stand.

Nico merely watched the house as the others moved about restlessly, trying to blend in by glancing at the magazines now and then. The three soon joined Nico at his perch, watching the house for anything. A noise caught their attention; a middle-aged woman with a dog and some groceries came around the corner a few feet from the house.

“That must be the maid. I’m going to have a chat with her.” Riccio walked off towards the woman who was trying to keep the dog from running and the groceries from falling.

“Wait, Riccio!”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Scipio?”

“He’s not here, we’ve got to get this done,” remarked Hornet as Riccio very conveniently, accidently bumped into the lady, knocking a bag from her hand.

“What are you doing? Are you a thief?”

“No ma’am, I was looking for Dr. Spavento; He’s my new dentist. Does he live here?”

“Where are you going? What are you doing with my groceries? Oh, alright, might as well come in.”

Nico glanced at Prop and Hornet. “For a guy lacking in social skills, he certainly knows how to get others to warm up to him.”

The two grinned as they watched and waited for Riccio’s return. A shout startled them, though Nico paid no heed while Hornet and Prop came face to face with the owner of the magazine stall.

“You kids move away, you’re bothering my customers!”

“It’s alright, Signor, they’re not bothering me.” A blonde woman stepped up behind the owner, and smiled at the kids.

“Oh, fine, have it your way, Signora.” The owner did give them one last glance before returning to the other side of the booth, making it quite clear that he didn’t trust them.

“So, why are you here?” asked the woman.

“It’s none of your business,” mumbled Riccio. His friends turned; he was busy gobbling down a club sandwich.

“Oh, how charming,” the woman noted sarcastically.

Riccio only gave her a scrunched-up face in response.

“Sorry Signora, he’s a bit upset,” Hornet apologised for him, before giving a look to tell him to be nice.

“Well, why don’t you go on an adventure, maybe it will cheer up your charming little friend.”

“But my mother won’t let me stay up past nine.”

“Oh no, what a problem. I would always sneak out after bedtime and go off on adventures. Life is too short to miss out on an adventure.”

“That’s what my mom used to say, before she died,” blurted Prop.

A strange look passed over the woman’s face, and, unseen by the others, a painful look passed over Nico’s face. He glanced away so no one would see him fight to keep his face emotionless.

“Oh, I’m sure you miss her very much.”

“I do.”

“Well, I’d better let you be off on your quest for an adventure. Have fun!”

“We will, thank you Signora.” The three waved to the woman before walking away.

Nico waited until she had turned her back before following the trio. He caught up easily, but kept behind them as Riccio filled in Prop and Hornet on everything that had happened inside the house. Before long, they were back at the Stellar, and Prop rang the doorbell. The door was opened by a smiling Bo.

“I thought I told you not to open the door.”

“I had to. Lucy’s taking care of some cleaning, and Mosca’s fixing the projector with Victor.”

“What?” Riccio pushed past Prop to get into the theater, Prop, Bo, Hornet and Nico following quickly. “What’s he doing out?”

“He offered to help me, and I’m keeping an eye on him.”

“Victor’s our friend,” stated Bo.

“No he’s not; get him back in that cleaning closet.”

“No! No one should be left in a place like that. He could have caught hypothermia and died,” said Lucy, placing her hands on her hips. Though she had been cleaning, she could still strike a queenly pose.

“That would have been nice, actually, and we wouldn’t have to worry about him.”

“How did scoping out the place go?” asked Mosca, clearly not wanting anyone to fight.

“Scipio didn’t show,” grunted Riccio, everyone noticing that the question only seemed to agitate him even more.

“Oh, is that so?” said Victor. “I can tell you a thing or two about your Thief Lord. Ah!”

Riccio had lunged at Victor, punching him squarely on the nose before Prop pulled him back. Bo and Lucy rushed forward to check on Victor.

“Stop speaking in riddles!” Prop warned. “Tell us exactly what you mean or I’ll let him loose.”

“Is that a threat? Alright,” Victor said, “give me a piece of paper and I’ll write down the address you need to go to for your answers.”

An hour later, the sun had set, leaving the moon and the stars to witness a group of children make their way towards an elaborate mansion.

“Alright, this is it.”

“Wow, Scipio would have fun looting this place,” Roccio quipped.

Nico glanced at him before letting out a soft sigh and feeling sorry for the kid; he didn’t seem to get it.

Prop stepped up to the door and rang the bell. A maid answered it, completely perplexed.

“Um, we’re friends of Scipio, may we see him?”

She grunted, “Alright, come on in.” She opened the door to let Prop and Bo in, then began shutting it when the others approached the door. “No, not all of you, two is enough as it is,” she said before slamming the door in their faces.

Nico took a step back; he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know now or wait until Prop and Bo got back. He glanced over the faces of Scipio’s ragtag team. Either way, it wasn’t going to be pretty. It didn’t take long before Prop and Bo came back outside, and Nico could see that shock had given way to anger.

“You see, it wasn’t our Scipio,” blurted Riccio.

“It was him.”

“And his dad’s real mean, too,” said Bo as he and Prop walked away.

Hornet, Mosca, and Lucy followed, but Riccio turned and ran back to the door, Nico pausing to watch him.

“Scipio! Scipio! Open up! It isn’t you! Scipio!” Riccio shouted, banging on the door.

The door was yanked open, startling Riccio and Nico.

A man stood in the doorway with Scipio by the arm, looking very angry. “Be quiet! I don’t know how you know my son or what you have to do with him, but if you keep this up I will call the police!” He pushed Scipio back into the house before slamming the door behind him.

Riccio sank to the ground, tears streaming down his face.

“Riccio, come on, let’s go.”

Riccio looked up at Nico’s dark figure. “Did you tell us the truth, Ghost King?”

Nico looked at him for a bit before answering, “I did, though I didn’t want to. I did tell you the truth. I am the son of Hades.”

“Prove it. Everyone else has, your turn.” Riccio grabbed him firmly by the arm as he rose to look Nico in the eye.

Nico clenched his teeth. “Fine, hold on tight.”

He led Riccio to the side of the house where a nice-sized shadow awaited. He glanced back at Riccio, who gripped Nico’s arm tighter. He looked back at the shadow, and took Riccio through.

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