Tartarus was as lit with fire, orange light twisting it's monsters in ways that fear couldn't rationalize. I didn't know how long I had been down here, and I no longer cared. My cage was surrounded by ghosts, souls condemned here, and they all wanted my flesh. They all wanted my body, so they could once again walk the Earth, so they could exact revenge on anyone and everyone. But the bone bars had been carved with so many protective runes, it was unlikely to ever break. I didn't know if that was a blessing or a curse.
"Little Godling, everything here is a curse." The Nightmare had come back. "Have you not figured that out yet?" I looked up, tossing the strands of what had once been hair from my face. Now it was so caked with blood, you'd think I was a redhead.
"Gaia. Was kinda hoping you found someone, I dunno, not me to be your vessel." She laughed, but I didn't even wince anymore at how it grated at my ears. Very little hurt, not after this constant torture.
"Little Godling, you are the only one alive who holds the power to host me. Only your body could give me a physical form." She was suddenly inside my cage. "Soon, your soul will not be able to function, and I will be able to rise. No one will be able to stop me then." She hissed, and I smiled.
"If you believe that, you're crazier than me." She laughed.
"We'll see, Little Godling. We'll see."
"Regina." My eyes didn't open. I could feel light on my eyelids, and I hated brightness. I hated light. I wanted to live in darkness forever, never having to see Gaia's hands on my face, her lips forming words that took my soul bit by bit. The light that was on was too white. I hated white.
"I'm busy." A huff followed, footsteps as the thing left, and I smirked. Ghouls were stupid, and always listened. I snuggled back into my beautiful, fuzzy blanket, and just enjoyed. Sleep rarely came anymore, and if it did it was one nightmare after another, so I mainly lived on rest. And coffee. And hugs.
"Father wants to see us." I groaned. That voice meant I had to get up.
"Fuck you, Nico." I opened my eyes, glaring at the lights that assaulted them, before alighting on the ghoul standing behind my friend. "If you want to keep your eyes, get the hell out." The thing ran, and I snickered. Scaring things was fun. Especially when it meant that I could pretend that I was in control.
"Raven." He groaned, but I could hear a smirk without even looking at him. He knew. He always knew.
"Nico." I mocked him back. He threw a pillow at me, which I dodged by falling on my ass.
"Get dressed." He muttered, already wearing acceptable clothes. I laughed, grabbing a tank top from my dresser. I slept in shorts and my bra, and he always blushed when he saw. I always put it down to him being born in the 40s. Of course, mine was the only female body he got to see, so he wasn't all that used to the softer parts.
"It's just boobs. No need to turn into a tomato." He growled, blushing harder.
"Bring your old clothes." I gave him a look. Old clothes could mean two things with me, and I wasn't excited for either. "We're going to chase Tom Marvelo Riddle down, and kill him." I couldn't decide between smirking and crying.
"So, Hades is finally done with that fucker? Didn't he get brought back to human form last spring?" I shoved two pairs of robes into my bottomless messenger bag. My mother had made it for me, two years before she died. A few changes of clothes were already in there, along with, ahem, my supplies. Both kinds.
"Yeah. You know he made fucking Horcruxes?"
"Why do you think I call him "Fucker" instead of "Shitter"?" I tossed on a not too ripped pair of black skinny jeans, tucking them into my favorite pair of boots. These boots made me feel like a complete badass, and they looked awesome with any outfit. Nico eyed my clothes, with a raised eyebrow. "What?" He threw a tangle of necklaces, and my wristbands, at me. I smiled, putting them on before jumping onto his back.
"Thank you, Gay-Friend!" He snorted.
"You're gonna get stared at if you're around mortals looking like you survived Hiroshima. I'm just protecting the integrity of our mission." I nuzzled closer into his neck. "Fucking Lesbian."
Hades was not at all amused by my choice of shirt. Thankfully, though, he only raised an eyebrow at the pink "All Negatrash must die" logo. I shrugged at him.
"Hey, Sailor Moon is totally badass." Nico rolled his eyes, already used to my anime obsession. The Lord of the Underworld sighed, and started briefing us.
"You're going to London. There are two in that area, one in a shack in Little Hangleton, two at Hogwarts, and the last is a snake who never leaves Riddle's side. THe first three I expect delivered to me by the end of the week. The ones at Hogwarts will be harder, to gain access to the school, we've had to enroll you." I froze, every part of my body turning to poisonous ice.
"With all due respect, my Lord, what the fuck did I do to deserve that?" I hissed, hate lighting up my black eyes. A heavy, but affectionate sigh came from Hades.
"You have done nothing, Regina, but this is the only way, and I don't want to send Nico alone. Your knowledge will be invaluable, and he will be there to support you." I nodded, fisting my shirt to keep from hugging myself.
"Of course." I wanted to cry. I had been running from Wizards for years, now I was being ordered to return to the heart of my painful past. "Hogwarts, great, what next." I met his eyes, and I saw sympathy. I normally shied away from pity, but from Hades it was acceptable.
"There is no specific timetable to removing those, seeing as one of them is a living person; Harry Potter. We will go over extraction methods when the time comes. Save the snake for last, we want you to take care of the main soul at the same time. I have things to take care of here, there is still a ton of back log from the wars, but Hecate and Thanatos have agreed to guide you to the best of their abilities." I brightened, energy replacing the ice in my veins.
"I get to see Dad?"
"You bet, kiddo." I squealed, and ran into my dad's hug. His large, black wings encircled me, cocooning me in the warmth and smell that was all him. He had a lot of forms, but with me, he prefered to look young. I always thought it was to make me feel normal. The marks on my abdomen burned. Normal was not a word to describe our relationship. When I finally pulled away, Nico was there, slinging an arm around my shoulders, using his superior height to hug me from behind. I leaned into the touch. All of the men in my life were so conscious of how broken I was. "I've got some things for both of you. Hecate and I are going to switch off, one of us will always be available to you two while the other catches up on work. And I got today." A smile directed at me told me all I needed to know. He wanted to see me, and I loved that. I always thought Nico and I were lucky with our godly parents, because they cared about us, and made excuses to see us as much as possible.
"Alright, Bossman, lay it on us." He smiled.
"Regina's already connected to me, but just in case." He ripped a single black feather from his wing, and handed it to me. "Draw some blood, and I'll know you need me. Hecate's got something like that too, but she didn't trust me to explain it right." He rubbed his head sheepishly. "Seeing as I understood about half of her explanation, I agree. But, she did trust me enough to give you these." He took two necklaces out of his pocket, handling them as if they were made of gold. They had simple black cords, and a bone pendant at the end. "They will give you the powers of a wizard, so you can blend into Hogwarts." Nico took his easily, sliding it onto his neck, but I hesitated. I had a love-hate relationship with Magic, and this just seemed too easy. But I acquiesced, taking the pendant. I wanted it more than I hated it. As soon as it touched my hand, the bone at the end morphed. Instead of looking like a femur(ew.), it now resembled a crescent moon. A symbol I would recognize anywhere.
"Hecate, I could kiss you right now." The magic goddess was the only girl I really talked to down here, since ghosts didn't count, and Melinoe was such a bore. Apparently, she had payed attention to my Sailor Moon talk(read, ranting), enough to know that this was the best thing she could have done at that moment.
"Sometimes, I question your ability to make friends, Raven." I turned to Nico, who was looking at his own pendant with disgust. It had turned into a unicorn, and colored pink. I giggled.
"Oh, but Nico, it suits you!" He glared. "Fine, we've had our fun." The bone morphed into something much more Nico; a small dagger. He smirked.
"Much better." I rolled my eyes.
"Drama Queen." He shoved me. "So, other presents?" The boys chuckled at my hopeful expression.
"Not right now, sweetheart." I shrugged.
"Alright, but that mean's we're going shopping." Nico paled.
"What."
"School supplies? I'm guessing we're going to need to keep up a charade so Voldyfarts doesn't catch onto us. Plenty of his followers have kids in Hogwarts, to hide, we need to blend." I paused, looking him over. "Well, blend as well as a gay goth and otaku brat can." He snorted.
"Great. School. Fun."
"Come on, Nico, it's just until the Horcruxes there are retrieved."
"And how long will that take, exactly?" I stomped on his foot.
"Lord Hades, a pleasure." I grabbed Nico's arm, dragging him from the throne room, grumbling about sarcastic death kings. My father chuckled.
"Have fun Regina!"
"Doubtful, but Hell if I don't try!"
Shadow traveling was awesome. When it didn't completely suck your lifeforce and kill you. Now that was fun. Thankfully, however, Nico and I were able to get to England without too much trouble, and I was only slightly woozy when we landed in a London alley. We got up and dusted each other off, trying to not look like street rats. Nico fixed my earring, my dad's wing feather hiding in plain sight, surrounded by rainbow feathers. I had quickly attached it to an hook I already had, knowing that anything else would look strange. Stranger than normal, anyway.
"Please tell me you have a plan." Nico groaned, cracking his back.
'Yeah. We're going to need mason jars, robes, and McDonalds. And Milkshakes. I really need a milkshake." He nodded gravely.
"Deal. I'll get the food. You get the jars. We eat, then we go to Diagonal Wizards."
"Diagon Alley, you dumbass." He grinned, walking away to join the throngs of people. I huffed, blowing my blue hair from my eyes. I blinked quickly, grabbing the strands. For a second, they had looked red...no. I had dyed them blue. My hair was blue.
It was easy to find a store that sold mason jars, they were apparently in high demand. It was also easy to palm a lighter on my way out. I met Nico in the Hotel room Hades had booked for us. He was munching fries, looking at one of the books I had grabbed from my Mother's old trunk.
"History of Magic?" He nodded.
"This is the weirdest shit. Who the fuck decides to randomly create a spell to stop a giant bee from stealing their cheese?" That perked my interest. I went over to the bed to look over his shoulder.
"How drunk were they?" He turned the page, and threw it across the room. I was frozen, a blush staining my cheeks. "Nico?"
"We do not talk about it. We do not mention it. We pretend we saw nothing, and move on."
"Agreed." I squeaked. It took us a few minutes to compose ourselves again.
"You wanna get the first thing?" I nodded, glad to get away from that book. "Alright." He grabbed the paper Thanatos had given us, one that listed a description of all the horcruxes, and their rough location. "He said you'd be able to lead us to them, since you're, um." I nodded, rubbing my stomach.
"And we'll know when we've got one, because it'll feel absolutely disgusting." He nodded, thankful.
"Right." I slapped him upside the head. "Ow! What the hell, Raven?"
"Stop feeling guilty." I stalked out of the room, pulling on a jacket. It was damn cold in London, for a summer day.
"Love you too, Bitch." He mumbled. I smiled.
It was in an invisible house. The Horcrux was in an invisible. Fucking. House.
"What the fuck was in that milkshake?" I muttered, rubbing my forehead.
"I don't think we can have the same acid trip, Raven, so you're clean."
"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel better." I leaned on the telephone post outside the invisible house, and closed me eyes. Nico started dicking around on his phone, so we looked like we weren't creepily standing around, stalking a house. When I opened my eyes again, I felt the black in them. Nico looked up, and shuddered.
"That never stops being creepy."
"I'll take that as a compliment. There are people inside. We're gonna need to be stealthy." He rolled his eyes.
"Great. Stealth. Because we're so good at that." I groaned.
"That was one fucking time, Nico!"
"And we were grounded for one fucking year, Raven!"
"You are so difficult." I saw the glint in his eyes as he slid his hand into his now full pocket. "Come on, Dad's not gonna come get us for another hour. Let's do something, dammit!" He smirked, throwing an arm around my shoulder.
"So needy." I laughed.
"Gay." I muttered.
"Lesbian." He whispered back. I smiled, and threw my head into his shoulder. He was the only one I was like this with. Even with Hecate and my Dad, there was a level of respect, or my equivalent of it. With Nico. I let go. I was me. I could be Raven, his best friend, instead of Regina. And he could be Nico, instead of the Ghost King. Fair trade, in my books.
I didn't miss the feeling of eyes boring into my back. I knew there was someone in that invisible house that had seen us.
Ollivander's Wand Shop was dusty. Most people would probably find it creepy, but when you live in the Underworld for most of the year, very few things are creepy. This was just sneeze inducing. I walked forward, ignoring the empty front desk, and went straight to the shelves, running my hands over the long, thin boxes.
"Raven, I don't think that's a good idea-"
"I quite agree, Mr. Di Angelo." The old wandmaker himself appeared, looking at me with wide eyes. "I would not normally be nervous with you touching my wands, Miss Phoss, but today you carry a power you've never had before." I whipped my hand away from the shelves. Magic. Badbadbad.
"Thanks for the tip." I muttered, slinking back to stand with Nico. If Ollivander could sense power, he was talking about Wizarding Magic. Which meant I had some. I had magic. I didn't know wether to laugh or cry. I was sore tempted to do both.
"You two," He looked straight at us, and we stared right back. "You need wands." Nico snorted. I rolled my eyes. "How strange. Your kind don't usually need wands, Regina." I groaned.
"Don't question the fates, Ollie, they get pissy real fast." He looked slightly affronted.
"Raven, can you please not anger the man who's going to give us our weapons of mass destruction?"
"I would have to make a conscious choice not to."
"Raven." I sighed.
"Fine. For you. Choice made." Ollivander huffed.
"Here. Perfect for two children of death." He stared at us, looking for a reaction. We just raised our eyebrows, perfectly in sync.
"So the Seer knows who we are." Nico said, a smirk curling his mouth at the wandmaker's surprise.
"Didn't think we knew, Ollie?" I laughed. "The names on the boxes gave you away. The wand chooses the wizard, such bull. You create a wand for every magical child, knowing exactly what they'll need." I took the boxes, carefully placing them in my bag. We needed them, so breaking them wasn't the best idea. We left him sputtering, leaving his shop in a sweep of shadows. Metaphorically. We wouldn't be that stupid, showing off our powers to everyone. We knew we needed to hide.
"So, Bookshop next?" I brightened. Nico groaned.
"Oh! I wonder what kind of fiction they have! Do you think they have a manga section? Come on come on, let's goooo!" I yanked at his arm, but he didn't budge.
"School books only."
"What? Why?"
"You brought five different fiction books and three manga. You'll be fine." I huffed.
"Killjoy asshole." He grinned.
"Sugar high otaku." I grinned.
"And damn proud of it!"
I was still ranting by the time we had left Madam Malkin's.
"They didn't have any fiction. Any! It was all school books, non-fiction texts. Where's the creativity? The imagination? How the hell do they survive without reading something that isn't boring as fuck?"
"Not everyone can be you, Raven." Nico swiped angrily at his fringe, and I winced. He was introverted as fuck, and was now very fed up with being around people.
"Come on, one more stop, then we go back, yeah?" He nodded. "I'll even do the talking." He managed a smirk. "Let's do this." I skipped up the stairs of Gringotts, a feat only accomplished by the most proficient skippers. A quick nod to the two guards, and we were inside. Nico stayed at my shoulder, eyes scanning for danger, as I brought us to the farthest Teller to the left.
"Hello, I have a meeting?" The Goblin looked down it's long nose at me.
"With who?" I took my bracelets off my left wrist, flashing the dark marks decorating it. The Goblin's eyes widened. "Follow me." We were quickly lead to an office, with a nameplate in gold.
"Director, leader. Maximum respect." I muttered to Nico, warning him. He quickly nodded, placing a hand on my back.
"And curtain." He whispered back as the doors opened. A stately, if not intimidating, Goblin sat at the desk.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Child of Death?" He noticed Nico, eyes flicking from his stance to his skull ring. "And the Ghost King. I am honored." I put on my best smile.
"We've come to collect something that belongs to our fathers, Director Ragnok. It lies in one of your vaults." He bristled.
"And what do we have of Death's?" I nodded, bowing to his rage.
"A condemned soul. A piece of a man, broken so that he may hide from us." My head tilted, and I brought my hand up to pull my hair back, making sure he could see the marks on my wrist. Like the Teller, his eyes widened, but there was no fear in his gaze.
"A great burden you carry, Regina Phoss." I laughed.
"Yes, great. Now, we know the owner of the vault. I would like to be brought there immediately." He nodded.
"If you are speaking about what I fear, then the sooner you get it out of my bank, the better." I smiled again, and pulled a bag of precious jewels from my bag. I tossed them onto his desk.
"Thank you for cooperating. The vault holder is Bellatrix Lestrange." He returned my smile, though on him it looked like a snarl.
"Goldbiter, bring them to Vault 12. They are allowed to take whatever they want. When they are gone, I want every vault of known and suspected Death Eaters to be searched. Any dangerous objects that are found must be destroyed, and the Vaults frozen until I say so." A goblin guard standing next to the door saluted, and opened the door, gesturing for us to follow. I bowed to Ragnok one last time, and left, Nico at my shoulder. I took the long walk to fasten my bracelets back on my wrist. The marks were too noticeable, and anyone with a brain would be able to connect them to Death. Not a good conclusion in the society we were currently in. I turned to Nico.
"Ready to skip off into the sunset?"
"If by skip off into the sunset you mean go to the Hotel, fine." He grumbled good naturedly. I nudged him, and he continued deeper into Gringotts.
The Hotel only had one bed, and we were sharing it. It didn't really bother us, we'd done it before, mostly after bad nightmares, but I made sure to put a shirt on. I teased Nico, but I hated to make him skittish. And it wasn't our first errand together. Ever since Nico had come to the Underworld five years ago, Hades had sent us on missions together, and we knew each other so well that is was impossible to be uncomfortable. I had lived in the Palace of the Dead for a few years when he came, and I was elected to be his guide. Completely against my will. But we hit it off quickly, and he became the only one I had ever opened up to. We shared our loneliness, and our fears. And we faced them, together, for the most part. But he had other friends when I had none, and I was still a little jealous at how much time he spent at camp. I was happy that he had people far less messed up than I was, and even a potential boyfriend, but I couldn't help but feel like I was losing him.
Nico shifted in his sleep, an arm coming to wrap around my waist. I smiled. The rational part of me knew, had always known, that Nico would never leave me alone. And moments like this convinced the irrational part of me. I decided that if I ever met this Will Solace, I was going to glomp him. He was part of the reason that Nico was more open with his feelings, that he didn't bottle emotions up to rant with me over anymore.
My Dad didn't do the do often, so I was currently his only kid, which I was fine with. Nico persuaded the camp to build a shrine to Thanatos instead of a Cabin, and I never went, because I didn't feel the need to. I liked living in the Underworld and doing whatever the fuck I wanted, instead of being stuck in the camp, another person to gawk at. I don't like gawking, at all. Not at me, not at Nico. I didn't like it when the dead did it, I hated when the living did it. I was a living thing, not a sideshow freak. No matter the current circumstances. Anyway, the Underworld had wifi, and I never got yelled at for marathoning anime. Big plus in my book.
We hadn't bothered to change into pyjamas, so I woke up to my bra awkwardly twisted, because my tank top had somehow gotten tucked under it. A spitting sound behind me indicated that Nico woke up eating my hair, so I got the better deal out of the two.
"I hate you and your stupid hair." I smiled.
"You love me, especially my hair. You just won't admit it because it'll take away some of your manly pride." He shoved me.
"You're right. I do love your hair." He yanked on it. "Because I can do that." I glared.
"You're so lucky I love you too. You and you're stupid hair that you won't let me dye." He cupped his hands protectively around his head.
"You wouldn't dare." I gave him a look. "I know where you keep your manga. And the matches." My eyes widened, and I attacked.
"This means war, Di'Angelo!" I ended up sprawled on the ground, having been knocked off the bed by a punch to the stomach. "Ow."
"You'll live." We got up and dressed for the day. We were going to grab the last Horcrux outside of Hogwarts today, get lunch, then send all three to the Underworld. Then probably pass out or watch TV. Nico rolled his eyes at my choice of clothes, and I flipped him off. There was absolutely nothing wrong with pink, or high waisted shorts. Put the two together with a tank top and thigh highs, and you get one badass outfit.
"Gods, we look like a right pair of goths." I muttered, taking in his Fall Out Boy shirt. He snorted.
"We look like we're dating." It was my turn to snort.
"Well, if I was into guys, I'd probably be all over you, so it's a fair statement." He rolled his eyes, and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the shadows.
We came up right outside a decrepit shack. It was disgusting. There were rats, and mold was everywhere. I pulled a kerchief out of my pocket, and handed it to Nico, pulling up my tank top over my mouth. Nico tossed me a mason jar, and drew his loose floorboard was easy to find, and the box was easy to open. The ring inside was jarring to the senses, but Nico quickly lifted it with his sword and deposited it into the jar. I closed it, and the sense of wrongness lessened. I stashed it in my bag, and pulled out my own sword, though leaving it in it's small form. That being an eyeliner pencil. The shack reeked of the Horcrux, and mold, and I just knew that I wouldn't be able to calm down for a while.
We went outside before shadow traveling, and I spared a glare for the house sitting on the hill above the treeline. I wanted to go there and rip it apart, but that would make Riddle so much harder to kill. Better to destroy all of his Horcruxes first. Nico grabbed my hand.
"You good with some take away pub fare?" I nodded. "Go to the room, I'll get it." I hugged him, and jumped into a shadow.
As I waited for Nico, I looked through the books we had bought for Hogwarts. We needed to look the part of Wizards, since our cover story was that our parents had moved from America for a better job offer, and we had to move schools. The Headmistress of Salem Academy owed Hecate a favor, so we had all the necessary paperwork. I grabbed a book at random, and went to reading. I still remembered some of the things my mother had told me, but she hadn't really had a reason to go over spells. Most of my knowledge lay in history, herbology, and potions.
"Hey." Nico slumped onto the bed, throwing a greasy bag onto the desk.
"Wizards are weird."
"Damn straight...you realize you're reading that book upside down?"
"It makes more sense this way."
I fucking hate wizards. Everything about them is so colossally stupid it makes my brain scream. And I live with the dead, many of whom died in stupid accidents. I know stupid. My brain is accustomed to stupid. But this was too illogical for even me.
"A train. A motherfucking train. They take a fucking train to a wizard school. Four hundred children on a single train for five damn hours, with only two adults. Do they want us to die?" Nico snorted.
"We've already established that Wizards are idiots."
"Doesn't mean I can't keep repeating it." We grabbed the first empty compartment we could, and slumped into the seats. We positioned ourselves comfortably on the seats, me leaning against the wall and Nico leaning against my propped legs. I had my sketchbook out, my hands too fidgety to stay still. Nico was calmer, one hand drumming against his thigh between turning pages of his book. I had found a spell that translated things, so all of our books were in ancient greek. Much less of a headache.
"Raven, do you know a spell to bring book characters to life?" I lazily swirled my pen into the Airbender symbol.
"No, why?" He turned to look at me.
"I want Alec." I took one look at his sincere expression and laughed.
"Oh, my beautiful gay baby, I will find you that spell." He returned to his book, and I grew impatient with the paper and moved to sketching directly on my skin. I liked the look of my yellow gold skin against the black ink. I felt something outside the room, two lifeforms, and nudged Nico. He hummed a reply, just before the door slammed open.
"Well, lookie here Fred, we found ourselves the mysterious transfer students." Two redheads(I hate redheads) were standing in the middle of the compartment, smugly staring at us. I barely gave them a glance, Nico didn't look up from his book. We couldn't care less about these two.
"Shy things, aren't they, Gerogie."
"Yes, they must need some cheering up!" The reached into their pockets, but I was up with wands to each of their necks in seconds. They froze. One of them looked over at Nico, who was still reading, back curved like my legs were still propping him up. I shifted my grip on Nico's ebony wand, bringing the twin's attention straight back to me.
"Doing anything that would change anything about us would be very ill advised."
"They did say they were American, Fredie."
"Yeah, but I thought Americans were more civilized than this!" I snorted, shoving my redwood stick farther into "Freddie's" neck.
"You wanna find out just how uncivilized I am? Say another word, I fucking dare you." Something in my black eyes must have told them that I wasn't joking. They didn't speak.
"Raven, darling, I think they repent. Stand down." I growled, but complied. Nico took both wands from me as I situated myself. A difficult task, since I nearly sat on my pen. I started sketching the Planet Symbols onto my left thigh, putting the Moon in the middle.
"You're still here?" The redheads paused, the trunks they were shoving into the overhead nearly braining them.
"You two are far too interesting to just leave alone." The sat opposite us, looking suspiciously at me. "Though how safe we are in here is debatable." I snorted.
"At least you have brains under that stupid hair." They grew defensive quickly.
"You've got something against redheads?"
"Only if it's blood." The blinked in confusion. But they put it aside, taking the hint that asking about it would get their balls blown off. Literally.
"Well, we're Fred and George Weasley. Seventh Year Gryfs."
"And resident trouble makers. Pranksters extraordinaire!" They bowed extravagantly.
"I'm Regina Phoss, this is Nico." They eyed us up.
"Your brother."
"Close, Best Friend. He doesn't like giving strangers ways to find him."
"And you?"
"I don't care. I'm not in one place long enough for my name to matter." They shrugged.
"Secretive enough for Slytherin."
"Yeah, Georgie, don't know why we're bothering with them."
"Yes, destined for the snake pit, these two." This time Nico snorted.
"What's so bad about being ambitious and cunning? I'd hate to be brave and noble, especially since Gryffindors don't seem to have the intelligence to back it up." I laughed.
"No, Nico, you're Ravenclaw. Scary smart with no social skills." He flicked my calf. "I might be Slytherin, though. Greatest ambition, get out of this hell house!" He sniggered.
"Naw, Hufflepuff. Loyal and caring, even with all of that caustic sarcasm."
"They'll take one look at me and send me away. Won't even give me a chance to use that caustic sarcasm we're both fond of." Red One raised his hand.
"I am utterly confused."
"We're calling your school stupid. Get with the program."
"Nope, still confused." I rolled my eyes.
"Get with the program, I'm guessing that's a phrase native to America. I don't know how to explain it."
"Nothing else makes sense. He's dark and broody, but plainly American. You're...chinese?" Nico snarled, rising from his seat, until I pulled him back, trapping him in my lap.
"Cool it. We're going to have to deal with this a lot." I turned to the two idiots. "Actually, I'm Japanese. I take after my father. And Nico is very proud of his Italian heritage. I will excuse your ignorance just this once." Nico pulled my head to his chest, sheltering me from them.
"America's changed a lot. It isn't just white, you can find any race there. Insult her again, and I will see how closely your hair resembles your blood."
"That won't be necessary. I can already tell you that their blood is mud. Side effect to long term exposure to Muggles." A blond kid was leaning against the door. He looked like an ass, too perfect. I could definitely smell the hair gel he used. "Isn't little Ronny all set to marry that mudblood whore he hangs out with, or has Potter already claimed her?" The prat moved closer to the seething redheads, but my head was swimming. "Are they going to share?" I think one of them went to punch him, but I was busy holding my head, keeping a scream from bubbling out of my mouth.
"Raven? Raven!" I was back in that cage, Gaia's taunts coming at me from all sides.
Raven started whispering in Greek, her irises growing until the black covered her eyes.
"Raven. Regina! Oh for the love of-" I shook her, trying to knock her out of her own mind. "Regina, please. You're safe. It's Nico, I'm here." Black swirls started climbing from her wrists, and I pulled her into my chest, ready to weather yet another panic attack. "Raven, love, I'm here. I've got you." It took a minute, a very long minute, but tears started creating a wet patch on my shirt, and I sighed in relief. Tears meant she was out of the cage. Her attacks never lasted long, but she didn't need to be in that cage for even a second to be just as terrified as when it was real. Just thinking about it scared her. "I've got you Raven."
"Mud...blood...that's...that's what she was going to do! She said that when she was done...I'd be nothing more than a shell, with mud for blood. A true vessel of the Earth Queen. I'd forgotten...she said, gods, she said-" She buried her face back into my shoulder, shaking. I glared at the blond bastard.
"Get out. Right fucking now." Raven was much better at threatening murder with her eyes, but I was still able to scare the prat enough for him to leave. The red heads were frozen on the seats, but I couldn't care less. Raven was the only thing that mattered right now, unless they interfered, they didn't matter. I started humming, knowing that silence disconcerted her.
"Ninna nanna, ninna oh
Questo bimbo a chi lo dò?" Raven sang softly, moving her head so I could hear, instead of serenading my shoulder.
"Se lo dò alla Befana,
Se lo tiene una settimana." I answered. My mom had sung this to Bianca and me, and I taught it to Raven a year ago, after she woke screaming from nightmares. I don't know if she understood it, she usually found more comfort in intent than words.
"Se lo dò all'uomo nero,
Se lo tiene un anno intero." I loved hearing her sing. She rarely did, not around other people, but when she was having a particularly hard time on missions, she'd just burst out in a song. She knew many; not all of them in English. I'd heard Japanese, French, German, even Croatian. It didn't matter to her if she knew the language, because the feeling with which she sang was a universally understood.
"Ninna nanna, ninna oh,
Questo bimbo me lo terrò!" I finished, pulling her close, letting her just shake. The Giant War had taken a lot from Raven, but I was the only one who knew. The Campers didn't even know she existed, never mind how hard she fought for them. She had personally fought Gaia off for three months, then spent another four in a Jar, slowly dying. What happened after...that was her greatest accomplishment.
"Is...is she..." I looked at the red heads. They were staring at Raven, but with sadness and fear, not with pity or disgust. One of them, Fred, I think, managed to finish their sentence. "Is she okay?" There was a sort of desperation in them that I didn't expect. Who was this concerned over another person after knowing them for an hour?
"Raven will be fine. She's stronger than she looks."
"So, Raven-"
"Regina. I'm the only one who calls her Raven." They nodded. I was extremely protective of my nickname rights; Raven was for me only. Our fathers had nicknames they sometimes used, but Raven was all mine.
"Regina, what happened to her? Did someone hurt her?" George was the one to work up the courage this time. Again, I was confused at how defensive they sounded of her.
"There were threats, nothing more." I wasn't about to reveal anything that would incriminate us, but Raven was still struggling. A story had to be made up. "But they were bad enough for our parents to seek jobs here. We have family in London, it was an easy decision." An easy lie too. One they seemed to buy.
"That won't happen here."
"Anyone tries anything, tell us."
"We know our way around revenge." I smirked.
"Something we have in common." They returned my smirk, and with Raven huddled into my chest, we made good conversation the rest of the way to the school. It was nice to have allies.
When the two Weasleys went to go check on their brothers, Raven spoke again.
"Nico, would you mind if I beat up a ton of people?"
"Depends on who they are, what they did, and if you can get away with it."
"Malfoy looked the type to spread a rumor. I don't want to deal with it, but if someone bothers me, I'm not one for debating."
"So long as you don't reveal yourself, Raven, and you stay as safe as possible, I'm fine. Anyways, I'll probably be right there, helping you."
The Great Hall didn't impress me. I lived in the Underworld, which may be creepy, but there was the best architecture in the world. All time periods were represented there, and it was beautiful, in a ruinous type of way. Here, there was too much...light. And living people. It didn't feel right. And the long tables, they just seemed to promote rivalries. In the Underworld, you were stuck with people for eternity. And anyway, there weren't any dining rooms. I was the only full time resident there that ate, most often I'd do it in my room or somewhere in the Mortal World.
We walked in with the first years, after being greeted by a stern looking woman. She looked so tired. I wanted to give her a hug. The people in the hall were staring at Nico and I, taking in everything, from our joined hands to our clothes. Nico was in the school uniform, rumpled, but cleaned. I had adjusted mine, switched the shoes out for more comfortable ones, and wore leggings instead of tights. Enough people were going to try to get up my skirt, I didn't need them to find anything they shouldn't. It took awhile for the first years to be sorted by an old hat with no volume control, but eventually we were the only ones standing. The stern woman, Professor McGonagall, stood back as a wizened old man rose to address the school.
"Today, I make an announcement that hasn't been used in over five hundred years. Regina Phoss and Nico Di'Angelo are from America, and certain circumstances have had them transfer to our school. Please, welcome them as you have been welcomed." McGonagall gestured Nico forward. He sat, his knees stretching out awkwardly. I saw his hands tighten into fists as soon as the hat was placed on his head, and I just knew he was aching to go for his sword. My anticipation grew, fear and excitement running through my veins. I did not want to be separated from him, and I also did not want to put that hat on. Too many people screwed with my mind already.
"Gryffindor!" The hat screamed, making me wince. The Weasley twins were applauding like crazy, but the rest of the hall only clapped politely, if at all. Nico went to me, instead of going to his new table.
"Breath, Raven." I squeezed his hand.
"Don't forget what I said, Mr. Di'Angelo. It may be useful." The hall froze in shock. Nico just grinned.
"Seeing as you burned it into my memory, I doubt I'll be forgetting." He pushed me forward. "Go get 'em, Raven." I rolled my eyes. My smile dropped as soon as the hat was on my head.
"The Daughter of Death, chosen."
"And you know what I was chosen for, so make this quick."
"Your friend thinks highly of you."
"I know."
"You think highly of him too."
"He is my brother in everything but blood. In my greatest battles, he has fought by my side. I would, and have, follow him to hell."
"Yes, a very brave choice."
"But you aren't even considering making me a Lion."
"In Mr. Di'Angelo, his bravery was so great, his lack of nobility was overlooked."
"In my case it cannot be? Am I so cowardly?"
"No, Miss Phoss. In your case, something outshines even your loyalty."
"That being?" I could just feel it smiling.
"Pink is your favorite color?"
"In some parts of the world, it's considered a color of death. Are we going to be chatting, or are you going to put me in one of these ill-thought out prejudice generators?"
"Opinionated little thing, aren't you?"
"Yes. Don't like, don't care."
"And very blunt."
"Sweetheart, I'm a lot of things, but I am far too trigger happy right now to list them all."
"I am going to enjoy this. Good luck with your mission, Miss Death!"
"Hufflepuff!" Oh, I was going to murder that hat.
I stood, taking care to stab the hat with my fingernails as much as possible when I was taking it off. Sure, Hufflepuff, house of the loyal. But not Nico's house. How the fuck was I supposed to explain my nightmares now?
Nico took my hand, squeezing gently. I was sure the same thought were going through his head, we both suffered from dream terrors. But, we walked to the Hufflepuff table, sat me down, said goodbye, and went to his own House. We were no more than seven feet apart, but it was more than that. Two of the people next to me started trying to engage in conversation, but I ignored them. I really started to hope that this quest wouldn't take too long. I don't think I could last till it's end.
The first few days weren't bad. We were placed into the fifth year, and though classes were difficult, Nico and I managed to fake it. Several of my housemates had approached with offers of friendship, but I turned them down. Getting attached to anyone here would be hard. I had too many secrets to keep. Nico said his housemates left him alone, which he was fine with. Only the two Weasley twins really talked to us, not for the lack of a Hufflepuff effort.
"Nico, where would the crown be hidden?" We were sitting in the Library, in a small corner. Even with the lack of people, we spoke Greek, knowing that our conversations must be secret.
"The castle is gigantic, and nothing is giving off the feelings that the previous two have. No trail of evil to follow." I sighed. Harry Potter was easy enough to find, with most people avoiding him like the plague. But we needed to find the crown before going after him.
"We don't know the castle well enough, searching it top to bottom would be a waste of our time. Like this homework." They had us write essays, and they were boring. My hand was cramping like hell, it hurt like a bitch to write more than six inches.
"And asking the Weasley twins would do more harm than good. The horcrux might be magically hidden, and they'll want to know what for and why we're searching."
"Gods of Hell, let this end." I groaned, throwing my head onto my arms. "I just want to go back to my Anime and Fangirling and ice cream."
"And I want to get back to camp. Will's probably freaking out by now, especially if Father was truthful in banning communication. We just need to finish this Raven. We'll figure it out." He pulled my head up, ignoring my glare. "Raven, don't make me drag you."
"Fine. Fine! Let's do this. Anything to stop writing." He chuckled.
"Now, there's the Raven I-"
"What language is that?" A boy in green asked. He was dark skinned, probably the darkest in the school. Not hard, considering that the school was whiter than America's government.
"It's none of your business." I snapped out. He smirked, letting out a sound half laugh and half huff.
"It is my business, Puff, since I don't recognize it. I know several languages, but not that one." I snorted, and Nico kicked me under the table.
"Direct, aren't you?" I rolled my eyes at the pleasantry in Nico's voice.
"You two don't seem to be ones to appreciate subtlety."
"That is putting it mildly." Nico muttered.
"Look, you two enjoy your bro-bonding, I'm going to find something to punch." Nico called after me, but I brushed him off. Being in this place was trying. I kept thinking of my mother, and I had more important things than old fears to deal with. Namely, a pink toad that thought I was a good target. It was for Nico's sake only that I hadn't snapped. But my patience was wearing thin.
"And where are you going to in such a hurry, Miss Phoss?" Speak of the pink devil and she shall appear to assault your eyes and fashion tastes.
"Professor. Just going for a walk. I needed to take a break from homework before my head exploded." There was that giggle that made me want to tear her throat out.
"I understand. American curriculums are no where near ours in standard, it makes sense that you would struggle, what with your...lesser education." Lady, I'm about to break out some of my lesser education and stab you with it.
"I assure you, Madam Umbridge, that my education was on par with what I am receiving here."
"Well, is that not why you moved? To get a higher understanding of your magic?" She was smiling at me, and her lipstick looked like kitten blood.
"Miss Umbridge, I moved because I was attacked, and nearly died. Did Dumbledore not tell you? Or did he just feed you the stock story that my parents found a better job here?" There, insult her position here. Definitely enough to ruffle her feathers.
"You will not lie to me, Miss Phoss. Such a thing is despicable."
"Me, lying? Look hard in the mirror, Professor, you'll find the real liar." I stalked off. The stupid capes we had to wear here made for a dramatic exit.
I found my way to the roof. A beautifully carved stone gargoyle made a fine seat, and I draped my legs easily over the edge to wave with the wind.
"Kikoeru… kaze…mabushii… niji no a-chi…" Miss Dream was one of my favorite songs from Sera Myu. Hotaru had always connected with me as a character, not just for her powers over death, but her utter loneliness. And her song just...spoke to me.
"Konnichiha. Anata ha daijoubu desu ka?" There was a girl with steel blue eyes sitting on top of the gargoyle next to me. Strange that I didn't notice, I could usually sense life forms before the came within striking range. "Regina, are you alright?"
"Your soul is off."
"I get that a lot."
"Do you?" I turned back to the view. "I've never felt anything like it."
"Doubtful you would. I'm quite a rare specimen. I never expected to see a daughter of death at Hogwarts, never less one that spoke Japanese."
"I never expected to see someone with the Sight at Hogwarts. Guess we're even." She laughed.
"How do you know Japanese? Ancient Greek was a gimme, and with Di'Angelo's...upbringing, Italian is obvious. But the Greeks have never traveled to Japan."
"My mother."
"She was a witch, you wouldn't know what you do if she wasn't. A Hogwarts one, if I'm not mistaken."
"You're right, you are unique. No, my mother was an english born pureblood, married into a prominent family. It was a good union, two very powerful families, and together she and her husband could have controlled the Wizengamot. Until she had a dalliance with a foreign stranger."
"Your father took the form of a Japanese man. And you learned the language to become closer to him."
"And I'm assuming that once you saw a few monsters, you did your research. Tried to find out why you could see things no one else could see. And you came across what you had seen in a book of Greek Myths. Of course, it helped that you have some seers blood. Your sight became powerful, and you grew to know everything about everyone. But to protect yourself from a greedy and corrupt Ministry, you hid behind a facade of insanity."
"Luna Mauve Lovegood, resident freak." I laughed.
"Regina Cassiopeia Phoss, eternal anomaly. Welcome to the "I want to punch fate" Club."
"Your father allowed you to carry a family name, even when he knew you weren't his."
"My mother was publically pregnant, but I was early. He gave me that name, then announced to the world that I was stillborn. Three days later, my mom ran, taking me with her." She hummed, and shifted. Now, instead of straddling the gargoyle's neck, she sat sidesaddle.
"You're interesting. Can I keep you?" I laughed.
"I welcomed you to the club, didn't I?" She laughed with me.
"Thank you, by the way, for punching those bullies." She brushed a hand over my hair, running her fingers lightly through it. "They haven't bothered me since."
"They shouldn't have been bothering you in the first place." I let her inspect my hair. Something about the way she did it told me that there was a reason, I just had to wait for it.
"Why are you so comfortable with me, Regina? We just met."
"You want the honest answer?"
"That would be preferable."
"You are the first female, living one, that I've been able to talk to in years. You're the only person, aside from Nico, that I'll ever be able to be honest with, because you already know my secrets. You already know about my world. I can't exactly hide from a Seer, especially not one as powerful as your aura suggests." I tugged at the blond strands hanging near me. "And, you're not repulsed by where I live. That would be a first." She ran her fingers through my blue strands one last time.
"There! No wrackspurt infestations." She smiled, sadly, at my raised eyebrow. "You act insane for long enough, you start to believe it."
"Yeah. Yeah, you do."
Nico was pissed when I went down to dinner, but more for the fact that I hadn't told him where I was then that I'd left. He liked Luna, when I introduced her, recognizing the same thing that I had. Not that it was hard, seeing as she introduced herself, in Ancient Greek, and called Nico the Ghost king. I dragged the two of them to the Ravenclaw table, knowing that none of them would bother us. I, of course, didn't realize that everyone else would bother us.
"Miss Phoss?" I hummed, looking up at the Transfiguration professor, my hands still showing Luna how to use sign language to tell someone to go fuck themselves. "Miss Phoss, students will remain at their own table during meals. Any socialization can happen between classes."
"Professor, I thought you were a big promoter of inter house unity? Right now, this is the closest any of the three houses have been in years. And all you can tell me is to go back to my table? Tut tut." She looked like she was about to explode. Nico interrupted before she could.
"What Raven means, is that we're enjoying a meal with a friend. A friend who was being bullied by her house. We thought we'd show them that isn't okay." He directed a glare at the rest of the Ravenclaws. I laughed at the hisses coming from Hufflepuff, but stood.
"As you wish, my lady." I gave her a mocking bow, and tossed a wave to Nico and Luna. "I'm heading back to the roof. Lost my appetite."
"Raven, wait-"
"I'm not hungry, Nico." He slammed his hand on the table, and came after me, growling something at the Professor as he left. Luna's soft footsteps followed, and I looked at her bare feet.
"Raven, you need to eat." I ignored him, content to climb the stairs, my arm looped through Luna's. "Don't ignore me! I just got you back, I'm not letting you kill yourself!"
"I'm not killing myself, Nico, I'm just not hungry."
"Look me in the eyes, and tell me that doesn't have anything to do with Gaia." I stiffened. "Raven, she's gone."
"Not fully."
"You still need to eat." I snarled.
"Oh, so the parasite can grow stronger? No thanks!" He grabbed me, making me face him.
"Raven, you need to stop. You're killing yourself. Gaia cannot hurt you anymore."
"They why can I still use her powers?" He blinked in shock. "While you were playing kissy face with your boy toy, I experimented. The Earth still responds to me."
"Melinoe lied?"
"I don't know." He sighed, and pulled me close.
"Raven, we can figure this out. Everything will end out okay, but only if you keep yourself healthy." I sighed, and burrowed into his shoulder. Nico always smelled like home.
"Your future is as promising as it is scary." I raised an eyebrow at her. "I have the Sight in many senses of the word." I snorted.
"Rare specimen indeed, Luna." Nico smiled slightly, a grin he only ever gave me.
"See? Happiness." We kept a straight face for all of five seconds.
"Nico you precious, gay boy." He smiled. It had taken me most of our relationship for him to stop being ashamed by his sexuality, and he still wasn't comfortable talking about it with other people, but around me he was exactly who he wanted to be, gay and all. That was the magic of being me.