Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
'Scythes are really impractical battle weapons. I don't know how Kronos managed to wreak such havoc with one of these things.' A dark-haired boy scowled as he pushed his way through the London street traffic. The day was cold and damp for August, yet the boy only wore jeans and an aviator jacket, neither of which was sufficient enough to keep out the chill. 'Why did Father insist that I must bring one?' Nico di Angelo shifted his weight and swung the black weapon up onto his shoulder, looking up at the houses that spanned the road next to him. He was told that the soul fragment would be found at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, but so far, he wasn't seeing any house that had that number attached to the door.
"Can I help you, boy?" The gravelly voice came from behind the demigod.
Nico spun around, relaxing when he realized it was just an old man. A homeless man, by the state of his appearance. Nico felt a rare twinge of sympathy, he remembered when he was living on the streets after Bianca's death. He pushed the thought aside before he could dwell on it much. "Um, yeah. I'm looking for Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Do you know where I could find the street?"
The old man's eyes widened and darted from left to right like he was looking for the best escape root. "Those informations don't come easy kid, but yous best run while yous can."
Nico tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. Gods damn it, he didn't have time for this! Father expected him home soon and he did not want to break curfew again. "Fine." Nico gritted his teeth. "What will it take?"
A skeletal-like hand reached out from the torn sleeve of a frayed coat and waited expectantly.
"Information first."
The old man sneered, revealing exactly five yellowed teeth. "There ain't been no Number 12 in nobody's existence. Dem peoples foolish enough to go 'tween 11 and 13 has no memories of that time, or dey never comes back. No sir, it's best yous stayed away."
'Interesting.' Nico thought. "Thank you for your help."
He dropped a golden drachma into the man's hand and took off towards the shadows, melting into darkness just as he heard the old man yelling for him to take his phony money back.
oO0Oo
The shadows dropped him off right in front of Numbers 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place. Nico pulled on the cloak that Thanatos had given him - really, did the man have to be so dramatic when it came to reaping souls? - and flipped the hood over his head. With luck, he could take the soul before anyone noticed he was even there. Nico stalked towards the wall that separated the two houses, inspecting the brick wall where Number 12 should have been. He touched the wall, and his senses exploded.
"Gods, what is wrong with this place?" Nico crouched against the wall, holding his head in pain. The amount of magical residue coming off this place was astounding enough to cause a splitting headache. No, not coming from that place, but from a space between the houses.
'That makes no sense." Nico thought. 'What could be between a solid brick wall?"
He sighed as he resigned himself to what he was going to do. Will would kill him. He wasn't supposed to be doing much shadow travel yet, but there was no other way to get into the vortex. Nico reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a flask of Unicorn Draught. He downed the canteen and slipped into the shadows. Where he was going, he had no idea.
oO0Oo
He was not expecting to crash land in someone's hallway. Picking himself up from the ground, he muttered a curse in Greek and dusted off his clothes. Okay, so no more shadow traveling for a while. Nico looked up and took in the house. Grimy dark walls, corners covered in cobwebs, depressing looking artifacts and paintings. This place reminded Nico of home. Carefully, he set off down the hallway towards where his senses told him the soul fragment was.
Everything was fine, until he tripped over the rug.
"MUDBLOODS, FILTH, STAINS OF DISHONOUR, TAINT OF SHAME ON THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS!"
'What in the Hades is that?' Nico turned around and saw a moving painting of a woman screeching at him. The portrait was painted in the likeness of a black-haired lady who, in Nico's opinion, looked like a gegeine turned female and human.
"Shut up Mother!" A man with tangled black hair came running down the hallway, but stopped when he saw Nico. "Oh. Wha- Moody! We have a crisis here!"
"Black, this better not be one of your-" A scarred man, followed by numerous other people in dresses, hobbled quickly down the hallway and stopped beside the man he'd called 'Black'. "What are you doing here? What is your name? How did you find this place?" Several people pointed - were those sticks? - at Nico.
Nico summoned his scythe to his hand and made the shadows swirl around him to create an aura of foreboding and mystery. "You can call me a Grim Reaper and I have come to collect a soul."
The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a jet of red light coming from the stick of the scarred man. It hit him, and everything went dark.
