My sincerest apologies for taking so ridiculously long to finish this. I knew where I wanted to go with this chapter, but for some reason the ideas in my head and the words on the page were not cooperating at all. This attempt was the closest to what I was going for, so I'm sticking with it.

S.J Spencers: Thank you for catching my stupid mistake. My spelling skills are nonexistent lol. I guess that just proves that I need to find a beta at some point. You should totally write whatever you had in mind too! I'm more of a fanfiction reader than a writer, and I'm always on the hunt for new stories, especially Harry Potter and Percy Jackson things.

errydaymPurple: Thank you so much! As you can probably tell, this will be very slow going, but I will try to keep providing content.

LadyMuis: Ooh I recommend that you read the rest of the series! I'm not a big fan of Heroes of Olympus, but I really enjoyed the earlier books as well as the Kane Chronicles (I haven't read any other Riordan books yet, but they are on my reading list!) I figured that this particular fic needed a bit of an introduction to Nico since I have messed with his canon timeline quite a bit. However, I am trying to stay as true as I can to his personality (as much as I can, anyway.) It's been a while since I've read anything for the series other than fanfiction. I hope fanon traits aren't clouding my memories too much!


While the night provided its challenges, Nico preferred it to the day. Sunrise always found him grumpily curled in a ball under a wad of blankets, groggily cursing Apollo for being an obnoxious prick. Even if it was cloudy, which it usually was in England, it was still impossible to ignore the shift from a dark grey, almost black sky to a much brighter grey sky, especially when you were a son of Hades whose eyes were meant to see in the dark. Even a gloomy day could be blinding. He could attempt to roll over and return to the realm of sleep, but his efforts were futile. He had discovered this on his first day alone. Once he was aware of the overwhelming silence that greeted him every morning, he knew that he had no hope of sleeping any longer.

Realizing that his plan to ignore the day and simply sleep through his responsibilities had once again been foiled, he let out a long, overly dramatic sigh and threw his blanket to the side. The inevitable regret almost immediately crashed down on him when he registered how cold the world outside his small bubble of body heat really was. He mentally berated himself for not learning after repeating the same process every morning and cursed under his breath as he reclaimed his discarded blanket. After throwing it over his shoulders and loosely tying the corners together under his chin to create a cape, he shuffled out of his room.

Despite the grimy and cluttered state of the majority of his current residence, it was still fairly easy for him to stumble through the filthy belongings of the previous owners. Not even the length of material trailing behind him managed to snag anything and bring the whole mess crashing down around him. Even if a place seemed quite thoroughly abandoned, it was always best to leave everything as he had found it. You never knew who or what might stumble upon his sanctuary and have a look around. It was hard enough avoiding unwanted attention when he went outside. Leaving obvious traces where he lived was just asking for trouble.

Nico made his way to the front door and stared at in contemplation. Was it worth going out to get supplies? The whole process of leaving and returning to his little safe haven was always a mildly terrifying hassle. Small creatures were able to slip into the house on occasion, but the real dangers dwelled outside, lurking just beyond the property's edge. That was where large beasts waited for him to emerge, claws and teeth itching to dig into his flesh the moment he let his guard down. That was where the prying eyes of gods could recognize him for what he was and end his life with barely a thought. Past that flimsy wooden barrier, nowhere was safe.

Everything would have been fine if he could have drawn on his inherited skillset, but things could never be that easy. Despite the inherent danger and the alarmingly quick depletion of energy if he went too far, shadow travel was a handy trick that he wished he could use more often. Unfortunately, for reasons that he had never been able to fully grasp, his home limited that particular ability. There was no problem with jumping from one room to another. It was also fairly simple to get from place to place once he was outside, so long as the distance wasn't great enough to be overly taxing. It was traveling between the two that was somehow proving to be impossible. He hadn't really had the time or the energy to figure out why that was, but it frustrated him to no end and made thing so much more difficult than they had to be. If the shadows would actually cooperate for once, then maybe he wouldn't have to face this sort of daily debate over whether or not he wanted to risk going out to get food.

It didn't look too awful today, he decided as he pulled the dilapidated curtains on the window next to the door back just enough to peak out at the world. From his vantage point, there was only one creature pacing at the property line. Despite the size of the beast, it was actually quite good. Definitely much better than what he was faced with most mornings. If he was careful, he might actually make it out without getting into a fight. Wouldn't that be grand?

It was decided, then. Nico sighed as he let his blanket fall to the ground, shivering from the cold and anticipation alike. There was something about knowing that you were running headfirst into danger that left him feeling something between dread and excitement. It wasn't that he looked forward to doing things that were obviously detrimental to his physical well-being, but the rush that came with those actions was certainly a thrill and a half. Things were especially interesting when he refused to let himself overthink the problem and charged straight into perilous situations before he could change his mind, much like he was planning on doing right now.

There were two very simple steps to his sporadic bids for freedom: get out the door and run like hell. Sometimes (most of the time) a third step involving fighting for his life was added into the mix, but he was determined to skip it today. He was already off to a good start with the door still rattling on its hinges from the force he had used to yank it open and slam it closed behind him. Now all there was left to do was sprint as fast as his legs could carry him and aim for a shaded area that was conveniently monster free.

A thundering roar from somewhere to his left told him that he had been spotted, but Nico kept his sights set on his escape, a savior in the form of the shadow of a tree. He had used it before, so he knew that it was just outside the range of whatever messed with his shadow traveling abilities. All he needed to do was get there first.

His own heavy footsteps were quickly drowned out by the stomping of large paws as both he and the monster raced for the tree. He knew that he could make it. He was so close already, the image of the grocer's a few towns over that he frequented cemented in his mind to ensure that he was in control of his destination.

Ten steps. Five. Then one more and…

A roar echoed in his ears as his foot met the darkened patch of grass and he sank into the welcome, cold grasp of shadows.


The manticore let out a scream of rage when its prey disappeared from beneath its paw. The demigod was a slippery one and very capable of defending himself, but the sheer amount of power he held made him irresistible. It was very tempted to wait for the boy to appear again, despite not knowing if he was ever coming back. However, something about this particular location seemed off. A feeling of malice that even the vicious beast couldn't shake off hung in the air. It had never felt anything like it, and it wasn't willing to risk discovering the source. Reluctantly, the monster left without its prey.

Unnoticed by both monster and boy, nestled within the safety of the tree's twisted branches, sat an alarmed and very put-out observer. They had only been trying to complete their assigned task and return home. They had never been told that they would be kept from doing so by a strange, dark barrier, or that they would nearly be assaulted by a highly dangerous creature! There was obviously much more going on here than what they had ever faced before. As much as it hurt their pride to admit it, they needed to be replaced by someone who was more equipped to handle this situation.

With a frustrated screech, a tawny owl leapt from its perch and flew back from whence it came, dropping an envelope into a pile of many just like it hidden within the protruding roots.