Rising from Shadowed Ashes

GreenCrystal19

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Heroes of Olympus; they belong to respective authors; J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. Cover art by Viktoria Ridzel (Viria/viria13/vika) as usual. Her art is amazing; she is now the official portrait artist.

Author's Notes: An AU in which Nico leaves the demigod camps after Gaea is defeated and attends Hogwarts Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and still doesn't feel accepted. (Read: FEEL accepted. The other demigods WILL NOT be jerks to him.) For those of you who are reading my other story-this one probably won't be as silly/cheesy/funny/awful, however you want to say it.

DON'T WORRY-Nico WILL NOT have an absolutely awful ending to his story-and Will WILL BE IN THIS STORY MORE. (No pun intended..."Will will" LOL.)

To clarify: Leo IS alive; he just hasn't gotten back with Calypso yet.

SET AFTER HEROES OF OLYMPUS, AND DURING PRISONER OF AZKABAN. Harry, Hermione, and Ron are 12-13, and Nico is 13-14. EDIT: He skipped a year in Son of Neptune, going from 12 to 14. Okay? Okay.

Chapter 1: Nico Slips into the Shadows...Again

Nico's PoV

Nico wasn't having a good day. Partly because he'd ditched the demigod camps and was regretting it, partly because he was lost in some weird wizard village, and partly because he could we an evil presence: some kind of monster that reminded Nico of Kronos, or Tartarus, or every other evil he'd fought. There were many options to choose from.

Anyways, the presence seemed to be coming from a...a boy, sitting with two other peoplel at what looked like an icecream shop. He looked normal enough, save for a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, but Nico could feel the evil inside him as clearly as he could feel his silver ring under his fingers. It reminded Nico of a deadly cobra—the snake would stay hidden, hard to detect, but one wrong move and it would lunge out and strike in a flash.

Nico did it without thinking. He was probably just tired, not thinking properly. Indeed, it was probably just his demigod instincts kicking in; they'd been a bit over-the-top since Nico had returned from Tartarus. But...perhaps it had been something else, someone else, suggesting the idea to him. A rush of air, an odd feeling. Nico didn't put much thought into it, because by that time, his Stygian iron sword as pointed at the strange boy's chest. "Who are you?" Nico hissed.

Suddenly, Nico heard a voice behind him shout. "STUPIFY!" Turning, he saw that a bushy-haired girl who had been next to the boy had aimed a bolt of red light at him. Before Nico could react, the light hit him. Darkness overwhelmed Nico's vision and he dropped down, dead asleep.

As Nico slept, his subconscious started to relive the events that had landed him in a wizarding market, of all places. It had been five in the morning, and Nico had laid on his bed in the Hades cabin, staring at the ceiling. Gaea had been defeated...but at a price: Leo was dead. Nico could feel it in his bones, and even though there had been something different about Leo's death, as though it ran on its own engine, Nico had been sure that Leo was dead.

Octavian was also dead. It wasn't as though Nico could have (should have) prevented it (or that he cared; Octavian was better off dead), but he was sure that everyone hated him for it—specifically Will. If it weren't for Octavian, Leo would probably still be alive (and Nico wouldn't look like some kind of remorseless monster). What was Nico to do? He may have helped bring the Athena Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood, but he'd also survived Tartarus, turned Bryce Lawrence into a ghost, had been forced to tell Jason about his crush on Percy, and had also started mysteriously turning into smoke.

Nico, to put it, was on an entirely different plane of existence than the other demigods—he was around eighty years old, for one thing. From the 1920-30s. And Italian. Nico even had a slight accent—when he spoke in Italian or was rambling on to himself, he would get funny looks. Usually, however, Nico could keep his accent American enough to not draw attention. Oh, right: Nico was also a son of Hades—he exuded an aura of death and gloom whenever he was, well, gloomy. Almost forgot that.

He'd also survived Tartarus—alone. Only two other demigods had even been to Tartarus...and Nico couldn't even bring himself to talk to them. To him.

These thoughts had been floating around Nico's brain for the better part of an hour, as insubstantial and dark as...well, shadows. Or, more accurately, Nico. Since he'd started fading, Nico often felt like a shadow even when he was solid—a tiny wisp of darkness, drifting around aimlessly. The few good things about being a son of Hades seemed to have turned on Nico; he wondered how long that would last.

Of course, things had changed. Reyna had publicly accepted him as a friend—as family—in front of the entire camp. Nico knew things would be different, too. Things could change for him. But something odd, some little whisper in the back of his mind, told him he had to leave. He was, after all, a son of Hades: and since his return to Tartarus, his powers had gotten much stronger, much more unpredictable. Nico didn't know if he was ready to control them, especially around other demigods.

He'd made a decision. He was leaving. Right now.

Nico sat up and looked around, before slipping on his aviator jacket. Fingering his silver skull ring/Stygian iron sword combo (since losing the sword in the bronze jar, Nico had attached it to his ring and enchanted it to return to his hand if he lost it, with Hades' help) Nico stuffed some supplies into his black backpack: unicorn draught, a good amount of drachmas and food and water, some clothes: all black, with some skull designs here and there.

Walking outside, Nico took one last look at Camp Half-Blood: the eastern horizon was a pale shade of gray-gold, the Hades cabin looming behind him with its black walls and green torches. The Big House sat tall, with its pale blue paint and white trim. Nico saw the dining pavilion where he had learned of Bianca's death, the woods he'd run to, where he'd entered the Labyrinth...and the Apollo cabin, gleaming gold in the low light of the central hearth that Hestia tended.

Nico shook his head. He couldn't dwell in the past, like the spirits of the Underworld. Nico was done with Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter—for now. Someday, he'd come back: when he knew he'd be accepted, content with who he was. The quest had helped—but Nico felt that he had a long way to go.

But for now...Nico was leaving. Closing his eyes, Nico had stepped forwards and melted into the darkness.

Author's Notes: Yeah...compared to the way I'm telling the other story, Eclipsed Ancestry, that was different. I liked it though-so far. Please post any feedback or suggestions you have in the review section! Thank you! I'll add chapter 2 soon, hopefully.

Edit: Don't read Eclipsed. I don't really like it anymore, LOL. Feel free to check out my YouTube channel, GreenCrystal19, where I do...art stuff.