Nico woke up in the unfamiliar room and started as the night's events came crashing back to him. The spot that he had been sure Padfoot was occupying the night before was empty and stone cold. So the dog had left him, too. Nico turned his face to the wall and bit his lip. He squeezed his eyes shut. Fine. He wanted to go home, and he couldn't exactly bring the dog with him. Besides, all animals eventually realized... what he was and they wisely feared him. It stung that he couldn't go near the pegasi at camp because they would shy away from him. After trying to let them get used to it over time, and then getting kicked squarely in the chest when he came within arm's reach, Nico gave up on them.

He had thought that having a pet would ease the loneliness, but even animals couldn't stand him. In a way, he was glad Padfoot was gone, now there would be no crushing despair later when it growled at his hands or whimpered when he entered the room. It was time for Nico to leave, anyways. What was he doing, acting like he'd be here long enough for the animal to betray him?

The door swung open, and Nico glanced up. Lupin had come into the room, smiling and holding a change of clothes. The outfit in his arms was an ugly brown sweater and a pair of jeans that Nico would never have worn. He tried not to roll his eyes. In front of him, Padfoot padded towards him, his nails clicking on the wood floor. Nico's eyes widened in wonder as the dog put his chin in his lap. Cautiously, he patted the dog's head. "You didn't leave," he said in an awed tone.

Lupin laughed. Nico looked up at him, confused. What was so funny? "I think Padfoot's taken a real liking to you," he said, staring right at the dog. Nico started to smile, but he clamped down on the emotion and twisted his grin into a dark frown.

"Whatever," he said, standing up. "I want to leave now."

Lupin's easy expression faded a little bit. "Well... unfortunately, we can't really... This building is a very well kept secret," he explained, looking exactly like a teacher. Nico rolled his eyes. He hated school. "If it got out, there could be disastrous results. Most of the people in this building would at the very least lose their jobs, at worst, be sent to jail. I can think of a few who would be killed on the spot," he added, his eyes shifting to Padfoot, who lowered his head sulkily. Nico glanced down at the dog. What the heck? What kind of twisted society kills dogs? Lupin was acting like he was a gullible five year old, who'd do anything to protect their pets. Well, he wasn't. He was thirteen this summer, and he'd been through war, and been fighting for his life routinely since he was brought in by Percy.

Nico folded his arms furiously. "And if I just left? I don't need your permission," he snapped.

"I think you'll find that Disapparating won't work for anything other than traveling inside the house," Lupin said apologetically. "We have charms on the house to keep it safe from anyone Apparating in or out." Nico's jaw dropped. He didn't know what Disapparating, but he was pretty sure it was a lot like shadow traveling. And shadow traveling worked wherever there were shadows.

Narrowing his eyes, he stepped back into a dark corner of the room by the foot of the bed and tried to let the blanket of darkness envelop him. Relief washed through him as he vanished, but his target landing of the sidewalk outside the house failed. As Nico was flying through the darkness, he felt like he hit a wall and was thrown back out. He landed in a heap on the bed and sat up, swearing and spitting a string of words that would have made an Ares kid blush.

Lupin was watching him with an interested expression. "You kiss your mother with that mouth?" he said, but he was staring at the corner Nico had vanished from. It had started to work, he was sure. So why hadn't he been able to get out?

"She's dead," Nico snapped in his fury, before continuing his rant.

Lupin paused. "I'm sorry," he said. Then he pressed on, "What kind of traveling was that?" Lupin asked. "It's nothing like the Apparating I've seen."

Nico sneered, "Wouldn't you like to know," and made a rude gesture at him. Lupin didn't seem taken back in the slightest.

"Once you've calmed down a bit, come down for breakfast and take a shower," Lupin said. "You may not be able to leave, but there's plenty of hot water and scones."

He closed the door behind him softly, and Nico was irritated that he hadn't even upset this infuriatingly calm man. Padfoot scratched at the door and let out a whine. "Oh, get out," Nico told him, stomping over to tear open the door for him. "You're just like everyone else. Go away."

Padfoot paused mid trot, glancing back at Nico, who had sat down on the bed and was starting to unwrap his bandages carefully. He had to see how bad they were. If things were looking really grim, he'd just have to get out of there while he still could shadow travel home. He would need ambrosia, or nectar. Infection from a hellhound just wasn't something a normal body could fight off. He'd need godly assistance. More specifically, nectar and ambrosia.

Carefully, he examined the cut. It was puffy and red, which was rarely a good sign. Nico poked it, and hissed, regretting the choice as his arm burned in pain. At this point, it was still possible he could fight off the infection alone, as it hadn't progressed to a dangerous stage. Still, he hated the thought of being out of action for a few days, especially when he was in an unfamiliar, hostile place. And what if the injury did get worse? By then he wouldn't be able to shadow travel home to get help, even if he could leave. Nico didn't know what to do. If only there was a way to contact someone, to get them to bring him ambrosia, or even to rescue him... And even if he did contact them, would they help? Or would they just let Nico down again?

He thought of all the people he knew who would be likely to help him. The list was short. There was Thalia, who might help out of guilt over not protecting Bianca better, but if she had a responsibility to the Hunters, it would take precedence over his life. She was no good, too unreliable. Mrs. Jackson would try as well, since she treated him like a charity case, but he didn't know how much she could do, being a mortal. A very nice mortal, who made delicious snacks, but a mortal nonetheless. There was Percy, he supposed, but he wondered if Percy would even come to him after he had run out on him? After all, the whole reason he was in London was because he had been mad at Percy. Would Percy be angry, too? Would he refuse to take the Iris Message?

Nico considered. He would have to take the risk, he decided, as his stomach let out a particularly painful throb. That one was infected worse, Nico was sure, but he didn't want to look at it. Pus kind of freaked him out.

A shower, then, was in order. "You know where the shower is, boy?" he asked Padfoot, who had settled onto the floor. He was vaguely pleased that the dog had decided to stay with him instead of following a friend. The dog jumped up and wagged its tail, trotting towards the door. "Wait," he added, grabbing his jacket off the floor, the one that had been chewed up by the hellhound. He didn't remember bringing it upstairs, and had thought he left it in the kitchen after he had taken off his shirt. The dog must have brought it to him. No, he wouldn't let himself think Padfoot was fond of him.

Nico plunged his hand into one of the pockets and got a handful of lint in return. Other pocket, then. There he found about five drachmas. Relief swept through him and he pulled one out, flipping it in the air with his thumb. "Okay, I'm ready," he said, turning back to Padfoot. Padfoot eyed the coin suspiciously as he stuck it in his pocket, but he led Nico down the creaky old hall. On the floor below him, he could hear people moving around and talking. It sounded like there were other kids his age, which annoyed Nico. He hated new people.

The dog nosed open a door on the left at the end of the hallway. It was a relatively clean bathroom, although there was mold on the walls and the shower, which was a clawfoot tub with a shower head on it, was growing gray and green patches in places. A cobweb dangled in the corner. Over the sink, a filthy mirror was hung, but someone had broken it and it was now fractured. Broken shards covered the whole counter. It was positively disgusting and creepy.

Nico grinned. "Cool." He stepped in, grabbing a towel that smelled like mothballs off a stack in the corner. He shook it out and a cloud of dust filled the air. Padfoot growled and sneezed. Nico crouched down and patted his head. "Don't let anybody in, boy," he told him. "I'll be done soon." Then he closed the door and turned on the hot water full blast. He was always cold, it seemed. After all, he was sort of like a corpse. It came with being the kid of a death god. Also, he needed to generate lots of steam as fast as possible. Hopefully, the light in the room would make a rainbow close enough Iris would accept it. Nico tossed his shirt inside the shower. Hopefully the blood hadn't ruined the shirt too much, he rather liked it. It was from a concert he had shadow traveled into once. Places like that were full of freaks, and he kind of liked fitting in for once. He hopped in and washed all of the blood off him first. There was a bar of soap that was rough and grimy, but he rubbed it dutifully all over him. Then Nico stuck his head under the water and rubbed the soap through that, too. He knew it wasn't very good for his hair, but at least it got all the blood out. And he wasn't exactly the vainest guy around, either. As long as it didn't bother him, he was fine. He scrubbed the bar of soap on the shirt, too, but the blood had set in good and he just made the stain look vaguely lighter. Maybe Mrs. Jackson knew some good stain removal tips once he got home. Nico glanced at the water running down the drain. It was pale red and tinged brown. That was a little gross, Nico thought. The house he had stayed in last night must have been really dusty for him to be that dirty after only a forty five minute nap.

He peered out into the bathroom, which was now mostly fogged up with steam. Pleased, Nico hopped out and put on his pants, and then tossed the drachma through the cloud. "O goddess, accept my offering," he said. "Show me Percy Jackson, Camp Halfblood." Crossing his fingers, Nico waited. Apparently, Iris decided that it was close enough to being a rainbow and the cloud shimmered as the connection was made.

Percy's face zoomed into view. He was in his cabin, sleeping. Great, now Nico had to wake him up. Every second of his precious time counted here. "Percy," he hissed. "Get up!" Percy snorted and flopped over in his sleep so that he was facing the Iris Message. Nico glared furiously and tried to keep his voice quiet as he snarled, "Percy, it's Nico!"

His eyes snapped open. "Nico!" he cried. "Where are you? What happened? We thought you'd be home by now."

"I thought so, too," Nico said, reproachfully. "Look, I've sort of been kidnapped, and I don't know why, but I can't shadow travel while I'm in this house."

Percy's brow furrowed. "What? But you can travel anywhere there are shadows."

"I can travel around the house, but if I aim for a spot outside the building, it fails," Nico said. "That's not as important as what I need you to do, though. Before I was kidnapped, I was attacked by a hellhound. These people aren't demigods, and they don't know how to treat it. It's infected."

His eyes narrowed angrily. Nico wondered if he was about to break the connection with him. Would Percy even want to help him? He should have apologized for running away first, to try and keep Percy from being angry. "Where are you, Nico?" he demanded. "I'm coming to get you out of there."

Nico held back a smile. It seemed like Percy was going to help him after all. "I'm not sure. I traveled to London, and they took me out of Number 11, Grimmauld Place. But aside from that, I can't be sure. Numbers 11 and 13 both looked empty and deserted, but this house is full of people and furniture. Even though it looked like they just went through the wall," he added, confused. Thinking about it made his brain hurt.

"I'll start there, then," Percy said, jumping up. His torso was suddenly the only thing visible in the mist as he began to move around the room. "I'll bring you ambrosia and nectar."

Nico nodded. The connection was still strong, he had a few more minutes, but he could hear footsteps on the stairs. "I have to go," he said, his eyes watching the door.

"See you soon," Percy said, ducking his face back down. "Mrs. O'Leary will give me a ride."

"Percy," Nico said, grabbing the towel to whip through the IM. "Thanks." He snapped the towel through the steam and Percy's face vanished.

Just as he did, the door swung open and Moody burst through, followed by a man he hadn't seen before. The man had greasy black hair that framed a sallow face, but his face had a pleasant grin to it. Even though right then, his face was annoyed. "Honestly, Mad Eye," the man protested. "The boy's showering." Nico scrambled to pull his shirt over his head, not wanting to advertise his scars. It had was soaking wet and freezing against his skin. He had kept his torso out of the Iris Message, so Percy hadn't seen him, but he didn't have the ability to hide it like that now.

Nico stared at Moody, who whacked the ground with a cane. "I saw him up here, he was talking to someone!" Moody declared, and he grabbed Nico's shirt. He yanked up so that Nico's feet were about an inch off the floor. Nico started kicking desperately, but he wasn't reaching him. "Who did you contact, boy?" he demanded, twisting Nico's collar, hard. He opened his mouth to lie, but instead he let out a long rasping gurgle from lack of air.

The man stepped forward and put a hand on Moody's shoulder. "You were looking through three floors of people. You probably made a mistake. Besides, how would he have contacted anyone?"

Moody slowly let go of the shirt, and Nico slid back against the wall, gulping in big lungfuls of oxygen. He reached his hand to where his knife should have been concealed in his jacket, but he had left it in his room. Silently cursing his foolishness, Nico groped behind him for a weapon as Moody stared furiously down at him. "I know you're lying, boy," he growled in a menacing tone. Nico's hand closed around something sharp. He whipped it out in front of him. The object turned out to be a piece of the bathroom mirror.

"Stay back," he threatened, although Nico knew if it came to blows he would come out on the losing end. Still, he could probably cut up at least one of them pretty good.

"Really, now," the other man blustered, "I don't think it has to come to this..." but Moody drew a thin stick from the inside of his coat pocket and aimed it at Nico.

"Expelliarmus," he snarled, and Nico instinctively ducked. Unfortunately, whatever it was was not aimed at his head, and the shard of mirror flew out of his hand, leaving a long gash in its wake. "Now, it's Nico, correct?"

Nico blinked. How did they...?

He hefted Nico's aviator's jacket in his other hand. "It's written in the tag of your jacket. So I take it that's right?"

He cursed inwardly. Percy had advised that he write his name in all of his clothing in case it was lost or, more likely, stolen. In a rare moment of weakness, Nico had foolishly listened to him and now it had come back to bite him. But right now, Nico was not experiencing one of those moments. He lifted his chin defiantly. "Yeah, what if it is?" he asked.

Moody grabbed his shoulder and started steering him downstairs, ranting all the way about something Nico didn't care about. Instead, Nico glared at his shoes and rubbed his aching arm. It was not better after the shower. If anything, he was now much stiffer there. His torso was throbbing every time he took a step, which was pretty distracting. Not to mention that his hand was now gushing blood. It had not been an easy few days on his body. He should really see about going for a swim in the Styx if he was going to keep being this accident prone. In fact, Nico was totally zoned out of the conversation until they hit the bottom step and Moody demanded, "And what about these odd coins? Answer me, boy, don't just stand there! Do you use them to contact other Death Eaters?"

"What is a Death Eater?" Nico snapped, glancing over his shoulder. Moody had gone through his pockets and hauled out a golden drachma, which gleamed brightly in the dim candlelight.

"Agents of the Dark Lord," the other man explained. Nico gave him a confused look, although he wondered if the 'Dark Lord' they were talking about was, in fact, Lord Hades. Because, if so, he was so screwed, as it sounded like these people were not fans of Old Dad. Not that he was surprised, Dad had stepped on quite a few toes in his time. Then again, they didn't know what a drachma was, or a hellhound. "See, Moody, he doesn't even know who the Dark Lord is. He's just an unfortunate Muggle who got a little lost. We should Obliviate him and send him on his way."

Nico bristled at the mention of 'obliviating' him. Whatever it was, he did not want it happening to him.

Moody grunted. "All it proves, Sirius, is that he's a particularly accomplished liar. We need Severus to use Occlumency." So that was Sirius, Nico thought. Had he not been so angry, he would have taken a moment to see if he was anything like his awesome dog. But Nico was absolutely pissed.

"What is the big deal?" Nico cried, frustrated. He clenched his good hand into a fist. "All I did was try and sleep in some stranger's house!"

Moody gave him a withering glare that made Nico feel like a little boy again. He knew he shouldn't be afraid of one old man, after all he had been through, but he was totally intimidated. If he had boots, he would have been shaking in them. "The 'deal', kid," he said gruffly, "is that those two neighboring houses are property of the Black family. They're both enchanted to keep anyone who can't find the main house out. I was willing to accept that maybe one of the charms had failed and you had gotten in on your own. But I checked when we went in, and they're all fine." Moody fixed him with his false eye, which swiveled in its socket and rolled around, but it didn't look away from him. "Which means you obviously got past them somehow, and not accidentally. You're no Muggle. Although you have no wand and you don't act like one of us."

Nico glanced down at his cut palm. Enchantments? So they were children of Hecate. But something was off. They didn't act like demigods at all. "So tell me... Who exactly is 'us'?" he asked.

Moody and Sirius glanced at each other. "Wizards," Sirius said casually. So casually that Nico wasn't sure if he was kidding or not.

"You're not serious?" Nico tried not to smirk at them. Sure, they were wizards. And he was Santa Claus. What were these people on?

"Yep," Sirius replied. "See?" He lazily drew out his stick and flicked it. "Accio bandages." The roll of bandages Lupin had given him last night zoomed into the room and landed in his hand. Sirius tossed them into Nico's lap. Nico began treating his hand as he pondered the situation.

Nico considered the options. Either they were all off their rockers, which didn't seem likely after that last demonstration, or Hecate had given a blessing to someone a long time ago and it had become hereditary. It really seemed more plausible. After all, it would explain his inability to shadow travel. Hecate could easily put a block on things like that. "I guess I can accept that," he said finally.

Moody tossed the drachma on the table. "And what about you, boy? What are you?"

He wasn't really sure if they would believe him. And he wasn't sure he wanted to try telling them, either. Ridicule at the hands of another was not his favorite thing ever. It wasn't like he was trying to fit in with them—he already knew he didn't. But he didn't want to invite their humiliating taunts. "If I tell you, can I leave?"

Moody and Sirius exchanged skeptical looks, although Sirius had a much more pleading expression on. "We'll decide that tonight at our meeting," Moody snapped.

"They I'll tell you tonight," Nico retorted, folding his arms. Then he winced when he touched the puffy red area on his arm. He glanced down at it. It was angry red, but hadn't started spewing pus or anything nasty like that yet.

Sirius crouched down and peered at the injury. "Say, we should really have that taken care of," he said, drawing out a stick—no, wand, Nico supposed. After all, if they were wizards, they would have wands, no? Nico pulled his arm back quickly.

"Uh, no," he said. "Me plus magic equals pain, as we learned before with the flaming black sparks. I'll take the pus, thank you very much." He wondered why he reacted so badly to it if it was really just Hecate blessings. Maybe Hecate just hated him, too. Wouldn't be the first person out there.

"Maybe Muggle treatments," Sirius suggested, turning back to Moody. "We can't just let his arm rot, Moody. It'd be our fault."

Moody rubbed his chin thoughtfully, but said nothing.

"I could go out... Nobody would see me, I promise," he pleaded. "Just twenty minutes... there's a Muggle pharmacy only four blocks down."

He shook his head and Sirius' hopeful face fell. "You know it's not safe, Sirius. I'll send Tonks to pick some up as she leaves her shift tonight. I'd better get to work."

As Moody swept out of the room, Nico realized for the first time that maybe he wasn't the only one trapped in this house.

Sirius was facing away from him, his shoulders tight and clenched up around his ears. "Hey, Sirius?" Nico asked. "What was that all about?"

Sirius whipped around his head, lightning fast with a menacing glare. "Nothing!" he shouted angrily. "Absolutely nothing!" His eyes were wild and sparkling dangerously, like he was slightly unhinged.

Nico recoiled in shock. He had only known this man for a few minutes, but this was so frighteningly different than everything he had witnessed before. He took a few quick steps back.

Sirius had begun to storm away. Over his shoulder, he yelled, "Just go to your room!"

That was the wrong thing to say.

Nico narrowed his black eyes. The room that he had been forced to take? Who was this man to boss him around? What, like he was a father? Nico knew enough about having fathers who only wanted to use you when it was convenient. The lights started to flicker overhead, but Nico didn't stop his internal rant. His anger was only getting worse. Did he ask for this? No. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be anywhere. Why was it that everywhere he went, everyone looked down on him?

Nico was so sick of it.

He kicked over a chair and snatched his jacket off the table, stomping past Sirius on the stairs. Behind him, he heard Sirius pause and start to say something, but Nico glanced over his shoulder and fixed him with the most vile look imaginable.

He knew it was a trait of the children of Hades—heck, it was a trait of most things Underworld to give off an aura that spread fear and radiated death. Nico knew that most of the time, he kept it well hidden but still there, and it was why he had such difficulties making friends. Now he let out all of the evil feelings that spread around him, contaminating the air with their vile emotions. Sirius's face changed slowly from a slightly apologetic and tired one to a horrified, glassy expression. He robotically turned and walked back down the stairs.

Then Nico went up into his room. Padfoot didn't come find him.

A/N: Chapter two! Sorry it took me awhile to put this one on, I just couldn't decide how I wanted this one to go, and I kept rewriting everything until I finally got fed up and I just wrote out the story line up to the end. It took a bit longer than expected because I had an action packed weekend! I went to a concert, where I kinda fainted from hunger in the mosh pit and had to be crowd surfed to safety!

Thanks for the reviews, it's great to hear what you think! Please continue reviewing and giving me your opinion on how the story is going, because nothing is set in stone yet and I can still change things if I'm doing this all wrong.