Nico was sleeping. Key word: was.
In the middle of the night he felt a tug on his abdomen. First he simply ignored it, rolling back over and curling up against his pile of pillows.
But that didn’t mean it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was persistent and he eventually woke up and stumbled into the shadows, very sleep deprived and very confused.
He quickly made haste of making his way to the throne room of his fathers palace when he arrived. Something felt very, very wrong.
“Nico, my son!” He patted Nico firmly on the shoulder, a lost sending him face first onto the floor.
That was effective in jolting him awake.
“Nico.” Hades began.
“Yes, that's my name. Don’t wear it out.” He muttered, thoroughly annoyed.
Hades sighed, “Nico.” He repeated, “I need your help.”
“Oh, I thought you just really wanted to see me.” He said as dryly as possible.
“Nico. There is a peculiar case in England, around the area of Scotland. I’m going to need you to shadow travel there and help me out a bit, son.”
“So that’s why you woke me up at ass-o-clock in the morning. Huh.”
Hades ignored him and continued to speak, “There is a man, his name is Tom Riddle, and I need you to retrieve his soul for me. Nothing to hard. He’s been on my list for a while.” He rubbed his chin, “Hera, that was a lot of paperwork.”
“That’s it?” Nico raised his eyebrows, “Oh! You mean the one Thanatos was complaining about? Like the split soul or something. Sure I'll do it.”
“Great!” Hades chuckled and clapped him on his shoulder again.
Nico grunted, “Will you stop doing that?”
“What?”
“Oh nothing.” He rolled his eyes, “Bye Dad.”
“That’s the spirit, son! Up and at ‘em!”
“Stop. No- what?” Nico sped walked towards the shadow of the pillar. “Don’t ever say that again.”
He quickly jumped into the shadows, not knowing where he was going. He had a strong feeling though. He stumbled out in a very, very gloomy environment.
Oh. A graveyard? This was more Nico’s style.
He quickly willed away the shadows and crouched behind a tall gravestone. The air was hazy with a gray fog and the ground was wet with dew and mud.
A man’s voice sounded in the distance. He was laughing along with what sounded like a group of other men. A boy’s voice shouted back in retaliation.
“Kill the spare!” The man hissed.
Um. This is not what he signed up for.
Nico knew that’s as his cue. He hurriedly jumped into the shadows.
“Hey, hey! Not so fast.” He reappeared right behind a blonde boy, prone on the ground. .
'I assume this is the spare?'
“There’s no killing here without my permission? Got it?”
“Who are you, boy?” The man all but growled.
“Um, why should I tell you? I don’t want to help my dad with paperwork today, so chop chop.”
“Kill him!” The man pulled out a long, crooked… stick?
“What? No.” Nico was not going to die today.
“You foolish boy. Do you not know who you’re messing with?” He sounded gleeful. Nico was going to wipe that smirk right off of his face.
“Yes. An idiot who won’t die. Like a little cockroach.” Nico smiled, relishing in how riled up they seemed.
Ah. Nothing like good old fashioned torment. A quick hit to their ego seems to do the trick.
“You dare speak of the Dark Lord that way?”
“Who?”
A gasp resounded. Ah… so they were fearful of him. Little minions.
The blonde boy shifted beside Nico. “Harry.” He croaked, shifting his attention to the tallest grace stone.
Nico followed his gaze and froze in disbelief and fury.
What in the ever loving Hera was happening? A satanic ritual? There was a boy chained to the stone with blood dripping down his forearm looking ready to pass out.
“Ok. What. The. Fuck?” Nico’s eyes widened and he began to advance to him.
“Avada Kedavra!” The man immediately shouted. Nico grunted as the air was pushed out of his lungs by a green force of light. He hurriedly pushed himself back up and summoned his sword.
“Ew! What was that?” Nico had all rights to act bitchy right now. He was just hit with this horrible shock wave for Hades' sake!
The one with long blond hair stares in shock. “How are you, not dead, boy?” The other cronies muttered in disbelief.
The blonde boy was now bearing a stick. What’s with these people and sticks?
Before he could do anything, a muffled gargle sounded from the cauldron next to the brunette boy. Nico and the others watched, some horrified, some gleeful as a slimy figure rose out of the cauldron.
So this is that nasty cockroach. I guess cheating death does that to you.
“My Lord.” The fear in his voice was barely masked. Pathetic. The cloaked figures knelt before the shriveled man.
He laughed. Which, in Nico’s reverend opinion, just sounded like he was clearing his throat. Absolutely disgusting.
“Rise, my faithful followers.” He all but whispered.
The boy chained to the stone continued to yell muffled profanities, or what Nico assumed to be profanities. Cause that’s what he would be doing.
Curse the guy before he even knew what hit him.
“Who are you?”
Nico leaned on his sword and looked behind him. “Uh, no one's there.”
The shriveled man snarled, “You insolent boy!”
Nico’s eyes widened comically, “Oh, me? I’m just here to reap some souls, you know?”
Someone snorted beside him.
The man seemed intent on glaring at Nico, so he stared right back. He even smiled. Kill them with kindness.
The other’s eyes narrowed dangerously and he snapped his gaze from Nico to the brunette boy.
“Harry Potter. Look what you have created.” He laughed, prompting his minions to join in. It sounded quite awful. A bunch of grown men laughing at two boys.
Nico was quick to interrupt. “Let me get this straight. You used his,” he pointed at the boy, “blood. To summon,” he snapped his hand to the shriveled man, “you.
Nico gasped. “So you're Tom Fiddle!”
Everybody froze and silence fell upon the graveyard. Nico picked up his sword and twirled it in his hand.
“Oh, did I get your name wrong?” Nico snapped his fingers, “Shoot, I know it… Riddle isn’t it?”
“How do you know that name, boy?” The man sounded genuinely shocked. Funny.
Nico took that as a yes.
“Well then”, Nico began to walk forward, “Tom Riddle.” He paused and raised his eyebrows, feeling proud of himself when it elicited another reaction. “You have annoyed my father, prepare to die.”
Before he could even do anything, the man yelled the same green wave at the boy, Harry, he now knew, who returned with a blinding red light, shouting, “Expelliarmus!”
Nico didn’t know what that meant, but expelling that shriveled man sounded mighty fine.
The force of the collision almost sent Nico reeling back. He took a look around, and noticing the cloaked figures were preoccupied, he grabbed the blonde boy’s hand and quickly shadow-traveled behind a gravestone.
The boy doubled over and puked near his feet. Ew.
“You,” he said between labored breaths, “can Apparate?” He sounded shocked.
“What?” Nico pressed his back against the stone, “Listen, I need to get that oldie’s soul and get right out of here. Care to fill me in?”
The blonde backed away, “Stupefy!” He shouted, holding the stick in front of him.
Nico felt a light pinching sensation as a white light absorbed into his body. “Be quite, will you?” He hissed, “I just saved your ass.”
“You- you absorbed the spell!”
“Spell?”
“How did you do that?”
“I thought I was the one asking the questions!”
The boy backed away more, panic washing over his features, “You- Harry! I need to get back to Harry!”
He peered at Nico’s blank face, “Are you even a wizard?”
Nico cursed under his breath. It seems Hades forgot to mention a crucial detail.
“Wizard.” Nico just repeated.
Genuinely, what the fuck?
“Yes! Now I need to get Harry so he doesn’t die.”
“Great idea. How are you going to get out of here though?”
“There was a port key hidden in the Goblet. I can find that.”
Nico had no idea what he was talking about, but he went along with it.
It was slowly approaching the one hour mark, and Nico was tired. Hades said this was easy, that lying bastard.
“Ok, you go do that.” Nico began to step into the shadows.
“Uh, Cedric.”
Nico raised his eyebrows.
“That’s my name. Cedric Diggory.”
“Good to know. See ya, Cedric.” Nico saluted him and jumped back into the shadows, long gone from caring about the other’s reaction.
Nico wasn’t stupid enough to give his name to a stranger. A weird one that claims he’s a wizard, too.
He hid himself in a corner of a stone, watching the explosive light as the two continued to duel.
Huh. Maybe they are wizards.
Nico began to take the cloaked figures out one by one, choking them with shadowy tendrils. He felt very overpowered at that moment. He smirked as he finished off the last of them.
“Now it’s time for Mr. Fiddle.” He brushed off his hands, summoning his sword once more.
Harry looked exhausted to the point of breaking, but he kept his strong stance with an annoyingly determined look on his face.
It reminded him of Percy and Nico hated that.
The man cackled, “You can’t do this forever, Harry Potter!”
Nico intervened, sensing this was time, “You can’t either.”
Tom broke his spell to turn his attention to Nico. Harry stumbled back in shock and was grabbed by the blonde one, Cedric, from the corner of his eye.
“You.” He snarled.
“Me.” Nico grinned, “Now. I’m glad you know how to identify people, but I’m on a tight schedule here.”
“You’re American, and not a wizard.” Tom smirked, intrigued. “Who are you, boy?”
“Undisclosed.”
Tom snarled again, which he seemed to do a lot, and shouted, “Avada Kedavra!” (read: Avidi kediveri)
Nico yelled as he quickly blocked the green force with his sword. It shimmered beautifully as it absorbed the spell.
“How can you do that?”
“Nunya.”
“What?”
“Nunya business.”
Tim sputtered in outrage and Nico took the opportunity to slice his head off, clean.
He watched as his body melted into the wet ground and his soul absorbed into his glowing sword.
“Well, Tom, that was disgusting.”
Nico was interrupted by the two boys yelling at him.
“C’mon, mate! Hurry up!” Nico rushed over to where a golden cup laid on the ground. Harry eyed him skeptically, but was too tired to argue or say something against Nico’s presence.
Before he could speak, Cedric grabbed his and Harry’s hands, pushing them into the cup.
Nico startled as the world twisted and suddenly they were on a bright grassy field, surrounded by spectators.
A stout man rushed over, “My son! Oh my son!” He grabbed Cedric’s body.
Oh, looks like he passed out.
“Chill, he’s just passed out.” Nico stood up, used to the feeling from shadow traveling.
The man narrowed his eyes, “Who’re you?” He was accused. He then hollered, “Death Eater! There’s a Death Eater!”
Well, that caused quite the uproar.
Harry interjected, “Wait! He saved us. He’s not with them.”
Nico nodded, smirking at the man.
“But, my son!” He turned around to the approaching figures, “Help Cedric! Help my boy! No, not you, Death Eater!”
Nico backed away hoping to get away before anyone noticed.
“Ah, Mr. Di Angelo. How lovely for you to join us”, a jovial voice smoothly intervened. Nico flinched and glared at the man with a way too long beard.
“How do you know my name?”
“Peculiar, isn’t it?” He smiled. Nico frowned.
“Headmaster,” Harry’s voice cracked, “Voldemort- he’s dead.”
Everybody reeled back. Nico sighed.
“He named himself Voldemort? The fuck? At least it’s not still Fiddle or whatever it is.”
The headmaster peered at Nico quizzically.
“You, come with me.” A straggly looking man with a large eye commanded, starting a Harry with the normal one. “He needs medical attention.” The man covered up.
Nico narrowed his eyes. Medical attention my ass.
As the others attention turned back to Cedric and his father, Harry was dragged off by the stout man. Nico took the moment to follow them in the shadows.
Soon, he found himself in a small room, an office most likely. It was barren except for a desk, fireplace, and a couple of chairs. And a large chest.
Nico sensed a soul in the chest. Strange.
He stayed hidden in the shadows as the man shoved Harry into a rickety chair.
“Show me the cut.” He growled.
“Sir?” Harry seemed baffled.
“The cut, boy!” He grabbed Harry’s arm and pushed up his sleeve, revealing the long cut used to revive Tom.
“How did it feel, boy?”
“What?”
“To bear a scar from the Dark Lord? I have one. You and I are much alike, see?” He cackled, but then grimaced, his features contorting dangerously.
Nico narrowed his eyes. Something was off. He focused his attention on the chest once more, ignoring the fight that now broke between Harry and the man.
Nico stepped in between the space of shadows and land before the chest. The darkness swirled around him as he worked on opening the chest.
Gods, he could use some help.
A sharp pain graced Nico's head and he whirled around to face the scene behind him. Now, in place of the man was another man. He transformed?
Harry was stuck in his grasp, wincing. Nico sighed. Looks like the chest could wait.
He summoned his sword and jumped out of the shadows. “Gentlemen! I’m sure we can be more civil than this.”
Nico smiled sweetly at the man bringing his sword to the base of his neck.
Harry scrambled back as the man’s grip temporarily loosened.
“What- who?”
The man wheezed a laugh. “The Dark Lord-“
“Voldemort is dead!” Harry shouted, enraged. “Tell me where Moody is!”
“Moody?” Nico brought the edge of the blade closer to the man’s throat. “So that’s who’s in the chest.”
Harry looked shocked, but once again, to done with life to argue. “The chest.” He looked furious.
“Yup.” He kicked the back of the man’s feet and adjusted his grip so he was now disarmed and on the floor.
“Stay.” Nico threatened the man, allowing a small cut to open against the blade, showing the man just a small glimpse as to what he could do.
Suddenly, the doors burst open and the Headmaster, along with a thin old lady and a very young man rushed in, all donning swirling robes and bearing wands.
Or, that’s what Nico assumed, since they’re wizards. Obviously. Because this just makes so much sense.
“Stand down!” The old lady’s voice carried with resonance.
Nico released his sword and willed it back to the shadows.
“Well, now that this is done, I really need to leave now.”
He began to move towards the door, but the young man with black hair was faster. “Not so fast, boy.”
Nico shrugged his shoulders and the man’s lip curled up in a sneer.
“Professor! He’s in the chest!” Harry called over from the corner. Nico sighed and rolled his eyes.
Once the adults effectively removed the real Moody, or whoever it was, from the chest and checked over both him and Harry, they turned their attention to Nico.
“How did you get into these grounds? Who are you? How did you know the man was in the chest?” The woman started.
“Now, Minerva, let the boy breathe.”
(Hol up- Athena is that you??)
“Albus-“
Damn that’s a funny name. Imagine looking at your baby and deciding to name it that. How unfortunate.
“Hurry up.” The young man drawled, “I’m sure Potter is absolutely restless to gloat to his fans.”
“Severus! There’s no need for that!” Minerva admonished.
“Now, as amusing as this is”, Nico backed up, “I’m going to go now.”
“Mr. di Angelo, not yet.” Albus responded.
Nico narrowed his eyes but Harry beat him to his question, demanding, “How do you know his name? Uh, sir.” He finished.
“Yeah, I haven’t seen you before, Gandalf.” Nico bit back.
Harry looked like he wanted to both laugh and punch Nico.
“I don’t believe I can answer that.” Albus continued, unperturbed.
“He killed Voldemort!” Harry interrupted.
“Indeed?” Severus sounded shocked.
“Yup. That bastard is finally gone. Now I don’t have to do the paperwork!” Nico snickered.
“Paperwork.” The woman choked out.
“Yeah”, Nico raised an eyebrow, “He kept holding back my dad. Had the highest name on the list, actually.”
“List? What list? Professor, what’s going on?” Harry sounded frustrated.
Now you know how I feel, Walmart Percy.
Nico exhaled slowly and lolled his head to one side, impatient to leave. Very impatient.
"I believe introductions are in order." The Minerva raised a single eyebrow, gesturing to the discombobulated fivesome.
Harry snorted and muttered something under his breath, sounding suspiciously like a mocking voice.
"I am Albus Dumbledore, and these are my colleagues, Professor Snape," He flourished a hand to the young man in black robes, "Professor McGonagall. " He flourished his other hand.
I'm sorry- what sort of name is Dumbledore. What the fuck?
Nico barely could contain his amusement, much to the disdain of the younger man. His eye twitched ominously, gripping his wand tighter. Harry caught his eye and hid a smirk as well.
Dumblydoor nodded in Harry's direction.
"Er- well, I'm Harry Potter." He stumbled, caught off guard.
After he finished speaking, the four turned to Nico, waiting for him to begin.
Nico stared blankly.
(Like sharing names like in kindergarten isn't going to make me trust you, cazzo)
“Mr. di Angelo, would you like to introduce yourself?”
"No, not really."
Dumblekins raised his brow, with an expression saying there was no room for argument.
Nico sighed; this is not what he signed up for. This was supposed to be a quick job done! Not a meet and greet.
He rolled his eyes, “Fine. But only if you let me leave after this.”
Severus lowered his wand, prompting him to carry on. He clearly wasn’t expecting someone important. All he saw was a petulant child who needed to be put in his place.
“My name is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, God of the Underworld.” Nico leaned back against the wall, smirking as the ball dropped. “Oh, and I’m also the Ghost King and Ambassador of Pluto, again, my dad.”
Harry sputtered in disbelief, “You can’t just believe that!”
“I killed Tom Riddle for you.” Nico countered back.
It was Severus’s turn to choke.
Minerva just looked off put.
“Ok.” Nico clapped his hands, “I really got to go deliver his soul to my dad.”
Harry’s eye twitched.
“See ya!” Nico dove into the shadows, gleefully laughing at their shock.
He arrived, exhausted from using his powers so much, back at the palace.
“Your back! I expect you have his soul, son?” Hades jostled him out of the shadows and into the room.
“You.” Nico started, very annoyed and very, very angry, “told me this was going to be easy! I think you forgot to mention the wizards.” He growled, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Once he returned Tom’s soul to his dad, he stalked back into the shadows and signed in relief when he landed on his bed.
'Now', he decided, 'I can sleep.'