The Angel of Death

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Once I had explained to Bruce (in private of course) that I needed an altar of some sort that I could burn food at, he was all too happy to let me show him what I needed, and he set up a miniature bronze dish with kindling in it that I could light to burn small offerings.

He didn't ask anything else about my 'religion' but made me promise to tell him if any of my 'cultural needs were not being met'. None of the others asked about the offerings either, and I assumed Bruce must have told them to leave me alone about it, for which I was grateful.

Life continued pretty normally for the next few days. I kept out of everyone's way for the most part and they kept out of mine. We all had dinner together but the rest of the time, we were scattered. I was still intrigued with where they all disappeared to at night, but I hadn't been able to find any of them any time I went out. My ability to see their souls didn't expand the entirety of a city, after all.

I had worked out a pattern, though. Soon after everyone 'went to bed', around ten o'clock, Damian and Bruce would leave the house. I couldn't tell how they were getting out since they didn't use the main doors, or the windows. They would return around one or two in the morning, when Dick and Tim would leave. Those two would be back by six. Jason was gone usually all night and then slept until lunch time.

My own nightly ganders usually just included a walk around the main part of the city and usually an Iris call to Percy or Chiron. I had been lucky so far, and had not run into any villains or the like, or been caught talking through a magic rainbow window.

Jason was still suspicious of me, and I constantly felt like I was walking on eggshells around him. I hadn't let anything slip so far, but some habits were hard to break. I had to constantly check my language to be sure I would let slip a God's name or something, and I know everyone found my jumpy nature and aversion to physical contact odd.

I didn't like being cooped up in a house all day, I was so used to just roaming wherever I wanted that this was a very sudden change. I was limited with my ankle injury (which was pretty much already healed but I couldn't very well tell them that) and I was going out of my mind with boredom. I was becoming more and more jittery and jumpy, and I could feel my demigod instincts begging me to fight something or I might explode.

We were in the middle of a Scream movie marathon with the whole family, and I was not paying attention at all. I had been in the depths of Tartaurus, a dude in a ghost mask didn't scare me. Instead, I was hanging upside down off the end of the armchair, focused on a hangnail on my left index finger. I shifted to a new position, this one being a sort of sideways-slouch, and Bruce paused the movie.

"Are you alright?" He asked, and it took a nudge from Tim to get me to realise he was talking to me.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"I don't think you've sat still for two consecutive minutes in the three hours we've been watching movies." Dick said, half-jokingly.

"Oh." Had I been that obvious? "Sorry. I didn't mean to be distracting."

"It's okay," Bruce said. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't uncomfortable or anything."

I shrugged. "I just don't find Hollywood horror all that scary anymore."

"Anymore?" Jason asked, playing detective.

Another shrug. "I guess I'm just desensitised." I dropped my focus back to my fingers, regretting ever opening my mouth. This was going south faster than I could lose my will to live.

"How on earth do you become desensitised to a slasher horror movie?" Dick asked, sounding vaguely worried. All he got was a shrug, which seemed to be my default answer recently.

"No, no no no, we are talking about this," Dick said, sitting forwards. "What happened Nico?"

I worked my jaw, debating. If I told them anything at all, it would have to be a wildly false story that vaguely followed some semblance of my life's events, which would include two wars, a whole family of douche-y Gods and Goddesses, the Underworld, a pit of literal despair and death in the bottom-most reaches of said Underworld, and more death than any sixteen-year-old should have had to witness.

I wasn't sure how I could sugar-coat that, and I wasn't sure I wanted to. I didn't want to lie to these people more than I already had. So I just shook my head. "I'm not talking about it with you guys," I muttered.

"Do you want me to see if I can get you a counsellor appointment?" Bruce asked gently. I outright laughed at that.

"If I went to counselling, the therapist would need therapy!" That only served to increase their worried expressions. Damned dark humour was not helping my case.

"Do you think you'll ever be ready to talk about it?" Bruce asked.

I hesitated. "I...it's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't. Not to you." Jason narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Tim asked. I fixed my eyes on the movie and said nothing.

...↞⇹↠...

"I don't trust him," Jason huffed. A heavy sigh echoed through his earpiece.

"Yes Hood, we are all well-aware of your feelings on the subject." Dick murmured. "Just give him a chance? I don't get why you're so hung up on this."

"Because he's obviously hiding something!"

"You said the same thing about Red Robin, and he was just shy!"

"But Nico really is hiding something, Dick! How is it not obvious to you?"

"No names in the field, Hood. And, you're right I suppose. He has been acting...weird. First the not-seizure, and his religion-thing. And being desensitised to slasher movies?"

"Don't forget how he refused to touch my laptop," Tim added.

"And he knew who I was! He knew I had died, and he recognised me when he met us for the first time, I'm sure of it. And what about how he knew that we sneak out for patrol every night? Or the fact that he also sneaks past our security systems and hasn't gotten at least mugged yet?"

"Okay, you're right, Hood, he has been acting strange. What do you think is up?"

"Could he be a metahuman? Like Conner?" Tim suggested. Jason hummed in thought. So far, Nico hadn't showcased any unusual abilities. Granted, Jason hadn't really seen him in action, but he also had seen Nico tread carefully around them, watching his words. Jason didn't think Nico would be the best at keeping something like super strength hidden.

"I don't think so," he said. "He doesn't really give off...super-power vibes. I'm not sure, but something is definitely going on, and we need to figure it out."

"I can hack into some shady government databases and see what comes up under his name. It's a little weird that he would have no records in the system given the amount of time he's been living in America." Tim mused.

"And I can spend some more time around him, I think I'm probably the most approachable out of all of us, so I'll see what I can get out of him." Dick volunteered. Jason nodded, satisfied.

"We'll all keep an eye on him, then. I'll ask the demon too as well. He can't keep his secrets forever," Jason whispered. 

Oooo Jason suspicious hahaha 

Just for funsies, how old do all yall think i am? And should i bring Will to Gotham? It would be brief but im thinking about it.