Shadows and Magic

Chapter 9

Nico

Nico felt uneasy. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know who these people were. He didn't know what was to become of him. All he was clinging onto was the hope that Will would come. Otherwise he'd rather die than be trapped.

"This way." Sirius said, nudging past him and leading him into a big room. Nico felt a flash of irritation. This guy had been everywhere, poking his nose in Nico's business. He was always appearing in Nico's room, as if he didn't get the concept of privacy. But why should Nico get private space? He was their prisoner after all. 

Nico followed Sirius inside a kitchen. Pots and plates were in a sink, and the place looked untidy. He was aware of the werewolf and a woman behind him. Lupin and Mrs Weasley, Nico remembered. They seemed to be studying him, hands gripped on their sticks. The sticks were still a mystery to Nico, he hadn't been able to figure out how they could shoot laser beams that affect him. Nico had a faint memory of someone mentioning something about the sticks, but between his hunger, thirst, and after affects of the Death Trance he could barely think. 

Putting himself in a Death Trance seemed like a good idea at that time. Nico had lots of stamina, considering what he had been through, but shadow traveling always made him hungry. It had been about 4 days since he had ate. Small sips of unicorn draught kept him from starving to death and dying of thirst, but Nico kept himself from consuming too much. He still needed to save some for later. Nico knew starving himself wasn't a good idea, but he couldn't help it. These weird mortals had weaken him, humiliated him, and made it seem like he was at their mercy. Any demigod would hate being treated like that. Nico couldn't help but hold a bit of a grudge, and he didn't want to accept anything from them. A sudden movement snapped Nico out of his thoughts. Mrs Weasley was pushing a small slice of.. something towards Nico. Gingerly, Nico leaned forward and sniffed it. Chicken and... ham?

"It's not much, but it's all we have so far." Mrs Weasley looked apologetic. "It's Shepherd's Pie." (IDK. Deal with it.)

Nico looked away, promptly ignoring the food. Beside him, Lupin shot a look at Nico.

"It's either you eat it, or we'll force you." he said quietly. "We can't have a child dying on our hands."

"Well, I'm sorry, but that's going to happen." Nico said sarcastically. He saw Sirius twitch, but didn't pay him any attention. 

"You will die if you don't eat."

"Death and I are practically friends. I don't fear death." Nico replied, crossing his arms. All three of adults flinched, wondering what the boy had been through. What they didn't know was this was true. 

"It's either you eat or we'll find a way to tie you up and feed you ourselves." Sirius pulled up a chair and stared into Nico's eyes. Nico scoffed, a bit uneasy. It jarred him, how quickly Sirius was able to figure him out. Sirius had a sort of look about him, the same face Nico saw every time he looked into a mirror. It almost felt like... Sirius was an older version of himself, one that had looked into the face of a true horror and survived it. 

Nico decided he wasn't going to take any chances. Cautiously, he reached out and picked up the pie. It felt warm in his icy hands. He studied it carefully, checking for signs that it was laced with poison, or worse. Once he realized it was 100% food and didn't include any mysterious substances, Nico broke off a tiny piece and slowly lifted it to his mouth. It was quite good, and Nico felt his expression morph into one of curiosity as he slowly savored it. It was the first meal he had in ages. His stomach screamed for more.

"Better than any other one's you've tasted so far, right?" Sirius said smugly. 

"I've never had one before." Nico replied truthfully, and he felt horror radiate from his left. Nico turned and saw a redhead sitting a few chairs away, a piece of pie halfway to his mouth, staring at him, looking quite shocked.