Master of Death

Act 2 - Chapter 1

Nico scowled bitterly. He knew it was his fault Bianca was dead. If he hadn't driven her away with his annoyingness, she wouldn't have gone on that quest. He once again tried to throw away the mythomagic figurine of his father but found that he couldn't. Bianca had died getting it for him. He couldn't just throw it away. So, he pocketed it instead.

While he was trying to figure out what to do, he was attacked by a monster. He didn't know what it was, only that it was oddly trying to... talk him into giving up? Whatever it was trying to do, it wasn't working on him. However, he was unarmed, and the monster managed to rake its claws across his side before he somehow killed it.

He winced and decided to use his newly discovered power of shadow travel. He hurried over to the nearest patch of shadows and leaned into them, willing his body to melt into shadows.

He was trying to go to his father's palace in the Underworld, which he had been given an open invitation to in his latest dream, but realized too late that he'd never been. Hopefully, "palace in afterlife" would be enough instruction so he wouldn't end up in China again.

When he opened his eyes he nearly cheered. He was in a dark hallway. Bejeweled flowers stood in vases on the windowsills and a blood red carpet ran under this feet. A tapestry of the Underworld was on the wall. He slumped tiredly. He had made it, but now had to find someone who could heal him.

"Who are you?"

Nico looked up to see a young man, around twenty, with pale blond hair and silver eyes. Standing behind him, almost like a guard, was a man with dark features. He was rather intimidating to the young son of Hades, with his hand on the hilt of a sword. It was the blond who had spoken.

"Nico," Nico said quietly. "Nico di Angelo."

The blond frowned. "You're not a reaper."

Nico shook his head in confusion. His father didn't have reapers. Where was he?

"You should come with me," the man said. "If anyone else finds out you're here, they'll lock you up."

"Scorpius, I must advise you against this," the other man said warningly. "Your brother will not be happy to discover you are hiding an intruder."

Scorpius waved him off. "It will be fine, Niccolo. I am not going to leave an injured child to the mercy of the dungeons. His wound would get infected!"

Niccolo frowned but nodded as Scorpius helped him through the halls of this palace that clearly wasn't his father's. Scorpius peeked around every corner before turning it, making sure no one was there.

They reached a row of doors and Scorpius quickly ushered Nico inside one of them. The bedroom it led to was large and decorated in a black and gold theme. Scorpius had Nico sit down on a couch at the end of the bed. He pulled out a stick and whispered something under his breath, the stick aimed at Nico's wounds.

Nico watched in amazement as the pouring blood slowed to a stop. "How'd you do that?"

Scorpius smiled brightly and began to ramble about someplace called Hogwarts and how he had been taking lessons from someone named Madame Pomfrey. "She's the healer at Hogwarts," he explained. "I'm not the best at healing spells yet. Harry's definitely better, but I can stop the bleeding long enough to find a spell in my book."

Nico's jaw dropped. "Spells?"

Scorpius nodded brightly. "I'm a wizard, you know. I'm in a mastery program for healing. That's what I want to be, see? I want to be a personal healer. I don't want to work at St. Mungo's, but I do want to be a healer."

Nico was shocked. First Greek gods and now magic? What else was real? Other mythologies? Aliens?

Scorpius was oblivious to Nico's internal dilemma and kept rambling as he flipped through a large tome. "I'm sure I can find the proper spell in here. Madame Pomfrey gave it to me when I started in seventh year. Said I showed real potential for being a healer. Dray agrees. He's doing law school, you know. Harry's busy with his job down here, but Dray doesn't want to leave the world quite yet, and neither do I. I might be immortal, but I can change my age, so I might as well just stay for a while before I fake my death or something. Ah! Here it is! Let's see..."

Nico watched in awe as Scorpius whispered a spell, causing the skin to stitch itself back together, leaving only scars behind. "So cool," he whispered.

Scorpius beamed at him and handed him a corked bottle. "This is a blood replenishing potion. Drink it." Nico did so. "So, now that you're not in danger of dying, why don't you tell me more about yourself?"

"Umm... I'm eleven years old, I'm a son of Hades, and I'm alone. My sister, Bianca, left me for the Hunters of Artemis and died, so I ran away. I was trying to get to my father's palace."

Scorpius pulled him into a hug and let Nico cry into his shoulder. "Let it out," he soothed. "Just let it all out."

Niccolo watched on in concern from the sidelines.

There was a knock on the door. "Hey, Scorpius, it's dinner time."

"Umm... I'm not hungry?" Scorpius tried, obviously attempting to get the person to leave.

There was a snort and then the door opened. "Yeah, right. You're always—who is this?" The man was young, around twenty-five. He had dark hair and emerald green eyes. He wore a simple outfit and an aviator's jacket. He radiated power, much more than Mr. D did. His eyes locked into Nico, making him cower in Scorpius's arms.

"This is Nico. I found him bleeding out in the halls."

The man was at his side in an instant, looking him over for injuries. He lifted his shirt and stared at the scars. "You did a good job, Scorpius," he murmured. He pulled out a stick and waved it. "You haven't eaten in days," he said with a frown. "Come, get dressed in some proper clothes and you will join us for dinner."

Nico, scared of the powerful man, nodded meekly. He followed him to a closet and watched as he picked out some nice clothing before waving his stick, which Nico was now thinking was probably a wand. The clothes shrunk to Nico's size and the man left him to change.

When he exited, he shivered at the cool air. He got cold easily and his jacket had gotten ruined by the monster.

"Are you cold?" the man asked.

Nico flushed and nodded shyly. The next thing he knew, the aviator's jacket that the man had been wearing was being draped over his shoulders. Warmth enveloped him and he relaxed. A necklace was placed around his neck as well, and he looked at it curiously.

"The necklace lets the reapers know that you are a guest," the man explained.

Nico followed him out of the room and through the halls, Scorpius and Niccolo beside him.

They ended up in a large dining room that had several people already there. The man introduced them as Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Draco Potter, and Death. He then introduced himself as Harry Potter.

Throughout the meal, Draco watched Nico with hardly concealed suspicion. Finally, he said, "Alright, that's it. Who is Nico and why is he here?"

"I found him bleeding out in the halls and healed him," Scorpius explained. "He's the son of Hades."

Death choked on his pasta. "Nico di Angelo?" he asked incredulously.

Timidly, Nico nodded, looking up from his own food to look at him. "How do you know my name?"

Death frowned. "Unfortunately, you're my brother's favorite plaything at the moment."

Now, Harry's head snapped up with a scowl etched into his face. "Absolutely not. That's what your boyfriend is for."

"Percy is not my boyfriend! Besides, Life got bored after Percy learned to adapt."

Nico watched the argument progress with concern. The two most powerful people he had ever met were glaring at each other and he hoped they didn't get too agitated. Because, if they did, he wasn't sure he'd survive the experience.

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