Ghost King I

An open wound

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 fourteen 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?