The Quirkless King and Co.

The Quirkless King

Quick note: the interpreter is an invention by the Hephaestus cabin, that translates the users speech and what they're hearing into a suitable language. It clips onto the ear and mouth and so in the mist, appears as two studs there.

This was definitely not where he had aimed to get out. Definitely not a dark alleyway filled with bags of rubbish. He lifted his hands to his lips and felt sticky liquid flecked over them. Certainly something wrong here.
A small girl ran past him clutching her bag to her chest as she hopped over the bottles strewn across the alley. Nico only glanced at her strangely as she dashed by until he heard an angry echo ringing out from around the corner.
"Don't think you can get away from me you little-" The man rounded the corner inhumanly fast and quickly approached.
"Identifying language... Japanese." The interpreter's female voice buzzed in his ear and the teen hummed slightly. Nico made a quick decision and shot out his hand to grab the man by his collar as he was about to run past. There was a short choking noise as the front of the man's collar dug into his neck before Nico pulled him off the ground.

The criminal was about to shout at him for interrupting his little chase before he saw the cold glare that Nico was giving him. Without saying a word he kneed the man in the stomach before punching him in the jaw and dropping the unconscious body into one of the heaps of plastic bags.

Dusting off his hands, he noticed the handbag that the girl had been carrying a few meters away from him. He picked it up and inspected it. Definitely a bit girly but he could imagine it being something Bianca would have enjoyed. Quickly pushing that thought aside, he called out,

"Hey umm.. girl? You dropped your bag." He noticed her peeping out from behind the corner and he gestured for her to come over to him. When she shook her head he sighed a little. Made sense.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Nico said, trying to sound as friendly as possible which wasn't all the much in reality. "If you want me to I could throw it to you but I don't know if that would go so well." Thinking over it, he could probably throw it. He'd thrown a spear once before, he guessed, but doubted the girl would want her possessions thrown.
The girl however shook her head vigorously and rounded the corner, not taking her wide eyes off the teen she was looking at. As soon as she got close enough, he carefully passed her her bag before she wrapped herself around his leg and burst into tears.

Stunned, he stood there while she sniffled.
"Th- th- thank you m- mister mister.." She trailed off as she calmed down. Nico was guiltily reminded of his younger years when he was as childish as that.

"Di Angelo." He finished for her, trying his best to give a friendly smile though he didn't think he clicked well with younger children.

"Are you a hero mister Di Angelo?" She asked him, her round pink eyes looking into his dark brown ones. Nico pushed aside a momentary thought back to his memories as a child and the campers he had left behind and shrugged off the girls question as a childish fantasy.

"Only if you want me to be. Now, how about I take you out onto the street?"
The girl nodded, still a little bit shocked as he led her slowly out of the alleyway and onto the pavement. He watched her scurry away quickly, presumably in the direction of her parents and he turned back to try and shadow travel again.

It wasn't long before the shadow travel deposited him in an vacant lot, head spinning. It was very quiet apart from hushed voices that he could hear coming from a broken window.
Nico quickly vaulted the fence and sneaked into the building. He lightly scaled the steps, making sure to make as little noise as possible, and peered into the dusty room where the two men were conversing. One, the larger by several centimetres in each direct, twirled the blade of a serrated knife in his right hand, bearing down upon the other. He was the younger by a large margin and was quaking, backed up against a wall as the murderer approached him. Still standing out of the light, Nico picked up the nearest projectile, the grubby floor providing him with a half empty can of soda, probably long since flat. He tested its weight and launched it towards the criminal. It collided with the man's hand, drawing blood at the knuckle and he dropped his knife in surprise. The weedy adult snatched it up hurriedly, hilt slippery with sticky brown liquid. The murderer however was undeterred. He took a step, injured hand forward to grab the younger's collar.