He'd finally found them. Tom Riddle's heir. A boy no older than seventeen, with hair of a raven night and eyes of a churning ocean.
The wizened old man closed the weathered book. The Fates had been kind enough to let him in on this secret, one he f...
He'd been following the trail for a week now. Nico had tried only following the main trail but the person behind it all either didn't know how to control all the ghosts he'd stolen or didn't care nor notice they'd been branching off, running free from the main swarm. So Nico had taken many a detour to try to contain the chaos before mortals started to notice.
For the nights Nico set up camp under the stars, watching the constellations. Sleep didn't come easily to him between nightmares and fear of being attacked by angry, revenge-hungry ghosts it was hard to make himself sleep. The identity of the 'Ghost King' wasn't exactly obscure. But ghosts escaping didn't occur on a regular basis either so it was never too much of a worry. The demigod had already had to deal with a particularly nasty ghost hunting him, carrying a vendetta and a small group of monsters to get rid of Nico. Thank the gods for Ambrosia and Nectar, something he had a fair supply of.
The number of ghosts he's been encountering had been steadily increasing and the demigod took that as a sign that he was getting closer to the end of the trail and once he had an answer, Nico could go back to Camp Half-Blood and visit a certain son of Apollo.
But first, the perpetrator needed to be uncovered.
Quests were normally executed in threes, however, Hades couldn't have people knowing of the error in his realm, especially given his was the Realm of the Dead, so Nico was on his own.
It took Nico a further two days of traveling to reach his destination. The demigod would've shadow traveled, but he was far from home and if things got too dangerous he needed to conserve his energy so he could get himself out without transporting himself to China again. Though sometimes he might question it, a living Nico was better than a dead Nico. Will seemed to think so.
Nico crouched in the shadows on the border of a forest, hidden among the bushes. He scoped out the area from his vantage point, cautiously climbing the nearest tree for a better view of the mansion standing atop the hill.
This was the next place his hunt lead him to.
The stretch from the forest to the house was lit by the moon and completely bare for all but grass. It was open ground, dotted with scattered and stunned ghosts. If Nico strained his ears he could barely hear them muttering unintelligible nothings under their breath. Surely at least one would raise the alarm should Nico attempt to cross.
He released a quiet sigh and allowed himself to feel for the shadows. Their cold hands tugged at his clothes, beckoning him into their depths. Nico's eyes closed and fell into the sensation, allowing the shadows to take him and feeling the numbing cold wash over him. Icy wind silently whipped at him as Nico searched for the exit he needed.
When he was spat back out, it was in the shadows of the porch on the hill. A grin worked its way onto his features.
There was only one light on in the entire house, and it was on the top floor. Nico took that as a sign that there were only one or two people in the house and in the same room, however, he wasn't going to launch in there believing that for that could be his undoing. One light did not mean one person.
Nico closed his eyes and placed a hand on the front door, feeling the shadows weaving between his fingers. He called to them and used them to fade through the door to the other side. If the door creaked too loudly he'd be caught for sure.
There was less light inside than there was outside, so Nico crouched by the door for a moment and allowed his eyes to adjust. His breathing was quiet as he crept towards the nearest room.
The mansion was old and such was the theme. There were few modern touches to it. Almost as if it were cut off from society. It looked like something more a little after Nico's own time. When Nico came across the dining room and ran his fingers under the large wooden table surface for any taped messages. The table was made to dine comfortably with twelve people and was as many chairs.
A quick yet thorough look around the first floor proved to Nico that it was made for social purposes and held nothing of use to him. So with that conclusion, he advanced to the second floor, cringing every time a step creaked beneath his feet and pausing for the sound of rushing footsteps that never came with his heart in his throat and his blood pounding in his ears.
A mansion such as this would have a basement, but Nico would search that on his way out. Much to his delight, there were no ghosts permitted inside the house. All he had to be wary of was the house's true occupants.
Some of the rooms on the second floor were rather bare and cold. The air up here was solemn and sad, traced with lingering despair and fear. It was something Nico wasn't unfamiliar with. Caught up in the air of the place, Nico failed to notice something sliding up to him until it was too late. All Nico saw was a flash of blonde before a bout of pain knocked him unconscious.
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So I did a little character profile thingy for the characters you all met in the previous chapter (Callum, Valador, Marcus and also Zaiden). I'd show you the more listed and detailed version I have but you wouldn't be able to read my writing and it contains some major spoilers. The appearance of these new characters was unplanned, so I took a bit of time to work things out and now I'm excited about the future :D!
But here you are:
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