Chapter Text
Nico clung to Bianca as they stepped out of the dark car in front of the Westover Hall Boarding School’s main building. They had lived in this casino/ hotel combination for the past few months, but once the two came out of the hotel… everything seemed different.
At that time Nico was eight and Bianca was ten. They “lived” there for a month but before that they were just on their own for a bit. People came and went but Bianca and Nico stuck to each other like glue the whole time. They hadn’t gotten very far in terms of schooling when they were without a guardian, but Bianca tried to teach Nico everything she knew about the world and about english, so he could speak with locals and tourists. To read and understand basic math so that no one would make fun of him.
They were behind in their schooling (that much was a given) but they didn’t really know how much the missed until they left the casino. The world had seemed to grow fifty years in the course of their one month stay.
Everything changed. This new world brought new challenges- “What’s a smartphone?” Nico had asked. But Nico knew that they would excel in this new world, despite everything they knew having been changed. Each one of the new concepts the two had tried to grasp when they were little were easily obtained, Bianca made sure of it. She made sure that Nico knew a little bit everything he learned and that they wouldn’t move on until both of them didn’t have any more questions.
Now they were gonna live here for the time being. A new place without any familiar faces and some odd lawyer in a black suit that took them here was their first sign of a whole new problem.
Now they would have to learn what to do in this new world. Nico didn’t really remember a lot but the look on his sister’s face told him that a lot else had changed. They had guessed that it was to be expected because a lot of things could change in a month.
And changed it had.
With that thought, they made their way inside.
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Leo Valdez had made his way through many foster homes by the time he was nine.
His mom had died just a year before and nobody had really wanted him since. His newest ‘family’ had just dropped his off at Westover Hall Boarding School to grow up so that they wouldn't have a problematic foster kid on their hands.
Leo would’ve cried when he was five, but he was used to it by now. People just didn’t want him. Abuse and neglect taught him that. The only person who did like Leo was his mom, and she’s gone now, so he became just plain unlikable.
Leo knocked on the door with his possessions in tow. His foster parents were long gone, having clambered back into their beat up station wagon and left nothing they wanted behind.
The door swung open to reveal an older woman who ushered him inside when she didn’t see any other adults.
Nobody had talked to Leo for the first week. That skinny kid who looked like he was going to hurl a thousand words at you from every direction because of that spark in his eyes and his mischievous grin. He had pointy ears and a crooked smile. Leo looked like a troublemaker from the start.
But Leo knew it was going to be different this time because this time , he spotted a little boy with straight black hair that stuck up awkwardly and a deck of cards in his hand, sitting alone and shuffling his feet and the cards. Leo decided that if he was going to make any friends or even have anybody ignore him, he would just have to go up and talk to that somebody first.
“Hey, what’s your name?” The boy was startled when he looked up, showing grey-black eyes as if there were only whites and the shadow of a pupil. It was the first time Leo had ever seen anybody’s eyes look like that. Usually they would be brown or blue or green...but never black.
“N-Nico. Nico di Angelo.” Nico’s voice was soft and shaky, like he wasn’t used to speaking and afraid to mess up. Leo wasn't surprised, the kid almost oozed anxiety. He had a heavy accent, too, so he probably wasn’t used to english. Leo wasn’t used to accents, except for the few times his foster parents had one. He had only ever heard this kind of accent when a pair of foster parents had yelled at each other in what they had said was Italian. That must’ve been where the kid was from. Italy.
“I’m Leo. Can I sit?” The boy just looked down and nodded. Nico just shuffled his cards and swung his feet. He rarely looked up. Leo only just realized how skittish this kid really was.
“What game is that?”
“Mythomagic. I got the last pack on the shelf.” Nico’s words seemed to be sounded out, like a little kid. He was really trying to get english right, Leo was determined to teach him to be more confident, maybe even learn some Italian on the way.
“I’m, uh, waiting for my sister to get out of her class. They won’t let me start yet because I’m not in the grade I should be in but she always teaches me what she can when it’s over. Then we play cards.”
“When will she be back?” Leo asked, following Nico’s eyes as he scanned the room for what seemed like the fifth time.
Nico looked at the clock. It was noon.
“In another three hours.” Leo looked at this at that time and the other boy seemed to deflate at that thought.
“Wanna play until she gets back?” Leo asked. He was surprised at how long Nico would have to wait. Besides, it’s not like Leo had anything better to do.
The smaller boy shrugged. “Do you know how to play?” Nico always bested Bianca in their recent games, everyone else called him a nerd and the adults just didn't have time, so it would be good to have a new opponent, someone he could teach.
Leo grinned.“Nope.”
Nico suddenly looked up. He had been shuffling his cards in anticipation for a game.
“But you can teach me!” Leo quickly added on. His leg was bouncing up and down from a small burst of excitement.
The other boy shrugged again and started dealing out the cards.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Bianca caught up to her grade faster than the staff had ever seen, and Nico had already known everything she had until they got there, so she wasn’t worried about him being left behind. Thinking about the boy, she left her classroom to find her little brother. He was at the usual table, but there was another boy sitting across from him. A protective flare rose to the surface, a reaction born of the street thugs beating Nico up for cheap laughs. She was about to run over there and pull him away, try and fight for him, but then she saw the shyest kid in the whole building almost fall out of his chair laughing.
Bianca smiled, that was something that never really happened anymore. Ever since the craze of games all day and five star food had lost its appeal, they weren’t complaining, but their small room in Venice with their mother had always been more enjoyable, the little memories they each had of it.
She was glad Nico had found someone besides her to talk to, to play with. He had only sat there for the year they were at the school, never really doing much since they wouldn’t let him start his studies until the end of the year.
Leo looked at the time. He had a grasp on this game and was actually starting to be able to defeat the other boy, but he had been waiting for his sister in the beginning, and he should’ve been able to see her ASAP. It was now 3:05, so she should be back. That was when a black-haired girl was spotted leaning up against a wall with a smile on her face while looking at the two.
Leo leaned in to speak to Nico. “Hey, do you know her?”
The older boy looked confused for a second, then turned around to see who had been watching them, he then runs over to pull his sister over and deal her into their game. Over the next several months the three of them got to be good friends. Leo was in the same wing that Nico was, being the same age, and they stayed out together long after they were supposed to, the older one seeming to blend into the shadows on his way back, therefore able to sneak more easily through the halls.
Before the boy from Texas had asked to play cards, Nico had no company after hours. He always felt the most energized at night, often staying up late and getting little sleep. The italian kid never understood why everyone was such a stickler about sleeping at night, instead of during the day when the sun made him feel warm and drowsy.
Leo liked the night too. But for him, it was always like the day was too hot, then night was like going under the cold sheets in the middle of a hundred degree day (37.7° C) or a cool breeze on the same day. He did get cold, just not as fast. On a snow day he would probably have to wear a sweatshirt, but he could not stand the heat. Real heat, that is. He could stick his hand right into a fire-
Fire. Fire burning down the whole shop. Mama was in there. I started that fire. I didn’t mean to. Mama don’t go. Mama! MAMA!
Leo shook himself out of his memories and found himself standing outside the tiny dorm-like room Nico slept in, along with a couple other kids. Leo felt like he was burning up, like he couldn’t touch anything, nevermind the rickety old wooden door. He calmed himself down. It was just some childhood nightmare. The fire in the shop was just some electrical thing, that was it. He opened the door.
As expected, Nico wasn’t in his bed. Leo had been told many stories about how the other boy had been scolded many times for not being in his bed, but how every night he would just take his bedding and place it on the ledge, more than big enough to hold the now ten year old.
Nico was there now, looking out into the darkness of the night and only turning his head when the door opened. He smiled for a second, then the look contorted to worry and confusion when he saw the fear on his friend’s face. Without any words, Leo nodded towards the door, and Nico understood. In the first two months of knowing each other, they had found comfort with each other in the middle of the night, often going to this little cemetery-like place.
It wasn’t super creepy, but it was where some kids and staff had been buried. A place that had been open for over fifty years was bound to have at least a few deaths, and sure enough, there was four or five little graves tucked away behind the ‘boys’ building, giving the two a little place nobody else really went to.
Before leaving the room, Nico grabbed a jacket from his few clothes. He might’ve liked the night, but he wasn’t a fan of the cold that came with it. The italian boy would never understand how his mexican friend could leave without so much as a long sleeve, just a tee shirt and somehow that worked.
As soon as they stepped into the cooler night air, Leo seemed off. He had been a bit jumpy on the way, but Nico had summed it up to him not wanting to get caught, but now he could see that he was jumpy even in their own little haven. Nobody ever came out here, even during the day. So there was no reason for Leo to be so worried like he was.
“Leo? What’s wrong?” Nico asked, it seemed like those words broke the wall of nervousness, making the thoughts flood out of his mouth like a tsunami.
“I didn’t mean to. I never wanted to hurt her. She was inside and she asked me to wait but then an earth-lady appeared and oh god I sound crazy.”
“Hey, Valdez, deep breath and tell me. Who did you accidentally hurt and what do you mean earth-lady?”
“My….my mom. I killed my mom.” Leo had tears of regret, sadness and guilt running down his cheeks, yet he also relaxed against the cold, pale boy next to him.
“I thought you said she was killed in a fire. And how did you accidentally kill her?”
“I made the fire.”
“You were outside, how could you set the fire from-”
“No, Nico. I didn’t set the fire. I made the fire.”
“Leo, now you’re not making any sense.”
The curly-haired boy took another long, deep breath. Using all the control he had, which wasn’t much, he summoned a small flame to dance around his hand, trying to not drown in memories as he saw his flames for the first time in two years. “I did this. There was this lady, she was like an imaginary friend from a nightmare and I thought she was standing in front of me and was saying that she’d hurt me and mama and I tried to burn her…..but nobody was there, I was the reason the shop burned down.” He kept his eyes closed, not knowing what would happen if he saw the object of his life’s destruction. The flames sparked in retaliation.
“Leo..hey, Leo.” Nico softly slapped the side of his face, trying to get his attention. “You were eight years old. You had no idea what it would do. It was not on purpose and not your fault. Blame this earth-lady. She was the reason you did it. What was her name?”
“Gaea, I think. She would go on these, like, monologues on how she would take over the world and how ‘the seven’ would bring the world down.”
“It’s over. You haven’t seen her since, right?” Leo shook his head. “Good. Now, with this fire thing. We are going to come out here and practice that a lot. We can’t have you getting mad and flaming on. I will help you through it, Bianca too. She just can’t really help at night, you know, on the other side of campus and all, right? Unless one of us could, I don’t know, bring her through the shadows. That would be a sight, huh?”
“Yeah, it would be, Nico. Thanks.”
“Wanna head back now?”
“Sure.”