Nico Di Angelo Meets Tam Song

Moving Shadows

Sophie tore across the grounds, running as fast as she could.

She had no idea where Nico was, or why Verdi was yelling.

Was it just a misunderstanding or was something wrong?

Could Nico really be a part of the Neverseen?

Sophie wanted time to think it over, but there was no time.

She skidded to a stop in front of Verdi's pen.

"You okay, girl?" she asked.

"I'm going to go look for Nico," Tam said, sprinting to the gate and disappearing down the steps.

"I'm going with him." Biana rushed off too, blinking in and out of sight.

Verdi ruffled her feathers and cooed.

"Verdi, is anything wrong?" Sophie asked again.

Verdi flapped her wings and lowered her heads for pets.

Stroking her nose, Sophie turned to Keefe. "She's fine."

"Let's go then." Keefe started to run off and then hesitated. "If you're okay."

Sophie looked at the gate and took a deep breath.

"Yeah," she said.

They took off running, letting the gate clang shut behind them.

Sophie could only hope they wouldn't wake up her parents.

They descended down the steps and onto the beach.

Sophie took a deep breath before rushing towards the closest cave.

Tam and Biana were standing outside.

"He's doing something weird in there!" Biana whispered.

"Shades do not do this," Tam added.

Sophie peaked inside.

Nico was standing in the corner, holding a small flower in his hand. He was muttering something.

It took awhile for Sophie to understand what he was saying.

"I'm assuming Mysterious Miss F knows what he's saying," Keefe whispered.

"It takes longer for my brain to translate it," Sophie whispered back, "But he's saying 'please let this work' over and over again."

Nico raised his arms, still oblivious that they were spying on him.

Suddenly the shadows around them grew darker and stretched out towards them.

Biana screamed as one almost touched her. A humming noise filled the cave and the temperature dropped significantly.

"This isn't a normal shade ability!" Tam said. "Something's going wrong.

In hindsight, this was a terrible idea, but Sophie wasn't thinking.

She wanted answers, and she wanted to leave this cave immediately.

If she could drag Nico back up to the house, maybe she could get some of the answers she desperately wanted.

Sophie rushed forwards towards Nico, reaching out to grab him. Tam, Keefe, and Biana followed, yelling at her to stop.

Nico turned towards them. He looked faded slightly and his eyes were completely black. There was no white in his eyes.

Sophie heard Biana scream behind her.

Nico still seemed to be conscious, however. As soon as he saw them hurtling towards him, his eyes widened and he dropped his arms.

The shadows sank back, slightly. It seemed like Nico was trying to stop whatever he was doing.

But it was too late.

The shadows reached out and grabbed Nico, enveloping him in darkness.

Sophie tried to jump back when the shadows reached for her and her friends.

She wasn't fast enough, and soon everything went dark.