Dedicated to my best friend, Tris Williams. She never stopped bugging me until I caved in and wrote an OC fic for the fandom.

For the first time in Nico di Angelo's life, he felt a little lost.

He was never in control of his emotions, always making them go astray like flying shrapnel. He was just tired of simply everything. He is just a wandering mess. He looked dejected and exhausted but he had the need to escape all of his problems for a while, travel in exotic places, maybe. Trying his best to not focus, he simply let himself loose before shadow traveling. In his demigod years, he gradually deducted that the power to shadow travel depends your ability to completely focus on only one place, and he failed to do just that. He let his thoughts scatter, he let himself unfocused and he didn't mind a bit as to wherever he might end up. It was simply better than Camp Half-Blood.

He released a defeated sigh. Shadow traveling was something he would never get used to. Feeling a little woozy, he stepped out of the dissipating shadows and stared at the area where he ended up. It was just a quaint town with sienna buildings, required stores, and houses varying in different plain colors. It was suitable for his simple taste. Staring at the green board, it stated: "Welcome to the Town of Chesterfield!"

He is clearly not sure about his location but he is safe to guess that he is somewhat far away from Long Island, thank the gods! He began to roam around. He could stay there for a while, find a motel, eat in McDonalds if he had the money or just pass his time by defeating monsters that randomly popped out in his vicinity. He is, after all, the only living (he presumed, that is) son of Hades. He never did like the title but it will do him good for now. He has to admit that it's no use against mortals. He will either get laughed at or end up in a mental hospital, not that he's bothered with any of it except for the latter.

He was rather thankful that the Fates are on his side. At least, they did something good to his life for a change, until he bumped into one of the passersby. "Hey, watch it!" He blankly stared at the town's thug, he deducted. It was clearly obvious by the way the boy is wearing an arrogant face and the presence of two of his lackeys. Nico was not in the mood to fight but the three bullies said otherwise.

"Can't you see we're walking here, huh, midget?"

They were trying to get to him but Nico's patience was miraculously everlasting but the fact that the bully mentioned his weight–well–the lack thereof, dangerously lowered his patience to an altitude of over 10 feet. It didn't do any good when they began to size him up. He was about to summon an army of dead gladiators (he was exaggerating) when someone shouted behind him. "Hey! What the hell are you going to do with him?" Judging by the sound of the newcomer's voice, it was obviously a teenage girl.

"Don't interfere with us, Harris!" The bully spat the girl's name like it's poison. "Sorry, Darius, but if you lay one finger on my friend, I'll punch you to the Mars and back." My friend? Nico didn't need her at all. He was perfectly fine on his own. Darius, by the way his face contorted into pure anger, got a rough hold of Nico's shoulder. "Don't you dare push him." The girl's voice pierced through their own set of ears. Darius actually looked like he was about cower from the menacing tone.

Before Nico could process everything, he heard a cracking sound from the bully's face. He suddenly fell on the ground from the punch the girl actually promised to deliver. Nico even noticed that Darius was bleeding. He whipped his head to the side to see the girl wearing a smug yet still angry look. He was vaguely impressed. Withdrawing from her current position, she dusted off the nonexistent dirt from her hands before gazing calmly at the other two. "Now, who's next?" In the blink of an eye, they dragged their bleeding leader and scampered away.

Nico was having an interesting day so far. Then she laughed. Nico, still staring at her, observed the way her eyes crinkled in merriment and how she gripped her stomach as she released peals of triumphant laughter. "Well, finally! Someone really ought to teach them a lesson they'll never forget." He was vaguely amused that she was not talking about herself. "Thanks, bud." She wiped the mirthful tears from her hazel eyes before patting his shoulder. He didn't like the contact at all.

"I didn't do anything. You were the one who punched him." She suddenly stopped her appraisal and stared at him as if he had just grown two heads. "Yeah, I did. But you're the one who provoked them to do something bad. That counts for something." He didn't like the way she spoke at all. "It sounds like you underestimate me." She released her hold from him and shot him a sheepish smile.

"I didn't mean it like that. You were outnumbered." She was clearly underestimating her. "So were you." At his classic comeback, she let out a guffaw. "Yes, I was. But my father would always: My dear girl. If you find yourself in a fight–but heavens' forbid– always aim for the leader because without them, the others would look like sheep that lost its shepherd." In some context, Nico found it accurately true.

"Now, since we're finally behind the distractions, let's get on with the formalities. My name is Lincoln." Nico looked dubiously at her because of that.

"Like the president's surname?" She gave him an amused glance, as if she was used to the inquiry and she looked like she was.

"Like the president. I was born the same day as Abraham's birthday." She shrugged like it was no big deal.

"I'm Nico. Nico di Angelo." Nico suddenly took back his initial thoughts about her. He did like her. "Nice to meet you, Nico." She sounded like she was actually glad that she met him. A lot of people were never like that. "You can call me Col, since Lincoln's kind of like a guy's name." She chuckled at her own remark.

"I'm okay with Lincoln." He shot her one of his rarest full smiles. He was indeed happy with the turn of events. "Really? They usually go along with the nickname." She looked surprised but also ecstatic. Nico guessed that no one ever fully appreciated her name, especially since it was really for a guy. "Yeah. It's unique that way." She beamed even more. He noticed that she was downright hyper and jolly, as if nothing would somber up her mood.

"What are you doing here in Chesterfield, New York?" He honestly didn't know. His initial purpose was to stay there for a while but everything regarding that matter was thrown out of the window after not giving much thought. "Uh, sightseeing?" Lincoln stared at him like he was from outer space. "You're asking me. But if you really want to go sightseeing, there's not much to see." That's where everything went downhill.

"If you're not planning on going anywhere, I could invite you for coffee." She shifted her weight from right to left, and Nico immediately caught sight of her ginger boy-cut hair. It was unkempt, which is commonly typical to a boy's. He deducted that she always gets teased because of her short messy hair and boyish name. He didn't even notice that she was wearing black-framed eyeglasses that were crooked from the previous spat.

"I'm a guy you just met and defended." He pointed out the obvious. He didn't want to trust her and he certainly didn't want to gain her trust.

"Exactly. And besides, I just want to have a friend. It's been ages since I last had one." He doesn't know if she was simply lying or not but he also never had gotten a permanent friend before, except for allies who just come and go.

"What if I'm a serial killer?" She released one of her common peals of laughter before patting him again on the shoulder. He was still bothered by it.

"I don't care."

"You're weird and an idiot."

"That's what most people say but I'm actually smart." Nico snorted at that.

"C'mon. It'll probably take us 10 minutes to get to my house but I still need to make that coffee, you know." He rolled his eyes but accepted the invitation. After all, it's been in fact ages since he had a friend. He later on realizes that after all his demigod years, today was the day he actually felt normal.

Dear readers, whether anonymous or not,

It's actually my first time writing an OC fic in the Percy Jackson fandom. Don't worry. I don't write Mary Sues and all that crap. If you don't believe me, then follow the storyline and you'll know. Hope you like it!

Read and review because it's highly recommended. Please!

Sincerely, Star.