A/N: Of course, none of this stuff belongs to me, it's all Rick Riordan's, although I can wish. I hope you enjoy the story that I have written only in school (but not when I was supposed to be working). Read and Review! I hope to get a couple reviews even though I am totally new!

Is this a dream?

I eyed the dimly lit alley that I had walked down, there was nothing around. The brick walls of the buildings surrounding me were crumbling, so I scaled up onto the rooftop. San Diego gave off a glow under the summer moon. I am Annu Danza, sixteen years old. I have brown-black, just past the shoulder hair, large, almond-shaped hazel eyes, and light copper-colored skin. At this particular moment, I was wearing a black jacket, blue skinny jeans, a black T-shirt, and black boots. I scanned the roofs for any signs of pursuers, of any type, but there was nothing in sight. I relaxed a fraction, and headed off west, where the sun had set so many hours ago. I checked my watch, 3 o'clock. In the night. I know what you're thinking, What is a sixteen year old girl doing walking around the rooftops of San Diego at three a.m? But questions like that usually apply to normal people, and I am by no stretch of the imagination normal.

It was about fifteen minutes before I heard anything. Footsteps echoed around me. I checked that my daggers were secured firmly in their wrist sheaths, ankle sheaths, belt sheaths, etc., hoisted up my backpack, and broke into a run. However, the footsteps just sped up.

I had almost reached the edge of the roof, but the next one was roughly ten feet down. I smirked, measured my force, and jumped. I heard a voice swear behind me, and almost laughed. After living in San Diego for fourteen years with an overprotective mother (who's rich and loves spoiling you, but anyways), you learn some things. As soon as I hit the next roof, I bent my legs, and rolled. I flipped all the way onto my feet, and when I was right-side up, unsheathed my daggers and whirled to face the person tailing me. But no one was there.

They must have given up after I jumped, I thought. I turned around.

"Holy crap!" I yelled. My crazy chaser stood there, he was a boy of around my age, maybe four inches taller. He had jet-black hair, olive-toned skin, and deep black eyes. His eyes looked so emotional - and soulful. And man, he was hot!

As if he knew what I was thinking, he smirked, and said, "If you're done staring at me..." I blushed. His voice was an amazing tenor. Wait, focus!

"Sorry," I said sarcastically. Thankfully though, he didn't seem to have noticed the blush. He kept talking.

"Hi, I'm Nico diAngelo," he announced. Introductions, great. He regarded me expectantly.

"I'm Annu Danza," I said. "Nice to meet you and everything, but why were you chasing me across the rooftops?"

"Why were you running?" He, Nico, countered smugly. But I was just getting kind of pissed off.

"Hmmm...Let's think. It's the middle of the night in San Diego, I'm a teenage girl, and you were trying to sneak up on me!" I glared at him.

"Okay, well, true. But..." Nico trailed off. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry for scaring you, but you'd think after all the things you've gone through, you'd get used to it. Besides I just wanted to talk."

"Well talk," I said impatiently. "Or get lost, because I've got better things to do than worry about having a psycho stalker." I looked at him pointedly. He opened his mouth like he was going to retaliate, but closed it again. I raised one eyebrow, but he stared at the ground. When he finally looked back up, I was considering leaving, but what with the complete lack of expression on his face, I decided to stay.

"I bet you move around a lot, and get bad grades because you were diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. And your teacher and people around you tend to turn into monsters." I was startled. He just waited for an answer.

"Ummm...no, and no, although I was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, and yes to the last one." Nico looked slightly shocked.

"Wait, you haven't moved around a lot?" I wondered why he cared, but replied.

"Nope, I've lived in my house ever since my mom came from Italia fifteen years ago."

"Weird," he murmured under his breath. Then louder, "Whatever. Annu, you're a demigod."

"What, like half-god and half-human?" He nodded.

"Yup,"

"Well, that explains a lot, but not why you're here." I chose to ignore the fact that what he was saying was slightly, well, crazy.

"I came to take you to camp. It's the only safe place for people like us."

"People like us? Are you a demigod too?"

"Yes." His tone implied no room for discussion of this topic, so I bit my tongue on 'Who's your godly parent?' Instead I asked a question that was actually important.

"Cool, so where is 'camp?'"

"Long Island,"

"New York? Holy crap! How do we get to New York? Can you fly or something?" This was starting to sound bad.

"We shadow travel," Nico said shortly. My face must have shown my confusion, for he sighed, and explained. "I can travel through shadows; it's kind of like transportation."

"Okay, will it hurt?" I wanted to be prepared for whatever came.

"No. Are we going or not?" Nico asked. I told him we were. "Good, grab my hand." He held out his hand, I looked at it uncertainly.

"You can trust me," he assured me. And looking at him, I believed him, even though what he said sounded like a cheesy line from a movie. I took his hand.

"Let's go," I said and we rushed into the darkness.

A/N: Yay! Chapter one done!