A small boy with coal black eyes and just as black hair stood atop a hill. In his hand he clutched a black sword. A girl stood next to him. Black hair and blue eyes shone in the moonlight with a fiery confidence. By them was a beautiful blonde girl with big gray eyes that seemed to peer into your soul. Together they fought. Together they said "Forever". But sometimes, does forever really mean forever?

A/N: I don't own PJO or HoO, please review! i'm already finished with the first few chapters, so the faster you review the faster i upload!

Chapter 1 - Hello

I cowered behind a bush. I cried pitifully as I clutched a small hammer in my hand.

"Little demigod, where are you? I want to play." The Cyclops called out looking for me.

I tried to blend into the shadows; they seemed to cover me a little more. Suddenly I heard a loud bellow and a crunching sound. Something stepped a little too close to my hiding spot and I squeaked. I sprang out of my hiding spot crying, "No more, no more monsters."

I swung my hammer around blindly, trying to contact the monsters flesh. Suddenly I felt myself being lifted off the ground, I screamed loudly. I knew it was over, so I squeezed my eyes tighter. I was concentrating so hard on trying to get away, but I knew it'd be worse if I let go of my weapon. I panicked and tried to pull the shadows toward me as I had learned to do in the past few days on my own. Suddenly I felt a cold rush of air and a falling sensation. I gasped in surprise as I landed on a bush with a loud thump. I peeked my eyes open and looked around. I tilted my head to the side, wha…? I'm on the other side of the clearing…I scrunched up my face in confusion.

Before I could act upon my bewilderment I heard a few voices. I blinked; it's been awhile since I've heard other humans talk. The last voice I heard was that horrible one eyed creature…I shuddered violently. I got on my hands and knees and crawled towards the two voices. I peeked out of the bush, careful to keep the shadows over my face.

A tall blonde girl with curly hair turned around in a circle. She seemed confused. I heard her ask where "he" went. I wonder who he was. I also wondered where they ugly monster was. I also heard her say something about demigod powers? Shadow travel? And Hades?…I remember my mom talking about someone named Hades. Maybe this girl knew my mommy…I miss her. The one eyed person got her…it was scary. He got my sister too…Bianca…I cried. I wanted my sister, I wanted my mommy. I didn't want to be alone anymore. Maybe the tall girl could help me. I crawled out from my bush.

"Miss? Did you say Hades…?" I asked, tearfully.

She turned around with a knife in her hand and I screamed and dove back into the bush. Suddenly I heard another voice; I must have not seen this person the first time I looked. She yelled at the scary girl for being so mean. I could feel her come closer to me. I cowered into my hiding place before she spoke to me.

"Little boy, its okay. You can come out, we're good guys! My name is Thalia, I'm nine! We can be friends, we won't hurt you. I promise." The girl sounded happy. I peeked out and eyed her carefully. She had spiky black hair and bright blue eyes. She looked safe enough. I stood up and she giggled and pointed at my head. I reached up; ew there's something on my head I thought. I reached up to pull it off but the girl beat me to it. I scowled at her, only my mommy could do that.

She reached out her hand, "So I already said my name, who are you?"

I looked at her timidly before reaching out to shake her hand. "N-N-Nico," I stammered out. She smiled, "That's a nice name. So did you ask about Hades?"

I coughed and took a step back, just in case she pulled out a knife too. I looked past the black haired girl to see the tall one behind her. I was still scared, she could've hurt me! Thalia turned around and smiled, "That's just Annabeth; she's alright once you get to know her. She takes care of me. She's OLD, she's like thirteen! Speaking of old, how old are you Nico? And it's ok to talk to us, we know about the gods too! We're just like you."

I looked at her strangely, "Gods?"

Thalia looked confused, "I thought you said you kne…uh nevermind, so how old are you?"

"Seven…I'll be eight in a few months," I whispered. I was still confused, "Gods?"

The tall girl rolled her big gray eyes, "I always find the twerps." She knelt down next to me and I flinched. "Nico, right? I'm sorry I scared you; I thought you were another monster. It was crazy how you disappeared like that. Can I ask you something Nico?"

She sounded nicer without the knife in her hand. I looked at her sheath warily before looking at Thalia, who nodded encouragingly. I braced myself and nodded.

"Where are your parents Nico? And why did you ask me about Hades?"

I looked at the floor and kicked at a rock on the ground. Sniffling I spoke softly, "The monster killed my mommy and sister…I ran away. My mommy said my daddy's name was Hades, but I never met my daddy. Mommy says he was too busy working. I guess he forgot about me…I wasn't good enough for him to remember." I sobbed.

Suddenly I was pulled into warm arms, which made me cry harder. They reminded me of Bianca. Annabeth hummed for me, calming me down. Thalia patted me on the back as I cried.

"It's ok Nico," I heard Thalia "I know what its like. I never met my daddy either. But we have each other now." I smiled, that was the best thing I've heard in days. I hung on to Annabeth now, not wanting to let go of the closest thing I had to an adult. I felt her stand up.

"Ok Neeks, let's take you to our camp. You're with us now," she told me before muttering to herself. "Son of the Big Three. Hah, I'm a power magnet. First daughter of Zeus, now a son of Hades. Next thing you'll know I'll run into a sea child. I don't get why I get stuck fighting all the monsters for these guys, I'm just Athena's kid."

She looked back at me and smiled, "We'll explain everything when you're settled in and had something to eat." I nodded quietly. I looked over Annabeth's shoulder at Thalia. She was skipping behind Annabeth and picking random flowers. She seemed so happy; electrifying. The opposite of me really, I was always so shy and timid. I guess we could be friends, I thought to myself. Thalia gasped as she accidently fried a butterfly that landed on her finger. I coughed trying to cover up my laugh. She scowled at me, I guess I didn't cover it up well enough. I blinked at her innocently before placing my chin on Annabeth's shoulder.

A little while later I felt myself being put back on the floor. I looked around at the small camp. There was two little tents nestled into the underbrush, one red and one blue. I looked up at Annabeth who was rubbing her neck. She noticed my stare and grinned, "Welcome to our humble abode! The red tent is mine, but you and Thalia can share the blue one. It'll have to do until I can find a way to get another tent. I'm not exactly a child of Hermes."

I looked at her puzzled.

"Oh right, you don't know about the gods yet."

I blushed and mumbled half to myself, "Sorry…I don't mean to be trouble."

Thalia grinned, "No problem Nicky! I was just as confused when Annabeth found me last year."

I looked at her funny, it seemed like the two had been together for longer than that, but I guess it made sense. Thalia looked at Annabeth hopefully, "Story time?"

Annabeth nodded before sitting down on the floor. She grabbed a handful of leaves and a match before making a small fire. "I'll make us some dinner as I talk. I'm sure you're hungry Nico." She looked at me expectantly, so I nodded. "Well, first of all. My name is Annabeth Chase; I'm the daughter of Athena. She's the Greek goddess of wisdom, crafts, justice, and battle strategy. Before you ask, yes; the Greek gods are real, they always have been. They're immortal, that means they never die. Every now and then they fall in love with a normal person, and have us. We're demigods, half human, and half god. We have different powers or abilities depending on our godly parent." She glanced at me as I looked at her with big eyes. I was young, so the words were a little hard to understand, but I think I understood what she meant.

"Anyways, these monsters, like the Cyclops you saw, they can smell us. Especially powerful demigods like you and Thalia. There is 12 Olympian gods; they're the most powerful of the gods. My mom is an Olympian, and so is Thalia's. Her dad is Zeus, the Greek god of the sky. He's the king of all gods. Thalia's only nine, so her powers aren't very stable, but from the looks of it she's pretty shocking. Literally. She can control lightning," Annabeth laughed. I glanced over at Thalia who was lying on her stomach kicking her feet in the air. Wow…I wished I could control lightning like Thalia.

"What...what about my dad?" I asked Annabeth. She smiled sadly at me.

"You're dad isn't an Olympian. But he's very powerful, one of the Big Three. They are the most powerful gods: Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Zeus controls the sky; Poseidon the water; and Hades the Underworld. That's why you could shadow travel."

I cocked my head to the side, "Shadow travel?"

"When you move through the shadows, it's like teleporting. It's how you got away from me the first time. Did you ever notice the shadows tend to follow you around?" I nodded, finally understanding. I smiled and looked over at the tents behind Annabeth. She turned around, finding my gaze.

"Yea, they stick out a bit, but that's as good as I could get it." I nodded and squinted at the shadows. I pulled them over the two tents, so you couldn't see the bright colors. They reacted to my will and melted over the sides of the tent. I smiled proudly and looked at Annabeth. She looked at my with her eyes all big.

"Whew, didn't think you'd be able to control your powers this young. Good job kid." She praised me, which made me smile more. Then my face dropped; Bianca wasn't here to tell me good job, neither was my mommy. I started tearing up. Thalia noticed and scooted closer to me.

"Hey, don't cry. I'm sorry I didn't mean to remind you of anything." Annabeth bit her lip, obviously guilty.

"S'okay Anna –" I hiccupped. "—beth."

"Oh Nico, do you miss your family? I don't. Not so much anymore anyways. I have a new family! You and Annabeth." Her eyes sparkled. She looked at the sky with her blue eyes, lost in thought. "You know Nico? I think the gods are alright, I might've not met my daddy, but Annabeth met her mommy. Her mommy brought her to me, and then us to you. So I think they're alright." She grinned before hugging me tight. I flinched, but I hugged her back. She was warm.

I sniffled, "Alright…Thank you Thalia. And you Annabeth. You guys saved me from that one eyed thing earlier didn't you?"

Annabeth nodded and pulled out her knife. "It's celestial bronze, one of the only things that can kill monsters. It's pretty hard to find, but my mom gave me this the last time she saw me. It was the night I ran away from home, some monsters attacked my house and I got separated from my family. That was two years ago. I ran far away, trying to draw the monsters from my little brothers, I never went back. I didn't want to be the cause of their deaths," her voice shook. "She visited me that night, and apologized for not being there. She said she wanted me to live a regular life for as long as possible. She told me how and why she couldn't visit…it's against the laws apparently. Anyways she gave me this dagger and sent me to the south. Texas; where I found this little booger." She pointed at Thalia who grinned in turn.

Thalia piped up next, "My story is kind of like yours Nico. I was sevenish when the monsters came one night. My big brother, Jason…" she bit her lip. "We were at the park. He was nine and really strong. We were with our mommy when she got really angry and put my brother in time out. But then a big monster, a hellhound, jumped out of nowhere and hurt my brother. I don't know what happened to him…my mommy took me away and hid me…she never came back."

Thalia wiped tears from her face. I looked at her understandingly and shuffled so that I was touching her. I put my small arms around her and let her lean on me. She was bigger than me, being around two years older, but I wanted to be there for her, like she was for me earlier. We stayed that way for a long time. We nibbled on the food that Annabeth made us, but after the stories none of us were really in the mood. Annabeth hadn't cried like us, but I could tell she was sad too. The moon came up long before Annabeth brought herself together enough to speak.

"Alright guys, time for bed. The two of you seem like you're falling asleep on each other already." I yawned and stood up, pulling Thalia with me. Annabeth looked at the two of us and smiled. She muttered something about young love before making her way into her tent. As we wandered into our blue tent, I noticed there was only one sleeping mat. Thalia sat on it first, so I went to go sit in the corner. Thalia looked at me questioningly.

"What?" I asked.

Instead of answering she stood up and pulled me onto the mat next to her. "You're one of us Nico. Family. You'll lay here with me ok? Besides…I…I kind of missing being held. My brother used to rock me to sleep…"

I looked at her and nodded shyly. "Okay…"

She laid down on one half of the pillow and closed her eyes. I sighed, missing Bianca and my mother, and laid down next to her. A few moments later I lost myself in the depths of sleep.

Don't forget to review! I'll see y'all next time :)

- x3hellokitty