Hey, readers! Just so you know, I don't own PJO, Rick Riordan does. And no flames are welcome, so please, keep your hurtful opinions to yourself. Anyway, here's Chapter 1. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Nico POV

I threw my head back, making an irritated noise. I was sitting inside my Hades cabin, with the prophecy written down in front of me. There was just no figuring it out. I flopped down on my bed and thought about it.

Seven half-bloods will answer the call

To storm or fire, the world must fall

An oath to keep with a final breath

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death

It was confusing. Death probably had something to do with the Underworld, and the oath part sounds like someone promised something, or went through some ritual. Chiron and Apollo had told me not to worry about it, since it might not even happen in my lifetime, but it was bound to happen. And I wanted to know in whose lifetime, when, and where. I thought about the order of the lines. Seven half-bloods will... go on a quest? Yeah, that's probably what 'answer the call' means. And then the world will fall to storm or fire. So from a flood or fire. An oath to keep. An oath to keep. Those words kept swirling around in my head, but I couldn't figure out what it could mean. It probably wouldn't be a promise that someone had made years ago, that would be too easy. Then it struck me. It's probably something like Luke and Annabeth's promise. Something that meant the world to someone. And could mean the end of the world to everyone. But 'with a final breath'. Maybe like how Luke died saving Olympus. He kept his promise with a last breath. And then there was the 'foes' part to think about. Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. Like I had thought before, the 'Doors of Death' probably meant the Underworld. So the enemies will... join the Underworld? No, that makes no sense. They... surrender to the Underworld? No, why would they do that? Maybe... maybe they find a sanctuary or a hiding place in the Underworld.

Then I looked at the alarm clock on my bedside table and said, "Shit." It said that it was 7:00, which meant I was going to be late for dinner. Don't ask me why I hate being late, I just do. Maybe it's the way people stare at you. I hate attention. But when I started walking up to the eating area, no one was staring at me. No, they were all focused on something else. I edged closer to see what all the commotion was about. Then I saw. There was a girl standing in the center of a ring of demi-gods. They were all shouting questions at her.

The questions were things like, "Do you know who your parent is?" "Where are you from?" "Did you come across any monsters?" But all the girl could do was stare at them, unable to answer the questions of the raging mob. As I got closer, I could see that she had staight pale blonde hair that went down to her waist, which was quite small in diameter, if you know what I mean. Her skin was a creamy pale, and shadows danced behind her green cat-like eyes, like she had seen too much.

All I could do was stare at her. She was beautiful. But she had an inner darkness, a black fire that burned inside her. A fire that could burn people alive. A fire that would fry anything in it's path. A fire that would scare most people out of their wits. But she didn't scare me, because I couldn't get past her face. It was beautiful. I could see other guys my age, staring at her, too. Some were drooling. Others were looking like they were trying to take her clothes off with their eyes.

Then Chiron jumped in, saying that we should all go back to our tables and let the girl eat in peace. The girl seemed relieved, and sat down at the Hermes table, seeing as she was unclaimed. I ate my dinner in silence, and walked back to my empty cabin. I felt like dropping in and seeing how dad was doing, something to get my mind off the girl.

I went out to find Mrs. O'Leary, the friendly hellhound. She was by the Aphrodite cabin, for reasons only known to her. I got onto her back, and sped off.

For those of you who don't know, shadow-traveling is hard work, so you can see why I almost collapsed when the trip ended. Soon we were in the Underworld, and I was on my way to see my father.

I found him pacing in a dark hallway, and I went up to him. "Hi, Dad."

He looked startled for a moment, then regained his gallant composure. "Hello, Nico. What brings you spoiled brat down here today?" I didn't feel like arguing with him about the fact that I wasn't spoiled, and that I had monsters probably tracking me down right now. And that I had a girl on the brain. But apparently he read my expression and said, "Girl trouble?"

"Sort of," was all I responded to that question. "So how are things going around here?"

"Not so good." Hades must have seen my frightened expression, because he said, "Not like that. Architecture problems. The beams on this place look like they're about to cave in." I nodded.

"So, I kind of shadow-traveled here, and you probably know how much energy that takes up, so if you could just-"

"Oh, look," Hades interruped me, "My son is asking for a favor. I do not know what to say. Of course you can stay," he said in a sarcastic voice.

"Dad, please." I gave him the puppy dog look.

"Oh, fine. There's a small room on the third floor. Go before I change my mind." I didn't hesitate before going to the elevator. Whether you dad is an Olympic God or not, he can't say no to the puppy dog look. I laid down in the bed inside the small black room and felll asleep.

When I awoke the next morning, I felt wide-awake and ready to go shadow-traveling again. I didn't have to let my dad know that I was going back to camp, he wouldn't care. I found Mrs. O'Leary and set off.

By the time I got back to camp, I was exhausted and hungry. I headed back to my cabin and looked at the clock. It read 8:50 AM. Deciding that I didn't want to be late to another meal, I left and set out for the eating area. I wasn't the only one who had plans of eatinhg in mind, though. So, it was no surprise that I bumped into someone while I was thinking about sinking my teeth into a Sloppy Joe.

I shook my head, coming back to reality. The girl from yesterday was standing in front of me, startled. Apparently she hadn't been paying attention, either. Deciding that standing there, staring at her wouldn't be a good idea, I came to the conclusion that speaking was the better option. "Hey, you're the new girl, right?" I said. "I'm Nico. And you are?"

"Zelda,"(A/N: Meaning: 'gray battle maid') she said, glancing at me without stopping her stride. "See you around, Nico." See you around. Those words echoed in my head like hopeful bells. Before I could respond, she was gone.

I began walking in the same direction she had gone in, on the way to breakfast. Soon I was sitting at my table, bored as ever. But it was funny. Today wasn't boring, not in the slightest. A girl who didn't even know I existed talked to me, if only for a few short seconds. Today was definitely not boring.