The first time Nico sees her, he knows she's special.
She's running from something, a look on her face that is so familiar to a demigod. Once he pulls out his sword, she introduces herself. Sadie. The name wound itself inside his heart in those first moments, aided by the look she gives him, like he means some thing, like he's familiar.
He followed her, even though Nico didn't know it was Him yet. He was big and tough, and he put his arm around her waist and Nico just couldn't like it. Walt. This one gnaws on his heart, aided by Him.
Nico took them to Camp, and explanations followed. He believed it, after going through Hell literally anything was believable. The explanations were a formality. Nico just needed to know her better.
That night, He comes in a dream, and Nico is a chicken. He tells Nico to stay away from her and Anubis. Walt is His tool, Nico sees. Forming a wall between him and her, Sadie and Nico, Sadico, names that fit together so well. And Nico wants to hurt them for it, for warning him off, for dismissing the soul mates.
He can't though, because Anubis has the same pale skin from too much time in the- an Underworld. Chocolate brown eyes just like Nico's hold the god's glare. They share dark tousled hair. And Nico can see that this will be a problem.
Nico and Sadie become friends, and they are so good together it makes him want to scream. That idea of Sadico is still lodged in his head, and he still wants too get rid of Walt and Him, the look-alike who came first, maybe the reason for the look when he met Sadie.
Part of him is disgusted at what he has become, lusting after a girl someone else already cares for. But it's not like he's forgotten to be a friend to the Seven, not like he's forgotten to be a brother to Hazel.
Most of him is stuck on her, caramel hair streaked with whatever the heck she wants, blue eyes that make him melt. But He is always there, a constant reminder that Sadie might only be there because of whom Nico looks like.
Months pass, and life is okay. The knife of agony that is the lost Sadico is dug in deeper when cross-pantheon couples start to crop up.
Malcolm from the Athena cabin is dating a follower of the path of Thoth called Cleo. They can often be heard discussing philosophy or particle physics.
Conner Stoll started going out with Cassandra, who follows the path of Khonsu. Everyone knows she's a con artist, yet she manages to get a hold of all the wallets in camp anyway.
Sadico could be up there, should of, but Walt and Him are in the way.
More time passes, and so does Sadico. Nico still thinks about it sometimes, and he still refers to Anubis as Him, but there is no more maliciousness. He has come to terms with reality, accepting that Salt and Sanubis are fact, and Sadico is imagination.
The first person to notice is Annabeth, who congratulates him on moving on. Nico can tell she's thinking about Luke, and her troubles, but that's all right.
Hazel figures it out next, but she doesn't push it. Sometimes siblings are perfect.
Surprisingly, Cassandra is the next to acknowledge the passing of his crush. He hadn't even known how good she was at reading people.
"I see you moved on. Good. Sadie is really oblivious, but even she would've noticed soon. Have luck with love." She walks away, her brisk words not helping Nico at all.
It takes him thirty seconds to realize his wallet is missing,
It's June when the final test happens, the one that separates him from Him forever, the one that proves a face doesn't make the man.
Nico finds her crying at the canoe lake, and she says that she and Walt (Him too, but He and Walt are one) had a fight. He holds her, they are friends, good friends, and it is only natural. He remembers Sadico, and this is not it. This is caring, that was anger.
Sadie has stopped crying, is looking up, blue eyes into brown. Her lips are on his now, and this is what he has wanted, what he should want, but not anymore.
"You can't use me to get to him." The words slip out, but Nico means them.
"What if this is what I want? What I've wanted?" Her words are more desperate, she needs him to care, and she needs him to revolve around her. She can't let that go.
"You always do what you want." He walks away, not wanting to be that boy, the one who always comes back. Sadico is gone. Was it ever there?
The Walt/Him hybrid is calling her name, which used to have so much meaning to Nico, but not anymore. He is done, let Him have her. The look-alike can have the girl, Nico needs to move on from all that, he is not going to be liked just because he looks like some girl's crush.
He enters the cabin area just in time to stop a Clarisse from killing Cassandra over a stolen wallet.
A/N So, this story is a sort-of companion to Because He Doesn't Have a Scar. They both explore Rick Riordan's inability to come up with new character descriptions. Sadico actually means sadistic in Spanish, and every time I use it I try to connect to that idea. Also, what do you think about Cassandra? R and R please.