A/N: Hey guys, I decided to try something new, I hope you like it! :)

Chapter 1

(Nico's POV)

My eyes flickered open, and I rubbed my red-raw eyes in pain. Pulling myself out of bed, I clambered to my feet unsteadily. I changed into a pair of black jeans, a skull t-shirt, a pair of black shoes and, of course, my sword - just in case. I somehow felt like this day was going to be a bad one...but then again, when is it not?

The hot summer sun prickled my neck and face, my horribly-white skin almost sparkling. I looked around the camp. Ares kids were practicing on the dummies, with satyrs frolicking in the fields behind them. Apollo kids dancing about in the sun, and Demeter kids making daisy-chains. I saw some Iris kids painting the daisies purple and red and pink and yellow and...

I ran into a young satyr, who was holding two terrified-looking girls. One was pale (almost as pale as me) with bright blonde hair. She was just taller than me, and her blue-grey eyes were piercing. She reminded me of Annabeth. She was wearing a white and grey shirt with denim shorts. She kept looking back at the second girl. She was almost the opposite of the first girl. She was shorter than her, and had black (if not very dark brown) hair, and deep brown eyes. Her skin was quite dark compared to the blonde girl, and she seemed a little stunned. The blonde girl looked up at me and our eyes locked.

The satyr cleared his throat, and the blonde girl snapped out of it.

"Mr di Angelo, could you show these girls around please?" The dark haired girl frowned, and the blonde one looked back at me.

"Whatever, yeah," I replied with a sigh. "And call me Nico. I'm not a god." The satyr nodded, and the blonde girl chuckled a little.

"Yes, Mr di Ange-" The satyr paused and cleared his throat. "Nico..." He shuffled awkwardly, then ran towards the fields.

"So," the blonde girl said. Her voice was lower than I thought it would be. "You're name is Nico?"

"Yeah. And yours?"

"Huh?" the blonde girl looked startled, like I'd asked a really personal question.

"Your name." I forced a smile, trying to look friendly.

"Oh. I'm Bellina." I smiled.

"Beautiful," I said. The girl blushed, and I corrected myself. "Y-Your name means beautiful in Italian"

"You can speak Italian?" She muttered as we passed the training fields. The dark haired girl was trailing behind slightly, taking a good look at all the weapons on the side.

"Well, I was born in Italy," I managed to say, desperately trying not to get distracted. "So I know quite a bit." She laughed and turned to her friend, who had picked up a bronze sword.

"What's this made of?" the girl said. "It's so heavy."

"Oh, that's celestial bronze." The girl made a surprised face, swinging the sword at Bellina.

"Woah!" Bellina yelped. "Watch it!"

"That's not a very good idea, y'know," I butted in. It did nothing, because Bellina grabbed a spear and started aimlessly jabbing at the girl. They started having a full-on battle, and nothing I said could stop them. The dark haired girl acted like she was born to hold a sword, and Bellina seemed unsteady but confident. But what shocked me the most wasn't the sword denting a dummy, the spear nearly taking an Athena kid's head off or that these young girls were battle experts. What shocked me the most was, on Bellina's fifth attack, the spear aimed at her friend...but when it missed, a vine shot out of the shaft and wrapped around the girl's neck and head, almost suffocating her.

The girl started sputtering and choking, and Bellina tore the vines off. Tears clouded her vision. The vines rooted into the ground and disappeared.

"How did you...?" The dark-haired girl whimpered. Bellina was in total shock.

"I...I don't know! I just..." She started scrambling about for something, but stopped and looked at me. She pulled her friend up, brushed herself off and smiled.

"Err..." She coughed. "Sorry about that."

"Those vines," I said, pointing at Bellina. Her smile disappeared. "They're unmistakable. They're grape vines." Bellina frowned.

"Why does that matter?"

"Because I know who your godly parent is." I looked her dead in the eye, her friend looking on in shock. "It's Dionysus."