Well, this is from a whole new POV so don't get too confused. It's been half a year since Nikki left all the ones she loved to protect them. But what happened to her? And how have so many new demigods been brought safely to camp?

"Nicholas, wake up!" my stepmother screamed at me.

I groaned. I hated mornings- since school was so far away, I had to get up early to get there on time.

"Don't make me come up there, Nicholas!" she screamed again.

"I'm coming, Cilicia!" I called. She wanted me to call her mom, but there was no way on earth I cared about her enough to call her that.

It sounds stupid, but I lived in a literal Cinderella story, minus the step-sisters – my mom gave birth to me and just dumped me on my dad. When I was five, he married this awful woman named Cilicia. I don't even know her maiden name! Then, when I was six, my dad had an accident in the lab he worked at. Everyone survived except my dad.

Cilicia was sad for the first week, and then she hardened into this heartless demon. She blamed the accident on me, my real mom, and my dad. Even though she hated my entire family, she kept our last name, Waters.

So, Nicholas Jack Waters got out of his bed, got into his (ugly) school uniform, and left his room to eat breakfast. And Nicholas was miserable – believe me, I'd know.

There was a bowl of cereal on the counter filled with Frosted Flakes without milk – just how I like it. That was one of the few things that proved to me my stepmom didn't completely hate me.

"Anything new going to happen at school today?" she asked, even though I give her the same answers every day.

"I'm learning new things," I said through my food.

I was really smart – it's what got me a full scholarship to this private school for gifted kids. It's different from other middle schools. First of all, you could get a scholarship, which happened mostly for high school and colleges. Also, they place you according to how smart you – they ignore your age altogether. Example: I'm nine, but I'm almost done with sixth grade.

"Hurry up or you'll be late," Cilicia said.

"Fine." I got up, put my bowl on the counter, and headed towards the car. Cilicia followed me after she found the keys. We started our ride to school in silence, just like every day. It's like our lives would never change.

…

After my forth class in school, science, I got ready for lunch.

As I walked through the line with the other sixth graders who are all older than me, I kept glancing at this new kid. Every time I saw him, he'd glare at me, and I'd turn away quickly. I tried to think of a way to get around him, but he started towards me and I panicked.

"So you're Nicholas Waterss, huh?" he asked in a voice that reminded me of Draco from Harry Potter. (Oh yeah, I'm a complete geek, too.)

Deafly, I nodded. I kept noticing how strong he looked and how much he looked like he wanted to pound me.

The kid looked around to see if anyone was looking. Then, fast as lightning, he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the lunch room.

"Hey! Hey, let me go!" I cried, but he ignored me. I was used to being bullied, but it still bothered me. Not that it bothered Cilicia when I came home with a black eye or bloody nose.

However, this bully seemed different. None of the teachers noticed when he dragged me past them, even when I screamed their names. As we neared the doors to go outside, his grip had tightened so much my fingers were turning blue.

"You're hurting me!" I screamed pathetically.

"That'sss the point, demigod," his sly voice said again.

"'Demigod'? What are you talking about?" I asked as he released my arm and threw me to the ground.

"Shut up and make thiss easssier on yourssssself," he told me, his voice changing. Slowly, he began morphing into a large snake as long as me. Its scales were a sickly green, and as it breathed the plants at the entrance to our school withered and died.

"What – what are you?" I whispered in horror.

"I am the Βασιλισκος, foolish demigod!" the sickening creature hissed.

"The basilisk? Those don't exist!" Wildly, my mind flashed to Harry Potter and I turned away from its eyes.

"I am a basssilissskossssss ssstupid demigod! King of the ssnakesss and the ssstrongesst monster of all time!" it cried triumphantly and greatly.

"I've killed greater," a hard voice said from behind the monster.

I still wouldn't look up from where I stared, afraid to be killed. Noises of a short fight came from in front of me, and I soon saw golden dust scatter across the pavement, followed by silence.

"It's safe now, kid," the voice said.

I looked up, and was staring at a girl. She looked like she was about thirteen. Her brown hair was pulled into a tight ponytail. She was wearing a "Keep Calm and Live On" t-shirt with dark blue jean shorts, but had a long coat which didn't go well with the hot Florida weather. She was staring at me intently.

"Blonde and grey-eyed?" she asked simply.

"Uh, yeah?" I replied in more of a question.

"Pretty unsure for a kid of the wisdom goddess," she said bluntly. She reached inside her coat and pulled out a dagger. She held it gingerly by the blade and handed the hilt out to me. "Take it. I'll teach you to use it on our way."

"Wait, what?" I asked in complete confusion.

"Look, kid, you're a demigod. Judging from your blonde hair and grey eyes, your mom is Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. Now take the dagger so I can take you to Long Island - Camp Half-blood."

"Camp Half-blood? What are you talking about? I'm not leaving Florida for LONG ISLAND! What's wrong with you?"

"Kid, you don't really have a choice. It's "stay here and die" or "come with me"," she said without pity.

I stared at her. "But, what about my stepmom? I can't just leave her without a goodbye!"

Her eyes stayed hard and unforgiving. "It's not as hard as people think. Not for long. Now do you want to live or not?"

As I looked at her I could tell she wouldn't bother waiting for me if I was unsure. "Okay. But I want to know what I'm getting myself into."

The girl smirked. "There's the child of Athena I was waiting for."

"How about we start with the basics? What's your name?"

At my question, all the humor that might have existed left her. "How about a need-to-know basis, kid. All you need to know is that I don't want to know you, and all I'm here for is to get you to camp safely. Then I'm gone, and I'll stay that way."

Well, she's rather charming, if I do say so myself. I will try to update as much as possible, since it's summer those will happen much more often! This story probably won't be too long, and it's all just Nicholas getting to camp. Oh, the "basiliskos" is another name for the basilisk, a Greek monster. You may recognize the name from Harry Potter. I did. :P

-ninja