\\Prologue: Greek
That monster would no longer walk on earth, terrifying young demigods. At least, not for a while.
He raised his sword. A smile played on his lips. He couldn't help but feel the adrenaline of the battle take over him, giving him the pleasure of victory, of conquest, of mission accomplished. He was a hero after all, whether people recognized that or not.
He saw the monster shrink by his smile, and for a second the thought that this – the fact that even monsters were afraid of him - might be depressing crossed his mind. But it was just for a second and, in the end, that didn't really matter, right? What mattered was that he had it on a corner, with nowhere to run.
The monster – a ginger hairy monkey-man who seemed to be known as one of the Nesioi Satyrs – screamed mutely and with a last effort charged.
Nico evaded easily from his attack and still with a smile on his face aimed his black Stygian sword for the monster's heart. Yet, strangely as it may be, he missed. The sword cut through the air, reaching nothing. By the time the demigod turned to give a better look for his prey, he realized there was something really wrong going on.
The evil satyr had simply disappeared.
Nico didn't let his guard down though. He looked around, trying to figure out what had happened, wondering how it had managed to escape. He knew it might be hidden somewhere, ready to attack if it was the case. But how was the question that he couldn't find the answer for.
He turned to the entrance of the alley he was in and felt surprised to see a girl staring at him. She should be of his age – about fourteen. Her glossy dark hair was straight and peaked and her skin tone was of coffee with a lot of milk. But what caught his attention the most were her eyes. Not because of their amber tone, nor because they were so absolutely serious – though it kind of helped. It was the disapproval on them that made him flinch for a moment… that and her most unexpected words.
"You won't find your prey, if that's what you're looking for." He recognized a strange accent that was quite familiar somehow.
"Uh… I'm sorry, what are you saying?"
"The monkey-man. You won't find him."
Nico felt lost, wondering how to reply to something like this. Yet he still didn't let his guard down. Monsters loved to disguise themselves as little girls, after all.
"What did you do to him?" he finally decided to ask.
"I hid him. So that you won't kill him." She raised her arms as if trying to encompass the whole city with them. "This is a jungle after all. A concrete jungle. And you were the hunter, and he was the prey." She added as if it explained everything.
Nico felt a click inside his mind. He cursed himself, wondering how he could be so stupid not noticing. Then he asked:
"Are you Mexican?"
The girl hesitated, observing him as if he was nuts.
"I mean, your accent. It sounds Mexican."
"Just because my accent is Latin-American doesn't mean I'm Mexican!" The girl scolded him, sounding very offended. Then she turned and left.
"What the Hades was that?" Nico murmured to himself as he sheathed his sword and shadow travelled back to San Francisco. Yet, he soon forgot about the whole thing. After all, it was just another "weird thing of the everyday life" for his collection – and what a collection he had. So he just let it slip away from his mind. He probably would never see the girl again, anyway.
Of course he was wrong. And of course their reunion just had to be the most unpleasant way possible and followed by the most undesirable events there could have been. He was a demigod, after all. And what is a demigod without some real hard time to worry about?