Summary: Even though it was unbelievable, Serena wasn't completely surprised when she was told she was a half-blood. After she's given a quest, Serena's life only gets crazier. What happens when one girl is living with a strange set of circumstances, even by demigod standards?

Nico came to Pennsylvania when the camp received a call from a satyr named Chrys. The satyr had been at Ye'er Middle School on orders from camp, and he had found a rather powerful demigod. Nico usually didn't take the calls, but nobody else was available, so he recieved the job. The son of Hades hated explaining the concept of demigods to new half-bloods, but he would have to do it anyway.

When Nico arrived at the school, he wasn't surprised by the dance that was being held there that night. The satyr had explained when he had called. The dance alone had made Nico want to leave, as he and his sister had gone to Camp Half-Blood after a school dance. Nico shook his head. Thinking of Bianca wouldn't help him now.

Nico scanned his surroundings after shadow-traveling to the school's courtyard. "So, is the demigod inside?" Nico asked as he walked up to Chrys, his voice somewhat hushed. The young satyr jumped in surprise when Nico had spoken.

"Don't scare me like that!" Chrys blurted out, attempting to calm himself down again.

The son of Hades shrugged. Unfortunately, he got this kind of reaction all too often, so he didn't pay much attention to it. "I don't mean to scare people. It just happens." Nico looked towards the school. "So, you haven't answered my question."

Chrys still seemed jittery from Nico's presence, so his answer came out somewhat stuttered. The satyr shifted his weight from hoof to hoof. "Yeah, she arrived about twenty minutes ago. She's been inside ever since."

Nico nodded. That was one less thing he had to worry about. "How about the monster?"

The young satyr looked around as if there was something that was going to jump out and attack them at any moment. "That's the problem. There's not just one monster." The satyr shivered, still looking around skittishly, much like a cornered animal would. "They're posing as parent volunteers."

The son of Hades thought for a moment, thinking about the different monsters that might be inside. Eventually, he just gave up, deciding there were too many possibilities. "Can you tell what they are?"

"No, but I can tell they're powerful." Chrys started walking towards the building, his hooves causing him to skip somewhat. "Follow me."

They walked into the gymnasium to find about a dozen students dancing. The rest of the teenagers were off doing other things. Some were talking on the bleachers, others were playing basketball in the corner of the room. A few kids were by the concessions table, talking or eating some of the cheap snack foods on the tables.

"There she is." Chrys pointed to a girl about 12 sitting alone on the bleachers. "Her name's Serena Laguna."

The girl was drawing something in her notebook, but Nico couldn't see what it was. Serena seemed to be concentrated on whatever it was she was drawing. It wouldn't be easy to get her attention, though luckily he wouldn't need to.

Nico watched as another girl walked up to Serena, a determined look on her face.

"That's Astrid." Chrys clarified, like he knew Nico was going to ask.

The two girls were talking about something that the son of Hades couldn't quite hear. Astid seemed to be pulling on Serena's arm, like she was trying to get her to get up. When Serena finally looked up from her drawing, Nico had a better view of her eyes. They were a bright sea-green, just like Percy's.

Chrys walked over to Serena once Astrid had shrugged and walked away. "Was Astrid trying to get you to come out to the dance floor again?" The young satyr asked, sitting down next to the small brunette.

"Yep." Serena replied, going back to drawing in her journal. Nico recognized a slight Italian accent in her voice. It wasn't much, but it was present.

Chrys chuckled. "Same old Astrid, she'll never change. What are you drawing this time?" he said, looking down at Serena's notebook.

"Someone I saw in a dream."

"Oh, cool. It looks great so far."

"Thanks. Hey, do you know why that boy is staring at me?" She said, looking up from her drawing and gesturing towards Nico with a nod of her head. As soon as she looked up, she diverted her gaze back to her notebook, still sketching in it with a pencil.

"Oh, sorry about that Serena. This is Nico. He's here with me today."

"Nice to meet you, Nico. My name is Serena." But when the young girl looked at Nico directly, her eyes widened and darted between him and her drawing. All the color drained from her face. "Well, I'm gonna step outside for a minute." She stood and hurried away out to the courtyard.

"What just happened here?" Nico turned to see Astrid staring at him as if she were accusing him of something. She turned to Chrys. "Well?"

"I just introduced Serena to Nico here." Chrys explained, his eyes darting skittishly from Astrid to Nico. "Oh, and Astrid, This is Nico. Nico, this is Astrid."

"Nice to meet you." Astrid said with a somewhat cold tone, as if it were his fault her friend had walked away. Then, she stepped away to play basketball with the boys playing in the corner of the gym.

Nico looked around and noticed two parent volunteers following Serena outside. "Uh, Chrys?"

"What is it, Nico?"

"Are those the monsters you were talking about?" Nico pointed towards the door, where the two ladies were stepping outside.

The color drained from the satyr's face. "Y-yeah, that would be them."

"Well, schist. C'mon, she won't be able to hold her own for long." Nico said, starting to head outside after the monsters.