A/N- Yeah, another story. Sorry if you're a reader of one of my other ones that is patiently waiting for an update – I update weirdly. I think this story will be lucky enough to get updated relatively soon. I have lots of ideas for it.
Where this story begins, Percy, Paul and Sally have been filled in on the fact that Addi is a goddess and all that jazz, Addi and Nico have just moved into an apartment in the same building that the Jacksons live in, Addi and Nico are about to start at Goode High School (Nico as a freshman and Addi as a Junior because she frequently appears as a 17-year-old) and Percy has just started classes at a local college (don't ask me which one, I really haven't put any thought into it at all). On the Egyptian side, Carter and Sadie are also being forced to attend school "like normal kids" … as if that was ever going to work out…

One: Against my will…

"Nico, honey, this is going to be good for you," Addi insisted.

"Ugh, Addi, don't call me honey when you're trying to convince me to do something," replied Nico.

Addi shrugged. "Why should I change my habits? You're already signed up and there's no backing out now."

"I really don't want to go," complained Nico.

"You need to make some friends that are your own age, kiddo," Addi said.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Gods, Addi, stop calling me that!"

Addi laughed. "You are not getting out of this, Nico. School starts in two days, so start getting excited!"

"Can we just go upstairs now?" asked Nico, clearly trying to change the subject.

Addi looked around the apartment. There were still a few boxes and Styrofoam packaging from all the new furniture, but it was generally pretty clean. "Alright. Let's head upstairs. Percy said he'd be up there waiting with his mom and Paul."

"I know," replied Nico, "I was here when he said it." The two of them left their new apartment and locked the door before walking up two flights of stairs and knocked on the Jacksons' door.

Addi's brother opened the door. "Hey, guys!" Percy exclaimed. He hugged his sister and kissed his boyfriend.

Nico blushed when Percy kissed him. He pushed Percy away, mumbling, "Perc, not in front of your family…"

"I for one think it's adorable," commented Addi. Nico heard Percy's mother chuckle from somewhere inside the apartment.

"Let's go inside, then," Nico said. Percy, realizing that he was still standing in the doorway, stepped aside and allowed Nico and Addi to walk in.

"How was the move?" asked Sally.

"Everything went wonderfully," replied Addi. "As you know I asked my little brother and a few of our cousins to help put together all the furniture and stuff, so it went pretty quickly."

"It'll be nice that you're so close," Paul said. "We can help out if anything goes wrong."

Addi chuckled. "I doubt that anything will go wrong, Paul, I've been living on my own for an awfully long time. But thanks for looking out for us."

"And yet you're a junior in high school," joked Paul.

Addi shrugged. "I didn't want Nico to be alone for his first few days at school in such a long time!"

Nico rolled his eyes. "I really don't want to go, Addi!"

"You're going!" exclaimed Addi, Percy, Sally and Paul simultaneously.


Two days later, Addi woke Nico up far too early as far as Nico was concerned. She had already made waffles for breakfast, but ordered him to dress for school before he even thought about setting foot in the kitchen.

"Paul's going to drive us there, but he's got a meeting this afternoon so we've made another plan for getting home," Addi said as Nico shoveled waffles into his mouth.

"'kay," replied Nico through a mouthful of food.

"Try not to talk with your mouth full, Nico," said Addi. "Oh, and try to make some new friends. You need to be able to talk to some people your own age."

"People my own age avoid me," Nico said.

"Demigods your own age avoid you. People who know who your father is and are too scared to get to know you because of him avoid you," corrected Addi. "Now come on, we're supposed to meet Paul downstairs in 5 minutes."

When they reached the school, Addi helped Nico find his first class before she went to go find her own. Nico wasn't really sure how she had become so familiar with the school already – it was her first day at Goode as well. He looked around the room and decided to sit in the very back corner, next to a blonde girl with purple streaks in her hair.

She gasped when she saw him. Nico glared at her and said, "What?"

The girl replied, "You look like someone I know, that's all." She paused for a moment. "I'm Sadie."

Sadie…thought Nico. Like that girl Addi told me about from spring break. The Egyptian kid. Instead of saying his thoughts out loud, though, he responded with, "Nice to meet you. My name's Nico."

Before their conversation could go much further, the bell rang and the teacher stood up. "Hello, class! I'm Mrs. Morgan! Since it's the first day, why doesn't everyone stand up and say their name, something interesting about themselves, and because this is world history class, their favourite ancient civilization."

Nico wasn't paying much attention until Sadie stood up and said, "My name is Sadie Kane, I lived in England for 6 years and my favourite ancient civilization is Ancient Egypt."

Nico stared at her for a moment. So she IS that Egyptian kid! She probably thinks I look like Anubis, like Percy said. Then he realized that it was his turn to introduce himself. "I'm Nico di Angelo, my sister calls me Corpse Boy because she claims that I sleep like the dead," he chuckled to himself "and my favourite ancient civilization is Ancient Greece."

"Corpse Boy?" repeated Sadie quietly.

"Well, usually it's 'Death boy', but I share that nickname with her boyfriend," said Nico.

"…that's kind of weird," replied Sadie.

Nico shrugged. "I know. But there's a good reason she uses that nickname for both of us… it's kind of complicated, though."

Addi was lucky enough to have English class first period. She walked into the classroom and before she sat down she greeted the teacher. "Hey, Blowfish!"

"I thought that I asked you and Nico not to call me that," replied Paul.

"Actually, you said we couldn't call you by your first name at school," Addi corrected. "You never said anything about fish related nicknames that I may or may not have picked up from my father and brother."

"Addi," said Paul sternly.

"Alright, Mr. Blowfis," replied Addi amusedly. She found a seat near the back of the room.

Carter Kane walked into the classroom, looked around and sat down next to a girl who looked vaguely familiar. When she saw him, she gasped quietly. Then, probably hoping that he hadn't noticed, she said, "Hi! I'm Addi. I'm new here."

"I'm Carter," he replied. "I'm new, too."

"Great," said Addi, "we get to be new together! Where'd you go to school before?"

"I was homeschooled by my dad. Then my aunt. My uncle decided that it'd be a good idea for my sister and me to go to a normal high school for a while," replied Carter. It wasn't the whole truth, but he wasn't going to explain the whole thing with the Egyptian gods to someone he had just met.

"Your sister?" repeated Addi.

Carter nodded. "She's a freshman."

"Oh, so is my brother!" exclaimed Addi excitedly. "His name is Nico. What about your sister?"

"Sadie," Carter answered. "So where did you go to school before here?"

"Nico and I were homeschooled, too," Addi said. "We actually just moved here from California."

"Oh! I lived in LA until I was 8," said Carter.

Their teacher, Mr. Blowfis, interrupted their conversation by starting the class. Toward the end of class, Addi handed Carter a note. It said, Can I see your schedule? I wonder if we have any other classes together. He handed her his schedule. A minute or two later, she handed it back to him. There was a sticky note attached to it that said, English (obviously), Math, Mythology (nice class choice!) and we have the same study hall. Carter smiled as he realized that he seemed to have made a new friend (far faster than Sadie had predicted). After class, she said, "If you'll wait a minute, we can walk to math together. I have to talk to Mr. Blowfis first, though."

"Okay," replied Carter.

Addi walked up to the teacher and said, "Blowfish, you're teaching the little one later, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am," replied Mr. Blowfis.

"I know he's going to hate me for this later," Addi said, "but would you please just… check up on him. I'm worried that he won't make friends or anything and he'll just sit in the corner and not talk the way he does at camp."

"Of course," the teacher answered.

"Thanks, Blowfish!" exclaimed Addi. She gave him a hug and then walked out of the classroom.

"Blowfish?" repeated Carter.

Addi shrugged. "He's my cousin Percy's step father. That nickname was Percy's idea years ago. Blowfish is kind of the reason that Nico and I are here, actually." She smiled.

Math class was relatively uneventful. Then Carter and Addi both walked to their foreign language classes – Carter saw Addi walk into what she had told him was her AP Latin class as he walked into Spanish I. After that he had a very uneventful Current Events class which was his last class before lunch. Addi ran up to him. "Hey, Carter! Do you want to sit with me and Nico at lunch?"

"Sure," replied Carter.

"Okay, one minute, I've got to find Nico first," said Addi. "I'll meet you in the cafeteria." She ran off.

Carter found his sister. "Sadie, do you want to sit with my friend and me for lunch? Oh, and her younger brother."

"Sure," said Sadie, "Why not?"

They sat down at an empty table and pulled out the lunches that Khufu had packed for them. A minute or so later, Addi and Nico approached them. When she saw Nico, Sadie whacked Carter's arm. "Doesn't he look like Anubis?"

"Maybe a younger version of him," said Carter. "What about Addi? Does she look familiar to you?"

"Sort of," replied Sadie. "Have we met her before?"

"I don't think so," Carter answered.

Addi and Nico sat down across from Carter and Sadie. Addi said, "Carter, this is Nico. Nico tells me that he and Sadie are in the same World History class, so they've already met."

Sadie nodded. Carter said, "Hi, Nico. Nice to meet you."

Nico replied, "Hi."

Addi rolled her eyes. "Nico, honey, you've got to interact with people."

"And you've got to stop calling me honey!" replied Nico. "By the way, do you mind explaining why Paul approached me at the end of my English class to make sure that I was making friends?"

Sadie chuckled. Addi replied, "I worry about you, little one! You're so anti-social at camp and stuff –"

"Shut up, Adria!" snapped Nico. Addi giggled. Nico continued, "Look, Ad, I know you're looking out for me but you're acting like Bianca!"

Addi gasped. "No way! I'm not that overprotective! I let you watch movies and eat fast food and –"

"…What?" asked both of the Kanes.

"Oh," said Addi nervously. Nico stared at the table. Carter got the sense that one or both of them had mentioned something they hadn't planned on mentioning. During their earlier conversations, Carter had noticed that something about Addi's stories about their family seemed a bit… rehearsed.

Nico said, "Bianca was… er… she was our aunt. She was our guardian for a while. She was a little… well a lot overprotective. We loved her despite that, though. She was… really great."

Addi patted Nico on the shoulder comfortingly. "I know you miss her, Nico."

Carter felt like he and Sadie were intruding on something personal. It made him a little bit uncomfortable – especially since they were talking about this Bianca person in the past tense. He decided it would probably be best to change the subject. "So, uh, Addi, Sadie's in our Mythology class."

"Good to know," replied Addi. "Nic, aren't you in that class, too?" Nico checked his schedule and nodded. Addi continued, "So you two like mythology, too?"

Carter shrugged and Sadie said, "You could say that."

Nico and Addi looked at each other, apparently mildly amused by the reaction.

After lunch, the group split up and went their separate ways to their next classes. They reunited in their second to last class – Ancient Mythology (an elective that the Kanes had been kind of been forced to choose by Bast and Amos when they had insisted that they attend a normal school). Addi, Nico, Carter and Sadie all sat in a row behind the only other students in the class.

"Hi class!" exclaimed the teacher, a man who appeared to be in his late 30s or early 40s with brown hair. "I'm Mr. Shepherd."

"Hi Mr. Shepherd!" replied the class.

"We should go around and introduce ourselves," declared Mr. Shepherd. "Say your name and who your favourite god from any ancient culture's mythology is and the culture that they come from - just in case the others don't know."

Carter only caught the names of the first four students – Selena, Richard, Louis and Maura – but missed who they said their favourite gods were. Then it was his turn. "I'm Carter Kane and my favourite ancient god is Horus – he's one of the Egyptian gods."

Following Carter was, "My name is Addi di Angelo. My favourite ancient god is… uh…" Addi glanced at Nico before finishing, "arguably any of the Greek ones other than Apollo," she and Nico both chuckled "but if I have to pick one, it's probably Poseidon."

Nico grinned. "I'm Nico di Angelo, and my favourite ancient god is Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld."

"I'm Sadie Kane and my favourite ancient god is Anubis, the Egyptian god of death," Sadie said.

"That's three different death gods," commented Mr. Shepherd. "I'm not sure if I should be worried about that or not."

Louis, who had been the other person to name a god relating to death as his favourite, shook his head and Sadie and Nico both said, "No."

Carter chuckled as Mr. Shepherd launched into an explanation of the order in which they were going to learn about the different stories, gods and goddesses. He probably could've predicted Sadie's choice – she still had a poorly disguised crush on Anubis, even though he seemed far less interested in her than she was in him. Addi had been looking at Sadie darkly since she had mentioned Anubis. Nico had clearly noticed this as well, because he tapped his sister on the shoulder and whispered something to her and she seemed to relax a bit.

Carter and Addi both had study hall last period, which they spent sitting in the library and talking.

After school, Carter and Addi found Sadie and Nico waiting for them in the hallway. "Hey Nico!" Addi exclaimed. "Little One, I know I told you Paul wouldn't be able to drive us home, but did I tell you who is picking us up?"

"Uh, no?" replied Nico. "Who?"

Addi didn't answer him right away. The four of them walked outside before Addi replied, "College boy," just as a car pulled up in front of the school.

"Percy?" said Nico, not noticing the car or the older boy with black hair getting out of the car and waving to them.

Addi pointed at the boy. "In the brand new car that his lovely big sisters got him for his 18th birthday."

"Who's that?" asked Sadie.

"That's Percy," Addi replied. "He's Nico's-"

"Addi…" Nico said quietly and a little bit threateningly.

"He's Nico's and my best friend," finished Addi. She glared at Nico.

"He's kind of cute," Sadie said. Nico glared at her.

Addi chuckled, whispered something to Nico that Carter didn't understand, was glared at by Nico and then looked at Sadie again and said, "He's kind of taken."

"Oh," said Sadie. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Addi laughed. "No…"

Nico laughed as well. "Come on, Ad, Percy's waiting for us."

They walked away and Sadie turned to Carter and said, "There's something strange about those two."

"They could say the same thing about us," replied Carter.

As they walked to the car, Addi and Nico talked in Ancient Greek. "You came ridiculously close to getting injured, Ad."

"I was never going to say anything, Nico," Addi said calmly. "You said that you weren't sure if you wanted to tell anyone you were dating our dear Percy – why would I tell them if you didn't want me to?"

"…You wouldn't," Nico replied.

"Why are you two talking in Ancient Greek?" asked Percy.

"So our new friends wouldn't hear him threatening me," answered Addi.

"New friends?" repeated Percy. "And you worried that he wouldn't talk to anyone!"

"Little brother, that's not really the point!" Addi replied. "Your boyfriend looked like he was going to stab me for almost mentioning that you two were dating."

"Well you shouldn't have mentioned it," replied Percy reasonably. "I thought Nico said he wanted to wait to tell people until he knew the kids here a little better so he could predict how they'd react."

"He did," agreed Addi. "But I wasn't going to say anything! I promised him that I wouldn't and you know that I don't break promises. Sadie asked who you were and I told her you were our friend. She said you were kind of cute, "she shuddered dramatically, "and I told her that you were dating someone. Just for saying that, Nico gave me a look that clearly said if we weren't standing in front of a bunch of mortals, I'd stab you right now!"

Percy laughed. "Nic, you can't keep overreacting like that."

They all climbed into the car and Percy started driving. Addi said, "Little Cousin, do you remember what I told you about those House of Life kids? Carter and Sadie Kane. The same kids we befriended today."

"Did Carter recognize you?" asked Nico.

"I don't think so," Addi answered. "We did some cool stuff with the Mist so they shouldn't remember any of that whole thing." Then she added quietly, "Gods… that was embarrassing. Mellie wouldn't leave me alone about it for weeks."

"On the upside, wasn't that what brought you back to Anubis?" Percy reminded her.

Addi glared at the jackal charm on her charm bracelet and muttered something about Sadie in Ancient Greek. Nico chuckled and changed the subject. "Well I thought today went better than I was expecting it to be."

"Interacting with other people is never as terrible as you seem to expect it to be, Nico," said Addi.

Percy spent the afternoon and evening in Addi and Nico's apartment. He ate dinner with them and at 10 o'clock, Addi stuck her head into Nico's room. "Perseus, you need to be out of here in half an hour. Nico has school tomorrow and you have class as well."

"Fine," said Percy.

Half an hour later, Addi opened Nico's door again. "Little brooooooother!" she exclaimed. "Little One, you're leaving now. Nico, you should go to sleep around now, too."

"Do I have to?" both boys asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Go."

Percy kissed Nico goodnight and walked upstairs to the Jacksons' apartment.

A/N- I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my newest story! Review, pretty please? I like reviews, they help me write better. OH AND IF YOU'RE FEELING LIKE YOU MISSED SOMETHING (maybe when Percy & Nico started dating…?) GO LOOK FOR MY STORY "Little Ones" BECAUSE THAT IS PROBABLY THE BIT THAT YOU MISSED. It's not a crossover & can be found with my other stories on my profile… =)