*I do not own the Percy Jackson series, nor characters. The plot of the story is mine*

Nico awoke to the sound of his dragon rolling loudly on the floor. He groaned and rolled over in his bed, trying to fall back asleep. It had been two days since he had been released from the infirmary, and only a few weeks before that the second Dragon War had ended. He was still drained, and with his daily roles to play in their small village he had little free time.

Nico di Angelo currently lived in the village called Halfblood. It was the first place he had ever called home, and where he discovered his heritage. He was the son of the god of the death. In Halfblood they called him Hades, though in surrounding villages they choose his Norse name, Hel.

It didn't matter. Nico still didn't belong. No one felt welcoming to the son of Hades, since his dad represented something as horrible as death. It had only been recently that Nico felt more welcome. After his sister died in a quest, he ran away from Halfblood to live on his own. He traveled between land masses and even met his half sister, Hazel. It was at the village Jupiter that Nico first heard of the war, and being his foolish, reckless self went out to see if he could help. It all went wrong from there.

Nico was roused from his thought when his dragon, Cerberus, rolled over on the other side of the room. Shortly after Nico was claimed he was given his dragon as a gift from his father. He reached down and stroked his arm over his pure black dragon's thick hide.

He really did not want to get out of bed.

It was cold in Halfblood.

He would have to leave the comfort of his warm bed.

He did not want to leave his bed.

He almost stayed in bed, ready to make some excuse or get a doctors note about skipping his roles in the village. Yet it was that thought that reminded him. He was in the infirmary for the first part of his schedule!

And he was going to be late.

Nico never minded working at the infirmary, although he sometimes felt out of place. A son of death is a place where many people were on the brink of death was never a good sign; but he liked to be useful, and it surely beat washing the dishes, or spending hours in the hot Hephaestus forges.

And there were certainly people who made the infirmary more bearable.

And he was so late.

He practically hurdled out of bed and ran over to his wooden dresser. Cerberus raised his heads at his unusual behaviour. Nico grabbed a pair of his pants and quickly searched through his dresser for a good enough shirt. It was almost winter time in Halfblood, meaning it was colder than normal. Snow had begun to fall on the ground, and the plants had begun to wither.

After getting dressed he looked over himself quickly in the mirror. He wore plain brown pants, and a roughly hewn black shirt that was tearing at the edges. A white hood was sewed around the collar of his shirt, and it had skull epaulets, so that he could pull it up during the colder months. To skulls were as much for fashion as function. Along with representing the Hades House, they served as a type of armor. Halfblood was constantly raided by the monster dragons. They came to kill, but rarely got past Halfblood's guardian dragon. Some dragons were good and helpful, which they rode, but many others looked to kill and eat demigods. The skulls on his shoulder also helped during sword training. Finally he had simply wrapped his arms in leather strips to keep them warm. Most people at Halfblood would do this, almost like it was custom.

He looked over himself once in the mirror. He still had shadows under his eyes due to nightmares, and his bedhead was horrible. He combed his hands through it trying to tame it, but realized it was futile.

And upon realizing he was making himself even more late, grabbed Cerberus and ran out the door.

~Hello sorry the first chapter is so short but more is coming, and since this is my first writing all feedback is extremely helpful! ~

~P.S. I highly suggest looking up photos of Viking Nico di Angelo since the art for is is so amazing and my inspiration for this story, so with that credit to Sabertooth Tiger, and her great work~

See you Soon