A/N: Hola! I know not very many people checked this out, but I hope more do soon. Esperanza is awesome, if I do say so myself, and so is Nico (of course, you guys already knew that ;)). And here is chapter two! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Only the OCs are mine.

Warning: There is Spanish in this story, so if you don't know the language open up either a dictionary or Google translate.

Lost

Chapter 2

Esperanza was stronger than she looked. The whole way to her house she had Nico's hand in a vice grip as she dragged him along. He had to resist the urge to wince every once and awhile. Thankfully the house was only a block and a half away.

She released his hand, much to his relief, and spread her hands in a grand gesture. "We are here!"

Nico couldn't help but chuckle quietly at her enthusiasm as he looked at the house. It was nothing too spectacular, but it was still quite beautiful. From the lights of the porch he could see the yard was incased by an iron fence. The walls appeared to be made of white stone and the roof of red tiles. In the driveway was a classic Ford pickup in matte black. As they walked, well Esperanza skipped, up the walkway Nico noted all the many different flowers and plants to his right; the winter didn't seem to be treating them very well.

As she swung the door open she called, "Abuelo! Abuela! Donde estas?"

"En la cocina, mija!" an elderly woman's voice replied.

Esperanza turned back to Nico. "Wait out here."

Warm air brushed against his skin as the door closed. A hint of hot, fresh food lingered around his nose making him involuntarily lean forward.

Not even a minute later the demi-titan returned and grabbed him by the front of his jacket and pulled him inside with a little more force than was necessary. She walked so fast he barely caught what any of the inside of the house looked like. The only thing he could tell was that it was very warm from all the browns, reds, and oranges, with the occasional blue and green, he saw out of the corners of his eyes. When they stopped Nico's nose was assaulted by the smell of spices, both zesty and otherwise.

"Abuela, esto es Nico di Angelo. El es el hijo de Hades."

Nico shook his head once to make the room stop spinning before looking up. They were obviously in a kitchen and standing before them, in front of the stove, was an elderly woman. She appeared to be in her late fifties with light gray hair pulled into a tight bun. Despite how weary and fragile she appeared there were hints of grace and that she was once very beautiful. She wore a simple white dress. He swallowed when he saw her eyes. They were piercing dark brown and he felt as if they were looking right through him.

Esperanza tugged at his sleeve, breaking him from his thoughts, and said, "Nico, this is my grandma, Alejandra."

"Um…" He swallowed once more before putting out his hand. "It's a, uh, pleasure to meet you ma'am."

The old woman glanced at his hand for a moment before giving a kind smile and taking it as she said with thickly accented English, "The pleasure is mine, Dark Prince."

Nico felt flustered for a second before regaining his composure. "Sorry, no one has ever called me that before."

"No harm done," said an accented male voice behind him.

Nico turned to see an elderly man sitting at the dining room table a couple meters away. He seemed to be in his mid sixties with a shock of sterling white hair and a bushy mustache. From where the wrinkles were placed on his face, Nico could tell he was looking at a joker. There was a quirky light in the man's pale green eyes. He was leaning back in his seat wearing a baby blue button-up shirt and dark brown suspenders.

"And this is my grandpa, Andres."

Being at such a distance, Nico wasn't quite sure what to do. As a default he gave a small wave to which the old man gave a gruff chuckle.

"It's not every day that we have royalty visiting," Andres mused as he eyed the son of Hades.

"I wouldn't necessarily call myself 'royalty'," Nico muttered.

"Well, either way, you are our guest, so sit for dinner." He motioned to the seat in front of him generously with a wide smile under his whiskers.

Nico glanced at Esperanza. She gave a reassuring curl of the lips and squeezed his arm. He walked slowly, slipping off his jacket as he did so, and took a seat. The stare of the man was slightly unnerving, but it was as harmless as a fly. Esperanza took a seat to the right of her grandfather, and now that her gloves were off he could see that she had round yet long hands and fingers.

A small rumble released itself from his stomach causing him to flush lightly. "What's for dinner?"

"Chile Verde," Alejandra said as she placed a plate in front of him, "with rice and beans."

"Chile Verde…" he mused quietly as steam translucently blocked his vision. "Green Chile?"

"Yeah," Esperanza said slowly. "How'd you know that?"

"Well…Spanish and Italian are pretty close, so I guess that has something to do with it."

"Maybe," she sighed as she reached for a tortilla.

A/N: Sorry if this seems a little short. I'll try to make the next chapter longer, I promise. I wanted this to kind of be an introduction to Esperanza's family. I hoped you liked it. Oh, and FYI Chile Verde is one of the best dishes ever! You can get it at any Mexican restaurant (real ones) though the meat is pork so if you don't eat pork…at least try the actual Chile though. Anyway, until next time!