I'm proud of myself; I got this done really quickly. It helped that I had such a great response to it. You all are the best.

Thank you to all my reviewers: Slone13, ObsessedwReading, H. N. Dots, Elsa-and-Ana, KitkatMoon, monster of the shadows, floboesequalsflutesandoboes, Melodramatic Rainbows, and funlove109.

In response to a reviewer question: Pairings will be eventual Percabeth, possibly eventual Jasper, Frazel, and Caleo, and other pairings that may be mentioned but won't play too big a role, such as Silena/Beckendorf. None of them will be the main focus of the story, though, as it is centered around Nico. Now, on to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. I do not own the stuff.

Nico was really feeling like he had forgotten something.

All twenty-nine sixth graders were in an old school bus on their way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nico was in a seat to himself, sitting in front of his friends Percy and Grover. He didn't pay much attention to them, though, as he was too wrapped up in his thoughts.

Metropolitan Museum of Art... Why does this sound so familiar? I feel like Percy told me something about this sometime, but I can't remember... Hades, this is frustrating.

He was jolted back to attention as the bus rolled to a stop in front of the museum. He climbed out alongside a furious looking Percy, and Grover, who was picking what looked like food out of his hair.

"What happened?" Nico asked.

"Bobofit," Percy growled, glancing towards the grinning girl behind them high-fiving her friends. "Who else?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Want me to take care of her for you?" he suggested, cracking his knuckles.

Grover interrupted before Percy could respond. "Seriously, guys, it's not that big a deal. It's just peanut butter. Don't get into a fight for my sake."

Percy grumbled undecipherable words under his breath as he walked into the museum. Nico followed after shooting Nancy a quick glare.

The museum trip turned out just how Nico expected it to: boring. Greek and Roman mythology? He'd never seen anything like that before. There was just so much new stuff for him to learn.

Er, not that he was claiming know everything there was to know about it. But he knew far more than any of the other kids, not counting Grover. Percy even called Kronos a god, for Zeus's sake!

Lunch eventually came. Percy stayed behind to talk with Mr. Brunner, so Nico and Grover went out by themselves. They sat at a fountain some ways distance from the rest of the class. Nico still had the uncomfortable feeling that he was forgetting something, but he couldn't think of what it was for the life of him. Percy had never liked talking about his old adventures, so whatever it was had probably just been mentioned in a passing comment or something of the sort. Nico decided to try not to think about it too much, or he'd go crazy.

He turned to Grover. "So... How long have you and Percy known each other?" he questioned, feeling slightly awkward.

Grover took a bite of his veggie sandwich. "About half a year," he said through chews.

"Ah." Nico looked off into the distance, not sure what else to say. He noticed the huge, black clouds covering the sky. Zeus must be angry about something, he reasoned. He felt uneasy, as if what he was forgetting was just on the tip of his tongue, just barely beyond his reach.

He was interrupted from his thoughts as Grover began to speak again. "Percy... He's a good guy. Too good, I think sometimes. He's completely loyal to the people he likes, and tries his best with everything. I mean, you can't tell by looking at his grades, but he really does. And it bugs him when he can't live up to people's expectations. He feels angry and disappointed. But it doesn't make him any less loyal to them. That's why I need to protect him. Both of you." Grover seemed to be lost in his words, and didn't appear to know what he was saying to Nico.

Nico wasn't really sure what to say to that. So, like an idiot, he blurted the first thing that came to his mind. "I don't need protecting."

Grover's ears turned pink as he realized what he just revealed. "Ack! I mean, forget it Forget I said anything."

Just then, Percy came up to them. "How'd it go?" Grover asked, eager for the change in subject. "Did you get detention?"

Percy sighed and sat next to them on the fountain. "Nah. Not with Mr. Brunner. I wish he wouldn't push me so hard. I mean, I'm not a genius."

Nico snorted. "Tell us something we don't know."

"Can I have your apple?" Grover asked.

Percy gave it to him, his expression slightly dejected. Nico realized a little late that they might not have acted like the most compassionate friends just then. He didn't really know what to say to make him feel better, though. Nico di Angelo didn't do compassionate. So he just sat there, letting the heavy awkwardness in the air settle on his shoulders.

Until Nancy Bobofit came by and dumped her sandwich on Grover's lap, her freckled cheeks stretched out in a wide grin. "Oops," she drawled.

Nico scowled, and was about to tell her just where she could shove her lunch, when the unexpected happened. All in the matter of a few seconds, the water from the fountain appeared to reach out and grab her, pulling her straight into the fountain with a large splash.

Nico gaped, then swiveled his head towards Percy, whose furious expression was quickly replaced by a bewildered one. Nancy started to scream, "It was Percy! He pushed me!" and all the other kids stared at them, murmuring things to their friends.

Mrs. Dodds appeared there in a flash. She pulled Nancy out of the water, then turned to Percy with a smug look on her face. "Come with me, honey," she ordered.

"Wait!" Grover exclaimed desperately. "I was the one who pushed her! Percy didn't do anything!"

"This is completely unfair," Nico said crossly. "There are a bunch of witnesses here who can confirm that all Percy did was just sit there."

Mrs. Dodds ignored him. Again. Although he wasn't quite sure it was because he was a son of Hades this time. "Only Jackson will come."

Percy looked at them. "It's alright," he said. "Thanks for trying."

And he left with the fury-in-disguise, the uneasy feeling in Nico's gut growing ever more prominent. "I'm going to follow them," he decided.

Grover yelped. "Wh- Why? Wouldn't it be better to get a teacher? It might be safer that way." He looked despondently at Mr. Brunner, who was engrossed with his novel.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Why? You think it'll be dangerous or something?" When Grover didn't answer, he continued. "No one's going to hurt us. Besides, I don't want to leave Percy alone with that old hag any longer than I have to. You coming?"

Grover gave one last helpless glance towards their Latin teacher, before nodding reluctantly. "Yeah, I guess."

"Great!" Nico dragged him into the museum. "Where do you think they are?"

Grover sniffed the air slightly, before pointing in what seemed like to Nico a random direction. "This way." Nico didn't question the satyr, and followed him through the halls.

They soon arrived at the Greek and Roman exhibit, which was completely empty except for Percy and Mrs. Dodds. Or, what used to be Mrs. Dodds. In her place was a strange creature with large, black bat wings, long talons and sharp, yellow fangs. It appeared Alecto had revealed herself.

Nico swore under his breath, and Grover stared up at the scene in horror. "Kindly One," he whimpered.

As Alecto prepared to attack Percy, Nico unthinkingly ran towards them. "Get away from him!" he shouted, attracting all attention to himself. Grover cursed in Ancient Greek.

The monster narrowed her red eyes at Nico. "You shouldn't be here," she hissed.

Nico straightened, giving her his fiercest glare. "I'll decide for myself where I should and shouldn't be," he retorted. "Now leave!"

Alecto gave him one last scornful look before turning back to Percy. "It is only a matter of time before you are destroyed, Perseus Jackson. We will find you again" And at that, she spread out her wings and flew through a window on the wall, shattering the glass into tiny pieces.

As all the adrenaline left him, Percy's legs started to quiver. He noticed that his friends didn't look much better than him; Nick's face was paler than usual and Grover looked like he'd like to collapse. "What- what was that?" Percy croaks.

"What was what?"

Percy turns to see Mr. Brunner in the doorway of the exhibit, watching the three of them with concern. "I was wondering where you disappeared to. What are you doing back here?"

Percy began telling him what happened in a shaky voice. "W-well, Mrs. Dodds, she told me to follow her, so I did, then she kept telling me to confess, I don't know what for, then she turned to this w-weird bat-human hybrid, then-"

Mr. Brunner frowned. "Percy, did you hit your head?" he said in a slow voice. "You may be delusional."

Percy shook his head insistently. "No, it really happened! Mrs. Dodds flew out that window right there-" He looked back at it, only to freeze in shock.

It was all in one piece. No cracks, no fragments, nothing. It was as if he'd imagined the whole thing.

Nick frowned at it. "That's pretty freaky," he muttered under his breath. "It's like nothing happened."

Mr. Brunner gave them a pitying look. "Why don't you all come with back with me. We'll be starting the tour again soon. Mrs. Kerr is gathering up the other students, and-"

Percy blinked. "Who?"

Mr. Brunner gave him a slightly worried look. "Mrs. Kerr, your pre-algebra teacher."

Now Percy was completely baffled. "But that doesn't make sense! What about Mrs. Dodds?"

"You keep mentioning this Mrs. Dodds character," Mr. Brunner said. "Who is she?"

"Our pre-algebra teacher. She came on this trip as a chaperone. Don't you remember?"

Mr. Brunner shook his head. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. I don't think there ever has been. Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

Percy stared. "What are you talking about? She's been here since January." He turned to his best friend. "Right, Grover?"

Grover averted his eyes, and a guilty expression crossed his face. "N-no, I don't. Sorry, Percy."

Percy frowned at him, thinking that maybe he and Mr. Brunner had collaborated together to play some big joke on him. If so, this was the least funny joke in the history of jokes. He hoped Nick wasn't in on it too. But he didn't think he was, judging by the boy's expression. He was watching the whole exchange with an annoyed and slightly contemplative look on his face, looking just as amused by this whole thing as Percy was; in other words, not at all.

"This isn't funny. I'm serious," Percy said.

Grover shook his head. "Sorry, I- I really don't know what you're talking about. We'd better hurry up, or everyone will leave without us." And he and Mr. Brunner left, leaving Percy and Nick behind in the otherwise empty room.

Nick must have sensed Percy's mood, because he sent a concerned glance his way. "You okay?" he asked."

Percy shook his head. "I don't know. I mean, I couldn't have imagined all that, right?" He began to pace back and forth. "I don't have a good enough imagination to do that, so it had to have been real. Right? You saw that too, right?" Percy was aware that the look he was sending Nick right then was desperate, but he couldn't help it. He had to be sure he wasn't crazy, or that his lunch hadn't been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.

Nick nodded, a grimace on his face. "Yeah, I saw it. Kinda hard to miss something like that."

Percy then remembered how Nick had chased away the... the weird, math teaching, Nancy Bobofit loving monster. "You just told her to go away, and she did. How'd you do that?"

Nick shifted uncomfortably. "I just did. You didn't try it, did you? Maybe it would have worked for you, too."

"Maybe," Percy agreed begrudgingly, although he wasn't too sure. "She did seem scared of you all year, though. Remember? It was like you had the plague or something."

Nick glowered. "Look, can we just drop it? I told her to go away, and it worked. Nothing else to it. Now, are we going to go, or are we just standing here all day?" And with that, he stormed out of the room.

Percy followed him, thinking to himself the whole time. They may not have been friends for long, but one thing he knew was that Nick only got defensive when he had something to hide. Add that on to the Mrs. Dodds incident, and Grover trying to pretend nothing had happened, and he felt he was getting into something way over his head.