Chapter 2:

As soon as we stepped into the camp, all cabin councillors were called to a meeting and because I had no idea were to go, I went with them the gang seen as they were all councillors. Percy was explaining to me what they did here and why it had been built but it was a bit hard for me to concentrate when Nico kept accidentally brushing up against me. We all strode into a big blue house and then into a room that had a ping pong table set in the middle. Everyone sat in chairs that surrounded the table except for Nico who stood back in the shadows. I wanted to stand with him but he nodded for me to take his seat. I has just sat in the Hades' cabin seat when a white centaur came trotting into the room. My eyes widened but everyone else acted as if this was normal. "Who is this then?" The centaur gestured to me and Percy replied quickly. "Zane Attis-Orphne... son of Nyx." "Nyx..." The centaur whispered with wide eyes and I blushed. "Well, I'm Chiron. Now, we need a place to put." He thought for a moment. "Preferably somewhere dark and not very crowded..." "What about the Hades cabin?" Thalia suggested and my eyes blew wide open. "Yes, that's a great idea, Thalia! That is if Nico doesn't mind sharing his cabin?" Chiron turned to the shadowy figure who just shrugged and mumbled,

"I don't mind."

Everyone nodded agreeing with the idea, so Chiron dismissed us all. However, I saw Percy hand a black tub of what looked like ink to Chiron and whispered a few things to him. I tried to ignore it and followed Nico out of the Big House.

"Um, are we going to the Hades cabin?" I asked Nico.

"Yep, just follow me."

Soon, we appeared outside a pure black cabin that had two skeletons guarding the front door and what looked like a mini-Cerberus sleeping at their feet. Although, as soon as Nico got close the small three-headed dog jumped up and began to bounce up and down happily at the sight of him.

"Hey, Cerry!" Nico smiled slightly at the dog's cheerfulness.

I smiled as he indicated for me to come into the cabin, so I followed him in.

The dim lit room was shrouded in darkness, they only light was a small lamp that had a grey/black shade over it. Everything was black; matt black, jet black, silk black etc. The bed frame was a dark grey and silk black sheets adorned every corner of the mattress. The wooden floor boards were so dark they were almost looked black and, well, just say everything was either black or so dark they were almost black.

"Welcome to the Hades cabin." Nico announced smiling at me lightly.

My cheeks warmed instantly and I hoped that he didn't notice. Then, Nico walked over to what looked like a black docking station with a black iPod sitting on it and he pressed the play button.

"Fallen Angels by Black Veil Brides." I grinned to myself as my head nodded along to the music.

Nico turned and grinned at me, causing my stomach to flip and twist, "We're gonna get along just fine, kid." He chuckled.

"I'm not a kid." I frowned and Nico chuckled, nodding.

"Yeah, just fine."

Suddenly, the door slammed open and Thalia came striding in, just as Nico hopped up onto the top bunk. Thalia jumped up after him whilst I just stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. That was until Nico reached over and grabbed the sleeve of my, well, his hoodie and tugged me towards the bed.

"Hop up here with us, you look all lonely." He said simply.

I hopped up and sat with my leaned up against the wall, next to Nico who sat in between me and Thalia.

"Why are you here?" Nico turned to Thalia.

"Bored." She mumbled.

Just then Fallen Angels finished and Na na na by My Chemical Romance came on. As soon as the beat started me and Nico started to bob our head lightly, then as we got more into the songs we started to do prober head-banging and brought out the air guitars and air drums. By the end of the song, we were breathing hard and leaning on each others shoulders. We didn't notice Thalia smiling slyly at us.

"I have to go somewhere..." Thalia slid off the bed and out the door, leaving me and Nico alone. We, meanwhile, were still leaning on each other panting.

"So, Zane tell me about yourself." Nico sighed.

So the next hour or two was spent trading information on one another and by the end of the conversation me and Nico were already close if not best friends.

"You like Xbox?" Nico asked suddenly and I nodded.

That lead to another hour of playing Halo which Nico absolutely thrashed me at. By the time we had finished our little 'bonding session' it was time for dinner which we had to race so so we didn't miss it. I sat with Nico at the Hades cabin as we ate our food. I couldn't help but notice that almost everyone was staring at me as I ate and some were whispering. Nico seemed to notice how uncomfortable I was, my cheeks flaring up and my eyes finding my feet incredibly interesting, so he rolled his eyes before grabbing my arm and dragging me out of the mess hall back to the cabin.

However, just as we were about to walk in Chiron trotted up and told us to come to the Big House. We walked in to the ping-pong room again to see all the cabin leaders sitting in their respective chairs.

"Have a seat, boys." Chiron indicated to the two empty seats.

Huh, I guess they put an extra chair in for me

Me and Nico sat just as Chiron began to speak.

"Earlier today, Rachel, our oracle, arrived to give Percy a prophecy." Everyone turned to look at the son of Poseidon. "The prophecy said that five other demigods were to go on a quest with him. Percy, please recite the line stating this fact."

Percy nodded before speaking, "Go with one of the night and one of the dead, one of the sun and one of the storm, one of fire and one of war, one of changes and one of gems, one of wisdom and one of the sea. I think this means that I, Annabeth, Leo, Reyna, Hazel, Franks, Thalia, Sandy, Nico and Zane are to go on this quest."

"M-me?" I stuttered. "But I just got here!" I blushed when people stared at me.

"Hey, kid, relax, okay? It'll be fine!" Nico reassured me with a smile but that just made me blush harder.

"Percy, the full prophecy please." Chiron looked at the 18 year old who nodded again.

"Travel to the North Star State,

To find the burning flame shrouded in snow,

Go with one of the night and one of the dead, one of the sun and one of the storm, one of wisdom and one of the sea,

Things to come are unexpected but go on as expected,

Save the flame before cold dampens it,

Or Olympus will fall to the big freeze." Percy finally finished. "I think we should all go to Minnesota which, according to Annabeth, is what the prophecy means by the North Star State. Also, recently, Hestia goddess of the heart has disappeared, so I think 'the burning flame' stands for her and Minnesota is covered in snow this time of year."

Everyone nodded in agreement before Chiron spoke up once again.

"Alright, I want everyone to go back to their cabins before packing and sleeping. In the morning I want you all to meet up at the Big Tree where Argus will be waiting for you. He will drive you into New York and then its up to you lot. Goodnight, demigods!" he announced before everyone filed out of the Big House and to their cabins.

Nico and I strolled slowly over to the Hades cabin. I kept glancing up at him and every now and then, I thought I saw him glance at me too. I ignored it but that didn't stop me from blushing.

"Hey, Nico?" I asked just as we walked into the cabin.

"Yeah?" He took his leather jacket off before hanging it up on the edge of his bed.

"Can you teach me how to fight with a dagger?" He looked like he was thinking before he nodded, smiling.

So, just before we went to bed, Nico taught me a few tricks with a dagger. Afterwards, we both collapsed onto the bottom half of the bunk bed. And that, ladies and gentlemen was my first day at Camp Half-Blood...

Hope you liked it!