"Hey, wake up"
Groggily, Nico opened his eyes to see seven different faces.
"Hi?" Nico said while rubbing his eyes. "I'm sorry that I just barged into your home, but the door was unlocked and I didn't really want to sleep outside."
When he said that, all of them turned to glared at a raven-haired, green-eyed boy who smiled sheepishly and said "Oops."
A girl with brown hair and golden eyes came forth and greeted Nico, with others soon following after her example.
"How about we have dinner right about now, 'cause I'm starving," the Latino boy said.
-•-•-•-
Laughter filled the air as the eight teenagers shared stories of their lives.
"Wait... so you actually ate a stapler when you were 2 years old!"
"Yeah. I didn't mean to, but no one was watching me and I was 2 for goodness sakes. Give me a break."
"Percy, would you pass me the mashed potatoes?"
"Here."
"So Nico, you never did say why you're here. Well, why are you here?" Frank asked Nico who sat across from him.
Nico shrugged. Honestly, he didn't know that much. All her knew was that his stepmother wanted to get rid of him so that she could take the throne, and the only way she knew of how to get rid of him was to kill him. She hired a hunter who didn't complete her mission, she instead gave him directions to this house.
When he told them this, they just nodded to show that they understood what he was saying. "There is a spare bedroom down the hall across Jason's room. Why don't you take it until it's safe for you to go back home."
Nico gave a small smile. "Thank you."
-•-•-•-
The next day, there was a knock on the door while the eight teenagers were eating breakfast. Not expecting anyone to come for the next few weeks, Piper got up to open the door.
The banging on the door got louder and before Piper could open the door, it opened itself revealing Thalia.
"Gods, you take forever to open the door. Oh hey Piper." Thalia gave her greetings to everyone before noticing that Nico was in the room with them. "Good he's here too. Well I'm sure you heard his story. Got any food left for me?"
"Here" Annabeth said as she handed her a plate with toast, eggs, and some meat.
Thalia pulled up a chair and sat in between Jason and Nico. Ten minutes later, she finished her meal and waved goodbye to the teens before leaving in a hurry.
-•-•-•-
Over the next month, Nico followed the routine he was given by the Seven in order I keep his share. He had to clean the dishes after lunch every other day and keep guard of the house in case of any intrusion by unwanted visitors. With Annabeth in charge, the girls were in charge of the shop where most of their income came from. Jason and Frank were in charge of getting the supplies for the shop while Percy held some classes at a nearby lake. Aside from working at the shop, Piper and Hazel were in charge of getting groceries from the market everyday to fill the stomachs of eight plus teens, depending on who decided to join them since that house was a pit stop between the two towns on either side of the house.
Nico was introduced to those close to the Seven at the eastern town where the shop was at. He met the town's blacksmith Beckendorf; the bar owner Pollux (his twin brother Castor died about a year ago due to invaders); the pranksters and mailmen, Travis and Connor; and other shop owners, such as Silena (who owned a treats shop and was dating Beckendorf), Clarisse (the weapons shop owner), Butch (a local security force member), and others.
In the next town (which is west of the house), Nico was introduced to the mayor, Reyna; the town drunk (off of Kool-Aid, not alcohol), Dakota; the clothing store owner, Michael; the grocery store owner, Leila; and many others.
During those months, Nico got to know people from both towns filled with teenage rejects. All those living there were either runaways from their homes, on temporary leave until things got better, or abandoned by their family and loved ones.
About a month after his stay, a war between the monsters in the Forrest and the two villages broke out which lead to lots of deaths. Percy and Annabeth took charge in leading the eastern town, Camp Half-Blood. Jason and Reyna lead the western town, Camp Jupiter. (Both of these towns were called camps due to most people temporarily living there.) About eight weeks later, a boy by the name of Octavian caused a fight to break out between the two towns. This lead to both towns being vulnerable to the creatures of the Forrest which ended up in more deaths than there should've been. When the campers realized how pointless the fight was, they banished Octavian from ever coming near both towns again before mourning for all the deaths and celebrating for surviving.
Author's Note:
I wanted to thank everyone who is taking time out of their lives to read this book
Special thanks to all thlse who favorited and followed my book!