A/N: Minor language warning in this one. Nothing too serious guys, I heard worse than this in sixth grade.
Camp Half-Blood looked as though it was in full swing. Tall, athletic kids were playing volleyball alongside satyrs. In the distance I could see a huge, narrow wall, and a few far off Greek style buildings.
Chiron clopped off across the grass, looking back at me expectantly. I hurried after him and walked at his side as we started toward the archery range. On the way, I saw plenty of kids of all ages running around in those neon orange t-shirts. They all paused and looked at me, watching until I had passed and probably after my back was turned to them. I looked up at Chiron.
"How come they all keep looking at me?" I asked, irritated.
"They're simply curious. These days we have more half-bloods coming in than we used to. Very few of them come in bloody and faint. Actually, I don't believe it's happened since Percy came to camp. They're also curious as to why you were brought in by Percy and Annabeth. They feel that you must be a child of the Big Three-very powerful-to be brought in by those two," He replied.
"Why? I mean, why are they so special?" I asked, utterly confused.
"That's a story for another time," He said lightly as we arrived at the archery range. He walked to the front of a group of campers, saying good morning to some of them. They all fell silent and looked at him expectantly, waiting for the lesson to begin. The demigods were all armed with bows and quivers full of arrows, and went to work on the targets as soon as they were told.
All except for one anyway. He was tall, with a mop of black hair and olive toned skin. Unlike the other campers, he was wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans. But when I looked closer, I saw that the t-shirt said Camp Half-Blood just like the others. He also wore a skull shaped ring and black Vans.
The guy was digging in the dirt with an arrow, his bow slung across his back. Everything about his stance screamed angsty.
"Nico," Chiron called. Mr. Angst looked up; he had dark brown eyes and a bored expression.
"Yeah?" He asked, looking first at Chiron, then at me. A look of comprehension crossed his face. "This the new camper?" I guessed he a year or so older than me.
"Yes, this is Andromeda-"
"Andi!" I hissed.
"-and I would like you to show her around camp," Chiron finished as if I hadn't interrupted him. Nico raised an eyebrow.
"Why me?" He said in a what-did-I-ever-do-to-you voice, a look on his face to match.
I was just about to respond "Gee, thanks" but Chiron beat me to the punch, a warning look on his face.
"Because you won't do anything better with your time," He said flatly, daring Angsty to object.
Nico exhaled loudly, swung the bow and quiver over his head and propped them up to a tree trunk. Then he jerked his head in a motion for me to follow. He started back toward the Big House, his hands shoved in his jeans pockets. I walked along side him awkwardly, unsure of whether to speak or not.
"Andromeda, huh?" He asked, a smirk in his voice. I looked up at him-he was about a head taller than me-with a scowl and saw that there was a smirk on his face. I couldn't help but notice how good it looked on him.
"You think you're funny?" I snapped and his smirk widened to a grin.
"Nah. I think I'm hilarious," He said lazily. I felt an angry flush heating up my face.
"Really? Cause I think you're a jack-" I started, fully intending to say something extremely rude, but someone cut me off.
"Nico! Hi!" A girl called from the volley ball pit. She had long, dark hair, pale skin, and dark eyes. She waved and grinned at him, ignoring me completely.
Nico forced a smile that looked more like a grimace but the girl didn't seem to notice and went back to playing volleyball.
"What? Is your girlfriend too clingy?" I asked in an overly-sweet voice.
"Maya is not my girlfriend," He replied flatly and it was my turn to smirk.
Just then, we reached the big house and he turned. I did the same and he pointed at the tallest hill, the one with the huge pine tree that I had noticed earlier. A glittering, golden rug hung on the tree's lowest branch. No, not a rug. A fleece, just like the kind you'd get from sheering a sheep. A mound of purple scales curled around the trunk of the pine and with a shock I realized it was a dragon. I backed up a step.
"That's Half-Blood Hill. The tree used to be a demigod named Thalia. She was Zeus's daughter and got attacked. When she was dieing, he turned her into a tree. But then she was brought back to life, yada, yada, yada, she joined the Hunters of Artemis, blah, blah, blah…" He trailed off, looking bored once more.
"What?" I asked. A tree? This place confused me beyond belief.
"You heard me," He said. "The dragon's name is Peleus. He guards the Golden Fleece. And those are the strawberry fields." He had turned around again and was looking across the creek at rows and rows of big red strawberries. My stomach rumbled looking at them.
Nico either didn't hear or ignored me and turned again. "Big House," He nodded at the big blue farmhouse/mansion, then turned yet again, and nodded in Maya's direction. "Volleyball pit. Got it?" He finished, raising his eyebrows at me. I nodded and he set off again, past the basketball courts.
We walked toward a building from which metal on metal clangs were issuing. "Gah, what is that?" I asked, rubbing my temples.
"Arts and Crafts," Nico explained unhelpfully.
"Excuse you?"
"You haven't ever decorated your own shield before, have you?"
"That is not Arts and Crafts."
"It is here. And that's the Canoe Lake," He told me. Sure enough, there were campers in canoes out on the lake, laughing and splashing each other. We kept walking through the lush, green grass. The sun beat down on my bare legs and warmed my hair. I found myself turning my face upward, the sun making the insides of my eyelids red.
I opened my eyes to find Nico looking at me curiously. "You know the god Apollo actually drives the sun across the sky every day? It's normally a Maserati, I've ridden in it before," He said conversationally.
"You're kidding!" I said incredulously.
"Nope."
"Then you're crazy. The sun is a super-hot ball of gas way far away in space."
"If that's what you want to believe," He said with a shrug, looking forward again. Truth be told, it would be incredibly cool if there were gods, they drove the sun, and the sun was a Maserati. I still wasn't completely bought yet though, even with the centaur, insane wine dude, and Greek vampires. There had to be a normal, logical explanation for everything that had happened. Had to be. For now though, I just decided to roll with it.
"So, who's son are you? Zeus's, Apollo's, Hera's, Aphrodite's, maybe?" I asked in a tone you might use with a small child as they were telling you about their pet unicorn.
Nico narrowed his eyes at me in a glare and suddenly I felt very small, scared even. He had a gleam in his eyes that hadn't been there a few minutes ago. I found myself thinking that if I had seen him in a dark alley, I would've thought he was a dangerous and ran the other way. I also found myself thinking of death, which was a topic I usually tried to avoid thinking about.
"Do not patronize me," He said softly, his voice with an edge to it. I swallowed, my eyes still locked with his and could feel my hands shaking. I tried to draw in a breath but choked on it. Nico closed his eyes then looked away. Only now did I realize that we had stopped and were facing each other next to a huge amphitheater built into a hill.
"This is the amphitheater," Nico told me softly.
"How original," I muttered under my breath, recovering from the weird experience I'd just had.
Nico didn't react, but just started to walk toward the huge wall, which I now realized was none other than a climbing wall. Or two, depending on how you looked at it.
Then I screamed. Out of no where, the walls crashed together sending-was that lava?-spewing from the sides. Some campers that I hadn't noticed before, who were sitting on the very top of the wall, looked at me and laughed.
"That always happens. It's part of training," Nico said in an exasperated tone.
Everything from the past 72 hours came back, whipping up frustration, resentment, and confusion inside of me. I whirled on him and started shouting.
"Training? What the hell kind of place says, 'Do it fast or die?' You people are psychotic!" My chest was heaving and he was scowling at me, making me feel weak again. "And what kind of freak are you? Going around all moody and superior!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I knew I must have looked like a lunatic, but at the moment, I could honestly care less what anyone thought.
Nico glared. He looked deadly with narrowed eyes, looked nothing like he did when he smiled. His eyes seemed to grow darker, from rich brown to black, and start glinting. He looked like, well, a madman.
I turned and started back toward the lake, taking long strides. I don't know why, but I wanted to get as far away from Nico as I could. Apparently, he still had something to say.
Out of nowhere, someone grabbed my arm from behind. The grip was firm but not painful or rough. As he spun me around I had to stifle a gasp. When he touched me, a weird, tingly feeling spread up my arm and through my body. Now, I know you're thinking, "Aw! Andi's in love!" Yeah, not so much.
This feeling, it made my body feel tight, as if I were about to explode. And suddenly, his dark presence did not bother me.
I met his dark eyes with a glare of my own. "Let. Me. Go," I said quietly. He loosened his grip on my arm and let his hand fall, a surprised look on his face. He stepped back and looked me up and down- which might have been embarrassing any other time, but he seemed to be sizing me up, not checking me out.
"I'm the son of Hades, since you were wondering," He told me in a careful voice. The weirdest thing happened. His eyes grew a little vulnerable, as if he was worried what would happen when he told me that. But it was gone in a few seconds and he managed a quick, strained smile. "Come on. I've gotta show you the cabins."
A/N: Don't freak out at this chapter and don't get me wrong, I love Nico to pieces. Andi's just a little...um, well, Andi-like. She doesn't get along with certain people very easily. Heh, heh. Don't worry, I'm sure they will be the best of friends...eventually...Review and I'll love you forever!
