Leo was practicing his fire-using skills, by making flames dance higher and higher on his hands, but trying not to get them out of conrtol. He was so focused on his task, he didn't notice the small boy in black walking straight towards him, also not looking where he was going, seemingly talking to an invisible person. Leo bumped into him and accidently set the boy's aviator jacket on fire.

"Styx!" The boy cursed and batted out the flames as quickly as he could with his hands, ignoring the fact that he wasn't fire-proof.

"Do you always set people on fire when you bump into them?" The boy demanded angrily after he put out the flames on his jacket.

Leo started to apologize. "Look kiddo, I'm really sorry..."

"Don't call me kiddo." The boy said dangerously. His already dark eyes seemed to darken as he glared at the fire-user.

Leo didn't even try to smile. This kid was scary. "Well, do you have a name?"

"Nico." He said and walked off, still frowning.

"But..." Leo started, but Nico had already faded into the shadows of the forest.

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A/N random one shot. found this in some random folder buried away off my desktop. Touched it up a little, then published it. I don't like the beginning, but that's okay... I think.

Anyway, I was looking for the MoA release date and I was on Rick Riordan's blog and I found this:

Q: squirtone will we get more about Bianca Di Angelo in next books?

A: Only in Nico's memories. She's dead and moved on to a new life.

IN NICO'S MEMORIES! that means that his POV will (probably) be used! in one of the HoO books! Sorry if that's old news, but I found it exciting...

Reviews are much appreciated