YESH! I'm actually getting kinda used to this updating stuff. Please read and review. I need SUPPORT! Oh, and I'd also appreciate it if you shared this story with other humans. It would really encourage me if more people viewed my story. Arigato!

Everything went dark as soon as the monster closed in on us.

Dang it, we're shadow-traveling again. I thought to myself. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, we shadow-traveled to New York. For future reference, I'm just saying here and now that once we had gotten as far as five miles north, Nico told me to hold his hand. I was a little iffy about it at first, but once he started blending into the shadows, I was glad I held on. Shadows of the dead swirled all around us, and I didn't know when it would end. It felt like forever, but we actually got to New York in about three minutes.

Anyways, Nico panicked and ended up shadow-traveling us to Manhattan Square, where the Empire State Building loomed over us.

"That was too close," murmured Nico. Then he collapsed. I caught him before he managed to crack his head against the cement. The "mortals," as Nico called them, milled around the square, occasionally glancing at the two abnormal teens. I remembered Nico saying something about the Mist, which was a magical force that hid mortals' eyes from anything out of the ordinary. They probably didn't realize that my boyfriend was passed out in my arms. I looked around, desperate to find something that would help us.

Suddenly, I spotted a tabby cat prancing around near a café. It looked at me, and strangely beckoned me with its white paw. I started walking towards it. When I was about two yards away from the cat, it gave me a content look and scampered away. Unfortunately, I had a thing named Nico in my arms, and could only run at about three miles an hour. If he had been conscious, we might have gotten caught up with the cat already. But no. I had to drag him for about fifteen minutes until I spotted the same cat again. It saw me and ran away again. This time, I was prepared, so I managed to keep up with it. Five minutes later, the tabby started slowing down to a stop. I looked in front of me and saw that we had stopped right in front of a Starbuck's coffee shop. I set Nico in one of the patio chairs outside the shop, and plopped my tired body into the other. By the time I felt ready to get up again, the sky had turned a dark gray- blue. I took out the watch that Nico always kept in his pocket and read the time. It was already six-thirty, and I was starting to worry about where we were going to sleep. I stood up and looked at the cat. Up close, it was really fat, and he had a bell around his neck. There was a tag hanging next to the bell. The cat didn't seem scared when I leaned in to look at the tag.

Mr. McShizzle

Property of Leo Valdez

If lost, please return to the Empire State Building, 600th floor

I thought about the "if lost" part. There's no 600th floor on the Empire State Building. Is there? Suddenly, Nico groaned. Dang it, I forgot all about him. The cat jumped up and pawed at a bell hanging at the bottom of the Starbuck's door. A scrawny Latino kid, maybe seventeen or eighteen, walked out and let the cat in. He spotted me and gave me a funny look.

"Welcome to Starbuck's. Do you need anything?" Then he saw Nico and made a squeaking sound.

"Nico?" He looked at me and glared. "Did you hurt him?"

I put my hands up in defense and cowered in my chair. "I swear, I didn't do anything. I carried him here from the Empire State Building. We were fighting a thing and he accidentally shadow-traveled us there. We were originally on a ferry in front of the Statue of Liberty. After we got to Manhattan square, he fainted and I panicked and followed Mr. McShizzle."

"Mr. McShizzle… Oh you mean my cat!" he laughed. "Sorry, I get pretty protective over my friends."

"You're friends with Nico? And is your name Leo?"

"Yeah we've been friends for about a year now. And yeah, my name's Leo. Why don't you come in? My girlfriend's inside helping me. She's an excellent healer and I bet she'd fix Nico right up."

I nodded my head and was about to pick Nico up when the Leo swooped in and picked him up in one swift movement. I opened the door and Leo took him inside. I followed him in.

"Hi, welcome to Starbucks. May I take your order?" A beautiful girl with blond hair about Leo's age welcomed the three of us in. Her blue eyes widened as she saw Nico, unconscious and laying in Leo's arms.

"Leo, what happened to Nico?" she gasped.

Leo laughed. "It's fine. You know how he can shadow-travel? You know, the creepy Hades thing?"

"Yeah…"

"If he travels too far, or too long, it'll make him tired. He just passed out from exhaustion. A little sleep and he'll be just fine."

I sighed in relief and sat down in one of the chairs. Just then, Nico bolted upright and yelled, "Cheyenne!"

I rushed to his side and hugged him. "Nico, are you alright?"

He looked at me and laughed. "It's fine. I was just exhausted. And where are we?"

"We're at Starbuck's."

"What?"

"With Leo."

"Who's Leo?"

I looked at him and waited until he figured out what was going on. He looked around and finally saw Leo waving at him.

"Leo, what are you doing here?" Nico asked.

Leo walked to the back of the counter and started up a coffee machine.

"Chiron lets me work here, since it's not summer. I'm going to a public high school around here," Leo said as he started making a cup of coffee. "The question is, what are you doing here?"

Nico got up and started to help Leo with the coffee. Calypso excused herself to the restroom.

"Chiron told me to find some demigods to recruit," explained Nico.

"Who's Chiron?"

"A guy."

"What guy?"

"An interesting guy."

I frowned. "Nico, what are you talking about?"

He laughed. "Alright, he's a centaur. You know, one of those half horse half human people?"

Oh. "Yeah, I've heard of those things before."

"He's the head of Camp Half-Blood," added Leo.

I felt curious again. Camp Half-Blood? Sounds like a really fun camp. "What's Camp Half-Blood? Is it a summer camp? 'Cause it sounds like an awesome summer camp."

Leo laughed. "Oh, it's a camp alright. A very interesting camp."

I looked at Leo. "How do you know Nico, anyway?"

Leo looked at Nico with a sly expression on his face. Nico looked back with the same expression. He nodded. Then Leo set his hand on fire. I looked at him. Then Nico, who was trying not to laugh. Then Leo again.

"Y—you're a demigod!" I stammered. I watched in awe as he extinguished the small column of red-orange flames.

He nodded. "Nico and I were on the same quest about a year ago. At first, I thought he was this creepy emo kid, but I eventually found out that he's not that bad. He likes a lot of the same music I like. Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco, Green Day…"

Leo started rambling on about his favorite alternative rock bands. Nico rolled his eyes. A little ding sounded from the coffee pot.

"Leo, the coffee's done," I warned him.

"Shoot," he muttered, and ran over to the coffee. Leo poured the coffee into four different mugs and called Calypso out into the café area. Calypso hurried out and joined us at one of the tables.

I took a sip of my coffee. My eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, Leo, this is the most amazing coffee I've ever had in my entire life!"

"Isn't it?" he smirked. "And Cheyenne, from now on, I demand you to curse like a demigod. Some examples are 'Oh, my gods, holy Hera,' and 'by Hades' helm.'"

Nico rolled his eyes again. I giggled.

I might actually get used to this. I thought to myself joyfully.

You like it? A lot more tricks up my sleeve, peepsles. Please review and favorite!

~ Clara