Author's Note: I'm on a roll with this one so while I listen to Battle of the Labyrinth this is happening. I own nothing.
Helping A Friend: Explanations
"Nico this is Zane and this is Paul Sol." Nico raised an eyebrow at Thomas.
"Sol, as in sun." Thomas shrugged. Nico shook her head, Apollo was not at all subtle. Nico blew a strand of hair out of her face, releasing a puff of monster dust from her hair at the same time. Zane, the one in the green, shook his head.
"Sol as in sun yeah. What does it matter? Are you two gonna tell us what's going on?" Nico nodded.
"I need coffee first. This isn't a talk I've been involved in before." Thomas nodded and the twins kept looking confused. The cab pulled up to the café and Nico pulled a black wallet out of her jeans and ran a black card through the reader on the back of the front seat. She typed in a tip and Paul frowned.
"You just gave him a twenty dollar tip." Nico nodded.
"Yeah I did." She said no more as they stepped into the café. The woman behind the counter smiled wide and greeted Nico in Italian. Nico answered in kind and ordered a large coffee before turning to the others. "My treat order whatever."
Thomas took her up on the offer immediately and Zane and Paul ordered hot chocolates and some cookies that looked good. They settled down around a table in the corner of the café and Nico sipped her coffee before she spoke.
"So biggest question. Does their mother know?" Thomas nodded. Nico smiled. "Good that makes it easier. Twins though, that's rare. Even the Stoll brothers aren't twins." Thomas nodded. Paul cut across them.
"Ok miss mysterious. You promised us answers. What the fuck was with the giant rabid rottweiler!" Nico frowned.
"Don't assume rottweilers are evil, one of my dogs is a rottweiler. Well I say my dog he's my dad's but I get to play with him." Thomas blinked.
"Are you talking about Cerberus?" Nico nodded sipping her coffee. "Cerberus is a rottweiler?" Nico nodded again. Zane held up a hand.
"Cerberus, the guardian dog of the underworld. He's your dad's dog." Nico sighed.
"To answer your first question, the thing that attacked us was a rouge hellhound from the fields of punishment in the underworld. They manage to slip their chains from time to time. Sometimes they're let loose. Not that one though. That one definitely slipped its collar." The twins stared at her. Thomas sipped his espresso.
"How can you tell?"
"They don't go after me, unless their rouge. Most hellhounds just want to play. At least with me… Though that could be because I insist on playing with them every now and again anyway." Thomas laughed. Nico raised an eyebrow.
"I just always pictured you as a cat person." He shrugged, Nico snorted.
"You sound like Will." A smile, a real one, graced the face of the daughter of Hades. Thomas was stunned. She was amazingly pretty when she was happy. But she sobered quickly. "Ok so I'm sure you have questions but let me forestall them with some answers. Greek legends, heroes, monsters, gods, satyrs, the underworld. All true." She sipped her coffee again before she continued. "I'm guessing you've never met your father." The twins nodded in unison.
"How could you possibly know that?" Paul asked. Nico sized them up, they looked to be about eleven maybe twelve. About the right age to go to camp.
"Because ninety nine percent of us don't. I won't say all cause that's very untrue now a days but hey it's not always all it's cracked up to be trust me. But the reason you've never met him is because he isn't human." She sipped her coffee and snagged one of the muffins she'd bought. She twirled a butter knife in her hand before slicing off the top of the muffin with ease and spreading a pad of butter across the inside of the top. She set the knife down and bit into the top handing the bottom to Thomas.
"If he's not human… What is he?"
"A god." Nico said it like it was obvious, Thomas bit into the bottom of the muffin without taking off the wrapper. Paul stared at him.
"That is insanely bad for you." Thomas brayed slightly.
"Trust me, paper is pretty good. Tin is better but hey." Nico rolled her eyes.
"Satyrs." Zane stared at her, then back at Thomas.
"Oh my god…ss. I guess. Wait if Cerberus is your dad's dog that would make you…"
"Nicolla Di Angelo, Daughter of Hades. Thomas here is a satyr, child of the wild god Pan, servant of Dionisius." The satyr glanced around nervously.
"You know you shouldn't be using those names out here right?"
"Right sorry forgot about that. I didn't really worry about that while I was on my own. They don't have as much power in the underworld." Thomas nodded to her.
"That actually brings us to a point I wanted to make. You guys have a choice. There's a place, a camp that trains demigods, like you two, like Nico. We can take you there. Or you can stay in the city." Nico nodded.
"It is dangerous though, lets be clear about that. Now that you know what you are they can figure it out easier. They will find you. The more demigods in one place the more likely there will be an attack. You could stay safe in the city but it's not a guarantee." She took another sip of her coffee. "If you decide to stay in the city might I suggest avoiding swim meets." They both raised identical eyebrows at her.
"The daughter of Poseidon is on your schools swim team. She likes inviting friends and family to watch. Even though I told her it was a bad idea." Paul and Zane stared at her.
"Isnt that cheating?" Nico snorted at Paul.
"That's what I said." Before they could continue though Thomas stiffened. Nico immediately got serious.
"What is it?"
"I smell monsters." Nico nodded and gestured for them to follow her. She left the table alone and waved at the woman behind the counter as she rushed them out of the café. She really liked this place, she'd rather it not get trashed.