A/N: This is where Annico happens. Enjoy!

Thalia's POV

"I'm gonna kill you!" I threatened.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know that will happen!" Nico pleaded.

"Thalia… it's…okay…forget it…" Annabeth said in between sobs.

After that little um, incident at the pavilion, I dragged Annabeth and Death Boy towards Cabin 1. There, I forced him to tell me what he did.

"di Angelo, you IDIOT! Why would you even want to spike my drink?" I asked him, fuming.

He backed into a corner. Wimp.

"I thought it was just the same as the other one!" he explained.

"The other one… wait, what other one?" I asked.

He told me everything. From Hades' visit, to Hecate's love potion. "I'm sorry." he finally ended.

My eyes grew in realization. Love potion…spiking my drink… OH GODS!

"Nico di Angelo! I can't believe that you, out of all people, would try to FORCE ME TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU…USING A LOVE POTION AT THAT! Didn't you already see me and Percy are happily together now? Why, why would you try and ruin that?"

"It's not actually a love potion…" Nico muttered.

"Then what is it?"

He just stared at me with chocolate brown eyes and said nothing.

"ANSWER ME!" I demanded.

"I-I-"he started to cry. Then he ran past me, and went out of my cabin, slamming the door as he left.

Nico's POV

I didn't mean what I did! Why does Thalia have to be a jerk? I left them and went to the beach, the only place at camp where I could think in peace.

I sat down on the sand, looking at the stars.

"Didn't work out as planned, huh?" a female voice said from beside me.

I jumped up, pulled out my sword, and faced the woman. Oh gods, why is she here? The only Olympian that I didn't want to see at the moment: Aphrodite.

"No need to be wary, Nico. It's just me." She said coyly. She was wearing a purple dress that had hearts all over it, a pair of black leggings, some stiletto heels, and golden jewelry. Her face shifted, her hair becoming black, her eyes turning to brown, like she was fitting my own perspective of beauty.

I lowered my sword. "What do you want?"

She motioned for me to sit beside her, and I did. I wouldn't want her to get angry at me, even for things as small as that. Olympians can get very temperamental.

"The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?" she asked.

"I guess so." I answered.

"You know, I knew someone else, very much like you Nico. He searched for love and used many tricks and schemes to get the one he desired, but ultimately, he failed." She looked at me like she was studying me. "A curious thing, love is. My husband Hephaestus once used to say, 'Love will get you thinking up is down and right is wrong.' And he was right. My powers can change a great deal of the future, Nico. Remember Troy?"

"Yes."

"Menelaus wanted Helen, but they were just not destined to be together. Her destiny was Paris, and their love sparked up the Trojan War. Just think, If Menelaus never showed Helen to Paris, and the Trojan War never happened, what would the world be like now?" she asked.

"Different." Was all I could say.

"Yes. And that's why I'm here now Nico, to tell you this. Thalia isn't you destiny. She never was."

I felt distraught. "Then who is?"

She smiled. "You will know when the time is right."

With that, she started to glow in a golden flash of light. She gave me just enough time to look away before revealing her true godly form.

I went back to my cabin and slept. But I just couldn't help but think about what she said. Thalia isn't you destiny. She never was.

"Then who is?" I asked myself before going to sleep.

Annabeth's POV

Uggh! I can't believe that I'm twelve again! I mean, I have to go through puberty again? Worst of all, my half-sibling think that they just got a free ticket to tease me just because I became four years younger than them!

"Aw, you wook so cute!" Rebecca teased. Malcolm snickered.

"Shut up!" I glared at them. "Aren't you two supposed to be comforting me right now?"

"We should be, but let's face it, when do we ever get a chance to tease you?" Malcolm said.

I pouted.

Rebecca sat beside me. "Besides, capture the flag is tomorrow night. I bet the other team won't even take you seriously, especially the new campers."

"Oh gods!" I screamed. I totally forgot capture the flag is tomorrow. Who's on my team again? Apollo, Hermes, Hades, Demeter, um…and Zeus, I think.

-TIME LAPSE-(capture the flag)

"You got your armor on okay?" Thalia asked, worried.

"Yes. Just because I'm twelve years old doesn't mean I don't know how to put on my armor!" I said.

"Okay. Excuse me if I was worried."

Finally, the conch horn blew. I would be on guard duty this time, since well, the accident happened.

Ten minutes into the game, and still no enemies. What could be keeping them? I sat down to rest by Zeus' fist, a natural landmark where our flag was prominently placed.

I put my shield down. Wrong idea. The first attacker came. He came straight for me, but I stood up fast and sidestepped his attack. I hilt-slammed him in the forehead with my knife so hard, I think his brain got boggled. The next one came. Then another. By then, I was staring down eight campers, all of which whom are battle ready. Three sons of Ares, two from Hecate and Morpheus, and Pollux from Dionysus.

"Annabeth?" Pollux asked. "Wait, you can't be Annabeth because-"he looked like he was about to faint.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you what happened." I said.

All of them lowered their swords. Apparently, they didn't want to harm twelve-year old me.

"Looks like Mom's handiwork if you ask me." Jenna, daughter of Hecate, whispered aloud to her brother, Jonathan.

"Yeah. The magic aura is exactly the same." He agreed.

"Um, Annabeth, right?" Warren from Morpheus asked. "Aren't you supposed to be sixteen or something?"

I nodded. "Ask their mother and her idiotic potions." I said, pointing towards Jenna and Jonathan.

"Idiotic potions? Excuse me! Hecate makes potions that are intended to be used for good! And her potion are NOT Idiotic!" Jenna ranted.

I slumped back, sitting. I am so not in the mood for an argument right now. "Flag's over there." I said, pointing to the flag.

Jenna turned to her teammates. "You guys go. We have to talk to her about something first."

They all turned to go, but Jenna and Jonathan stayed behind and looked at me with hatred in their eyes.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"You disrespected our mother!" Jenna shouted, and slashed at me with all she had. Apparently, Jonathan had the same idea, and he drew his own sword and attacked me fiercely, like I was a monster.

"Can't-" dodge. "we-"sidestep. "talk about this?" I blocked Jenna's strike with the hilt of my knife. Without a shield, this was getting very difficult. Unfortunately, Jonathan took advantage slashed at my leg with his sword. I buckled, unable to take the pain.

His cute was deep. I think it hit a major artery, what with all the blood coming out. My head felt dizzy, and I felt like I was about to faint, when I heard a very familiar voice.

"Annabeth!"

Nico's POV

I was one of the campers guarding the flag. Lucky, too. Two campers had ganged up on Annabeth, and she was losing blood, fast. They didn't see me since I was hiding in the shadows, or more specifically, the shadows were hiding me. I emerged from my hiding spot and screamed "Annabeth!"

The two attackers heard me. Before they even got the chance to raise their swords, I hilt-slammed one and slammed my shield at another. They both crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"Annabeth!" I yelled, shaking her. I could her ragged breathing. Then I relaxed, just a little.

"Uggh…" she whimpered.

"Stay strong, Annabeth. I'm gonna shadow travel us to the infirmary. Just, hang on for me, okay?"

She nodded weakly,

I wanted to help her. Why? At first, I thought she was my friend. But then again, when our hands touched, I felt a connection there, like she was the one for me. No! My mind argued. You belong with Thalia!

She is your destiny Nico. My heart answered back. But wait, my heart doesn't speak like a girl. Then it dawned upon me. Aphrodite.

I shadow travelled us to the infirmary. Fortunately, Chiron was there, healing some wounded campers.

"Chiron, help!" I yelled at the top of my voice.

He turned around. "What seems to be the prob-" then he saw Annabeth. She was losing blood, fast. I could almost feel her dying.

"Lay her down on the bed, quick!" he ordered. I lay her down on one of the unoccupied beds, and Chiron immediately got some nectar and Ambrosia and healed her up. The color returned to her face, and she was breathing normally again. I plopped down on a chair. She was going to be okay.

"What are you still doing her Nico? The game is not yet over." Chiron said.

"Forget the game. I'm gonna stay here until she gets better." I answered.

"Alright." I looked at him, and I could swear I could tell what he was thinking. Nico and Annabeth…together. Didn't see that one coming.

I rolled my eyes. Typical.

The next day…

Annabeth's POV

The first thing I saw was warm, chocolate-brown eyes.

"You okay?" Nico asked. "How do you feel?"

"Head hurts." I answered.

"Just rest. Here, drink this." He handed me a glass. I drank it. Immediately, I felt better than ever. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He said softly.

"Did we win?" I asked.

"What do you think?" he asked sarcastically. "Thalia was pretty mad. She kept muttering something about 'getting splashed' and 'stupid Percy'. You know, she reminds me of you when you two were together."

"Haha."

"Anyway, we better go out and tell Chiron you're okay, you know, mostly." He looked at me.

"What do you mean, mostly?"

"Um…" his eyes kept flitting back and forth from my eyes to my leg. I looked at it, and I almost fainted. A long, white scar reached from my thigh to my knees, obviously the work of Jonathan's sword. I'm so gonna kill that guy if I see him again.

But something dawned upon me. "Nico… about tonight…"

"Last night." Nico corrected. "You've been asleep the entire night. Look outside."

I did, and I saw that it was already light out. "Okay…"

"Anyway," I continued. "About last night,"

He shrugged. "I was at the right place at the right time."

I smiled. "Well, thanks." He smiled, although I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to tell me something.

"Well, I better go to Chiron." As I turned to go, he gripped my wrist. "What?" I asked.

Nico's POV

It's now or never. "Annabeth, I love you."

Her eyes widened in shock. "What did you say?"

I took a deep breath. "Annabeth Chase, I love you. I had these unknown feeling about you for a while now, but those were always hidden by my yearning or Thalia. But now, I understand that you are my destiny, not her. Annabeth, you are the perfect one for me, and I for you. What I'm trying to say is-"

She stopped me right then. "Sshh. I- I love you too."

"Really?"
"Really."

"I mean, you're not mad at me for turning you into a twelve-year old?" I asked, puzzled. I mean, she should be trying to kill me right now for doing this to her, but instead, she just told me she loved me back.

"I kinda was, at first. But after you saved my life last night, I figured out my feelings towards you were even stronger than my feelings for Percy ever were. I just thought that we could never be together since I was way older than you, but thanks to your little mishap, we can be together forever." She smiled.

I smiled. "True. You dating me would've grossed people out. But now…"

"Oh, just kiss me."

And we kissed. Fireworks erupted in my head. Congratulations, Nico. Aphrodite said in my head. You just found your one true love.

Thanks Aphrodite. I thought.

-x-

A/N: Annico! Thanks for those who reviewed! By the way, I just had mental block on what to put next chapter so, please be kind enough and give me some suggestions on what happens next! READ & REVIEW!