Nicadie lovers rejoice! (kind of)

Chapter 13:

Nico felt he probably should've planned more. After shadow traveling with Sadie to a place about an hour away from the Empire State Building, he was tired. It had been a while since he shadow traveled while helping someone else. And now they were over an hour away by foot, and without money.

"Too bad I didn't think to grab AJ," Sadie said as she looked in her purse. She only had $1.

Nico scowled at the mention of his rival, "We better start walking then, walking is going to take a while."

They walked in silence. Nico noticed that Sadie had been treating him odd for the past few days. Whenever he would talk to her she would find some excuse to leave. Nico didn't know why he grabbed her to come, it wasn't like he couldn't go by himself. And if he hadn't brought her he could've shadow traveled a lot closer to the Empire State Building.

"Are you just going to not say anything the whole way there?" Nico asked her quietly.

"There's nothing to talk about," Sadie replied giving him a nervous glance. Nico sighed, he knew this was going to be a very long walk.

They had been walking for 30 minutes when Nico heard a strange thumping sound. He unclipped his sword as the thumping sound got closer. Nico saw Sadie reach into her purse and pull out a black stick. As he wondered what she was going to do with that a Cyclops appeared.

"Woah, what is that?" Sadie asked staring at the one-eyed creature.

Nico grabbed her wrist, "It's a human eating Cyclops and if you want to live you better run."

Sadie understood the urgency and they both ran. The monster continued to chase them though. Nico tried to lose it by traveling down a few allies to no avail. The monster wasn't giving up. Nico was worried. He was good at fighting with his sword but he was still pretty drained from shadow traveling earlier.

"We're going to have to fight this thing," Sadie told him.

They turned around and Nico managed to summon a few skeleton soldiers. They were able to give the Cyclops a few injuries but nothing serious.

Nico saw a blue symbol appear in the air. The monster stumbled a bit.

"Was that you?" Nico asked Sadie in wonder.

Sadie nodded, but she remained focused on the monster. Nico heard her say, "Ha-di," or something similar to that. The monster once again stumbled and looked like it was in pain.

Nico knew he had an opening. He charged the monster with his sword drawn, slashing him through the stomach. The monster disappeared into a golden dust.

"Well that was interesting," Nico said to Sadie grinning that they'd managed to destroy it, "Nice whatever you just did!"

Sadie laughed, "You were great too. I've heard of Cyclopses before, wasn't there one in that story with Odysseus?"

"Yeah, my friend Percy met him. His name is Prometheus."

They were both celebrating their victory as they reached more of the metropolitan area of New York. They were almost at the Empire State Building.

Nico began to worry for the first time about bringing Sadie. He wasn't sure what reception she would receive from the gods, he hoped with his life that it would be good.

"Before we go in there there's a few things you should know," Nico told Sadie as they stood outside.

"First, bow to Zeus when you enter before doing anything else. It's kind of rude if you don't. Second, don't talk an unnecessary amount, that means no back talking the gods. They get really angry at that sort of stuff," Sadie nodded as she absorbed the information.

"If you follow that, you may not get incinerated," Nico said half-joking, "They only recently began to contact us. Zeus made them stop contacting us for a while."

"Why?" Sadie asked as she grabbed a piece of gum from her purse and stuck it into her mouth. Nico thought she looked a bit nervous and he took her hand in his in an effort to comfort her.

Sadie looked at him suspiciously but didn't pull away. Nico smiled to himself as he took in the feeling of her warm hand. It was soft and not too moist but at the same time not too dry, a nice temperature. Nico blushed as he realized what he was thinking, hoping that he was developing some sort of hand fetish.

"They were mad at Percy for turning down their offer to be a god and Hera was kidnapped, well godnapped."

Nico approached the counter and spoke to the man sitting there. "I would like to go up to the 600th floor, to Olympus."

Sadie looked at him like he were nuts. The man looked like he was about to protest so Nico upped the stakes, "Unless you want an army of the dead walking around in here, I suggest you let us up."

The man at the counter gulped and handed them a pass.

"Nice job there dirt boy, I think you terrified him," Sadie said congratulating him. Nico smiled to himself at being able to impress her.

"I happen to be very scary," he said jokingly. Though it was pretty true, a lot of the kids at school stayed away from him. And the new campers at Camp Half-Blood tried to avoid him and shrunk whenever he looked at them. It was annoying, but he had to admit there were some perks to being naturally creepy.

They entered the elevator and Nico inserted the keycard into the slot. The elevator shot up very fast and then the doors opened. Nico watched in amusement as Sadie stepped out the elevator with her mouth open and wise wide.

"WOW! This place is so cool." Sadie said excitedly, "It'd be cooler if there were chocolate fountains somewhere and candy houses, but this is not bad at all."

Nico laughed, "Yea, I guess that's one way to describe Olympus. We should find Chiron now."

They walked down a main avenue, stopping sporadically to ask gods on the street if they had seen Chiron. They walked for 10 minutes without coming closer to finding Chiron.

"Maybe he finished early and went back to camp," Sadie said as they were walking.

"Maybe," Nico said disappointedly. The longer he waited, the more danger his friends were in.

"NICO!" someone yelled from behind them. Suddenly Nico felt his bones breaking and gasped for air as he struggled to breathe.

"H-help," Nico managed to choke out.

Suddenly he fell to the ground and was gasping for breath. Nico looked up at Tyson, Percy's brother, who was smiling at him. Nico saw Sadie in a half-offensive stance, as if she were thinking about actually taking Tyson on.

Nico laughed at her, "I'd be dead if this was a real attack Sadie. I don't think you're little karate stance scared him. You scared Tyson?" Nico asked teasingly.

Tyson looked confused but was still smiling at him, "Who is Sadie?"

Sadie helped Nico to his feet and waved politely at Tyson, "Hi!"

"Tyson, we're looking for Chiron have you seen him?" Nico asked, feeling a little pain as he breathed.

"No, but my daddy and uncle and cousins want to see you," Tyson said enthusiastically.

Nico's heart almost stopped beating. He knew there was a slight risk of running into the gods but he didn't actually think they'd call for him.

"Sadie maybe you should sit out here and wait for me," Nico said to her.

Tyson shook his head, "No, no, no! They want a girl named Sadie to come too. Follow me Nico and Sadie!" He started skipping toward the direction of the gods.

Nico looked at Sadie. She looked a bit nervous and he felt bad for dragging her along. He didn't know what the gods would say or do. He didn't think the gods liked him that much due to who his father was, and he especially didn't think they'd like Sadie.

Nico didn't want to worry her though, "It'll be fine." He said smiling at her, he took her hand and gave it a squeeze then they walked to where the gods were located.

Nico stopped her before they were about to enter the room. "Before we go in just remember what I said earlier. Bow to Zeus first, don't speak too much, don't argue with them. You ready?"

Sadie smiled at him, Nico thought she had the prettiest smile. "I'm ready dirt boy, I know you've got my back if something were to happen."

"Well let's go then," he held out his hand and she gladly took it.

They both entered the room. Nico saw Sadie gasp in shock. All the gods were present and were in their 10 feet tall forms, it was a bit intimidating. Nico bowed at Zeus and motioned for Sadie to do the same.

"Child of Hades and a child of Egypt. What brings you both to Olympus?" Zeus said gruffly from his thrown.

Nico gulped, "Um, we're kind of looking for Chiron, Lord Zeus."

"Chiron is on important business for Olympus, he left a while ago," Poseidon said to him. He may be Percy's dad, but Nico was still wary of him. He was careful with all the gods, he never knew which one of them might spite him for something.

"What is it that you want with him?" Zeus asked.

Nico shifted nervously, he didn't know how the gods would take the news that their children were about to be killed. "Well, I got an Iris Message from Percy, Annabeth and Jason. They said they needed help from the campers. The Egyptian monsters combined with the giants and other monsters are over powering them. They said they won't survive if they don't get help soon."

The gods instantly erupted into chatter. They were talking in Ancient Greek, but it was too fast for Nico to pick up on what they were saying.

"What do you feel about the mater, Sadie Kane?" Zeus asked after they finished discussing whatever they had been discussing.

Nico looked worriedly at Sadie, he had hoped they would ignore her for the most part.

"Erm, well sir. I'm not sure if you know but we agreed with Chiron to help the camp. My brother and I's recruits are supposed to come later today," Sadie said to Zeus.

"We are aware of that," Zeus said, "We are not pleased that Chiron would accept the help of the Egyptians. We have not had the best relations with them for a while now."

"I understand but me and my brother and our recruits want to change the House of Life. And even change relations with the Greeks. It's a long shot, but we want to try. I admire everyone at camp, I really love it. I think we should help each other as much as we can. Perhaps we can even go to Greece and help the others, there haven't been many monsters attacking the camp since we arrived anyways," Nico was impressed with Sadie's strength. She didn't even look afraid of the gods as she spoke anymore.

The gods must've been impressed too because they started talking amongst each other again.

Apollo spoke up this time. He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and boarding shorts. Nico hadn't even thought he was listening because his headphones were on. "The rules of the prophecy are strict. It calls for 7, and 7 have gone."

"But people have gone against the prophecy before!" Nico pleaded. He didn't know how the gods could not help their own children, they disobeyed the rules all the time when it suited them. "You must do something or they will die."

"Yes, people have gone against the prophecy," Apollo said amused at Nico's outburst. "I vote to send off help. Anyone else agree?"

Nico noted that almost everyone's hands went up, excluding Mr. D and Zeus.

Apollo gave them thumbs up, "So it's agreed then, we're sending help to our heroes. You know I have a good haiku for this."

"Well you both better get going then," Aphrodite said rushing them out. She handed them two train tickets and some money. She winked at them as she ushered them through the door.

Nico was happy to leave, he had heard Apollo's haikus before and it was hard to believe he was the god of poems after that.

Nico and Sadie quickly left the room. Nico was surprised when Sadie put her arm around his shoulders.

"That was a relief!" Sadie said smiling at him, "I guess that means we're going to Greece. I've never been you know. Carter has, he says it's a nice place to visit."

Nico and Sadie walked to the elevator and went down. Once in the lobby Nico looked at the train tickets. He was shocked to see that the tickets were for 5 hours from then. And it wasn't that long of a walk to the train station.

"Looks like we should find something to do for the next 5 hours," Nico said suddenly nervous. He was all alone with the girl he liked and his mind was racing at the possibilities of her somehow falling for him. However, he was too brain dead to think of actual things to do with her.

"Want to get something to eat? You sort of grabbed me before breakfast," Sadie said shyly.

They walked to a McDonalds and bought lunch. Sadie ordered chicken tenders while Nico ordered a cheeseburger with fries.

"So what did you think of the Greek gods?" Nico asked her quietly, McDonalds was a bit packed with people and he didn't want others to overhear them.

Sadie smiled, "That one guy, erm god, with the sleeveless t-shirt was hot."

Nico groaned. If she were falling for Apollo what kind of chance did he have. "That was Apollo. He's the Greek god of the sun and music and all that other stuff. He's a player though, I wouldn't fall for him" Nico warned her.

Sadie laughed a bit and smiled at him, "Thanks for your concern dirt boy."

After they were finished eating they decided to go to a museum. Sadie wanted to show him Egyptian artifacts.

"That's an obelisk, it's a statue for Ra," Sadie explained as they were looking at a miniature version of the Washington monument.

"Ra, he's the Egyptian sun god right?" Nico asked. He had studied in his free time Egyptian mythology, he wanted to impress Sadie with his knowledge.

"Yup, he's very important to the Egyptians."

"Because he would bring hope and happiness to the dead," Nico said, happy that he could impress her with his knowledge.

Sadie raised an eyebrow at him, "Yeah. You're starting to remind me of my brother," she said jokingly. But Nico cringed. Being considered a brother was the last thing he wanted.

"Oh it's nothing, I just vaguely remember reading about it. I normally don't read, I mean I do read but I don't read non-fiction stuff. I like comic books I guess," Nico said lamely, wanting to smack himself for being so awkward.

Sadie laughed, "Comic books are nice too I suppose. They have words. So you're technically reading."

After the museum they still had an hour to spare. Nico suggested going to Central Park to hang out but Sadie cringed and became silent. Realizing he said something wrong.

"Do you just want to wait at the train station then?" Nico asked her politely.

"No. I'm sorry, it's just I realized AJ is probably going nuts. We didn't leave a note, he doesn't have a clue where I am."

Nico's heart fell. He had forgotten for the most part that she even had a boyfriend. He felt very jealous, children of Hades naturally hold grudges anyways. So his feelings of resentment towards AJ only intensified.

Sadie must've noticed his sadness because she took his hand and dragged him down the street, "Let's go to that chocolate shop, I'm dying for some chocolate caramel candy. It's my favorite."

Nico followed her into a tiny candy store. It smelled like chocolate and fudge. He breathed the scent in, almost tasting the candy in the air.

"Do you want any chocolate?" Sadie asked him, shifting his attention from trying to eat the air to her.

"Oh no thanks, I don't like sweets that much," Nico guessed it was something to do with being a child of Hades. He hated sweet tasting things.

"That's awful, how can somebody not like sweets. The way it tastes when it touches your tongue. It's like a million kisses all on a single taste bud," Sadie said smiling.

"You're exaggerating. Candy in general is overrated," replied Nico.

Sadie gave him a questioning look and ordered a few pieces of chocolate and a chocolate covered strawberry. After she got her candy they went outside and sat on the stairs to a building.

"Here, try this," Sadie said as she put the chocolate strawberry up to his mouth.

"Um, no thanks," Nico said only to have Sadie stuff some of it in his mouth. He reluctantly took a bite and chewed it. It didn't taste as bad as most sweets Nico had. He guessed it was the natural flavor of the strawberry.

"See it's yummy isn't it," Sadie said as she ate the rest of it. Nico blushed at the indirect kiss.

Soon it was time for them to head to the train station. Then they boarded the train and Nico took a seat next to Sadie. After talking a little bit more about their trip to Olympus Sadie decided to take a nap. Nico smiled as Sadie, in her slumber, rested her head on his shoulder.

He didn't know why he did what he did next. Perhaps it was the teenage hormones, or simply the result of an amazing day. But he leaned down and kissed her lips. He left his lips on hers for a moment, delighted in the feeling. Then he quickly realized what he was doing and pulled away.

The rest of the trip Nico's thoughts were racing. He had just opened up Pandora's box. He didn't know how he could stay away from Sadie now.

AN:/ I don't know if anyone has watched Skins, it's a British tv show. But I must say I think I've been influenced by the show because I sort of changed a few things around in my head to make things in the story a bit more dramatic. :P I hope you enjoy!

At Me: Wow, thanks for the compliment. Though I think it would be better if Rick wrote it. I'm not much for the action scenes and he's pretty good at them. :P Thanks for reviewing!

At Child of Hermes: I hope you liked this chapter (and that you didn't die ^_^)! Thanks for reviewing

At greekgeek105: I don't want to spoil the story but I'll just say, I enjoy writing Nico and Sadie more because the conversations flow easier. And I hate writing sometimes because I lose the flow... So... ;) Thanks for reviewing!

At Victoria: I hope to keep the negative stuff away! :) Yay! I'm glad you don't dislike AJ. It's hard writing an original character but Rick Riordan left us with so few Kane Chronicle characters who are young and magicians, that I had to write some. Thanks for the review!

At ILuvZarter: I'm so sorry, next chapter is the Zarter. It's just I'd have to re-write a ton if I moved it to this chapter and I don't have that much time with spring break coming up. But I hope you'll like the next chapter! :D Thanks for the reviews!

At iHATEfangirls: You're suggestion made me smile because it's like pretty much a lot of what I was thinking ^_^. Thank you for reviewing!

Thanks for all the reviews! It's been a while since I got this many for one chapter. :)