Chapter 8, yo! Thank you for keeping up with me. My internet is being mean to me, and right now it's not working. Again. For the umpteenth time. Gods, I need a Hephaestus demigod right now. xD Please fix my internet! It's been cutting off my chats, my posts, my updates, everything! So, I will try to write as many as I can while the internet takes his deep sleep. Enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I have nothing, nothing, NOTHING! AND DON'T MAKE ME CLOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSEEEE!—Yup, I don't own anything except my OCs and the plot. ;)

Nico POV

Alexis was a good listener. She barely interrupted when I was talking. It was a touchy subject, but she took it slow. She told me hers, and her life was a little depressing. I hugged her. She smelled like mangoes. I like mangoes. She hugged me back. We stayed like that for a while, not letting go and allowing the silence to take over. Then Percy came running. Alexis and I followed him run. Alexis saw whatever it was, and grabbed my hand. It was Hermes. (A/N: It was pain! xD You know, right? ASDF movie? No? Fine -.-) And with him were 3 kids whom I suspected were Alexis' 3 friends. The girl and a boy with black hair were holding hands. There was another guy, who had brown hair and looked pretty….. anxious, I guess. I wondered if he had a crush on Alexis. But I likes her, too. Hades. I feel like 10. Alexis' grip on my hand loosened, and she ran to hug her friend (the girl, thank the gods). Chiron came into the scene. "Lord Hermes." He bowed. Everyone else did, too. Mr. D crossed his arms. "Hermes, who are these kids? They don't look like demigods," he said. Then he muttered," and I hope they aren't." There were a few snickers, then Annabeth stood. "Lord Hermes, are they..?" He shook his head. "One of them is, though I cannot sense who. It's like they're all bundled up together." He said, with a hint of worry in his voice. Chiron walked up to them. It looked like he was trying to smell them. "You're right. They have been together for quite a long time, so we will just have to wait for the claiming. The boy with brown hair spoke up. "What's claiming?" Alexis smiled. "Claiming is when a god will claim you as their child. Hermes claimed me, so therefore I'm his daughter." Annabeth shook her head. "You really would do well as a daughter of Athena." Alexis smiled. Hermes cleared his throat. "So Chiron, Dionysus. I expect you will take care of these children. I would prefer if they stayed in the Big House, although. It gets pretty dangerous in my cabin." He raised an eyebrow at Travis and Connor. They laughed nervously. He smiled at them and kissed Alexis in the forehead. "Goodbye, Alexis. For now." He said and disappeared. Alexis grinned at her friends. "So I guess I'll see you guys in the morning. Bye." She gave the 3 of them a hug again. I headed for my cabin. Alexis ran after me. "Nico," she called. I turned. She smiled. "Are you busy tomorrow?" she asked. I shook my head. All I did everyday was travel. Nothing much. "Do you think you can show Rick, Louis, and Carmelita around camp? With me?" she asked slowly. "Sure. Do I have to be early though? Because I'm not exactly the early bird." She laughed. "Maybe after breakfast. Good night, Nico." She smiled. I smiled back at her. I got inside my cabin and collapsed on the bed. I was tired as heck. I needed some sleep. I walked to the showers quietly, when I heard some voices. I hid in the shadows. It was Alexis' friends.

"You think Alexis has other friends now? What if she isn't really thrilled to see us?" the girl whispered.

"She's probably just tired. Give her a break, Carm." The black-haired boy said.

"Did you see her holding hands with that emo dude?" the boy, who had lighter hair than the other, said worriedly. Jeez. These guys are pretty much over-sensitive. The black-hair dude stiffened. "Do you think that's her…. You know?" he asked slowly. The brown haired guy groaned. "He's not even that good-looking!" he whispered. The girl sighed. "We just had a long day. We're probably just tired, and her too. Let's go rest." She said. The 3 of them walked to the Big House. They sounded like the kind of friends who only want to keep someone to themselves. I shrugged it off and showered. As I was walking back, Annabeth walked up to me. She looked pretty worried. "Nico, I have a bad feeling about Alexis' friends. What if they plan to hurt someone? I just can't trust them. Percy can't, either." She frowned. "I have a feeling they don't like us." She said. I sighed. "Don't worry. They can't hurt us. They're just mortals. We're sons and daughters of the gods. Besides, they look pretty decent." I said. She closed her eyes. "Okay. Night, Nico. See you in the morning." She said. "Sure." I entered my cabin and changed. It was pretty hot in the cabin, so I took off my shirt. I heard squealing. I put it back on and went outside. Nothing. I went back in, closed the curtains and made it as dark as I could. I laid on my bed, hoping tomorrow would be a good day.

Louis POV

Carmelita and Rick didn't trust Alexis' other friends. Rick didn't like that guy Alexis was holding hands with. I mean, sure, I'm worried, but Alexis is fine. I don't see a need to worry. The people I met were really nice. I don't understand Lita and Rick sometimes. They need to relax. But I know Rick. He has had a crush on Lex for how many years. He didn't ask her out, obviously, because of her mom. He seemed pretty happy to see her, without her mom watching. He seemed pretty angry when he saw Alexis holding hands with that emo-ish dude. He didn't seem really emo. Maybe his favorite color was just black. I heard a noise. I turned to see Chiron standing before me. "Can't sleep?" he asked. I nodded. "It's just… I'm pretty nervous about tomorrow. Rick and Lita don't seem to like it here. They think that the other campers are taking Alexis from them. Especially Rick." I said. Chiron smiled warmly. "I find that normal. And I think Rick might be a little interested in Alexis." He chuckled. I groaned. "Exactly." Chiron was silent for a while. "Would you like to join me for some coffee?" he asked. I followed him to the living room in the house. "Hazel or vanilla?" he asked. "Vanilla, please." I said. He gave me a cup. I took it and drank. I sighed contentedly. I suddenly became curious of the boy with Alexis. "Who was that boy… the one near Alexis? With the black messy hair? The one holding hands with her?" Chiron's eyebrows elevated. "Nico? And Alexis? Holding hands?" he asked. I nodded. "Who is he?" I asked. "He's a camper here, of course. Been here for about," Chiron thought about it for a moment, "about 8 years?" He said, unsure of his answer. "Who's his godly parent?" I asked, taking a sip from my cup. "The god of the Underworld, Hades." I choked on my coffee. I cleared my throat. "Alexis with a son of Hades? Now that's just…" I faltered. Chiron looked at me. "Being a son or daughter of anyone doesn't explain a person. For example, Piper McLean, a daughter of Aphrodite. Just because of her mom doesn't mean she loves wearing makeup, or fancy clothes, or all of that. She's actually almost the opposite of how you would describe and child of the goddess of Love. Except her beauty, of course." He said, taking another sip of coffee. I thought about it for a while. When I first met Carmelita, I always thought she was one of those people who took everything as a joke. Boy, was I wrong. Almost everything was serious to her. As for Rick, he was kind of the opposite. But ever since Alexis left, he started turning into Lita. I was getting worried. I prayed our friendship wouldn't fall apart. Not over this. No. I yawned. Chiron smiled. "Well, I guess it's time for you to sleep, Louis." He said. I nodded and walked up to the room, and found Carmelita and Rick asleep. I lay next to Carmelita and closed my eyes.

A/N: As a treat to all my readers, I'll add in the next day. :3

Alexis POV

I woke up to the sound of Travis and Connor snoring in unison. I chuckled. They did almost everything together. I got up and showered. It was pretty early in the morning. I changed into my t-shirt, and black jeans I randomly picked out from the bag Chiron prepared. I put my shoes on and strapped my gun unto my jeans. I walked into the forest and found Nico with Mrs. O'Leary the hellhound. "Morning." I said, smiling. He looked up in surprise and smiled. "Morning. Sleep well?" he asked. "Eh.. it was okay." I said. Mrs. O'Leary barked. I patted her. "Good morning, Mrs. O'Leary." I said cheerfully. "Why are you up so early?" I asked Nico. "I wake up early sometimes. You?" I shrugged. "I just woke up. Nothing much." He chuckled. I blushed. "So.. what time are we going to give them a tour?" he asked. "When Percy and Annabeth wake up. I also asked them to follow." He nodded. "Oh. About that hug last night…" I blushed. Did we really have to talk about it? "Thank you," Nico said, blushing while he did, "I needed it." I smiled and patted him on the back. As I turned around to check on Percy and Annabeth, I tripped on a big tree root that didn't seem to be there. Nico caught me and was holding me like those people do when they dance. His dark eyes stared into my light green ones. He leaned in. I closed my eyes. This was it. It's going to happen again.

"Ahem."

My eyes flew open and I stood up to find Annabeth and Percy. Percy was snickering. Nico and I blushed. "Oh… we were just.. I fell, and…" Nico and I were trying to explain, but then Annabeth held up her hand. "It's okay. Let's just go give the tour." She said. Percy smiled. "What'd I tell you Nico, eh?" He winked at us. I blushed. Nico cleared his throat. "Let's go, I guess." He said. I nodded and started walking. The 4 of us headed for the Big House. Rick, Lita, and Louis were standing there. Rick came up to me. "Lex!" He called and gave me a hug. And he was squishing me. "Rick, she might turn into a mashed potato if you hug her like that," Louis said. I went up to him and gave him a hug. "Ey, what about me?" Lita asked. I laughed and gave her a hug. "So, before I give you the tour, I wanna introduce you guys." I said. I grabbed Percy, Annabeth, and Nico. "Louis, Rick, Lita. These are Annabeth, Percy, and Nico." I said. Louis smiled. Lita smiled too but had a hint of worry in her eyes. Rick smiled dryly. I wondered what was up with him. I shrugged it off for later. "So, why don't we start?" Annabeth said. I nodded. We showed them everywhere at camp. I did notice Rick give Nico some looks, but I pretended not to notice. Louis and Lita were fascinated. Lita loved the Arts & Crafts building. Louis liked the Armory and Rick seemed to enjoy the Arena. After the tour, we went for brunch. Percy was really hungry and so was Louis. I chuckled at the both of them while Lita and Annabeth rolled her eyes. Rick followed Louis and I noticed Nico staying behind. I walked up to him. "Nico, what's wrong?" I asked. "Your friends seem to be afraid of me. But it's okay. I get that all the time." He proceeded to walk to Zeus' Fist. I followed him. "Do I scare you? Even just a little bit?" he asked me. "I'm not scared of you." I said. He sighed. "You're not hungry?" he asked. I shook my head. "Nope. I kinda lost my appetite." I said. He looked at me. I smiled as cheerfully as I could. He seemed to relax. He got something out of his pocket. It was a black bracelet with a cross. "My way of saying thank you. For listening to me and for being a great friend. Even though we just met a few days ago. " He said and put it on my wrist. "The Hephaestus cabin designed it. Try pressing the center of the cross." He said. I did so. It tightened around my arm and the cross turned into a shield. There was a huge cross with a caduceus printed on the center. I smiled and it turned to a bracelet again. I smiled at him. "It's simple. I like simple." I said. I kissed him on the cheek. He blushed. I giggled. "Are you ticklish?" he suddenly asked. I nodded. "Especially at the hips." I said. I suddenly realized I made a mistake. Nico started tickling me. I tried to get out of his reach, but he was holding me tightly. We were both laughing. After a few minutes of laughter, we took some time to breath. "Let's go eat. I'm starving now." Nico said. I nodded. "Race you?" I challenged. Nico grinned. "You're on." We ran as fast as we could to the Mess Hall. But we both didn't notice someone watching us.

Rick.

Ok, that's probably enough for now! I have some work I have to do. -.- I'm thinking of going to Percabeth in the next chapter. Thank you so much for being patient! 3 So, right now there's no internet so I'm just gonna wait. Please review! Thank you! :*

~iheartcocacola