Probably my last update for the week. Enjoy!

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"So, how did you find us?" I asked Zia. It had been bugging me for minutes now. How could they have known where we will appear, exactly?

"Oh…" Zia rubbed her arm. "It was rather fun actually. Amos and Chiron got into a heated debate as to where you two will go, and ended up replaying what happened in the First Nome a year ago."

"What happened?" I asked, perplexed.

"They uh, had a fight."

Just imagining Amos getting into a fistfight with a horseman made me snort. "Seriously?" And Amos had the nerve to scold us not to fight whenever Carter and I were at each other's throats? When I see him, I'll give him a piece of my mind. But then, maybe I could use this as blackmail material to force Amos let us have WiFi inside the mansion. I smiled evilly at my idea.

We rounded a corner, and finally came face-to-face with my old home. "Well, here we are. Home sweet home." I ringed the doorbell. Two sets of feet were heard as they went down.

"Coming!" A girly voice called, but it didn't sound like Gran's voice. It was more higher, and it was too giggly. Only one other person I knew had that voice, but…that's impossible. They couldn't have known that I was coming. I was so deep in thought to even realize that the door had already opened.

Liz and Emma tackled me in a hug. "Sadie! How are you here? Never mind. Why are you here? Wait, never mind that." Her voice, too fast as always, snapped me out of my trance. I hugged both of them back. "Er, Liz? Emma?"

The two pouted. "Did you forget your friends, Sadie?"

A wide smile crept on my face. It was a blessing to see them again. "Of course not! How could ever forget both of you?"

Behind me, Nico cleared his threat. "Um, Sadie, would you uh, mind introducing us who these people are?" I tried not to blush, I really did. But Liz and Emma are both boy crazy. If they ever found out that Nico is my boyfriend, I would never hear the end of it.

"Liz, Emma This is Zia Rashid." I gestured to Zia, who smiled and waved. "You remember my brother, Carter? Yeah, apparently he found a girlfriend." I nearly choked on those words. I had always thought that it was the end of the world when Carter would finally get himself a girl, and oh look, it nearly did happen.

"Shame." Emma mumbled. "I fancied him too."

"What?" Zia and I both yelled.

Zia scowled. "Sorry, but he's mine." Whoa, jealous much? I guess Zia can just be as overprotective as Carter.

"Okay…" Liz and Emma looked at each other.

Nico stepped forward, and held out his hand. "I'm Nico di Angelo, Sadie's-" my eyes widened.

"Don't!" I covered his mouth, so his words came out as "Umphhumhp." As soon as he finished that, I took my hand away, and sighed with relief.

Nico stuck out his tongue like he was going to throw up. "What was that for?"

I smiled at my mates. "Uh, excuse us?"

"Sure." Liz smiled.

I dragged Nico away, turning back once to see Emma and Zia having a glaring contest. Liz alternated her looks at them, like they were going to start a bitch-fight (don't judge me. I learned it from Nico) any second now.

Once we were out of hearing range, I turned to look at Nico. "Don't tell."

"Huh?"

I crossed my arms. "Don't tell them you're my boyfriend. They'll-" I heard a chorus of squeals from behind a dumpster. Liz and Emma came out, giggling like little girls. I stared like Nico and tried to convey, see what I mean?

"Sadie's got a girlfriend!" Liz sang.

"A boyfriend named Nico!" Emma added.

"How did you two get here?" I asked. Liz and Emma shrugged, but they were both still giggling a little. It was my worst nightmare come to life. Great, after this, now I have to turn off my phone for at least 30 years, just to escape their constant questioning.

"We followed you. Duh." Emma said matter-of-factly. Liz nodded smugly.

"What about Zia?"

"Oh, her. She's with your gran." Emma said with a hint of loathing.

We went back to the flat. As soon as we opened the door, I heard Gran's voice call throughout the house. "Sadie, is that you dear?"

"Yes gran, it's me." I called back. "Apparently." I added under my breath.

I went to the kitchen, where Gran smothered me in hugs and kisses. I saw Nico snickering from the corner of my eye, and Zia trying not to laugh.

"Hello dear. Glad you could visit." Gran smiled. "Let's go sit on the living room, shall we?"

Once we were all comfortable on the sofas, Gran started the questions. "So dear, how have you been?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, fine." I answered nonchalantly, trying to be vague about the reason why I'm here.

Suddenly, Liz stood up. "Sadie has a boyfriend!" she blurted out. I groaned, and Nico facepalmed. Leave it to Liz to set her priorities straight.

Gran clapped her hands. "Oh, wonderful. When can I meet him?"

"Actually, he's already here." I mumbled, but somehow Gran heard me.

"It's not-" her gaze drifted to Nico. "Is it?"

I tried to smile, but my face just turned into a scowl. It felt like Gran was already disapproving, but it just got worse when Gramps entered the living room.

"What's this I hear about a boyfriend?" he asked, taking a seat next to Gran. Beside me, Nico shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

"Oh uh…" I took a deep breath. Might as well get it over with. "Gran, Gramps, I'd like you to meet Nico di Angelo, my boyfriend." Nico stood up, and offered his hand. Gran shook it, smiling in approval, while Gramps just scoffed. He looked at Nico up, down, and sideways.

"He looks like a stoner." He finally said.

I didn't know if I should laugh or frown at that comment. Liz and Emma stared at Gramps, stunned with disbelief. Zia covered her mouth with her hand, and I could tell she was trying not to laugh. Nico scowled, but immediately covered it with a smile. It didn't quite reach his eyes, though.

"Graaammppss!" I whined. Ever since I was little, he would always disapprove of any of me male friends, and now that it's my boyfriend we're talking about, you can tell that I was going red to the roots of my hair.

"Dear, don't be rude." Gran chided. Gramps grumbled something in reply, probably "I'm just saying."

I covered my face with my hands, unable to look at Nico directly. If you look at it from an angle, my Gramps, a possible magician who doesn't know magic, just called the son of Hades, the lord of the dead and the Greek underworld, a stoner. From that alone, it could be easily guessed that this wouldn't end well.

"So Mr. Di Angelo, you have any siblings?" Gran asked. I knew it was innocently, but it hit Nico, hard. He pursed his lips.

"Bianca. She was a hunter. Deceased." He answered simply. See, I've told my friends about the Egyptian myths, which actually took a lot of magic and convincing, but in the end they finally believed me. Emma had even asked if the Greek myths were true, since she thought Apollo was hot, and I didn't answer. Well now, she just got it.

"A hunter?" Gramps scoffed. "Like one of those people who hunt criminal for the money or something?"

Nico shook his head. I could tell he was doing all he could to not rip Gramps' head off his shoulders. He clenched and unclenched his hands, a relaxing trick I taught him. "No sir. She was a hunter of Artemis, an eternal maiden."

Emma and Liz both mouthed wow, while Gran's smile disappeared from her face. Gramps, on the other hand, looked like he was ready to brawl.

"You bring a deranged, psychotic lunatic into our house. How could you, Sadie? He probably just wants to rob us!" Gramps bellowed.

"A what? I would want to what?" Nico asked. I wanted to kill myself right now. If I had known that this was how it's going to end, I would've just skipped this part altogether.

Gramps stood up from his seat, cracking his knuckles. Nico took off his ring, but before he tossed it upwards, I stopped him. "Wait, he's not joking! He's serious!" I said, turning to Gramps.

"Please Gramps, calm down, before his dad gets mad." I said, straining to look for any eyes within the shadows. Hades had visited Nico and me once when we were um…making out in my room, and I almost peed myself. He just came out of the darkness, like the shadows had formed him. "He could be watching us right this moment."

Gramps seemed to notice the sincerity in my voice, or he just probably doesn't want Gran to get a heart attack, so he slumped back down on his seat.

"Thank you." I blew out a sigh of relief.

"Sadie, I tolerate you with that man, Amos, but now, with this boy…you're just pushing it too far." He said.

"But it's true! He's a child of the Olympians!" I said.

Emma was one of the first to get over her shock. "So Sadie, you're saying that he's-"

"A demigod, yes." Nico finished for her. "Nico di Angelo, hero of Olympus, at your service." He stood, and bowed to the two girls.

Then Emma fainted. Liz, on the other hand, looked pretty close too, but she managed to hold on. "Wow. And here I thought that you guys were just myths."

Nico chuckled. "Don't let Zeus hear that. He'll blast this whole building with lightning. He finds that as an insult."

Gran gulped. "So er, Nico. Who's your mother?"

"My mother's dead." Nico answered. "My father is one you'll want to learn more about."

"So who's he, then?" Liz asked in a squeaky voice.

"Me, of course." Suddenly, a pale man in a business suit appeared out of the shadows, just behind where Liz was sitting. Luz must've been too much in shock; that or the man just really creeped her out, because she passed out right next to Emma.

"Who-how-what-" Gramps stuttered.

"Lord Hades, god of the underworld." Hades introduced himself, sitting down on the empty space beside his son. Nico grabbed my hand and held it uncomfortably. I squeezed it in assurance. Hades just glowered at my grandparents. "Now, if I heard correctly, you just called my only son a stoner, deranged, and a psychotic lunatic, yes?"

Gramps shifted uncomfortably in his seat, while Gran gulped. I couldn't blame them. An all-powerful immortal god was sitting right in front of them and on top of that, they just learned that they'd insulted his son. His only son. Those alone would make anybody run off.

Then Hades laughed. A booming sound that was probably hear two flats over. "All correct predictions, of course. And you forgot sadistic, moronic, OCD…" he started listing them off with his fingers.

Nico squinted his eyes at his father. "Really, dad?" he sighed in defeat.

"It's true. Sue me."

"So…he's not… the pale skin, I though…" Gramps started to say.

"His pale skin marks him as my son." Hades informed them. "Now, I must really be off, since I have a dinner date with Persephone, but Zeus wanted me to give this to you, Sadie Kane." He produced a small dagger, the blade about one feet long, and made of pure stygian iron. He handed it to me, but I refused to touch it I learned what this metal can do. And I'd rather not die a slow and painful death, thank you very much.

Hades chuckled. "Don't worry. I had it enchanted so the blade will not suck out your soul." Gran cringed, while Gramps stared horribly at the blade. "But you will need to use it later to free someone from their suffering."

I gingerly held the blade in my hand. "You mean…I'll have to murder someone?" I wanted to give him the blade. I wanted to just ha-di it to pieces. But I doubt that doing those would make Hades happy.

"Murder and mercy are two very different things, my girl. You will find out soon enough." With that, he disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

Nico took the dagger as soon as his father disappeared. "I'm not going to let you murder anyone" he sheathed it in a scabbard on his back. Gran smiled at Nico thankfully, while Gramps just scowled.

"If that was your father, then I wouldn't want to meet your mother." He said.

"Good man." Nico commented. "Persephone is a b****."

"No cursing." I whacked him on the arm.

-TIME LAPSE-

That afternoon, Nico had pretty much the best time of his life. Gran accepted him like he was her own soon, just as soon as she got over the son-of-Hades concept. Liz and Emma asked him millions of questions, half of which he was too embarrassed to even answer. They asked questions like "Do you have souls in your underwear?", "Is the underworld really hot?" and Emma's personal favorite, "Is Apollo really that gorgeous?"

We were in front of the door saying goodbye to Gran. Gramps had made up some excuse and went out. He probably didn't want to see us anytime soon.

"Come and visit anytime dear." She kissed Nico's cheek, and Nico shivered at the touch. "And don't mind my husband. He's always like that with boys."

A smile played on Nico's face. "Sure Mrs. Faust. And I'll make sure to bring Sadie along."

I scowled. I definitely did not want a repeat of that happening. Ever. It was just to bloody embarrassing.

As we turned around, I saw a wisp of smoke coming from the direction of Cleopatra's Needle. We ran as fast as our legs could carry us, and we greeted the horrendous scene in front of us. Cleopatra's needle was in shambles, and the surrounding area was littered with spikes. They impaled just about anything in sight: the trees, benches, cars, buses. Cars were burning, and some had already exploded. A couple of police officers were ran through with spikes, and even some paramedics were lying face-down on the ground, a pool of blood spreading below them. There were even tourists, laying on their backs, with spiked jutting out of them like some horrible masterpiece. There were stone statues were erected everywhere, but the faces were contorted in various states of shock, terror, horror, and fear. The entire scene looked like an artist's convention gone awry.

Suddenly, my phone rang. I dug it out of my pocket, and glanced at the screen.

Carter Kane.

"Hello?" I said, putting it in my ear.

"Sadie? Sadie! It's me, Travis!"

I was shocked. Why would Travis call on Carter's phone? Unless he stole it, of course. His voice was panicking, I could tell.

"Hey, Travis. What's up?" I said calmly.

"Sadie, I'm really sorry."

I was confused. First he was panicking, and now he was apologizing? "Um, okay. For what?"

I ran through possible answers in my head. Maybe he was apologizing for the pranks that he pulled on me two weeks ago. Or maybe they were playing truth or dare, and this was just Travis' dare. Or maybe…maybe…I gulped. Maybe someone had died. I remembered Hades' last words. Murder and mercy are two different things.

"Hello? Sadie? Are you still there?"

"Um yes…" I answered. I could feel my voice starting to break.

A long silence. Then Travis' voice was heard, and the next eight words he said made to me were ones I'll never forget.

"I'm so sorry Sadie, but Carter is dead."

Wow. That was long. Does this count as a cliffhanger? Anyway, Carter's dead? *le gasp* What happened? C'mon, guess!

Whose POV should I do next: Rachel's, Carter's, Annabeth's, or Percy's?
And are you even reading this story, people?