Thanks for reading. Please review. Constructive criticism is appreciated as well as encouragement.

Hello! Thanks for reading/following/reviewing/favoring etc.

Important: So I checked the ages of the characters and realized that I want Nico to be older in this story (the way I have it set up, he is only twelve and I want him to be around fifteen or so). In order to fix this, I am just going to continue as if The Heroes of Olympus series never happened and set it as three years after the war. Percy and Annabeth would be around 18 or 19. I hope that clarifies everything.

Disclaimer: The Percy Jackson series is not mine.

Chapter 2

Heat of Death

Wind whipped hair was flying into my eyes as I tried to maneuver around the streets. I had hoped my surprise exit would buy me some time, but I could distinctly hear my name being called as they gave chase. I'll admit it; I'm panicking. The horrifying thought that they could be here to steal me away and take me back to my father was enough to keep my feet slamming against the pavement. I worked way too hard to start over. I made myself a new life. Hell, I traveled across state lines to get here. Why would they take me back now? It's been two years! Why now? I could hear them gaining on me. Through hair-blocked vision, I took a sharp left into the road and felt the sudden pain of being sent flying. I have the absolute worst luck. I flipped over a few times on the road and I could feel the stings of some road rash on my bare-arms and palms. Of course I would get hit by a car. Just the cherry on the top of this situation. I opened my eyes and sat up from my position of the ground, expecting to see some angry person stomp out of their car to yell at me for being careless and running out in-front of a car. Instead I found myself staring into the eyes of hell. Literally, I can see the flames burning in the depths of crimson eyes in-front of me. Fear gripped my heart and I felt paralyzed. I was staring at a giant wolf-like creature. Drool slipped down from its yellowed teeth and my heart slipped somewhere into my gut.

A hellhound.

I'm going to die.

Those words seemed to jump start my heart and my head. I scrambled first backwards and then to my feet. The hound charged forward and all the muscles in my body coiled ready to move and at the last second I dove the left. It dove face first into the road before shaking itself off and moving towards me again. This time, I was too slow. I felt hell's wrath slam into me again, its claws tearing into the delicate flesh of my shoulders. Before I could register what I was doing, the hell hound howled in agony. It burst into dust over me and I was left lying on the road covered in blood, wondering how in the world I ended up stabbing a monster in the gut with a jet black sword that I had never seen before in my hands.

With a rush, the adrenaline left my mutilated body and pain flooded in its absence. I let out a delayed scream as my vision went dark. I could faintly hear footsteps running up to me, but all was lost as silence enveloped me into her welcoming arms.

I faintly remember waking up a couple of times, so I'm pretty sure I'm not dead yet, which is a plus. Every time I woke up a new face met me and there were lots of murmurings of 'she's awake', 'are you alright', and 'do you remember what happened?' Well of course I remember. Who wouldn't remember being torn to ribbons by a giant dog? But, when I woke up this time, I stayed awake. I blinked a couple of times, still bleary-eyed from my sleep, and attempted to sit up. However my attempts were deemed futile due to the two tan hands that pressed me back into my bed.

"You shouldn't be sitting up in your current state," a voice said. It was slightly rough, but deep and reassuring all the same. I looked up at the person and saw a guy around the same age as me. He had black hair that fell into his eyes slightly and big dark brown eyes.

"I feel fine," I said after a moment, and surprisingly enough I wasn't lying. I thought that I would feel like I got hit with a bus, because, well, I pretty much did.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," he said, looking away. I sat up and immediately felt queasy, but I refused to lay back down. Before I could speak again, a glass of a gold colored liquid was pushed into my line of sight.

"Drink this and you'll feel better," he said motioning it to me again.

"How do I know you aren't trying to kill me? What is it?" I asked, suddenly wary of the person sitting in-front of me. He looked bemused and took the glass to his own lips and drank a small sip.

"Convinced now?" His tone was slightly teasing and I begrudgingly took the glass from him and took a small sip of my own. My senses were exploding with flavor and I was thrown by the taste. It tasted like chicken noodle soup. The exact same taste of the soup that Josh had made me when I first met him. When he invited me into his home without a second thought, it was the best memory I had.

Before I realized what I was doing, the empty glass was taken from my hands and concerned dark brown eyes looked into mine.

"Do you feel alright?" he asked as if the drink could have hurt me.

"I feel much better," I said, and then realized that I did, in fact, feel much better, "Can I have more of that? What is it?"

"It's called nectar. It's the drink of the gods, and you drink too much off it, you'll burn from the inside out. Demigods are the only ones who can drink it without dying instantly," he replied carefully.

"Ha ha, very funny." He frowned at me, and I realized with a start that he was serious.

"I figured after almost having your arms ripped off by a hellhound, you'd be more receptive of myths, but I guess not," he said. I risked a glance at my shoulders and realized that the only things that remained of the attack were thick pink scars in the form of claw marks. I had been attacked by a hellhound. But gods? I wasn't so sure about that one.

"Prove it." He rose an eyebrow at me before gesturing to something on the shelf next to me. I looked over and there sitting next to me, still sheathed, was a sword. It was calling out to me. I reached out and held it in my hand.

"This is…"

"The sword that magically appeared into your hand during your fight," he finished for me.

"But how?" I stared at him. He gestured to the sky with his hands.

"The gods. Your godly parent I'm guessing."

"Excuse me? My godly what?" My voice was getting shrill, a trait that annoyed me.

"You, Miss Katherine, are what we call a Demigod. Welcome to Camp Halfblood, home to those who are half mortal and half Greek god. I'm Nico, son of Hades, Ghost King. I've been assigned to give you all the details, because Chiron thinks that you might have some things in common with me," he said. A hand was awkwardly stuck out toward me, and I wrenched my hand away from the sword and gingerly took his hand into mine. The heat from his hand surprised me. If I wasn't mistaken, Hades was the god of death, someone I would think of as cold. Who knew his kid would be so hot?

My face reddened as I realized that I was still holding his hand and I quickly released it. Nico reached into the messenger bag beside him and pulled out an orange shirt, some black skinny jeans and my checkered sneakers.

"You can change clothes over there," he said, pointing to a back room of what, I guessed, was the nursery.

"Thanks," I said as I took the clothes from him. I stood and made sure I could walk, before heading over to the changing room. Nico called out to me as I was changing.

"I'm going to go get Chiron and fill him in. I'll be back in a bit. Stay out of trouble."

Easier said than done. The mirror provided me with the unfortunate truth - I look like a mess. I tried to smooth out my hair but the tangles refused to cooperate, so I just sighed and left it alone. My face was also horrific. The only makeup that remained was the black smudges under my eyes that used to be eyeliner. I wiped away what I could, but I still slightly resembled a raccoon. It can't be helped I suppose. I left the room and ran straight into Annabeth.

"Oh, hi," she said. I hadn't realized that she would be here. Sensing the questions that I had on the tip of my tongue she spoke again.

"I told Chiron that you would probably want to freshen up some before he filled you in on all that is happening and how you ended up here." I nodded to her, unsure of what to say.

"I'm Annabeth. I'm going to take you to the Aphrodite cabin and they can help you with whatever you need." I almost told her that I already knew her name, but I decided against it. She led me out of the infirmary. The light temporarily blinded me, but she waited until I adjusted before continuing. Annabeth walked at a quick pace, though she seemed fairly at ease in the camp. Even I had to admit there was a certain comfort that came from the place. As I was admiring the scenery, Annabeth had quickly gotten me to the right cabin. Looking at the cabin made me flinch slightly. It was very…pastel. The entire think was mostly a light shade of pink mixed with a few splashes of light blue and white. I glanced uneasily at Annabeth, who was also not impressed by the cabin's design.

"I already told Drew, the cabins leader, that you would be dropping by. Just a warning, they kids in cabin ten can be…a little pushy. Don't let them treat you like a Barbie doll. Just tell them what you want and they should be able to get it for you. Later you should visit the Hermes cabin. The Stoll brothers should have something for you too. I'll be waiting for you at the Big House when you're done. Good luck!" she said before dashing off.

Left to my own devices once again, I decided to knock. I rapped my knuckles against the door and not a moment later a tall, beautiful Asian girl answered to door.

"Oh hon! You've been roughed up a bit!" she said with fake concern. I nodded uncertainly and she dragged me inside.

"Don't worry! We'll fix you right up!" This is not going to be fun.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and all that jazz. If you are interested in being a Beta for me it would be greatly appreciated!