A/N: *Is running out of inspiration/ideas*

"Hey, sleeping beauty. Time to wake up." A voice said. Nico fought against consciousness for a little bit, then rolled over into his pillow to block out the sunlight.

"Mmmmm." He mumbled.

"The Harpies are gonna eat you f you don't pack your bags and leave soon, you know." The mystery voice laughed.

"Don care." Nico muttered. He shivered, and noticed all of his blankets were gone. He rolled over to grab them from the floor, why was it so cold in here?

"Nope, you don't get blankets. Or warmth. Not until you wake up." A hand rested on his shoulder. And wow, that hand was really warm.

"You're warm." Nico said, putting his cold hand on top of the warmer one.

"Yeah, that's part of the Leo package." So, it was Leo. Not much of a mystery after all. Nico quickly withdrew his hand, awake enough to realize that he was holding Leo's hand. It was warm, though.

"Oh." Nico said simply. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He really needed to stop passing out fully clothed.

"You're not that scary when you're asleep." Leo commented. Nico looked up at him, he was smirking.

"Sure I do." Nico said, scowling.

"Ya, well." Leo laughed. "You need to get packing." Nico glanced around the room, and down at himself. He straightened his shirt.

"Done." He said.

"...Oh. Right. Well, then, come on outside." Leo said, walking out the door. Nico followed, and sighed. This was the day he was going to be forced to live with Percy and his family. Well, he had visited before, but now he was going to actually live there, and go to… School.

Leo led him to the dining pavilion, where he grabbed a slice of toast to go.

The two walked around the pavilion, neither really wanting to sit down. They passed the crack in the stone near the forest, where Nico had shoved some skeletons back into the underworld when he was ten. That was before he knew who he was, and right after he had found out Bianca had died.

Needless to say, the spot brought back some not so pleasant memories.

"Are you ok with any of this?" Leo asked. Nico looked up at him, startled to hear him speak.

"Um, not really?" He responded.

"Well, if you look at it from a certain angle, it's not so bad. You don't have to fight against us, but I don't think Percy or anyone else will force you to fight with us. You'll be kept out of the way, especially since that Hecate girl put the spell on you." Leo said.

"What? Spell?" Nico asked, suddenly curious, and kind of shocked.

"Oh, man." Leo ran his hand through his hair nervously. "I really wasn't supposed to say that."

"What spell?" Nico repeated forcefully.

"She, um, she, kind of numbed out your powers..." Leo said.

"How so?"

"Well, you can't shadow travel, or summon the dead, and your demigod scent is pretty much gone. Basically mortal." Leo explained. Nico was surprised, to say the least. He didn't even know magic could do that.

"Are you kidding me?! This is just great." Nico said sarcastically.

"Well, now monsters, or your dad, can't find you." Leo said, trying to smile.

"You act like that's a good thing." Nico muttered.

"You want monsters attacking you?"

"Well, no, but I don't want to be mortal. It's bad enough I have to live among them for who knows how long." Nico ranted.

"Hey, at least we aren't forcing you to pick a side. Look at it through our eyes. We're keeping a potentially dangerous enemy out of commission, and you don't have to fight your own dad." Nico knew somehow that this was actually a great deal better than some of the alternatives, but he still wasn't happy. He was being 'put out of commission,' as Leo had called it.

"I… guess that's about as good as it can get?"

"Guess so."

Cue awkward silence. Thankfully, Percy came running up to the dou. Thank the gods. Wait, no. It's Percy. Nico knew that meant it was time to go. He will not thank any gods.

"Hey, Nico. Hey Leo." Percy greeted. He looked pretty happy, yet stressed on this fine Sunday.

"Heyo!" Leo said enthusiastically.

"Hey." Nico muttered.

"Oh, Nico. Mom wants to know what grade you're in." Percy said.

"I haven't gone to school since the military school in Maine when I was ten." Nico answered.

"Oh, right. Well, how old are you?" Percy asked.

"About… 90, I guess." Nico deadpanned. Percy gave him an unimpressed look.

"Come on, Nico. You know what I mean." Percy said.

"...I'm gonna go." Said Leo, who hadn't said anything in a while. He turned and walked away.

"I think I'm about fourteen." Nico said honestly. He wasn't sure if he had aged at all in the hotel. Thalia had been frozen in time, but she still had aged a couple years. So, Nico gave it his best shot.

"Freshie, then." Percy nodded.

"Is… that a good thing?" Nico asked.

"First year of high school. So, maybe." Percy said. Nico wasn't sure what Percy meant, but he figured mortal couldn't be harder than Tartarus. He went over to a nearby tree and knocked on it so that he didn't jinx it. Sure, it was a superstitious thing, but Nico was pretty sure either his mom or Bianca had taught him that. So, whatever.

"Better get going. It's 9:30 already." The fish Jesus said, looking at his watch. Hey, Percy was the son of the sea god, so technically he was fish Jesus.

"9:30?! I need to see my dad by ten!" Nico panicked.

"But he's in L.A. This is New York. Time differences, my friend. It won't be ten there until it's one here." Percy explained.

"I'm not sure that's how it works… but, okay, I guess." Nico shrugged.

"Alright my moms waiting so... We gotta go." Percy tugged Nico's sleeve, and started jogging towards the pine tree. He didn't let go of the sleeve.

"Percy!" Sally Jackson said upon seeing the two boys. "Hello, Nico." She added.

"Hello Mrs Jackson." Nico muttered. He was still going to be polite, but he didn't have to be happy about it.

"Please, call me Sally." She requested. Not like Nico would change anyways though. She was Mrs. Jackson. Always.

"Hey mom. Nico says he's a freshie." Percy said.

"Oh, that means for you school starts tomorrow. I guess I should call as soon as I can then." Mrs. Jackson said. Nico wasn't sure what she was talking about.

"Haha. You get two extra days of school." Percy joked. Nico just silently glared at him.

"Alright, into the car!"