Chapter Two:

"Well Nico, if I may call you Nico, would you be so kind to tell us who you are and where you a come from? It would be greatly appreciated." Paula asked Nico, who was looking at Artemis.

"Nico's just fine Paula. I'm not really sure what I can tell you... there's a lot I can't tell you." Nico replied with honesty and slight worry.

Paula gasped a little, fearing this boy may be in more trouble. What she saw in his eyes was something a boy his age should not have, like wise with these wounds. He should be asleep in a bed getting ready for school, not living a life of fear. It reminded of her of her own life as an assassin and how it really did ruin her life, so she decided to tell him about herself. "Nico I know when a life has had the worst ends of life and I can tell just by looking at your eyes that you suffered even more then I have." Paula started saying. "My name is Paula Nyguen-crock and I used to be an assassin. I was raised from a young age of 12 when my parents were killed in front of me. It was at that time when Mandragora gave me the option to either die or become his assassin. It became a nightmare as well as a habit and it wasn't until I reach the age of 20 that I became free from him, when he had a heart attacked and died. But what he taught me still lived on within me as if it was law. Over the years I met a partner named Sportsmaster who later became my husband and together we had two daughters Jade and Artemis. During one of the missions I was on with Sportsmaster there was an accident and I was crippled, while Sportsmaster left me. I took the fall and was sent to prison, but being so far away from my girls broke me. I realized that my life as an assassin was over and that my children were more important. But I didn't realize that I was too late to stop it before my eldest daughter ran away under my husband's cruelty. And now, I will do everything in my power to keep Artemis on the right track. I'm not telling you all this to gain your trust, I'm telling you this because the look in your eyes tells me everything."

Nico was somewhat speechless, as was Artemis.

'So my mother sees something in him that reminds her of herself. So what is she planning?' Artemis thought as she inspected her mother with her eyes.

Nico was in a predicament, for here was a woman who he didn't even know and had just told him her life story. And so, he knew he couldn't just tell her nothing.

"I am sure you wouldn't believe me and that you would probably want nothing to do with me after I tell you." Nico replied.

Paula just leaned forward in her wheelchair and looked him in the eyes, and said: "Try me."

"Please keep in mind that I am not evil. Please don't judge me." Nico stated with fear.

Both Artemis and her mother raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what could be any more terrible.

"As I stated before, please keep an open mind. My name is Nico Di Angelo. I am a Greek demigod, the the son of Hades, to be exact, the Greek god of the Underworld. I was born during the second world war and during that time, the children of the gods-..."

"Wait, hold up. You are the son Hades, the god of Death and you are, like, super old?" Artemis asked with shocked eyes.

Whatever Paula had been expecting to come out of his mouth certainly wasn't something like this, but the fact that he wasn't talking about being in a bad clique relieved her a bit. "Artemis please do not interrupt him. Nico, please continue." Paula requested.

"Well, the reason that I don't look like a zombie is that when Zeus tried to kill both me and my sister Bianca, my father was there and was able to save both me and my sister. But soon after that he asked Alecto, his servant, to dip both of us into the river of Lethe to wipe away our memories. Well, except for who we were and the important stuff. After that, he stuck us in an enchanted casino called 'the Lotus Casino', or, better know as 'the Lotus Layer'. There, they trap their victims forever, or until they are released or realize that something is wrong. Just like me and my sister for instance. We were there for 7 decades, hence the reason I am not old and wrinkly. When we were released, we were immediately put into a military school to try to toughen us up. Too bad we had had our minds erased. It could have helped us when a monster had disguised as a teacher trying to kill us. And that's when we met Percy. He was the one that told us that we were demigods and that one our parents was still alive or, well, immortal. And... you can say that his friend Annabeth saved us by pulling the monster with her off of a cliff. And that is when the hunters came. That is when I basically lost my last family member because she didn't want to take care of me and joined the hunt, abandoning her 10-Year-Old brother." Nico paused, remembering that day like it was poison.

Artemis gave the boy a sympathetic look, and couldn't help but feel a connection with him, because she knew what it was like to be abandoned.

"Okay. Let's take a break and get some take-out. At least I sure know I am hungry. I mean, you did take quite a beating and your body looks like it could use some food." Paula stated.

Nico was speechless. "But... aren't you going to throw me out?" He asked.

"Why would I do that? You're hurt and now my gut is telling me that I need to help." Paula replied.

"It's just that... children of Hades are treated like outcasts. Like they don't belong... like, how Camp Half-Blood was only there for children of the Olympic twelve. But after Percy saved them, they opened it up some more. The place still treats me as an outcast, though. I am the child that no one wants to be around. Animals flee at the mere sight of me. I... I can see when people or demigods die." Nico started to mentally break down and his shoulders slumped down. It was then when Artemis couldn't take it anymore. She picked him up, watching out for his scars and held him as he started to break down.

Artemis began to think that meeting him had been fate, because she could already tell that her mother was already attached to the boy. And somehow she could tell that she was soon going to have a brother.

Don't forget to review! 2 chapter reviewed by TheJennyFromIceland the others are in the proses of being beta read thank you.