Chapter 1:

Disclaimer – I am not Rick Riordan. Enough said. I only own Akela (well, duh, she's based on me, so I own myself… uh, whatever, I'm talking to myself again.)

So I was sitting at the back of the class minding my own business like a good little girl…

Obviously not.

Firstly, I'm 15, so I'm definitely not little. Secondly, I'm what the teachers call a 'trouble maker'. Seriously, its not my fault. Weird things happen to me. Like once this monster thing attacked me. It had ten heads and looked like a hydra. It creeped me out, I mean, it was blowing fire at me. I felt this pull in my gut, and suddenly a blast of fire exploded from me. I fell unconscious and I woke up to screaming teachers and students. The hydra had vanished and the room was on fire.

I was expelled for 'attempted arson'. I honestly didn't care. I've been kicked out of more schools than I can keep track of. Most people think I'm rude because I don't think before I speak and I say what's on my mind. I don't have any friends, but I'm fine on my own. Well, not completely true. I don't have anyone for me since my twin sister, Anjana, died. (car accident with my step-dad. I seriously hate him. And that women who calls herself my mom is no better).

I sometimes wish I had someone for me. But I'm too proud to admit that I need a friend.

So I stay with my books. I love the Percy Jackson books. I especially like Nico di Angelo. His situation is so similar to mine. I nearly cried in the scene where he admitted he was gay to Jason. I can't imagine how it must have been for him. He must have felt horrible.

So anyways, back to my day.

I was sitting at the back of the room, fiddling with some clay. I love making things out of clay. My clay figurines are so realistic they seem alive. Anjana was even better. I created a vulture, then squashed it flat. I hate vultures, they seem so cruel, with their hooked beaks and beady eyes. I was jolted out of my thoughts by the teacher who screamed my name.

"Akela Nemisa!" Yup, that's me. "Were you even listening to me? I said that we have a new kid called Nicholas Dee, and he'll be sitting next to you, because that's the only empty place. Obviously, since no one wants to sit next to you."

I ignored her comment and studied the boy who just sat down next to me. He had pale skin and pitch black eyes, and his hair was blond. The blond hair looked wrong on him some-how. I blinked, then gasped inaudibly.

His hair had flashed black, and with the right hair, he looked like someone. I focused hard and peered at him. There was no doubt. His hair was actually black. And he looked exactly like Nico di Angelo! Nicholas, Nico...

He saw me looking at him. He scowled, "What?"

At that moment, the bell rang for lunch.

"Come with me, I need to ask you some important questions." I said.

He looked suspicious, but got up. I lead him out of the school and onto this little path that was my own special place. I turned to him.

"What's your real name?"

I saw something cross his face, but it was quickly replaced by confusion. Darn, he was a good actor.

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't your hair black?"

This time he looked down, so I couldn't see his face. He asked again.

"What do you mean?"

I had to find out. I tried again.

"Why are you pretending to be someone else?"

"Okay, how do you know? Who are you?"

"I'm Akela, Akela Nemisa, but that's not the point. Are you Nico di Angelo?"

"I… yes, that's me, how… oh, you've read the books."

There was a quiet seething anger behind his words. I realized that he probably wasn't happy that his secrets had been announced to the whole world.

I nodded. "They're my favorite books. I think you're an awesome character, Nico"

"Why do you call me that?"

"What, Nico? Its your name, right? What wrong with calling you that?"

He hesitated. "Its just… most people don't call me by my name. They call me freak, gay, whatever. The last three times I went to collect a new demigod, they exploded with questions. 'So do you really like Percy?', 'Why are you trying to break up Percabeth?', 'Are you gay?'. Did I choose to be this way, with these retarded feelings of mine?"

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. I don't ever apologize to people, but Nico looked completely broken.

He waved his hand. "Don't be. Atleast you were friendly to me. Long time since that happened. Anyways, you're a half-blood, greek, and pretty powerful from what I can sense. We need to get you to camp now."

I smiled, "so I'm going to Camp Half-Blood?"

"Yeah. Just give me a second."

He waved his hand over his hair and they turned black again. He sighed.

"Much better. I hate blond hair."

I thought about this. Understandable, since the blonds who he knew best were Jason and Annabeth.

Without warning, he grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. My reflexes kicked in and I pulled my hand away.

"What the hell? I don't like being touched, Nico."

"First of all, its 'What the Hades'. And secondly, I don't like being touched either, but it's the only way to shadow travel. And before you ask, yes, I could just hold your hand for that, but if you let go then its dangerous. This is safer."

I nodded, and he pulled me closer again. He put one arm around my shoulders. I stiffened, then relaxed. Usually I would panic, but his arm felt natural. Maybe because he wasn't trying anything. He pulled us sideways into the shadow of a tree, and we were engulfed in darkness.

Shadow traveling was amazing! It was like riding the world's fastest roller coaster. I've only been on a roller coaster once, before my mom married my step-dad. All too soon, it was over, and we emerged in bright light.

We were next to a McDonalds. I raised my eyebrows at Nico.

"I was hungry. I figured we could eat, then take a cab to camp."

I nodded, since I was hungry too, but I wouldn't have admitted it.

We went in and sat down at a table for four near a window. We got burgers and fries, and ate in silence. Suddenly Nico tensed, looking at the door. I turned around and saw two 19 year-olds, a girl and a guy, walking through the door holding hands. The girl was kinda pretty, with blond princess curls and grey eyes. The boy was tanned, with black hair and sea green eyes. I knew who they were, of course. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase.

They walked towards our table.

Percy smiled slightly, and said, "Hey Nico, um, can we, um, join you guys?"

Nico nodded, but his face was a mask of anger. "Why the Hades are you here, Jackson? I can handle one small quest on my own."

Annabeth spoke up, "Hold on a second, Nico. Its not Percy's fault. Chiron sent us, he thought that you and Percy might need to talk about the, um, thing with Cupid, since you've been avoiding all of us. Seriously, we were worried when you disappeared after the Giant war. If you hadn't turned up to help Percy with those monsters, then we might never have seen you again."

"Would have been better that way." Nico muttered.

"Um, if you guys want to talk, should I leave or something for a while?" I asked. I could see that Nico was uncomfortable.

Nico shook his head. "Its fine, whatever, just stay." He looked up at me, like, properly. His eyes were filled with sadness. "But thanks for asking anyways."

He turned to Percy. "Look, Percy, its not like I want this or anything. I tried to go away, but I had a dream about you in danger, so I had to… I'll just stay away from you. You've got Annabeth, you're happy, you're lucky. The only thing I had was my dignity, and now even that's been destroyed. Just leave me alone, please?"

His voice was shaking. On impulse, I took his hand under the table, squeezed it gently, then let go quickly. He glanced quickly at me, then looked back at Percy.

Percy fidgeted with his pen. "You can't go away on your own, a lone half-blood is likely to get killed within a week. And living your life in the underworld is not the solution. Just, please come back to camp, things might get better."

Nico shrugged, then got up. "Fine. We'd better leave now, we need to get to camp soon."

We walked out, and Percy lead us to a Prius parked nearby. He got into the driver's seat, with Annabeth in the shotgun seat and Nico and I in the back.

I was distracted from Nico's problems by the thought of actually seeing Camp Half-Blood. We got their, and climbed up the hill. I stared out at the camp and said, "Woah!"

A/N: So, good, bad, okay? Please tell me. Its my first fanfic, so, yeah…