ALL RIGHTS TO THE CHARACTERS (except Celeste, she's mine) BELONG TO RICK RIORDAN!!!! I DO NOT OWN THE PJO/HoO OR THE KANE CHRONICLES SERIES!!!

Chapter 11 - Nico

When they finally entered Brooklyn, Carter and Sadie called for Argus to stop.

In front of them, was a run down building, and on top if that building was what looked like a mansion. Nico blinked, impressed.

"Welcome to Brooklyn House." Carter said as everyone got out of the car and Argus drove off.

Suddenly, the same weird creature that had driven the chariot Carter arrived in came flying down from the roof.

Everyone formed an attack position when Sadie and Carter started to yell. "No, it's alright. He's with us."

"Guys, this is Freak." Carter said, gesturing at the creature.

"You named it Freak?" Frank asked.

"It makes more sense when you hear him screech." Carter said.

"FREEEEAK!" Freak screamed.

"Like that." Carter said. "Come on, everyone should be inside."

As they walked towards the door, Nico scanned around, wondering if Percy was close by.

Then, Sadie and Carter opened the doors and they were greeted by a girl who couldn't have been more than five years old.

She was holding several crayons in her hands as if they were weapons and she pointed them at the Greek demigods. "Intruders!" She yelled in a squeaky voice. "Must die!"

Sadie and Carter laughed.

"Guys, this is Shelby, our youngest initiate. Shelby, these are our friends. They're only here to help." Sadie explained.

Shelby lowered her crayon weapons and then smiled. "Okay." She said happily and then skipped off.

"You get used to her." Sadie said. "Now come on, we really want to show you our best fighters."

Carter and Sadie led them to a room where a boy was lying down in a cot, surrounded by two girls. One girl had blonde hair and the other had short black hair.

They both turned when they came in.

The girl with the black hair perked up when she saw Carter and Sadie.

"Carter! Sadie! Where have you been!? It's been days, we were worried you were dead." The girl exclaimed, tackling Carter in a hug.

Carter stumbled a few steps and then laughed.

"Sorry we didn't come back. We were helping our new friends. Guys, meet Zia, Jaz, and Walt." Carter said.

The girl with the black hair was Zia, the girl with the blonde hair was Jaz, and the boy in the cot was Walt.

"How's he doing, Jaz?" Sadie asked, putting her hand in Walt's forehead.

"A little better, but he still hasn't woken up yet." Jaz explained.

"Wait, so who are you people?" Zia asked the group of demigods.

"We come from a different set of gods. Greek and Roman." Annabeth spoke first.

Zia blinked. "I didn't know other gods existed anymore." She said flatly.

"Well they do. And sometimes they have children with mortals, and that creates us. Demigods." Annabeth said again.

Zia and Jaz froze.

"That's...interesting." Jaz muttered.

Celeste stepped forward to look at the boy, Walt, better.

"Let me guess, he collapsed randomly?" Celeste asked.

Jaz nodded. "Yeah, he was in perfect health too."

Celeste reached out to put a hand on Walt's head when Sadie stepped up.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Sadie asked.

Celeste smiled. "It's alright Sadie, I'm not going to hurt him."

She put her hand on Walt's forehead and closed her eyes.

She seemed to be straining and a sweat broke out on her forehead.

Suddenly, she stopped and dropped to the ground.

"Celeste!" Leo yelped. He rushed to catch her and she laid in his arms, dazed.

Walt then opened his eyes and looked around confusedly.

"What happened?" He slurred.

Sadie cried out in joy and tackled Walt in a hug.

"It's not permanent, but it helps. My clone has the power to cause the sickness and remove it, so that means I do as well. Of course, it's a hard process, but he should be okay for now." Celeste said, regaining her posture and sliding out of Leo's arms.

"Thank you." Sadie said, crying happily.

"Now, we came here for help. We're on a quest looking for a clone of mine-don't ask-and we need all the best fighters we can get. I have a bad feeling that my clone self is drawing monsters to her side." Celeste explained to Zia, Jaz, and Walt. "Do you think you could help?"

"If we may speak in private please." Zia said.

Everyone left except for Zia, Jaz, Walt, Sadie, and Carter.

The Greek and Roman demigods sat in the hallway, patiently waiting.

All of a sudden, Nico felt a tug on his jacket sleeve. He turned to find nothing there, but he knew it was Percy.

Nico stood and walked away from the group. No one seemed to bother him about it, he had always been the quiet type, but Hazel watched him leave with a worried expression on her face.

Finally, Nico found an empty corridor and called out to Percy.

The air shimmered and the son of Poseidon materialized in front of him, his expression serious.

"I don't like this plan." Percy said abruptly, running a hand through his messy black hair. "Something bad'd going to happen, I know it will."

Nico nodded silently.

"I mean, what if when they find Celeste's clone, Celeste isn't ready? Or what if someone accidentally kills the clone instead of Celeste and Celeste dies? Or what if the clone kills Celeste and then eventually kills all the gods? We all know how powerful Celeste is, this could be it. The quest we don't come back from. This isn't right, this isn't-"

"Percy." Nico interrupted quickly, grabbing his friend by the shoulders. "I think you're doubting your sister a little too much."

Percy sighed. "I know, it's just, she'll be fighting herself. This clone of hers has the exact same powers as her.

"Nico! Come on, we're going!" Hazel's voice called out from around the corner.

Nico looked back at Percy, who looked nervous. "Percy, she'll be fine. I know what it's like to lose a sibling, I won't let it happen to you."

Percy looked up at that. "Nico-"

"Nico, come on! We're wasting time!" Hazel called out again.

Percy sighed and threw on the baseball cap.

Both of them walked back to the group.

"Zia, Jaz, and Walt will be coming with us. Our uncle, Amos, will watch the initiates. But we have to go now, the sooner we kill this clone thing, the better." said Sadie.

Everyone nodded and they made for the door to exit Brooklyn House.

Jaz, Zia, and Walt had packs with them holding similar supplies to Carter and Sadie's bags.

"Where to now?" Zia asked.

Celeste got to the front of the group and closed her eyes.

"Manhattan. I have a feeling my clone is close by."