A son of Hephaestus.

Nico could see that. How Leo had been drawn to cabin nine earlier, how he'd seemed eager to build weapons and improve things. Leo didn't seem too happy with the announcement, though. Instead, he kept his gaze flittering from the ground to any space that wasn't direct eye contact. Once the remaining demigods had cleared, Nico approached Leo, unsure of how to continue this. Nico had found his times at camp to be the most stable times of his life, though for Leo, it was absolutely...unstable. No pun intended.

Leo finally met his eyes, his own squinting slightly. He swallowed. "What's going to happen to Hershey?"

"I'm afraid they're going to have to put him down," Nico sighed, nodding with his mouth in a straight line.

Leo must have seen through his sarcasm and scoffed. "That's not funny, man. I wanna see him. I want," he took an unsteady breath. "I wanna make sure he's okay and, like, apologize and stuff."

"You want to apologize to the pegasus?" Nico asked. "You know they can't speak English, right?"

Leo just stared, his hands starting to smoke again; anger was not a good look for him.

"Alright, let's go to the infirmary," Nico started, turning on his heel and heading that way. "You know, my...my friend I mentioned earlier, Percy Jackson? He's a son of Poseidon, and since Poseidon created horses, he can talk to them." He should have stopped there, but for some reason, he found himself continuing to ramble. "Percy's on winter holiday right now with his mom and his girlfriend, Annabeth--she's a daughter of Athena. When he gets back, he can talk to Hershey, and I'm sure he'll understand. Like I said, this isn't the first--or the worst--accident to happen here."

"Really?" Leo asked. "Wow, okay...yeah, that'd be great. Thank you." He paused as he found a rock along the path, kicking it every couple steps. "Wait," he faltered as he accidently kicked the rock towards the side, walking past it. "Percy's girlfriend is a daughter of Athena--if I have my godly family tree right, and I probably don't, wouldn't Percy be..." Leo glanced to the side in thought, doing some evident mental gymnastics. "Annabeth's uncle? Or, like, cousin, maybe? Either way, they're related, and that's...weird. I mean, I lived in Texas as a kid, but I have my limits."

Nico shrugged. "Well, we have our limits here, too. When it comes to godly relatives, we don't really keep track past a certain point--I mean, we're all related to monsters, too. Besides, gods don't have human DNA, so if you were to have kids with another demigod--not that you're likely to grow old enough to have kids--they wouldn't have birth defects that come from incest."

"Huh," Leo said blankly, clearly trying to process what he was hearing.

"But you can't date within your cabin," Nico concluded. "Those would be your half siblings, so that's pretty gross and off-limits."

"Gotcha," Leo nodded. "I haven't actually met the people in my cabin yet. Let's just hope none of my half-siblings are hot, right? 'Oh, half-sibling, I'm stuck in the Celestial Bronze dryer!' You know?"

Nico just blinked. Although he'd been in the modern world for five years, there were some things he hadn't quite caught up on. Whether this was one of them, or just a Leo-ism, Nico wasn't sure.

"Tough crowd," Leo muttered. "So, with the dating rule...if I were to ask out a certain daughter of Aphrodite--provided she doesn't loathe my entire existence for causing bodily harm to her beloved pegasus--"

Nico huffed, hands digging into the pockets of his jacket.

Leo raised his brows. "I take it that was not the sound of 'go for it, buddy'?"

Nico shook his head, shrugged, and shook his head again. "You can 'go for it' all you want, and I'm sure she won't hold the accident with Hershey against you." 'She probably won't be interested, though.' Nico wanted to add. He didn't particularly care who asked who out--the dating aspect of camp never really interested him. But Piper was his friend, and the sheer amount of people bothering her with love letters and chocolate was enough to make Nico want to summon an army of skeleton bodyguards around the Aphrodite cabin.

Leo let out a low whistle, like a cartoon character falling off a cliff. "Noted."

Nico let out a responsive hum to that. Good, he seemed to get the idea. He lead Leo around to the back, where an expansion had been made outside the infirmary to accommodate the pegasi. There, Piper was tending to Hershey; he was bandaged up and Piper was brushing his mane and feeding him sugar cubes. Nico felt bad about the incident, but still, he couldn't imagine a more spoiled pegasus.

"Hey," Leo started, his voice soft and hesitant. "How's he doing?"

Hershey knickered, hooves clopping in panic. Leo stepped back as Piper moved in front of him, calming him down with soft words. Nico half-wondered if she could use Charmspeak on him.

"He's been better," Piper admitted lowly. "But he'll be fine. Nothing that the infirmary can't fix. In the meantime, he's going to get all the sugar cubes in the world, aren't you?" She pet his mane, feeding him some more cubes.

"I didn't mean--" Leo started shakily.

"You didn't mean to?" Piper asked, perhaps a bit bluntly. Leo swallowed, avoiding her eyes. "I'm sure you didn't. These things happen. Did you know you had these powers before you came here, or do you think coming here...unlocked them, in a sense?"

Leo looked up at that, meeting Nico's eyes. Right then, he knew his answer. "I kinda already knew. But I never really messed with it, because I didn't want to...well, hurt anyone."

"Hm," Piper turned towards him, frowning, though her eyes were sympathetic. "Leo...repression isn't the answer. It only makes your powers build and build until it's uncontrollable...and then you do end up hurting someone. Hopefully here you can learn to control you abilities...before they start to control you."

Nico shifted uncomfortably. He knew about Piper's Charmspeak, how she'd asked him about it a week after she'd arrived, the night she'd been claimed. They had hung out so late in the Hades cabin, she had to stay the night in order to avoid the harpies, and she didn't even mind the vampire décor. After their research, they found Piper really did have Charmspeak, and though it answered her questions, the misery it brought her crushed Nico to see. For the first time in a while, no wars, no grudges or gods, he'd felt really bad for his friend.

"Yeah, maybe," Leo scratched the back of his neck. "You know, you talk like you're speaking from experience. Do you have any, like, unique abilities as an Aphrodite demigod?"

Piper's mouth quirked to the side as she chose to focus on brushing Hershey's mane. "Nope. Mom says I got her good looks, but I'm glad I look more like my dad. That, and I'm not even really that interested in, like, fashion or dating. At least, not in the way my mom is. Sometimes it's like, 'why am I here?', you know? But I'd like to think that Aphrodite and love is something beyond what you're used to seeing in the media, you know? It's universal." she paused, glancing back at Leo and Nico as her cheeks colored. "My point is, you'll find a place here, okay? Don't sweat it...or don't flame it, whatever."

Leo nodded, smiling slightly. "Thanks, Piper. I appreciate that. I'll, um. I'll see you around, hopefully."

Piper nodded, and just then, Will Solace came out with some more bandages and some type of ointment. Nico smiled slightly and said goodbye before walking away with Leo in tow.

"So, we should probably continue the rest of the tour. Flying optional, of course." Nico said. Just then, something--or someone--caught Leo's eye. Nico looked over to where he was gazing to see Argus in all his hundred-eyed glory, walking out of the Big House. His eyes squinted in the light and cold winter air.

Leo let out another low whistle. "So, is that dude's godly parent the god of, like, observation, or something?"

Nico frowned. "He's not a demigod. He's a giant, created by Hera, and he's head of security here. He drove demigods to the city in the Battle of Manhattan."

"The Battle of...?" Leo trailed off, but he seemed too distracted by where Argus was going to worry about any battle. "What's he doing with my keys...?" he jogged ahead to where Argus was heading up the hill to the large wooden sign. He ended up in front of him before Nico could blink twice; he was fast, Nico would give him that. He would hate to be his satyr protector.

"Hey, man, what's up?" Leo greeted good-naturedly. "Couldn't help but notice you got the keys to my car in your hand--see, it's got that little dinosaur and the LEGO block keychains. Can I ask what you're doing with my car, like are you moving it, or...?"

Argus blinked, clearly not used to small-but-direct confrontation. When he blinked with all of his eyes, even in his winter clothes it reminded Nico of a strobe light from some kind of game he'd played before.

Argus just shrugged and gestured towards the Big House, where Leo then raced in. Nico and Argus looked at each other for a moment, Nico shrugging back at him. Leo had to be by far one of the most emotionally unpredictable and hyperactive demigods Nico had ever met. A few moments later, he poked his head back out.

"Chiron said I can drive the car back! But I need to bring someone with me because it's not safe for me to go alone, apparently, and--ow!" Leo winced. A strawberry had bounced off the top of his head, landing unceremoniously on the porch. "Alright, Mr. D, I was only inside for a minute, jeez." He ran back out towards Argus, happily taking the keys from him. Argus just walked back towards the Big House, content with not having anything to do.

"So," Leo turned expectantly towards Nico. "The man, the myth, the legend. The hellhound destroyer! Do you wanna do me an itty-bitty favor and come with me? We can get ice cream on the way back..."

Nico sighed. Something about Leo made Nico feel like he was dealing with the Stolls.

"You're annoying," Nico said bluntly. "But fine. Make it quick, and I'm getting chocolate..."

---

Leo, although distracted by most (stupid) things, was a pretty good driver.

He used his signal, kept his distance, and didn't get antsy when the driver at the light took a minute to go, unlike most New York drivers.

Unfortunately, some cons included: a tinge of road rage that included cursing that would make Poseidon--the god of sailors--blush, his unsatisfied desire to tune in to just about every radio station, and the second--and worse--desire to sing, loud and off-key, to any song he deemed "a bop".

Nico realized, during Leo's passionate rendition of "California Girls" by Katy Perry, that he could have just shadow-travelled if he really wanted ice cream that badly.

Still, as he looked out the window at the different buildings and people walking about, he kind of liked being out in the mortal world. It was so different from Camp Half-Blood, so refreshingly mundane. After all, hearing Leo sing about "California girls--so hot we'll melt your popsicle!" was admittedly better than hearing an oracle wax poetic about all the gruesome ways in which you could die.

Just as they turned onto a street Nico didn't recognize, Leo turned down the music. "So, what was the Battle of Manhattan?"

Nico shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He never should have mentioned it when talking about Argus, but it had to come up one way or another. "It was a battle. It happened in Manhattan."

"I picked up on that much, thanks," Leo rolled his eyes. "I mean that, I've been living in Long Island for a few years now, and Manhattan's, like, right there, so...why didn't I hear about it...?"

Nico sighed, glancing at the people passing in blurs through the window; a woman talking on the phone, a little boy holding hands with his father as he clutched a stuffed elephant. He could still remember it like it was yesterday--probably because it was four months ago--what it was like to see all those people fast asleep. How Percy had tried to help every mortal he saw, dragging their unconscious body to safety as the monster army closed in on all sides.

"The Battle of Manhattan was a war between the demigods and gods, versus the titans and an army of monsters. It started when a demigod--Luke, son of Hermes--joined Kronos's side. He noticed these...flaws in the godly system, and thought that if the titans regained control of the world, with the demigods they could reform a better world." Nico explained. "But the titans...they aren't good. Not towards demigods, anyway. The gods aren't...the best, but they're definitely better. Percy Jackson--he was given a big prophecy about the war. He was this...big driving force that helped us win, and when we did, he held the gods up to a promise to claim their children. So, for the past couple months, we've had demigods from all over the country come in."

"I even decided to stay..." Nico continued. "It was only supposed to be a temporary thing, but whenever I try to leave, someone always has a problem with it." he smiled slightly to himself, picking at a thread in the hole of his jeans. He thought back to when he told Piper he was leaving for probably the fourth time, and how she'd come to his cabin and took an item out of his bag every time he'd put one in.

"Huh," Leo nodded, tapping on the steering wheel. "I mean, I guess I wouldn't want you to leave either, being a useful fighter and all." (Nico tried not to take this to heart. Piper had never once mentioned how powerful he was when she tried to get him to stay, just that she'd miss their movie nights and horribly failed arts and crafts sessions. Still, Leo didn't know him; he only knew him as a Son of Hades, and Nico wasn't sure he wanted to be more than that to anyone but Piper.)

"Did," Leo started hesitantly, a whisper just above the thumping base of Eminem and Rhianna's "Love The Way You Lie". "Did a lot of demigods die, in the war?"

Nico swallowed. Just then, for a moment, he was in the center of a sickening show once more. The ground cracked open at his feet, skeletons clawing their way out. Monsters charged forward, weapons and teeth barred. He could still hear their growls sometimes in the night, when the waves hit the beach at a certain angle. He remembered just how primitive it felt, feeling death around him as a Son of Hades. That swooping feeling in his gut of the soul's decent, only repeated over and over until it's all he can do to not double over and hurl or scream or both.

"Yeah," Nico said lowly. "Yeah, there were quite a few. Demigods I never really became friends with, but I regret it. They were good people, now the souls of heroes experiencing Elysium."

"Elysium?" Leo asked.

"The afterlife for heroes," Nico explained. "The afterlife is complicated, especially depending on what you believe, but it's not without its justice. If you die a hero, you'll live on with a hero's afterlife."

Leo hummed. "So, you must get a free ticket in to all those babes in Elysium, huh?" he asked, clearly trying to break the tension. "Since your dad is the ruler of all that."

Nico remembered the chill of his father's throne room, the cold, uncaring gravely tone of his voice as he remarked that he'd rather Bianca had been the one to live.

"No, my parentage doesn't really matter, in cases like that. I'll be judged like everyone else. That's how my sister was judged, and she got into Elysium." Nico replied.

"Oh," Leo said blankly. "Well, you're probably destined for Elysium anyway, since you fought for the gods in the war. And then you can see your sister and--oh, look, we're here!" Leo seemed relatively relieved to have arrived at some mediocre pizza place, but Nico supposed most demigods and mortals got squeamish around the subject of their own mortality. Nico did, too, just not as often.

They stepped in, and Nico was immediately met with the scent of bread and sauce. The pizza was actually kind of good last night, but Nico didn't want him placing a to-go order--a son of Hephaestus and a Son of Hades was probably sending a delicious, pizza-smelling scent to all the monsters within a 20-mile radius.

"Hey, Matt," Leo greeted the manager stiffly. He began taking his keychains off the keys. "I came back with the car, as promised. Something came up, and I have to quit. I'd feel bad about not giving a two weeks, but you were kind of a dick to me, so..." Leo tossed the now bland keys to Matt. "Tootles, or whatever."

Matt caught the keys with reflexes that made Nico's eyes narrow. As the manager met his eyes, chills ran down his spine. There was something about him and his aura that was definitely unsettling; he was either a monster, or a guy who called giving an employee a extra dime an hour a "raise"--so basically, pot or kettle.

"Tootles?" Matt growled. "That's all you have to say? You've been here for months under my training, and now you're just quitting?" The hanging lamp just overhead began to rock back and forth, its teetering something from an ominous horror movie. Papers next to the register rustled and started flying around the room, some smacking Leo in the face.

Nico drew his sword. "Alright, I think it's time we get going."

Matt ignored him. "You know, Leo, I don't think your foster mom will be too happy to hear you quit. In fact, I think she'll be so mad, she won't mind finding you dead!"

Nico grabbed Leo's arm and pulled him out of the store, the doorbell jingling listlessly in their wake; the only good it did them was giving the pair more space. Matt stormed out of the building, literally: his body began to dissolve, swirling in a tornado of dark winds and lightning.

"What the hell is that?" Leo asked, mouth agape, utterly weaponless against the monster. He looked down at his hand hesitantly before lighting it ablaze; just as quickly as it had been lit, it was snuffed out by the sheer speed of the wind.

"A Venti--a storm spirit," Nico managed over the whirling winds. "Don't worry, I got this--" he charged forward, sword raised, adrenaline flowing through his veins. This was just a storm spirit--he'd fought one before, in the Labyrinth. It was no easy feat, but with enough strength, it was possible.

He must have been underestimating this one's strength, however--with a lazy flick of his half-formed hand, Matt sent Nico flying into the back of one of the cars in the lot. He hit the roof with a worrying thud, the air punched right out of his lungs.

Ow.

"Nico!" Leo yelled. Nico couldn't see him, couldn't see anything past his blurred, weak vision of the sky above. He urged himself to sit up, to fight--he couldn't leave this demigod, who had only found out his true origins last night--to fend for himself. He grabbed for his sword--only nothing was there. His sword was gone, his back was essentially getting a spa treatment from Tartarus, and Leo was going to die at the hands of a wage-thieving pizza place manager.

Only in New York.

"Nico," Leo repeated. He'd climbed on top of the car, wrapping his arms around Nico and cradling him close--gods, this was embarrassing, what was this guy doing? Seeing as Nico was about as battle-ready as a run-over pancake, all he could do was groan and try to hold still.

"You killed him!" Leo cried, with all the gusto of a middle schooler trying out for the lead in the play. "How could you?"

Somehow--perhaps Nico wasn't looking his best in that moment--the storm spirit seemed to believe him. "More to offer the goddess," Matt hissed. "She will be pleased to see the removal of any threats to her plan. Now, little hero, it is your turn."

Nico could see a convulsing bolt of lightning being formed, one big enough to kill both of them and probably half the Hermes cabin. Just then, he could feel the hilt of his sword digging into his back. Leo must have picked it up, hiding it with this Romeo-and-Juliet dramatic showcase.

"Yeah," Leo replied, grabbing the sword out from under Nico and dropping him back down onto the crushed roof of the vehicle--again, ow. "I don't think so, asshole."

With that, he charged the blade forward, slicing and jabbing as if he were letting out his anger on a training dummy. The storm spirit let out a hissing, growling scream, charged with enough electricity to power a city. Some of the lightning connected with Nico's sword, zipping down and shocking Leo's skin. He yelled, shooting fire down the edge of the blade, drowning out the last of the monster's powers. With a thundering jolt, Leo was hurled back against the car roof as the monster exploded into golden dust.

Once the noise of electricity buzzing and flames flickering had at last faded, Leo took a breath. "Well. Just killed my manager. Not every kid my age gets the privilege, huh, Nico?"

"Um," Nico managed, trying to sit up. "You're kind of on top of me..."

"Oh!" Leo got up, instead sliding down to the roof of the car. "Sorry."

Nico just looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before getting out an emergency square of ambrosia he'd had in a Ziploc bag. "Are you alright?" he asked, nibbling a little off the edge for his back. From a history of letting his wounds heal naturally, he wouldn't need much, but it was still nice to have.

"Um, yeah, I think I'm alright. Physically, anyway. Killed that guy without a scratch, no biggie." Leo slid his jacket off a little to flex his bicep--or, at least Nico assumed that was what he was doing. No muscle really moved. "You, though--I mean, I'm not blaming you at all, I know that monster was tough, but...I really thought he killed you for a second...but then I realized he didn't, and that's when I got to show off my acting skills." he smirked.

"Acting skills. Right." Nico replied, sliding off the car roof and landing swiftly on the pavement. "Anyways..." he sighed. "This car can't be left here. I thought that if your manager was a regular human, we could...but you're essentially a missing person, and that monster is dead...there's only so much the Mist can cover, and this would surely get some mortal attention."

"The Mist?" Leo asked. "Is that some kind of godly car insurance? And don't worry, my foster mom isn't gonna care that much that I'm gone, she's not gonna get the cops involved or anything..."

Nico nodded, pursing his lips as he looked over the car. With the smashed-in windshield, it looked like a child's drawing of a car, and it was definitely not drivable.

"Hello," Leo waved a hand in front of Nico's face. "Earth to Nico! What's the Mist?"

Nico scowled, and when he met Leo's eyes, he noticed the other boy immediately backing away. No surprise there. "The Mist is what keeps mortals protected. They only see what they can comprehend. So instead of seeing us being attacked by a storm spirit, they would probably just see us struggling in strong winds."

Nico put his hand on the hood of the car, thinking over his plan--if Leo would stop asking these questions. "Did Apollo not cover anything important in that orientation video? I haven't seen it in a few years, but I remember a lot of musical numbers..."

Leo shook his head. "Other than being kinda annoying and making me sexually confused, not really." His cheeks flushed, and Nico resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course a straight boy like him would joke about being sexually confused by a god, then have the nerve to be embarrassed by it. "But that's why I have you--to answer my questions without being annoying...or sexually confusing..."

Nico stared him down with raised brows. Right, because he was so moody and unattractive that he couldn't possibly confuse Leo like Apollo. Not that he wanted to. Gods, what was Leo saying?

"We're going to shadow travel to get the car back to camp," Nico said. "Before you ask--it's this thing I can do as a son of Hades. It's quick, kinda cold, but you'll live. Now, put your hand on the car roof like mine is...and let me focus..."

Leo followed suit, and Nico closed his eyes. He pictured the shadow closest to them--the wide, gaping one under the car itself. He felt a familiar tug in his gut, like when someone he knew had passed on. Slowly, Nico willed himself, Leo, and the thousands of pounds of metal to melt into the shadows, becoming the darkness itself. He felt the familiarity of moving hundreds of miles an hour through space and time itself, nothing visible but an endless void.

Then, as soon as it began, it ended. Nico, Leo, and the car thudded to the ground at the base of the hill. Nico immediately felt a heavy weight to his arms, as if he'd tried to lift the car himself. He'd traveled with himself and Percy during the war, but never an object so heavy. Even so, the distance was much shorter this time, so he wasn't entirely incapable. Still, his eyelids drooped, his feet stumbling over one another as he fell over. Luckily, Leo caught him with some quick demi-godly reflexes, but it didn't help Nico's sleepiness. With his pyrokinesis, Leo's very being radiated with warmth from the forges.

"Whoa, there, Shadow Master, you alright?" Leo asked, helping Nico stand upright.

"Yeah," Nico replied, rubbing his eyes and stepping away from Leo. "Yeah, it's just draining sometimes...I'm fine..."

Leo nodded, glancing back at the car. "This thing is mostly fine outside of cosmetics. It'd be pretty cool to hand it over to my siblings in the Hephaestus cabin. 'Hey, guys! We haven't met, but here's a free car, go wild!' Right?"

Nico started to nod, but just then, he spotted a figure coming towards them in the distance from the direction of the woods. As it came closer, even in the low visibility of the evening Nico recognized a familiar mane of curly red hair; it was Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

Rachel had slowly become more and more reserved in the months since the Titan War. She had been given the honor of being the new Oracle, anointed by Apollo, but since then...nothing. Not that anyone in camp wanted a prophecy; no prophecies were a good thing as far as anyone at Camp Half-Blood was concerned. But Nico knew Rachel was still worried. Apollo had said the only way to know if the spirit of Delphi had successfully settled into its new host was to give a prophecy, so for Rachel...the clock was ticking.

"Nico!" Rachel called, rushing towards him. She grabbed his arm, and though he tensed, Nico didn't pull away. "I felt something, earlier, in the cave. I think it's t-"

Suddenly, Rachel's grip was like iron, and Nico winced. Rachel's eyes closed, then opened to glow an eerie bright green. She opened her mouth and rasped, in a voice entirely not her own. It was a voice Nico had not heard since he was ten years old:

"Son of death and curse of flame,

Trek down through the darkness to the land beyond name.

The daughter of doves holds the key,

Through the tomb of eternal sleep.

Queen Eve's cause must be lost,

Lest the earth rot in ceaseless frost."

The glow in Rachel's eyes faded, and she promptly slumped over against Nico.

"Okay," Leo said, breaking the silence as Rachel came too, standing on shaking legs. "I usually start an introduction with a 'hey, what's up?' before bringing up 'death' and 'tomb of eternal sleep', but it's up to you."

"Are you alright, Rachel?" Nico asked, voice wavering. His heart sunk as soon as he'd heard it--son of death. He'd never been assigned a quest before, but he was the only one who fit the bill. As for curse of flame...he looked over at Leo, who met his eyes.

Rachel nodded, dusting herself off. Then, she said what exactly what Nico had been thinking: "I don't know what I just said, but I know it was a prophecy. We need a meeting in the Big House. Now."