So, in this one, Nico and Will are both in their early twenties, just out of Camp Half- Blood.

Nico's POV

Will and I left the small, cramped apartment we both shared and started to walk down the street, hand in hand. I felt my heart thump in my chest with excitement. Today, we'd finally get a dog! Ever since Will and I left Camp Half- Blood and moved in to our small apartment on the upper west side, we had been talking about getting a dog. Of course, we had had to settle in first and get used to living outside of Camp. But now, a year later, we were walking down to the Coastal Humane Society just two miles away. When we went back to our apartment, we'd have a pet. Will squeezed my hands. I looked up into my boyfriends face and saw excitement dancing in his light blue eyes.

"So, what kind of dog do you want to get?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I'm not really sure. I haven't thought about it all that much." he laughed, a light sound that made my heart lift. We both seemed much more free ever since we left Camp to live on our own. Maybe it was the fact that monsters barely ever attacked, besides of course when we went looking for trouble. You would think that I, being a son of Hades, would attract every monster in the underworld, but before we left, the Hecate Cabin whipped up a batch of potion for us. Once a month, Will and I drank some and the scent that usually attracted monsters was gone. So the idea of not having to look over our shoulders every time we wanted to go somewhere was a huge relief.

Will nudged me.

"Come on, you must have some preference. What would you choose, if you could pick any dog?"

"Well, I've always wanted a pit bull," I said thoughtfully. "Or maybe a rottweiler."

"Is that because of Cerberus?" Will joked, referring to the friendly (at least to me) tree headed rottweiler in the underworld whom I liked to visit whenever I could. On Annabeth's instructions, every time I went to see him I brought a red rubber ball. I felt my cheeks heat up.

"Maybe a little. I don't see why we can't just have him. I bet Dad wouldn't mind." Will roared with laughter.

"Your dad is the God of Death, and he would mind very much if you took his twenty foot three headed dog. And I don't think our apartment is even twenty feet tall."

"Well, what about you, Will Solace?" I challenged. "What kind of dog do you want?"

"Well, I've always wanted a big golden retriever. Or maybe a pug. Pugs are cute." He saw my judgmental eyes. "What?" he complained. I shook my head.

"You've gone soft," I decided, and marched onto the animal shelter.

When we walked through the door, a young couple in their thirties was holding a small, playful looking wheaten terrier with a glint in her eyes that told me she'd rip apart a couch the first chance she got.

A volunteer came over to us with a huge smile on her face. She was wearing a Coastal Humane Society tee shirt and blue jeans, and she was clutching a clip board.

"Are you folks here to adopt a dog or a cat?" she asked.

"Yes," Will replied. She beckoned us through the door. We were led into a room filled with large cadges with a single animal housed in each one. They all had food and water, and it made me happy to see that the animals were at least somewhat happy, although I knew any saytr would have a hear attack.

"Just remember that this is, of course, a no kill shelter. The animals are treated humanely, so don't feel bad for not adopting all of them, although each and every one of them could use a nice home!" her voice reminded me of Kelli's, the empousa I had run in to while I was in the Labyrinth. "Any questions?" Neither Will nor I had any. "Great! Then I'll leave you two to it!"

Will and I started to walk around the room, looking through the cadges at all the cats and dogs who were residing in each cadge. Orange tabby cats meowed and purred at me as I walked by. One rubbed her head up against the cadge, inviting me to pet. I scratched at her head, her soft fur beneath my fingers. She was a cute cat, but she wasn't what I was looking for. I kept moving.

Dogs barked at me as I went by, whimpering for my attention. I know that the lady said that they would all live, but I knew that if I looked into the pleading brown eyes of one of the dogs,m I would want to adopt them all. The pit bulls were on the back wall. Some of them barked loudly and others whined softly for my attention. Not very many pit bulls get attention from pet buyers because of the stereotype that they were all mean and vicious, but I wanted to be the person to give one a chance. I ran my hand against the cadges, giving the dogs a chance to run their heads on my hand. My eyes scanned the rows of cadges, searching for the right dog. Finally, I saw him. He was a thin, tan pit bull with pleading blue eyes and a pouty face. he whimpered when he saw me, his quiet whimper vying for my attention, and when I looked into his eyes, my heart melted. Slowly, as to not scare him, I knelt down. I took a plastic bag out of my sweatshirt pocket and set it on the ground and let the dog out of it's cage. He ran onto my lap and I took the bacon out of the bag, feeding him piece by piece.

"You look like a Cerberus," I decided. Cerberus barked in agreement. "Will!" I called. "I think I found one!" Will came over, covered in orange hair. I gave him a quizzical look.

"I was playing with the cats," he blushed.

"Well, come look at Cerberus. He likes that name." Will picked up Cerberus, and Cerberus reached out a long pink tongue and licked Will.

"I like him," he laughed. I grinned.

"Perfect! Let's make it complete!" We carried Cerberus through the room, Cerberus happily eating small pieces of bacon out of my hand.

Half an hour later, the adoption papers had been filled out and we had paid a small adoption fee. Now, we were walking home with Cerberus, who was pulling tight on a bright red leash we had just bought. Will was walking him, and he was being pulled along the sidewalk by Cerberus's strength.

"He's fast," Will laughed.

We arrived home, and Cerberus joyfully leapt onto our old couch, immediately falling asleep. I crawled onto the couch alongside him, leaning my head on his stomach. The warmth of his body lulled me to sleep, and I drifted off accompanied by soft rumbles from Cerberus.

Hi guys! So I sort of tried out a new thing by jumping their ages a little bit. I'm not sure how it went but if you want me to continue, let me know in the comments! I hope you liked this!

Nina