Author's Note: Okay, this chapter had a major mistake in it concerning Nico De Angelo. Thanks to those people who commented and brought it to my attention. I fixed it up. Tell me what you think. Thanks!

I Flood My Apartment

Nico di Angelo sat across from me, shoveling blue birthday cake into his mouth without stopping to take a breath. He had just shown up on my fire escape, claiming to have found a way to beat Luke and, I was hoping, possibly destroy the Titan, Kronos. I sat rather impatiently as he ate. Honestly I just wanted him to finish up and tell me his idea.

When I had invited Nico in, Tyson barreled into him, squeezing the kid until he couldn't breathe. Nico pretended to be annoyed, but I could tell that he had really enjoyed the fact that Tyson had missed him. My mom, on the other hand, had seemed nervous to have Nico inside. After all, he was clad all in black and the skull ring he wore didn't really help my mom feel comfortable around him. I had to take her aside and talk to her.

"Mom, Nico isn't just any friend," I told her. "He's a…" but my mom finished the sentence for me.

"A demigod." My mom sighed. I felt really sorry for her. The more demigods I introduced to her, the more she had to worry about. It was bad enough that she sent me out each day wondering if I would make it to the next without worrying about my unfortunate friends as well. She had met Annabeth, who she worried about just as much as me. Nico was one more kid that was endanger every time he breathed. Even though I didn't tell her, I knew that he was in more danger then most of the other demigods.

"Who is his parent?" my mom asked.

I looked around uncomfortably. Nico's parent was another one of the big three, a god that had sworn not to have children. But all two of them had broken their promise. Zeus had a demigod daughter, who I had met and became friends with, though I hadn't seen her in more than a year. My father, Poseidon, was another of the big three, so I was not supposed to be alive. The other was Hades, the god of the underworld. Nico was Hades son. He technically was born before the promise was made. I'm still not exactly sure what happened to him and his sister that had made them stay young. I knew they'd stayed at a casino, one that I hated, but they had been called out by a man.

Nico had had a sister, Bianca. It pained me to think about her. She had died on a quest with me. Nico had blamed me for her death, until a few months ago when Bianca had appeared to Nico and told him that it wasn't my fault. Any way, children of the big three were in more danger than the other demigods because there was a prophesy about one of us, saying that when we reached the age of sixteen, we would either destroy Kronos, or make it possible for him to come to full power. Thalia, Zeus's daughter, had managed to escape the prophecy by joining Artemis's huntresses, stopping herself from ever aging. That had left me. But now, Nico had been drawn into the picture. Most people don't understand that Nico was born before the promise was made. I knew that the prophecy was still about me, but other people didn't. Kronos didn't know, but he did know that Nico is a son of Hades which was very, very bad. I didn't think I should tell my mom whose son Nico was. The less people that knew, the better it was for Nico.

"I don't think I can tell you," I answered my mom quietly. My mom didn't push it, which was a very nice thing about her. She understood that many things about my life and those of the other demigods had to be kept extremely secret. Even though I didn't tell her, I felt it was pretty pointless. Almost everyone at camp now knew that Nico was a son of Hades. Being a son of Hades was even worse than just a "regular" child of the big three. It made you an outcast. Even some of the other gods hated Nico. I mean, plenty of them hate me, but Nico's got it worse then I do.

My mom looked over at Nico, who had now started on his second piece of cake. "He seems very thin. Has he been at camp? Don't they feed you kids enough there?"

"Well, he hasn't really been at camp. He sort of visited a couple of times."

I realized that I had said a little too much. My mom's eyebrows rose up her forehead and she looked at Nico with concern and pity. "I understand," she whispered, "It's a big three, isn't it?"

I shrugged, looking down at my feet. My mom studied my face and then, to my shock, her face paled. Her eyes looked sad and she bit her lip. She whispered softly, "Is… is Nico your brother?"

I stared in bewilderment at my mom. She looked almost scared. For the first time I could remember, I wondered if my mom was still in love with my dad. But that wasn't possible. She was going out seriously with Paul Blofis and they were happy together. Of course, compared to my dad, Paul was not particularly handsome, strong, or powerful. But he was something that my dad could never be. He was devoted to my mom and ready to be with her forever. Paul would be able to be with her and make her happy. I knew, because Paul had told me that he wanted to marry her. But I guess, even if she loved Paul, she still couldn't help feeling for my dad.

I looked her in the eye and replied, "Mom, Nico is not my brother."

My mom immediately relaxed. She sighed and smiled softly, almost to herself. But it quickly disappeared when she looked at Nico again. Her eyebrows contracted as she stared at him. She turned and looked me sharply before grabbing me and pulling me down the hall toward my room. Paul looked up from the table, where he was talking with Tyson and Nico happily. "Is something wrong, Sally?"

"Oh, no!" my mom said in a falsely cheery voice. "I just need to talk to Percy for a minute."

My mom closed the door with a snap and turned to me. She put both her hands on my shoulders, her eyes full of worry and concern. "Percy, why are you hanging around with that boy?"

"What?" That was the only thing I could say. I was completely bewildered.

"I thought there was more sense in you! That boy is dangerous!"

"No he isn't!" I shot back, angry that my mom would jump to such a conclusion. "He is just like any other demigod."

"With a father like his? The god of the dead? If Hades decided he wanted you dead, that boy would be in a perfect place to do so!"

"His name is Nico! And he would never do anything like that! Besides, I go to camp with a bunch of demigods whose parents hate my guts! And I hang out with Annabeth. Her mom doesn't particularly like me."

My mother started pacing. "I trust Annabeth. But I don't know enough about this boy."

"How many demigods do you know, mom! One? I go to camp with tons of them and you don't do a background check on any of them!"

Just then, Paul came thundering down the hall, followed by Tyson. My mom burst into tears and flung herself onto Paul. Tyson looked at me sadly, almost as if he was disappointed in me. That just made me even angrier.

"Percy?" Paul asked angrily, "what happened? Why were you yelling at your mother? What was all that about demigods?"

By then I had completely lost my head. I did the worst thing I could have done. I yelled everything. "You want to know something about demigods? I'll tell you! I'm a demigod! My dad is Poseidon, the god of the sea!"

"Percy! Stop!" my mother sobbed.

I wish I had, but I didn't. "I can control water! See!" I stretched out my hand and the sink and the toilet burst in the bathroom across the hall. "Tyson is my brother, a Cyclopes!" Tyson started to cry as well. "I have to fight stupid monsters that can't die! Minotaurs, empousai, and Kampe! And Kronos is back and I have to figure out how to defeat him!"

Paul stared at me as though I was a lunatic. Of course, to him, I probably was. My mom was crying harder than before. Water was streaming into the bedroom from the bathroom. Suddenly, Nico was beside me. He grabbed my arm and stared me in the face. "Percy! We have to get out of here!"

The next second I was nothing. I was no longer Percy Jackson. I didn't have a body. I felt as though I had been frozen and shattered into a million pieces. The only thing that I was sure of was a cold, hard object against the palm of my hand, if I had a hand. Everything was just a gray blur. That's about when I lost consciousness.