This is a little old schooled, as you will soon read Nico is a high born, white citizen while Leo is a slave serving time on the cotton field that Hades owns. There will be two parts because I don't want it to be too long (I myself hate when a chapter is really long!)
   I like Humans by Oscar Zia (yes he is Swedish too, I have a Swedish phase), and I really think that the story goes great against this song!

Nico had patrolled the fields for days now. His father was afraid that someone would flee as soon as the guards disappeared.

Some had tried.

All to quickly had most of them understood that Nico, the son of the man who owned them, was much more terrifying than any guard could be. Sure the guards had guns, swords, whips, whatever they wanted to have to punish the ones that didn't obey. Nico, well Nico had a sword strapped to his hip but that was more for looks than an actual instrument to use. He had learned a long time ago that he could do something that no other mortal could. Because somehow, he a rich offspring to the almighty Hades, the governor of their little town and the one who owned all the slaves in the state, had got the powers that terrified even himself sometimes.

He had stumbled upon it one lazy afternoon when the shadows were long and dark, when the field was buzzing with activity, and when one of the slaves ran, Nico hadn't even thought about it. He had lashed out with a black rope created from the very shadow that was his own, the black rope had fastened around the slave's leg and broken it when the slave thudded to the ground. A sick snap. Nico had been so bewildered that the rope had disappeared to only being his own shadow again.

After that he had tried it in his bedroom, around midnight when he was sure that his father was asleep. For what would his father think if he saw what Nico could do? Nico was a freak.

He had learned that manipulating shadows was easy, as easy as to pull on his shoes in the morning, or as easy as if he was simply fetching a book for his sister from the top shelf of the bookcase.

It was that power that terrified him, that the slaves and guards knew about, that they feared him for. Nico's own sister knew about it too, but he only used it for good around her and had made her swear not to tell anyone.

His father knew nothing. After all, why would he believe the poor slave with the broken leg? Could some black little shit really say those things about his son?

Nico had been sick to his stomach when he had heard what his father had done to the slave. Sure it was a dark time for all colored people, but one would think that Governor Hades would over look something like that, especially, when he himself had a black little girl that was his daughter.

"Can you do that thing again?" a boy walked up to Nico, completely ignoring the fact that he was supposed to collect cotton with the rest of his family. With the rest of his people.

"What thing?" Nico asked playing bored, not wanting his father to look out of the window of their mansion and find Nico talking with one of the low ones.

"I heard from my ma that you broke a man's leg. Can you show me how?" the boy asked with a curious smile that sent his brown eyes into a steady fire.

The boy wasn't any older than Nico himself, probably around sixteen years old. He had dark curly hair, warm brown eyes, colored skin that spoke that he probably was from Spain, or Mexico. Hades loved taking people from Spain or Mexico, much lighter skin, and another skin tone then his daughter, much harder for Hazel to question why people with her skin color were stripping the fields while she played with dolls.

When the boy turned around to shout something to his mother Nico couldn't help but see the elf ears. He smiled at the thought of this boy playing around with his little sister instead of collecting cotton that would make his hands raw and bloody.

"Why would you like to know about the shadows?" Nico had been twelve when it happened and he rather not think about it, that sickening snap of a man's leg still echoed in his ears sometimes, making him want to hurl, and on bad days he did.

"I..." the boy thought it over before he said something, "I know someone who has special powers too."

"Who?" Nico asked standing tall, he wasn't even taller than the boy, they were the same height, same scrawny body type too.

"My friend?" the boy gulped.

"Yes, what is his or her name? I'm sure my father would be excited about this special power. We could sell them to the circus, make more money than the lot of you do, the cotton you pluck isn't even good enough for selling. We have to send them to another farm to make clothes before being able to sell it." Nico tried to act highborn, he hated it, he much rather sit down with the boy and ask about the special power, he would never rat the special power kid out even, not in a billion years.

"I-" the boy gulped. "I mean he, I'm sorry for bother you sir, I will go back now." The boy bowed respectfully and turned around to walk back to his assigned place.

"What is your name?"

"Leo, sir, I am sorry sir for bothering you." Another bow.

"Leo." Nico wondered what he was to do with this boy and his stories. "Met me here tomorrow when your shift ends."

"Of course sir." Leo gulped, he probably thought he was in trouble.

"I just want to show you my powers, and hear about yours."

"I don't have any powers." Leo was nervous, Nico could tell because not only did Leo gulp and sweat like a maniac, he also fiddled with his hands, looked around for an escape route, and probably muttered a blessing to his God under his breath.

"I am not stupid Leo." Nico smiled devilishly. "I won't tell my father but my sister may tag along. She is very good at keeping secrets, and I think her presences will make you... less... how can I say this without sounding rude... ah yes, it will make you less nervous."

Leo stared at him as if Nico had asked him to do a cartwheel right then and there.

"Go back to your place now before my father looks out his window."

Nico didn't know if Leo went back to his place, before he could see he walked away, hands behind his back, stare to the sky, a whistle on his lips. He acted neutral as if nothing had happened, but inside his heart was pounding. Someone else had a power, he wasn't such a freak anymore. Surely his father would still kill him if he found out, but for now he wasn't alone. He wondered what kind of power Leo could have. If there were others like them somewhere out there in the big world.

He scanned the slaves that plucked the cotton, that took care of the vegetable garden, that took care of the apple trees, or the bee farm. His father was wealthy for many reasons. His father also expected him to learn how to run this business when he grew up, even if all Nico wanted was to run as far away as possible.

He liked patrolling, not because he was scaring these people shitless, but because he got time to think. During the mornings he took care of his sister, made sure she was dressed and had breakfast until her nanny arrived. During lunch he took part in his father's meetings. These lazy afternoons he strolled the fields, thinking, catching his breath. When his shift was over and the guards returned he was wanted inside the mansion. He was too supervise the kitchen for an hour, then look over so that the shipments, money, and their products all was according to the papers. Then a small catch up with his sister, a small talk with his father and then bed.

But today when he walked up and down, all he could think about was Leo. Leo with those dark curls, impish grin, terrified eyes when he thought that Nico was going to hurt him. The powers. He accidentally focused too much because he could feel the cold around him. A sure telltale sign that he was using his powers. And sure enough, black shadows were around his hands, almost like fog or a cloud of darkness.

Nico shook his hands to expel the shadows.

A gunshot rang through the estate, telling him that his shift was over. They had only three guards on duty at all times. There were four intervals, Nico hated all the guards. They had far to flashy weapons since they dressed in a normal pair of beige trousers and a white cotton shirt. Most of them looked like hillbillies but Nico never dare to tell them. Not because he was afraid of them, but because he was afraid of what his father would say.

Another gunshot rang out, Nico sighed and walked over to the guard. Octavian never knew how to behave and Nico had to discipline him more than once. Even Hazel understood that there should only be one gun shot at the end of a shift, because otherwise the slaves would worry, and whatever caused them to loose concentration was a threat.

"Octavian?" Nico walked up to the blond teenager that held a nice silver pistol in his hands.

"Yes sir?"

"How many shots are there supposed to be?"

"One sir." Octavian smirked. "But one of the slaves was talking to his mother." At that Octavian pointed with the pistol at the person who had simply talked.

Nico wasn't surprised to see that it was Leo who had talked.

"What are you too do when a slave is misbehaving?"

"Tell you or your father... sir." Octavian finally looked confused, "which I did with a gunshot sir."

"Are we not civilized Octavian?" Nico asked.

"Sorry sir, won't happen again."

"Then be gone, I shall talk to the slave." Nico sent him away with a flick of his wrist, inside he wanted to smack the shit out of him, he would do it again, just as this was the seventh time that he had fired his pistol for something stupid. "You, slave, come out."

Leo stepped off the field with shaky hands.

"Report to me if Octavian makes a shot that is uncalled for. You shall be rewarded." With that Nico went inside and left all the worry about the blond bitch and the slaves outside. The worry was for tomorrow.

"So, did you see any hot guys out there?" Annabeth asked as she mashed the potatoes with butter and spices.

"Of course he did, you know he says that he likes the afternoon shift because he wants to think, but in reality it is because all the male slaves walk around with their shirts off." Jason commented with a snort, he sat on the counter letting his sister do all the work as usual.

"You know you could help me, chop those vegetables will you?" Annabeth asked her brother but when Jason simply sat there Nico stepped up.

"I don't stare at them, and not all take off their shirts, some are self-conscious about their whip marks." Nico said simply as he chopped the onions, carrots, and cucumbers.

"I saw you talking to one of the boys." Jason continued. "He looked cute."

"Says the kitchen boy who is dating the nanny." Annabeth said flicking him with her kitchen towel. "You know Jason, instead of staring at boys it would be nice to have some help."

"But you cook much better when I just sit here, you always say I'm in the way." Jason did a fake pout before staring out of the window again. "Besides, I help you, if I didn't Hades would send me out there, he wouldn't care that I was white."

"Yes white privilege only takes you so long in this economy."

"He is even farther down the ladder since he is gay." Nico stated. "Father would have him out there along with Percy if he found out that they were together."

"And he would have your head if he found you flirting with the slaves." Jason retorted trying to act calm, but just as everyone else on the estate Jason was afraid of Hades.

"Can you turn the stove on Neeks?" Annabeth asked. "And fetch me the meat, it's in the fridge."

"Why don't you force your brother to do more around here?" Nico asked.

Annabeth simply shrugged.

Both she and Jason had pale blond hair, round cheeks, kind eyes. Both of them were orphans, their parents had been good friends with Nico's father. So when they died Hades took them in. Nico had finally thought that he would have playmates, instead Hades had made them into kitchen slaves.

Hades was ruthless and Nico should have understood that he wasn't going to get friends. Friends destroy and distract you Nico, never, ever, get a friend.

Kitchen duty had given him friends, friends that he lied about. Everything that made Nico happy he had to keep behind Hades back. Over the years he was a master of trickery and lies. He didn't care if he lied to his father, he just wanted someone to talk too, who wasn't forty and had grey hair.

"What did you and that boy talk about?" Jason asked persistently.

"My powers."

"What!" Annabeth dropped the stock pot with the mashed potatoes. The floor turned yellow, the clang was so loud that Hazel screamed from upstairs.

Jason quickly dropped to the floor and cleaned up. Annabeth had turned pale. Nico took her hand in his and reassured her that it would be okay. He let go of her and went to get more potatoes. Together, the three of them cleaned up, peeled, and mashed in the matter of no time.

"He asked me about my powers because he has some of his own." This time he was taking the stock pot to the stove, in case Annabeth dropped it again in shock. "I told him I would talk to him tomorrow night when his shift ends."

"You are crazy; you want to die?" Annabeth hissed, her grey eyes were furious.

"Nico cancel it, I don't care if he has powers too, you don't talk to him again. I forbid you." Jason said in a stern voice.

"Oh, wow, thank you dad." Nico scoffed sarcastically. "I will talk to him and the two of you can't do shit."

"Sometimes I wish that our parents were alive," Annabeth whispered. "Because if they did then we would be equal and we could force you to not talk to him."

"Think about Hazel for God's sake." Jason said bitterly. "What will happen to her?"

"She is coming with me. Father wouldn't dare do anything if he saw her with the slave. He is timid that way."

"I won't allow Percy to follow you. You will bring a death sentence to everyone here." Jason sneered.

"Percy will help you with kitchen duty." Nico said. "And if you excuse me I have other work to do."

Just as he had left Leo he left them. He simply turned off his hearing and walked out of the small kitchen. The hour hasn't gone yet but he couldn't stay with the Chase siblings. His father wouldn't hear about it either; they weren't brave enough to rat him out.

"I don't want to sleep!" Hazel argued, for a five-year-old she sure knew what she wanted.

"I'll give you a piece of candy." Percy offered waving a lollipop in front of her eyes.

Her chubby hands shot into the sky, trying to take the lollipop from Percy's hands, he was far too tall for her to reach. When she realized it she walked wobbly over to the bed. Climbed on the small steps and sat down with a childish grunt.

"You shouldn't give her candy before bed." Nico said crossing his arms, he leaned in the doorway, not sure if he was allowed into his sister's bedroom.

"If you don't tell I won't, plus she won't go to bed without this lollipop." Percy grinned and handed the candy over to a happy Hazel.

"Brother!" Hazel giggled while crawled under the covers. "I got a lollipop."

"I can see." Nico smiled, he closed the door behind him and sat down on the bed. "What flavor?"

Hazel tried to unwrap it but failed. Tears rose in her eyes and a sob was on its way. Percy quickly unwrapped it for her while sitting on the floor next to the bed. He wasn't allowed on the bed. Not because of Nico or Hazel, but because of the rules. If Percy sat on the bed, then he was fired and sent to the fields.

"Cherry!" Hazel screamed with delight.

"Will you go to sleep now?" Percy playfully pleaded.

"Yes." Hazel grinned and kissed his forehead. She snuggled in and then gave the lollipop back to Percy.

"Thank you my queen." Percy smiled and put the lollipop in his own mouth. "say goodnight to your brother."

"Night brother." Hazel said sleepily and offered a tired grin.

"Goodnight Hazel." Nico leaned forward and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Percy can we go to my room and talk."

"Sure thing boss."

Nico's room was connected to Hazel's so it wasn't so hard for them to go unnoticed to his room.

"Percy I am going to talk to a cotton slave tomorrow." He said. "I will take Hazel with me so you are on kitchen duty."

"Wait." Percy pulled a hand through his raven black hair, blinked his sea green eyes at least ten times. "You want to what? Do you want to die?"

"Why does everybody ask me that?" Nico asked. "No but he has powers... powers like mine. Well not mine, mine, mine are special, but kind of like mine. You don't understand Percy; I am a freak on two feet."

"That rhymed." Percy laughed.

"But if he has powers too, I am not."

"Fine. Fine. I'll cover the kitchen duty." Percy nodded. "But you Mr-Freak-On-Two-Feet need to give me something for it."

"A week with Jason." Nico offered. "I'll tell father that you are running an errand for me, you can go to the usual place, do whatever you two normally do, then return after a week."

"You are the best boss ever." Percy said and walked back into Hazel's room.

Nico was so tired that he could drop dead.

The next night he saw Leo at his house. Or not house. The slaves got cabins, small cabins that were so small that hardly one person could live in it. Yet families of five or even seven shared one.

Leo sat on the porch to his cabin, inside Nico could hear Leo's mother singing, Leo's father muttering, and Leo's siblings playing around. He wondered how many of them there were but didn't dare ask.

When Leo saw him he got up and ran to him, obviously ashamed to be seen in front of his house. Leo was after all a slave, a nobody when he, Nico, was rich and lived in a mansion. If their positions shifted Nico would feel the same way.

"Hello." Hazel piped up from behind Nico's legs.

"Hello you." Leo squatted down in front of her, he took her hand and shook it. "A pleasure to meet you."

"You too. Brother says you are special like him." Hazel smiled. "Want to show me in the barn?"

"I would love too." Leo grinned, when he met Nico's eyes he turned red as a tomato.

They didn't greet each other, instead the three of them walked silently to the barn, well not Hazel, she made sure to greet everyone who crossed their path. Except the guards, when those came she hid behind Nico and whimpered. She hated the weapons that they wore.

The barn laid as far away from the mansion as possible. When Hazel saw it she took Leo's hand and begged him to race her to it. Leo looked at Nico, asking for a silent permission. Nico nodded and saw the two of them race off. Leo always a step behind Hazel, out of kindness to the child, if Leo didn't hold back he would run past Hazel and leave her in the dust.

In that moment Nico loved Leo. He loved that he was kind to a person that he didn't even know.

Nico unlocked the barn with his key, let them in and locked behind them. A small flicker of a lightbulb was the only light source. It wasn't meant for people to be here at night.

Hazel laughed when Nico dispelled the shadows from around her, making the barn seem much brighter than it was. Leo gave a slow whistle of appreciation.

"That is just one trick of many." Nico said, "now show me yours."

Leo snapped his fingers and there it was. A soft, little fire, in the palm of his hand. He juggled three fire balls at ones, sent one up to the lightbulb to give them even more light.

"Can I touch?!" Hazel ran forward to one of the fire balls, but the fire was snuffed out before her little fingers were anywhere near them.

"Sorry Hazel but fire is bad." Leo said slowly afraid to hurt her. "I can show you but you must promise not to touch okay?"

"Okay." Hazel nodded solemnly. "Do the magic Nico." She tugged at his hand and gave him a smile.

"Can you snuff of the rest of the fire?" Nico asked Leo who complied.

He twisted and turned the shadows into animals and peoples, he made a shadow show for his sister who giggled excitedly. He told her favorite story about a young Queen who was the best at everything and got whatever she pointed at. When she grew up she had ten unicorns, all for her own, all golden. It didn't exactly have a plot, or an ending, but Hazel adored the horses that galloped across the barn wall.

"Can you do whatever you want with the shadows?" Leo asked.

"Pretty much, there is just one thing that I haven't perfected."

"What?"

"Shadow travel." Nico looked away. "I did it once and it took me to my mother's birthplace."

"That must have been so cool!" Leo said jumping up and down, his nose caught on fire.

"I pasted out and when I woke up I didn't know where I was. My mother died a long time ago, the only reason I ended up there was because she told me stories about it." Nico swallowed. "I didn't know how to come back, only imagining my sister crying brought me back. I focused so hard that I was out for a week."

"Everyone says that you are terrible and scary but you are just a boy like me." Leo said patting his nose so that the fire stopped. "You are nothing to be afraid off."

"Never said I was."

Hazel walked to the barn wall, sad about the horses disappearing, Nico made them reappear just for her. She laughed and sat down, staring at them riding to and fro in front of her. Nico wanted to give her a real horse someday, Hades thought they were filthy animals. He didn't understand the happiness they would give Hazel. Until then she would have to be pleased with shadow ones.

"You love your sister." Leo stated.

"I do."

"How did she figure out your power?"

"It started out like this, I trained on controlling the shadows, in the beginning it was mostly shadow-puppets, sometimes I can make them seem like real persons or animals. Hazel loves it when she rides one of the shadow-horses." Nico said unsure if he should tell anything to Leo. "These powers, yours too, they can be really scary and I didn't want her to be scared. I still haven't told my father, he would say that I was a freak, not human."

"My family doesn't know. I have three sisters. And two brothers." Leo told him. "I love them to death. I hate seeing them out there on the cotton field, if I could just do something with powers. All good I do is burn the field down and I would probably be killed for it."

"I can't help you. Even if I controlled the shadows, even if I could shadow travel, my father would always look for me. And I can't just help you and your family. I have friends too, and what of all the other slaves?" Nico asked. "No, you are better off waiting for me to come of age, for my father to die. When I have the estate in my hands then things will be different."

"That is years from now."

"It's either that or... or... I can't leave Hazel, can't just leave her here with father." Nico said.

"We'll meet up here, every day, we can think up a plan." Leo sounded so hopeful so Nico couldn't turn him down.

"I can't promise you anything Leo." Nico said with a sigh, he raised his hand and the shadows once again acted natural, a high pitch came from a scared Hazel. "Come on Haz, time to go home."

It was a week until he spoke to Leo again. This time he went home to him. Nico had begged to be placed somewhere else during his patrol. There were many fields and Hades didn't really care where Nico were as long as he patrolled the perimeter. He hated to admit it but he did it because he was scared of Leo.

Scared for all the wrong reasons.

The most logical or human thing to be scared about would be that wicked fire power that Leo possess, but Nico thought that it was charming and kind of... Leo-ish.

No he was scared of the slave because he had started talking about breaking out. He didn't know the consequences. Nico didn't really want to think about them either. But only way to get Leo to stop talking about getting away from the field was to sit him down and explain.

So that was why he was now walking to Leo's family's house. He could hear all the children scream and laugh inside, his stomach clenched, no he couldn't save them for if he did, something even worse would happen.

He swallowed hard, wishing to whatever god was listening, he prayed so hard that when thunder echoed over his head, he wasn't that surprised.

Nico knocked on the door and got face to face with a really big man. The man had a weird shaped leg that he could hardly stand on, his face was full of blemishes, burnt skin, and a beard that looked shared. The man gave a confused noise that Nico guess was a 'hello'.

"Hello, I would like to talk to your son... Leo?" Nico asked, he tried to see inside but the man was so big that he covered the door frame.

"Father it's okay, I'm not in trouble I promise... it's about... the thing." Leo said with a nervous smile, he had pushed his father away from the door. "Hello Nico, want to take a nightly stroll?"

"Yes please." Nico smiled and said goodbye to Leo's father who looked grumpily at them as they walked away.

"He won't bite your head off, you just ruined one of his famous jokes." Leo said, he acted all casual, as if it was normal for them to meet up in the middle of the night and take nightly strolls.

"I am sorry for that."

"Don't be his humor stinks." Leo laughed. "And before you ask, yes he knows about the power, he was the one who taught me not to burn down the house, or scare my siblings."

"Is that why he was burned?"

"You mean his face? Unfortunately, yes, I hit his shoulder and his bad leg too. He just shrugs it off and says that it's better I practice on him than on my mother. She doesn't know, she just suspects, you see she hates fire."

"Why?"

"Her family was burned alive, for her to watch."

"That's horrible, I am so sorry Leo." Nico said taking Leo's warm hand in his own.

In the moon light Leo looked beautiful, for a moment Nico didn't think about him being a slave, he didn't see Leo's skin color, or those elfish characteristics. All he saw was a handsome guy who was walking and talking with him. Someone his own age. That hadn't happened since he was four! And they were holding hands! Even though Nico noticed it he didn't pull away, it felt nice and right to hold Leo's hand. It was as if they belonged together, somehow.

"I know you have come to talk about the shadow travel. That is why you have been avoiding me right?"

"Yes." Nico whispered, "I can't do it Leo, I will doom us all if I even tried. Believe me, I would love to train and save everyone. I really do."

"But your father." Leo nodded with a depressed facial expression.

"He'll hunt us down, kill us, he won't stop just because I am his son. He would try to figure out how we did it, when he gets a whiff of how we did it with magic... he'll burn me. He'll kill Hazel in fear of her having the power too."

"I understand Nico, you don't have too. It's just a long wait for you to inherit your father's title." Leo shrugged.

"I'm doing my best to give you a life. I'm holding the guards away, I'm keeping Hades busy, I try to give my friends time off from their work. I wish I could do the same to your family."

"You don't have to sound so sad Nico, we all understand. You are treated as a prince among us, your father may be a tyrant, but all the slaves love you."

"They do?" Nico asked looking into Leo's brown eyes, that was a mistake, the moon light turned them golden, a murky gold that swirled and enchanted Nico.

"That is why I told you about my power. I knew you were good." Leo said, was he blushing? "You see, I have lived most of my life here, my family was brought here when I was three. I watched you grow up, we lived next door to each other. I saw how your powers developed."

"You sound like a stalker Leo." Nico laughed.

"I wouldn't show my powers to someone I didn't trust Nico. I know we don't know each other but I would like to change that." Leo confessed.

"Okay. I will try to sneak us away more often then." Nico smiled pleased to think up ways to talk to Leo.

"I would really like that." this time Nico was sure that Leo was blushing.