To say that Nico was unhappy would be a colossal understatement.

He was sitting in the rec room of the Big House, freezing to death (pun not intended) in his pajamas, all because Chiron had decided to call an emergency counselor meeting in the middle of the night. Really, the only thing keeping Nico from not unleashing an armada of zombies upon everything and everyone was Will, who currently was holding Nico's hand, possibly to keep him from getting up and leaving. Will could probably feel Nico shivering by now, but if he noticed, he didn't say anything. Nico's mind drifted back to when Will had woken him up a few minutes ago.

Nico woke to the slight clicking of his door opening. Through the haze of exhaustion he was able to make out a vaguely familiar figure outlined in his doorway. Nico mumbled something unintelligible and slowly drifted back to sleep. He tried to remember what he had been dreaming about. It had been pleasant, and involved strawberries and gelato. Or was it strawberry gelato? Nico was on the brink of dozing off again when something lightly brushed his cheek. It felt nice, but Nico wanted to sleep. He shifted, turning his face away. Nico felt the same brush on his cheek again, and he grumbled in protest.

"Nico," a voice Nico knew all too well whispered. "Nico, wake up."

Nico grumbled again, turning his face once more away from the source.

"C'mon Nico," the voice said again, poking Nico in the cheek.

Nico opened one eye in irritation. He glared murderously at the offender, who happened to be Will Solace, the annoying son of Apollo who was also Nico's boyfriend.

"Go away," Nico muttered, pulling the covers over his head.

Will gently pulled the covers away from Nico's head and, before Nico could protest, lifted him out of the bed.

"What are you doing?!" Nico exclaimed indignantly.

"Chiron said to get you out of bed," Will replied with a bright smile, but there were bags under his eyes.

Nico rolled his eyes. Will carried him bridal-style all the way to the Big House, Nico being too tired to complain.

"Nico? Are you listening?"

Nico jumped, realizing that he was falling asleep. Will was looking at him with mixed concern and amusement, while Chiron stared at Nico expectantly.

"Sorry," Nico said. "What did I miss?"

Nico heard one of the campers whisper, "Great. Now we have another Clovis."

"What we had been discussing is the current issue of Apollo having, er…misplaced the sun chariot," Chiron said patiently.

Nico's eyes widened in surprise. "Apollo lost the sun?" he asked bluntly. "How is that possible?"

"Apparently, Apollo had parked his chariot to go see a Beyonce concert, and when he returned, it was gone," Chiron explained with a pained expression.

Will buried his face in his hands. Nico tried to imagine what it would be like if his father was anything like Apollo. That would be a nightmare. Nico shuddered.

"Will, can you please recount your dream to the rest of us?" Chiron asked.

Will glanced up, the tips of his ears still slightly red from embarrassment.

"So, in my dream, there was an empty chariot being pulled by horses through this field, and it was setting everything in its path on fire. And then suddenly there was someone riding the chariot, completely engulfed in flames. The chariot sped off towards some city, but then the flames got to me and I couldn't see anything. That's when I woke up," Will said, frowning as he spoke.

The room was silent. Suddenly, Nico blurted, "The city is Los Angeles."

Everyone stared at Nico in shock.

"How do you know?" Piper McLean asked, being the quickest to recover from Nico's sudden outburst.

"Several people are dying near Los Angeles. There's a trail of departing souls leading all the way from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, as well as a visible trail of wildfires."

"Where did you get that information from, Nico?" Chiron asked.

"One of my informants told me yesterday," Nico shrugged nonchalantly, as if receiving information from the undead was an everyday thing for him…which it probably was.

Chiron blinked, saying, "Well, I suppose we should make Los Angeles where we look first, then. Now we need to decide who's-"

"I'll go," Will cut in, looking more serious than Nico's ever seen him, except for when he's working to save someone's life. "Apollo is my father, and I'm the one who had the dream, so I have to be the one to go."

"Will, are you sure?" Chiron asked, slightly worried. Nico could tell Chiron was choosing his words carefully as he said, "Your abilities…are needed here. We can't afford to lose our best healer."

Will did not seem very pleased by Chiron's praise. "I have to go," he demanded.

There was a slight pause before Piper spoke, "I don't see why he shouldn't go." She looked around, almost as if she were challenging someone to disagree with her. "Will's healed more people than I can count, and I haven't even been at camp that long. I think he deserves it."

Will smiled gratefully at Piper, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I'll go, too," Nico said, glancing at Will, who started grinning like an idiot. "My skills will come in handy, especially since one of the Underworld's main entrances lies in Los Angeles."

"Very well," Chiron agreed. "Will and Nico, is there anyone you would like to choose as the third for the quest?"

Before either Nico or Will could say a word, someone spoke up. "C'mon guys, isn't it obvious?" Leo Valdez spread his hands out like he was giving out free hugs. "Fire is my specialty, remember? My name is practically written all over this quest."

"Alright, then. You three will leave immediately, as soon as you get your things situated," Chiron said, ignoring Nico's sounds of protest.

"Wait, we're leaving now?" Leo asked incredulously.

"Of course," Chiron replied. "The sun chariot must be retrieved immediately, or the damage and trauma it causes will be too great to fix."

"Will the sun even rise without Apollo driving it through the sky?" Will asked, glancing nervously out the window at the dark sky.

"Yes. Other forces will still keep the sun moving in its usual course. However, having our sun running rampant through civilization would cause a major rift in the balance," Chiron explained. "Now hurry to your cabins and pack your things. There isn't much time. Argus will drive you into the city."

The meeting was over. Everyone walked (or in some cases, stumbled) out the door, eager to get back to sleep.

"I'll see you guys at Half-Blood Hill!" Leo shouted to Will and Nico before bounding out the door with more energy than all of the campers combined.

"See you in a few minutes," Will said to Nico, still smiling but looking a little nervous.

"Yeah, see you," Nico replied.

Nico headed back to his cabin, shivering in the cold air. While packing the few items he had, Nico looked longingly at his bed. What had he gotten himself into?