He was eighteen. Six entire years at that camp, alone in the Hades cabin. Sure, he was an extraordinary fighter by now - he had control of his vast powers - but Nico Di Angelo still felt like he was lacking something. He just couldn't pinpoint exactly what. People tended to avoid him, although, they were still civil. The only people he considered friends were Percy and his gang. Even then, it was a bit of a strech. He knew it was partly his fault for being so antisocial. He sighed and rolled over onto his side, facing the wall. It was dawn, and he knew that sleep was going to evade him from this point on. He groaned and rolled again, this time off the bed, landing on all fours and pushing himself up to a standing position. He yawned loudly, but since he shared this cabin with no one, he didn't care.

"So do you always sleep without a shirt, or. . ." an unfamiliar female voice questioned. Nico jumped so high he felt like he would have been in Zeus's territory.

"The f - " he stopped himself mid-swear; she looked only around 13. Possibly 14. "Who are you?"

"Stephanie Windsen." She gave a smirk that looked exactly like his own. "Your positively lovely half-sister, if I'm correct." Nico rubbed his temples; Stephanie seemed like the type of person who knew what buttons to push, just in order to get a reaction. Nico also noticed that she had a very defining face; high cheekbones, a ski slope nose, and full lips. He could have sworn he'd seen it before. Stephanie would have been very pretty, if she just gave a little effort. Her hair was a curly mess and the circles under her eyes seemed out of place on a girl her size and age.

"Daughter of a model, if you think you've seen me before," she informed him, almost like she had read his mind. She broke eye contact with him. "The feeling between her and dear old dad wasn't mutual." From the sarcastic way she referred to Hades, Nico guessed that Hades didn't have a good relationship, if any, with Stephanie. Hades had probably terrified her poor mother into insanity, just to get what he wanted from her.

Typical.

Nico took the silence as a chance to grab the first shirt in sight, which happened to be just a normal Camp Half Blood one. He subconsciously wished it weren't so bright, but he thought that everytime he wore it. Stephanie smirked again at this.

"So. . .uh. . .Steph. When-"

"Stephanie." She interrupted.

No nicknames, Nico thought. "Stephanie. When did you get here. . .?"

"Last night. Mom dropped me and a satyr off at the camp entrance then sped away. She couldn't wait to be rid of me. The satyr led me to the Hades cabin and I just claimed a bed. . ."

"You didn't go see Chiron?"

"It was three in the morning. And who?"

"The leader of the camp. I wonder. . . who was your satyr?"

"How should I know?" Nico sighed at this answer.

"I kind of expected you to at least be friends with him."

"He just never said. I was at school with him for a day. Then everything went crazy." Stephanie explained. She paused. "Okay, um. . ."

"Nico."

"Okay, Nico, all I know about this is that I'm a literal child of hell."

Nico chuckled. "You need to see Chiron." He took her arm and lead the way. Despire Stephanie's protests, he continued walking until they were at the Big House. Very few campers were up at this time of the morning. The other, the sleeping part, included Chiron and Mr. D. Nico kept knocking on the door however. He didn't want to get stuck with Stephanie longer than he had to, mean as it sounded. He just wasn't in a good mood and he didn't want to lash out at her. Finally Chiron opened the door, and Stephanie finally stopped babbling. The sight of an actual centaur shut her up quick.

"Yup, I'm going crazy," she muttered.

"Nico? Who is this?" Chiron asked curiously, flicking his tail and studying Stephanie.

"My new half-sister." Nico answered, gently pushing Stephanie forward. "Just a warning, she doesn't know anything except her parentage." Chiron nodded and took Stephanie under his care, shutting the door on Nico. He didn't mind. For now, she wasn't his responsibility. Was this how Bianca felt about him? He couldn't help but wonder. If it was, he couldn't blame her for joining the Hunters. But he knew she loved him more than that. He'd just learn to care about Stephanie.

As he walked the path back to his cabin, Nico hesistated. What was here at camp for him anymore? He was as trained as he could be. Dealing with Stephanie might be rewarding, or it might not. Nico ran back to the cabin and changed shirts, switching orange for black. He threw on his aviator jacket and took an unplanned turn into the dark forest. He walked into a shadow and traveled, unaware of where he was going or even where he wanted to be.