Nico sat alone on the bank of the River Styx, reflecting on his life. He had one real friend, his mother and sister were dead, and his father wasn't even human. He was a scrawny, pale loser with no real home, and even though he had pretty much single-handedly just stopped the apocalypse, everyone saw him as a freak, someone to be avoided. It honestly just wasn't worth it to waste more time on this planet.

Without another thought, Nico rose to his feet and jumped head-first into the River of Hate.

The next thing Nico knew, he was sinking to the bottom, but it didn't hurt as much as Percy said it had. He could even breathe underwater, and his soul separating from his body wasn't nearly as painful as one might think. In fact, it was almost enjoyable, like he was finally free and shedding every bad experience he'd ever had. This is it, he thought, I'm finally done. Nico closed his eyes and succumbed to the current for a moment before appearing soaking wet in front of his dad's throne.

It didn't feel any different from any other time Nico had been in his father's throne room. For a moment he sat confused; shouldn't he be in Judgment? Reality struck Nico hard; it seemed his father had summoned Nico before his soul had finished separating. He was alive.

"What were you doing?" Hades asked his son. Not that he didn't already know; he could see his son's thoughts as he was dying. The god of the Underworld had always had a stronger bond with his children than most other Olympians. Seeing his son's expression, Hades knew he wasn't getting an answer, or at least not one that wouldn't make him feel guilty.

Nico couldn't comprehend what had happened. With a jolt, he realized he wasn't given the curse of Achilles. Too bad really; that could have made the task at hand far simpler. The demigod looked at his father, into eyes even more distasteful than usual. "F-father, I-"

"Go back to camp," said Hades, disgust in every syllable. If this was a cry for attention, the brat wasn't going to get his way. He snapped his fingers and sent his son to what was possibly his least favorite place on Earth; Camp Half-Blood.

Nico tumbled into his cabin, not quite sure about what just happened. His camp home was just as he left it, Greek fire burning in the sconces and Mythomagic figurines lined up according to attack power. After changing into dry clothes, making sure his books were alphabetized, and taking a minute to straighten the figurines (he didn't really care about neatness, he was just trying to postpone the inevitable), Nico walked into the painfully bright valley known as Camp Half-Blood.

There was still a week before the summer crowd went back to school, so camp was pretty packed. Nico slipped out of his cabin, deciding to skirt around the edges of the valley and slither into the forest, but an all too familiar voice stammered, "Nico?"

Busted.

"Hey, Percy," Nico said unenthusiastically. The son of Poseidon may be dense, but he had a knack for knowing when something was wrong, and he wouldn't rest until he knew what. Nico wasn't very excited to tell his… friend that he had just tried to kill himself. Maybe you should've thought of that before you jumped into the river, the rational part of him thought. I figured I would be dead and wouldn't have to tell him, shot back the cynical part.

"I just got this really weird message from your dad and- where are you going?" Percy called as Nico started tromping toward the forest. "Nico!" Hades's message had seriously scared Percy. Nico was just a kid; he couldn't be doing things like that! He was too full of unrealized potential to try to take his own life. Not wanting to give Nico a chance to try anything else, Percy raced after Nico, thanking the gods that Nico wasn't making much of an effort to move quickly.

The son of Hades barely made it 500 yards before Percy caught up to him. "Leave me alone, Percy," he muttered. "I'm not in the mood to talk." He tried to escape, but Percy grabbed his hand, knowing his undersized cousin wouldn't be able to escape. At four-foot, ten and less than 100 pounds, Nico was a complete shrimp. And Percy intended to use that to his advantage.

"We need to talk, Nico," he said soberly. "Your dad just sent me a message saying-"

"I jumped into the Styx because I wanted it to sever my soul from my body and would be dead right now if he hadn't summoned me to his throne?" Nico finished, speaking without emotion.

Searching his face, Percy couldn't see any either. Had his cousin really been that ready to throw his life away? Yes or no, Nico needed help. "Come on, Nico. Let's go-"

"Go where?" Nico interrupted again, "Everyone here hates me. I have no family in the mortal world. My dad… Dad doesn't want to see me right now, and anyway, he doesn't really like company. Especially you."

"Then where were you planning on shadow traveling to just now?" Percy countered. He wouldn't be letting Nico out of his sight for a while, and getting an idea of where he might try to escape to could be helpful.

"None of your business," he mumbled. Obviously he wasn't willing to give away too many details.

"Come on, you can tell me," Percy promised, eyes open and trusting. Nico couldn't help but feel safe when looking into his sea-green irises.

"I go into the city a lot when I feel like getting out of the Underworld. I really don't spend as much time down there as people think." Nico had stopped struggling. There was no way he was going to be able to overpower Percy, given that he had nearly a foot on him. He certainly wasn't going to let go willingly. Nico just had to think of a way to outsmart him.

"Who do you stay with? Or do you have like, your own secret apartment?" Percy wondered. Nico may not look like much, but people would be surprised how many "friends" a son of Hades could make in the big, bad city.

Nico mumbled something unintelligible.

"What?" Percy asked.

"I sleep on the street, okay?" he demanded.

As a matter of fact, that was not okay. Nico was just a kid, and a small one at that. Demigod or not, he could get seriously hurt out there alone. "Nico," Percy said. "You know you can stay with me whenever, right?" That was good, he thought, it made him feel welcome, but not like he's weak or can't take care of himself.

"Why? Because I'm weak can't take care of myself?" the twelve-year-old demanded. Even Percy thinks I can't do anything right, Nico thought miserably. I'm done. As soon as I can get away from him, I'm done.

To Nico's relief, the question made Percy nervous enough to loosen his grip. Before Percy realized what happened, Nico had shaken himself loose and was halfway to the forest. Thankfully, Percy was able to catch up to Nico before he could get under the shadowy cover.