I pause to catch my breath as I reach the border. I haven't been here since I was, maybe, five. Well, that's what happens when you runaway from people that can usually find you in less than a minute. Because of that, I descended into the Labyrinth. I'm telling you, that place is- or, was, I should say- seriously messed up.

The fire at the amphitheater is blazing and I can hear the mostly off-key voices of the people roasting marshmallows. That reminds of what was my home before I ran away.

Welcome to Camp Half-Blood.

I walk towards the congregation of demigods but I notice a boy dressed in all black near the forest. My curiosity peaking, I follow him into the woods. We eventually make it to a large pile of rocks. I can recognize it as an Entrance. When you spend years in the Labyrinth, you start to be able to feel its presence. A patch of moonlight shifts through the trees and I can see his dark hair falling into his eyes. His eyes, so dark and beautifully contrasting with his olive skin.

Suddenly, he freezes and spins around, unsheathing a Stygian sword as he turns. I quickly produce my own dagger and we cross blades. Having the advantage of attack, the tall boy backs me up into a tree. Normally, at this point I would either knock out my attacker or talk my way out. However, the strange boy stops. He has my arms pinned above my head with one very strong hand. I notice that his black eyes have flecks of gold, making his gaze that much more intense. Both he an I know I will lose, but he doesn't finish me off.

"Who are you?" he says, his sword still drawn. "Why are you here?"

Before I have the chance to respond, or skillfully evade his questions, and male voice calls out, "Nico! Dude, we know you're out here. Chiron has been looking for you!"

It appears that the boy pinning me to a tree is called Nico, because he turns his head, distracted by the voice, and his grip slackens. I use this chance to push him off me and run deep into the forest.

Nico's POV

Ugh, look at all of them, I hate it. Their singing, the stupid, happy, magical campfire…all of it. Also, the fact that most of them wanted to kill me last year stands strong too. I mean, hey, it wasn't my fault that the Big House collapsed in a hole. Percy dared me to do it and as Nico di Angelo, I gotta piss off at least….all of the campers. As I stand by the edge of the fire, I start getting a feeling that everyone's watching me and I start hearing the whispers…

"Who's that?"

"What's up with his face?"

"Oh, he's so CUTE!"

Gods, you'd think that they'd finally leave me alone after the whole, "Nico-saves-Olympus-with-Percy," thing, right? I quickly stalk away to the woods, which is kinda hard in skinny jeans, but I manage anyway. Ahh, I really love these woods, more than I should…I mean, I'm not, like, gay for the trees…or is it tree-sexual, but I love this clearing, with the moon hitting Zeus' Fist and the wind going through the trees perfectly. It was the type of weather Bianca used to love….

******Flashback******

"Hehe, Nico, sorry, but I'm not going easy on you!" Bianca grins and whacks me with her old, olive hat.

"Don't worry, sis, I've finally got the gist of this game! HADES, I CHOOSE YOU!" I whip out a figure of Hades, 5000 hp and 4500 mana, and wave it around. Bianca just smirks and says," Well, Nico, don't cry when you lose….again!"

******Flashback******

Hmm…I wonder why that came into my mind. And why the hell am I staring at these damn rocks! I spin around, unsheathe my sword to practice on some trees, and….hit someone else's blade. It's a girl around fifteen years old with giant, purple eyes, and long legs. Whoa, I could get lost in those legs…and I quickly charge her and pin her to a tree. Bad Nico! Now she probably thinks you're an S&M type of guy or a rapist…I mentally scold myself as I find myself pinning her arms to the tree, and hold my sword at her throat.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" I whisper, hoarsely. She looks around for some way to escape from me or to find a way to avoid my questions.

"Nico! Dude! We know you're out here…Chiron's been looking for you!" Percy, the world's biggest idiot shouts that out, and I let go of the girl. I see her run out of the corner of my eye, trip over a tree, fall, and get away. Damnit, Percy….I almost had her too… Well, I'm not gonna dwell on the past, even though I missed my huge chance to pin her up against another tree….

"Coming," I yell, taking care to throw a rock at the so-called hero of Olympus...