"You are getting married?" Nico almost yelled with bewilderment.

This morning, Nico was awakened by his little sister, Hazel, shaking him aggressively. Being the morning person that he is, it took about ten to fifteen minutes for Hazel to achieve one open eyelid. But as soon as Nico had realised who was visiting him, his sleep gradually wore off. He sat up and hugged his dear sister, who was quite astonished by the gesture.

He then put his hands on her shoulders and examined her. She had a more mature look on her face than before. Her hair was longer and hung loose to her waist. She gained some weight, as well. She also wore makeup which outlined her face quite well and gave her eyes more attention than they used to have. She looked almost older than him.

"You've changed." Hazel noted.

"Could say the same to you. Are you wearing makeup? Did you visit the Aphrodite Cabin before you came here?" Nico replied.

Hazel laughed and put her arm around her brother. "No, but you know, we have Venus children as well in our camp. They taught me how to use those makeup stuff as their gift. Said it would be very useful later."

"Gift for what?" Nico asked as he got up and dressed. He was still a bit sluggish from waking up so fast.

Hazel blushed and replied shyly, "Frank and I—we, are getting married."

Nico almost dropped the hairbrush he was holding, but he caught it in midair. But that wasn't said about the plastic skull which hung on the wall but fell on Nico's toes. Nico whimpered for a moment as Hazel rushed to aid his toe but Nico shooed her away.

"Am I the flower boy?" Nico asked her.

"Your's was the first name that popped up. Piper is the Maid of Honour, while Jason is the best man."

Nico still couldn't believe his little sister was getting married, but there were a lot of things that were unbelievable.

"When is the wedding?"

"Um, we were thinking about July, three months from now." Hazel replied. Nico smiled, and suddenly felt weird for not feeling weird. Over the past couple of months, Nico had changed into a different person completely. It was scary how the outcast part of him turned into someone who appreciated affection and small gestures of happiness. Nico hadn't completely changed though. He still spent times in the dark, didn't talk much with everyone, wasn't quite participating, but he did become… better. Now that his sister was getting married, he felt ecstatic, which was quite unusual and unfamiliar to Nico, but, somehow, it also felt right, like this feeling was waiting for the right moment to pop up, and it did.

"So now, what are you doing?" Nico asked as he finished dressing, and sat beside Hazel.

"Uh, I am quite busy, actually. Frank and I have a load of work to do. Everyone is so busy right now. Even Reyna's asked to join in the work. The fauns even wanted to be in charge of the flower designs. We are going to hold a wedding within nature. I really can't wait."

"You know, you're only sixteen. Aren't you too young to get married? Isn't it illegal or something? Plus, I thought Frank was touchy on the subject. I mean, you blushed like a girl when I talked about it, back when Gaia rose." Nico recalled. Hazel blushed again and smacked Nico in the head lightly.

"Yeah, Frank was a bit shy but you really shouldn't call him a girl. He really was brave when he proposed. And to answer your question, isn't it illegal to send underage teenagers to a fight to the death with big real monsters without any safety stuff? So, demigods don't apply to the rules mortals make, and we don't care as well. Plus, I needed to ask you something." Hazel looked at Nico with an earnest look. Nico straightened, feeling something very serious coming up.

"Go on ahead."

"Leo's death is feeling far now. Like it's not there. Like he's alive or something. You felt that too, right?"

Nico looked over to the wall and stared at it for a moment. He hadn't given much thought to Leo's death after the fight with Gaia and all, but he did feel something weird going on in the Underworld. It was as if someone escaped death. And he couldn't feel Leo's presence anymore.

"Yeah. I did."

"Is there any way that he might have drank the physician's cure? Maybe he is alive?"

"There is a big possibility. I can't feel Leo anymore. It's like he's vanished from death. I think he is alive, Hazel." Nico could almost feel Hazel's heart thumping against her chest. She gave out a small cry and hugged Nico sideways.

"I can't believe it. I want to tell the others now. Oh gods, this is such big news. I am so glad. I am going to tell everyone. Are you coming?" Hazel grabbed Nico's hands and looked at him with teary eyes. But, her tears were from joy. He was pleased to see her that way, filled with joy. Nico never did this, but he was going to pray to the gods for Hazel. He wanted to protect her, like Bianca protected him back in those days.

Nico nodded and let Hazel take him outside.