He was running. He didn't know where, he didn't know why, he only knew that if he so much as slowed down, they would get him. And it would be back to square one.

When he looked up, there was a moment of panic. Aside from the usual scenery of seemingly endless trees, there was a rock wall, too steep to climb, too close to avoid. As he slid to a stop he noticed he was surrounded. These things-no, these creatures-just barely resembled his friends, or could he even call them that now.

"Max help me, please! Don't send me back there!" But his pleas fell to deaf ears it seemed, as he was dragged away, having not put up any sort of fight.

A loud, sharp laugh sent a shiver of fear through him. "Why would I do that when you'll be right back where freaks like you belong," she responded, turning to look at him with a face that held almost no resemblance to the girl he had come to look up to. Her features had been warped and changed, just like the other monsters that place had created. "Besides, who would want an angel from Hell!"

Suddenly, he wasn't in the forest any more. He was in a cage, lined up against a wall and surrounded by other "failures," an unimaginable pain flowing through him. As a man in a white coat passed by, he flinched instinctively, almost expecting a loud clang to emanate from the outside of the bars he had once called a home. When the white coat leaned down to look at him, he nearly burst into tears. "So, boy, are you willing to cooperate with us today, or will we have to repeat yesterday's events?" the man asked, his smile being enough to tell him apart from a sane, from a normal person.

As the latch to his cage was opened and he was dragged down a hallway, the tell-tale smell of chemicals and blood grew. A pair of doors opened to reveal a medical room, complete with a cart piled with scalpels, syringes, and sedatives incase he got too worked up. "Now, how about you be a good boy and listen to your elders for once," one "doctor" stated as he entered the room, "cause I would hate to have to hurt a potential experiment." A twisted grin spread itself across his face as he hoisted the child onto a surgical table, "Oh wait, no I wouldn't,"

Nico woke up with a jolt, gasping for breath as his most recent nightmare passed. 'It's just a dream, calm down, you're not there, you're not being kidnapped, breathe in, breathe out.' "It was just a dream, one hell of a dream, but still a dream," he whispered to himself, relieved and slightly confused. 'But why am I in my cabin? Better yet, why am I still at Camp Half Blood?' This, he soon realized, was a rather ridiculous question.

Will had just let him leave the infirmary four days ago, and not only did he treat Nico like a fragile doll, but he had practically interrogated him on the injuries he got. Looking back at the beginning of his stay, which was much longer than three days, Nico couldn't help the bitter smile that stretched across his face.

He ran a hand across his face and through his hair as he got out of bed. A quick glance at the watch that Leo had insisted he take, reassuring him that "Yes, Deathboy, it's monster proof, and no, it doesn't ruin your 'gothic style' or whatever you have going for you," showed that it was just pasted six in the morning. 'Way too early for breakfast, but...,' Nico thought, as one of his rare, genuine smiles broke loose. Grinning like a fool, Nico threw on a pair of black skinny jeans and a black skull shirt, grabbing his converse and aviators jacket on the way out.

'Just a quick "run" won't do any harm, now will it?'

He had begun to get used to that excuse: "Just off for a run." 'It's almost funny,' he thought, gently closing his cabin door, 'how easily they'll believe that story, but not the truth behind it.' Taking a running start towards the docks of the lake, Nico allowed a chuckle to escape his mouth, a glimmer of happiness almost visible in his eyes.

As he took his final step off the docks, he leaped into the air, pure adrenaline running through him. If anyone were to be watching this take place they wouldn't hear the splash of the water, nor the way that Nico seemed to float on air the moment he jumped off. No, what would have caught their attention were the glossy, pure black wings that kept the son of Hades airborne, unfurling from their place on his back with the help of the slits he cut into his shirt.

'Now wouldn't this be a sight to see,' Nico wondered as he flew far above the lake, gliding over trees and cabins, 'a literal angel of death.' Looking out at camp from atop the Big House, he could understand why many demigods found refuge in this place. At his place on the Big House, Nico had a clear view of all the wonders this camp had to offer, from the Lava Wall, which Percy still had yet to climb to the top of, to the grecian Amphitheater where the weekly bonfires were held. As he took flight once more, a bitter thought crossed is mind. 'The only way this could be better would be if I knew I could stay here without fear of becoming an outcast, just like before.'

Landing on one of the higher branches of Thalia's pine tree, he shrugged on his jacket, leaning into the tree for support as sleep threatened him once more. Yawning, Nico was reminded of how tired he was from his lack of sleep recently. 'Stupid nightmares, keeping me up half the night,' he thought, his exhaustion finally catching up with him, 'I guess I could take a quick nap.'

Finally settling himself into a more comfortable position in the branches, he granted himself this moment of peace. 'After all, what's the worst that could happen?' he wondered, as sleep took hold of him once more.