"Bianca..." Nico whispered, her name being swallowed by the wind. He spent far too much time like this: perched on the hull of the Argo II, staring into the open sky, thinking about what might have been. The truth is, Nico would never get over the death of his sister. No matter what he told anyone else.

Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. He didn't turn around. Honestly? The less people associated with Nico di Angelo the better. Well, that was his opinion, anyway. After all, he only ever brought death and pain to anyone he cared about.

"Nico?" the presence asked in a sweetly angelic tone. It surprised him. Out of everyone on the Argo II, Piper Mclean was probably the least likely person to seek out the Son of Hades.

"What do you want?" he didn't mean to put emphasis on the you part, but sometimes he just couldn't help it. It just sort of happened. Like his brain was hardwired to drive out as many people as possible. It was a real pain. "Well... Everyone's having lunch in the mess hall, and... It would be great if you could come and join us."

At that moment, Nico was about to get up and do exactly that - it seemed like a brilliant idea. Then he remembered: Charmspeak. Of course, the daughter of Aphrodite could convince him to jump into the ocean and drown to his death if she wanted to. In some respects, she's even more powerful than Percy or Jason, Nico noted.

"No thanks." Replied Nico automatically. "I'm fine out here." He wasn't sure if that was necessarily true; does 'fine' constitute getting lost in memories of what once was? Piper let a sigh of exasperation, not unlike the ones that Bianca used to let out when he followed her around, or when he bored her with useless stats and figures about Mythomagic. He expected her to just turn back round and walk off.

"Hazel really cares about you, y'know?" Piper made her way over and gently perched herself next to him. "She really does love you."

Nico allowed himself a small smile - a rare sight, indeed. "I love her, too. More than anything in this world," turning towards her, he added "She's my sister, after all." Piper stared at Nico in awe. It was all so strange: Nico di Angelo, who was usually emotionless and moody, was just sat there, pouring out the deepest recesses of his heart, to someone like... Her!

"I had another sister once." Nico began, his face blank. "She practically raised me." He had to swallow back tears as he added "But she's gone now. Hazel is... She's all I've got left." His voice cracked at the end of his sentence.

He hated this. Hated it. He hated always being on the brink of tears whenever he thought about Bianca. He hated showing just how weak he was, just how broken, to other people. He hated being alone all the time, hated how he constantly isolates himself from others for no reason. And most of all? He hated bearing all this hatred, carrying it with him day-to-day. Sometimes, he just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep. Forever.

"That's... That's so sad!" Piper gasped, shock written all over her face. She had no idea how much Nico had been hurting, no idea what he'd gone through.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter." Nico had regained his icy demeanor, his defenses back up again.

"Nico..." Piper didn't know what to say. She knew that nothing she could possibly say could make anything better for him, but at the same time, she had to say something, she had to at least TRY to open the door to his closed heart. He was her best friend's brother, after all. Besides, the guy really needed a friend. He didn't deserve to be lonely all the time.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Nico!" Piper blurted out. "You don't have to suffer all by yourself anymore!" Nico stared, dumbfounded.

"Every single person on this ship is a demigod, Nico. We've all had our fair share of pain... Even me. But's that's the thing. Because of all that pain, we understand each other. Not only that, but we can help each other, too. We laugh together, fight together, and work things out together. We're like family. And... Nico... We'd all love for you to be a part of our family. Just... Think about that for a while. Please." Piper got up and headed back into the mess hall, leaving Nico all alone, but with a much, much lighter heart.