Nico

After seeing Thalia for the first time in five years, all of the memories he'd tried to forget had flooded back to him. He went to the climbing wall to hopefully clear his mind, but it only made it worse. Being singed by lava wasn't exactly the most helpful thing.

Once he reached the top, he sat there for a while, overlooking camp as he caught his breath.

He wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead and closed his eyes.

The sound of the lava dripping off the rocks and the smashing of the boulders together made it hard for Nico to think straight.

And right now, all he needed to do was clear his head and snap himself out of it.

He trudged down the climbing wall and slowly walked towards the archery fields, staring at the ground as his feet crunched the gravel beneath him.

He looked up and saw Thalia practising with Annabeth at the fields, so he turned around and went back to his cabin.

The room was dark and eerie inside. Most of the time Nico loved it, but sometimes he just got sick of the overall ghostly aura.

The curtains were shut so Nico could barely see a thing after being outside in the bright sunlight. He felt around for his bed and went to sit down.

But instead, he missed it by a couple of centimetres and groaned as his tailbone roughly hit the floor.

He couldn't be bothered getting up, and he was perfectly comfortable lying on the ground with a few pillows, so he put his head on his knees and took a deep breath.

Automatically, the time when they first met entered his memory, almost as if someone pressed the rewind button on his brain.

Flashback

Nico sat bolt upright, panting and covered in sweat.

He pulled the sticky blankets off him and slipped on his shoes.

It was already 6:30am, and he might as well have started getting ready.

It was another nightmare he had woken up from – the same old thing.

Him and his sister Bianca playing on the ground, a pretty Italian lady on a couch and a familiar man sitting next to her. They were talking, and the lady looked like she was on the verge of tears. The man went upstairs after he'd kissed her forehead. There was a bright flash and Nico couldn't see the woman anymore. The man had run down and started to cry and roaring in anger. Nico somehow knew the woman was far from alive.

But who were they?

He couldn't remember anything else – they were just little bits of a huge puzzle he had yet to find the other pieces and figure the entire thing out.

Three people had barged into the dance, all adolescents who had already started walking towards Nico and his sister.

Nico gripped Bianca's arm and nodded his head in their direction.

Her brow was creased in confusion and worry.

They started talking to them, but Nico zoned out and stared at one of the girls.

She had spiky black hair and electric blue eyes. She was beautiful, in the punk sort of way.

He was brought back to reality when the girl with blonde hair said, "You need to come with us immediately."

Bianca nodded and grabbed Nico's hand, tugging him along.

The rest was a blur, pretty much.

There was this creepy monster-lion dude and he had gone over the edge of a cliff with the blonde-haired girl. Annabeth, the guy, Percy, had called her.

These people called 'the Hunters' had rescued them and they were currently setting up tents for them to stay in overnight.

Bianca had gone off somewhere, and Nico had somehow ended up standing next to Thalia.

He wasn't going to lie – his face flushed a little.

But then Thalia moved off angrily and growled at Percy.

The son of Hades sat in the grass alone and shivered in the cold.

Bianca emerged from a tent and sat next to him.

"W-where did you go?" Nico stammered. "You look different."

"Listen, Nico." She sighed. "I became a Huntress."

"What's that?"

After Bianca explained everything, Nico wasn't shivering just from the cold.

"You're…leaving me?" He felt tears prick his eyes.

Bianca had been with him his entire life. She was the only person he could rely on and trust. She was his anchor, and now she was leaving.

"Nico…" She reached out to touch his arm, but he shoved her off and felt a tear roll down his cheek.

"Don't touch me." He sobbed. "I should've known you'd leave me like everyone else."

He got up and ran, to somewhere he didn't know, until he collapsed behind a tree and cried. And cried.

He felt sorry for himself, and you couldn't blame him.

"Nico?"

"G-g-go away." He choked out, thinking it was Bianca.

Thalia stepped in front of him and sat down next to the 10-year-old, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

Nico cried into her hair. "S-she left me…"

"Shh…its ok." She whispered. "She'll still be here for you."

"No she won't. I'll be at camp while she's off with the H-hunters."

"She'll visit and Iris-message."

"It won't be the same."

"At camp, we're all a family." Thalia said, rubbing his back. "You'll meet new people and become close. They will take you in – you're just like us."

"Who will?"

She was quiet for a split second, and then spoke up. "Me. I'll be here for you whenever you need. I promise."

"Promise?"

"Yes, Nico, I swear I wont leave you."

End of Flashback

But she had left him, just like Bianca.

Nico didn't know whom to trust anymore, and even though he was trying, he couldn't bring himself to forgive her and forget.

Poor Nico ): So this chapter was basically explaining what happened with Thalia and Nico…sorry if its cheesy. I tried my hardest not to make it, but I didn't know what else to write…

Reviewww I love your reviews! :D Thanks!