So, thanks for the two reviews I got from Rogan-Merthur-Whouffle and xXxJaceInWonderlandxXx. Title suggestions are a major help, especially "Obligation". But we'll see. Enjoy chapter three.

Nico's cabin wasn't what Percy expected at first. There were no torches of Greek fire. Not a single set of skull and crossbones. Not even, Percy had joked, a single fake Halloween prop to be seen. In all actuality, Nico's cabin was very practical and surprisingly normal. The cabin itself was nestled in the woods. Not far away from camp, but far enough that the new, naively curious campers wouldn't come knocking. Made of wood and stone, no one would suspect it of being a home for a son of Hades. Perhaps a satyr, but not Nico Di Angelo. Inconspicuity was what Nico was going for, but at eleven forty-seven p.m., the cabin was anything but.

"Nico!" Percy yelled, banging on door as if he had a vendetta against it, "Nico, open up!" The door frame shook as Percy slammed his fist on it. A minute later, Percy stopped and rested his head on the cool wood. "Nico...c'mon," he begged.

"Percy?"

"Ahh!" Percy exclaimed, backing up...and knocking his head into the the stone support. "Owww!" he whined, "I thought you were inside."

Nico's lip twitched, "I'm never in the cabin, Percy. It's just a rest stop for food, really."

Percy frowned, "But we built it for you to, you know, live in."

"Living is boring," the younger boy replied with a shrug, "No, I mostly just sleep wherever I end up on any given day." Percy eyed the boy curiously, the bags in Nico's hands looked awfully familiar.

"Is that...McDonalds?"

"Of course. International chains are really convenient," Nico said, his tone nonchalant, "The stuff in China can hardly be called Big Macs, though."

"I see…"

"Nevermind," Nico muttered, "What'd you want. Need me to shadow travel you because you forgot your toothbrush or something?"

Percy sobered up, glaring at his shoelaces. "Yeah, uh, New Rome," he mumbled, "Take me to New Rome."

Nico frowned, "I'm not a subway system, Percy. Give me a good reason to send you across the country at -" he looked down at his wrist, "At eleven fifty-eight at night."

"I'll play mythomagic with you?"

Nico glared at him, "I'm not a kid, Percy. I don't do games."

"Well in that case, I've nothing else to offer," Percy muttered sarcastically, and afterwards, "Godsdammit, Nico!" he exclaimed, "Just travel first, questions later."

Nico scowled, "Does Chiron know?" he asked suspiciously.

"Of course, he even gave me permission earlier to leave as soon as possible."

"Does Annabeth know?"

Percy paused and looked Nico dead in the eye, "Yeah, she knows." The two stared at each other for a while longer before Nico saw something, something akin to truth in Percy's eyes. Nico wordlessly held out a hand, paused for just a moment when they touched, and then the two demigods disappeared into the shadows.

Once again, Reyna was pulling another late night. Her hair, usually tidy and uptight, lay in a disheveled mess across her left shoulder. She had ditched her cape and toga hours ago, and simply wore a tank-top and running shorts to battle the San Francisco heat. Slouching over her desk, Reyna's hand ran furiously across the papers. Signing this. Confirming that. And writing letters of apologies about things she shouldn't be apologetic about. She - once again - ran a hand through her hair and sighed. It was on days - nights - like this that she missed having a co-praetor to dump all the grunt work on. For a couple of weeks, Frank had led steadily next to her, but the poor boy couldn't handle the stress, the decisions that had to be made in such a position. And Reyna didn't blame him. Praetors weren't exactly the most likable people in their...ehem, current situation.

Sticking out of the mundane pile of papers was a seal that particularly caught her eye. She sighed. It was the request from Olympus to send a couple groups from each cohort to Kansas - Kansas of all places - to help start the new demigod camp. But really, who in Pluto's domain had enough time and energy for some silly goodwill program? It just wasn't fair how much Reyna had bitten off - the Giant War, praetorship, getting rivals from before the common era to play nice. But she simply just sighed again and reached for a bottle of water. Not taking her glance off of the documents, Reyna frowned. The bottle wasn't where it was ten minutes ago. She reached for it again, but grasped nothing. Finally she looked up...and practically had a heart attack.

Percy Jackson was holding a bottle of water, juggling it in his hands in the corner of the room. His lips were quirked marginally, but his eyes displayed his unsettled emotions. Percy tossed the bottle back to her, and Reyna caught it, surprised, and with a growl.

"Perseus -"

"Yeah," he croaked, then he cleared his throat, embarrassed, "Yeah, um, you called?"

"I did not mean for you to pop up in the middle of my study and steal my water," Reyna replied, emphasizing all the right words to make Percy flinch, "How did you get in, anyways? I didn't hear the door open."

Percy scratched the back of his neck, "Oh, yeah, right. Nico shadow traveled me here."

"Nico was here too!?" Reyna exclaimed, eyes narrowed. "These are private chambers, Percy. Not a tour museum."

Percy raised his hands in surrender, "Hey, I told him to take me to New Rome, not your study. It's not my fault!"

"That son of a -"

"So!" Percy said, a little too loudly, "What do you need help with? I can help." He looked at the pile of papers on her desk, "On second thought…"

Reyna laughed, a loud hearty laugh that made her feel human again, "You look tired Perseus. It's past midnight anyways," she said, "Go to your chambers and rest."

"But I came here to -"

"Help. Yes, I know, but you are in no condition to help anyone at this point. Rest, Perseus," she ordered. Percy crossed his arms stubbornly. Reyna raised an eyebrow. Percy sighed.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, "Rest. Sure. Don't worry, I'm going." Then, he walked out of the room, glancing once more behind his shoulder before Reyna heard the gentle click of the door.

She resumed the signature that had been cut off by the pesky son of Poseidon.

Seems a bit short to me, but it just seemed like a good place to cut the chapter off. Well whatevs, I've hit my thousand word mark, so...good enough. :D
If you don't mind, give a second and review this story. It's really the only feedback I can get.
Oh and semester finals are next week, and I've got World Studies first. Oh gods. Wish me luck.