Chapter 3

AN: I'm don't think I put a disclaimer in here, so I am doing it now. Remember, Rick Riordan owns these characters and The Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson and the Olympians!

Piper

Piper woke up with a huge smile on her face. Her holiday season was only getting better and better. Being able to spend time with Jason at last, him being so busy with his new job as pontifex maximus, she hardly ever got to spend time with him. And then Frank, Hazel, and Reyna had arrived from Camp Jupiter. She didn't really realize how much she would miss them until they left. And being an Aphrodite child, she couldn't help but really, really hope that Will and Nico would eventually get the courage to flat out get together. It was somewhat infuriating watching them, seeing them redden, look away, deny having feelings for each other. Everyone else in the camp was like, Duh!

She peered around at the almost empty Aphrodite cabin, remembering Drew, thank goodness, was not staying for the holidays. Sometimes, she felt bad for Drew. Well, they did always say that bullies always picked on others because they insecure about themselves. When Piper first came to Camp Half-Blood, she did feel insecure. She didn't feel like she was a child of Aphrodite, her memories of Jason were all fake, and she had just discovered mythology really was real.

But Piper reminded herself of how much she had changed since then. She now felt comfortable, and strong. She was a respected hero of camp, better than Drew could ever be. Most importantly, she felt happy.

Nico

Nico woke up to pounding on his cabin door. BANG! BANG! BANG! He grumbled, and turned over, not even bothering to ask who it was. He already knew, and if he didn't already know, well had he some pretty good guesses. "Death Boy! Wake up! Breakfast!" Percy and Jason hollered.

"Do not call me Death Boy!" Nico hollered.

"Will gets to call you that," Percy whined. "Is this all because I am not your type!" There was a dull thump sound, then an "ow!"

"Hey! Why'd you punch me?" asked Percy.

"Because, you're annoying," replied Jason, nonchalantly.

"He's right," muttered Nico. "You are both annoying." Nico presumed that any chance of him getting sleep was now a lost cause, and got out of bed, and opened the cabin door.

"Finally!" Jason exclaimed. His glasses were sitting crooked of his nose, and Nico had the strong urge to push them up, but he ignored it. "Neeks, it's time for breakfast."

"I know," said Nico. "You just reminded me like, hmm, a minute ago, when I was trying to sleep?"

Jason shrugged. "Well you know, you can't just always sleep in."

"Will says I'm supposed to get more sleep."

"Oh, so you listen to Will, and not to us?" Percy complained.

"Yeah, how fair is that?" Jason added. Nico sighed.

"I'll be there in ten minutes." He walked back into his cabin, slamming the door behind him on Jason's toe.

"OWWW!" Jason yelled, and stumbled back. Nico just rolled his eyes. What did someone have to do to get a decent sleep?

"They are so dense," he muttered to himself.

"Hey! I heard that!"

Hazel

Hazel sat with all the rest of her friends, minus her brother. "Where is he?" she asked, to no one in particular. Then she spotted Percy and Jason, Percy sporting a bruise on his cheek, and Jason hobbling along on one foot. "What happened to you guys?"

"Nico happened," they both said in unison, and took their seats at the table. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Hey? What you rolling your eyes for?" Percy demanded.

"Nothing," said Annabeth sweetly. Hazel grinned to herself, knowing exactly what Annabeth was thinking. And Nico would hate it.