At 23, Nico honestly hadn't been expecting to get many new powers.

Heck, he hadn't thought he would live this long.

Nico also knew that his powers grew with age; he just hadn't been expecting this.

Sure he had always been able to tell when someone died.

Mainly when someone close to him died, the constant ringing in his ears was a reminder.

But waking up one day and being able to...to do this. That was something else.

And he hated it. No, he didn't necessarily hate it. He was scared of it.

Terrified even.

When he had first woken up nothing had seemed different, he had done his usual morning routine and went to breakfast.

Breakfast had never been his favorite part of the day; being forced to eat at a table alone was reason enough. Being surrounded by all the loud campers in the morning just added to it.

He was barely awake in the mornings, but when he arrived at breakfast to find that everyone had a glowing number above their heads woke him up fairly quickly.

He wasn't sure why no one else was as startled as he was. There were red glowing numbers above every single campers head, and no one seemed to care.

At first, he had thought he was still dreaming, he pinched himself, rubbing his eyes and blinking a few time to make sure he was properly awake. But no, the glowing numbers were still there.

And they seemed to be counting down.

For the rest of the day, Nico stumbled through camp in a daze. No one else seemed to notice the numbers above their heads and Nico wasn't sure what that meant. Had he finally gone crazy?

The numbers didn't seem to be solid, but he was sure they were there. So why could no one else see them?

It wasn't until later that week that he had the answer.

The camp was just sitting down to dinner when the horn sounded. Everyone jumped out of their seats and into action knowing that the horn meant something was happening at the camp borders. And it usually wasn't anything good.

While the rest of the camp got ready for anything the more experienced Half-bloods, including Nico, went straight to the top of Half-blood hill to see what was going on.

They got there too late.

Just as they reached the top of the hill, they were greeted by a small number of monsters about to finish off the life of a young Half-blood girl. While the others charged forward in a desperate attempt to save the girl Nico watched in muted horror as the numbers above the girls head counted down and reached zero just as a monster scooped her up and snapped her neck in its huge hands.

The others reached the monsters seconds later, and soon the monsters were gone. As they walked towards the fallen girl, a shimmering green sign of a bundle of wheat appeared above the deceased girl's body.

A daughter of Demeter.

Nico watched this all from the top of the hill, having never moved from his spot just watching his friends numbers tick down.

Now he understood. And he wished he didn't.

He stumbled down the hill back into camp; everyone was still running through camp not aware of what had happened yet. The others would tell them soon what happened soon enough; then they would take time to mourn the girl they had never known before burning her shroud. Never know about the numbers that had been ticking down over her head. That was ticking down above their heads.

If anyone tried to talk to him he didn't remember; he was in too much shock. Somehow he managed to stumble into his cabin and sink to the floor, putting his head between his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

Was this happening?

The numbers they had counted down to the exact point the girl had died. Right down to the second.

All the numbers above his friend's heads...

Were they counting down to their deaths? Just like that little girl had been?

It had to be, what other reason could there be?

So he sat in his cabin for who knows how long staring at the far wall trying to come to terms with what he had learned.

It had to be a new power. What else could it be? Did other sons of Hades gain this ability? Why would anyone want it? To be able to know when those around you were going to die?

For him, who had seen so much death in his life, this was the worst thing that could have been given to him.

So there he was, still not having moved from his initial spot on his cabin floor feeling terrified. He would have stayed sitting on that part of the floor feeling terrified until he died of hunger if not for the knock on his cabin door.

He didn't get up to answer it. He didn't want to have to open the door and see whoever it was outside with the glowing red numbers above their heads.

It seemed, however, that the person wasn't looking for an invitation and pushed the door open only a few seconds later.

"Nico..."

It was Annabeth. He didn't even glance at her; she was one of his friends. He didn't want to know how long she would have to live.

"Nico why are you in here? We haven't seen you in a few days; we were getting worried."

A few days. He had been in his cabin longer then he had thought.

When he didn't answer her, she sighed looking at him properly. He hadn't been taking care of himself, his hair was a mess, and his clothes were very rumpled. "Is everything okay Nico?"

He still didn't answer her but the way he shifted his gaze down to the floor even more then it had been and wrapped his aviator jacket more tightly around him let her know something had indeed happened.

"What happened Nico?"

Nico knew that if he could tell anyone what was going on, without them telling anyone else about it, it would be Annabeth. Plus she might somehow know more about this then he did. She was Annabeth after all. So he told her, still not looking up from the ground the entire time he explained.

He told her about the numbers and how they were counting down and the little girl who had died and how he had realized what they meant. She was quiet the entire time, Nico wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

When he was done, he waited to hold his breath waiting for what she would have to say.

"Nico..." Annabeth for once sounded like she had no idea what to say. Finally, she started to speak.

"Nico everyone dies at some point. You can't just hole up inside your cabin because you can suddenly see when it happens. This is just like any other power you have ever had. You just need to learn how to control it."

They sat in silence for a while. Nico was trying to absorb what Annabeth had told him knowing it was true. And Annabeth hoping that she had said the right thing to convince him it wasn't the end of the world that he had gained this new power.

Eventually, Nico slowly lifted his head to look at Annabeth. Both of them holding their breath wondering what he would see.

The first thing he saw was the blood red numbers hanging over her blond hair. He could see them but he didn't dare read them, he just couldn't. Then everything came into focus, and he read them.

They were ticking down just like all the others had been and still were. But he was relieved to see that she had a large number hanging over her.

He smiled. Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief before laughing, Nico joining her. Both were laughing out of relief.

Then Nico abruptly stopped laughing, eyes going wide as he stared at Annabeth. The sudden change in moods left Annabeth feeling nervous as he continued to stare at her.

"Nico?"

Nico's eyes snapped up to meet her, and she was relieved to find the only shock in his eyes, not fear.

"It's fine Annabeth. You be careful okay?"

After hearing everything that the son of Hades could now, so she was extremely nervous about what his words meant. Hadn't he been happy that she would seemingly live a long time? Or had she mistaken his actions for something else? Before she could ask though Nico got up from his position on the floor, swaying only a little after having been seated for so long.

"Well, I am going to go get something to eat. I'm starving." He stood up, stretching his back out as he did so. "And Annabeth, thank you."

And with that, he left Annabeth sitting against the wall of his cabin looking genuinely puzzled about where the conversation had headed. But as he glanced back one more time at his friend he saw the two glowing red numbers, one above her head and the other hovering around her stomach.

He decided to let her and Percy figure that one out for themselves.