Hey guys! Can't wait for you to read this chapter. For those of you wondering where Will Solace is... now you will know. SO much excite. SUCH little time. GO READ IT.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)

-c.c.


The Hades cabin seemed much more intimidating in the dark. In the daylight, you could tell it was Hades' because of the pitch black marble and creepy gargoyle statues watching from the distinctly greek rooftop. But in the dark, it screamed Underworld. Honestly, I didn't want to go inside, but I was emotionally compromised by my earlier struggle, and so I made the completely stupid decision to go for it.

The outside of the cabin was immaculate; there was no dirt on the steps, and it just looked clean. I came up to the large door and looked for the doorknob. Of course, there wasn't one. I wanted to turn around. I wanted to forget all that had happened and go back to my alley and live in peace. I took out the wadded up hamburger wrapper from dinner and gulped nervously.

You coming?

/ / / /

I tried the code.

One knock.

Three knocks.

One knock.

One knock.

I stood there for as long as I could stand to be there, alone and in the dark, but Nico never came to the door. Then, I decided I was done. It was scary as Hades out here. Literally.

If Nico wanted to talk to me, he could use his voice. At least he had one.

I turned to run off the steps when I heard a small creak. I looked behind me, the door still seemed closed. Emotionally compromised Katrina made another stupid mistake and walked back up to the door. Bracing for any trap that probably came with this freaky cabin, I placed my palm on the face of the door, and slightly pushed. With the small force in my hand, the door gently swung back about an inch.

I was in.

Wrapping my fingers around the door's edge, I opened it a little farther so I could peek my head through. The room was mostly black, as expected, with the exception of a candle lit on a desk at the far end of the room. Because of it, a large bed with black and maroon glossy sheets could be seen with a large dark gray knit canopy over it. There was also a simple matte gray dresser on the wall opposite the bed. The floor was a dark wood. I could feel the chill coming from the floorboards through my boots, which was strange. Hades was usually associated with fire and heat, not cold. The walls were a dark gray, and there was a window over the desk covered by a deep red curtain. Nico was nowhere to be seen.

The whole reason I was here was to see him. The considerate part of me thought it was wrong to intrude on his living space without him there. The scared part of me wanted to get the hell out. But I walked into the room, leaving the door opened at a crack, simply because of what I saw on the desk at the other side of the room.

As I walked, the floors were silent and nothing stirred. No traps were activated, no skeletons came out of the closet, and the walls did not melt in a fiery haze. I approached the desk and reached out to move a few papers to the side. Underneath was a bright golden journal.

Here goes emotionally-compromised Katrina again.

I slowly pulled out the simple black chair from under the desk and sat down. The cover wasn't very shiny, but it was assertively yellow, something I would have never associated with Nico. It had to be his though. I wanted to open it. I wanted to unmask the truth behind Nico and his cheeseburgers and fries. I wanted to know the Ghost King, and I wanted to get inside his head.

So I opened the book. Not page one, though still somewhere in the beginning.

And I found poetry.

He wrote beautiful things. His words reminded me of pastels and shimmering water and rain. They were bright and lovely. I would have never thought such things could come from Nico, son of Hades. It was gorgeous. Immediately, I was lost in the rhyme and rhythm of his words and the scratches of pen on paper. I read, and who knows how long I read for.

I kept on going until suddenly, the cover slammed shut, a pale, skinny hand now resting upon it. I jumped up in fear and backed away from Nico Di Angelo, who only looked at the book.

"I presume you've read enough," he said calmly. He picked up the book and slid it into the top drawer of the desk. "You needed it. I know," he said in continuance, "anger is hollowing, and it is nice to be filled up with beautiful things after something like that."

He looked up at me.

I couldn't tell what he was after. But I wasn't afraid anymore.

"You can't always stop the tears, and I think you've realized that." He was walking toward me. "I know you tried to deal with them the best you could, but for some reason the sea was too much for you to handle and you were haunted by every other place you tried." He still looked at me but stopped about two feet away. Today? How had he known where I had been? I was sure I was alone. I knew I was alone!

"It was probably better you had kept moving though, because when you stopped you started to think. Never think. Thinking leads to anger-" he gestured to my knuckle, "which leads to violence."

How the hell did he know?! I could feel my temper rage and my ears grow hot. He talked about anger. Well now he'd got it.

"Calm down Katrina. I know this because I was there." He said turning around. Suddenly, I was calmed, just by those words. All hatred and fiery feelings died inside of me and were replaced with a cool warmth. He walked over to the end of his bed. "You may be the Shadow Girl," and he stared into my eyes by the light of the candle, "but I am the shadows."

He motioned toward the chair I had just gotten out of.

"You might want to take a seat."

For some horrible reason, I trusted him. He was not condemning or snotty; he seemed understanding, though also mysterious. And it was for that reason I walked in front of him and took a seat at his desk, facing him. He moved and sat on the bed, facing me.

"You shouldn't be alarmed, and I am saying this because I know you aren't, but I am not going to pretend like everything is fine. I know your life. You never saw me unless I wanted you to, but I was there, and I lived it with you. Anything after that first time you saw me, I was with you." He paused for a moment. "Um… not in a creepy way," his face shifted into a sheepish expression. "Look, all I'm saying is, please don't be surprised that I know things, and don't be afraid of who you are around me. I know you. I've seen almost every part of you, and I accept all of it."

He looked up at me with dark eyes, and I knew he was sincere. Everything he said was crazy and strange, but I believed him. It may have been foolish to be so trusting of someone who just admitted they had stalked you for almost three years, but at that moment, I felt as though he was my only friend.

He knew a lot about me though, and I knew almost nothing about him.

"Did you like my writing?" Nico asked.

I nodded slowly.

"Thank you," he said. "I wish we could talk about it, but we aren't to that point yet."

I looked at him quizzically, he just shook his head.

"You know it didn't start that way, all positive and stuff," he laughed. "This stuff is recent, but I've been writing for years." Nico proceeded to reach over to my left and open the top drawer of the desk. Instead of the yellow book he put in, he pulled out a black one and handed it to me. "This was the beginning."

I opened up to the first page:

It's all his fault.

I looked up at Nico.

"My sister and I were found by Annabeth and Percy. We went on a quest with them and she was killed." He said it simply and with very little emotion, most likely because he was holding it back. "I was young and blamed her death on Percy. I was angry for so long. I had looked up to him and trusted him. When Bianca died, I lost all of that admiration."

I knew he wouldn't understand, but I signed. I'm sorry.

"I'm at peace with it now," he said, looking past me and into nothing. He looked down when he came back to the present. "But it began a long journey through depression for me. It was something I couldn't escape for a long time."

He started with a new purpose, like there was a lesson to be learned at the end.

"Writing was how I coped. It still is, but I'm better now. This book," he said pointing to the black one in my hand, "was everything from that time. Everything dark and cold that I felt, everything terrible and broken was morphed into words and scratched out on paper. A lot of those pages are stained with tears."

He looked at me with a fierce intensity. He seemed angry at himself. No doubt what he wrote was unhealthy. I had been reading while he talked. It was dark and expressive, and I could feel every hurt he had, all his pain was right there in the open for me to read. Why would he do this? Why would he show me, of all people, this secret and personal thing?

"You are almost to the next stage," he said, pointing to the page I was on. So I flipped a few more pages.

"There," he said.

On the page it read:

Who does he think he is?

And what do I do?

I like him.

I looked up at Nico expectantly. And I saw him smile, for the first time. It was sweet and innocent too.

"You know how you have your Will?"

I immediately blushed and turned away, a smile across my face. Nico let out a small laugh.

"Well, I have mine." Nico said, blushing as well. I smiled great big. That was so cute. Big strong Ghost King had a boyfriend.

"Sons of Apollo are hard to resist, huh?" he laughed again. I nodded slightly in agreement. "He was the one who brought me out of my depression. He saved me from myself. I would have ruined my mind, my heart, even more than I already had if I hadn't met Will Solace at the end of the battle with Gaia. He didn't try to change me or my character, and he accepted me for what I was. Will helped me become a better person, making the best of my circumstances. But for a long time I was confused with my feelings. Most of this writing is me rejecting the feelings I had for Will. I had bad experiences with feelings before…" He trailed off for a second. I wonder what had happened? And with who? But he was back again. "...and I was hesitant to get into something else with Solace. I denied my feelings for so long, but he brought me out of my shell. Will made me feel real and alive, and I knew that I really loved him. Will was my reason to live for so long. He was my only true friend."

Wait. Was?

Nico smiled slightly, sadly.

"I lost Will about a year ago."

Oh my gods, and to myself I thought, I'm so sorry Nico.

"There was a special case with a certain demigod outside the city limits of New York, right next to the edge of camp actually. He had refused our earlier offer to come to the camp, but he was being assaulted by monsters left and right. Then, he came into contact with some nasty creatures. I can't remember what they were, but he was badly wounded and losing. That's when he called for our help. Will had the best combat and medical experience," Nico drew a long breath and sighed. "He was always the best that they had." His smile was replaced with pursed lips and misty eyes. He looked away for a second to compose himself.

I reached out across the gap and took the Ghost King's hand.

He looked back at me, then closed his eyes, forcing a tiny smile. A tear fell, and he laughed hesitantly, succumbing to the harsh feelings of loss.

Nico breathed in deep once more.

"He volunteered to go, saying that sending more than one camper would make the demigod more bitter towards us. The council agreed, and he started off. I made sure I said goodbye before he left. I didn't know anything bad would happen, but I'm so glad I made him hug me one last time."

He looked up at me.

"I miss his arms, Shadow Girl. I miss feeling safe when he held me. And I would give anything to see him smile again." Nico's lip quivered as he spoke. He was still in love with his son of Apollo. I could tell he would never stop loving him.

"The battle went badly," he continued with staggered breaths, "but they pulled it out. The stubborn kid was unconscious and Will attempted to dress his wounds the best he could, but he had been hurt too. A blow to the side of the head and a sword to his side." He smiled in pride. "Will carried that demigod all of the way back to camp. He collapsed as soon as he passed the tree, like you did, but he wasn't as lucky as you were." Even through this, Nico smiled. "He died from his injuries the next day. But the kid he saved recovered and is now at the camp. You may have seen him. His name is Philip. He's a son of Athena."

"I was angry for a while, that Philip survived and not Will. But Will would have been devastated if Philip had died too. He cared too much about his patients, and it would have killed him twice over to know that he had died and been unable to save that kid."

"He cared too much, and that is why I love him."

Nico looked down and began to cry again.

I didn't know what to think. I was still so confused as to why I was there. Nico had just let me in on, probably the most personal thing he's ever gone through. He obviously felt like he could trust me, but I had no clue what to do with all of this information.

He lifted his head.

"I digress. This is where I meant to go." He reached over to the desk and pulled out the yellow notebook.

"I bought this when Will passed. He had always tried to get me to focus my writing on things that were more positive. To get out of this black book." He handed me the yellow one. "I knew it was what he would have wanted. I became a better person because of Will Solace. Just because he's gone doesn't mean I'm going to disrespect all he's done for me by relapsing."

That was true love. Doing the hard things, even when your motivation was gone, even when there was nothing left to fight for but a memory.

"I'm going to help you write," Nico said staring straight at me.

"I got you something."

He got up from the bed and he walked over to his closet by the door and pulled out a box. He dug through it and came back with something wrapped in brown butcher paper. Nico set it on my lap.

I knew what it was. Still, I unwrapped it carefully. Of course, underneath the brown was a light blue notebook, the same color as the early morning sky.

It was perfect.

"I know you can't write well, but that will change. You are important. I can sense it," he looked on me with curious intent, "and I am going to make sure you are able to communicate with Chiron. Also, I could tell that today you were struggling. You have been for a while, but you try your hardest to never acknowledge it and always look at the bright side."

Nico reached over and grabbed my knuckle that had scabbed over.

"But when you can't handle it anymore, when things are too embarrassing or too hard, you won't have to do this anymore. Words are dangerous, but it is better than violence in most cases."

I looked at his pale fingers wrapped around my fist. Nico was hard and unflinching to the world, but to me he was kind and compassionate. Brotherly. I could imagine I was one of the only people, maybe the only person, he had been this way around. So I looked him in the eye and nodded with confidence. I would use this book covered in morning sky, and I would practice my penmanship. Then, I could get what I was here to do over with, and maybe I could get out of here.

I mouthed the words thank you. Nico smiled.

"Don't mention it Shadow Girl," he said, returning the small edge to his tone.

"You'll need a pen." He reached into the second desk drawer and pulled out a black ball point pen. "You can come whenever you want, I bounce around a lot though, so I won't always be here. I assume you've realized that we can't act like this ever happened." He looked at me coldly. I understood, and I knew he would not speak with me outside this room. I would need to be careful of when I came and who saw me. As long as he was willing to put in the hours to help me practice, I was willing to be as secretive as necessary.

After all, I was the Shadow Girl.

So I left. I was careful to avoid the harpies and any guards who may have been up, and I made it into my bed at Hermes safely and quietly. It was way past the game, maybe two or three in the morning. A lot had happened, almost too much to take in.

Strangely enough, I felt better. About everything. I was going to communicate, and it was going to be without the help of Annabeth Chase. I was going to love Will Holmes no matter what happened, because Nico proved to me that love prevailed against all odds. I was going to fulfill my quest and save this wretched generation, and go home at last to my real family and meet my real parents. And maybe, just maybe, things will be different next time.