(A/N) Ooh! Cliffhanger! By the way, things are gonna get intense. I suck at writing mysteries and such, so I apologize beforehand if it's obvious who killed Travis. I'm also sorry if it's a little short.

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO

Nico POV

I felt the cool night air nip at my nose and cheeks, flushing them a soft red. It usually wasn't cold at Camp Half-Blood, but Chiron had wanted to lower the temperature to get into the holiday spirit. Of course, many campers had gone home already. Piper had intended to go back to her father for Christmas, and so had Annabeth. The murder had delayed Piper's trip, but Annabeth had canceled on her parents; she was too caught up in the mystery of Percy as well as Travis' unexplained murder.

I snuck around the cabins, careful not to make a sound. Even though the cleaning harpies thoroughly avoided me and would turn a blind eye if I was sneaking out at night, I knew that if I got on the radar of campers, they'd report me to Chiron. Then I'd be stuck cleaning dishes for the rest of the year. I knew that I was taking a risk; I hadn't told Jason or Annabeth of what I was about to do, and Travis had lost his life while trying to accomplish the same thing. I was going to spy on Perseus Jackson. That's not stalker-ish at all!

I was probably lighter on my feet than Travis and I had much more experience than him; I'd been to freaking Tartarus and back! Then again, Percy had, too. I was at a clear disadvantage; Percy could know I was coming before I was even aware that he was suspicious, and on top of that his sword fighting skills were superior to mine. If he wanted to kill me, he could have. Many times. He could have left me at the hands of Dr. Thorn the manticore, let me die in the Labyrinth, and left me in that bronze jar. There are many more, but I couldn't have possibly listed them all.

I had to admit, my heart was racing and beating so loudly I was afraid that the entire camp could hear it. Blood roared in my ears and my breaths were quick and shallow. I was afraid. So deathly afraid. My legs were like Jell-O and my eyes darted around warily, as if there was danger in every shadow.

It's just Percy; he'd never hurt you. I told myself. Calm the hell down.

But he may have killed Travis. He could be a murderer, waiting for you with a long knife with your name on it. My pessimistic voice chided.

Shut up. I told it.

I was just a few yards away when I saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye. I whirled around and drew my sword, pulling it out of its sheathe and leveling it to the copse of trees where I saw the disturbance. My breathing was hard and I let out a low growl, like a wolf angered by one of its pack-mates. "Come out." I demanded in a loud whisper. "I know you're there." That's when two red eyes appeared in the darkness, blinking at staring unwaveringly at me. Their pupils slit, like a snake's, and then it was gone.

"Hey!" I spat in as loud of a voice as I dared. "Get back here!" And with the mission of spying on Percy forgotten, I took off after it. I raced silently through the trees, watching as the boughs rose up around me like ancient spires. I hissed in agitation and trained my ears to listen for footsteps or the padding of paws, but heard nothing. Had I just hallucinated? That's when I heard a grunt up ahead and the sound of snapping twigs as the thing tripped. Was it just me or did that grunt sound a little too human for my liking?

I felt myself gaining as I pushed myself into an even harder sprint. I needed to catch this thing, for it might have answers. Heck, maybe this monster was the one that killed Travis, not Percy. I knew I shouldn't be too hopeful, since Percy was still high on the list of suspects, but I still couldn't bring myself to believe that the gentle son of Poseidon had been the one to murder his own friend.

It wove through the trees, running in erratic zigzagging patterns in attempt to shake me off, but I was determined not to lose it. The problem was that I couldn't hear the sound of footsteps. Was it floating or flying? If so, why hadn't it taken to the sky already? Tingles raced up and down my spine as I thought about how unnatural it was; either this thing was flying/floating or it didn't make a sound as it walked. Either way it was probably a morbidly twisted monster that looked humanoid. I was horrified just thinking about it.

That's when we raced through a patch of moonlight. All I could catch was the flash of black hair, the form of a blurred human silhouette, and the gleam of bone towards the ground before it had disappeared to the other side. I forced myself to follow. It wasn't a monster I was chasing. It was a camper. A human being. That gleam of bone that I'd seen had been a human fibula; I knew enough about human skeleton structure and anatomy to know what the bone was and which animal it belonged to. I guess the ghosts were right when they said that the anatomy classes would benefit me in the future.

If they had a gash so deep that it showed bone, wouldn't they be limping? Or at least showing some sort of sign that they are in pain? All these questions rattled inside my skull as I continued to run. I tried to convince myself that it wasn't Percy.

He was a centimeter taller than Percy.

A lot of campers have black hair.

Besides, Percy wouldn't be able to run with a gash that deep.

I knew that I was just trying to convince myself. I refused to admit that it was Percy sneaking soundlessly through the night, but the more I denied it the more it became evident that it was Percy that I was chasing. Did he really kill Travis? What had happened that made him do that? A grudge? A fight? Even though Travis had been spying on the son of Poseidon, it was overreacting if Percy shot and killed him out of anger. That would only make sense if Travis saw something that he wasn't supposed to see…

Oh no. I thought as I put a few of the pieces together. My legs screamed and my lungs burned like hellfire. My muscles wailed in protest as I tried to chase him even further, but I fell behind. My vision blurred, my throat was as dry as a desert, and my heart was racing faster than I thought was healthy. With I sigh of defeat I slowed and collapsed onto the ground, shuddering violently as I gasped for air. My palms were slick with sweat and my hand was slippery as I grasped the hilt of my sword. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't.

"Percy?" I whispered and slipped into a dreamless, as well as exhausted, sleep.