SARAH

I don't really remember what happened after I left Nico. My brain felt like someone had tied it in a tangled knot. I think I just wandered around camp, feeling awful. At one point I went down to the shore and dove underwater to try and clear my head. When I resurfaced, I felt calmer and more composed. I took a deep breath and swam back to the beach. In the distance I heard a bell ring. My stomach growled, and reluctantly I trudged back to camp. Before I ate my dinner, I scraped the best part of my meal into a fire, praying to my father and Hades and all the other gods that they would keep Nico di Angelo safe. I sat back down and ate as fast as I could so I would have time to take a pegasus for a ride. When I had finished and walked out of the dining hall, Chiron was waiting for me.

"Hello, Miss Valdez." he said.

I smiled half-heartedly. "Hi."

"I was wondering if you would come with me to the Big House for a little chat?" The centaur offered his hand. I nodded and he swung me up onto his back and cantered off. When we reached the Big House, Chiron motioned for me to sit at the Ping Pong table, and I did. He transformed back into his wheelchair, so he was my height.

"Sarah, I take it Nico has told you what will happen on his quest?" he asked.

I blinked back tears. "Yes, sir."

"Mm," Chiron grunted. "And has he told you how you must stay at camp, even when the fighting has started?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

Chiron looked at me with his three thousand year old eyes. "I would be surprised if you were not a bit annoyed with this prospect." He smiled. "A spirited daughter of Poseidon like yourself would never want to stay at home while you could be out doing your part to save the world."

I nodded. That was exactly how I felt.

Chiron sighed. "Percy has that same attitude. I believe it runs in the family." He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder. "Have patience, Sarah, and do not do anything rash."

I nodded. "I'll try, sir."

"Good." he said. "There is one more thing you should know, Sarah."

Crud, I thought. More bad news.

"The Argo II plans to leave tomorrow afternoon. If there are any good-byes you need to say, you might want to start on them tonight."

Tears welled in my eyes. I only had half a day left with Nico? That couldn't be right.

Chiron sighed. "I'm sorry, Sarah. I know it's hard. You should run along and go see him."

I nodded as a tear made its way down my face. I walked out of the Big House and ran back to my cabin, crying freely. I had only a little time left with Nico, the one boy I cared about. I burst into my cabin and flung myself onto the nearest bunk, sobbing. So many things had crashed on me today, and my brain had had enough. I lay there for maybe an hour when I heard a knock on the door.

I lifted my head. "Who is it?"

"It's Nico. Can I talk to you?"

I rolled out of bed, splashed some water on my face, and went outside, hoping my face looked okay.

"Of course." I said. We sat down on the steps, our shoulders touching.

"Chiron told me you were leaving tomorrow." I said.

He nodded. "Yeah. Leo told me." He looked at me. "I wish we had more time together."

I nodded. "Me too. There's so much I wanted to tell you."

"Same here." he agreed. When he lifted his head our eyes met, and I started noticing all these little details about him, like how adorable he looked with his hair hanging in his face, and how deep and beautiful his eyes were. He looked like an emo version of Aladdin… I know it sounds odd but trust me it was perfect.

Nico smiled this little half smile and my mind went blank. What was my name again…? He reached out and tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear, and his hand lingered on my cheek. His fingers were as cold as ice. I smiled at him, and his eyes sparkled. Gosh his eyes are gorgeous, I thought.

Suddenly a loud bell clanged in the distance and brought me to my senses. I looked at Nico, who was blushing furiously.

"I guess that was the curfew bell." I said.

Nico nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I should head back to my cabin." He stood up and started to walk away.

"No!" I exclaimed. I stood up and grabbed his arm. "Heck with the curfew! Let's go for a pegasus ride. Just you and me, over Manhattan."

"Pegasi don't like me." Nico said.

"I don't care! Look, this is the last night we have together." I pleaded.

Nico smiled. "Alright."

I turned to go but stopped myself. "Wait. We go on one condition."

Nico looked confused. "What's that?"

"We forget all the bad stuff that's happened and is going to happen. We leave it all behind and just have fun together. Can we do that?"

Nico grinned. "Most definitely."

I beamed. "Race you there!" I broke into a run, laughing. I sprinted as fast as I could, throwing all dignity and care to the wind. When I reached the stables, I slammed my hand against the wall, breathing hard. Nico was yards behind me.

When he reached the barn, he was laughing. "I think you won."

I giggled, still out of breath. "You think?"

He laughed some more, and I felt happier than I had been in a long time. We walked into the stables, and when we passed by, all the horses whinnied in distress.

"Calm down, everyone." I said. I put my hand on Nico's shoulder. "He's with me." The horses settled down, but still looked suspicious. I turned to Nico and started walking down the row of stables.

"Who do you want to ride? Porkpie is easy, but not very fast or exciting. Soldier's kind of a butt so let's not ride him…" I said.

Nico laughed. "Yeah maybe we won't ride Soldier."

"Nope." I agreed. "Now let's see… Ginger's not bad, but she's really tiny so we probably won't both fit. Atlas would work, but his flying is a bit choppy and hard for beginners. Enigma… Now Enigma would be perfect! Smooth flying, very cooperative, fun to ride. C'mon!" I motioned for Nico to follow me and I opened her stall door.

Enigma whinnied loudly. The boy! He smells bad!

I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, girl, he's fine. He's with me." I smiled. "I'll give you an extra apple when we get back."

Enigma snorted. And an extra carrot.

"And an extra carrot." I agreed. I led her out into the aisle. Nico looked nervous. I smiled encouragingly at him and mounted Enigma.

I offered him my hand and told him how to get on. "Just jump and swing your leg over." He tried, but Enigma skittered to the side. I smacked her lightly on the neck and told her to quit.

When Nico finally mounted, I told Enigma to take us to Manhattan.

Will do! she snorted, and took off like a shot. Nico put his arms around me for balance, and I smiled to myself. Enigma soared above the big city, gracefully swooping and diving so we could admire the lights. Oh, I was in heaven. For the first time in a long while, I felt carefree and happy.

Nico put his chin on my shoulder and said, "This is perfect."

I smiled. "Yes it is."

"You want to know something?" Nico asked.

I nodded. "Of course."

Nico smiled. "This wouldn't be perfect if you weren't here." He kissed me on the cheek. "Thank you, Sarah."

I almost fell off the pegasus in happiness. I heard Enigma nicker softly, and I knew she was giggling. Shut up, I told her jokingly.

After an hour of cruising the skies of Manhattan, Enigma flew us back to camp. We dismounted, and I gave her an apple and carrot like I promised. Nico and I walked out of the stables.

"What do you want to do now?" I asked.

Nico shrugged. "I don't care. Just as long as you're with me." He smiled, and his eyes sparkled.

"How about we go to the shoreline?" I asked.

"Sounds good to me." Nico agreed. He took my hand and together we walked to the beach.

The water sparkled with the light of the full moon, and the sand looked pure white. Beautiful. I smiled at Nico, and he smiled back.

"I don't know about you," I ventured. "but I would love cruising around the ocean in a giant bubble."

Nico laughed. "That would be awesome." We kicked off our shoes and Nico took off his jacket. I took his hand and waded into the water. I willed Nico to stay dry too. I dove underwater and pulled him in. I made a giant air bubble around us, solid enough to stand on.

Nico beamed. "This is so stinkin cool."

I laughed. "Being a daughter of Poseidon certainly has its perks."

Nico snorted. "You think?"

I willed the bubble to move and smiled at Nico. "Being a son of Hades is cool too."

"Really?" Nico looked genuinely surprised.

"Of course!" I exclaimed. "You are one of the most powerful demigods ever. You can talk too ghosts, you can make boulders appear out of the earth—

"You find that impressive?" Nico asked.

"Heck yeah!"

Nico beamed. "That's a first. Most people think it's creepy."

"I'm not most people." I said.

"Got a point there." Nico agreed. I chuckled.

"No, I'm serious!" Nico said. "You are the only person I know who isn't scared of me. You're easy to talk to and you actually make an effort to be with me."

I frowned. "No one's done that before?"

"No one except Bianca and Hazel." Nico looked sad.

I touched his hand. I didn't really know what to say. He put his arm around my shoulders and smiled at me.

"I'm glad you came along, Sarah." He said.

"Ditto." We fell silent. A dolphin and a hippocampi swam by, and I waved at them. Eventually we sat down against the wall of the bubble and I leaned against him. He was cold, but I didn't mind.

"Sarah?" he asked.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Has anyone told you that your hair is really soft?"

I laughed. "No, I don't think so." I looked up at him. "Has anyone told you that you're really cute?" I asked, knowing what the answer was.

"No." He said, and looked rather puzzled. "Am I?"

I smiled. "To me, anyway." Nico blushed, but looked really happy. I looked out into the water and saw a shark swim by.

"Hey!" I yelled to get its attention. It turned and looked at me.

Yes, my lady? It asked.

"Do you know if the sun is up yet?"

The shark shook its head. I'll check. It swam up and was gone for about two minutes, then it came back. The sun just rose my lady, it reported.

I turned to Nico. "Think we should head back?" I asked.

He sighed. "I suppose."

I willed the bubble back to camp and to the surface. It rolled onto the beach and popped. Nico grabbed his jacket and we put on our shoes.

He looked at me. "Well that was some night."

I grinned. "It sure was."

We walked back to camp, and Hazel was waiting for us. She looked shocked and a little nervous.

"Where have you been?" She asked Nico.

"Um…" He looked at me and I shrugged.

Hazel started fanning her face. "Oh gods, if you pulled a Percy/Annabeth…"

Nico looked amused. "No, Hazel. It was nothing like that."

I was curious. What had Percy and Annabeth done that was so bad? I glanced at Nico and saw he was trying not to laugh.

Hazel still looked anxious. "Well you better get ready cause we have to meet Chiron at the Big House at 9."

I snorted. "No way Leo's gonna be awake by then, he normally sleeps til noon. I'll go make sure he's up."

Hazel looked at me. "Thanks…"

"Sarah." I told her. "Sarah Valdez. Leo's cousin." I held out my hand and she shook it tentatively.

"Anyway." Nico said. "I'll be there, Hazel."

Hazel smiled and walked off. I looked at Nico.

"A Percy/Annabeth?" I asked.

Nico laughed. "Oh yeah. Apparently they fell asleep in the loading dock of the Argo one night. Hazel is the only one who's really bothered by it. For the 1940's that's pretty scandalous."

I giggled and Nico smiled. "Well, I'd better get to the Big House." He said.

"And I'd better get lazy bones Valdez out of bed." I said. We shared a smile, then left to do our various tasks.

Wow, that was super long. Thanks for reading all that! -Sicily