A/N: As much as I want to skip to the quest, I want to show Lily's progress in the training process that occurs during the week, so here we go. :)

PS. I did some investigation, and I bring you confirmation: In this story, Nico would be 17, two years younger than Percy and Annabeth. This means he's a year older than Lily, so Lily is kind of pining after him the way he did Percy. (And Nico may or may not still have some lingering feelings for Percy too…)

Lily's POV

I'll give you one piece of advice. Never and I mean never, get on my brother's bad side. Percy's a force to be reckoned with.

I've never gotten knocked down so quickly so many times from so many angles. I've hit the floor of the arena maybe a hundred times now, it's becoming a routine. Percy says I'm getting better at avoiding him, but I know he's only trying to make me feel better.

My skills as a swordsman are just as bad as my skills in hand to hand combat, I'm finding.

"How do you do this? It's impossible," I shout as I dodge Percy's blade just before he hits my shoulder blade. I've already found out, if he hits my shoulder, I'm done for. It's like my Achilles' heel, no pun intended.

"Don't think Lily. Just do. It's why most of us are born with ADHD. It usually helps us fight better because we can keep our attention on multiple opponents or movements at once." He explains as he jabs at my torso. I jump back, nearly falling into the wall. Apparently the ADHD only helps if you have any kind of coordination. Which I don't.

I'm quickly becoming agitated at myself. If I can't figure this out by Sunday, I won't survive my quest. And I'll probably cause the end of the world.

I keep telling myself I've only been training for a day, but I know that's no excuse. In less than an hour I'd heard all the stories about Percy's first day of training.

It's safe to say I pale in comparison.

Of course, I hit the floor the second that thought enters my mind. Returning my attention to the fight, I realize Percy's sword Riptide is at my throat, and I'm out of breath. Normally I would've passed out of exhaustion by now, but Apollo's gift has given me a new sense of energy. My shortness of breath is gone within a few seconds, and I let Percy help me to stand.

"...Well, you were better this time…" Percy lies, looking just above my face. I just turn away from him to pick up my sword from the ground, clicking the 'play' button to transform it back into my golden iPod.

"Hey…Lily, you'll be fine," He says from behind me. I smile slightly, then turn back around.

"I think I should take a quick break. Maybe a walk around the lake will make me feel better." I say, hugging him quickly then leaving before he can grab my arm to stop me.

Soon enough I'm knocking on the door to the Hades' cabin. I want to see Nico. I'm still not sure what I'll say, but I know the words will come when I see him.

He slides the door open slightly after three knocks, then when he sees it's me opens the door wide and motions for me to step inside.

His cabin is no different than it was when I first woke up to it just yesterday. Dark and gloomy, though I personally don't see any of that scary darkness reflected in Nico. He's just hurt because of his father. He's caught in the middle because he wants to please his father, but he refuses to let me get hurt.

Even though I'm still virtually a stranger to him, he's saved my life more than once, risking the wrath of his dad. I'll never be able to thank him properly for that.

Now that it's just me and Nico in his cabin, I start to notice the little details of his room. Pictures are taped to the wall. It's almost a timeline of his childhood, shortened to moments; on the far back wall are a few pictures of young Nico, sometimes smiling by the side of a young girl I don't recognize and sometimes with an older woman I assume to be his mother, at maybe six or seven years old. They're faded, which I find a bit weird, but I ignore it as I return my attention to the other nick-knacks around his room. A dusty chess board on a desk at the corner of the room, an unfinished game of solitaire on the metallic nightstand near his bed, and a pitch black (yet still somehow glowing) sword hanging from the wall. One stray picture lies at the headboard of his bed, placed there by an unusually bright white tack. The picture is recent I can tell, just by glancing back at Nico by the door.

He doesn't say anything as I step closer to his bed, to get a better look. Nico stands between two girls. He wears a tropical button down polo shirt, nothing like the black leather biker jacket he's worn since the day he kidnapped me. He looks happy, even though his arms are visibly covered in scratches and scars and he's much paler than usual. One of the girls actually is familiar to me. I don't know why, but I guess that's not important.

Finally I turn back to Nico, who is playing with something in his hands, his hair covering half of his face. It looks like a figurine, of what I don't know.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be in your business like this." I mumble, not sure if I should leave. Just being with Nico makes me calm. I trust him…and I do care what he thinks of me.

"No it's…fine." He replies, his voice cracking on the word 'fine'. He crosses the room slowly, taking a seat on his bed, the figurine still in his hand. He speaks without looking at me.

"I've heard about the quest. You'll do great," He mumbles.

"I don't exactly agree. Training is going horrible." I reply. He looks at me at last, sadness in his dark ominous eyes.

"This is all my fault…I set this all in motion when I kidnapped you." He continues, placing the figurine down on his nightstand near the Queen of Hearts. It is a figurine, of the god Hades. Nico's father. I can barely make out an inscription that reads 'Mythomagic' at the base.

"None of this is your fault Nico. What your father did has nothing to do with you. I trust you, and I came here because I need a friend." I assure him, giving him a small smile as I sit on the bed next to him. His eyes widen only slightly.

"I'm your friend? After everything I've done to you. After all the suffering I've inflicted?" He questions me, while awkwardly rubbing his skull ring.

"If you want me to be…I mean…I'm not so good at the friend thing. My best friend turned out to be a monster that almost killed me and I kind of feel like Annabeth pities me…I just-" I explain, slightly flustered at the way he looks at me, until he interjects.

"I'll be your friend." He decides, raising his hand as if to give me a hand shake.

I hug him instead, knowing I've taken him by surprise, and possibly that I've crossed the line. But I really need it. And by the way he returns the hug slowly, I know he needed it too.

I still don't know how I'll be able to lead this quest. But I certainly do feel more confident and calmer than I was only a few minutes ago.

Almost an hour later I'm back at it with Percy. I'm still just as bad, but I won't give up. Everyone has out their faith in me, and I will not allow myself to let them down.

A/N: I wanted to give you guys some Nico time. He's one of my favorite characters in the entire series, and we haven't seen or heard much from him since he helped 'resurrect' Lily. Really he hasn't had a full scene yet, only snippets throughout the entire story. I also wanted to give you a sense of Lily's budding crush. I hope you liked it!