AN: More Percy and Nicole in this chapter than you can ever dream of (mostly dialogue)! Yep, fluffy fluffyness with a dash of fluff. The end IS actually substantially important though.

As Nicole lay uncomfortably in the backseat of the car, she swore to make a note to herself that it was a bad idea to go on a camping trip with Percy Jackson. Even if it was accidental. She thought back on the long day before it. If only Percy had listened to her instead of showing off...

"Why are we driving again?"

Percy looked at her like she had said 'hey, wouldn't it be a good idea if we tried to resurrect all the Titans and see if we can live a life of peace and rainbows with them?'

"I could easily just shadow travel us there, it would only take a second."

She could sense genuine confusion. "But... but... car..."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Fine, but if you crash it, I will make sure you go straight to the Fields of Punishment, and I will request your torture to be watching all the Twilight films on loop for eternity."

"That's just plain mean. Even for you. I am not going to crash it."

"Whatever you say..." Nicole reluctantly climbed in the passenger seat of Percy's new car. When they begun driving, it was classic road trip. To Long Island. All two hours of it. Hour one was fine, Nicole hadn't gotten to properly talk to Percy for a while. He was busy with school and she was busy with bouncing back and forth from the Underworld, then to see Hazel and then back to Camp Half Blood or anywhere else. She definitely didn't obey the rules about not leaving camp. Nobody bothered to ask her about it. She had important things to do!

Now it was the beginning of winter break. Holiday fun at camp! Yay! Not. Nicole did like it there, it felt the closest to home. She had some friends, she spent most of her time getting into trouble with the likes of the Stoll brothers, though Travis had gotten a bit moony eyed over Katie Gardner.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Percy's car started to slow down.

"What's happening?"

Percy had his winning 'I've done something wrong' expression. "Well, you know cars need gas, right?"

"Yes..." Nicole was afraid she knew what he was going to say next.

"Well... I may have, uh, forgotten to fill the car up."

Nicole was ready to banish him to Tartarus. "YOU DID WHAT?"

"I'm sorry?"

"NOT ONLY DO YOU WASTE TIME WITH YOUR PRECIOUS CAR BY MAKING US DRIVE HERE BUT YOU ALSO FORGET TO LOOK AFTER IT PROPERLY? PERSEUS JACKSON I AM GOING TO PULVERISE YOU!" Percy winced at the use of his full name. The worst part about this ordeal? Percy had decided to demonstrate the greatness of Satellite Navigation by driving through the weirdest route to make a point. Percy had driven slightly into the forest, to get the car out of the road. They were literally lost.

"Now would be a good time to use your shadow travel..."

Nicole started yelling at him in Italian. She was almost glad he didn't understand her. When she was done, she got ready to go get some gas. She was just about to open the door, when a child who looked about 11 years old came to the window.

Nicole felt shivers down her spine. "Is that you?" Percy asked. She shook her head.

Slowly, Nicole rolled down the window. "Are you okay?"

The girl shook her head. "Can I come in?" Nicole looked back at Percy, who was shaking his head.

"Umm, no. I'm sorry."

Instantly the girl's expression completely changed. Her eyes changed to complete black, even the white. All the veins popped out on her impossibly pale face. She looked like a carbon copy of the grudge. Instantly the doors were flung open and Percy and Nicole ended up on the grass.

"Monster!"

"You think?" Nicole said sarcastically. Percy was a bit slow sometimes.

"Demigods beware. You will face the wrath of the earth." Her voice was creepy, but also childish. As if she was taunting them. She blew some sort of black pixie dust and Nicole passed out.

~0o0~

"Is she gone?" Percy asked, groaning.

"Seems like it."

Percy collapsed. "Oh gods, are you okay?"

He rubbed his back. "I'm fine, but I haven't felt weak like this since-"

Nicole felt drained. This was weird. At night she could usually sense the shadows. She couldn't feel a thing, not the fear, not the darkness, not the souls. It was like she was blind. She tried raising rock dust. Nothing.

"Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I try something?" Before he could answer she slashed him as gently as possible with her sword.

"OW!"

"Percy, your Achilles Curse... She took our powers."

"Wait what? So you can't shadow travel us out of here?"

Nicole shook her head. "No. We're stuck here."

"Forever?"

"I don't think so, Lou-Ellen from the Hecate cabin once made this potion that erased demigod abilities, but she said no magic administered by a single dose of potion or, let's say, dust would last permanently. This is all your fault!"

"My fault? You're the one who rolled down the window!"

"You lead me into a horror movie! Two children of the big three, in a secluded area, powerless? That screams death."

"So I guess we're camping then?"

~0o0~

So that's how Nicole ended up in the back seat lying next to Percy. Neither of them felt like sleeping, so once Nicole had calmed down her anger, she talked to Percy about anything and everything. They stared at the stars through the clear sun roof. Was this what it was like to be mortal? Nicole felt naked. All her senses were toned down. What would life be like without monsters? Would it be peaceful? Would she be able to go on "camping trips" with her best friend without being forced to?

"What are you thinking about?" Percy barely whispered.

Nicole turned to her side so that she was facing him. "Mortality."

"Why?"

"I never got to live a normal life, not that I remember."

"I thought you loved being a demigod?"

"I do. But sometimes the mind wonders... About lots of things..."

Percy looked her in the eyes. "What else does it wonder about?"

Nicole gulped. "You don't want to know the complications of my brain."

"Maybe I do."

"Sometimes I just think about whether I want pancakes or waffles for breakfast. I like to make lists about what I should do that day. Other times I wonder why you, Percy Jackson, Hero of Olympus, spend your time with me, Nicole Di Angelo, emo daughter of Hades."

"You're not an emo."

"Most people think I am. The only reason they don't say anything about it is that they're scared of me."

"You radiate fear and death..."

Nicole smiled. "But you're not scared of me, why?"

Percy thought about it for a moment. "I was, at first. But I don't feel that unsteadiness anymore."

"Maybe it's because I trust you. Probably the most out of anyone."

"You do?"

"Percy, although you have your moments of sheer stupidity, I would trust you with my life."

"I would say the same for you."

This was getting way too deep for Nicole. "Even though I hit you with my sword?"

Percy laughed slightly. "That hurt, you know?"

"How does it feel, shutting off pain and then rediscovering it?"

"I don't know, weird, I guess?"

"Does invincibility ever get boring?"

"Sometimes, it makes me feel less human. Like I'm untouchable. It's not always good."

Nicole shook her head. "Percy, you are the most human non-human I know."

"That makes no sense."

"When have you and I ever made sense?"

Percy didn't say anything. He was wearing his conflicted expression. Gods it sucked not being able to read his emotions. Nicole could only really sense fear, but it helped to see into whoever's thoughts. Then Nicole was glad she couldn't read his emotions. He kissed her. Only lightly, nothing compared to last time. Their lips barley brushed.

"Now." He was blushing so hard. That was kinda cute. Nicole forgot that she had convinced herself she didn't like Percy. She held his face in her hands and kissed him again. This was different than last time. That had all been urgency and desperation. This was slower. Gentler. Nicole's hands brushed against his back. He jerked back.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought my Achilles Curse was gone..."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

Percy looked at her and took a deep breath. "My mortal point. It's kind of ticklish."

"You mean that's-"

"Yeah. I guess I do trust you with my life..."

They both lay back, flat on their backs. Nicole was scared out of her mind. "Goodnight, Percy."

"Goodnight, Nicole."

~0o0~

The next morning, Nicole felt weirdly groggy. It took her a few minutes to remember where she was. She was used to this feeling. She felt uncharacteristically warm. Pressure. There was pressure at her side. She was curled up next to him. Her heart fluttered. Gods, she hated being so cheesy. She couldn't help it. Last night... She gulped. Doubt engulfed her. She told herself not to panic, but that was hard.

"Morning." Percy said sleepily.

Nicole, unfortunately, decided the yawn at that moment. Great. "Back at ya."

"Powers?" Nicole tried to move a rock experimentally. Nothing.

"Nope." She replied.

"Gods, this is weird."

"Hmph? Oh, yeah... It's like one of my senses has been taken away."

"Senses?"

"I can sense fear, death, you know this."

"So, if I get slightly scared..."

"Oh yeah, in the Titan war you alone were radiating more than the rest put together."

"Was not!" He said, giving her a shove.

Nicole shook her head and rubbed her eyes. What were they meant to do again? Gas. Nicole sat up and Percy looked at her questionably. The air outside was freezing. Was this what cold was like? Absolutely strange. She shivered.

"What's up with you?" Percy asked, joining her.

"C-c-cold." She complained, wrapping her naturally icy arms around herself. Percy, rather unhelpfully, didn't take this seriously.

"Now you know how it feels," he said, nearly doubling over with laughter.

Nicole was getting angry at him. "Oh, really? So you want to know how pain feels then? If we're up for new experiences?" She drew her sword, making Percy jump back.

"I didn't really mean it..." Nicole didn't need her demigod ability to see how scared he was. It was her turn to laugh.

"You have you own sword, Perce..."

"True..."

Nicole shook her head. "Come on, best get walking."

~0o0~

After the longest walk ever and considerable play fighting (much more fun without the invincibility), they were finally on the way to Camp Half Blood. Nicole found it funny how they hadn't mentioned last night. Well, it wasn't funny. More annoying than anything else. At least it wasn't awkward. In fact, Percy seemed to tease her more.

"How come you don't write poetry?" He asked, tapping the steering wheel.

"What?"

"Aren't you gothic types meant to be into all of that?"

"For your information, the only reason I wear black is because it's easier to shadow travel. Second of all, stop stereotyping. Thirdly, if I wrote a poem, it would go something like this:

Oh woe my soul betide
My heart beats on the wrong side
The feeling that I am sinking when I could fly
What to do with my miserable life? *sigh*"

That impromptu poem filled with fake drama earned a laugh. It was a relief when they finally reached camp. Nicole still raised a couple of eyebrows when she walked through the border. Technically, she wasn't supposed to have left at all. She didn't really care for the rule. If only she could shadow jump to her cabin...

The rest of the day was actually alright. Lots of people had decided to come back for winter break. Nicole shivered when she saw Rachel, remembering the last conversation they had. Nobody seemed to care that much about her and Percy losing their abilities. She briefly remembered Annabeth laughing out loud.

~0o0~

It took Nicole until the bonfire to realise the misery of coldness. It didn't help that she didn't actually own any warm clothes. She had checked her cabin at least three times with no result. Just dark skinny/ripped jeans, black vest tops, a couple of lighter t-shirts. Gods, this sucked. The fact that the walls were made from solid obsidian meant that cabin 13 was seriously cold. No central heating. Even the Greek Fire wasn't heating her up.

Nicole had given up and fell in a heap on the floor. She ran her fingers along her Stygian blade. She yanked her hand off at first contact. It was cold like ice. So freezing it burnt her. How did she deal with this? Normally it just felt cool. Was her body temperature really that low?

She had hoped actual fire would work. Nope. It had been her natural reaction to stand in the shadows. They did nothing. Maybe made it worse. Nicole distracted herself by looking at Percy. He seemed to have acquired his own little fan club of younger demigods. He caught her gaze and mouthed 'help'.

Percy excused himself and walked over to Nicole. "Losing the will to live here!"

Nicole laughed dismissively. "That bad?"

"You were worse."

"I was twelve."

"I seem to remember you doing a happy dance."

"Shut up," she said, and they walked away to the beach. Their friendship was like this, unspoken agreements and senses. She started shivering again. She didn't mind, though, when Percy awkwardly put an arm around her.

Unfortunately, it was unnecessary. By the time they reached the sand, Nicole could feel again. The chill left her bones and she could sense everything. Like her life was put on HD.

"Percy?" She asked.

"Hmm?"

"Wanna try something?"

He looked at her. "Okay..."

She led him to the first area of wet sand. "I've been thinking. You know what Athena said? On Olympus, about combining our power? Well, I think we should do it, but without the life threatening bit."

"How would we do that?"

Nicole swallowed. "Well, last time you touched my shoulder, and I managed to channel you, and vice versa. What if we could channel each other's powers, rather than essence?"

"I'm confused..."

So thick sometimes... "Watch." Nicole focused her power on the sand, crushed rock. She told it to levitate. She smiled when she had a small sphere of sand floating in front of her eyes. There was a pool of water now. "Your turn."

Percy looked either unsure or impressed, but he did the same with the water.

"You ready?" He nodded and the both brought the spheres together. As they collided, Nicole was expecting it to fail. Instead, she felt stronger, but only slightly. They were both controlling a clump of wet sand. Now to see if this would work... Nicole let go and amazingly, the sand remained levitating for at least ten seconds.

"I can't believe that actually worked! Perce, you were controlling the rock!"

"I... I was?"

Nicole nodded. "This is so cool."

"Now we can be the real team badass," he smiled. Earlier in the year, Percy had tried to introduce her to video games. It had mostly resulted in Nicole squealing at the magical box that displayed moving pictures, but they had still won. They were playing some kind of game named after a fish or something, though the game itself was about guns and war. Nicole, being a child of the 1930s, didn't understand how war was enjoyable, but she chose not to ask.

"Perce..." She gulped.

"Yeah?"

Come on, courage. Where are you? "So... last night..."

"Oh, um, yeah, uhhhhh."

Nicole rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the collar of his T-shirt. Kissing him for the second time in 24 hours seemed to shut him up. She could have sworn the sea behind them got a lot less calm. When she let him go, he blinked.

"So, are we, like-"

"I don't know, do you want to be?"

"Well, uh... Do you?"

Nicole smirked slightly. "C'mon, we'll miss curfew."

Percy raised his eyebrows. "Since when have you cared?"

"I'm tired," she shrugged, before taking his hand.

~0o0~

Nicole woke to pounding on her door. She had never been a morning person. "mmm go away!"

"Nicole!" A female voice called out.

Nicole sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What do you want?"

Annabeth burst in. "It's Percy. He's missing."

Nicole shook her head, not fully taking it in. "You sure he's not just being lazy?"

Annabeth shook her out of bed. "You don't think we didn't check the whole camp? Come on, you're the only one with teleportation powers here. Find him."

Nicole rubbed her head, having fallen on the floor. "One, it's called shadow travel, not teleportation. Two, you will not, nor will you ever demand orders. Three, " she looked at the clock, "It's eight AM. Come back in two hours and I might cooperate."

Annabeth didn't seem to like this idea, because she grabbed the tip of Nicole's ear, pulling her up. "No. You have to look now."

"Uggg. Annabeth, I will banish you to the Styx if you don't get your hands off me!"

"Fine," she said, letting go reluctantly. "Get dressed," she added, before storming out of Nicole's cabin. With the absence of the human megaphone, Nicole could think clearly. Percy was missing? Alive, most definitely, but missing? Why? A shiver set through Nicole's spine. Getting dressed superhumanly fast, she shadow jumped right into Rachel's cave.

"Oh hey, Nicole..."

"Cut the crap. Come on, Oracle, I know you're in there." She shook Rachel violently.

"Nicole, what are you-" Rachel's voice tripled and her eyes turned green.

"Lone demigod's prophecy to complete,
An ancient force she must solely defeat,
Deathly consequences in blood,
The sacrifice shall forever flood,
Inner demons override,
Chaos and order divide,
Betrayal, doom, demise,
Without the greatest ally in disguise."

Rachel almost fainted. Nicole didn't blame her, she felt like she would, too.

"What... What did I say?"

Nicole shook all over. All she had wanted was to see if this prophecy had begun. She swallowed. "Great prophecy 3.0."