"Have you considered Emancipation," Chiron asked me.

"Me?" I looked at him in confusion.

"In a year and a half's time, you may declare yourself an adult. I see no reason to wait until you are eighteen."

I didn't see how it was possible. The way they made it sound, I would be stuck in the infirmary for a long time.

"They never allowed you the luxury of a childhood, why not rise to the challenge?" Chiron continued to watch me but I wasn't sure what to say. "I've completed the Guardianship process. This can be our next step. After the fact, I can begin the process for Conservatorship."

"But why Emancipate me if you're just going to do that?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You don't think it's important?"

"It seems redundant."

"I am trying to help you lay a foundation for your future. I believe it would be an important step for you."

"What if my future is just this?"

"Then we will deal with that when the time comes. Think on it. Perhaps you will feel differently in the future." He started placing leads on my forehead.

"Why are you using the wheelchair?"

"I find it easier to navigate around the infirmary. I was wondering if perhaps, you would do a favor for me?"

"What do you need?"

"I would like to speak to the other, if I may?"

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I felt his movement; the shift in consciousness. I slipped into the background. I wanted to hear this so I didn't go far.

"William tells me that you are the son of Hades and Bacchus? Imagine that: A deity who is Roman and Greek."

"I don't consider myself Roman, nor a son of Bacchus but if it's easier for you."

"Ah... Do you consider it shameful to have a drunkard in your heritage?"

"I didn't consider it at all."

Chiron was silent for several seconds. "Surely, you have an identity outside of being his son and Nico's protector?"

I felt his confusion. "That is who I am. That's what I was meant to do."

"So you would be satisfied with no identity of your own?"

The son of Hades threw a question mark in my direction. Chiron's line of questioning worried me but not enough to intervene. I chose to remain silent.

"I would ask the impossible of Nico; to trust me- us, young William, included- implicitly to keep him alive." He seemed to speak directly into my mind. Outside, Chiron said, "May I suggest the name Vigil?"

"From the Latin Vigilia? I don't think so."

"Or the Italian La Vegilia, meaning guardian. Or the English meaning a way of honoring a fallen soldier, whatever the war may have been."

"That is what I do."

"Then perhaps you can overlook the Latin origin."

"I suppose so," Vigil begrudgingly agreed.

"Chiron," I protested. It wasn't that he was gaining power but that I was losing it.

"Ah, Nico," Chiron smiled at me but his eyes reflected disappointment. "If you don't mind, closing your eyes and imagine a place you would like to achieve one day."

My own Elysian Field. It certainly wasn't this room.

I pictured a deep green forest with waterfalls and sunlight flowing through the canopy. A nearby tree was inviting enough for me to climb so I did. I shouldn't have been able to but I made it to the very top and looked out over the forest. In the distance was beach of glistening sand and a vast ocean beyond. I looked behind me and it was the same. In every direction it was the same. This wasn't Elysium. This was an island.

I shook my head, feeling out of place; out of sync with myself. I touched my forehead to the bark. "I don't belong here," I whispered. This was easily the worst thing I could have done here. The tree shuddered. The bark turned black and tarry and the leaves withered to ash. Something screeched above me. I looked up in fear.

It resembled the fell beasts from Lord of the Rings but with six legs, plus wings. It dove straight towards me, screeching and summoning more like it.

I let go of the tree in my panic and plummeted to the ground. The air turned red and blistering as I fell. The surrounding tree burst into fire. On top of the next hill a huge beast, like a hyena stared at me with hateful eyes. It took a step towards me and I broke and ran.

I could hear it's pounding footfalls as it came for. I made for the treeline, hoping I would be safe there. I prayed it wouldn't catch up with me.

I fell through the treeline and over a small bluff. The ground was steaming basalt and the ocean was lava but somehow swarming with monsters.

The beast that had been chasing me had broken the treeline too now and was still barrelling towards me.

There was a figure walking on the beach. Between the monsters above, the one chasing me and the ones in the ocean, I would take my chances with the figure.

I ran up on them and grabbed for them. "Help me," I shouted.

I was shocked to see it was my dad. The world shimmered back to a normal beach. "Dad, they were pulling me back. I was in-"

"The other Romans?"

I nodded. My early Catholicism was constantly trying to overlap my actual reality. But I wasn't completely mortal and there would be no safe place for me if I fell back into it.

"What do any of us really know," Hades said, wistfully.

It was unnerving to hear him, of all people, say I might be wrong about something so important. "But they think I'm evil. Nephilim, that's the word. And then I had to be gay too."

Hades showed no emotion when he said, "I will not let you down as long as you are my son."

I looked back again and the beast was a goofy looking golden retriever now. I looked at my dad again and said, "He's calling himself Vigil now."

"Excellent news. Soon you will be free of each other."

"But..." I wanted to work with him. "Will that mean I'm not your son anymore?"

"I thought you would want that. You can try for their paradise, if you wish. Otherwise, you are my son as long as you claim it."

I didn't need to think about it. I pushed my fears aside and told him, "You're my dad. You took up for me in Rome."

"What was I to do? She poisoned my child. She needed to feel the pain of it."

"Annabeth?"

Hades demeanor turned ice cold. "Not Annabeth. But perhaps she can explain what happened." He turned to face me directly. "My son, I am flattered that you would bring me here with you but I cannot stay."

I wanted to say something but he was already gone, leaving me alone on the beach.

I could see some ruins in the trees. I decided to explore them.

[Son of Naomi]

I woke up in my room. There was a small wreath woven with aconite, hyacinth and red anemone. The name card was blank except for my name but I recognized Reyna's elegant scrawl.

"It's about time you woke up," Will chided. He was stretched out beside me on the gurney. For someone who didn't want to be my boyfriend he was awfully forward. I liked it but it made me uncomfortable.

"This is my favorite movie. But I'm a Cheerleader!" He set the blu-ray on my chest.

I didn't pay much attention to the movie. Will kept talking about his favorite parts which was basically the whole movie. He also mentioned again how his mother had sent him to a similar camp but much stricter; how he had run away, tried to hurt himself, failed at all of it, let his mother down and the rest of his family too.

I don't know what compelled me but I kissed him. I might be completely broken but I knew what I wanted.

"Oh Nico," he said softly, teasingly. "You really need to work on your technique." I went for a second turn but he stopped me with his hand. "Not tonight. I just had a sixteen hour shift and I just want to sleep." He closed his eyes and rested his head on my shoulder. "Wish me luck. I have finals in three weeks," he murmured sleepily.