Camp Jupiter had not been alone in sensing the looming darkness. Camp Half-blood was having it's own share of weird. Weird even by the standards of a demigod, and all that happened ever since at the camp seemed to be the signs of an approaching apocalypse. Shadows were found across the Camp, from the Canoe Lake to the forest, they'd find shadows in random places. Shadows that resembled nothing of it's surroundings.

The vain hope that it had all been an elaborate prank by the Stolls had been put to rest knowing that the Stolls were still recovering from the last time they had peaked the campers, and the rest of the Hermes Cabin seemed to be as clueless as the others.The Hecate Cabin denied being involved in anything of the sort, even as Piper and Drew worked to calm the campers. The Hypnos cabin was unusually vigilant, and the Athena Cabin was all but clueless. Not an everyday occurrence at Camp!

It was at this time that they missed Rachel's presence. With the gods busy as it is, and Chiron still looking to help the camp recover both from the war, and from the Stolls' pranks, the campers were stretched thin between setting up precautions and looking for answers. Neither Annabeth nor Percy had joined them yet, and Jason was still at Camp Jupiter. They had no other leader to look to. They had all left for college, and this time, they were more lost than ever.

"Hey there,death boy!" A voice rang out in the clearing, breaking the ominous silence that had settled over the safe haven for half-bloods. The soft voice of Will Solace, son of Apollo, and a healer of the camp. Nico froze mid-step. If there was one person who could do that to him, it was Will, his boyfriend. He knew very well that he was in for a nice scolding. He braced himself and turned around, though a smile made it's way to his face uninvited.

"What are you doing here? You were supposed to stay at the infirmary. Recovering. Not walking around to the gods know where, effectively undoing any good I may have done for you."

Nico looked right down at his shoes, which seemed to be more interesting at the moment.

"Three days up, Will! I'm leaving to meet Hazel. It's been a while."

"And how exactly do you suppose you would go there?"

Nico did not dignify that with an answer, though Will didn't really need one. Seeing Nico look at anywhere but his face was an answer enough.

"I've told you already, death boy. When I call you that it doesn't mean you have to be dead, or kill yourself, which is what you'd be doing should you decide to shadow travel once more, in case you weren't listening to me the last three days!"

"Don't worry about that. I'll manage somehow."

"Easy for you to say. As your boyfriend, I'm supposed to worry about that!"

"Very well. I'll take the hellhound. Is that any better?""That's ok. Come back safe."

Nico nodded and took of to leave. On the way back to his cabin, he ran head-first into Pollux.

"Whoa there! What's the hurry there?""Oh! I'm sorry about that. And Pollux? Can you just let your dad and Chiron know that I'll be gone for a while? I'll just be visiting Camp Jupiter. It'll be a few days at most."

Pollux nodded and walked his way to his dad, Dionysus, or Mr.D, as he likes to be called at Camp. He thought of how much he missed his twin. Time had flown by, but the pain had hardly lessened. It felt different, knowing that he alone had survived of the two of them. 'Was this how Nico felt when they had all stayed away from him?' he wondered. Maybe it was time he moved on. His father did seem more concerned for him, and he had noticed it. He at least, held the hope that things could change for the better.

It was not long before Nico found himself well within New Rome, and waved at Mrs.O'Leary even as she bounded back into the shadows. Maybe she was going back to Hades to meet Cerberus. They did seem to keep grabbing each other's attention after all! He found Hazel training with the Fifth Cohort. She didn't seem too surprised to see him there, though she looked no less enthusiastic when she ran up to him. She hugged him tight,and for once, he returned it. She was his sister, and he loved her too much not to.

"What brings you here Nico?"

"Nothing much, really. I just wanted to see you. It's been a long time. So, how are things going with Frank? I don't suppose I'll have something to say?"

"It's all fine here Nico,though we could really get used to having you around more often. I'm happy for you though."

"Well, I think I'll go meet Reyna then. Catch you later!"

Nico walked straight into the principia. He'd expected Reyna to either be surprised, or annoyed. Relieved, was something he never expected.

"Hey Nico! It's good to see you around here," she said looking up from a piece of paper that she held.

"Good to see you too. Have you noticed how gloomy it's been lately? I'm almost sure something is wrong. What do you think?"

Reyna sighed. "You're right. I know something is wrong. I just spoke to Rachel a while ago, and she gave me some...insight into this. I'm still not sure what it means Nico, but it doesn't sound like anything good. How are things at Camp?"

Nico filled her in with the details of the shadows that they seemed to be finding.

"I tried asking around a few souls, but they don't seem to know anything either.""That doesn't sound too good for us Nico. I think it is best if you had a look at this.""Yeah sure. What's that anyway? At least it can't be a prophecy. They aren't working yet. Right?"