Nico woke up slowly and glanced out the window. His head felt heavy as he looked up from the books it lay on. True darkness had fallen and the camp was quiet so it had to be after lights out. He had been going over myths and major historical events, trying to find evidence of the Gray Lady in history and must have fallen asleep. He stood and stretched right as Kaie walked past his window. Too curious for his own good, Nico slipped outside and into the shadows to follow her.

She stopped on the beach and sat on the sand dunes looking out at the relatively calm water. A bottle of whiskey lay against her legs and she was in the middle of pulling a pack of cigarettes from her back pocket. A spark flared to life in her hand as she lit one before putting dropping the pack in the sand.

"You gonna stay there all night?" She breathed out a small cloud of smoke as she lay back in the sand, staring up at the night sky. "How do you do that?" Kaie shrugged in response as Nico sat down next to her.

"You know those are bad for you right?" Kaie smiled but continued to stare up at the stars. "You don't smoke?" Nico shook his head. "Used to. Then dad decided to trap me in a cavern with every person who had ever died in any way connected to smoking for a few days. Gave it up pretty quickly after that."

They sat in silence but for the sound of the waves hitting the beach for a while. "You would think I would be used to it by now." Kaie spoke quietly. "Used to what?" Nico asked uncertainly. He didn't want to get dragged into this. Hades, he didn't even know why he was out here. "Coming back and finding the people I knew were dead." Nico shrugged. "I'm the son of Hades. I can see those who have died and I still can't get used to it. Loss and our reaction to it is what makes us human."

Silence fell again before Kaie broke it as she flicked her cigarette into the dunes and opened the bottle of whiskey. "You want to know why I don't think about the consequences of smoking?" She asked bitterly. "Why?" Nico simply gave her cause to answer. He realized now that she needed to vent more than anything right now.

"I have never lived past twenty five. In all my lives. Every time I die young. Every. Damn. Time." She offered him the bottle. He took it with a shrug, curiosity piqued. "How many times have you lived?" Kaie took the bottle back and tossed some back, letting the alcohol burn her throat. "Twelve I think. They get blurry after a while. Gods only know of nine though." "How's that possible." Kaie shrugged and passed him the bottle again. "Sometimes they are the threat and I have to work against them."

They sat in silence once again. Nico was surprised to find it was comfortable. "You can ask." He jumped slightly at the sudden noise. "How'd you know what I was thinking?" Every time Nico thought he understood her, she did something completely impossible. Not impossible, Nico realized after a moment, godlike.

Kaie laughed softly before looking over at Nico. "I can't read minds. It would be awesome if I could but I just know you have questions. People always do." She reached over him and grabbed the bottle of whiskey, well aware of how he tensed when her arm brushed his knee. He seemed lost in thought. She knew he was trying to figure out where to start.

"Where were you during the Titan war?" Kaie caught bitterness in his voice. "In Chicago." "Why didn't you do anything?" Frustration overrode all other emotion's in Nico's voice, surprising Kaie.

"I couldn't." "Why? 'Cause of some ancient rules?" "Yes." Nico tried to interrupt again but Kaie continued before he could, honesty flowing out before she thought to hide the truth.

"When the Titans and Kronos in particular began to rise, the ripples of energy were enormous. The metal implants were not enough to block me from the effects. I spent five months in a the hospital. The doctors thought I was in a coma but it was more of my body reducing it's functions so my mind could handle the massive input."

"Oh. Sorry." Kaie shrugged and knitted her hands under her head as she watched the stars. "Don't be. Gaia turned it into an opportunity."

"How so?"

"Rather than block the events from me she showed them to me. I watched the second Titan war unfold from a hospital bed."

"That's how you recognized Clarisse, Percy, and Annabeth." Kaie could hear the realization in Nico's voice. She looked over, catching the knot of confusion forming between his eyes. "But why didn't you know about Zoe then?"

"There was a lot of stuff going on at once." Sadness washed over Kaie as she realized what her mother had done. "Gaia probably hid it from me."

Kaie ran a finger around the mouth of the glass bottle. She reached for the pack of cigarettes by her feet but Nico reached them first, crushing the pack in one hand before tossing it into the dunes. Kaie glared menacingly but Nico seemed unaffected. "Whoops." He grinned, unrepentant, and Kaie felt a weight lift off her shoulders.

Nico didn't know why he tossed away the cigarettes. It had been pure impulse but seeing Kaie's face while they talked and the numerous emotions she tried to hide as she spoke, made it worth the risk of her being mad at him. He knew from experience that holding back emotions or pushing them onto someone else never ended well. If he could help her, he would. He flopped back into sand and looked up at the same stars she had been gazing so intently at, trying to find whatever she saw in them.

After several moments he gave up. "So how come you didn't recognize me when I showed up at your apartment." He was glad she laughed. "You changed a lot since then." Nico wasn't sure how to respond. It had been impossible not to change during those chaotic weeks.

On an impulse he changed the subject. "When was the last time you lived?" He didn't know why the question sounded so personal. His curiosity overrode all survival instincts. Apparently Percy was rubbing off on him. "Late 19th century." Kaie's voice was quite, all emotion repressed.

Nico racked his mind, trying to figure out what big events had happened during that time. He came up blank, instantly regretting writing off history classes for so many years. Apparently it would have been useful. They lay in silence for a time before Nico drifted off. Too exhausted from the past few days and too comfortable in the sand to bother returning to his cabin.

Please Review! Any and all input helps. Kaie's story could go in two different directions right now and I'm trying to decide which one will work better. Any thoughts on the story so far will help me decide.