Nico started to put the figurine on his night stand while he slept, so that every time he woke up the figurine would greet him with its gloomy expression. He would put it in his pocket and not touch it for the day but in the evening, he'd take it out, whisper "Good night" to it and then he'd fall asleep. The figurine didn't help against his nightmares but it helped against the fear when he woke up screaming again. Nico had the feeling that its expression changed a bit into sadness every time he'd wake up. But of course his time on the Argo II didn't last, nothing seemed to last in his life.

The second time Nico voluntary showed someone the figurine was when Reyna learned about his secret. It was also the second time Nico talked about Bianca and when Reyna said as Hazel had months before: "She sounds wonderful." Nico nodded and whispered: "I guess, she was."

The spark of fury wasn't gone yet, but the sadness weighed more. She left him, yes, but he could understand her now. They weren't so different, were they now? He left all of those that might have eventually cared about him behind too, didn't he?

"She would've liked you", Nico told Reyna.

"If she'd been anything like you, I'm sure I would've loved her", Reyna said, squeezed his shoulder and smiled one of her rare smiles. After a few minutes she started snoring.

After that Nico started touching the figurine for luck before he went into battle. He didn't think it helped anything. He didn't believe in luck but it helped calm him down at least. He put the figurine in his pocket and brush one finger across its material and just like that the monsters slowed down and he had time to charge.

Shortly after Gaia's battle, Nico started to hang out with Will. They were an odd pair and Nico was well aware of that. Him, the gloomy and depressed son of Hades and Will, the overly cheerful, always optimistic son of Apollo. But it didn't change anything about the fact that both of them craved the presence of the other. They were like shadow and sun, nobody could exist without the other. And as it had to be, Nico developed a crush on Will.

Opposite to the public belief, Nico didn't wait ages to tell him (he wasn't Percy!), no Nico just touched his figurine and charged into battle. And he charged without hesitance, he was no coward.

"Would you like to go on a date with me?", Nico asked in the privacy of the infirmary (not in public, again he wasn't Percy!).

Will choked on the sandwich he'd been eating. It took five minutes for the coughing fit to pass but when it did, he said, still red in the face: "Y...Yeah... Sure!"

Before the date Nico touched the figurine again and what can he say? It went wonderful, three weeks later they were a couple.

That was when Nico started leaving the figurine in his cabin, he didn't need it anymore to stop the loneliness from coming. He still looked at it every night before he fell asleep, but he rarely put it in his pocket.

Will saw the figurine the first time after a long session of slow kissing, standing there on top of Nico's shelf.

"What's that?", Will asked while he stroked his boyfriend's hair.

"A present from my sister."

"Hazel gave it to you?"

"No", Nico said quietly. "It's from Bianca."

Will stopped stroking for a few seconds before continuing once more.

"You never talk about her", Will said.

"What's there to tell? You know her story. You've been in camp already when Bianca and I came."

"I know how she died if that's what you mean. But there is more to her story than her death isn't there?", Will asked.

Nico closed his eyes and saw him running around with Bianca laughing. Him playing with Bianca in the hotel. Bianca telling him some story and Bianca stroking his hair much like Will did now and telling him that she loved him.

"Yes there is", Nico said and he was shocked to realize there were tears in his eyes.

And then he talked about Bianca again, about his wonderful sister that had accepted him no matter what.

"She sounds wonderful", Will told him when Nico ended.

"Yes, she was. She was", Nico whispered.

And this time there was no angry spark, just love and a sense of longing.