A/N: I'm thinking about renaming this story. Yay or nay? Also, I think I may have figured out where this is going, but nothings set in stone yet! Anyways, enjoy chapter 12!

The police station wasn't very loud. It had a sense of business, but it was more of a white noise in the background. As Nico was led in by the probably-police-officer he glanced around, looking for possible escape routes. There was a door behind the front desk, most likely leading to an office. Maybe a window?

There was a hallway off to the right, filled with closed doors. No telling where they would lead. Possibly into dangerous mortal criminals.

See, normally Nico wouldn't be worried about anything the mortal world had to throw at him, but there were still dangers. First, they didn't disappear in smoke if you stabbed them. Besides, demigod blades just go through them anyway. And the other main issue was that big rule of not revealing the existence of half-bloods to anyone.

And if they had a background check, Nico was positive that he wouldn't show up in the records. He would probably be shipped off to some secret government facility, like in alien movies.

So yes, there was cause to worry and it wasn't just in Nico's head.

All of his thoughts happened within roughly twenty seconds from walking through the door. The cop, who was so far unnamed, led him to the desk, a hand ever resting on his shoulder.

"Found this kid at McDonald's, half starving. We need to find his parents. And, probably get him some food." The officer explained to the man at the front desk. Nico resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Did he just look like a helpless kid to everyone he met? It had been bad enough at camp with Percy and Jason, and almost everyone else (not to mention Sally and Chiron and the like). And now mortals were taking pity on him, too?

"Well, kid? What's your name?" The desk man asked.

"Nick." Nico was not planning on explaining more than that.

"What is your mother's name?"

"Maria." At least that wasn't a lie.

"Father?"

"Don't know." Out of the corner of his eye, Nico spotted another man walk in, holding drinks.

"Oh, well I'm sorry about that. Ah, yes hello Phil." The man sitting behind the desk said. There was a name card on the table, but Nico was too low on energy to try to decipher it, being dyslexic and all.

"Brought your coffee, sir." This Phil guy said handing him a cup. "Oh, you found him already. That was fast." He remarked, looking at Nico with an odd expression of surprise.

"Found him? What do you mean?" The guy behind Nico said. The hand on his shoulder tightened slightly.

"Oh, a woman came in yesterday day with a missing kid report. It's him, right? I was just about to go hang up these flyers." Phil handed the receptionist one of the papers he had been holding under the coffee holder. Nico was suddenly aware that Sally Jackson had most definitely filed a missing person report the moment he went missing.

Nico was going to be in so much trouble, and he knew it. That's why he had to get out of there. And fast, before they called and Percy showed up. That would lead him to a one way ticket to Clarise. And that would be really bad.

So, it was time for evasive maneuvers. He spun around and twisted the hand on his shoulder, kicking him in the backs of the knees for good measure. The man lost his balance and fell to the ground. Nico turned and sprinted to the door, reaching out to open it when a yank on the back of his jacket pulled him backwards and off balance.

Ironically enough the hand that had jerked him back also kept him from falling. Nico registered that it was Phil, who had dropped all of the flyers- with his face on them, creepy, - and was now looking down at him.

Nico raised his eyebrow and smirked in amusement. They thought they could keep the Ghost King? Well, they were about to be shown how wrong they were.

Even with his demigod powers gone, he had given his death glare enough times for it to still work, not to mention his ice cold skin. At his intense gaze, Phil let go of Nico, stumbling backwards. Nico took this moment to dash to the door, and quickly get lost in the crowded streets.

He could hear shouting behind him, but Nico was too nimble and fast for them, not to mention smaller. He could weave in between the people, while his pursuers could not.

There! A bus was loading passengers. Perfect. Nico slowed his speed, and casually walked onto the bus. Luck seemed to be on his side, you didn't need money to board.

It was pretty crowded, as this is New York City. Not too difficult, though, as Nico slipped into an empty seat in the back. He wasn't sure where the bus was going, but it didn't really matter. It was putting distance between him and that police station, if not also Percy and Camp. He hoped he wasn't getting closer to that.

First things first, he needed to get rid of this spell. Though it had enabled him to lie low, Nico couldn't take it anymore. He felt weak, defenseless. His power over the dead was what made him unique, and it was cruel to ever take that away from him.

He suddenly felt angry at the demigods. Leo was the one who had told him about it, even though he wasn't supposed to. He was grateful for that, it would have been so much worse if he had been kept in the dark. But, Leo had known about it, and hadn't stopped it, and wasn't actually planning on telling him.

He was mostly just mad that they had made that decision. It was obvious now more than ever that they didn't trust him. That was unnecessary, to say the least.

It hadn't helped their cause, either. If they didn't trust Nico, then Nico could never trust them. There had been a chance that he would have helped the demigods, but that chance had been destroyed.

As for his father… Well, he hadn't done anything harmful as of yet. Though Nico was still wondering if he had been manipulated this entire time.

Most gods were awful parents. Why was Hades, the "evil, dark, scary" god the one good dad? Hades was manipulating, that was a fact. But how long had he been planning this? Long enough to have been playing Nico from the start?

Nico knew he wasn't joining the demigods, but his suspicions of his father prevented him from joining him, either.

And these were the reasons he had to stay out of it altogether. He was powerless, easily defeated, but he was untraceable. They wouldn't be able to find him, at least not easily. Not his father, not Percy, and gods forbid not Zeus. That would be a worst case scenario.

So, he could travel the country, never staying one place too long, or he could get his powers back, and pick a side. He knew what the easy choice was. But was that the right choice?