By mid-week, Nico had been having nightmares, so I was concerned. I would wake up to quiet sobbing from his cot. I'd always go over and we'd talk about what he had seen. He and I brushed up on some of our Greek history to find out that he was having nightmares about Bianca dying and then standing in a long line of ghostly beings. We'd figured that out to be the Fields of Asphodel. I told him he was probably just worrying too much, having nightmares about worst possible outcomes. Yet when Percy Jackson arrived back at camp, I was one of the first to see the group return. And Bianca had not been there. I had gone straight back to the Hermes Cabin to tell Nico, but just after I had said they were back, he had taken off to the Big House. Instead of chasing after him, I leisurely walked around, casually glancing at the house every so often. Eventually I saw Percy and Nico come out. They appeared to be talking. I followed them quietly from quite a distance. I did not want to intrude on their conversation, so when they stopped at the dining pavilion, I skirted around close to the woods and just watched. That was until Nico began screaming and skeleton creatures appeared. I was frozen to the spot, too scared to help Percy or Nico, when suddenly the ground opened up and the skeletons were gone. I stared wide-eyed at the boys. I then saw Nico take off into the woods. I had a split-second to make a decision before I tore off into the woods after the boy. I know most girls might have gone over to check on the guy that they have a teensy crush on, but after getting to know Nico, I figured he needed a friend right now.

I was exceptionally winded and not sure where in the world I was as I wandered the woods. I'd sometimes find broken branches, which I hoped were from Nico and not some monster that would eat me. I stopped at a clearing and flopped on the grass.

"Ugh," was all I could manage.

I jumped when I suddenly heard a whisper.

"Psst. He's by the stream."

I glanced up to see a dryad peeking at me from behind a tree. Pulling myself up and back onto my feet, I thanked her before running off where she had been pointing. I was extremely relieved to see a familiar dark-haired figure by the stream. He had his legs curled up to his chest and his arms were tightly wrapped around them. Soft sobs emanated from his small form.

"Nico," I breathed from behind him.

The boy jumped up, catching himself from falling into the water at the last moment. He seemed supremely surprised to see me despite his tear-stained face and red eyes. As I took a step forward, he pointed at me.

"Stop! Why did you follow me? Leave me alone! I don't trust any of you. Did you come to bring me back? Don't think I'll come quiet-"

He shut up as I rushed to him and hugged him tightly. He struggled against me, but I held on for all I was worth.

"I'm sorry about your sister, Nico. I really, truly am. I'm not here to bring you back. I'm here because you're my friend."

"Nnngh," was all I heard from him before his arms fell limp and I just felt his sobs renew themselves.

I stood there and rubbed his back. It had to be hard since his big sister was the only person he'd had for a long time. He'd told me he didn't remember too much about what happened before Camp Half-Blood. All he knew was that they were at a hotel for awhile before someone took them out and brought them to a military school. I hadn't known my older sibling for very long, but I knew that if anything happened to Alabaster, I'd be just as sad. Heck, if any of my siblings had died and I knew about it despite never meeting them, I'd feel bad. Family is family. Godly, blood-related, or what have you.

When he pulled away from me and began rubbing at his eyes, I just stood there. I watched as he took deep breaths to calm himself. I was surprised by his next words.

"Go back," he told me harshly.

"What?" was all I could muster.

"I'm not going back there, but you should. I don't belong there. I'm going to find a way to bring my sister back. If I'm a son of Hades like...well, if I am I can bring her back."

I chill ran down my spine at the idea of bringing someone back from the dead.

"Nico…I don't know if that's such a-"

I stopped speaking at the look on his face. It was a horrible expression. He wasn't just determined, but there was a glow in his dark eyes that had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. He began to walk past me.

"Go back to camp. You can't come with me."

Though he was storming off without me, I followed along behind him.

"Yes, I can. You're going to the Underworld, right? Well, my mom traverses the Underworld with no problem, if you recall. So I can do it, too."

Nico turned to glare at me.

"You have a life back at that camp. Don't just walk away from it!"

I could tell he was taken aback as I glared back at him.

"A life? The only brother I have met is across the country most of the time with my other siblings. My father didn't want me so he tried to kill me. Hecate cursed him for trying to drive me off a cliff in a car. I have nothing but what I make for myself and right now, I feel that following you is what I need to do."

Nico's lips were parted slightly, as if he wanted to speak, but couldn't bring himself to. I turned away from him and stared at the grass beneath my feet. I couldn't take the look in his eyes. The pity made my chest feel like a weight was pressing down onto it.

"Iva."

He sounded like he was trying out my name for the first time, letting my name flow slowly toward me. I breathed in deeply.

"Just let me go with you to California. I'll help get you there. My magic comes in handy when it comes to dealing with mortals."

I finally deemed it safe to look at his face again. His face was now thoughtful, thankfully. I turned back to him and moved to his side.

"Annabeth once mentioned that she and Percy had to go to California to get to the Underwold once. When we reach California, I'll find my brother and you can do what you want. I won't push you to let me stay with you any more than that. But I am not going back. You were the only real friend I had there. And as my friend, this is the least I can do for you."

Nico sighed and scratched the side of his forehead.

"Alright. Till California, then. But do you have any idea how we are going to get there?"

I pulled a card out of the back pocket of my jeans. The card was a little bent, but that didn't matter. It was blank on one side, but on the other side there was a picture of a man. I glanced up at Nico.

"Yeah...I've got pretty good one. But first we need to get out of these woods and reach the road."

I was not completely sure which way to go, but making a guess based off of how I got to the stream, I moved off in the direction that felt right. I skipped across the water on rocks sticking out before turning back to Nico who was just watching me thoughtfully.

"Are you coming?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He seemed to just hum in response before scrambling over the rocks after me. If everything went the way I hoped, we would have a smooth and easy trip to California. But for two demigods, that was kind of optimistic.