He saw Percy wave at him from the door of cabin three and shifted awkwardly as the son of Poseidon ran over to him.

"Hey," he said breathlessly. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes were bright, his hair had been tousled by the wind, and it just made Nico hate everything.

"Hey."

"Do you wanna go to sword practice with me?"

"Umm…"

"Ever since Luke left, I don't really have anyone to spar with. Oh, I keep forgetting you don't know much about Luke," he said dismally.

"Yeah, we can spar," he said suddenly. Percy looked at him in surprise and smiled. He didn't know if he was trying to change the subject because he was afraid he would reveal critical information or just to get that depressed look off Percy's face.

As they walked to the sword arena Percy gave him the Cliffs Notes version of what happened with Luke. It was clear that it was a sore spot for him so Nico just let him get it out without interrupting. They sparred and it was actually fun. He thought he could keep up with this younger Percy but he also suspected Percy was taking it easy on him at first. Luke must have been a good teacher because it got more difficult as they went on, but Nico refused to back down.

"You're good," Percy said when they finished.

"Not as good as I want to be. My Dad is always saying I need to train more."

He grabbed his jacket from the ground where he'd thrown it. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, he suddenly felt like he looked stupid in the orange T-shirt and wanted to cover it.

"Can I ask you something?" he said and Percy looked at him curiously.

"Do, do you talk about Luke with Annabeth? I mean I'm not complaining but she knew him too and maybe talking to her would help?"

The happy expression slid off of Percy's face and he looked at the ground.

"Annabeth took it really hard –Luke turning on us- and then Thalia came back. At first I thought it would…cheer her up. And it did! But then Annabeth had to tell her about Luke and now they're both depressed and I feel like I'm butting in. Especially since Thalia believes Luke is just confused and he can be saved. If I say anything different then they both get mad at me and…"

"I think you're right," Nico said quickly. "If Luke wants to be saved then he has to try to save himself first. Until then, you have to try to stop whatever he's up to."

Percy nodded and tried to brighten up but there was still a dark shadow over his face and Nico regretted bringing it up at all. Maybe it would have been better to say nothing since he came close to dropping a huge hint. He'd landed in a really dark time between Annabeth and Percy and it hurt him to see Percy like this. They said good-bye because they had to get back to their cabins before the dinner gong.

Inside the Hermes cabin they weren't even attempting to clean before inspection. It was noisy but he blocked it out and tried to think. He should have been figuring out how to get back to his own time but Percy's sad face was all he could see. It shouldn't be long now before Grover finds them and then calls for back-up. Annabeth would go missing and then the quest would start -the one that would kill Bianca. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to stick around –hiding in the shadows to change that point in history—but the Fates would just kill him and fix it.

Maybe Aphrodite had sent him back to change something small. What was the point in sending someone to the past if you didn't want something changed? He had a random thought that maybe he would end up playing therapist for Percy and helping him with Annabeth. It was just a thought but it made his heart stop. He suddenly felt sick. He'd insulted her plan for Percy's love life, what better punishment than to make him help her with it?

Did she really send him here to help Percy and Annabeth get together? He was the only one who knew how their story would end.

Something that brings more love into the world…

He felt a hot rage building up in him and tried to push it down. This is what got him in trouble to begin with. He was being punished and if he wanted to go home he would have to accept it, even if that meant becoming the catalyst for his own unhappiness.

I know The Blood of Olympus is coming out tomorrow. Whatever happens to Percico in the final book, this story has nothing to do with it. It began before BoO and the book will not change how I end it. In fact, I may not even read the book until I finish here. So, please, no reviews comparing the two.