A/N The mystery is ended in this chapter! Thanks to everyone who tried to guess Snake and Badger's parents: it wasn't Cupid or Nemesis, nor was it Demeter or Thavma...

Thank you, Marcus Bond.

He only had about half an hour to ponder, for then they arrived at camp. Nico had Jules-Albert drive them straight over to the infirmary, and then carried Will inside. Kayla freaked out.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"Hey! I only put him to sleep!"

"How long had he been sleeping for?!"

Nico thought about it. "Um... maybe 26 hours?"

He thought Kayla might burst a blood vessel, she had gone so red. "Wake him up, NOW!"

He dumped Will onto a bed and backed away. Hellhounds and dracaenae he could handle without batting an eye, but Kayla was scary...

"Um, there's just -"

"I don't care! NOW!"

Nico sighed and waved his hands, causing the blonde's eyes to snap open. He yelled, looked around, and yelled again.

"Where am I? Who are you people? What do you want with me?"

Kayla shot Nico a look that quite clearly said, we'll talk later. Then she stepped towards the trembling boy.

"Will, it's me, Kayla. Calm down."

"I don't remember you! I don't know if I've met a Kayla in my life!"

Kayla's eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away. "Will, please..."

"I don't know you!" His eyes landed on Nico. "Get him away from me - get him away! He did something to me, he kidnapped me!"

It felt like a punch to the gut, the hatred that clouded Will's blue eyes when he looked at him. Nico flinched, and backed out of the door.

XxX

Badger and Snake were still in the car, but it looked like they were arguing about something. Nico swung open the door just in time to hear the boy say:

"He saved my life, Snake, and I trust him! I'm staying here!"

His sister opened her mouth to retaliate. Her cheeks were bright red, and her fists were clenched.

Nico felt an irrational surge of anger.

It's Badger again.

"Woah woah woah guys! Don't fight!"

"She started it," announced a sullen Badger.

Snake turned her face away from his voice.

"It doesn't matter..." Nico sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Let's just take you to meet Chiron, alright?"

He had to be doing something - anything - or he'd end up dwelling endlessly on the fact that Will no longer knew him; the fact that Will hated him.

When they got out of the limo and it had sank into the ground, the siblings surprised Nico by taking his hands. Badger, on his left, held on loosely, his palms warm, while on his right Snake's icy grip was tight. As they started moving towards the Big House, she whispered, "For what it's worth, I trust you too."

A small, warm feeling appeared in his chest, taking the edge off of his feelings about Will.

Chiron welcomed the children warmly, then started showing them around camp. As they both had yet let go of Nico's hands, he came too. Badger seemed really interested in the archery range and the climbing wall, whilst Snake perked up when the centaur mentioned capture the flag.

I don't see how she'll be able to help in that, Nico thought, but then again she was pretty amazing this afternoon...

She also, bizarrely, seemed exited when the walked past the forges and the clamouring crowd of demigod within.

When the reached the beach - the end of the tour - the siblings released Nico and wandered into the surf. Chiron turned to him.

"What happened?"

Nico explained, hesitantly at first, then more and more fluently as he reached the end. He cursed the quaver in his voice when he told Chiron of Will's reaction to him. When he was done, Chiron frowned bad stroked his beard.

"Hmm... that kind of reaction normally only happens due to memory theft or lethe... he was asleep when you found him, you said?"

"Yes."

"Lethe it is, then. There's no way to get memories back after that; we just have to tell him the important things and let him make new ones." Chiron lowered his hand and looked intensely at Nico. "I'm sorry."

Nico just shook his head.

"And now... I must go and prepare for the campfire. Bring them along, won't you?" He gestured at Snake and Badger, the former of whom was trying to splash her brother by following the sound of his giggles.

They looked so happy.

XxX

Dinner was a subduedaffair. Most of the camp had heard about the results of their mission, but no-one came to talk to him about it. Jason and Piper were building a shrine somewhere, and Percy and Annabeth had also gone to find a new demigod - in Kentucky, this time - so Nico sat alone at the Hades table.

Snake and Badger were sitting at the head table with Chiron until they were claimed, and Will seemed to have been filled in. He sat at table 7 between Isla and Arla and opposite Austin, talking quickly. Clearly they were still explaining something to him.

Nico could almost feel the whispers running around through the empty air, and several people glanced his way and then went back to their conversations. He wished he knew what they were saying. His weeks with Will had helped, but now a creeping doubt settled comfortably into the back of his mind; the same seat it had occupied for so long.

What if I'm not welcome?

The flames in the campfire glowed a deep purple and barely left the coals. The strings if marshmallows that the Stolls had suspended over it did not melt; they did not even go slightly soft.

Half way through a dulled version of the 'Hokey Kokey: Armour Edition', circles appeared over Snake and Badger's head: their parent sending a sign. It took the form of a yin and yang, only with an apple and a pentagon instead of the two dots of opposite colour.

"All hail Badger and Snake," Chiron dutifully intoned, "children of Eris, goddess of strife, discord, and chaos."

That explained a lot.

The Eris cabin cheered and welcomed the siblings warmly.

After the fire had ended, Nico hung around in the shadows, waiting to ask Kayla about Will. From this distance, he could hear their conversation.

"...and Leo is one of your closer friends."

"Am I ... um, seeing anyone?"

He could tell by Kayla's expression that she did not want to go there.

"Well, for the last few weeks, you and Nico have been... more than friends..."

Will sounded exited when he spoke next. "That's an odd name. Which one was she?"

Nico flinched.

"He was the pale, dark haired boy that sat on his own at dinner. Surely you remember him...?"

"The one that took me here?" Will's voice became darker, tenser. "The one that knocked me out and kidnapped me?"

"Yes, and he didn't kid-"

"Him? I'm seeing... Him? Now I know you're lying to me. I wouldn't go out with someone like him!"

A twig cracked under Nico's foot, and the children of Apollo spun around. The revulsion on Will's face was clear; Kayla looked like she was about to cry. "Nico- wait-"

But Nico turned tail and ran, Will's repulsed words ringing in his head.

I wouldn't go out with someone like him...

I knew it, he thought bitterly, and fled further into the darkness of the woods.

A/N Ah ha ha ha... *dodges knives* SORRY ABOUT THAT GUYS!

~Fi