I wasn't sure what to expect when I noticed that Will Solace, one of Apollo's kids, had been pacing back and forth in front of Cabin Three for at least thirty minutes. Michael Yew was on a quest—common for the camp these days—and because of this I was worried that it was bad news. With Michael gone, Will was technically in charge of Cabin Seven, at least from what I understood about Cabin Seven superiority.

Actually, for all I knew, he was there on behalf of Chiron and/or the Apollo kids to yell at me for skipping out on archery. Though why they still wanted me to go after the incident with one of the nymphs a month before, I wasn't sure.

Finally, I snapped. My ADHD got the best of me and I wandered outside. I had to know what was going on with Will or else it would be bugging me in the back of my mind all day. "Hey, Will? What's wrong? If it's about archery, dude I'm sorry. I just figured that with the whole thing with the Titans and all that we would need as many people alive as possible." I smiled cheekily, hoping to lighten the mood. Hades knows that we needed it these days.

Will laughed. "It's not about that. Trust me. No one wants you near a bow. Though, I'm more of a healer than an archer."

I smiled. "The best we have in camp." Will blushed. "So what did you want?"

Will looked down. He had only just turned fifteen the week before and I worried how he was holding up about it. Celebrating a birthday during the middle of a war must suck. I would know. From what I could see about the mysterious prophecy no one let me see or know much about, I was supposed to destroy the world on my sixteenth birthday.

How fun!

"I needed to talk to you, Percy." I realized that Will looked somber, and I worried that whatever he was going to say was not something I wanted to hear. Something about the war, I reasoned. "In private."

Now I was really worried, but before I could ask Will pulled me into my own cabin and sat down on my bunk. I sat down next to him.

"You know," Will said thoughtfully. "My dad is the reason that you suck at archery. Our fathers don't get along too well. Not to the extent of his rivalry with Athena or his brothers, but still…"

"My father must have pissed off a lot of gods." I answered. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Was it just me, or did it sound sort of like laughter this time?

"Kind of like you." The laughing-thunder happened again. Zeus must have been in a good mood what with the insults towards my father. He's probably up there thinking, "I'm going to pay that son of Apollo 1000 drachmas" or something like that. The thought almost made me laugh.

"What did you want?" I was a bit concerned. In private? What would he want to tell me that he didn't want to tell anyone else?

"Okay, you might hate me after this, but…"

"You… aren't the spy, are you?"

"Gods no!" He looked appalled. "Okay, listen. I know that we're in the middle of a war and everything and you have the Great Prophecy and you're probably all worried about that but anyway… I needed someone to confide in, and my siblings are kind of…."

"Insane?" I said. I only had Tyson and my usually unpleasant monster half-siblings, but after living with the Hermes Cabin back when I was unclaimed and having the share a cabin I would imagine it would be chaos.

"Sort of."

"So what's up?"

He looked nervous. "I'm... gay."

I laughed. "That's it? I would have thought you were going to say you killed a human or joined the Titans."

"You don't hate me?"

I was confused. "No. Why would I? Did you want me to?"

"NO!" He quieted down. "It's just…"

He trailed off. I decided to switch the topic. "So what guy do you like?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy."

"Oh god. It's Chiron, isn't it?"

"Perseus Jackson!"

"Luke…?"

"No! Gods, I would hope no one has a crush on him now."

"Annabeth does, or at least did. In fact, I'm pretty sure she still does."

Will looked amused for some reason. "No wonder she calls you Seaweed Brain."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, Percy. Nothing."

I shrugged it off. "Oh, alright. So who is it?"

"It's Nico."

If I had a drink I would have done a spit take. "Nico? You… Nico di Angelo? The son of Hades? Ghost King? That Nico?" I couldn't exactly judge him for who he loved, and I wasn't going to, but I didn't expect him to say that. Nico was never in camp long enough for anyone to really get to know, and he spent most of his time either trying to find out about his mother and his past or pestering me about taking the scariest bath I would probably ever take. If he did come to camp it was for the latter reason, and he only stayed long enough to try to convince me it was a good idea.

A part of me was hoping that Nico could think of a different way to defeat Kronos, one that won't potentially get me killed while we were doing it. Another part of me was scared that Nico was right and that this was the only way to defeat him, I had been unsettled since my fifteenth birthday when he first brought it up.

But there was another problem, one that worried me much more. "Will, you do realize that Nico is from the 1930's?"

Will nodded. "I know. That's why you can't tell anyone, especially not him."

"I won't. I swear it on the Styx."

"Thanks." He started to leave, but stopped at the doorway. "By the way, out of curiosity is there anyone that you have a crush on right now? Perhaps a daughter of Athena?"

My face burned. "Get out." I really hoped that Annabeth hadn't snuck into my cabin with her Yankees hat. That would be embarrassing.

He grinned.