A/N: Hello, readers! [: I give you… *drum roll* the second chapter! :D I'm worried some of my content may be a bit off, but I swear to you on the river Styx, I did read the books! Four times. I really don't like this chapter. It's kinda long for a chapter where nothing happens. =/ oh well, I have big, BIG plans for the next chapter *evil laughing* :D

Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series. ): Which means I don't own Nico, however I do have dibs on him with my friends. TAKE THAT CRIMSON AND SARAH! =P

Enjoy! [:

We arrived at camp half-blood around Seven-o-clock; knowing camp, it was about dinner time. Ooh, we get to make a dramatic entrance; fun.

Uh, Not.

Artemis waved goodbye to us, and we all averted our eyes as she changed to full god form and was gone. I looked at the rest of the hunters; some were shrugging, some where scowling, some looked like they really didn't care. There were about twelve of us all together, and eventually I had twenty two anxious eyes on me. I shrugged and gave them a look that said, "Let's get it over with," and we started heading towards the dining pavilion.

When we entered the crowded mess hall, it got suddenly quiet. Being the strong, fearless hunters of Artemis, we stood there dramatically, as if daring someone to make a remark.

Okay, maybe we were just being drama queens. Whatever.

Of course, with my friends, they couldn't just chill and let us have our entrance without having Percy, Annabeth, and Grover yelling, "Thalia!", and rushing over to me. I grinned.

"Hi, guys." I said, grinning. It had been to long since I'd seen them. Hades, they looked different.

"Thalia, I missed you soo much," Annabeth said, tackling me in a hug, her blonde hair longer and her features more mature. I realized that when she pulled away she stepped back to Percy's side (who looked much older too, his muscles more toned and less teenager-like) and took his hand, and that when he looked at her, he still had that same look in his eyes he had two years ago, but multiplied by about ten. I smiled. So they were finally together? That was so cute.

"Seriously, Thals, you need to visit more. It's been so boring here." Percy said, giving me a high-five. I snorted.

"Haven't you had enough, kelp for brains?" I asked. Typical Percy, considering not being hunted by monsters and such "Boring". I loved that kid.

I hugged Grover and greeted a few other people before motioning for the girls to fallow me to the Artemis table. It was kind of surreal, how the carvings on the table and the markings of the last time we were here, about two years ago, were still there on the table. I remembered the last time we were here, Percy was only sixteen. Of course, I was only fifteen, but, that doesn't count. Hades, I'm still only fifteen!

Speaking of Hades…where is that son of his, anyway? I looked towards the Hades table, but saw it was empty. That's odd; maybe he was on a quest or something. Hm.

I walked over to the Poseidon table and poked Percy. "Hey, where's Nico?" I asked, and his face turned sad.

"Chiron mentioned capture the flag, we asked him to be on our teem, he got moody, we asked what was up, and he stormed off. Annabeth thinks it had something to do with you guys coming around, you know, because of Bianca? He said 'I hate the Hunters' and he wouldn't tell us why. Than he got up and left." Percy said, and I frowned. Poor Nico, us coming probably just stirred up a bunch of hidden emotions about his sister. Especially me. I was on that quest, I could have stopped her.

"I'm going to go find him." I told Percy. He gave me a look, but nodded. I rolled my eyes at him. "He's my friend, Percy. Or, at least, I thought he was." And with a quick explanation to the other girls, I was off.

Nico's POV:

Eventually, the tears stopped coming, and I gained control of myself again. When that happened, I grabbed my iPod and turned on the most girly, saddest, and only Avril Lavigne song I had on my iPod, When Your Gone, and blasted it. It made me think of Bianca, but it always helped somehow.

I grabbed a tiny figure that was lying on my bedside table that I had kept for four years since I found it: the tiny Hades figurine, the thing I had lost my sister for. I was about to throw something when I heard a knock at the door.

"Nico…?" I heard someone ask. I swallowed my anger.

"What?" I asked irritated, probably sounding like some angsty teenager. Oh, wait…right.

"Really, di Angelo? I just got to camp and you're going to blow me off? What kinda cousin are you?" the familiar voice said, and I couldn't help but smile. "Can I come in or what, Death Breath?

I smiled. "Whatever."

The door slammed open, and standing at the entrance of my cabin was Thalia Grace, spikey hair, electric blue eyes and all, with a smirk on her face.

Thalia's POV:

The first thing I noticed about Nico was how different he looked. It was shocking.

Than again, the last time I'd seen him, he was thirteen. He was fifteen now. Weird.

His hair was longer and his bangs hid his eyes, which stood out more than ever, strangely. His muscles had grown into more of an active teen than a kid, and, let's just say it fit him. Very well.

Wait…what the fuck did I just say? No, I was just explaining. Yeah…

"Thalia, you look…the same?" Nico said, and I chuckled.

"Complementive now, are we Dead Head?" I asked, smirking. He rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Whatever, Pine Tree," Nico said, and I laughed. This was what I liked about Nico; he took my sarcasm with a smirk and threw it back at me. Most people just get annoyed.

"So how are the dead lately?" I asked, and he frowned.

"Still dead," He said, looking at his hand, which was in a fist. It was than I realized I had probably hit a nerve. He was already sad and, well, pissed, because of Bianca, if Percy was right, I had probably just brought it back.

"Nico, I'm—"

"It's fine. It's not your fault. I've just been kinda…" he trailed off, as if not knowing how to end the sentence.

"Like a hormonal teenager?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood. Nico smiled, and looked at me.

"I've always been like that. Percy and Annabeth said I've been a teenager since I was ten." He said quietly, and I chuckled. It was true. This kid had always been moody, but he had his reasons. I came and sat next to him on his bed and put my arm around him (What? I was comforting him!)

"Nico…things happen. People die. Life sucks. But you just have to get out there and find people who help you. When I lost my mom, Luke helped me. A few weeks ago, we Hunters lost a sister in battle; Artemis helped us. We all still feel loss at times, but the key is finding people you can trust to help you through it. Luke kind of replaced my mother as my parent; Artemis is one of my sisters, so she knows how to comfort us when we suffer from loss. And, by the looks of it, you already found some people to help you, Nico. Things are better for you." I said. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, while I was with the Hunters, I had gotten way better with my motivational and moving speeches.

Nico smiled. "Annabeth is like my sister, I guess. And Percy is my best friend; he tries to help, even if he fails at it." He smiled again, as did I. Percy was one of my best friends too, but he did fail at helping people emotionally. His heart was in the right place, though.

"See, there are people that you can trust; they may not replace Bianca, but they help fill the void." I said, smiling up at him. Whoa, when did he get taller than me? That jackass.

He smiled at me, "Thanks, Thals." He made a motion as if to hug me, but it looked like he thought better of it. Rolled my eyes and grabbed him in a hug.

I pulled back, "Any time, Nico," Of course, I couldn't keep my normal, sarcastic, smartass self away that long. "And I forbid you to get any taller."

I could here his laughter even when I was out of the cabin.