Nico was sitting in the Fields of Asphodel, back against a poplar tree when he saw Percy Jackson for the first time. He hadn't known Percy's name or godly parent then, but he knew that boy was important. Dark hair, orange shirt, green eyes too bright to be one of the dead. He carried a carnation and walked with a girl who was also living.

Living...why were they down there and living?

Nico stood up from his position and started to follow them. It had been years since he moved, maybe even a decade. He couldn't remember much. Ever since that old ghost taught him English, the years had passed too quickly.

"So," the boy said, not noticing his new stalker. "How's immortality treating you?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "It's not immortality, Percy." Percy. His name was Percy. "You know that. We can still die in combat. It's just...we don't ever age or get sick, so we live forever assuming we don't get sliced to pieces by monsters."

"Really? That's possible?" Nico's question made both of them jump and turn around. Percy drew his sword while the girl drew her bow. "Are you a minor goddess?"

Judging by their faces, both could tell he was different from the other shades immediately. But that didn't let them lower their guard.

"Who are you?" the girl asked. "What do you want from us?"

"And how long were you listening?" Percy wondered.

Nico looked into those green eyes and felt warmth for the first time since he died. "I...I saw you walking and saw that you weren't dead. What are you doing down here?"

The shades had started to close in. Before the two could answer, Nico took their hands and started to run. "Hurry before they get you!"

They stumbled after him. He could hear Percy's voice, low and almost a whisper. "We don't have any other choice, Thalia. And he seems to be helping us."

Nico couldn't hear much else. It was hard to hear lately. Maybe he had spent too much time blocking out the moans of the shades.

He finally stopped when they were clear of most of the shades, on the outskirts of the Fields. He let their hands go. "What are you doing down here? And where do you need to go?"

Percy held the flower out. "We need to follow this flower. Persephone has us on a task-"

"Persephone does?" Nico scowled at the name. "And you listened to her?"

"Percy, don't say anything else. We have no idea who this kid is." Thalia looked to Nico. "Tell us who you are. You're dead, aren't you? Why are you different from the other ghosts?"

Nico looked at the flower some more in curiosity. "Yeah, I'm dead. I thought that was obvious."

Percy couldn't help but grin. "Most obvious things fly right over her head-"

Thalia slapped Percy on the back of the head before turning her attention to Nico again. "Answer the rest of my questions. Why shouldn't we just ditch you and continue on?"

"Cause you're two people that have never been in the Underworld before, I'm guessing." Nico looked them both over. "And you're both alive. I know my way around, I can help you out. And the other ghosts don't mess with me."

"Because you're one of them-"

"Because I'm their boss." Nico smiled proudly. Damn, he had to stop his childish side from leaking through in front of new people. It had just been so long since he had someone to talk to...

"Huh?" Percy stepped back. "Are you a god?"

Nico shook his head, his heart sinking. "Don't be afraid. I'm not gonna hurt you. I...My dad runs this place. I shouldn't say his name, though. If he sees I'm out of the Fields, he'll be mad."

Both paled. If he didn't know any better, Nico would think they had become shades themselves.

"You...are a child of the Big Three..." Thalia looked as if she was trying to swallow something that wouldn't go down.

"We're lucky you're dead," Percy blurted. "The prophecy won't depend on you if you're down here."

She elbowed him in the side. "Really? 'We're lucky you're dead'?"

Nico watched the two bicker before looking back at the flower. "Your flower lost a petal. Are you gonna tell me what you're doing so I can help? If Persephone issued you guys to be here then you're probably helping my dad, so I should help."

"I'm Thalia," Thalia dropped her cold regard for Nico, her blue eyes turning more friendly. He wondered what had changed it for her. "This is Percy. This flower is apparently leading us toward the thief of your father's sword."

"If he gets out of the Underworld, we'll probably never find him," Percy finished. "Can you help? Like...can you go far from where you were?"

Nico shrugged. "Let's see. It's been a while since I've taken a walk."

He stretched his legs as they walked to the Fields of Punishment. Even though he was dead, he felt sore all over. He could hear Percy and Thalia whispering to themselves, most definitely about him, but he couldn't understand most of it. But sometimes, he picked out a phrase or two.

"He seems so starved for attention," Thalia whispered. "And he was really nice to risk his father's wrath."

"Imagine sitting in those fields for years. You'd be starved for attention, too." Percy whispered back.

They started to get covered in soot as the screams were heard. Nico wasn't bothered much, he had heard many screams on a battlefield long ago. But he could tell his two new friends were bothered.

"Don't worry about them," Nico assured. "They must have really done something bad to end up here. So it's okay to let them scream."

The flower tilted again. Percy stopped. "Guys, up there."

Nico looked to the hill that it pointed to. "Oh...come on."

"Is that who I think it is?" Thalia asked.

Nico nodded. "The number one expert on cheating death."

They found their way to Sisyphus. Nico could tell Percy and Thalia were still wary of him but had started to warm up to his ghostly figure. Percy even stood between old Sisyphus and Nico, his sword out as if to protect.

"Ask him about it while he's in between attempts," Nico directed. "Hey, Sisyphus!"

Thalia glanced over at Nico's sudden yell. "Wait until we're ready next time."

"Oh, no!" Sisyphus's screams almost silenced her comment. "You're not fooling me with those disguises! I know you're the Furies!"

"We're not the Furies," Percy said. "We just want to talk."

"Go away!" Sisyphus shrieked. "Flowers won't make it better. It's too late to apologize!"

"Look," Thalia tried, "We just want-"

"La-la-la!" he yelled. "I'm not listening!"

Thalia caught the old man by the hair when he tried to run. "Stop it!" he wailed. "I have rocks to move! Rocks to move!"

"I'll move your rock!" Thalia offered, causing Nico's eyes to widen slightly in respect. "Just shut up and talk to my friends."

"You'll...you'll move my rock?" Sisyphus asked.

"It's better than looking at you." Thalia turned to Percy. "Be quick about it." She shoved Sisyphus away and moved to the rock.

"We're looking for someone," Percy started. "The flower is helping us find him."

"Persephone!" he yelled. "That's one of her tracking devices, isn't it? I fooled her once, you know. I fooled them all!"

Percy looked at Nico in confusion, who couldn't help but smile at being able to show off all he knew. He had been building his memory for decades. "Sisyphus cheated death. First, he chained up Thanatos, then got his wife to give him messed up funeral rites, and tricked Persephone to let him go back to the upper world. The sun shines up there...it's been a while since I've seen the sun..."

Percy looked between the two dead souls before looking back to Sisyphus. "So this is your punishment. Rolling a boulder up a hill forever. Was it worth it?"

"A temporary setback!" Sisyphus cried. "I'll bust out of here soon, and when I do, they'll all be sorry!"

Nico sighed. "It's locked down, you know. The Underworld. How would you get out?"

Sisyphus cackled. "That's what the other one asked."

"Someone else asked your advice?" Percy asked.

"No wonder the flower pointed to him," Nico muttered.

"An angry young man," Sisyphus recalled. "Not very polite. Held a sword to my throat. Didn't offer to roll my boulder at all."

"What did you tell him?" Nico asked. "Who was he?"

"Oh...it's hard to say..." Sisyphus massaged his shoulders in a similar way Nico had done his own. "Never seen him before. He carried a long package all wrapped up in black cloth. Skis, maybe? A shovel? Maybe if you wait here, I could go look for him..."

"What did you tell him?" Percy asked.

"Can't remember."

Nico blinked for a second before pulling his sword out of the holster on his back where he used to keep his gun. He remembered the day he was given it, remembered the Fury who made him promise not to tell anyone. "Try harder."

The sword made both Percy and Sisyphus jump. No doubt they both hadn't noticed it before.

"What kind of person carries a sword like that?" Sisyphus asked.

"A son of H...Hades," Nico answered, praying his father ignored the use of his name. "Now answer me!"

"I told him to talk to Melinoe!" Sisyphus answered. "She always has a way out!"

Nico put his sword back. "Are you crazy? That's suicide."

Sisyphus shrugged. "I cheated death before, I could do it again."

"What did the young man look like?" Nico asked. Percy stayed silent, having seen the way Sisyphus now responded to Nico. Throwing around the name of Hades in the Underworld really did its work.

"Um, a nose, a mouth, one eye..."

"One eye?" Percy whispered in recognition. Before they could ask anything else, Thalia yelled "Incoming!" from the top of the hill, and the boulder came rolling down. They jumped out of the way but Sisyphus wasn't so fast.

"Come on," Nico started off, leaving Percy and Thalia no choice but to follow. "Melinoe's cave is this way."

"What did I miss?" Thalia whispered to Percy. Percy told her most of the conversation, but he still didn't know Nico's name. He called him "him", or "the kid". Before they could get further, Nico turned around in irritation.

"My name's not 'kid'," he crossed his arms.

"It was just a-"

"Friends don't call each other that." Nico jabbed himself in the cheat. "I'm Nico. Nico di Angelo."

His could feel his accent grow thicker at his name. He had been learning English from ghosts, but his native tongue would always be Italian, even if he hadn't spoken it in a while.

"Friends?" Thalia mumbled to Percy.

"Okay, Nico, I'm Percy Jackson." Percy ignored Thalia and shook the dead boy's hand. "I'm a son of Poseidon. Thalia is a daughter of Zeus."

"Oh..." Nico looked at them in shock. "You've got powerful parents."

"You do, too, kid," Thalia responded.

"Nico, not kid." Nico corrected. "Anyway...we should head to Melinoe's cave." He started walking. "So this guy stole dad's sword?"

Percy nodded. "He's working for Kronos."

"Oh, isn't Kronos trying to come back or something?" Nico asked. "I've heard rumors."

Percy told him everything that had happened so far but spoke quickly to save time. By the time they got to Melinoe's cave, Nico had made up his mind about something he'd probably regret later. "I...I want to help you guys with the fight against Kronos."

Thalia's eyes widened in shock. Percy actually stopped walking, causing the other two to stop with him.

"You...what?" Percy asked. "But you're...you're..."

"Dead, yeah, I know." Nico looked between them. "But I want to help. I...I want out of this place. Please."

"What if your dad catches you?" Thalia asked. "You don't want to end up like Sisyphus."

"Dad won't say anything. As long as we don't bring it to his attention, we should be good." Nico looked into Percy's eyes. "Please. Please let me help. Take me out of here."

Percy smiled at him. "Okay."

"Are you insane?" Thalia asked. "We're going to have hell to pay."

"It'll be all my fault," Nico assured her. "I promise. And I can help. I can move the shadows, and talk to the dead, and probably other stuff, too."

Thalia sighed. "This was never my idea, keep that in mind."

Nico grinned. "So I can go with you?"

Percy nodded. "You can see the sun. Weren't you talking about how you miss it?"

Nico's heart started to race as he nodded. "Yeah, I really do. It's too dark down here."