Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. However, I do own a PBJ sandwich... *om nom nom nom nom*

Just read it.

Thalia paced back and forth, fuming. Snow gathered on her shoulders and in her hair, yet she didn't notice. She was too angry.

What had Percy been thinking? Instead of warning her and Annabeth and Grover, he had charged off on his own to face Doctor Thorn, like some big hero. And look what had happened. Zoe Nightshade and her stupid Hunters had turned up. Zoe Fields-of-Punishment Nightshade! And Annabeth was dead! Or at the very least gone. First Luke, and now Annabeth... Thalia felt as though the all the links to her past, before the whole turned-into-a-pine-tree episode, were fading.

And the diAngelos didn't trust them. Instead of being brought safely to camp, Bianca had joined the Hunters, and Nico was probably scared out of his wits. Thalia paused in her pacing, and her features softened as she looked over at the figure hunched on a boulder some feet away. That poor kid... She'd faced down monsters often enough, but had no idea what it must feel like to be wrenched out of your safe bubble without warning. For her, it had been more of a gradual realization.

Nico was also fuming. Why did Bianca have to join those Hunter girls? It was obvious there was something wrong with them. The girl named Zoe talked like Shakespeare, and the leader was some crazy girl who thought she was a goddess. Couldn't Bianca see that they were obviously nuts?

Then he remembered the manticore that Thorn had become, the way the goddess-girl had changed the helicopters into ravens. And he knew with absolute certainty that the Hunters weren't nuts. Neither were Percy, Grover, or Thalia. Or the girl - Annabeth - who had fallen off a cliff. They were all real.

But if they weren't out of their minds... that made it all the more shocking and terrifying. He was suddenly in danger. Well, this was nothing new - all his life he'd had a vague feeling of being on the run - but this time it was more personal. More like "You could die tomorrow." Nico wanted to go home - then realized with a shock that he didn't know where home was. It wasn't at Westover, it wasn't at any of the numerous hotels he'd stayed at. Was it at that Lotus place? He didn't think so, somehow. It had been a blast and all, but something about it had felt... not quite right. There was really no home for him.

Suddenly Nico didn't care where he was, or where he was going, or what his sister had done. He just wanted to be belonged, and with that thought bursting into his mind, he put his head in his hands and began to cry silently. This was too unfair.

Thalia noticed his trembling shoulders and walked silently over. "Are you all right?" she asked, then mentally kicked herself. Of course he wasn't all right.

There was no answer, but his spasmodic hitching gasps began to even out a little.

Thalia sat on the ground next to him. "Look, Nico..." she began, not sure of what to say. She'd never been any good at this touchy feely stuff. "It'll be all right. We all went through this." True, it hadn't been as abrupt for her as for him, but she didn't mention that. "You're going to go to Camp Half-Blood, and I promise, it'll be great. We have archery and swimming and Capture the Flag - great meals..." She trailed off hopelessly. There was nothing to say. She couldn't remember being as young as he was, she had no idea how to cheer him up. Being a tree had messed up her memories, she couldn't remember...

"What?"

Nico had looked up and was staring at her, and Thalia realized she'd spoken out loud. I can't remember. "Nothing." She shook her head. "It's not important."

"Oh." Nico looked out over the sea. After a while he spoke. "I can't remember either."

"What?"

He looked embarassed. "Oh, nothing. It's just... sometimes when I try to remember my past, it's all messed up. I don't know when things happened or how they happened or even if they happened at all. And if I go back far enough, I don't remember anything. There's just a big blank hole where my memories should be."

Thalia nodded. "I can sympathize," she murmured. "I was a tree for seven years."

"You - what?" Thalia felt a faint amusement at seeing Nico's eyes boggle out of his head.

"I was turned into a pine tree. To keep me from dying. Long story."

Nico's eyes were as round as sacuers. "This whole new world is really confusing."

"You bet it is," murmured Thalia.

Sorry, that ended kind of abruptly, but it was just going to go on forever unless I stopped it. For those of you who can't tell, by the way, this scene takes place at the beginning of TC, though I can't imagine why you wouldn't be able to tell.

Please review, I'm not writing another chapter until I get at least three reviews!