Thousand years ago, at Camp Half-Blood

"Nico! Come on Neeks, get up! Raise and shine!" someone yelled right beside Nico's ear.    "Mhm.. gow 'way, I'm sweepinm.." Nico muttered into his pillow sleepily and turned away from the cruel person who dared to wake him up. 

"Nico, wake up!" the annoying voice said again and this time the owner of the voice began to gently shake him. Suddenly the shaking stopped and it became quiet. Nico sighed relieved thinking the person left. Just as he was going to fall asleep again, a bucket of cold water was poured over him. Nico shrieked like a little girl and merely seconds later he was already out of bed. 

"I knew that would wake you up", Hazel said as she stood before her half-brother grinning victoriously. Nico groaned and ran his hand through his now soaking wet hair. Sometimes he really hated water. "Why did you have to do that?" Nico asked feeling irritated and still sleepy.

Hazel rolled her eyes at Nico. "Don't you remember? Percy is going with Chaos today and all us Romans are leaving too." 

"Oh, um yeah I remember.", Nico lied and scratched his neck nervously. They must have decided that last night, he realized. 

Hazel looked at him suspiciously. "Neeks.. where were you last night?" Nico tensed and opened his mouth to say something but then the cabin door flew open. "Guys, what's taking so long? We have been waiting you forever!" Leo yelled at them clearly excited about something. 

"We are coming, right Nico?" Hazel stated while giving him a look which said that he better agree if he doesn't want another bucket of cold water poured over him.

"Yes, we are coming.",  Nico agreed and now it was his turn to roll eyes. Hazel laughed and grabbed her brother's sleeve and then started to drag him behind her to outside.

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"So you guys are all leaving me alone?" Nico asked from his friends not able to keep all the hurt out off his voice. All of his friends had just decided to leave him here. They don't care about you, a wicked voice said in the back of his mind and Nico tried shook the obnoxious thought away.

Hazel looked at him horrified. "Neeks, no, I promise Frank and I will visit you here. And of course you can come to New Rome too! We can show you our new house." Nico really wanted believe his sister's words, he really did. He understood that now that Hazel and Frank were engaged they wanted to have their own place and spend some time together. Nico understood but he still felt a tiniest bit betrayed.

"Yeah Nico, Piper and I will visit here on every vacation. It's only a six hours flight to our college.", Jason said trying to comfort him. 

Leo nodded. "That's right Death Breath. Calypso and I will be traveling, but we will always visit the camp. You can also shadow travel, so it's like there's no distance at all!" Calypso also gave a nod at Leo's words meaning that she agreed to it too.

Nico hid his pain and sadness in the back of his mind. He knew he had to say something, but he had no idea what. Luckily for him, Percy arrived with a slight grin on his face. "I got in the Army!" he declared happily. Everybody congratulated him, and even Nico wished him good luck.

After everyone calmed down, Percy's eyes fixed on me and he got serious. "Nico, can I talk to you for a sec?". Nico nodded and followed Percy to the beach leaving all of their friends chatting happily about their future plans.

They walked in total silence and when they finally got to the beach, Percy took a couple deep breaths before saying: "I'm sorry that I'm leaving you." Wow, he's actually the first one who said sorry, Nico thought surprised. "It's just that, after the both wars and.. and Annabeth dying.." Percy continued and gulped. "The camp hasn't been the same, you know what I mean? I wouldn't leave if it wasn't the only choice, Neeks." 

Nico watched the other boy closely. He saw that Percy truly needed to leave but if Nico begged Percy to stay, he would. That wouldn't be right. Gathering all the strength he had, Nico whispered: "It's okay, Perce." 

The sea green eyed boy looked so relieved that Nico was sure the other boy would float away. "Thanks, Neeks.", Percy answered and gave the other boy a half hug. Nico blushed a little and hoped Percy wouldn't notice anything.

Them Percy turned all serious again. "If you ever need anything, just let me know. It doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing, I'll find a way to help you.", he said sincerely. Nico blushed even more and this time he was sure that the older boy noticed, but Nico was glad he didn't say anything. "Thank you Percy.", Nico said quietly. Together the two boys began to walk towards the Mess Hall.

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Nico had much less belongings than the originally thought. At least the bag won't be too heavy, he thought and sighed. "This is it.", he muttered aloud taking the last look at the Hades' cabin. 

It has been couple of days since Hazel, Percy and the others left and some campers were already giving Nico bad looks. It's not like I did anything else but helped to save their lives, Nico thought bitterly. 

He opened the cabin door and breathed in the fresh, chilly air. It was dark outside, just the way he liked. Nico wasn't sure where to go, but he knew there was nothing for him here. 

As he left the Cabins, he headed towards Thalia's Pine.  He was wondering if he should have stayed, but every step he took made him more sure about the fact that this was the right choice, even if loneliness filled his heart. Once he got to the Boundary he said goodbye to Peleus who, if even possible, looked a bit sad. Nico shaked his head, being sure he was imaging it. 

He stepped through the Magic Boundary and never looked back.