Nico awoke with a cramp in his neck from his awkward position, slumped against the wall. Someone had thrown a blanket over him as he slept, and he dug his fingers into the fabric, trying to ground himself. He sat up groggily, as everything that had happened came back to him.

Gods, had he really said that?

He stumbled towards the kitchen, realizing that he hadn't eaten very much since everything had happened. Percy wouldn't want him to starve to death, he was pretty sure of that.

He paused briefly after thinking Percy's name, and silently vowed to avoid doing that. It was still too painful to think about.

Nico was slightly too lost in thought about the thing that he was totally not thinking about to realize that there was someone else in the kitchen until he ran into the much taller boy's chest.

Jason started. "Hey, Nico."

"Hi." Nico wasn't particularly eager to have a conversation with Jason after their encounter with Cupid, but apparently, the Fates had other plans.

"So I was thinking that we should talk," Jason hesitated, "about some stuff." The end lilted up like a question as if Jason wasn't even sure about what he was saying.

Nico lifted his head to make eye contact with Jason, who quickly looked away. He could do this. It was just a conversation. "Okay."

"Okay so I," he paused like he was struggling to grasp for the words, "I want you to know that you're not a freak. At all."

"How would you know?" Nico crossed his arms, sticking his chin out with defiance. There was no way Jason could possibly understand what he was going through. Jason was nothing like him.

"Well, a lot of the people on this ship are queer. I'm actually bi, myself."

Nico blinked.

"And Piper definitely isn't my soulmate. I like kissing her, but I can't see color yet. So you aren't as alone as you seem to think you are," Jason said, the ghost of a smile touching his face.

Nico wasn't sure what he had been expecting from this conversation, but it definitely wasn't that.

"Oh," he said, not knowing how to respond to that.

"And," Jason added, "we all want you to try to mourn with us, rather than just locking yourself away. They were all of our friends too, and there isn't a single demigod who hasn't lost someone that they loved. You absolutely aren't alone, Nico."

He spoke those last words with such gravity that Nico was suddenly reminded of everything that Jason had lost in his life. Of course Jason would understand that. They all would probably understand that.

Nico felt like he had been kind of an ass.

"Okay," was his only reply. Some small part of him was tempted to hug Jason, to tell him everything that words couldn't express, but he held himself back.

"Thanks," he managed to whisper as the other boy left the room. He wasn't sure if Jason had heard, but couldn't bring himself to say it again.

He had the brief thought that today might be a little bit better, and that he now had someone that he could call a friend.

At least, that was his thought until the Argo II stopped suddenly, throwing him off balance as he grabbed onto a cabinet to keep himself from falling on his face.

Only one thing could have caused that. They had company.

Nico scrambled for his sword, dread pooling in his stomach as he ran towards the front of the boat. The last time he had tried to fight a monster, it hadn't ended well. He wasn't all that excited to try again.

Nico started to run towards the front of the ship, where he assumed the other demigods were already gathered. The temperature suddenly plummeted, and his next breath came out in a cloud of steam. Winds slammed into him, blowing him back into the hallway just as he caught sight of the others. Frank and Piper were already slumped over in the piles of snow that had collected on the deck.

Moving to the shadows, Nico racked his brain for the name of the enemy that they were fighting. No monsters came to mind, and he knew that they had to be facing some sort of minor god.

This was not going to end well.

Author's Note- Hey guys! I'm back! I know it's been a while, but I have not given up on this fic at all. My writing style has certainly changed since I last updated, but it is definitely for the better. Sorry that this chapter is a little short, but I have not read HoH in like 4 years and I totally have no idea what is supposed to be happening in canon (so this fic may become more AU as it progresses). I hope you guys still enjoy, and thank you for sticking with me!