THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH Percy Jackson ... - No one's invited.

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Long Island Sound was beautiful. Things weren’t back to normal by a long shot, but when I went up to
the brazier and scraped part of my meal into the flames as an offering to Poseidon, I felt like I really did
have a lot to be grateful for. My friends and I were alive. The camp was safe. Kronos had suffered a
setback, at least for a while.
The only thing that bothered me was Nico, hanging in the shadows at the edge of the pavilion. He’d
been offered a place at the Hermes table, and even at the head table with Chiron, but he had refused.
After dinner, the campers headed toward the amphitheater, where Apollo’s cabin promised an awesome
sing-along to pick up our spirits, but Nico turned and disappeared into the woods. I decided I’d better
follow him.
As I passed under the shadows of the trees, I realized how dark it was getting. I’d never been scared in
the forest before, though I knew there were plenty of monsters. Still, I thought about yesterday’s battle,
and I wondered if I’d ever be able to walk in those woods again without remembering the horror of so
much fighting.
I couldn’t see Nico, but after a few minutes of walking I saw a glow up ahead. At first I thought Nico
had lit a torch. As I got closer, I realized the glow was a ghost. The shimmering form of Biancadi Angelo
stood in the clearing, smiling at her brother. She said something to him and touched his face—or tried to.
Then her image faded.
Nico turned and saw me, but he didn’t look mad.
“Saying good-bye,” he said hoarsely.
“We missed you at dinner,” I said. “You could’ve sat with me.”
“No.”
“Nico, you can’t miss every meal. If you don’t want to stay with Hermes, maybe they can make an
exception and put you in the Big House. They’ve got plenty of rooms.”
“I’m not staying, Percy.”
“But…you can’t just leave. It’s too dangerous out there for a lone half-blood. You need to train.”
“I train with the dead,” he said flatly. “This camp isn’t for me. There’s a reason they didn’t put a cabin to
Hades here, Percy. He’s not welcome, any more than he is on Olympus. I don’t belong. I have to go.”
I wanted to argue, but part of me knew he was right. I didn’t like it, but Nico would have to find his
own, dark way. I remembered in Pan’s cave, how the wild god had addressed each one of us
individually…exceptNico.”
“When will you go?” I asked.
“Right away.I’ve got tons of questions. Like who was my mother? Who paid for Bianca and me to go to
school? Who was that lawyer guy who got us out of the Lotus Hotel? I knownothing about my past. I
need to find out.”
“Makes sense,” I admitted. “But I hope we don’t have to be enemies.”