"I should of known!" I thought as I ran through the thick forest, branches slapping my face; I should have known he would find me before I found him. Sweat ran down my forehead along with blood, my eyes searching for any way of escape. I paused, my lungs felt like they were going to explode. My legs were turning into Jello. Thats when I heard it; a faint noise coming from the trees. I spun around sword in hand, ready what might be my last fight. I took a step forward but I was still hesitant, I knew death better than any half-blood - being the son of Hades and all - but yet I was not sure if I wanted to face it.

I had faced so many hurtles in my life: the battle of New York, the war with Gaea, and telling Percy my true feelings. I was not going to let some foul beast take my life away. The wind rushed through my hair almost like a warning. My stomach turned inside of me, my heart was pounding in my chest, and my palms were starting to become sweaty.

Then it rose; one of those stupid rebel zombies who were trying to overrun my father. Usually, this situation wouldn't be a problem, the Rebellion was never truly a threat, it had been going on for years without anyone knowing, yet in recent events they had become stronger. Of course Olympus could not be bothered to intervene unless it broke out on the surface. I swung my sword hacking the undead trader's right arm off (less gruesome than it sounds, it was barley on to begin with). I was ready for the next swing, until, the rebel began to laugh.

"You think you can win! I was a demigod like you once, I thought the whole world was in the palm of my hand. Until your father took that away form me!" He chuckled and sneered, he was a demigod, that was for sure. A son of Apollo to be exact. I never had a problem with children of Apollo other than Octavian, well until now.

"This is pointless!" I shouted, I could feel my voice echo across the forest.

"Oh son of Hades you will never understand; you have lived a life of power. The revolution would love to have such royalty on our side, Ghost King." He sneered. How come people were always trying to turn me to the dark side? Was it just something about me? (don't answer that.) Out of all the children of the big three, we all had equal strength. But were Percy and Jason constantly asked to join an evil alliance? Or secret rebellion against the gods? Or a group of monsters bent on revenge? No. They only got the highest praises for being sons of Poseidon and Zeus, (don't get me wrong, they're my friends - but it just gets annoying).

"How about you and your rebel scum friends go back where you came from?" I sneered. I was getting sick of this. Two weeks of chasing rebels around like some strange game of tag. I was tired and cold and wanted to take a nice long nap, yet I could not do that because of this last rebel who escaped.

"You know Mr. DiAngelo, for a son of Hades you are more pleasant to be around than people give you credit for." He gave me a wicked smile.

"Thanks, I guess." I don't know what happened after that, I spent so much time talking, but he punched me with the remaining arm. Out of all people I wasn't one to talk much, yet there I was laying on the ground with a bloody nose (now I finally know how Percy felt). I tried to stand but my body loved the idea of lying down so much, it wouldn't let me get back up. The undead trader laughed over me like some kind of villain in those cheesy movies. I was ready to get up and choke him, but my muscles were losing feeling, and my vision was blurry, the world was spinning around me. The last time I had this feeling was before I was stuffed in that stupid jar (I still have nightmares about that). The world continued to spin, until all at once, I blacked out.

Suddenly, I felt something shaking me violently. My eyes were to tired to open, and my mouth to dry to say anything. "Please, just go away," I wanted to say. To no surprise, no sound came out, only the feeling that something decided that I needed to feel my own personal earthquake. Soon I could hear a voice yelling at me, I could not tell who it was but I could tell it was a girl or a boy that puberty was not kind to.

"Nico please get up!" yelled the voice.
"Nico!"

I could feel something wet on my face.
"Tears or blood?" I thought.  "Probably my own blood." I concluded. That's when it started to get weird. I felt like I was leaving the ground, like I was being lifted or something. Panic ran through me.

"I must be dying," I thought. "This is how it ends."

Normally I would try to fight for life (I was kind of a master of that by now) but I was too tired and sore. Right then, I felt like I would welcome Death (who still owes me twenty dollars, I might add). Yet on the other hand, I didn't want that rebel dirt bag to have the bragging rights of killing the only son of Hades. Rage filled me. I guess I some people would miss me, but that fact truly ticked me off (more than usual). It got to the point where I was starting to feel less pain, and could feel my dark powers returning to me. Like a jolt through my body my eyes flashed open, but I was no longer in the forest. I looked around to see I was in the infirmary at Camp Half-Blood wearing a pale green hospital gown.

"Was I really that close to camp halfblood the whole time? And if so, did that mean the rebellion knew where it was?" My mind was racing as much as my heart was, sending a wave of panic through my body making me want to throw up.

"Oh my gods! Nico you're awake!" I heard someone yell from the other end of the room. All of the sudden I saw William Solace running towards me. He almost came almost in an electric slide towards the bed I was in. (Yes I know what the electric slide is, everyone is trying to catch me up to world history lately). William looked at me with two baby blue eyes, almost like he was worried about me.

"Sorry to disappoint you Solace." I said with smug written all over my face. He cringed at me, his face looked like he just eaten a sour candy: his pouty almond shaped pink lips squeezed together, his forehead with little wrinkles on it, and his tanned cheeks had become the same color as a cherry.

"Disappoint me?!" He yelled. "You almost died! Thank the gods Hazel saw you passed out in the middle of the forest, and called for help!"

So it must have been Hazel shaking me earlier... my mind trailed off. All I could tell was that Will was mad, and being very dramatic: making wild hand gestures with his huge hands, and his golden hair swinging in the light whenever he made a head movement, and his eyes had a new kind of sparkle - one of rage - which looked kind of nice on him. Dust flew up behind him almost like glitter and the sun hit him the right way making it glow. At this point I had no idea what he was saying, but it was probably important.

"Nico! Nico are you listening to me??" He shouted, waiting for me to respond.

"To be honest, no. I kinda blanked out."

William looked like he was about to smack me upside the head, but he also looked like he was about to burst into tears.

"Umm Will, are you okay?" Usually the son of Apollo was strong and stubborn, and not one to cry.

"It's nothing, I'm just glad you're okay." He whispered, my feelings towards William were strange. After spending time with him in the infirmary I learned a lot about him. We both like Fall Out Boy, his favourite color is green, and his mom's name is Naomi, who is a singer. It was nice to spend time with him, he had become my best friend. It got to the point where I spent every moment with him, well until the revolution happened. I had to leave without a trace, making sure no thrill seeking demigod would follow me. Sometimes I would write but usually the letters were short.

Dear people of Camp Half-Blood:

I ate McDonalds and I got some sleep, don't worry I'm still alive. Do not let the Strolls take my cabin, or else. Hopefully I will be back soon, and will write you again soon.

Sincerely,

Nico DiAngelo

PS. Do not look under my bed.

Needless to say there was nothing under my bed, I only said that to freak people out. To be honest I kinda missed being at camp, not that I would openly admit it, and to be frank, I kinda missed the people too. Especially William Solace, not like I had a crush on him, I promised myself I would never fall for another hero again (Percy, Jason, that cute guy from the Iris cabin). Yet when it came to William, he felt different, good or bad is what I was was trying to figure out. On one hand he was smart and sensitive and extremely dreamy, but on the other hand he was also stubborn and kind of overprotective. While I was pondering the thoughts about Will, Hazel rushed into the infirmary.

"Nico! Thank Olympus you're okay!" She said gleefully as she ran to my bed. William was still looking at me like he was trying to figure out whether to hug me or choke me.

"Hey sis, miss me?" I tried to smile which was hard for me, and therefore it looked kind of forced.

"Don't you ever do that ever again!" She hit my arm, but paused before continuing. "I don't know what I would do without you." She whispered.

"Throw a big party." I smirked, because, let's face it, that was hilarious.

"Shut up." She said raising her fist, like if I kept taking she would hit me again. This time I was silent, but still had that smug look on my face.

"Thanks for finding me." I finally said trying to sound sincere, when in actuality I rather be millions miles away, away from the rebellion.

"Why were you even in the forest?" Will blurted out.

"Hiking." I said, lying of course.

"For two weeks?" Will questioned.

"Yes." I lied again.

William frowned, he was the son of the God of truth, he could smell out lie in a second, so I tried to sound calm not saying more than I had to. I did not want them to find out about the rebellion. Even I wanted to forget that it existed, so why would I drag others in?

After a few hours of talking Hazel left. Now it was just Will and I. He took a step forward, like I was a deer he was afraid he would scare away. His eyes looked cloudy and filled with tears.

"Why does he look like that?" I thought, drawing a blank as to why the son of Apollo appeared like this.

"Was I annoying him? Did he lose some bet concerning if I came back or not? Or maybe he was just sad that now he had to take time out of his life to help me." It was a mystery. True, him and me were beginning to become close, but I knew he would never cry over me. He took another step towards me, he looked at me, then darted his head down.

"It's getting late, you should get some sleep." He whispered sheepishly.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"9:57 p.m," he glanced up.

Was I really asleep for that long? It had been 7:00 in the morning when I'd encountered the rebel.

"You had a long day, and you need your rest." A weak smile spread across his face, even more fake than mine.

"Okay if you say so doc." I looked at him, usually that would make him smile, but he looked almost empty. He took an extra blanket and laid it across me. As he did, he leaned in closer to me to the point I could feel his breath on my face. He stopped right when our noses were touching.

"Good night Nico." He said, but didn't move.

"What? No goodnight kiss?" I teased. Will bit his lip and got up, still keeping his eyes on me.

"Night." I called, looking at him and wondering what he was thinking.

Soon after, I fell asleep.

"Get up." William looked like he had gotten zero sleep - unlike me - for once in my life, I had no nightmares.

I sat up and looked at my clothing that William taken off of me while I was sleeping, it was covered in dirt and blood. Then I looked at my jacket and pulled it towards me. It felt was heavier like something was in my pocket. I put my hand in to see if my suspicions were true, my fingers laced around what was inside. I pulled out a brass pin with a symbol of hellhound snarling.

"The symbol of the rebellion," I realized. A note was attached to it.

"The Rebellion will not give up. Either you join us, or die trying to stop us. You are always welcome, Ghost King."

I dropped the pin and the piece of paper knowing that this fight was far from over.

End of Chapter One.