A/N: So, this takes place at some indeterminate time after HoH. Let's face it, Percy's near-invulnerablity would come in very handy during the Giant War, especially since he's of the seven of the prophecy. As for the bit about Jason, Piper and Leo, it's agains based off of the HoH part where they talk about how everything comes back to the three of them more than any of the others - they started it, they finish it.

Percy Jackson had lived under the curse of a prophecy ever since he was eleven years old. He had done things he never would have imagined in order to complete the prophecies, and really, this wasn't any different.

Besides, it's not like he could just refuse Nico. If he did – well, he wasn't about to even try and imagine the repercussions.

At this moment, Percy couldn't help but curse Hera, or Juno, or whatever she was feeling like calling herself at that moment.

Honestly, doing this once had been more than enough. But all over again? She was goddess, for Zeus' sake! She could have found a way to get him into Camp Jupiter without having him go through the River Tiber.

Of course, the gods and goddesses weren't exactly well known for thinking ahead, especially not when it came to the well being of demigods. When said demigods weren't their offspring – well, it only just got worse at that point.

So here he was, in the middle of the Underworld, staring at the River Styx.

He shouldn't have been able to access the Underworld at all, but he had Nico with him. Unlike Hazel, who was more a child of Pluto, the god of wealth than that of Pluto, the god of the dead, Nico was a child of Hades – who was solely the god of the Underworld. He had a connection with the realm of the dead, and while he couldn't contact his father or any of the other deities who called it home, he could still get in and out of the Underworld.

All of which meant that there was nothing stopping Percy from taking another little dip in the Styx.

"Remember what I told you," Nico whispered from the banks as Percy got ready to jump in once again.

As if he could forget. When Nico had first told him the plan, he had been sure it would be easier this time – at least he already knew who, what memories, anchored him to the land of the living.

Of course, seeing as this was the Styx, he should have known better.

He would have to find his anchor all over again, Nico had said, and it wouldn't be the same as it was the last time as he was here. As he grew and changed, so did his anchor, apparently.

It was at times like this that Percy really hated the Titans. It was just like them to make everything as complicated as possible, regardless of whether they supported Kronos or Zeus.

He waved the spirit of Achilles away as it appeared to warn him against entering the Styx. He had done this before – he knew just how dangerous this was, and if it weren't for the fact that they had no other choice, he would definitely not be entering those waters willingly again.

Standing on the edge of the river, he closed his eyes and concentrated on a spot under his arm, the same one that Luke had chosen. If the war against Kronos had taught him anything, it was that that spot had definitely been a better vulnerable point than the small of his back.

He eyed the water in front of him and sighed. There was no doubt in his mind that he was going to collapse into the water once again, but some dignity before the inevitable fall would definitely not be amiss. All he had to do was walk in with his head held high, and-

As he fell in, he had a moment to reflect on the fact that, considering what he was doing, the fact that his plan had failed was no surprise at all. And then the river started to try and kill him all over again.

He had definitely forgotten how painful the waters of the Styx were. He was sure that he remembered how much it hurt, but as he experienced it all over again, the burning and the lightning and the freezing, biting cold, it was as though he had never gone through it before.

Every thought of the cord, of the lifeline left his mind. The last experience was of absolutely no help here, at least not until faces and people started to flash in front of his face once again.

They were the same ones he had seen before, with a few new ones thrown in. his mother, Grover, Tyson, Annabeth – and Paul, and so many of the campers from both Camp Half-Blood and Jupiter. Chiron was there too, as were Frank and Hazel, as was to his complete surprise, his father.

And then there was a voice, harsh and irritated, but the one he gravitated towards.

He had expected it to be Annabeth once again. After all, she was the most important person to him, wasn't she?

But it seemed the Styx wasn't done messing with him yet. This time, it seemed intent on making him face a truth he was pretty sure he had buried as far away in his mind as was possible.

"Honestly Jackson, do I really have to everything around here?"

The person in front of him, dark haired and dressed in a bomber jacket, was definitely not Annabeth.

"Nico?" he muttered confusedly, wondering if he was seeing right. His eyeballs were burning, so there was probably a good chance he was mistaking his girlfriend for Nico.

"Honestly Percy," the boy in front of him sounded completely irritated. "Come on, you can grab my hand," he continued, stretching out a hand to help pull Percy back to dry land, "You just need to concentrate."

And suddenly, he remembered why he was here, and that spot under his arm. Nico was right – he could walk out of here still alive.

In a blink of an eye – an excruciating blink, but a blink no less – Nico's hand was in his, and he was scrambling back to the shore of the river.

"Percy?" It was Nico's voice again.

Turning, he saw the boy in question looking at him worriedly. And despite the mess that the world was in, all thoughts of defeating Gaia disappeared from his mind, until the only thing he could concentrate on was how hallucination-Nico's hand had felt in his.

Odd, that he could remember that with pleasure even though the rest of him was being flayed alive when that had happened.

"Percy, are you okay?"

He shook his head. As much as he'd like to think over what seeing Nico in his Styx-induced hallucination meant, this wasn't the time. This – whatever it was – had all the making of a royal mess, and he would deal with it later.

"I'm fine," he replied, walking over to the dark haired boy, "But I think we need to get back to the Argo II now – we have no idea what new creature will have decided to attack it, and-"

"And with the two of us gone, and Jason, Piper and Leo following Rachel's newest prophecy, it's very likely they're in trouble," Nico completed. "I know."

Right now, Gaia was infinitely more important than his love life, Percy knew that. But when Nico grabbed his hand to prepare them for shadow-travel – well, another little piece of the puzzle that was his vision fit into its position.

There would be trouble sorting all of this out, but maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he expected it to. Somehow, he was pretty sure that he had already made his decision.

I hope you guys liked this! As always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)