The crew of Argo II meets the Future

Nico di Angelo sighed as he looked out into the horizon. Percy and Annabeth had been in Tartarus since the past two days. It was not fair and too frustrating to think that Percy and Annabeth were on the verge of death. Nico had not been entirely honest with the five of the seven. Sure, he had told them that he had managed to survive Tartarus but had forgotten to add the clause that he had survived only because he was a son of Hades. He had managed to escape only by virtue of shadow travelling and the army of skeleton warriors he had summoned. Nico could still picture Annabeth's face, ashen with fear. He was sure she could not get far on that ankle of hers. Percy on the other hand... there was only so much he could singlehandedly do and as much as he hated to admit it, Nico was dreading the fact that anytime he might hear a buzzing in his ears telling him that the two greatest warriors of this age were dead.

He sighed. He was pretty sure that it was all his fault. If he had not been captured, if he had not been so foolhardy to think he could close the Doors of Death by himself, if Jason and Percy had not tried to save him then maybe Percy and Annabeth would not have fallen into Tartarus. They did not deserve this. Not after all they had gone through in the Second Titan War, but the fates were cruel.

''Dammit Perce, you never get a break, do you?''

''It's not your fault you know'' said a voice behind him. He turned only to see Hazel. Nico had to say that Hazel was probably the only reason he had not jumped overboard the Argo II by now. She was probably the only person who understood how he was feeling. She had been his rock and it was she who had given him the strength to lead the other demigods to Greece.

''Nico, please don't blame yourself. It's bad enough to have Leo beating himself up for the entire situation. ''

''Wait, Valdez blames himself?'' asked Nico stunned. ''What for?''

''He says its because of his deal with Nemesis that Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus. Something about him breaking that fortune cookie to save us from the eldunari.''

''Great, just great. So now we are playing the blame game. Only we are blaming ourselves instead of others. '''

''Apparently,'' said Hazel. ''That's why I've come here to knock some sense into you. Jason and Piper are working on Leo''

Nico smiled for the first time in two days. He never thought that Valdez would be the self depreciating type. ''Alright, you got me. Let's go see how Leo's holding up". Saying this he took Hazel's hand and went to the mess hall.