Well...I'm finally doing an H.o.H. fanfic! So...I'm doing this because my best friend wants me to, but I'm also trying to finish Moa, so I don't know how often I'll update this...probably in between each update of moa. So...I hope you enjoy!

Nico

Nico couldn't believe it – not now, not then, and probably not until they actually got to his dad's house.

I had been two days since Percy and Annabeth had disappeared into Tartarus, and it still seemed like he watching it from a movie screen, not real life.

He still had nightmares every night about being down there – he was a son of Hades and he could hardly keep himself from going insane. Gaea had done the worse things...any good thought of her completely evaporated, and would never return.

After the nightmares were over, he woke up and first expected for his surroundings to be bronze, dimly lit by his sword, and for the air to be...well, gross. When he realized that he wasn't captive, he started getting up, planning on talking to Percy.

When he found out Percy and Annabeth (who he might have the tiniest bit of a crush on) were currently falling through Tartarus, he almost wished that he was trapped in his nightmares again. At least those weren't real.

But this was reality, and he had to face it. He had to stay strong for the sake of everyone else – especially his sister.

Hazel depended on Nico a lot. She didn't like to admit it, but she needed to tell somebody something if it was bothering her. He could see how relieved she was when she first caught sight of him, and she told her own version of everything that had happened. She even hugged him, and she had never done that before. Children of Hades (Pluto, whatever), weren't exactly known for their love.

The others wouldn't admit it, either, but Nico could tell that lots of them were scared of him. He could tell that Jason was definitely more uneasy than before he came to the Greek camp – probably because he found out that Hades' aspect was creepier than Roman. Nico couldn't blame him – he sometimes found himself wanting to get away from his dad when he was Hades – he could only handle so much time in the Underworld.

There was a knock on his door (which Leo had quickly added to the Argo ll), and Hazel walked in.

"Hey Nico," she said, sitting on the bed.

Nico smiled back at her. "Hi," he replied. "You're still worried about Percy and Annabeth," said Nico, saying it more as a statement than a question.

"Yeah," she said, tracing her finger over the skull that was embroidered on his blanket. "Are they really going to make it to the Doors of Death alive?"

He hesitated before answering. "They aren't dead yet, and I know Percy and Annabeth. They can both do impossible things – and when they're together, they're even more powerful. Well, especially since Percy never thinks. Annabeth is pretty much his brain." He tried for a smile, and Hazel weakly smiled back, before getting up and going to the door.

"Well, I'd better get going," she said. "I'll tell Leo to...uh, where is the House of Hades?"

"It's in Greece."

"Okay... I'll tell that to Leo - he's probably forgotten by now."

She smirked before walking out and leaving Nico by himself.

Nico sighed. He didn't want to do this, but he had no choice. He quickly scribbled a note and put it on his bed before gathering up all his courage. He really didn't want to step in the middle of a war, but he had no choice. He had to do it – it might be the only chance they had for stopping it. They certainly didn't have enough time to back to Camp Half-Blood; carrying a 40-foot-tall statue of Athena...the Romans might destroy it without realizing its value. Nico didn't even know if it was possible to do that, but he didn't want to find out.

He took a deep breath, and shimmered into darkness.

When he opened his eyes, he standing back in the Hades cabin, listening to swords clanging and yelling that seemed to be coming from everywhere.

He stumbled a bit and sat down on his bed, resting for a few minutes before standing up again and walking out.

He immediately got a sword put to his throat. He looked at its owner, and to his surprise, found it was Reyna.

"Nico!" she said, clearly in surprise. "What-what are you doing here?"

He pushed the sword from his throat. "I'm going to try to stop this," he grumbled, before marching past her.

"What-but, Nico-there's no way you can-"

"I'm going to try, even if it gets me killed."

He pulled his sword from its sheath and marched in between the two sides, the ground cracking in half and separating them.

"Nico!" said Chiron, appearing out of nowhere and trotting towards him, obviously in relief. "Nico, how are the others? Have they made it safely? Is everyone-"

"Chiron, I'm here to tell everybody something. But first-you need to stop fighting. Now."

Chiron looked a bit surprised, but he hid it quickly. "Of course. Tell us everything. And if you please..." he glanced quickly at the gap that was a few centimeters wide. "Could you possible make it a bit wider?"

He nodded. "Gladly," he responded, and made it a couple meters apart.

"Ambassador of Pluto!" someone shouted from the Roman side, apparently just noticing that Nico had arrived.

"Nico di Angelo? Where?!" shouted voice that (sadly), Nico knew.

"Octavian, what do you want?" sighed Nico, sitting down and swinging his legs over the side of the fissure. It didn't bother him, since it went down straight to the Underworld.

"What do I-What do I want?" sputtered Octavian. "I want you to tell these Greeks to stop! They have no right to fight us! They-"

"Shut up, Octavian," said Nico.

"Nico? You-you know him? You these Romans?" Chiron looked so shocked that Nico almost laughed.

"Yeah, I do," replied Nico, glaring at Octavian. "And, if you will just shut up, I'll tell you the story...and maybe after you'll agree not to fight."

Chiron looked unconvinced, but he nodded. "We'll surrender if they do," he said, nodding in the Romans' direction. "We were just...well, we had to use self-defense."

Nico nodded, and then began from a year ago, when he first met Hazel.

Well, I'm tired, so I hope that wasn't too bad...but I'm sorry if it was! It'll be better next time! Please review!