Hullo, all!

Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed, followed, favorited, and said you wanted more. This was written for you as a gift to celebrate the New Year. (:

Time seemed to move a lot slower than usual in the ice prison. It was impossible to keep track of exactly what time it was, seeing as the sun was blurred behind the thick panes of ice and there were no clocks lying around. Still, when Nico decided to measure time by his breaths, he noticed that the sun did not move as fast as it should.

When he shared his findings with Robyn, she was silent for a minute before asking a single question: "What's the date?"

"Sometime in August," Nico told her. "I think I've been here for about a week so the month hasn't changed yet. I think." Though he couldn't measure the time in days, his body still required sleep and it had been seven long sleeps since he had been captured and thrown into his frozen cell.

She was quiet once more before asking, very quietly, "What year?"

After that conversation, Robyn had moved to the dark of her cell and stayed silent for a full day. He could sense that she was grieving, though he wondered over what. Could she had been there for a year? The days before she was not particularly chatty, especially with her throat in the state that is was, but she at least told him a little bit about her and their situation. The two of them had been fed the day after he was captured and again once a day since then. The food, despite being cold and tasteless, nourished Nico wonderfully and despite his only eating once a day, he noticed that he was less boney already.

He also spent a majority of his days exercising within the five by six foot cell he was being held in. He had never been a fan of physical exertion like sports in the past, much preferring his Mythomagic. Now, however, he had plenty of time on his hands to get fit like the other demigods he spent his time with.

Like Percy.

Robyn had told him that being a prisoner there wasn't too bad, so long as they forgot you existed. "When they forgot about me, I just spent my time by myself. Boring and quiet but peaceful, in a way. It's only when Zethes gets bored and comes down that, well," she paused, shaking her head in the dim lighting. "I much prefer being forgotten."

Zethes had visited twelve times in the seven days. Each time he came down, he badgered Robyn with questions and tried to entice her to join him and "rule the winter," as he put it.

"What else will you do, little bird?" he would ask her. "Sit in here, in the dark, with no one but the death scum to keep you company? Marry me. Become immortal with me and be able to enjoy the sun," he offered, resting his forehead on the bars and smiling at her. She typically stayed silent, only occasionally snapping back at him when his words turned threatening.

"I'd sooner freeze," she would tell him dryly.

Nico admired her attitude but grimaced each time she spoke back at the immortal. Sometimes he would chuckle and walk away but sometimes, when he felt particularly vengeful, he would open his hand and blast cold air into the cell before leaving. Nico could then hear her sneeze and hear the sound of her teeth chattering for hours afterward, until her body heat rose to a decent temperature.

Needless to say, that fueled Nico's fire to work on improving himself even more. He wanted to be able to get himself out but, what's more, he wanted to be able to save her and be the hero for once. She didn't even cry once the entire time it was happening, and that made Nico feel worse. What had she been through to be numb to such pain?

"Nico," she whispered to him on the dawning of the eighth day. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," he grumbled as he pulled himself into a sitting position. They had supplied him with a blanket, at least, but it didn't do much to keep off the chill of the floor. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "I was just wondering if you would tell me about that camp you went to, the demigod one." Nico really didn't like discussing Camp Halfblood but if it kept her talking and energetic, he was willing to make the sacrifice.

"It was warm," he began, chuckling bitterly. "Different than here. There were cabins are lined up, each one for a God or Goddess."

"And you stayed in the Hades cabin, right?"

"Yep," he nodded. "At first there were only cabins for the major gods but after" pause and swallow "Percy saved Olympus, he had them make cabins for the minor gods, too." Robyn went silent but Nico could hear the sound of her picking her nails. "This is a little awkward," he began thoughtfully, "so, sorry, but," he paused, "are you a human or a demigod?"

Robyn moved into the light of the torch and looked at Nico before shrugging her shoulders. "I always thought I was human, you know? I mean, I thought tarot cards and spirit guides and those things were cool but I thought they were just this, hobby, almost." She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure anymore, though. I was really good at those things, is the problem," she looked up at him again and met his eyes, "I mean, really good. I thought I was special but now I think I might be a demigod. I never knew my mom so it would make sense," she shrugged.

"Which Goddess do you think could be your mom?" he questioned, scooting forward. "There's Athena, Demeter, Aphrodite, Hestia, Iris, Nemesis, Nike, Tyche, Hecate…" he trailed off. "Any of those stand out to you?"

"One of the H ones," she told him firmly. At his look of confusion, she elaborated. "My dad got a tattoo on his right arm, a big H with vines all around it. Whenever I asked, he always said it was for my mom but he wouldn't tell me any more. After a while, I stopped asking. But still, it must be one of the H ones. What were they again?" Once Nico had reminded her, she tilted her head in thought. "Is one of them magic-y?" she asked. Nico laughed lightly and nodded.

"Hecate is Goddess of Magic," he told her. "It fits, too."

"Daughter of Hecate, the Goddess," Robyn mused to herself, rolling her eyes. Her face soon soured, however, and she glared at the ceiling. "Well come on then, mom!" she growled. "Help me out here! Can't you see what I've been through? What I've suffered? Why leave your daughter in this place for fou-" she cut off, eyes darting to Nico. She bit her lip and put her head in her hands, hiding her face. "I guess I just wanted to believe that I was normal, that my own mom wasn't choosing to ignore me," she sighed.

"It's been a busy couple of years," Nico told her slowly, brows furrowed. "War after war; they haven't had a lot of time to themselves. And Gods really aren't perfect. Sometimes… people get forgotten," he said darkly as he fiddled with his skull ring. "You can't let their bad habits eat at you or it will ruin you," he warned her, frowning to himself. "It's happened before."

She was silent for several hours after that. It was almost lonely, to be by himself in a cell and to know that company was a few feet away but silent and untouchable. So instead, he took initiative and spent his energy buffing himself. At the beginning, Robyn ignored him and stayed in her corner. But the more he did it, he could feel her eyes on him, watching curiously.

"I'm going to be ready," he explained to her as he continued his crunches. "We're going to get out of here and I'm going to be prepared for it."

"What makes you think that we will?" she asked him. "Not to be rude but I've been here for a long time and there was never any opportunity to escape. They never even opened my door," she sighed.

"So that's what we need," he nodded. "We need for one of them to let us both out."

"Calais?" she asked him thoughtfully. "If we could offer him something, food or fun, he might let us out."

Nico nodded with renewed energy. "Yeah, that would work. Maybe we could use clothing and food and make something… This could work!" When his statement was met with silence, he looked over at Robyn's downcast face. "What?"

"He never comes down here, nor does Khione. Just Zethes does and we'll never get out of here because of him," she sighed, laying her head back against the wall and closing her eyes.

Nico's mind, however, was whirring.

Robyn didn't seem like much of a fighter. She had spent her life not even knowing that she was a demigod, so chances were that she had not had an opportunity to improve or build on her powers. She was dangerously thin from starvation and weak from the cold. Overall, if she did get an opportunity to fight her way out, she probably wouldn't be able to.

But she, unlike he, had a chance of getting out.

Zethes still asked her every day if she would join him, and she still said no. By now, the response was likely a knee-jerk reaction. But if she said yes, would she be able to get out? Or possibly send a message to the camp, at least? Nico hoped that by this point, it was clear to them that he was gone. He knew the ice around him was enchanted against Iris messages and the system had been faulty as of lately anyway, so trying to send one from the cell was useless. But if Robyn could get above ground and send one to Percy, they could have a real chance of escape.

The problem would be asking Robyn to do such a thing.

She quite obviously hated Zethes and the very ground he walked on. Nico had no way of knowing exactly what had occurred between the two but he was able to put together that much. To make his plan possible, she would have to act in love. Happy, sappy, and utterly in love. He glanced over at the ball she had curled into, the flecks of snow clinging to her skin, and rolled his eyes at himself. The chances that it would work were so miniscule, so unlikely, they were hardly worth mentioning. Yet…

"Hey, Robyn," he began slowly, avoiding her eyes. "Have you ever thought about playing along with him? Y'know, pretend then escape?"

"Yes," she told him frankly. When he looked up, he found her staring at him. "But I never had a plan after that and once I agree, I have no idea what he would ask of me," she frowned. "I don't like leaving myself open to that, I guess."

"What if I had a plan?" he asked, scrutinizing her face. "You would play along, get to the open air, and send a message to my… friends… who could come and get us."

"Send a message how?" she asked him skeptically, deciding to ignore his hesitance at naming the people he knew as 'friends.'

"They're called Iris messages. You just need a rainbow, easy enough in a winter palace with a little ice and sunlight, and a drachma. That might be harder to find," he admitted. "But there's bound to be one lying around somewhere, right?"

"And what would I do with mist and a drachma?" she asked him, the word coming out awkward and foreign. "Whatever that is."

"It's a gold coin," he explained. "You just need to face the rainbow, say 'O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering' and throw the coin in. Then say 'Percy Jackson, Camp Halfblood' and explain our situation here. Simple."

Silence reigned for a few moments before Robyn responded. "You really think this could work?"

Nico nodded. "I do. The Gods owe you some help, don't they? We could cash in on that now and get out of here." Robyn looked at him and bit her lip before glancing at the door.

"It's worth a shot," she sighed. "Next time he comes in, I'll try. I cn't make any promises, though," she warned him. Nico just shook his head at her, a grin plastered on his face. Maybe, this time, he wouldn't be helpless. He could prove his worth.

Zethes didn't come visit for the rest of the day, much to Robyn's dismay. After she had gotten over her initial misgivings, she decided that this would likely be the only way she could ever be free of the ice palace and to not act on it would be foolish. That being said, however, the more she thought about it the more she wanted to curl into a ball and stay where she was. For so long, the four walls around her had been all she knew. This was an opportunity for change and she just wasn't sure if she was ready for it.

"Today," Nico told her quietly, as soon as he was sure she was awake.

"Today," she agreed quietly, nodding her head and picking at her ragged nails.

"Remember everything?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Absolutely sure?"

"Yes, Nico."

"Do you need me to–"

"Bloody hell, Nico, I can do this," she groaned, throwing an arm across her eyes. "If you ask me if I'm ready one more time, I will not be held responsible for my actions." Nico chuckled quietly and nodded to himself. "And, Nico," she began again, slowly. "If I can't do this, if it doesn't work, I mean, I want you to–" she was unable to complete her sentence for, at that moment, Zethes strode into the room. He didn't even spare Nico a glance as his eyes landed on Robyn.

"Hello, pet," he grinned, walking up to her and tilting his head. "Not hiding today?" he teased.

"No," she said quietly, standing up but keeping her eyes on the floor. "Hello." Zethes raised a brow and scoffed.

"Now you speak? What brought this about?" he asked her, his cold eyes glued to her face before flickering to Nico suspiciously. Robyn kept her eyes on the floor as she took a step toward the bars, toward him, causing him to swing his attention back to her. For the first time in a long time, she was now within his reach.

"I thought that, um, maybe it was time I stopped all my, uh, pouting," she told him haltingly. Luckily, Nico thought, the pauses could be written off to her poor health. Zethes seemed to take no notice, however, as he stepped closer.

"Really, little bird? You are finally giving up this ridiculous fight?" he asked he hopefully.

"Yes," Robyn said as she dragged her eyes up to meet hers. While his blue ones were cold and calculating, her hazel ones seemed to glow warmly. "I realized, after watching him," she nodded to Nico, "that I didn't want to spend eternity as a statue with him. I would much rather be with you, ruling the winter." She smiled up at him and even Nico was shocked. She seemed so utterly love struck, so happy, he almost questioned whether it was real or not.

Zethes smiled and reached down to the lock. With a flick of his hand, it was opened. It seemed to only work through magic, Nico noted, which was unfortunate but not impossible to work with. "Come, then," the immortal smirked, holding out his hand. "Let's get you out of here." Robyn froze for a moment before slowly extending her hand to him, placing her thin, white hand in his much larger, tanner one. His closed around hers like a steel trap and he began walking quickly to the door, pulling Robyn stumbling behind him. "It'll be fantastic, I figure we'll marry in the throne room-" his voice cut off as the door shut behind them.

Nico sighed, resting his head in his hands. It was out of his control now. He just prayed to the Gods, the very ones he swore he would never pray to again, that nothing would go wrong.

So, let's make this a game. For every 1 review this gets, I'll write the chapter 100 words longer. That means 10 people and you get a chapter 1,000 words longer than the previous. Easy enough, yeah?

I love to hear from you. Anyone think a romance between Nico and Robyn is on the horizon? Or their plan; any ideas or risks you think they might face?

Tata for now,

R. Jeanette