A/N: So… here's the next chapter. I wanted to thank everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed, it really meant a lot and it was a very pleasant surprise! :D The next chapter might take me a while to write, I'm really working hard to try to make this story the best it can be and not confuse people with my randomness XD

Keeping Hope

Chapter 2 – I Escape Death, for now...

I walk out of my room and head towards the throne room, taking in the silence of the Underworld. As I'm walking I noticed something, it wasn't as quiet as it should have been, there was actually plenty of sound coming from the direction I was heading, and they didn't sound happy. I heard the distinct sound of my father's deep, harsh voice as he hissed something to whoever he was talking to. I walked a little faster.

"Do you think I'm any happier about his fate than you are?" The person who was speaking to my father said. It sounded like a god's voice, but which god?

"It's not like it involves you, so I don't see why you wouldn't be…" My father said. "Are you sure they didn't say there was any other way?"

"They were pretty stuck on this one…" The voice said, it sounded familiar. "But they also said that it would be by his choice, so there is the possibility that something might change his mind."

"Well you'd better hope there is! Or my kid isn't the only-" My father stopped and looked in my direction. I saw a bright light that seemed like it came from the direction of the other voice. I couldn't feel the other godly presence in the room anymore, or the entire Underworld for that matter.

"Who was that? And what was that all about?" I asked, showing my annoyance with it being kept from me. Most people would probably too afraid of my father to even think about giving him attitude, but I was used to him, he wouldn't even think about trying to harm me, he might threaten, but they were just empty attempts to make me back down, but I'd been around it enough that I could probably pull it off just as well as him.

"No one, and nothing you need to know." Hades said, turning away from me and sitting on his throne.

"Well it sounded like it was pretty important to me, in fact, it sounded like it involved me, so I think it is something I need to know." I retort, stepping closer to my father's throne. He gave me a look that told me I had probably gone past my boundaries. He looked pissed, and the room seemed to have gotten a shade darker. The shadows surrounding his throne seemed to swirl around like mist.

"You'd better learn to leave things be, Nico." Hades seethed, "That curiosity of yours is beginning to annoy me, and you had better watch it or it may very well be what kills you one day…" The tone in his voice told me I did not want to bring up the matter again. Okay, maybe I wasn't as good at this whole 'radiating fear' thing as the Lord of the Dead.

"Yes father… I'll try." I say to him, regret in my voice. He seemed to soften a bit, the lighting in the room had gone back to normal, so I figured it was okay to ask him. "Father?"

"Yes, Nico?" He still sounded slightly annoyed.

"I was wondering if you had anything you needed me to do for you today." I say. He seemed a lot better now, straightening his back and his features softened, except for the small frown he usually wore.

"Ah, well, I have nothing really for you to do today-" He started.

"So would it be okay if I left for the day?" I ask. He seemed to stiffen at the question, but tried to hide it.

"I… suppose…" He said, "Where would you be going and when would you be back?" Gods, sounded weird. He sounds like a normal parent and not like an all-powerful god who hangs out with dead people all the time.

"Nowhere really," I say, "I was thinking of heading to camp for a bit, I'd be back sometime next week, and if you need me you can always call for me." He seemed to soften at the mention of camp.

"Which camp?" He said, looking at me harshly, I supposed he was trying to scan my next words to see if I was telling the truth.

"Both…" I say, I didn't need him getting mad at me for lying and then have him not let me leave, I had plans, and not just that but it has been two weeks since I last saw Percy, and I missed him already. He was probably bored sitting at camp by with no friends… Wait, had I just said that I missed him? Dammit Nico! You don't miss Percy! He's a friend, and he will stay that way. You don't need to go hurting yourself by getting attached to him.

"Ahem." I looked to see my dad staring at me weird. It's hard to believe he was some harsh god who cares about no one but himself when he looks at me like I am going to break into a million pieces right in front of him. Dammit I'm spacing out again! I shake my head.

"Sorry, umm… as I was saying, I'm going to visit both, I need to check on Camp Jupiter, you know? Make sure that damn augur isn't starting a civil war. Then I was going to head to Camp Half-Blood to see if there's anything new going on, like if we've picked up any children of the new prophecy and to check on a friend…" I whispered that last part. But it seemed like Hades picked the last part up.

"I don't like you spending time with him." I whipped my head up to look at my father, how could he have known? ... Then I thought that most of the gods probably had their eyes on the sea prince, he being 'dangerous' and all…

"He's my friend, and I… trust him." I say, my father raised his eyebrow at that, as if to say 'Oh really?', "And he's got no one else at the moment…" Well, he had plenty of people actually, but I wanted to believe that he would die of boredom without me which is ironic because being a son of the Underworld I didn't exactly radiate life, fun, or happiness.

"Very well." My father said, "If you truly believe what you say, then you can go." I sighed in relief, I thought that was going to be a lot harder than it was.

"Thank you father." I said with a slight bow. I turned to leave the palace when he said something that froze me in place.

"Just… be careful out there Nico." I looked at him, but he had disappeared. Now his words earlier were haunting me. Had he been talking about me? I shuddered but started walking.

"Time to set my plan in motion." I whisper before leaving the palace.

The weeks I'd spent in the Underworld doing tasks for my father had given me the excuse I needed to look into the theory I had back at camp. And from what I could tell, it was true. My dad had been frantic with something and he wouldn't tell me anything about it, just mentioned that there had been multiple problems down here in the Underworld that he needed to attend to, so he'd been having me do some of the work he usually would be doing which was pretty boring, but it gave me enough evidence for me to put my plan into action. I was going to get her back. We needed her… I needed her…

I held back the tears that were about to appear. No, don't cry. You'll find her soon enough. No need to cry. But I couldn't help it. What if I had been wrong? What if Death hadn't really been kidnapped? What if my sister had already chosen to be reborn? I sat there in the Fields of Asphodel for a good ten minutes until the tears stopped coming. I sat up and wiped my eyes. I could do this. She'll be okay. She has to… I need her to help us, I need her to help me… I had to tell her about my new powers, and about the Battle of Manhattan, and about… Percy. And how much he meant to me when he shouldn't, and how I think I could… NO! I cannot be thinking about Percy like that, he's strong, perhaps the strongest demigod ever, he doesn't need me protecting him. Dammit! What's wrong with me? Why can't I forget about the ebony haired boy already? I sigh and start walking.

"I need to talk to her about this or I think I'm going to drive myself crazy…" I say to myself as the giant Doors of Death come into view. They were wide open and unguarded. "I can do this, she deserves it."

I wouldn't get back to Camp Half-Blood when I originally planned to. I didn't feel like going at all anymore. I lost her. Bianca had chosen to be reborn and I wouldn't even be able to contact her through my usual means anymore. She was gone… I was about to let myself stay adrift in the other side of the doors. Maybe I could choose to be reborn too, and maybe there was a chance that we'd be brother and sister again, but as I was drifting into the cool sleep that death held, I heard a voice.

"What's wrong?" The voice said. It was a girl with dark skin and the smell of death radiated from her, not as strong as it did on me though. Her smell also had the smell of chance, like anything was possible, like riches were right in your grasp, and the temptation was too much for me. I took ahold of her and ran. It wasn't Bianca, and no one could replace her, but the camps really could use as much help as they could get, and another daughter of the Underworld would be a perfect addition.

As we reached the other side of the Doors of Death, I had shadow traveled us to the only safe place I could think of for someone like her. Camp Jupiter.

As we stumbled into the barrack that belonged to the children of Pluto I had promptly fainted for a well-deserved nap. As I woke up I noticed the girl who held me in her arms.

"You're awake." Her voice sounded welcoming, like it radiated hospitality and concern. She placed me on the bed then sat by my feet. "Why did you do that?"

"I… You saved me. Figured I should return the favor." I say shrugging. She looked at me, guilt lacing her face.

"You shouldn't have done that… I don't deserve to be here. Where ever here is…" She laid her head in her hands and sighed. "What were you doing in there anyway?" I looked at her and felt a pang in my chest.

"I was… searching for my sister." I say, "She… she wasn't there anymore." I said, tearing up. The girl put her hand on my back and started rubbing it reassuringly.

"I'm-I'm so sorry…" She began tearing up as well. I wiped my eyes and sat up straight.

"Don't. Don't cry about it, it wasn't your fault. You're my sister too, I should be happy that you're here with me." I say trying to hold back anymore tears. "What's your name?" I asked, giving her a small smile.

"My name's Hazel… Hazel Levesque." She said, offering me a small smile. "What's your name?" I got up off the bed.

"Nico di Angelo." I say, I offered her my hand. She took it and I pulled her up and into a hug. "How about I introduce you to the camp. I'm sure they'd love to meet another child of the dead." I look at her with a smile which she returned.

She wasn't Bianca, but she was something. And I needed something.

I had helped Hazel settle in at Camp Jupiter before I left for Camp Half-Blood. The Centurions, that damned augur especially, weren't too pleased to house another child of the Pluto, but they accepted the responsibility of training her and keeping her safe. Not unanimously, but my title as Ambassador to Pluto and the fact that my father and I were so threatening had the majority of the senate too scared to refuse.

I said goodbye to Hazel and walked into the shadows. I emerged in my cabin at Camp Half-Blood. The air reminded me of the Underworld. Which surprisingly comforted me. It was the closest thing I had to a home. I unpacked my suitcase and decided I should probably try to contact my father, I didn't want to anger him, and I was pretty sure I'd probably spend longer than I thought I would at camp, since I'd spent almost a week at Camp Jupiter with Hazel, making sure she was comfortable.

I walked into the bathroom, turned on the shower and waited for some of the mist to gather. I then pulled a golden drachma out of my pocket and threw it into the mist as I muttered the incantation. An image appeared through the mist, a slightly annoyed looking god of the Underworld appeared in front of me.

"Yes?" He said, not withholding his lack of enthusiasm.

"Lord Hades," I said with a slight bow. "I might be longer than I had thought. I got… caught up with something at Camp Jupiter." He looked at me and sighed.

"Yes, I already know about that." He said. I gaped at him.

"You-you know about Hazel?" I ask. He nodded and looking at me as if he were expecting me to get to the point. "And… you aren't doing anything about it?" He sighed.

"No, to my knowledge Hazel never escaped. She doesn't need to be returned somewhere where she never was." He said with a smirk. So he was going to play this off as if he didn't know…

"Oh, okay." I said surprise lacing my voice. "So… do you mind if I stay at Camp Half-Blood for another week or so?" He looked at me with a look in his eyes that I didn't recognize, I'd never seen it on him before. It looked like… caring? Love? Appreciation? He sighed again.

"Sure… Things have gotten slower down here anyways, you'd just be in the way." He said, I felt a pang of hurt.

"Well, okay... Thanks I guess..." I went to wave my hand through the mist.

"Just remember what I told you before." He said, I froze and looked at him. "Don't be a hero." He then swiped his hand through the image and he disappeared. I looked down. That… was weird… I shook my head and walked out of my cabin, it was around lunch time, so I decided to head to the mess hall. I started getting nervous as I thought of seeing Percy.

"Hey!" The aforementioned boy said while putting a hand on my shoulder. Scaring me into falling over. He started laughing. Jerk. He offered me his hand, I blushed and took it. "So how's has helping your dad been going?" He said as he lifted me up, not noticing that he was still holding my hand.

"Great!" I squeaked, taking my hand back. He laughed again. I glared at him. That was apparently even funnier.

"Same old Nico." He said putting his arm around my neck and guiding us to the mess hall. I pushed the arm of me. He looked at me with a smirk that just screamed sexy. Gods this boy was going to be the death of me…

"So how's camp been?" I ask with a blush. His grin forms into a frown and I instantly regret asking. He looks at me and notices the frown I have as well. He smiles.

"Truthfully?" He asks, I nod.

"Of course I want the truth Seaweed Brain. Who actually wants to be lied to?" I ask, laughing, that seemed to perk him up.

"It's been extremely boring." Percy says, rubbing his right hand on the back of his neck. "I've either been training by myself or I've been helping Chiron with tasks he needs done. Which hasn't exactly been the epitome of fun." I looked at him with sadness, he noticed and placed his arm over my shoulder again. "But it looks like camp just got a ton more fun." I looked at him with pure confusion. Me? Fun? Since when? He just laughed and said, "You can be fun, especially since I can tease you so easily." He nudged my side as he said it. I practically threw his arm off of me. "And don't get me started on how much fun it'll be kicking your butt at Capture the Flag." He smirked at me. Oh it's on. I looked at him as if he had just challenged my very manhood. Then I thought about something.

"But wait, there aren't enough people at camp to play Capture the Flag… and not just that, but doesn't Chiron end all major activities during the break?" I ask, confused. He looks at me and smirks again.

"Who said anything about the other campers? Or Chiron? This is between me and you." He said, showing his teeth in his smile. "Besides, what Chiron doesn't know won't hurt him, and it'll give us a chance to practice using our full powers, because trust me, I'm not going easy on you." I smirked at him, my eyes seeming to glisten mischievously.

"You have no idea what you just started Fishboy." I say, my voice dark.

"Nothing I can't handle." He said while gulping, trying to hide his… fear? Nervousness? I can't tell what, but I can tell he's hiding something.

"How about we get some lunch, then start this thing?" I ask then grin, "You're going to need all the energy you can get." His eye seemed to twinkle a bit for a second, but he followed me into the mess hall, putting his arm around me yet again. Gods, doesn't this boy know boundaries… He is most definitely going to kill me one of these days… I wondered which god on Olympus had it out for me.

Probably all of them.

I ran through the forest, scanning the dark for any signs of life. Percy had the bright idea that playing Capture the Flag at night would make the game just that much more fun, and I couldn't say no to him, especially since I didn't get why he thought it would be more fun, besides the fact that it would be harder to see. But I forgot about one important factor.

Harpies.

Percy had thought that adding some monsters bent on eating you, would make the game more interesting, and that it did. Especially when I'd forgotten and had nearly been killed when one jumped out of a tree as I searched the forest for Percy's stupid blue flag. I'd killed it fairly easily after I got over the initial shock, and I'd encountered several more after that, but I could never be too careful…

Just as I rounded a giant rock I spotted something move off to my left. I gripped my sword harder and ran towards the movement. I could hear the sound of running water nearby, probably the river. I turned when I heard a twig behind me snap, dodging the blade of a familiar slightly glowing bronze sword. I countered with my sword, but Percy was quick. He jumped back and countered with his own attack as I stumbled to try to reach him, the blade just about hit my arm when I smirked and disappeared. I reappeared directly behind Percy and lunged my sword at him, he did a summersault and easily dodged the attack. He regained his fighting stance and lunged his sword back at me, which I was expecting, I blocked the attack with my own sword and we continued like this for a while, exchanging quick slices and blocking them with ease. The noise of our swords clashing had attracted more than a few harpies though, and we quickly faced the new threat back-to-back. I lunged my sword at the closest harpy and ran it through swiftly and almost effortlessly, the three harpies behind her growled and quickly scattered into the air, diving at me with such gracefulness that if I were not fighting for my life, would have been a marvel to watch. I quickly dodged the first assault and ran my blade through. The attacker quickly crumbled to dust. My next attacker wasn't as obvious.

Percy had finished off his set of harpies and had been set on making my work harder for me. He sliced to my right which I quickly intercepted, but then he kicked me in the side and I went flying. Once I regained my stance I noticed Percy had taken out one of my harpies and was fighting with the other.

"Hey! That was mine!" I yelled at him, he just smirked and continued fighting the harpy. I ran forward with energy I didn't know I had. I quickly jumped at the harpy and ran my blade through. Percy's grin grew. "Wipe that grin off your face before I wipe it for you." He did the opposite. Damn the boy was aggravating. He lunged at me, I rolled and it missed me, then I quickly disappeared and appeared behind him. Fighting in the dark gave me a distinct advantage, one that I was going to make use of. Especially since it wasn't too hard to travel a few feet and there were plenty of shadows.

Percy did a backflip over me as he dodged my attack. But I was expecting as much, I called out to the shadows to latch onto his ankle and he tumbled to the ground behind me. He thrust his sword at my abdomen and I jumped back, barely missing the attack by an inch. He then started running. I quickly followed him, he was getting too close to where I had hidden my flag. We raced through trees, docked under branches, and jumped over logs. He came to a halt when we reached a cliff overlooking more forest. I smirked. He was trapped. But he returned the smirk and I quickly jumped out of the way to dodge a jet of water that Percy had summoned from the river below. I hadn't been fast enough and it threw me onto my back. Percy stood in front of me, Riptide inches from my throat. I glanced at the cliff behind him. He wore a smirk that told me he had planned this all along, I was about to counterattack when Percy did something I never would have expected. He jumped backwards and off the cliff. I ran for him and looked over the cliff, only to have what felt like a geyser erupt in my face as Percy jumped over me. I looked back at him and stared in disbelief as he held my flag. How had he known I hid it in the small cave under the cliff?

"Your eyes." He said, letting out a breath of exhaustion. I looked at him puzzled. He laughed. "You glanced at the cliff when I had you beat." I stared at him dumbfounded. This boy was smarter than people gave him credit for. He was easily the best fighter in camp, and apparently not only the best fighter, but a pretty damn good strategist as well. He extended his hand to me. I took it and he helped me up, but as he helped me up I stumbled over a rock. He caught me and kept me balanced in a tight embrace.

"You're far too clumsy for someone who just single-handedly took out a small army of bird women, and exhausted a child of the sea." He laughed, I took in his scent. He smelled of the ocean during the summer, a comforting smell that promised warmth and calmness, but also held mystery and power. I sighed then realized the embrace lasted far too long for my liking, I pushed him off me and turned to hide my blush.

"And you're too smart for a sea spawn." I retorted. He laughed and put his arm around my neck again. I sighed in defeat. He laughed.

"Let's get some rest, I expect another fun-filled day tomorrow." He said with a wink. I blushed. It's a good thing it is dark… "And besides, we don't need more harpies attacking us, I'm tired already and I think Chiron is going to notice some of them are missing already, we don't need even more of them getting 'lost'."

"Rest? I don't need any rest. I could go another round right now without a second thought. And harpies? Bring them on." I say. Trying to act like I weren't about to pass out right here.

"Really?" He said with a smirk, "Weren't you the one who said, 'With great power… comes great need to take a nap?'" He started laughing and I turned a shade darker.

"Yeah, whatever." I push him off me again. He frowns.

"Oh don't be like that." He playfully pushes me, "You're only jealous because I beat you." He then preceded to try and tickle me. And trust me, I tried really hard to not laugh. Really hard. But that boy knew exactly where to push my buttons and it unnerves me to know end how easily he can get under my skin. I fell to the ground. After he was sufficiently satisfied with my torture he got off me and helped me up, placing his arm around me again. I pushed him and he just held onto me tighter. I sighed. I may have escaped from death with Hazel, but this boy was going to put me right back down there before the week was up. This was going to be a long week...