Thanks for all the coughs views! I'm not going to be annoying, and beg you all for reviews, though they are nice :P This chapter we get to learn what happens to Nancy, and the plot starts to get set up! I'm trying to take this at a relaxed pace, so it may be a bit before we're into the action. But it will come! Enjoy!

Chapter 3 - What Happens In The Underworld, Stays In The Underworld, Or Does It? - Percy

Me and Nancy walked up to the first cabin, which just happened to be the Aphrodite cabin, with two girls arguing in front. They turned towards us, and when they spotted Nancy trailing after me their expressions darkened. Both stalked to in front of us.

"What is this?" One girl screeched.

"Oh, this is Nancy, and she's new here," I grumbled. Both girls rolled their eyes.

"No, we can tell she's new, Percy. Why would you be followed by a girl? Annabeth would kill you if you were going out with another girl," The other girl said, slashing her hand in front of her neck.

"We're talking about her make-up," she said, pulling Nancy along behind her as both disappeared into the Aphrodite cabin. I blinked at the suddeness of the movement.

"And her hair!" Another yelled from inside the cabin. I shrugged and walked towards my own cabin, it was about time for a nap anyways.

You see, at the beginning of the summer, me and Nico put his plan into action, but we haven't told anyone of it yet.

-Flashback-

"Run!" Nico yelled from behind me, as a swarm of ghouls turned towards us, and started to close in.

I turned and ran as he said, but towards the Styx, instead of back the way we came.

"Percy! Get out! We don't have time for it anymore!" He yelled as I picked up my pace. What did he say again? 'Remember, when you're in the Styx, you have to concentrate on the thing that ties you to your mortal life.' Nico told me before we came here.

"Stop!" A ghoul shouted behind me. It's voice sounded gravely and as if it was through water. An arrow whizzed past me face, missing by a hair's breadth. I was literally feet from the river, and I turned to look at Nico.

'Sorry,' I mouthed at him, as he glanced at me while trying to fend off the ghouls. He frowned and turned away, a look of concentration falling onto his face.

I dived into the water, and instantly it felt like thousands of needles were trying to tear me apart. And believe me, that's not something fun. At all. It felt like I was slowly burning away, and being pulled along piece by piece by the river.

A form appeared in the water in front of me, gaining distinction when I focused on it. The pain became muted for a moment. The form turned out to be a very pretty girl dressed entirely in black. Even her hair and eyes were a deep black, even more so than Nico's. When she spoke, it had an icy tone that sent shivers down my spine and threatened to bring back to full brunt of the pain.

"What do you seek, young demigod?"

"I need to gain invincibility, or else the war against Kronos is lost." I said. She turned and called for someone. Another form came into existence, this time one of a man wearing Greek armor.

"Young hero, you must realize once you accept this burden you can't be hurt, and you never will be again?" The man's voice was more human than the girl's, but still contained an edge to it.

"Well, that's kind of the point, actually." The man chuckled, but the girl's eyes narrowed a fraction.

"Yes, indeed. My curse gives you a huge advantage over your enemies, but if the spot that will tie you to your mortal life is hit, you are dead, and there is no chance to be revived, no matter how much your friends and family may plead and beg Lord Hades." I finally realized who the man was; Achilles himself. (see AN)

"You can turn back now, and you will be able to get out of the Styx alive. If you want this, there is no guarantee." The girl said. I nodded.

"I do want this."

"Then let history say we tried," Achilles said somberly, both his and the girl's form starting to fizzle away.

"To gain what you seek, think of the one thing that holds you in this life. The Styx will reject you if it does not deem you worthy. If it does deem you worthy, however, it shall grant your wish." The girl pulled a black bead from one of her sleeves, and handed it to me.

"Add this to your necklace, young hero, so when the time is right, they will know what you have gained." And with that, they were gone. The pain started to come back, and I slipped the bead onto the necklace around my neck next to the other four.

Immediately, I could feel my mind start to slip, and a funny tickling sensation started to trail up my legs and arms. It started to get stronger and more painful as it went. I needed to focus. What tied me to this life? I scrambled through my mind, sorting through everything I could think of.

A memory kept tugging at my focus, but I pushed it aside. There wasn't any time for tear-jerking remembering. The pain and tickling, now poking sensation was working its way toward where my heart was. My vision started to flicker.

That's when the memory began.

I sat in a canoe, someone else helping me paddle. My own paddle sat forgotten for the moment as I turned to see who was behind me.

Annabeth was there, her head slightly leaned forward in concentration, her arms moving slowly and strongly. She looked up when she realized I wasn't doing anything.

"Seaweed Brain, come on, we need to hold our lead on everyone else. Your pride would get hurt if we lost on your own turf," she grinned and splashed me a bit. It startled me and I fell out of the boat, landing with a splash in the water. When I surfaced, Annabeth had her head peering over the side of the canoe, her paddle forgotten as well. When she saw me looking back at her, she blushed slightly.

"Well, this isn't helpful." I said, pulling myself back into the boat with an added boost from the water.

I felt a cool hand on my wrist, and I looked down to see Annabeth's hand. I turned to look at her in confusion, as she was preventing me from paddling.

She smiled.

The next thing I knew, I was laying on the shore of the river, and my skin was bright red. I poked myself lightly, but it felt no different. I sat there puzzled.

"Percy! Get your butt over here and help me!" Nico's voice sounded out from behind me. I stood and turned to find a wall of ghouls blocking me, swords and weapons drawn. I pulled Riptide out of my still intact pocket and swiped at the first row.

The next few minutes - or hours, I really couldn't tell- were a blur. All I knew was the constant rhythm of battle; Slash, duck, roll.

I soon found myself crouched next to Nico, who was looking at me in awe. The last bit of dust was settling. He punched the air in happiness.

"I knew it! I could feel your soul leaking away, but then..." He trailed off, still muttering. His eyes fell to my necklace, and they widened at the sight of the pitch black bead.

"What's with the weird bead?"

-End Flashback-

Hey all! Hope you like it! The story of Nancy will continue a bit in the next chapter! For that AN thing up above, Achilles is basically telling Percy if he dies with the Achilles Curse while in battle, there's no way to revive him, though I'll explain that a bit later. Oh! I finally got a copy of Lost Hero! :D Looking forward to reading it!