Chapter Four

The first thing Nico became aware of was the throbbing pain on the side of his head. He groaned and fingered his temple, where a large, rapidly swelling bump had formed. As soon as he touched it, white hot pain ripped through his skull. He jerked his hand away,but the pain still ravaged through his forehead, so intense it felt like his whole had was tearing open. He moaned, jerking his hand away from the bump, and gritting his teeth as the pain finally receded.

He slowly dragged his eyes open, and the world came blearily into focus. He was lying on a hard, lumpy mattress on the bottom of a bunk bed. There was a hard block of wood under his head - he guessed that it was supposed to be a pillow. Turning his head slowly so that it didn't hurt, he looked around. He was in a small, cramped building, packed with bunk beds, all crammed together and shoved up against the walls. The ceiling, walls, and floors were all cold, gray metal, giving the whole room the feeling of a prison cell. The ceiling was low, and the pale white lights along it were all flickering eerily, only adding to the feeling of a cell. Where was he?

Then the memories all came crashing back to him. Finding COU...meeting Miles and Tyrell...Tyrell giving him a tour and trying to convince him to stay, and then...Tyrell attacked him.

Nico sprang up in the bed, and his head exploded with pain again, but he ignored it. He had to get out of here. He didn't know why Tyrell attacked him, but he knew one thing; he couldn't trust anyone here. And he had to leave. Now.

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and staggered to his feet, his forehead still screaming in agony. He stumbled around, his hands out feeling blindly for his sword. Pain pulsed through his head, ripping apart his brain, and black spots danced through his vision. Through the haze of pain, he faintly heard the sound of a door opening, and footsteps coming towards him. He tried to run, but his mind was spinning. It felt like someone was pressing white-hot metal against his whole head. He felt his knees buckle in pain underneath him, and he hit the floor with a hard thump.

More black spots swam over his eyes as he felt two pairs of hands dragging him back to the hard bed, and one last thought echoed in his mind as he blacked out.

'I have to get out of here.'

-o0O0o-

Pale white light filtered dimly through Nico's opening eyelids when he finally woke up again.

A quiet groan escaped his lips as he slowly dragged his eyes open fully. He blinked a few times, slowly sitting up on the lumpy bed. The prison cell he was in hadn't changed. He wondered how long he had been out. He hesitantly fingered his temple where he had felt the bump, and realized that his whole head was completely swathed in cloth bandages. He could feel his tangled hair sticking out at odd angles from the gaps in the bandages. If he could have looked in a mirror, he would bet he looked like some sort of deranged mummy.

"Well look at that, the zombie lives!" A girls sarcastic voice suddenly said. Nico jumped, and whirled to the left to see two people sitting on the bunk bed across from him, watching him.

The first person was the girl who had spoken. She was tall and slim, and looked a little older him. She wore a black leather jacket, and a dark purple shirt under that with a black skull on it. Her jeans and combat boots were black too. Her dark hair was cut short, and choppy, and stuck out in little spikes in all directions. She reminded Nico of Thalia Grace, with the same tough-as-nails, punk girl look.

But there was something that seemed much...darker about her. Something dark, and brooding. Her skin was uber pale, and there were deep black bags under her angry eyes. Her black eyes themselves were dead and hopeless looking, as if whatever she had to live for had been taken away long ago.

Next to her was a boy. He had a small, and skinny frame, a bit shorter than the girl. His face was partially hidden under the hood of his gray hoodie. He wore a pair of old, very faded, blue jeans. Through the shadows cast by his hood, Nico could make out bit of his face and a splash of freckles across his nose. As he looked at the boy's face, Nico had the distinct feeling he had seen him before.

"'Bout time you rose from the dead," Added the girl. "You've been out for nearly three days - Tyrell gave you a pretty nasty concussion... Jordan here thought you kicked the bucket while you were sleeping. Though to be honest, that would've been fine with me."

The boy jabbed her with his elbow, shaking his head, as though saying 'Not making a good impression.'

Nico leaped to his feet, his hand instinctively going to his belt, feeling for his sword, but it wasn't there.

"Oh yeah, Tyrell took your sword before he dumped you here." said the girl, noticing Nico's grasping hand. "Said something out wanting to inspect it. He's probably gonna' keep it for himself." she added.

The boy nodded silently next to her, but still didn't speak.

Nico balled his fists. He didn't need his sword to take on these two. He just wondered how many people he would have to fight to get out of here.

"Who are you two?!" He demanded, his voice angry, "Where am I?! And where's Tyrell - why did he attack me? Is he keeping me prisoner here? Did he send you two to guard-"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Here we go again…" she muttered. She turned to the boy. "Can we just knock him out again, Jordan? He's so much nicer when he's unconscious. Much quieter."

The boy called Jordan narrowed his eyes at her, and shook his head. The girl sighed. "I know, I know, be nice to the new arrivals."

He nodded, then jerked his head at Nico, and pointed back at the girl meaningfully.

"Okay, fine, I'll start explaining."

Nico wondered how she she was getting this conversation out of a completely mute boy, but at this point, he really didn't care.

"Explaining what to me? What the Hades is going on?" he demanded.

"Just shut up and listen, won't you." Snapped the girl. Jordan elbowed her again, and she ground her teeth in frustration.

"To answer your first questions, no Tyrell didn't send us to guard you." She began in a strained sort of voice. "We're not working for him. We were taken prisoner by him, just like you."

That caught Nico off guard.

"Prisoners?" He repeated slowly.

She nodded. "Me, you, Jordan, and a couple others. Tyrell took us all prisoner when we tried to leave."

Nico thought back to all the other children of Hades he had met when he first came. "You mean all those campers at COU...are prisoners? I'm finding that hard to believe"

"No, you idiot, not them." the girl snapped. "Tyrell's adoring little pawns are here on their own. It's only the nine of us who he imprisoned. You make ten."

"Nine?" Nico repeated blankly.

The girl sighed, running her fingers through her messy hair. "I hate explaining." She muttered. "Look, when you came to the Underworld, you felt the aura of life, didn't you? It was what lead you to the secret entrance in the cliff?"

Nico nodded, and she went on, "Once a child of Hades finds the camp, they always want to stay. Like, always."

"Why?"

He half expected the girl to call him an idiot again, but instead, her expression softened a bit. "Children of Hades rarely have happy lives you know." she said, "We're dark, we're powerful, and we're different. Even among other demigods we're different. You've noticed haven't you? Haven't you ever felt unaccepted?"

She looked at Nico expectantly. He said nothing, but a lump had formed in his throat, remembering his time back at camp Half Blood.

"There's something in our blood that sets us apart from people." She continued, her voice sounded a bit sad. Nico had a feeling she was thinking back to her own memories. "Usually by the time we get to COU, we're desperate for someone - for anyone - to accept us. And then suddenly, the minute you set foot in the camp, you're surrounded by people who understand you perfectly. Everything at COU is just so...right for us. Everything's tailor made for the children of Hades. Really, who wouldn't want to stay?"

Nico's chest tightened a bit. Everything she said was one hundred percent true - at least for him. Everyone at COU seemed to understand him, understand what it was like being a child of Hades...and he had wanted to stay. So badly.

"Anyway, usually when kids come to COU, they stay, they train, they make friends, they're accepted, and everything's fine." continued the girl. "But there are some people who don't want to stay. People who try to leave. People like me and you. And Tyrell doesn't like that."

Nico was silent for a second, taking everything in. "You're saying Tyrell took you and me prisoner because we wanted to leave COU?" he asked in disbelief. "Why does he care? What does he want with us?"

"Not just you and me." She said. "Jordan here too." She said, pointing to the boy next to her. "And seven others. He's keeping us all here."

"But...why?" asked Nico incredulously. "When I told him I wanted to leave, he started talking about how it wasn't safe to leave. But if he wanted to keep me safe-"

The girl snorted. "You think he's keeping us here out of the goodness of his heart?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Keeping us here to protect us?"

At this, Jordan rolled his eyes, but still said nothing.

"He's not keeping us here to protect us." She said with disgust. "He's keeping us here because he needs us. He needs as many soldiers as he can get."

"Soldiers?"

"For his own little personal army." she sneered. "All those kids you met at COU? He doesn't train them nothing. He's making an army of elite warriors for himself. And he needs all the soldiers he can get. That includes us. So if you don't stay willingly, he takes you prisoner."

Nico looked at her with shock. "An army?" he said incredulously. "What does he need a freaking army for?"

"To take over Olympus, of course." She said simply. Nico stared at her.

"It's been his plot since the very beginning." She said, "He's gonna' amass an army of Children of Hades, and train them 'till they're all warriors. When he has enough people, he'll strike. But he won't go to Olympus first - oh no. He knows how powerful demigods can be. The first thing he'll do is storm Camp Half-Blood. And he'll slaughter all the demigods who stand in his way. Then he'll march on Olympus, and conquer it. Conquer it in the name of Hades."

Nico's mind was reeling in shock as he took in all this information. "What - how - that's - that's ridiculous." he spluttered. "That's absolutely ridiculous." he said. "How the heck does he plan to even take over Camp Half Blood with, what, thirty demigods? He's outnumbered - there were at least one hundred demigods when I left, and with new ones coming in - he'd never be able to defeat them all."

"Wouldn't he?" said the girl, raising and eyebrow. "There are actually thirty three demigods here. Think about it."

"He's not just attacking with thirty three ordinary demigods, he's attacking with thirty three Children of Hades. Just one child of the Big Three can conquer 15 demigods all by themselves. Thirty three of us? We'd be unstoppable."

"Not to mention all the legions of millions of undead warriors we'll all be summoning. One child of Hades alone can summon legions of warriors - all of us? We'd summon so many the underworld would probably be empty. And the undead can't be killed except by Children of Hades. Even if they managed to kill one zombie, we would summon ten more."

"And then there's all the hellhounds and furies and monsters of the underworld that Tyrell can summon. Every monster in the underworld will attack the camp."

"And to top it all off, he's taking Camp Half Blood completely by surprise, no one would be expecting an attack. And even if they did expect us, half the demigods there are new and untrained. But us? We're all trained to the elite level. Even if we weren't, we have powers." She smiled a terrible, hopeless sort of smile. "Camp Half Blood doesn't stand a chance."

Nico quietly took this all in. She was right. Camp Half-Blood might be able to withstand many things, but he didn't think they could withstand this.

But it still didn't all add up.

"They won't stand for this." he said suddenly. "I met all the kids at COU, Miles, and Ella - all those kids there, they wouldn't do this...they wouldn't attack a bunch of innocent demigods."

"Oh yes they would." Interrupted the girl. "Tyrell hasn't told them about his plot yet - the only reason we know is because there's no need to keep secrets from prisoners who are trapped."

"But once tells them, they won't-"

"He has them all wrapped around his hand. Haven't you seen they way they all adore him?" She sneered, "He's more than their leader, you know. Every time a new camper arrives, he meets them personally, and gives them a tour." She smiled grimly. "Then he tells a sad, heartfelt story about how Zeus killed his sister-"

"His sister?" Nico suddenly interrupted. "He told me about her - but he said he hadn't told anyone else before-"

The girl laughed mirthlessly. "Hadn't told anyone? Please. He tells every new arrival. That way, they all bond with him. They trust him. And after that, as they stay at camp, they slowly get brainwashed into thinking the rest of the gods are evil. They think that Tyrell loves them all like brothers and sisters." She smiled grimly. "They would all do anything for him. All he has to do is ask, and they'd lay down their lives taking over Olympus for him."

Nico felt his chest tighten, now seeing Tyrell in an entirely different light. Nico had trusted Tyrell right away. He seemed so open, so easygoing. Nico thought of him as a friend. There was no doubt in his mind that if he had stayed for much longer, he would be just as devoted to Tyrell as the rest of the kids.

"But...but why keep us prisoner here then?" he asked. "We know who Tyrell really is now. We're not going to fight for him. I'm not going to attack my friends at camp just because he says so."

The girl shrugged. "Jordan and I have been trying to figure that out for a long time." she said, looking at Jordan, "We still don't know exactly how he's going to make us fight. He hasn't given us any death threats, so I don't think he'll kill us if we don't fight. Jordan thinks he's probably gonna' have Blackwood do some creepy magic on us to make us fight."

Jordan mimed drinking something, and the girl added, "He thinks it's a potion. I definitely wouldn't put it past Blackwood to force us to drink some magic-Hecate-voodoo stuff."

"Blackwood?" Repeated Nico.

"Lucinda Blackwood. Tyrell probably introduced you to her as Lucy. She's the legacy of Hecate."

Nico nodded, remembering the golden-haired girl. "She knows about this?"

"She's Tyrell's right hand." said the girl. Next to her, Nico could see Jordan tensing up a bit as they talked about Lucy. "She's pretty much been helping him since the very beginning. Blackwood does all of Tyrell's dirty work. She makes monthly trips to Camp Half Blood to spy on them - you know, gather intel."

Nico remembered when he had met Lucy, she said she had said she had just gotten back from somewhere. He wondered vaguely if she had just gotten back from a spying mission at Camp Half Blood. That would explain why Tyrell had been so secretive when talking to her.

"She's the one who oversees the prisoners training." Continued the girl. "You could say she's our warden. She makes sure none of us can escape. She has some sort of magic on the exit, none of us can undo it. Even though Jordan is a legacy of Hecate like her, he doesn't know how-"

Jordan stomped on her foot suddenly, glaring, as if saying 'Shut. Up.'

But Nico wasn't thinking about Jordan at the moment. A new thought had suddenly just occurred to him.

"Where are we, exactly?" he asked. "We're not still at COU - Tyrell showed me the whole camp, there wasn't any place like this.

"There's a passage under the rock climbing pile." she explained. "Other campers don't usually go digging under it because of the lava. You just move the rocks aside, and there's a long passage that leads into...well...into here."

She pointed at the door of the building they were in. "Out there - it's like an alternate version of COU. Way smaller of course - no nice cabins or big fields for us prisoners. We're in military boot camp. Wake up at five, then train, eat, train, train,eat, and sleep." She shook her head. "That's our deal. All day, every day, until Tyrell decides he has enough soldiers to start his attack. Then he'll force us to fight."

Nico stared at the two teenagers before him, noticing the deep bags under the girl's eyes, and the sort of hopeless, broken look in both their eyes.

"How long have you been here?" He asked quietly.

She didn't reply, and Jordan just stared sadly at him. Then Kyra whispered her answer quietly. "Since I was nine. Seven years. Jordan's been here longer."

Nico's eyes widened. Seven years. She hadn't been able to escape for seven years. "I...didn't actually get your name."

"I didn't give it." She snapped. Jordan placed a hand on her knee, as if saying 'Be nice'. She sighed "I'm Kyra. Kyra Grey. And this is Jordan."

Nico was about to ask Jordan's last name when Kyra stood up suddenly and walked over to the door of the barrack, pulling it open.

"C'mon shrimp, it's time you get introduced to your new prison. Get used to the sight - you're never going to leave."