I'm incredibly sorry for the late update. It's not easy with an absent co-writer. I'll stop rambling now and let you get to the chapter. Hope you like it.

"Rachel? Rachel, can you hear me?" The sound of crackling static responded, and I was sure that if I gripped the telephone any tighter it would break.

Annabeth's voice came from the other side of the room, "Ask her where she is?"

"Rachel," I spoke again, in a desperate attempt. "If you can hear me, call me back. We just got home. I need to know if you're alright."

A screeching beep filled the telephone followed by more static. I sighed, clicking the off button on the phone to hang up.

Annabeth looked up at me, frowning. "No luck?"

I shook my head, walking across my room to where Annabeth was sitting on my bed. I took a seat on the edge of my mattress, hitting redial for the third time.

There was a muffled sound after the second tone, but no one spoke. "Rachel?" I said slowly, "Is that you?"

Before I could pay attention to what the barely audible voice was saying through the crackling phone line, Annabeth suddenly gasped from behind me. "Nico!" she yelled, "You scared the living Hades out of me! Don't do that!"

I stood up to see Nico standing on the dim side of my bedroom, long streaks of shadows quickly retrieving down by his feet.

"Shadow Travel takes a lot of work," Nico said, staring at Annabeth. "I can't help what time I show up."

The muffled voice spoke through the phone again, and I turned my back towards Nico and Annabeth as I tried to listen. "I can't understand what you're saying. Rachel? Speak louder."

Small sounds consumed the phone line until there was another click. Rachel's voice came through slowly. "Percy, I'm here. There were-" her voice was cut off.

"I lost you. Say that again," I said desperately, trying to block out the sound of Nico and Annabeth arguing behind me.

Rachel's voice came again after a few seconds. "There were monsters, Percy, a lot of them."

"Where are you?" I asked, "Are you safe now?"

"I was in the nurse's office. That's why the connection has been so bad. I'm going to my dorm now-"

"The nurse's office? Are you hurt?"

For a second Rachel didn't answer. Suddenly, static filled the silence and Rachel's voice was drowned behind the commotion.

"Rachel, I can't hear you. Tell me if you're okay." I tried saying, hoping she was listening. "What kind of monsters were they?"

There was silence on the other end and I could hear Nico's voice speaking. "Why is he so worried about his ex-girlfriend?"

"She's mortal, Nico. She's being attacked by monsters." Annabeth answered. "Wait, did you say ex-girlfriend? What makes you think she's his ex-girlfriend?"

"How do you know she isn't? Did you ever ask him?"

"I don't need to ask him. They never dated, Nico."

"That's what you think."

"What the Hades is that supposed to mean? Do you know something I don't?"

"No. I'm just saying."

Before Annabeth could respond to him, I turned around, frustration getting the best of me. "Can you two please shut up?" It came out harsher than I had meant, but Annabeth took a deep breath, reading my face.

"Rachel," I said for a last time into the phone, trying to get through.

The sound of a door slamming shut was heard through the phone before Rachel's voice cleared. "I'm saying that there are too many monsters here, Percy. It's like a whole family of hellhounds come to attack at the same time."

"Just hang in there, Rachel." I told her, "We've been talking to Nico. We're trying to fix it. I'll talk to Chiron at camp, maybe he can find a way to send you help-"

"No," Rachel cut me off urgently. "I can't have reinforcement from camp coming to the school, Percy. I'm not allowed to have visitors here or much less even use my cell phone at this hour."

"You need help. This is dangerous, Rachel."

Rachel's voice steadies as she tried to convince me. "I'll be fine. I can't have the camp thinking that the oracle isn't able to defend herself. Besides, the monsters just caught me off guard this time. I'll be more careful."

It was obvious that Rachel was down-playing the whole situation which had her on the brink of panic a few hours ago. There was only so much I could get out of her through a faulty telephone connection, and I exhaled, knowing that Rachel could be just as stubborn as Annabeth when she wanted to be. "Promise me that you'll keep updating me," I said. "Call me if there's another attack."

"Sure, I will." Rachel lowered her voice. "I think someone's coming. I have to go."

"If you can't handle it anymore, Rachel, I need you to tell me. You can't keep fighting them by yourself."

"Alright," Rachel whispered sharply. "I'll- I'll tell you, I promise."

Before I could warn her about anything else, the sound of talking echoed through the phone and Rachel spoke quickly. "I need to hang up. One more thing, though, if I can't-" Her voice broke off as there was a screeching sound through the phone and the connection ended.

Just like that, Rachel was gone. I sighed hoping that whatever she was about to say wasn't too important.

Nico and Annabeth were still talking on the other side of my room as I zoned back in to their conversation. Annabeth's face was grim as I approached. "Nico just told me about another wave of monsters coming fresh out of the Underworld," she said.

"Another wave? Is Hades just sending them out for fun?"I said, agitation slipping into my tone.

Nico tugged at his sleeves. "I don't know what's on my father's mind or why the monsters are attracted to the oracle," he said plainly. "I'm just telling you what I know."

"You're really making this a whole lot better," I said sarcastically, my eyes glaring at Nico.

Annabeth sat up slowly, "He's right, Seaweed Brain. Don't take it out on him."

I sighed, turning back towards Nico. "Isn't there anything you can do? Hades might listen to you. We need to stop it."

Nico shook his head slowly. "My dad only listened to me once. Besides, it's not our problem, anyway. The monsters are going straight up North."

"It is our problem. Don't you care who might get hurt?"

There was silence in the air before I finally gave up, sitting down next to Annabeth. Annabeth touched my knee, giving me a look that reminded me that not everything was as bad as it could possibly be.

Nico stared at a blank spot on my wall. "Listen," he shifted on his feet. The light from the lamp seemed to shine on his face now, and I noticed that he was still as pale as he had been these past few weeks. "You might not see me as much anymore. I'll be busy."

Annabeth frowned. "Are you going somewhere?"

Nico's face was emotionless. "I'm thinking about it."

"Where?" I asked.

Nico seemed to shiver as if he was suddenly reminded where he was. "I have to leave now," he announced. "I might see you another a time."

"Hold on a second, "I said, "Nico?"

It was no use. Nico had already backed away into the shadows and knelt down to concentrate his energy before he was swept away into the darkness.

Once we were completely alone, Annabeth put her head on my shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she whispered. "It's nothing new. We can deal with a few more monsters."

I stared ahead, feeling helpless knowing that Riptide was of no use to me as it sat on my dresser. "Yeah, but Rachel can't."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked. "What did she tell you on the phone?"

"Rachel says she can handle it, but I can hear it in her voice, Annabeth. She can't keep dodging attacks. Not at the rate their coming." I told Annabeth about how Rachel didn't want word getting out at camp.

"She has a mortal life to worry about," Annabeth explained. "I don't blame her. As long as she can keep herself safe, everything will be fine. Hades can't just keep sending out monsters without the gods interfering."

I thought about what Annabeth was saying and then the confidence Rachel tried to prove in her voice. For a while, I felt like things weren't so bad.

Annabeth was quiet, letting me know that she was thinking just as hard as I was. "What is it?" I asked her.

"I'm more worried about Nico…" Annabeth said, trailing off.

"Why? He's just caught up thinking about some girl. He'll be fine once he gets over it."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Why are you so sure this is over a girl?"

"Because no guy looks like he has that much on his mind if it's not about a girl, Annabeth."

"That's not what I'm saying," she argued. "Don't you wonder if he's taking care of himself? I mean, we don't even know where he's staying or if he's getting any sleep."

"He knows how to survive," I assured her. "He's been doing it his whole life."

"It's weird, though. It's like there's something different about him. You're not taking this seriously."

"Alright, fine," I said, opening my mind up to what Annabeth what saying. "What am not taking seriously?"

Annabeth sat up, and I could tell that she had put a lot of thought into this. For a second, it was almost as if she was searching for the right words until she found it. "I think Nico's depressed."

Before I had time to let it sink in and truly let the idea bounce around in my mind, the telephone rang. I picked it up, immediately. "Rach- …Oh, ," I answered, standing up.

Annabeth suddenly sprung up after me, her eyes widening a fraction. I didn't know what was making her so alert, but I tried to ignore it as I spoke to her father.

How are you, Percy?" 's voice asked through the phone. "It's nice to hear from you again."

As we made small talk, Annabeth's eyes never left my face. It was as if she was evaluating every word that came out of my mouth. Annabeth spoke up, "Percy, let me talk."

"We were just sitting around," I told him, "there's not much to do when you're snowed in."

Before I could hear his response, Annabeth grabbed the phone from me.

"What's wrong?" I asked her quickly. Annabeth put the phone to her ear, saying something to her dad that I couldn't hear.

I didn't know why she was so eager to pull the phone out of my hands, but she had already disappeared into the living room, leaving me standing alone feeling more confused than before.

Updates should be a bit easier now that it's summer. On a quick note, ShadowPalace may not be returning to this story until August. Until then, I'll be doing my best. Please review and let me know if you're enjoying or if you have any predictions on where everything is going. I've been saying this for a while now, but the plot will truly be picking up very quickly.

Please review.