A/N: This story is set before Son of Neptune and after The Lost Hero. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. It won't take this long for the next one! Please read and review! Thanks to Allislove for that amazing review! As always, PJO and HOO belong to Rick Riordan, not me.

Chapter 6: Answers

"You can't go. Rachel, You CANNOT find Ares. Do you understand? The gods can't know about this quest." The boy—No, I corrected myself, the teenager—put the sword down and walked towards us calmly, yet with an expression like thunder.

He looked to be a couple of years younger than I, but with such intensity written into his face that he looked practically college age. I noticed now that his shoulders were not as broad as they had first seemed, but rather appeared as such because of black armor he wore over his shoulders and chest.

"But inevitably fail if the gods do know…Hmm… that sounds like the prophecy. But I thought it was safe to assume that Ares already knew about it because he claimed her!" Piper's stance changed and was immediately guardedly reflective.

"But that's the thing. Ares didn't claim her. I doubt Ares even knows she exists, which is the way we want to keep it. I know who could have claimed her, and I know why."

"Um, hi. My name is Atalanta, not 'she' or 'her.' I am standing right here. Now, who are you?"

At least Leo looked almost as confused as I was. Maybe he hadn't met Nico before either?

This whole conversation was making me very uncomfortable. They were talking about me. My head was caving in– no, it was positively exploding. I needed to say something, and figure out who this 'Nico' was. When did this get so complicated? I was just a New Yorker this morning: an innocent New Yorker who knew nothing of swords and giant dogs. Did I mention yet that my head was exploding?

Rachel and Nico looked at me for the first time in the conversation. "Nico. I'm Nico," was the reluctant reply to my question.

Well. That was a descriptive answer, but at least he answered, and at this point I'll take what I get.

"Nico. Hey–I've heard of you!" Leo said in excitement. "You're the one who convinced Hades to help the gods win the Titan War last year! You can do the whole shadow-travel thing too, right?"

Nico looked trapped. He obviously wasn't used to such excitement when people realized who he was. He muttered, "Yeah, that's me."

"So you know why someone put that 'claiming' light over my head?" I asked.

"Yes. I talked with some gho—" Nico looked at Rachel with a silent question. "…some friends. It could have been Iris or Hecate, working through their demigod children," (Demigods? I asked silently, Children?) "But I have been sensing more unrest among the dea— among friends lately, and many of them have been falling ill."

"How can they fall ill?" Rachel asked. "For gods' sake! They're already dead."

Huh. So that's why Nico was being so weird about his "friends." But…that is so extremely creepy. Yet another reminder that the world has expanded since this morning, and I had no idea exactly what it contained anymore.

I blurted out, "Nico, are you dead?" He looked so alive, and yet, with dead friends, maybe he was one of them. He seemed pale enough, and Rachel mentioned something earlier about not all of them being mortal.

Nico looked startled for an instant, and it was Rachel who responded.

"No, Nico isn't dead, he just …can talk to the dead."

Nico rolled his eyes and scowled. "It's not exactly as simple as that, but there's no time for this now. The dead are not doing so well. They can't get physically sick, but mentally? Emotionally? There's something very, very wrong."

He handed something to Rachel. It was small, black, stone-like. "From the Mnemosyne river in the Underworld." Nico pronounced the word "Mnemosyne" like "Nemo-sin-ee."

He turned and explained to me, "Every time a mortal or demigod dies, and it is determined that they have done good things in their life, they have a choice: to drink from the river Lethe or the river Mnemosyne.

"If they drink from the river Lethe, they lose all of their memories of their previous life, and are reborn to a new mortal life. If they drink from the river Mnemosyne, they retain their memories and go to Elysium, where they remain in comfort and peace for eternity.

"But Rachel, there is something wrong with Mnemosyne. It's affecting the dead. If they choose to drink from Mnemosyne, their memories are influenced."

"Influenced? Influenced how?" Rachel asked tersely.

"Does it have anything to do with Gaea?" Leo asked.

"I don't know exactly who did it, but once the dead drink from the Mnemosyne, their memories cast the gods in a very, very negative light, and the giants and Gaea in a very positive light.

"I didn't even know it was possible, but they are going crazy and revolting against Hades himself. Heroes who died fighting for the gods and against the titans or the giants are now taking the giants' side.

"I don't know who claimed you, Atalanta, but I know why. The gods need a hero, but they can't know about you. Their powers are somehow being used against them. Aphrodite's gift of persuasion is being used to shape the memories of the dead. The dead are winning the war, with blessings from Athena and Ares. And the gods don't even know that they've given these gifts to aid the dead! How could they, when they don't even know the war is going on in the underworld?! Hades's gifts haven't been used against him, but his very realm is being threatened! And after the dead, who will be influenced next? If the gods know about you, their powers could be used against you, with or without their control." Nico's voice had risen to a shout by the end of his speech.

"Nico." Annabeth had emerged from the bunker during his speech. She greeted him. "I thought I heard you out here."

"Annabeth." Nico nodded at her.

"I heard some of what you were saying, but where is Piper? And who claimed Atalant—"

Annabeth cut herself off, looking at something behind Nico.

What looked like a window of air at eye level was expanding, and glowing…rainbow colors?

"An Iris message…" Rachel muttered. "From whom?"

Piper's face appeared in the window of air. I gasped. It looked like her head was floating in the air.

"Oh gods." Leo said. "Jason!" he yelled at the bunker. "Get down here!"

Jason rushed out of the building as Piper turned around. She was consulting a map, and she was on a bus. She looked around jumpily, but didn't even seem to notice that the 'Iris' window was open.

She wasn't in New York City anymore. The bus was on a highway, and there wasn't enough traffic at this time of day for her to be near the city. The map she was looking at seemed to be of Pennsylvania.

"Piper…" Jason whispered. He turned to Annabeth, and then Leo. "What is this?"

"Shhh." Annabeth said quietly. "Somebody sent this Iris message to us, and it wasn't her. We need to watch carefully."

Abruptly, Piper stood up and drew out a knife. Bronze and shiny, it reflected her image. Nobody else on the bus seemed to notice the knife. Piper moved up the rows of the bus, tapping everybody's head with her hand, which had started to glow. They all looked confused, but didn't notice Piper.

"What is she doing?" Leo asked Annabeth.

"…I don't know." Annabeth replied.

"Piper!" Jason called out.

Startled, Piper turned around and saw the Iris message. Using her knife, she swiped it through the message, making eye contact with me right before it dissolved.

I shivered. That was weird. The people on the bus didn't notice what she was doing! What was she doing?

Everybody looked grim. "We're going to Pennsylvania." Jason announced. "Let's find Piper."