Author's Note - I'm back with Chapter 7. A pretty major event occurs in this chpater so enjoy reading! It's also even longer than the last couple of chapter have been - my muse has been in overdrive, which is a good thing for all you readers. Thanks to everyone who left reviews last chapter - I didn't quite make it to my goal, but I still got a lot of thoughtful reviews with answers to my poll question. The poll is still running (and will be until Chapter 10 is poster), so if you haven't had a chance yet, leave your vote in a review. If you don't remember the poll questions, check the bottom of this chapter. I've reposted the two questions there. Other than that, when you're done reading, please remember to REVIEW, FAVORITE and FOLLOW! I'm still trying to make it to 10 REVIEWS in one chapter and your help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance and enjoy reading this chapter!

Beta Note - My chapters are being betaed by the wonderful MelissaTodd.

Chapter Warnings - Character Death, Mature Language and Some Violence

Flame Response - I was extremely disheartened to get a "flame" review from a guest reviewer named Matt last chapter. Basically, the review said that I should stop writing this story and never write again since the summary of this story says that Nico is going to die. Basically, according to him, my story sucks because I'm going to kill Nico. I was quite saddened to get this review. I work extremely hard writing these chapters. I like to write and its something I think I'm pretty good at. That being said, I hate this type of negativity. So "Matt" - did you even read my story or just the summary? If you read my story, why did you even bother. If you knew it was going to bother you so much if Nico died, you should have stopped at the summary. Plus, I'm not going to stop writing just because you're angry that I killed off one character. AND - if you had read my review responses in previous chapters, a different reviewer asked why Nico was a main character if he was going to die. The answer - think about his father. His father is the LORD OF THE UNDERWORLD. Eugghh - Sorry to my loyal and POSITIVE readers and reviewers, but I had to get that off my chest. *END RANT*

"Blah Blah" - Character's Speech

Blah Blah - Character's Thoughts

CHAPTER 7

DREAM SEQUENCE

Luke found himself standing in the middle of a dense forest of pines. Tall trees surrounded him on all sides and the sounds of wild animals could be heard in the distance. It was nighttime. The sky was pitch black and the only source of light was the small amount of luminescence provided by the waning quarter of the moon. A light haze in the air covered all of the stars and the occasional gust of wind brought about a chill reminiscent of the last weeks of fall.

For some reason, Luke's subconscious knew that the images around him were imagined. Although he wasn't sure why he had fallen asleep, the demigod remembered that prior to falling asleep he had been in the desert. He, Percy and Nico had been on a train to Seattle which had been travelling through Northern Nevada. The nearest pine forest akin to the one he was standing in was hundreds of miles of away, and thus he reasoned that he must be dreaming.

Deciding to investigate his surroundings, Luke began to walk down a small dirt path that had materialized in front of him. After walking for about five hundred feet, the young demigod came to a small clearing in the forest. There was a downed tree in the middle of the clearing and as he walked closer to it, Luke could see the silhouette of a man sitting on top of it.

When Luke was about twenty feet away from the log, the man turned around to face him. The unknown man had bleach blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He was wearing a pair of ripped blue jeans and a Nike Track Jacket. Despite the chill in the air, the man's very presence seemed to radiate warmth and light. From their conversation via Iris Message earlier that day, Luke recognized the man as Apollo, God of the Sun.

"Lord Apollo?" Luke asked, as he sat down on the log next to him. "What are you doing in my dreams? Is everything okay with Percy and Nico? And why is it night? I was under the assumption that you preferred blue skies and sunny beaches."

Apollo repositioned himself so he was facing the now seated Luke. His eyes traveled up and down the boy's body searching for any signs of visible injury. He let out an audible sigh of relief when he found none.

"Hades, myself and Hestia were watching the progress of your quest and saw the fight you three had with the minotaur and stymphalian bird. When we saw that you three had all passed out, I was sent to investigate being the God of Medicine. Percy and Nico both quickly awoke and were injury free. You however, are still passed out, twenty minutes after jumping off the minotaur's back. I was concerned and decided to visit you in your dreams."

As Apollo spoke, images of his fight against the minotaur raced through Luke's mind. He was relieved to discover that Percy and Nico had made it through the fight unscathed. Their plan had worked!

"Thankfully," continued Apollo, "You look to be alright. Drink a little nectar when you get up and you should be 100% good to go."

Luke nodded his head, his eyes showing his gratitude towards Apollo. While he felt alright, it was extremely reassuring knowing that the God of Medicine had declared he and his party injury free. With a silent laugh, Luke realized there were now three Gods he respected - Hades, Hestia and Apollo. While Apollo had made mistakes in the past concerning his demigod children and mortal lovers, he was at least trying to make up for his past errors.

Still, Luke was curious why Apollo had chosen to meet in him in the middle of the night. From everything he had read, it was Artemis, Apollo's twin, who was symbolized by the night. Deciding to press the issue, he asked once again.

"Not to be disrespectful Lord Apollo," Luke began, "But I really am curious as to why we're meeting in a forest. I've spoken to other demigods who have told me about their dreams where they've spoken to the Gods. They said the God always picked a location to meet in that represented that God's domains."

Apollo looked around the two's surroundings and let out a humorless chuckle. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he began to speak.

"Zeus is keeping an extremely close eye on me," Apollo stated. "He no longer trusts me since I voted not to kill Nico. In his paranoia, he thinks I'm teaming up with Hades to overthrow him. Apparently, we're using Nico as our weapon. Morpheus sometimes eavesdrops on Godly dreams and has been known to report what he sees to Zeus. In case he does, I created a location that no one would associate with me. It's the best way to cover my tracks."

Pausing for a moment, Apollo reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small flute. After snapping his fingers, the flute glowed gold for a moment. Once the glow had died down, he handed the flute to Luke.

"You need to wake up soon," Apollo continued. "Percy and Nico are getting worried. Before you go though, I need to tell you two things. First, the flute I just gave you allows you to contact me at anytime. Simply play any three notes, and I'll come to you as quickly as possible. Like I said though, I'm being watched by Zeus. Only use it if it's a real emergency. When you wake, the flute will appear in your pocket."

Luke examined the flute Apollo had just given him. It was about 5 inches long and appeared to be made out of solid gold. The flute was plain, except for a small engraving of the sun near the mouthpiece. After murmuring his thanks to Apollo, the young demigod placed the flute in his pocket.

"I also want to give you a piece of advice," said Apollo, after Luke had examined the flute. "Take of this what you will. As you know, I'm the God of Prophecy. In recent years, several prophecies have been given speaking about a great change that will come to our world. From what I can see, you and Percy will play an instrumental part in this change. I can't say anything more, but just remember to always follow your instincts and your heart. Don't let your views and beliefs be corrupted and swayed by others."

Luke looked at Apollo, a contemplative frown on his face.

I'm only eleven, he thought. How can my actions bring about change? Yes, I'm unhappy with many things in my life, but I don't have the power to do much as of right now. Maybe he means later in my life?

Luke didn't respond for a few minutes, as he waited for Apollo to say more. When he realized the God of Prophecy wasn't going to give any more information, Luke thanked him for the help he had given and said goodbye. The God responded in kind and with a flash of light, he disappeared. Slowly, the images around Luke began blurring until he could only see darkness.

END DREAM SEQUENCE

Percy and Nico stood over the unconscious form of Luke with worried expressions on their faces. Unlike the youngest two demigods, who had healed quickly from injuries caused by the minotaur, Luke had remained unresponsive for over thirty minutes following the fight. Even giving nectar, which usually instantly healed demigods, had failed to rouse Luke from his current state.

Because of this, Percy and Nico were unsure what to do next. The two could not carry Luke any great distance. Although they had been able to move his body to a shaded location, Percy and Nico did not have the strength to move him any further. Unfortunately, the train they had been riding on had departed while all three were unconscious and because of that, they were stranded in the desert.

While Percy and Nico were discussing ways to get help, they were startled to hear groaning noises coming from Luke. Running over to where they had moved his body to, the two were elated to see his fingers twitching and his eyes flickering open.

"Luke, Luke!" Percy shouted with a huge grin on his face. "You're awake. How do you feel?"

Struggling to sit up, Luke checked over his body for signs of injury. Like Apollo had said in his dream, he appeared to be injury free. While he was a bit sore from hitting the ground after falling off the minotaur's back, at least the fight had done no permanent damage to his body.

Once he finally sat up after a couple of moments of struggle, Luke motioned for the other two demigods to come closer. With a huge smile on his face, he pulled them in for a hug. Luke was extremely relieved that they too hadn't suffered any damage from the he had believed what Apollo had told him in the dream, it was still a massive relief to see his friends uninjured in person.

After separating himself from the hug, Luke began to speak.

"I'm a bit sore but other than that I feel fine. I'm glad to see you guys are alright too. I know we just fought the minotaur, but we need to get moving as quickly as possible. We need to follow the train tracks to the next station so we can find a new train to ride. I'm not sure how far that is, but it's the only way we'll be guaranteed to get to civilization."

Nico and Percy nodded their heads in agreement. Reaching into his rucksack, Percy grabbed a map of Nevada that he had gotten at the train station in Las Vegas. Luckily, all three demigods had taken their bags with them when they got off the train to fight the minotaur. Because of this, they still had their supplies with them.

From what Percy remembered, the last station the train had stopped in had been in Silver Springs. According to the map, the next station along the tracks was in Fernley, about twenty miles north of Silver Springs. Percy estimated that the train had already covered at least half of that distance. That meant that the three demigods had to hike about ten miles to make it to the nearest city. With dusk fast approaching, Percy knew the three had to get moving soon.

After relaying the new information to Luke and Nico, Percy placed the map back in his rucksack. He took out his only full bottle of water and after taking a swig, offered it to his two companions. With night fast approaching, the temperature in the desert was cooling, but it was still extremely hot for a ten mile walk. After all three demigods had quenched their thirst, Percy placed the water bottle back in his pack and the three began their hike.

The first three miles of the hike went smoothly. The terrain was even and the train tracks followed a straight path. Despite the high temperature, there were ample shrubs surrounding the tracks that provided a good amount of shade. There was still plenty of daylight left, and the demigods felt confident they would reach the next city before nightfall.

At about the three mile marker of the hike however, the demigods faced a major obstacle. In between Silver Springs and Fernley was the Lahontan Reservoir - a large lake with several tributaries that extended in all directions. The only way to get across the lake was to walk on the narrow train tracks which were laid on a bridge. The bridge, which crossed the lake, was both long and narrow. If a train were to come while the boys were crossing the bridge, they would be crushed unless they jumped 200 feet down into the water below. It was a dangerous route to take.

Sadly, the only other option the three demigods had for crossing was to swim across the lake. Hades had warned them to avoid the water however, as that was his brother Poseidon's domain. In addition, Nico had never swam before and according to the map, the lake was up to 60 feet deep.

After discussing their options, Luke decided that the group would cross the bridge via the train tracks.

"Our only option is to use the tracks," he said. "We have to move quickly and as a group. The bridge is about 1000 feet long and has no railings on the sides. We can hold onto each other for balance and hopefully, we'll make it across without problems."

Percy and Nico shared nervous glances. Neither had ever been fond of heights and the bridge stood at least two hundred feet above the water. Unfortunately, they both knew Luke was correct. Crossing the bridge was the better of two bad options and they had no choice but to do so if they wanted to make it to Fernley by dusk.

The three demigods prepared to cross the bridge. After making sure the weight in their packs was evenly distributed, they linked themselves together by grabbing the person's waist in front of them. Slowly, they began to walk across the narrow bridge making sure not to look down at the lake below them.

The three had made it about two hundred feet when they heard a loud splashing noise. Startled, they abruptly stopped walking, almost tumbling into each other. After regaining their balance, Luke volunteered to look down to see what had caused the noise.

Taking a deep breath, Luke slowly moved his gaze to the water below him. At first, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The water was crystal clear and other than a couple of large boulders, he could see nothing but teal blue water. As he was about to inform Percy and Nico of this, Luke saw a giant shadow moving in the water from out under the bridge. Gradually, the shadow moved closer to surface and with another large splash, the shadow surfaced.

Luke's eyes grew large as he realized what he was seeing. The shadow below him was a sea serpent that was at least two hundred feet long. It had a slim, snake-like body with green scales that glistened in the sunlight. There was a stinger on the tail end of the serpent and Luke could see drops of poison oozing out of it. Before he could even react, the sea serpent had focused its attention on three demigods on the bridge.

"I have found the ssson of Hadesss," the serpent said, its voice taking on a hissing like quality. "Poisssedon will reward me when I tell him I killed the God of the Deadsss sssspwan. Give the child to me and the ressst of you can crossss sssafely!."

The three demigods huddled closely together frozen in fear. They were standing on a narrow bridge, two hundred feet above a lake with a giant sea serpent threatening to attack. Despite the three on one odds in a fight, there was still a high probability the massive serpent would kill them all if it came down to a battle.

"We have to run," said Percy, his body trembling. "Our only chance at safety is if we make it to the other side of the bridge. We have to run as fast as possible and hope we make it across before the serpent catches us."

"You're right," replied Luke, a look of determination on his face. "Nico, you stay in the middle of Percy and I. It's the safest spot. We'll all have our weapons and hopefully we can fend off any attacks by the serpent."

The three demigods discretely grabbed their weapons out of their packs and then let their packs drop to the ground. While their packs were important, the excess weight would slow them down when running. They still had about eight hundred feet to run before making it safety and every bit of speed mattered. Their packs could be replaced. Their lives couldn't.

After a quick three to one countdown from Luke, the demigods began to run across the bridge. Percy was in the front armed with his knives. Nico ran in the middle armed with his baton. Luke took up the rear with his dagger, which had already been used to kill a Fury, two Karpoi and a minotaur. He hoped he would soon be adding a sea serpent to that list.

As soon as the three demigods began running, the serpent launched its attack. At first, the serpent tried to knock the demigods off the bridge by hitting its large body against the bridge's support beams that extended down to the floor of the lake. Although hitting the supports caused the bridge to sway to and fro, the attack did not have enough force to slow the demigods' run.

Realizing that its current tactic was ineffective, the monster switched plans. Diving under the water, it swam away from the bridge until it was about 1000 feet away. Then, switching directions, it swam back towards the bridge. Using the momentum it gained while swimming, the serpent launched itself out of the water and towards the demigods running on the bridge.

Luke was the first to see what the serpent was doing.

As quickly as possible he yelled, "Stop! Get down and duck!"

The three demigods abruptly came to a halt and crouched down as low as possible. Huddling together to make as small of a target as possible, they then continued to move across the bridge inching across the tracks on their knees. Every so often, they would turn to face the water checking on of the serpent's attack.

Unfortunately for the demigods, the accuracy of the serpent's attack was dead on. The serpent launched itself out of the water slightly behind the demigod's current position. By the time the monster's head had reached as high as the bridge, it was located directly in line with three demigods. With one giant sweeping motion, the serpent sent the three demigods flying off the bridge.

As the the three demigods plunged toward the water they searched for anything to hold onto to stop their fall. Percy was the luckiest. As he was falling, the serpent's tail wrapped around him almost gently. As his fall was stopped, he swore he heard a voice in his head hissing, "I will make sure that you are safe, my prince."

Luke on the other hand was able to grab onto the serpent's neck as he fell. Although the monster's scales were slippery, he was able to use the spikes protruding from the serpent's back as grips. As he hung on for dear life with one hand, he repeatedly used the dagger in his other hand to stab the serpent's backside hoping to do as much damage as possible. As soon as the serpent reached the water once again, he let go and began to swim towards shore.

As Luke swam for shore he began to search for his other companions. While falling, he had seen the serpent grab Percy using its tail. From his vantage point in the water, he could see Percy was still trapped by that tail. Surprisingly, the monster didn't seem to be do anything to harm Percy. Instead, it seemed to be trying to keep Percy out of the battle as it swam around the lake searching for where Nico had fallen.

Luke was unable to locate Nico until he heard a soft groaning noise coming from above him. Looking up, he saw the son of Hades clutching onto one of the bridge's supports. Luke assumed that Nico must have grabbed on when he was knocked off the bridge and had been hanging there since. Although Nico was too far away to hear him, Luke was able to make eye contact with the frightened boy. Giving him the thumbs up symbol, Luke tried to show the young demigod that he would continue to fight and defeat the monster so that Nico could eventually safely let go and land in the water.

Unfortunately, there was little Luke could directly do for Nico. He was too high up and it would have been impossible for Luke to climb up the slippery bridge support to reach him. Percy could do nothing either as although he was unharmed and seemingly out of danger, he was unable to free himself from the grip of the serpent's tail.

Instead, Luke decided to focus on attacking the serpent directly. His previous attacks to the serpent's back had been successful in doing some damage and by the way the monster was moving, it was clearly wounded in pain. As the serpent swam through the water searching for Nico, Luke wondered how much more damage he would have to impart before the serpent was defeated and turned to dust.

Because the serpent's attention was focused on finding Nico, it was easy for Luke to swim into the general vicinity of the monster without being noticed. As soon as he got within ten feet of the creature, Luke launched his attack. Taking a deep breath, he dove under the water. Positioning himself directly in line with the serpent's slender body, he swam under the massive creature until he had a clear strike at the serpent's unprotected underside. Using all the strength he could muster, Luke struck the serpent with his dagger hoping he had hit the heart or some other essential organ.

His attack was successful. As soon as the dagger had pierced the serpent's underbelly, the creature let out a high-pitched scream and began thrashing about. After surfacing for air, Luke again dove under the water again and continued his assault on the only unprotected portion of the monster's body.

From his vantage point hanging from one of the bridge's supports, Nico had a birds-eye view of the battle below him. As he saw Luke begin to attack the serpent from the water, Nico let himself hope that he would be able to escape from this attack unscathed. He had seen Luke give him the thumb's up symbol before, but at the time, the battle seemed lost. The monster appeared too strong for the one remaining demigod in the fight to successfully defeat him.

Luke's attack had one major unintended consequence. In severe pain, the sea serpent was no longer able to hold Percy's body protectively in its tail. As the serpent thrashed about in the water, its grip on Percy slowly loosened. Realizing this, Percy began to fight harder, using every bit of strength he could muster to free himself from the serpent's grip. Although the serpent had done nothing to harm him directly. Percy still wanted to free himself so he could aid in Luke's attacks on the monster.

Soon, the serpent's grip had loosened enough so that Percy could freely move his hands. Reaching down, Percy grabbed his knife from where it had fallen into his pocket. As he viciously stabbed at the monster's tail, its grip finally loosened enough from him to squiggle free.

After Percy was free, he continued to attack the serpent's tail. Unfortunately, he failed to take into account the position of the monster's poisonous stinger. While stabbing at the monster, Percy felt his hand graze a sharp object. Looking at his hand, Percy realized the serpent's stinger had broken through his skin.

Within seconds, it felt as though Percy's blood was on fire. Weakness spread through Percy's body and his limbs began to feel like lead weights. His thoughts became muddled and he could no longer fight the sleepiness that was overwhelming him. Falling into unconsciousness, Percy collapsed and landed across the serpent's tail. As the serpent thrashed about, the movement caused Percy's body to be launched into the air. He landed on the lake's shore in a crumpled heap, the lake's water slowly lapping across his downed form.

As he saw Percy being thrown from the water, Nico let out a cry of fear. Up until now, the serpent had been unable to find him. In fear for his life, Nico had unconsciously used one of the powers he had inherited as the son of Hades. Feeling their master's emotions, the shadows near Nico had wrapped themselves around him, hiding him from the view of his enemy. Unfortunately, his cry of fear had been heard by the monster and the shadows could no longer do anything to conceal his location.

Finally finding his target, the serpent used the last of his energy to launch an attack at Nico. Percy and Luke's repeated strikes had done their job and the serpent was slowly dying from blood loss. With the last bit of strength it possessed, the serpent launched itself from the water a final time, this time aiming its head at Nico's form. Opening its mouth, the serpent grabbed one of Nico's legs and dragged him into the water.

As soon as Nico hit the water, he began struggling to free himself from the serpent's grasp. Although the serpent was too distracted by Luke's attacks to do anything more than hold Nico in place, the young demigod still found it impossible to free himself. His leg was in intense pain and he was constantly being dragged under the water as the serpent moved to dodge Luke's strikes. Short on oxygen and losing blood rapidly, Nico sent a silent prayer to his father asking for him to look over him if he died. As he was pulled under the water one final time he lost consciousness. No longer able to control his muscles, Nico's mouth opened and water poured into the young boy's stomach and lungs.

While this was happening, Luke continued his relentless attack on the serpent. With the serpent's attention focused on holding onto Nico, the monster did little to dodge Luke' s strikes. As the serpent's movements began to slow, Luke realized the monster was near death. With a final strike, Luke watched in awe as the two hundred foot long serpent let out an inhuman screech of rage. Seconds later, all that remained of the monster was a layer of gold dust slowly falling from the sky to the lake's surface.

Realizing the fight was over, Luke yelled out to his companions. The last he had seen, Nico was holding onto a bridge support and Percy was trapped by the serpent's tail. Looking around the lake however, he didn't see or hear his companions anywhere. Concerned, he began to rapidly swim to shore, hoping to gain a better vantage point from which to search.

When he was about fifty yards from shore, Luke bumped into a large object floating in the water. Surfacing, Luke opened his eyes and realized he had just swam into Nico's bloody form. As he attempted to wake the young demigod, Luke grew increasingly concerned when all his attempts failed. Making sure he had a secure grip on the boy, Luke dragged Nico's body the rest of the way to shore where he pulled him out of the water.

Upon exiting the water, Luke was shocked to find Percy's body not twenty feet away from him. Running over to his friend, Luke was surprised to note that Percy appeared completely uninjured. While the boy was unconscious, his chest was rising up and down showing that he was breathing. His clothes were torn to shreds, yet there was not one visible mark on his body. Deciding to investigate the mystery later, Luke turned his attention back to Nico.

Unfortunately, in the seconds Luke's attention had been on Percy, Nico's skin color had changed from pale tan to light grey. Nico was not breathing and showed no signs of life whatsoever. Feeling tears forming in his eyes, Luke began to perform CPR on the young boy. For the next ten minutes, Luke tried to save the Son of Hades' life.

Sadly, Luke's efforts were in vain. No matter what Luke did, Nico refused to stir. Realizing that Nico was gone, Luke collapsed to the ground clutching the young boy's body. Letting out an anguished scream, Luke began to sob uncontrollably.

"Damn you Zeus and Poseidon!" he screamed, his words dripping with anguish. "You win! You killed the boy. Someday, I swear on the Styx, I will make you pay!"

UNTIL THE END OF TIME

Hades, Hestia and Apollo were gathered in the Underworld watching the progress of Luke and Percy's quest in Hades' viewing pool. Apollo had just returned from checking on the three boys following the minotaur attack and had reported that he had visited Luke in his dream. The three young demigods were now hiking through the desert so that they could catch the next train when it departed from the station in Fernley.

Thus far, the three Gods were pleased with how the quest was progressing. While the demigods had faced a myriad of obstacles including a variety of monsters and the security guards at the Lotus Casino, the boys had successfully overcome each challenge they faced. Overall, Hades was pleased that he had chosen Luke and Percy to accompany Nico to Alaska. The three boys had become fast friends and Hades knew that his son had made life long allies.

While the Gods continued to watch the hike, Hades decided to broach a subject that had been on his mind since the Olympian Council had voted to kill Nico. He needed to know if Apollo and Hestia would support him if he opposed Zeus' rule of Olympus. He knew it was a dangerous topic to speak of since Zeus had forbidden any Gods to actively seek to change how Olympus was ruled. Doing so was considered treason, and if caught, the offender would be immediately sent to Tartarus. Still, he knew his nephew and sister were extremely dissatisfied with Zeus' vote to kill his son. He only hoped they would listen to his ideas with an open mind.

Clearing his throat to draw the other two's attention away from the viewing pool, Hades began to speak.

"As you three know, Zeus has gotten too power hungry," he began. "We need to do something to stop him. I know this seems drastic, but over the past two centuries Zeus and the rest of the Council have grown less and less rational. They've become drunk with power and no longer listen to reason. We are banned from seeing our children and they are thrown away as tools. We need to do something, and soon, before things get any worse."

Hestia and Apollo shared concerned glances. While they both wholeheartedly agreed with Hades, they knew that Zeus and the Olympic Council would not be swayed by logical arguments and peaceful solutions. In the past, many of the Gods had tried to force Zeus to become a more fair and just ruler. Each time he was confronted, Zeus promised to do so and then broke that promise the next time a situation or argument didn't go his way. After ruling for millenias, Zeus was set in his ways. A full scale war against Olympus might be the only way to bring about real change.

Looking resolute, Apollo was the first to speak.

"I agree with you Uncle H," he stated, his tone far more serious than usual. "And I know that you're talking about war. I'm sad that it's gotten to this, but Zeus is no longer fit to rule. His decision to kill Nico was the final straw. I don't want to fight against my family, but I'm willing to do so to bring about change. My oracle has given many recent prophecies about a great change coming soon and I think this may just be the change that she was speaking of."

Hades reached over to Apollo and in a surprising display of affection gave him a hug. Apollo had always been his favorite nephew. While many saw Apollo as nothing more than a fun-loving blowhard, Hades had always seen a deeper side to the God. Constantly burdened with prophecies that he could do nothing to change, Apollo had created much of his exterior personality as a mask. In reality, the God of the Sun was extremely intelligent and was one of the most caring people that Hades had met. Knowing this, the God of the Underworld was extremely glad to have him on his side in the upcoming fight.

Turning his attention to Hestia, Hades wondered what his sister would think of his plan. As the Goddess of the Hearth, Hestia had always strived to be non-judgemental towards their family members. It was the main reason that besides Apollo, she was the only one to fully accept him. While the others feared him for his power (he was the eldest of the Big Three), Hestia knew that Hades only used his power when absolutely necessary. She too had expressed growing discontentment with Zeus, yet she abhorred fighting and wars.

After a moment of silence following Apollo's declaration, the Goddess of the Hearth spoke up.

"Sadly, I must agree as well," she said, a silent tear falling from her eye. "Our family is broken and in my heart I know it can't be mended. What Zeus and the majority of the council do to stay in power is wrong. They treat their subjects like trash. If it comes to a fight, I will stand beside you and Apollo."

For the next hour, the three Gods brainstormed ideas about how to bring about change to Olympus in the least violent manner possible. Most importantly, the three knew they would need allies. Hestia, Hades and Apollo knew that they had no where near enough power to take on the other eleven major Gods if it came to a full scale war. While they were sure they could get many of the minor Gods to side with them, they would still need additional support. They just didn't know where to get it from.

While they were discussing this, Hades noticed a change in the viewing pool. Pausing the discussion for a moment, he took a closer look. The surface of the pool had become cloudy and Hades could no longer see a clear picture of what was occurring on the quest.

He immediately knew what had happened. Since Hades was the Lord of the Underworld, he had very little power on Earth. While he could see what was happening on land, he could not see events that occurred over water or in the sky. These were his brothers' domains and they jealously guarded their power. Thus Hades knew that the quest was being forced to travel over water or into the sky.

After a couple minutes of cloudiness, Hades became concerned. Crossing over a bridge only took a minute and it was unlikely that the quest was in the sky. Therefore, it was highly likely that Percy, Luke and Nico had encountered some sort of problem while crossing a body of water. Otherwise, the viewing pool would have already returned to clarity.

Expressing his concerns to Apollo and Hestia, Hades snapped his fingers, making a map of the quest's route appear. From what he could discern, the three demigods had most likely encountered problems while crossing the Lahontan Reservoir. Fearing for the safety of his son and his new friends, Hades asked Apollo to go and observe the situation. If the three were injured, Apollo would be the best for treating those injuries.

Agreeing to do so, Apollo grabbed the map. After choosing a vantage point to observe from, he quickly gathered his healing supplies. He also took his bow in case he had to aid in a fight. Then, with a snap of his fingers, Apollo flashed away to the desert of Northern Nevada.

UNTIL THE END OF TIME

Apollo arrived in Northern Nevada seconds after flashing out of the Underworld. He had chosen to observe the quest from the edge of a cliff about two hundred yards north of the lake. From his viewing spot, he could see both the entire bridge and the majority of the water below. It was the perfect vantage point to see any action occurring in or above the lake.

Apollo could immediately tell that the quest was in trouble. A giant sea serpent was repeatedly hitting the bridge and the quest members were crouched low and holding on for dear life. Even though they were in danger, Apollo knew he could not interfere yet. If he interfered, Zeus would be immediately informed. That would lead Zeus right to the location of Hades' son and at that point, there would be nothing Apollo could do to save the boy from death. Because of this, Apollo was forced to watch and wait.

It soon became apparent to Apollo that the three demigods were struggling to defeat the monster. The serpent had successfully knocked them from the bridge and had captured one in his tail. The son of Hades was clutching onto one of the bridge's supports, and the other demigod was the only one able to fight. While he was getting some good blows in, Apollo knew his attacks weren't doing enough damage to truly harm the sea serpent.

Deciding to move closer, Apollo began to inch himself towards the lake. As he moved, he kept one eye on the fight so that he could continuously observe the demigods' progress. Suddenly, he saw the serpent rear its head out of the water and launch itself at the son of Hades. Apollo watched in horror as the serpent grabbed the boy's leg in his mouth and dragged him underwater.

Realizing that the members of the quest were in imminent danger of dying, Apollo began to sprint towards the fight. Zeus be damned, he was going to do what he could to save these innocent demigods. He wanted to flash so he could arrive quicker, but he knew it was demigods weren't expecting him. If they happened to be looking at the spot he flashed to, they would instantly die.

As he continued to sprint towards the lake, Apollo saw the monster explode into golden dust. While he was relieved that the monster had been defeated, he knew the demigods were most likely seriously injured from their fight. He couldn't slow his pace down now.

Arriving near the river, Apollo saw one of the demigods lying unconscious on the side of the lake. The other two were in the water, the also unconscious form of the son of Hades being dragged to shore by the final demigod. Since there was no visible path from the shore to the bridge area (which was 200 feet in elevation above the shore), Apollo had to slowly make his way down the steep and treacherous cliff face.

When he arrived at the bottom five minutes later, he was met by a somber sight. The son of Hades was lying motionless on the ground. His skin was grey and his lips were blue. One of the other two demigods was clutching onto him, alternating between heart wrenching loud sobs and moments of silence. The other demigod was lying about twenty feet away. Although he was unconscious, Apollo could easily tell he was alive. His chest was rising and falling and his skin looked tan and healthy.

Quietly walking over to the deceased son of Hades, Apollo kneeled on the ground. He then cleared his throat catching the attention of the other demigod.

"Lord Apollo?" asked Luke, his voice wavering between bouts of tears. "Why are you here? What are we going to do? Nico's dead! Lord Hades is going to be devastated - we... I mean I... failed him. I'm so sorry. I tried to save him. I really did. There was nothing I could do and now he's dead and Percy's injured. Why did Poseidon do this? Why is Zeus so cruel?"

In an attempt to comfort the young boy, Apollo pulled the demigod into a hug. As he soothingly rubbed circles on Luke's back, the demigod began to calm down, his loud sobs turning into quiet sniffles. Exhausted from the fight and the emotional trauma of seeing Nico die, Luke appeared emotionally drained and physically spent. As Apollo continued to comfort and reassure him, the demigod slowly fell asleep.

Gently laying down the now sleeping demigod on a blanket he conjured, Apollo moved over to check on Percy. He was surprised to see that the boy appeared to be injury free. While the demigod was unconscious, there wasn't a single visible injury on his body. Based on the fight Apollo had just witnessed, that would have assumed that to be impossible.

Picking the demigod up in his arms, Apollo carried the boy to the blanket and laid him down next to his friend. He did the same with the body of Nico, pausing for a moment to conjure a second blanket that he wrapped the body in. Once the two alive demigods and the dead body were all side by side, Apollo placed his arm across all three, so that so part of each demigod was touching him. With a snap of his fingers, the three flashed away from the scene. Next stop: the Underworld. Apollo definitely wasn't looking forward to his upcoming conversation with Lord Hades.

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note - That's it for Chapter 7 folks. I hope you enjoyed. I know that some of you are going to be unhappy that I killed Nico. Unfortanately, it was necessary for the plot. Right now, Hades is mad at the Olympians and wants a change. He needs something to really kickstart his quest for vengence though. And remember what I said before - he is the Lord of the Underworld. He may still have a few tricks up his sleeve. So now that you're done reading, please REVIEW, FAVORITE, and FOLLOW. And make sure (if you haven't already) to respond to my poll questions. They are listed below.

Poll Question #1 - Who should Ethan N be paired with? It can either be a gay or a straight pairing (although I'm leaning towards slash myself). In the books, Ethan was the one-eyed son of Nemesis who fought on the Titans side. In my story, he will definitely be against the Olympians and fighting with Percy and Luke. He's going to be a pretty major character.

Poll Question #2 -Who should Annabeth be paired with? It can be either a gay or straight pairing. I don't know yet if Annabeth will be with or against Percy and Luke. I'm leaning towards against -if you have a view, let me know!