Dark-haired Nico glared at the barrier in front of him, the one keeping him and Reyna out of the Arena and away from their friends. The demigod gripped his Stygian Iron sword tightly, his knuckles growing a ghostly pale white from the pressure. He hadn't exactly figured out how to break down the barrier of magic keeping him out; he'd forced some pillars of rock into it, and found out that it wasn't disintegrative. He knew that ultimately, he couldn't figure out how to get in, not in time to save Percy and Jason, so he decided to ask someone who could. While Reyna sat by the horses, which were grazing absently, Nico dug up a little patch of ground and tossed one of his sandwiches into the dirt, immediately drowning it in Coca-Cola. Not the most favored meal of the dead, but it will have to do, Nico thought to himself, placing his hands together and muttering the incantation to call the dead back from the Underworld. In the very back of his mind, he thought he could hear the praetor behind him shivering involuntarily, but he decided that he needed to focus in order to call the souls to him. There had to be somebody down there who could tell him what he needed to know to bring down the walls.

The first spirit that came to him was Charles Beckendorf, the son of Hephaestus that died trying to save Percy from the Andromeda, the cruise ship that Luke Castellan had used to transport monsters to New York. Beckendorf bent down and cupped a very little of the mixture in his hands and drank before wiping his face and looking straight at the son of Hades. "Nico di Angelo." He spoke frankly, but friendly. "It's been a long time. To what do I owe the honor of being called by the King of the Ghosts?"

Nico looked the spirit of Beckendorf in the eyes. "Yeah, I needed to know something about this barrier. Some of our friends are sealed in. I need to get them out."

Beckendorf stared at the wall next to them, studying the wall. "Have you touched it?"

Nico nodded. "Solid. It doesn't budge with force, but admittedly I wasn't trying my hardest at this point."

Beckendorf nodded slowly, grasping his chin with his hand. "It seems strong. Like it was cast by a god."

"Titan," Nico clarified, noticing the other spirits swarming for a drink from the pit. He focused hard, banishing the spirits from his presence, except for one, whom he knew that Beckendorf would want nearby. It stooped at the pit and drank, its hand wiping at the side of its head before the flickering spirit solidified and took the shape of a slim girl with flowing black hair and blue eyes, taking a place next to Beckendorf.

"Silena?" Nico asked, eyes dropping wide at the sight of the daughter of Aphrodite, stunning even in death.

Silena Beauregard blinked a few times before smiling a beautiful grin that belayed all the grace and ardor that came with being with a daughter of Aphrodite. "Nico. You've grown up. How are you?" Nico dragged his hand through his scruffy hair, trying to figure out how to explain the situation. "Well, I wasn't going to interrupt things for you guys in Elysium. You two deserved peace. But things didn't go well after you two passed on. Did Bianca tell you anything that I've told her about what's been happening? " Silena shook her head at the son of Hades while Beckendorf continued to study the barrier in front of him. Nico quickly relayed how Percy Jackson tried but couldn't defeat Kronos, how the Titans took over and ransacked Camp Half-Blood. "So," Nico concluded his tale, "we need to break this barrier to get some of the best demigods out to help us fight back. Percy and Annabeth are in there..."

Silena touched Nico's shoulder gently, offering him a soft smile. "Nico, you've done a great job. You've held our friends together when they very well would have been destroyed by Kronos. We couldn't be more proud of you, right Charlie?"

Beckendorf was shaken out of his focus. "Huh? Yeah, you done good, Nico. Now, about this barrier . . . did you get a prophecy for this mission or something?"

Nico nodded. "Yup. Here it is:

"Son of Hades, make ready to travel,

Your journey will force the bonds to unravel.

Wisdom and light, the sky and the sea

In turn will fight, set the demigod free.

Lightning, light and earth must shatter the cage

To begin the end, Titan's last age."

Beckendorf thought hard for a moment. He paced the area of the barrier before snapping his translucent fingers. "I've got it!" he cried.

"What is it?" Nico asked him.

"I think I've figured it out," Beckendorf replied, turning to the son of Hades. "What you need is to destabilize the power in the barrier." "Well how do I do that?"

Beckendorf grinned. "You've already got the answer. It's in the prophecy. But you might want to act fast. You don't know how long it will stay open for you." Beckendorf and Silena's shades began to shimmer and fade, the tell-tale sign that they were dissipating back into the Underworld. "So little buddy," Beckendorf said with a slight smirk, "keep things running smooth up here. Tell Jackson that I don't regret for a minute that I died saving him. He's the strongest half-blood I've ever known. He's your best chance at defeating Kronos. Good luck." Silena strode to Nico and gave him the briefest of kisses before turning back to Beckendorf, and with a wave, the two souls faded into nothingness.

Nico made his way back to Reyna, who was still nestled between the steeds of hell. "So..." she began. "How'd your little séance go?" Nico scowled at the reference before deciding to ignore that response. "I've got a way to break down the barrier...or at least I know what we need to break it down."

Reyna's eyes immediately brightened. "We can get Jason out?"

Nico's eyes darkened again. "More than just Jason. There are plenty of demigods in there, and some of them might be your own soldiers. The least you could do is think about the others we might be able to save."

"It's more than just needing Jason because he's powerful!" Reyna burst out, raw emotion pouring from her voice. Nico was taken aback by the fury and desperation in her words as well as the thickness in her tone.

"There's more to this thing between you and Jason isn't it?" Nico asked her.

Reyna sighed. "It's not really like that. You don't really understand. You Greeks don't really have a defined leader." Nico was about to protest before she held up a hand. "Just hear me out. Now, it just seems like you pick whoever is the strongest or the most experienced or the oldest. You're the leader now, because you're the strongest and your father is one of the Big Three. Before that was Percy. Then Luke, before he betrayed you. But all in all, you had an unofficial leader. It's not the same with my people, in my world. Leaders are chosen, elected. They are relied on to guide the entire camp through whatever happens. That's why we have two praetors. The duties are divvied up equally, and no major decision is made without the authority of both praetors and the Senate. I've been the leader of the Romans by myself for almost three years now and the Senate is almost nonexistent now. Jason's been captured. Octavian went missing. The last person who was worthy of being praetor was killed in battle before we retreated to where we are now. It's been a long fight. I'm weary. Jason is my best bet to keep things running well. My best chance to save Rome." She absently picked at the grass under her feet, tossing it into the fire before her and watching it burn.

Nico stared at her in silence. Something wasn't there. Not everything fit perfectly, like a small but vital piece was missing. She's not telling me everything, I know it. Nico shrugged. She didn't need to tell him everything now. At least he got something out of her. Maybe if we understand each other, we can work together. Nico pondered his thoughts as he heard a wolf howling. "What is that Nico?" Reyna asked. Nico smirked, and Reyna watched as he visibly relaxed. "Our back-up is here," he told her, as he squinted into the distance. His eyes scanned the plains around them in search for something in particular. When he found it, he pointed; an arch of lightning passed through the grass, weaving its way towards the demigods. "The Hunters of Artemis have arrived."


The Arena was too quiet. Too cold, too still, and far too silent for Lyca. She loved sounds, constant noises, and the eerie silence of the void that was the Arena drove her mad. To the daughter of Apollo, sound meant life. She always had something to listen to. When she was free, before the war, Lyca always had a pair of headphones on or an ear bud in one ear while listening to instructions in the other. Even for battle, she'd had the sons of Hephaestus build her headphones encased in celestial bronze so that she could have the music there for her as often as possible. There'd been more than a few times when she'd been caught off guard because she had the music on, but it was in her blood. Her dad was the god of music after all.

Lyca shook herself, trying to snap herself out of her memories. She was on sentry duty while Annabeth, Percy, and Jason slept. She kept her gaze scanning the area around them, anticipating someone or something to emerge from the woods. She'd sat on the hill to give her the best view around them, and she'd taken her bow with her, but no arrows. She didn't think she needed to now. She was confident that she had shot an arrow of light through that apple. Annabeth and Percy almost couldn't believe it, but she'd shot a few more at a tree to prove it to them. She felt a little tired afterward, but she when she had woken up she felt better and didn't think much about it. Now she was awake and could shoot anything down with her special arrows. She thumbed her arrow string as she thought about what Annabeth hypothesized about the bow and the arrows.


Annabeth tried to curl up as best as she could while trying to keep from scrapping her wound into the dirt or anything around her. Percy watched her with an unwavering gaze until she settled into a sense of comfort, however slight it might have been. As soon as he was sure that Annabeth was settled and dozing, Percy turned his sea-green eyes onto Lyca. "Make sure she's okay, please?" he asked the daughter of Apollo. The way his voice wrapped around the question like a thread, it touched Lyca. It wasn't weak, or whiny. But all the same, she could tell he was more worried about Annabeth than he let on.

Lyca could only nod and whisper softly for Annabeth's sake, "Of course." Percy flashed Lyca a gentle smile and headed off for sentry duty while Jason propped himself up against a tree at the entrance of their little grove before nodding off as well. A few minutes later and Lyca turned her attention completely to Annabeth. "Okay, the boys are gone now. Want to quit faking like you're sleep?"

Almost immediately Annabeth's gray eyes flashed open, shining slightly from the moonbeams peeking through the leaves of the trees. "I figured you knew." "Shouldn't you be sleeping, Annabeth?" Lyca scolded kiddingly.

Annabeth huffed. "Percy's not thinking straight. We need to get out of here, and we need to do it soon. We can't last forever in here."

Lyca nodded, deciding not to ask Annabeth about her conversation with Percy. "How can we get out?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I don't know...even if we could fly, Hyperion would shoot us out of the sky. We can't dig out...it'd take too long. If only we hadn't destroyed the Labyrinth..." Annabeth kept muttering to herself, trying to figure out how to get out of the Arena. Lyca watched her in relative silence while propped up on one elbow and toying with her own hair. She could tell that Annabeth was getting frustrated; the daughter of Athena began winding a strand of hair tightly around her finger in irritation. Lyca decided to try and take Annabeth's mind off of their bigger problem so that she could rest like Percy wanted her to.

"Annabeth, why do you think that I have this...whatever it is? To make these arrows out of light? I mean, I've been an archer for a long time, and this is the first time this has ever happened to me."

Annabeth stared at Lyca's bow, then back at the bow she had been using to back Percy up. "I'm not sure. I mean, your bow is special: it's the bow of Odysseus. It's said that only Odysseus himself was strong enough to string his bow. Not even his son could do it. It's a powerful bow too; only the bow of Heracles is stronger, and only when paired with the poisoned arrows. But unlike the bow of Heracles, Odysseus's bow disappeared. Maybe Apollo took it, hid it so that one of his children could find it." Annabeth stared at the bow again before continuing. "The bow has to be magic, or something. It's the only way to explain how you can do that." Annabeth pillowed her head with her hands, letting her eyes drift close. "When we get out, I can do some research. Talk to Chiron or someone who knows weapons. Maybe he'll know about the properties of the bow." With those words, Annabeth allowed herself to fall asleep, leaving Lyca alone with her thoughts and the bow.


Kronos tore a rift into the sky with his scythe, duly named Backbiter by the demigod he'd allow to borrow his weapon, the same demigod whose body he now inhabited. The Titan strolled confidently into the opened path, even if his mind wasn't nearly as focused and whole. On the other side of the rift, a cruel grin painted his face: he was home. He looked over the place which his descendants had built their abode. It may have been nice in its hey-day, but Kronos preferred the look of ruin and desolation that came with his occupation. He strolled the path the Olympians had, striding powerfully towards the hall of Mt. Olympus.

His steps echoed in the throne room, which was cold and dark and depressing. He loved it. Nothing could have made him happier. His power had been consolidated. The Olympians had been crushed underfoot. That brazen, foolish upstart Percy Jackson was by now fighting for his pathetic life in the dome of the Arena. He actually hoped that the half-blood would win: typically he had a penchant for allowing the winner of the Games to live, but he couldn't let Jackson run free. There were still pockets of resistance against his rule, and adding Jackson to their ranks would cause him formidable problems again. When Jackson was free, he'd torture him, slowly, agonizingly. Maybe he'd chain the boy beside his father, but eventually he'd slay the boy once and for all. He'd televise it. Every Olympian, every demigod who still had hope would despair when they saw their hero die. Once he'd conquered the demigod defense and Typhon had toppled the almighty Olympians, it was all too easy to take over the world. The Mist always worked to hide the supernatural from the mortals, and with his fellow Titan brothers laboring under him, he'd brought the most powerful nations under his thumb. Anyone who wasn't worth conquering was worth obliterating.

Jackson will stop you! a voice echoed through Kronos's head. As long as Percy still breathes, he can stop you. He can still save the world.

Kronos growled and grasped his head in pain. This brat again, he bit out sourly. "Silence, boy," he said aloud, finding himself falling into the throne of his young, headstrong son, Zeus. "Jackson had his chance to defeat us, if you recall. You had beaten me back, and in that moment, if you had been given the knife, you surely would have stopped me. Alas, he did not trust you, and now he is defeated, your precious family captured, your camp in ruins, and your body is mine."

Not completely, Luke Castellan retorted, and to prove his point, one of Kronos's hard golden eyes turned icy blue. You know as well as I that your transformation was incomplete. You did not reform your body as we know is what would've happened had there been no interruptions. As it is, you merely have control of my body, for you still look like me. But I can disrupt your control. And it's only a matter of time before your brothers find out that you are weakened, a mere shell of your former glory. And when they do...

"Silence boy!" Kronos roared. "You speak much for one with so little power."

"Who do you speak to brother?" a voice echoed from the entrance of the grand hall. The Lord of Time looked up, slightly startled when he saw his brothers, the Titans Krios and Koios.

"I speak to no one, dear brothers," Kronos told them, opening his hands in greeting. Krios and Koios looked to each other, and Koios nodded to Krios feverently.

"Brother, are you well?" Krios asked Kronos.

Kronos' eyes glowed completely gold, forcing Luke back. "Of course I am. I am ruler of all things. The chaos under our feet, the despair...it speaks wondrous things to me." Kronos waited for a beat, staring at his brothers. "Why do you ask such a question, Krios?"

Krios pulled his own robes closer to himself, sitting on Kronos's right hand. "Brother, if you are well, why do you insist on portraying yourself as the weak mortal whose body you possessed?"

Kronos's hand grasped his scythe, grip tightening on the handle. "I appropriated the boy's form so that when I unleash my next plans, the simpletons in this world will come to us willingly. This boy's face is one that can be beloved by the people, can persuade the people to fall in line with us. I can play the role of a charismatic man that they will follow."

"And the pockets of resistance?" Koios broke in.

"How can they focus on us when they are busy fighting for their lives? There are monsters all over the planet now, taking over. And then the foolish mortals will fight for us as well. The half-bloods will be wiped from the face of our Mother. Then, my brothers, we will remake this world in our image!"

Kronos stood, clutching his scythe. Krios and Koios nodded, bowing respectfully to their powerful younger brother, before taking their leave. As they turned, Kronos prepared to sit again but let out a brief groan on taking his seat.

Krios turned to see one of his brother's eyes turn icy blue instead of the cruel gold he was used to. Kronos is hiding something from us. I WILL find out what it is. And if it is our brother weakening...well, someone else will have to usher us into a new Golden Age.


Lyca glanced up at the sky, where the sun had already peaked over the horizon. She pulled her protective sleeves down from her arms so she could feel the sun play over her skin. She smiled to herself. She'd always enjoyed the feeling of the sun's rays grazing her skin throughout the day. Of course, she preferred the touch of her father; powerful and dominant but also gentle and loving, she thought. Hyperion's light was angry and red and tinged with hatred for those he deemed beneath him. It still invigorated her when she felt the light, but it felt odd to her, like a stranger.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts. Time to wake up the crew. She stepped lightly and swiftly, making her way down the hill and into the enclosure of the trees. Lyca stood in the opening that served as the door, quietly observing how Jason slept stretched across the opening, clearly a way to protect the mouth of the grove. Further in, encased in the darkness of the trees, she could see Percy and Annabeth together. Annabeth's head rested on Percy's biceps, and his other arm curled protectively around her. Her leg was propped up on top of his so that the wound wouldn't drag the ground and cause her further pain.

She looked down at Jason, whose hand gripped his golden sword tightly, as if it was an anchor connecting him to this world. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that he was drooling a little out of the corner of his mouth. A grin played across her face as she stuck her knee into the blonde's shoulder and nudged him hard enough that he toppled over, falling face-first into the grass.

Immediately the son of Jupiter popped up, sword drawn and wide-eyed. "Wh-what?! Who's there? Are we under attack! Battle stations! For the glory of ROME!" he stammered as he struggled to stand and rush out to fight an enemy that wasn't really there.

Lyca couldn't do much but giggle at the antics of the son of Jupiter, then it dawned on her that she'd actually giggled. She hadn't done that in years; not even a smile since she'd been captured.

She was lost in thought when a voice interrupted her. "What's going on?" Annabeth asked her, the sleep evident in her voice.

Lyca nodded towards the door. "Scared the crap out of Jason. Thinks he's defending Rome from something." At that moment, Jason peeked his head back into the grove.

"Wasn't very funny," he grumbled at the daughter of Apollo as he sat against the nearest tree so he could face everyone. Annabeth gently detangled herself from the body of Percy Jackson and sat upright beside his head. "How is your wound?" Jason asked her.

"A little better," Annabeth stretched her leg out, wincing slightly at the pain. "I might be able to walk with some help, but I'm not good to protect anybody, much less myself."

Lyca unsheathed one of her hunting knives from her belt and placed the handle in Annabeth's hand. Annabeth looked at her, a question etched on her face. "I don't exactly need more than one right now," she told Annabeth. "You can use this. I've got my bow and my light arrows."

Annabeth nodded. "Thanks Lyca."

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Jason asked. "We're still stuck in this hellhole. If we're going to do anything, we've got to bust out first."

"How can we pull that off?" Lyca asked. "I'm sure that the barrier is too strong for us to break down on our own. We aren't even at our full powers."

Lyca and Jason both instinctively looked at Annabeth, who could only shrug. "I've been turning it over in my head for a long time, but I can't figure it out. There's something that I'm missing…at this rate it'd take me too long to figure out how we can get out of here."

Suddenly Percy's voice startled them. "Maybe I can help with that," he said as he sat up. He yawned before pulling himself up next to Annabeth, reclining against the tree she was propped up against.

"What do you mean, Percy?" Annabeth asked him.

Percy gave her a mischievous grin, one that she knew the Stoll brothers would be proud of. "I had a dream. Well, more than a dream. I saw Nico, and he was with this girl…she had black hair. He was out there somewhere, and he summoned Beckendorf and Silena…they told him how to break into a barrier."

"Well what does that have to do with us?" Jason asked. "And who is Nico?"

Percy only grinned that much more. "I thought more about it. He wasn't trying to break in. He's trying to bust something, or someone out!"

Annabeth's gray eyes grew wide. Jason and Lyca's mouths fell open. "Then…then that means…"

"Nico's going to break us out."


A/N: Hey guys. Sorry about the delay in updating. College sucks. If I could make money writing these stories, I would...but then...I'd be Rick Riordan wouldn't I? And I can't do his real stories any justice. Hopefully, now that it is summer, I will be able to update more frequently. As such, I ended up writing this chapter to be considerably longer than usual. I finally got the Kronos POV out too, that was difficult to write. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit Thalia into a speaking role in this chapter like I wanted. But don't worry guys, Nico won't fail you, and Thalia will be there to help him. Thanks for reading and being patient and reviewing.