You cannot win.

Helia ran through the forest; she couldn't take the voices anymore.

Everyone you love will die.

She tripped over a log and fell. Instead of hitting the ground, she fell straight through the grass and continued falling into a pitch black chasm. Her screams were swallowed into the darkness.

If you make even one small mistake, everything will be destroyed.

Helia landed hard in dark, murky water. She struggled, trying to swim up, but she felt as if she had multiple weights tied to her ankles.

If you get too close to anyone, I take them.

Helpless, she sunk to the bottom of the water.

After all, I killed your mother.


Trembling, Helia woke up from her nightmare. She didn't realize she was crying until she touched her aching eyes.

It was still night, but everyone was awake. Percy and Annabeth were huddled by the crackling fire, talking in hushed voices. Nico was lying down on his back, staring up at the dark sky.

Unable to sleep anymore, Helia stood up and announced, "I'm going to take a walk in town." Percy and Annabeth nodded, and Nico continued observing the sky. She grabbed her sword and her bag and headed toward the town.

It was an old, almost abandoned village, she observed as she walked. As she passed by a small food shop, she decided to buy some food for the others. She walked toward the door and suddenly felt a presence behind her. Reaching for her sword, she spun around and found herself looking into the eyes of Nico di Angelo.

"Um," she said, suddenly self-conscious. "I-I was thinking about getting some food for everyone."

Nico nodded, glancing over at the food inside the shop. "What are you thinking of getting?"

They walked inside, looking around at the food displayed around the store. The man at the counter looked up at them but didn't say anything.

"Helia," said Nico, almost hesitantly.

She turned around to look at him. "Yes?"

"Yesterday when you suggested that we shadow-travel to go faster... I can't shadow-travel anymore, or use any magic for that matter. If I do one more time, I will literally turn into a ghost. I don't want you in my condition."

Helia looked down, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

They walked around the store a little more. Outside, it started to get brighter.

Helia couldn't think of anything to buy, so she said, "How about we just buy apples?"

She looked up at Nico and found herself looking once more into the dark but soft eyes. Her heart started pounding and her face heated up as they slowly leaned closer to each other, their bodies almost touching.

"Yeah, apples sound nice," said Nico quietly. Helia closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and-

If you get too close to anyone, I take them.

"I-I'm sorry," she said, taking a step back. "I can't."

Nico was both embarrassed and confused. "What do you mean?"

"When I was younger, I had a friend. We were very close; we used to tell each other our biggest secrets. Then, out of nowhere, the ground opened up beneath her and she was gone. A few weeks later, she was found in a nearby lake, dead. Last night, I found out what happened to my mother- Chaos had killed her."

Tears started rolling down her cheeks. "H-he told me... he told me that if I get too close to anyone, he takes them. That's why I try to distance myself from everyone; I don't want anyone to get hurt. But I can't help it- I get too attached to people, and they end up getting hurt and I lose them."

She couldn't look at Nico, so she ended up covering her face with her hands. Her whole body shuddered from her sobs.

"So you're the girl," whispered a bone-chilling voice in Helia's ear. She shivered and looked up at Nico, who looked alarmed. She grabbed her sword and spun around, slicing in the air behind her. When she opened her eyes (she had closed them in fright), she yelped in surprise. It was the man at the counter, but instead of a man, it was the most horrifying monster Helia and Nico had ever seen, now decapitated. Its skin was brown and leathery and rough and had holes in it as if they were inside-out boils. It had a pie slice shape for a head with the nose as the point and a toothy grin as the pie filling. On its head were two curvy horns, and torn wings sprouted from its scaly back. It had more of a dragon shape than anything else.

"What is that?" Nico asked, panicked and bewildered.

"It is the Chaos Monster Thanatos warned me about. He said there were armies of them." She widened her eyes. "Armies. Percy and Annabeth!" They raced out of the store back to their camp, where the others were. As as they were nearing Percy and Annabeth, a Chaos Monster emerged from the trees behind them and appeared to be moving toward Annabeth.

"ANNABETH!" Helia cried, still running. She was too far to do anything.

Annabeth looked up and was slow in her movements. As she turned around, the dragon-like creature pounced. Before it could land on her, though, hands from underground appeared and grabbed the creature by the legs and pulled it underground. Annabeth jumped back, drawing her sword. Percy uncapped his pen and Riptide emerged, glowing. Percy looked in Helia's direction and opened his mouth like he was going to yell, but no sound came out. Helia looked back and saw why.

Nico was on the ground, clutching his head. He had used the last of his magic to save Annabeth, and now he was turning translucent. Wind blew some of his ghostly figure away as he strained to keep himself together.

"NO!" Helia screamed, running back towards him. More Chaos Monsters approached, but she didn't care at the moment.

"Helia!" Percy yelled over the now increasing wind. "We need to go now!"

"Wait!" she yelled back. She looked at Nico, who seemed to be saying something over the howling wind.

"You can... without me!"

Helia shook her head. "No! I'm not leaving you!"

The pained look in his distorted eyes made her want to cry.

Helia tried to grab hold of Nico, but couldn't; her hand passed right through him- like the was a ghost.

Percy and Annabeth had approached, holding each other in one hand and a sword in the other. Percy tried to say something, most probably, "What are you doing?!"

From her time on Olympus, Helia had learned one trick- how to gather particles from the air to bring back or create something. She closed her eyes and concentrated with all her might and tried to grab Nico's hand once more. She succeeded.

As a dozen Chaos Monsters pounced, Helia grasped Annabeth's arm and all four of them disappeared into the monsters' shadows.

A/N: YAASSSS MOST INTENSE CHAPTER EVER! I was so excited to write this one :D My friend twinsarekeepers asked if Helico (their ship name) was going to kiss (multiple times, actually. It was quite annoying but hilarious) or if she was going to be disappointed and I said none; she wasn't gonna be disappointed and she was gonna be disappointed. I hope I was right. Anyway, the story is finally moving on! I think there will be more intense chapters like this one, but I can't promise anything. twinsarekeepers I hope you still aren't mad at me for not giving any spoilers for this chapter cuz it was really worth it! Right? XD