Once again the half bloods found themselves in Hades living room. Nico trembled violently tear stains on his cheeks. Hazel sat next to him setting some water in front of him. Percy looked back at Hades,"Well? What do we do now? Do we continue and lose your son or do we stop and you have to deal with your own responsibilities now?"

Annabeth gently pulled Percy away from Hades. The god didn't react to his statement he simply stared at Nico with a strange expression.

"Percy, we can't back out now. We're too deep into this. We need to go into Artemis or Hypnos next."

"No," Percy shook his head. "No. I'm drawing the line in the sand. No. N-O. No. Death is one thing. You die but you don't suffer. Others grieve but move on. Insanity is something else. You suffer. Others suffer. No one moves on and then everything turns to pity and to crap. Annabeth, you guys are family. I'm not about to risk you guys because the gods couldn't handle themselves again."

"Then what will we do if the next god affected is Zeus, your father, or Hades? Percy, what if the next god to turn is Thanatos? We can't back out now. We have to keep pushing."

Before Percy could answer Morpheus and Hercules came into the palace with a third god in between. A paper bag was placed over his head. He kicked and scratched, crying out.

Once again they admitted the god locking him in Hera's old cell.

Piper looked at the god, she found it saddening that this god had been bagged, why was he being treated differently? Before she could ask he ripped off the bag and tore it to shreds. And then turned to the half bloods his black wings unfolding menacingly. The gods instinctively stood in front of the demigods shielding them from the god's deadly gaze.

"Who is that?" Piper asked.

"Thanatos," replied Morpheus, his own wings outstretched to cover the godlings.

Annabeth and Percy exchanged looks. He gave her a defeated look. As always, she won.

Hades began shuffling away from death pushing the half bloods gently forward,"I think what you have done for us today is enough, thank you godlings."

He said this as they passed Persephone's cell. She was crying in the corner her face covered with her hands. Four of the half bloods shivered remembering that encounter. And then Percy gave in completely. If that was Annabeth in there, he never would've stopped until finding a cure but then again he didn't want to reach that point in the story either.

He looked up at Hades who gave his wife a mournful look as he ushered the demigods upstairs.

Once out of Thanatos' range the half bloods assembled around the coffee table in Hades' living room.

"So is that it? After risking our well-being a good amount of times we just leave?" Piper asked.

"No. We can't just leave. This...disease. It can spread to the mortal world. We need to keep pushing through,"Hazel said.

Nico swallowed the rising bile in his throat,"Y-yeah. Persephone wasn't doing very well and if this thing really does take their immortality and its not just a trick of the mind then Hera is probably going to die soon. And when that happens-"

"Olympus falls," Jason recalled Chiron telling him once that Hera was the glue that kept the Olympians together. They had to find Hera but first they needed to get some clues. "Who do we check next? Goddess of the hunt? God of sleep? Or god of death?"

Annabeth tapped her chin,"I think we should go with the safest option."

"We? No. You and Nico are staying here. You two aren't taking our trip very well." Percy countered.

They all agreed.

Nico glared at them,"Are you kidding me? We all started this 'adventure' together. So you're telling me that me risking my life just to shadow travel a stupid statue across the world didn't bother you as much as me crying? Come on guys. Anyone of you would've panicked if you felt some black demon like phantom touch your thigh. We're going end of discussion."

No one retorted. They were to busy watching his hand inching to his sword. They agreed not to argue with Nico for awhile. They head back down to the dungeon.

Annabeth wavered in the back with Nico. He gave her a nervous smile,"So, what are you seeing?"

"Arachne mostly. But everytime I look at Percy or at any of them, I just get this feeling of dread...like..like they've passed on or something."

Nico nodded,"I feel suffocated. I see Bianca everywhere. She seems disappointed. And the twin giants.." he shuddered. Annabeth held his hand,"Hey, I know what you're going through. We'll be alright. We just have to know what's real and what isn't."

"Easier said than done," Nico sighed.

~o0o~

This time the half bloods landed in a poppy field looking up at a night sky. The stars shimmered above them while the moon shed its silver light upon them. Their eyes began to droop.

Percy gasped,"Guys, stand..up...pop-pies...Hypnos..."

Nico and Annabeth were the only ones able to stand up. When they looked at their friends they were all snoring away.

Nico and Annabeth exchanged looks,"Good thing the lunatics came along, right?" Annabeth yawned. They looked up and saw a glittering cave.

"We need to hurry. I don't know why it's taking longer for the pollen to affect us, but it will eventually. I'm guessing the cave is where we'll find Hypnos," Annabeth mumbled.

Nico grunted in response and the two shuffled over to the cave. As they made their way there their eyes began to shift. Everywhere they turned they saw something. When Annabeth blinked she saw a cyclops looming over the cave in the distance with a wound in its foot and when she rubbed her eyes and looked back at her friends Thalia was a pine tree again and everyone around her was dead. Nico kept his eyes on the prize but out the corner of his eye he could just see the apparition of his sister, Bianca and his late mother. He would close his eyes and take deep breaths and when he opened them he saw a jar awaiting inside the cave with two large hands placed around it. One of the mammoth's hand beckoned him forward pouring in some pomegranate seeds. He heard a deep rumble as the two giants laughed.

The two demigods inched together shaking. They kept shuffling forward until at last they reached the cave. They peeked inside, it shimmered like a geode and they were hypnotized by it.

Annabeth called out to the god and her voice echoed,"Lord Hypnos? Are you in here?"

"Maybe we should come back later," Nico said.

They walked inside admiring the beautiful cave, wandering around they found a literal bed of flowers. It was made of poppies but the rosy flowers looked different. Annabeth bent over to pick one but dropped it immediately after touching it.

"They've got thorns. Needle like thorns."

Nico looked around,"Imma laugh if Hypnos' greatest fear is insomnia or an uncomfortable bed."

"Honestly, considering that the other gods' fears are a play over their personalities I wouldn't be surprised."

"Morpheus? Is that you?" they heard the rumble of a deep voice.

Nico's breath quickened, he had a momentary image flash across his eyes of Otis looming over him with that sickening smile of his. Suddenly the cave didn't seem as fantastic to him anymore. The walls began to move he gripped onto Annabeth's forearm causing it to bruise.

"Ow. Nico, you're hurting me." Annabeth cried out.

He only held on tighter. "Nico? Nico! Whatever it is it isn't real! You're okay!"

Her voice sounded far away, soon the beating of his heart was all he could hear. He looked around the cave panicked. The walls shifted some closing in and others moving out. Ephialtes made his way to him clutching him in his grasps he taunted him,"Nico Nico Nico! Scared?" He bellowed with laughter.

Annabeth couldn't shake him out of his stupor. His breathing was ragged and his eyes were wild they looked so similar to Athena's. She had gripped onto his shoulders and shook him. The only thing that came to mind was slapping him and she did.

He gasped holding onto her arms clenching his teeth. He looked around. He was still in Hypnos' cave. The walls were solid and there were no giants holding him. Only his friend, Annabeth who stared on at him in worry.

"Nico, I lost you there for a second. Are you okay?"

He didn't respond. He calmed his breathing and let out a shaky sigh. Then he nodded.

"Morpheus?" the voice was closer. Nico held onto Annabeth's arm. He felt how icy her skin was, he couldn't help himself. He remembered the mist like form of Persephone and trembled at the thought of what would've happened if Jason hadn't gotten into the room on time.

Annabeth swallowed the lump in her throat as she remembered the voice of Atlas taunt her friends. She had been so convinced Percy would die when he challenged the titan. Her anxiety got worst when he held the sky right after.

Finally the god stood before them. His wings were folded behind him. He looked down on them with half open eyes. He had glittering golden hair and glittering pale skin that almost seemed a light shade of purple. He reminded Nico of those vampires he saw in that one movie that sparkled like diamonds in the sun. The Twilight Zone he thinks it was called.

"You aren't my son," he replied. His voice was lighter not exactly shrill but it wasn't deep either. It was modulated but a bit honeyed. He looked at them with saddened eyes. "Who are you?"

"Lord Hypnos, we're friends of..Hades. My father. We are here to help."

Hypnos tilted his head at them slightly his silver eyes glimmering at them brightly,"Will you help me sleep? You see. It's been days since I've last slept. I think I've caught a case of insomnia but it feels as if I constantly dream. Whenever I leave this solemn grave a bolt from Zeus's master weapon strikes me. But the longer I stay here the more nightmarish this former home becomes. So tell me. Are you two human?"

Annabeth nodded,"Yes. My name is Annabeth Chase, the daughter of Athena and this is my friend, Nico Di Angelo."

"The son of Hades. Yes, I remember you. Your father and step mother, my king and queen. They speak highly of you. I never thought I'd finally have the privilege to meet the young Prince of Hades."

Hypnos bowed to Nico and the latter blushed,"You don't have to do...Hypnos, the gods are going mad. In order to help you we have to know what it is you're most afraid of."

"What I'm most afraid of? Well, gods are all afraid of death. You might want to question Thanatos, my brother."

Annabeth rubbed her chin,"No, sir. You see. He's gone...insane as well. And we've been talking with the other affected gods as well and they've all had fears that played on their personalities."

"All of them? Who are the ones that have been turned?"

He sat down on stone chair that formed from the cave's floor. He crossed his legs staring intently at them. They found it a bit disconcerting that Hypnos spoke with them so rationally. They didn't doubt he was sick. After all, Hermes responded almost the same way. But Hypnos seemed fully aware that they were real. Or maybe not. He might actually think that they weren't real. Maybe he thought he was speaking to himself. How did they know he was real? What if they were the ones talking to themselves?

They decided to roll with it. Whether he was real or just a figment of their deteriorating imaginations they'd figure it out soon enough.

"Who are the gods that have been affected?" he questioned.

"It's a total of seven gods. Hera, Athena, Persephone, er-you, Hermes, Artemis, and Thanatos. In that order,"Annabeth replied.

"You say that our crazed condition is caused by our fears. That's easy enough. Have you spoken with the sons of Ares, Phobos and Deimos?"

"We have but they needed to have the affected gods in front of them so they could-" Annabeth stopped herself. It was a perfect excuse for Hera, but what about the other gods. How could she have been so stupid? She and Nico exchanged looks. They both had the same realization. They didn't even have to be here. They could've just had the gods of fear and terror themselves tell them what each god was afraid of.

Hypnos nodded,"I see. Well, I'm afraid the fears of the gods isn't exactly a play on our personalities. More like, our background."

"Back- ground?" Annabeth asked.

Hypnos nodded,"Persephone's is an easy example. She's a close friend of mine. The only person she ever had in her life was her mother. She doesn't have many friends on Olympus. It was just her and her mother against the world. Then came Hades. He swept her off her feet, literally and figuratively. She always knew that when Hades wasn't there for her her mother would be or the other way around. She's afraid of being left alone. Without a home. No one else left to love her and support her and keep her company. It almost happened, she and her mother had an argument and she practically pushed Hades to side with Demeter. She thought she had killed her only stripe of happiness in the world."

Nico kicked a rock as he reviewed the analogy,"So what the gods have are sort of like subconscious fears, right?"

"In a way, my brother Thanatos is afraid of killing everything around him. You see, Eros struck his heart with a swift arrow. He fell in love with someone he could not touch. Thanatos is like your grim reaper. Whatever he touches dies. He could only admire his love from afar. And if he let himself be seen the grief he let off would've killed them.
"One day however there had been an attack on the city. Thanatos had been trying to save them. He had no choice but to reveal himself. He had warned them not too look back at him but they must follow whatever he told them in order for them to survive. They almost made it out. If it hadn't been for the wall. A wall was built around the city and his instinct got the better of him.
"He tried saving them but when he touched their shoulder they crumpled into his embrace. He's been afraid of causing the world's end since. That's why he prefers to fly wherever he goes. He believes that the earth would die if his feet ever touched ground."

Annabeth thought for a moment, past experiences. People don't get cold for no reason. But some thing didn't make sense. Hermes was afraid of snakes and yet he has two snakes on his herald's staff. If Athena was afraid of losing her identity why did Ares have a part in this? And Hera, her obsession with the dark was strange. Why would anyone be afraid of light? Did Hestia know anything. She hadn't moved from her spot upstairs since she came.

"What about you Hypnos? What's yours?"

Hypnos looked at the ceiling for awhile,"I've never been rather fond of the nightmares my son, Morpheus would create. They hold a certain truth in them and they can taunt you and your dreams."

"That..doesn't help at all."

"Well, I'm not sure. The lack of sleep must be getting to me. Anyway, I simply must find the key or I'll never get to leave." he began to fade.

"The key? The key! Hypnos wait! What key! What is that!?" Annabeth realized she gripped onto his wrist and the god faded back into a solid form.

"Hypnos what do you mean by key?" she looked him in the eye. For a moment he seemed surprise but then his pupils dilated and he trembled,"L-Lord Zeus, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I-I-I was merely doing my job-"

A bright flash of light flashed through the room and the loud sound of thunder and someone screaming rang through their ears.

The half bloods sat up from the dungeon's floor panting heavily. They felt like they had woken up from a dream. Annabeth looked at her friends all startled awake by the same thunder she and Nico heard. Nico looked over at Hypnos who cowered away from Zeus he stared at him.

Nico rushed over to Zeus and stepped in front of the cell,"Lord Zeus, I advise you to step away. He's scared. He could do himself harm."

Zeus was taken aback by the boy's sudden rush but he stepped out of Hypnos' sight. The god immediately calmed down and crawled over to Nico like a dog. He panted and whined,"How long must I stay here? I want to go play!"

Nico looked down at the god and then over to the other immortals. They all looked at him like children and when he looked over to Thanatos he saw Bianca in his eyes. Silena Bearguard. Charles Beckendorf. Little Nancy from the Venus cabin.

His heart broke and he collapsed into darkness.