He didn't know who the lawyer was, or why they'd been frozen in time or allowed to go free. After Bianca died and left Nico alone, he'd been obsessed with finding answers.

"So how did it go?" I asked. "Any luck?"

"No," he murmured. "But I may have a new lead soon."

"What's the lead?"

Nico chewed his lip. "That's not important right now. You know why I'm here."

A feeling of dread started to build in my chest. Ever since Nico first proposed his plan for beating Kronos last summer, I'd had nightmares about it.

Poseidon frowned. If this was dangerous, he did not want Percy doing it. Definitely not. Absolutely not.

He would show up occasionally and press me for an answer, but I kept putting him off.

"Nico, I don't know," I said. "It seems pretty extreme."

Poseidon's frown deepened. If Percy was unsure about it, then it was definitely something bad for his health. His and Percy's.

"You've got Typhon coming in, what ...a week? Most of the other Titans are unleashed now and on Kronos' side. Maybe it's time to think extreme."

I looked back toward the camp. Even from this distance I could hear the Ares and Apollo campers fighting again, yelling curses and spouting bad poetry.

Ares scowled at Apollo, who smirked.

"They're no match for the Titan army," Nico said.

Artemis nodded slowly. It was true, that part. They would obviously need outside help if they wanted to accomplish this.

"You know that. This comes down to you and Luke. And there's only one way you can beat Luke."

Athena shook her head slowly. There were multiple ways, of course. There was always a choice. Evidently they were only thinking of the most obvious one. And, it seemed, the most dangerous one.

I remembered the fight on the Princess Andromeda. I'd been hopelessly outmatched. Kronos had almost killed me with a single cut to my arm, and I couldn't even wound him. Riptide had glanced right off his skin.

"That is particularly problematic," Zeus agreed. "Especially if you really are destined to fight each other. He'll kill you within a minute."

"Thank you," Poseidon grimaced, "Thank you for that."

"Just seeing things realistically."

"You're an ass."

"Thank you. Thank you for that." Zeus smirked.

Hera rolled her eyes at the two of them.

"We can give you the same power," Nico urged. "You heard the Great Prophecy. Unless you want to have your soul reaped by a cursed blade..."

I wondered how Nico had heard the prophecy – probably from some ghost.

"You can't prevent a prophecy," I said.

"But you can fight it." Nico had a strange, hungry light in his eyes. "You can become invincible."

Nico frowned, disturbed. "I sound like a maniac."

"You are a maniac."

"No, seriously Perce, I sound out of my mind!"

"Maybe we should wait. Try to fight without-"

"No!" Nico snarled. "It has to be now!"

I stared at him. I hadn't seen his temper flare like that in a long time.

"Um, you sure you're okay?"

He took a deep breath. "Percy, all I mean ...when the fighting starts, we won't be able to make the journey. This is our last chance. I'm sorry if I'm being too pushy, but two years ago my sister gave her life to protect you. I want you to honor that. Do whatever it take to stay alive and defeat Kronos."

Nico frowned.

I didn't like the idea. Then I thought about Annabeth calling me a coward, and I got angry.

"Seems that it was Annabeth who pressured you in the end," Dionysus mused.

Nico had a point. If Kronos attacked New York, the campers would be no match for his forces. I had to do something. Nico's way was dangerous-maybe even deadly. But it might give me a fighting edge.

Hermes sighed. He had a feeling that they wouldn't know what the idea actually was for a while.

"All right," I decided. "What do we do first?"

His cold creepy smile made me sorry I'd agreed. "First we'll need to retrace Luke's steps. We need to know more about his past, his childhood."

"What!" Hermes burst out. He had a terrible feeling he knew what they were going to do.

The Egyption gods were curious now. They wondered what they were going to do.

I shuddered, thinking about Rachel's picture from my dream – a smiling nine-year-old Luke. "Why do we need to know about that?"

"It's always good to know more about your enemies," Athena murmured, pausing again, under her breath, not wanting to upset Hermes. At least, more than he already was.

"I'll explain when we get there," Nico said. "I've already tracked down his mother. She lives in Connecticut."

"No," Hermes murmured, shaking his head in denial, "No no no no no…"

The God's glanced at each other. Hermes hadn't told them yet, about whatever it was that had happened to his girlfriend. They knew that Apollo had a small idea of what had happened, but nobody else knew. All they'd been told, by a miserable Hermes, was that May had been in an accident. A bad one.

I stared at him. I'd never thought much about Luke's mortal parent. I'd met his dad, Hermes, but his mom...

"Luke ran away when he was really young," I said. "I didn't think his mom was alive."

Apollo squeezed his brother's hand. Hermes was shuddering I've always wondered what happened to May, but now… I don't think I want to know.

"Oh, she's alive." The way he said it made me wonder what was wrong with her. What kind of horrible person could she be?

Hermes gritted his teeth. "She's not horrible. She's amazing. Beautiful."

"Okay... "I said. "So how do we get to Connecticut? I can call Blackjack-"

"No." Nico scowled. "Pegasi don't like me and the feeling is mutual.

"Though, I might let up on that, just for Blackjack," Nico tried to chuckle. The Pegasus' thoughts and personality were so nice and funny that he was sure that MAYBE he could get along with him.

But there's no need for flying." He whistled, and Mrs. O'Leary came loping out of the woods.

"Your friend here can help." Nico patted her head. "You haven't tried shadow travel yet?"

"Shadow travel?"

Nico whispered in Mrs. O'Leary's ear. She tilted her head, suddenly alert.

"Is that all that it takes?" Zeus asked, "Just to tell them what to do."

"Yes," Hades nodded, "Knowing how to do it is hardwired into their brains."

"Hop on board," Nico told me.

I'd never considered riding a dog before, but Mrs. O'Leary was certainly big enough. I climbed onto her back and held her collar.

"So she can carry things with her," Athena pondered, "That means that, in a war, should we be able to get any of the hellhounds to befriend us, they can help us carry things to other places, obviously better at night. That would give us both a strategic advantage and…" She trailed off, muttering plans and tactics to herself, then continued reading.

"Take into account that they get very tired, so they can do it often," Nico warned.

"This will make her very tired," Nico warned, "so you can't do it often. And it works best at night. But all shadows are part of the same substance. There is only one darkness, and creatures of the Underworld can use it as a road, or a door."

"I don't understand," I said.

"I still don't quite get it myself," Zeus grumbled under his breath.

"No," Nico said. "It took me a long time to learn. But Mrs. O'Leary knows. Tell her where to go. Tell her Westport, the home of May Castellan."

"You're not coming?"

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll meet you there."

I was a little nervous, but I leaned down to Mrs. O'Leary's ear.

"It's awesome!" Percy stated.

"Okay, girl. Uh, can you take me to Westport, Connecticut? May Castellan's place?"

Mrs. O'Leary sniffed the air. She looked into the gloom of the forest. Then she bounded forward, straight into an oak tree.

"That should shock you," Ares commented, amused.

Just before we hit, we passed into shadows as cold as the dark side of the moon.

Percy grinned.

"Done," Athena announced. "Who'd like to read the next chapter?"