A/N Hello everyone! HAPPY NEW YEAR! (It's not actually New Year yet here in England BUT oh well. The Dubai fireworks were AMAZING (I saw them on the TV). As you can see, I am not going out or anything for New Year... Soooo I'll post a chapter!
Thank you for being the most wonderful readers ever, and for seeing it right through to (almost) 2015!

Percy POV

"Hey, wake up."

"Wake. Up."

"Percy."

A voice hisses in my ear and I sit bolt upright, looking around wildly for the source. The cabin is cast in shadows, and my eyes take a while to adjust to the gloom. When they do I spot Nico, who is stood right next to the bed just like a few hours ago; his voice appears to be about five times louder than it actually is in this silence. I let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding, and turn to look at him with what I hope is a decently disgruntled expression.

"Man, Nico, you could have made some sort of indication of your arrival. I think I nearly died." He glares at me, and I backtrack. "Er… Sorry. What time is it?"

"Well, everyone's just had dinner. So I bought you some. You must be hungry. From what I remember, you had quite the appetite." His words are cool and monotone as he holds a plate out towards me – I also notice that he has a deep frown on his face, and he's looking at me with an annoyed look on his face. I glance at him sheepishly and take the plate off him.

I guess I should have listened to him when he told me not to move, when Annabeth came in here, but I just couldn't help it. Can he really blame me? Looking outside, more to avoid his obviously angry gaze than anything else, I see that it's already dark; the first stars of the night are announcing their return, as the last streaks of gold slowly diminish in the wake of the deepening blue sky.

I turn my attention back to Nico, rummaging in my pockets in the false hope of finding a possible loose drachma, but he interrupts.

"It's fine. I already did the offerings."

For some reason, I'm oddly touched. "Thanks, Nico. And I'm… uh… sorry I didn't listen to you."

"No problem." He flashes me a rare smile and all the frostiness evaporates as quickly as it had come. He settles down onto the armchair in the corner, arranging and rearranging the cushions on it and straightening them repeatedly as he tries to get into a seemingly unfindable comfy position.

"Well, someone is making himself quite comfortable," I say, raising my eyebrows.

He looks at me, unimpressed. "Do you want me to explain, or not? The choice is yours."

"Okay, okay. Sorry. Your Royal Death Boy-ness," I add, grumbling.

"Excuse me?" I hear him splutter. "What did you just say?"

I smirk at him, unable to stop myself. And then I realise he can't see my face. Things feel so… so normal, right now. I wish the illusion could last a bit longer.

"Nothing. Nothing at all, my dear Nico." For some reason, he goes a bit red at that, but seems to recover quite quickly. He clears his throat and stares daggers at me. "You'd better hope not."

I make to take my mask off now that Nico knows it's me, and there doesn't seem to be anyone around, but Nico stops me before I can even get there.

"Are. You Insane?"

Oh. Well, it was worth a try. "Nope, Nico, I'm definitely not insane. Just slightly extremely hot." Again, he goes red. What did I do?

"Please can I take it off? I'm boiling." He shakes his head.

"No. Want it in Spanish? N-O-H." Since when did Nico get all snappy?

"Ugh, fine. Mom." He opens his mouth to retort as his face goes red. I hastily try to change the topic before he can get anymore worked up, as I'm doing a pretty good job of getting him angry. I forgot how easy it is to annoy him – it's priceless.

"Please can you explain now?" I plead.

He huffs. "Fine." He glares at me warningly. "But no interruptions. Or I'll leave you to figure it out on your own." He snorts. "And good luck with that." I raise my hands in surrender, and he relaxes slightly, shaking his head.

"Idiot," he whispers softly. He smiles, and then suddenly, his face goes stony.

"I knew you weren't dead," he begins. "Not even when they came back with your pen-sword –"

"It's not a pen-sword." I hiss, even though… I guess it kind of is. "It's Riptide."

"Interruptions?" he whispers, narrowing his eyes.

Oh, yeah.

"Fine. I won't interrupt again." I scowl at him moodily, even though he can't see. Which is probably for the best.

"As I was saying," he pauses to glare at me again. "I knew you weren't dead. Not even when they came back with your pen – "

I whip my head around.

"Riptide." He says, sighing. "Not even when they came back with Riptide and all of your clothes. Said they were lying next to some sort of river." I open my mouth to respond, but he holds up a finger, signalling me to wait. "When you… left, they sent out a 'search party'. Any guesses as to who their leader was?"

I clench my fist. I have no trouble guessing who would be in charge of finding me.

"Nick."

Nico nods his head. "They went out round about noon, said they'd be back by nightfall. Somehow, they were pretty sure you were dead before they even set foot outside. That's when I realised something wasn't quite right. But who was I to question it? I was just poor, troubled little Nico, the loner son of Hades." He laughs bitterly. "So of course, I did nothing. But when they got back, that's when I knew something was really off. They were saying you drowned. A son of Poseidon. Drowning. I told them it was impossible, but they didn't listen. I even tried to tell Annabeth. But she… She pushed me away. Told me I was a liar. There was something wrong with everyone that night, but I had no idea what it was. They were all acting so strangely, almost… in a trance, I suppose. All of them – except Leo. He didn't seem to be as affected as they all were." He pauses, looking at me as if waiting for my approval for him to go on.

"Wait a sec," I say, holding up my hand. "What exactly do you mean when you say 'in a trance'?" I have a horrible suspicion in my mind, and my stomach is churning. There is no way I could be right.

"I don't know… They just seemed to believe every word Nick said, and they didn't even try to question him. There was something else too… Something disturbing…" He scrunches up his eyes, as if trying to drag up a long forgotten memory.

"Yes?"

His eyes fly open. "Their eyes… Their eyes had gone gold. And so were Nick's."

I bury my face in my hands, and emit a loud groan.

"What? What?" he repeats, after I don't reply.

"It's Nick, Nico. It's always been him. He… I don't know what it is, but he can almost… almost compel people to do what he wants. To believe what he wants them to believe. And he has powers, too. Yesterday, when you had to bring me in here after I collapsed –"

"You were out for four days, Percy."

I look at him in shock. "Oh. Well, when I collapsed, it was because he did something to me. Something to my head. Something in my head. I've never seen it before, Nico. He isn't human." I draw in a deep breath. "And I think he's controlling them. Annabeth. Everyone. And I have no idea how we're going to stop him." My voice cracks.

I hear footsteps and then feel Nico's hand awkwardly patting my back.

"Sorry," I smile weakly.

He nods. "Not your fault," he says gruffly. "And I agree with you, there's definitely something up. And he sure as hell is not human."

"Go on, anyway. How did you know I wasn't dead?" I'm genuinely intrigued by this. How did he know it was me? How is he not affected by Nick?

Nico smiles at me sadly. "You forget whose son I am, Percy. Hades knows each and every person who enters the Underworld… You never set foot in it."

I look at him in surprise. Is that it? How can Nick have missed such a simple little detail?

"Besides," Nico looks away. "The only place you could have gone is Elysium anyway. You didn't deserve anywhere else. I know Hades would never send you anywhere else, and you never entered it." He clears his throat and then looks back at me. My eyes seem to be strangely damp. "No matter how much my father hates you," he adds matter-of-factly.

He coughs lightly once more, and then gets up. I lean back onto my pillows, thinking about what he just told me, feeling confused, yet… happy. I yawn, so loudly that Nico turns to look at me, eyebrows raised. "I'm tired," I say defensively. "So, shut up!" and I throw a pillow at his face as he starts to laugh. He raises his hands to shield his face and proceeds to pick it off the floor. And then he freezes.

"Did you hear that?" he says, completely still, face screwed up in confusion.

"Hear what?"

"It-it sounded like… a scream."

My mouth goes dry, and I leap off the bed. "What?"

He looks at me, eyes wide with sudden fear. "I'm not lying!" he says forcefully. I nod at him, and his features relax just a tiny bit.

And then I hear it, soft at first but gradually getting louder. Like whatever it is, it's… coming closer. There's a faint pounding noise, too, strange and rhythmic. The cabin starts to fill with the weird pounding, the slowly building screams, the rattle of the window panes. I stand for moment, completely lost – what should I do? Abandoning all rational thought, I just run straight to the door and yank it open. I yell at Nico to get ready, adrenalin already coursing through my body. There is no room for fear as I survey the scene before me.

Hordes of monsters pour through the entrance, all shapes and sizes, from empousai to hellhounds, and everything in between. And, in the middle of the huge crowd, sticking out like some grotesque beacon …

The Minotaur.

A/N Hope you liked it! I love Nico, he is just such a good guy. Please leave a review if you have the time! HAPPY NEW YEAR (AGAIN)!