WHOOP! I absolutely LOVE reviews! Here's the new and improved list of all my best friends: tlover13, ausumist, tridentbonez313, Misthorse9 (the other author on my account), wowzerss, Frankie-JaymeENGLISHPROUD, yama's warrior, Unsigned. For Now, and the newest to join the team (whose name, ironically, makes me long for a popsicle) AdDiCDtEdxToxPoPsIcLeS.

Anyway, Disclaimer: yada yada yada I do not own, yada yada.

I'm gonna apologize beforehand for the possible confusion over this chapter. It is a little sudden, and I wouldn't be surprised if you just sit there and mull it over. But don't worry, Rylin's just as confused as you are :D

* * * * * * * * * *

One of the best things about being a ghost?

I was transparent. I could float right through walls, scaring the living daylights out of anyone on the other side of them; I could fly (not that that wasn't possible before), AND I had a killer power that blinded everyone within a couple feet of me if the sunlight hit my transparent body just right. Not that any of that stuff helped with what Nico wanted me to do. Man, I was really beginning to wonder why I had trusted him in the first place. The guy was a stone cold psycho.

But ironically, that was what had drawn me to him in the first place.

So as I looked down from my perch high in the pine tree, trying desperately to not breathe in the sap, I was NOT surprised. I had never imagined in my wildest dreams that I'd be helping save the world as a ghost, or that the role I'd have would be of a scout, not a hero.

The suspense was killing me.

Couldn't Kronos just show up already? My legs and neck were beginning to cramp up (not really), and I felt just a little bit tense. The great war was on the horizon, and I was stuck as a ghost doing scout duty on possibly the most boring part of the forest.

The breeze rustled the branches around me, swirling through my transparent body. I tasted a slight metallic scent to it, recognizing the effect from the last battle of the Titans. War was on the horizon, and I was stuck with doing nothing for once.

I was too late to notice that the forest had fallen eerily quiet.

Crack.

Slowly I raised my head. The sound of soft, muffled feet scuffling across the ground drifted up to me. I flashed down to the ground, the branches sinking right through my body, landing in shadow. I leaned back against a tree as a figure approached, a dark cloak and hood hiding his or her face. My eyes fell on the sheath hanging from the intruder's back.

In a second I had launched myself across the clearing fiercely, knocking the hood off with the back of my hand. My eyes widened as I found myself looking into the soulless eyes.

"Hello, Rylin."

* * * * * * * * * *

The sword fell from her hands as she gasped for breath, the hand tightening around her throat. All the air was being driven from her lungs, fire burning in her chest as she struggled, her legs unable to even touch the ground. She could feel his nails digging into her skin; soon the pain was disappearing, as well as her ability to feel anything at all…

"Let go of my sister," hissed a voice somewhere to her right. Suddenly the pressure disappeared and a voice was whispering frantically to her.

"Bianca? Bianca, say something!"

Her throat burning, her head throbbing, she barely managed. "I'm fine, Nico," she said hoarsely. She heard his sigh of relief, feeling his body instantly relax next to her.

"Thank the gods," he said. "I was just about to get violent."

She grinned, opening her eyes. Nico was sitting in front of her, smiling broadly back at her. She soaked it in gratefully, knowing that he rarely showed this sort of emotion, completely reveling in it. That was when her gaze slid past him, and her joy in being alive was immediately frozen in dread.

She was leaning against the bed, of that she was sure. Because everything else was in her view, and even in seventy five years the layout of the suite still remained unchanged…

The Black Lotus Hotel.

Her head whipping around, she drew in a single sharp intake of breath. Nico's eyes widened and soon he had launched himself to his feet, his expression wild with fear. Bianca linked eyes with him, knowing the look in his eyes was only a reflection of her own.

"What the heck are we doing here?" Nico hissed.

She looked around the room, her stomach sinking. In that instant, all Bianca's Hunter training flowed back to her, and she finally recognized the room for what it was.

"It's an illusion," Bianca whispered in horror, her eyes staring into Nico's.

Terrified recognition slowly dawned on him. "Only Morpheus controls illusions." As soon as the words were out of his mouth Bianca's dropped open.

"The invasion! It's already started!"

"But-"

"We need to get out of this illusion! Now!"

"We can't," Nico replied quietly.

Bianca felt like she was forgetting something important. "Why?"

"Because illusions can only be broken from the outside."

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Annabeth!" Percy cried. His hand was inches from hers; she was barely clinging to the rock face, her grey eyes wide with terror. The river Styx roared beneath them, the water lapping hungrily just below Annabeth's ankles.

"Let me go, Percy!" Annabeth yelled back. Tears were streaming down her face. "I can't let you die too."

"You don't know that I will," Percy whispered intently, staring into her eyes and forcing her to calm down. His voice grew stronger. "I'm not leaving you."

Then I will make you, a horrid voice whispered in his mind.

Prepare yourself to die, Percy Jackson.

* * * * * * * * * *

My teeth gritted together, my eyes flaming in hatred.

"Get AWAY from me!" I snarled venomously, throwing myself back from her as if the sight burned my eyes.

She looked hurt, to tell the truth. Her black eyes were resigned, her dark hair waving lightly in the breeze that I was unconsciously creating. The cloak brushed against the ground, flapping against the tree, cutting through the silence as we stared at each other.

"I guess I deserve that," she murmured quietly. "But could we continue this later?"

"No," I said shortly, my hatred still lingering. "We'll do it now."

My tone left no room for disagreement.

"Ryley," Alyssa's voice was suddenly sharp. "Your friends are in trouble."

"Who needs friends?" I sneered. "All they manage to do is stab you in the back." The only thing I could focus on was what she had done to me, all those years ago. She had completely destroyed my life. Rage was surging through me at the very sight of Hades' daughter, a fiery sort of rage that egged me on, making me do things I wouldn't normally do.

"You know that's not true," Alyssa's voice returned to the quiet it had been before, which somehow made me even madder. "What about Max? What about…what about Ben?" Her voice trembled.

"He's further away then ever," I said coldly. "For forty years he hasn't cared. And neither have you."

"That isn't true!" Alyssa was suddenly crying. "That was NEVER true!"

"Oh yeah? I distinctly remember you trying to kill me! Is that reason enough for you?" I shot back, blinking furiously to clear my eyes. "Or was that a mistake too?"

Alyssa looked away into the forest, the wind roaring.

"What are you doing here, Alyssa?" I asked icily after a few moments. "Come to rub it in? That you're alive and I finally got what I deserved?"

"No," she replied, and her voice drew my eyes to hers. I stared in surprise as she stepped toward me, an expression on her face that I'd never seen before. "I'm here to give you something that belongs to you."

"What could you possibly have to give to me?" I was full of spite.

And before I could stop her, her hand thrust through my transparent body, right where my heart had once been. Heat flooded from her hand, rushing through my veins like wildfire. The shock of the sudden warmth melted me, and I could feel everything again. To my astonishment, I was whole again. The ground solid beneath my feet, the cool wind on my face, my heart beating…

My HEART.

"My life," Alyssa whispered solemnly, her eyes locked forever on mine.

I stared in shock at her, and by the time I had found my voice, it was too late.

Three hundred years too late.

* * * * * * * * * *

Does that answer your question, ausumist? Alyssa and Max=good :) Yay! And YES, Percy and Annabeth are also in an illusion, though Percy has no idea that they're not about to die. The only ones who have any clue at all are Nico and Bianca.

Please R&R and tell me what you think!