NICO

No matter what Hazel said, hearing Gaea herself tell Nico he was going to die pretty much told him it was true. He'd been to the Underworld so many times but now there was a high probability that he would have to stay for good.

Nico wondered if his dad would do anything to help him if he died. He doubted it. Nico's father had always hated him. Hades had told him that he wished that Bianca was alive and Nico was the one that was deceased.

At first, when Hades told him stuff like this, he would beat himself up over it. Now he just shrugged it off. Nico believed he didn't need a dad. Or a mom. Or a sister. They all had abandoned him. Nico was fine by himself.

"Nico? Are you okay dude?" Said a voice that interrupted his thoughts.

He raised his eyes away from the floor and met the eyes of Jason.

"I'm fine. Just thinking." He replied, staring at the floor once again.

"Hey, can I talk to you about something?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, sure man." Nico was a little surprised. He and Jason didn't really talk much.

"Well, the prophecy said 'Storm and Death will start to fade.' Everyone assumed it was us because Piper knocked us out." He winced as he said the last part. "But I was thinking, why would we both fade? We're awake now, and we aren't harmed to badly."

Nico considered this. "I don't know. I really hope she isn't going to knock us out again. Gods, that girl is strong."

Jason massaged his purple neck. "Yeah, she is."

"We all know I'm the 'Death' in the prophecy 'cause I'm the death kid." Nico said.

Jason's eyes widened. "I'm not the only storm."

"Uh, what?" Nico was totally confused.

"Nico, I don't think I'm the storm in the prophecy." He started to tap his fingers on his legs nervously.

"Well, who is?" Nico asked.

"If I'm right, Percy is storm." Jason hesitated, then continued. "I had a dream last night. Persephone came to talk to me in my sleep. We were standing by the Doors of Death." Jason was talking really fast now. "She said that both the mortal and immortal sets of doors had to be closed with a death. If you're death and Percy's storm and you both fade then…"

Jason didn't finish his sentence, nor did he need to. Nico understood. Percy and Nico would both have to die for their mission to succeed.

Nico didn't know what to say. Nobody would know what to say if they found out both them and their best friend were going to die in a matter of days.

Fortunately, Frank saved them from an awkward moment. He stomped into the lounge and sat on a couch across the room from them.

"Hey Frank, what's up?" Jason asked.

"Stupid Valdez." Is all Frank said.

"Okay then." Jason turned back to Nico. "So what are we going to do?"

"Can we talk about it tomorrow? I'm tired." Nico insisted.

"Yeah, sure. I am too. See you later." With that, Jason walked out of the room.

Nico didn't really want to deal with angry Frank so he went upstairs to his room. Well, actually it was Percy's room. Leo hadn't expected him to be on the Argo II so Nico didn't get a room. There wasn't a guest room either so it was either take Percy's or sleep in Hedge's room. Nico was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to sleep with a satyr screaming "Die!" in his sleep.

When Nico reached Percy's room, he looked around sadly. There was a mixture of Percy's and Nico's clothes on the floor and the bed wasn't made.

I'll deal with it tomorrow. Nico thought as he plopped into bed.

He fell asleep instantly, leading him to terrifying nightmares.

He was walking through the depths of Tartarus. He didn't remember the place at all.

Nico hated having dreams like this. He never knew what to do. Usually, he would just sit there until he woke up. Apparently, that wasn't an option right now.

In front of him stood a dark figure. Nico couldn't make out its feature's but he was about 99.9% sure it he didn't want to.

"Who are you?" Nico yelled, scared to hear the reply.

"Nico, it's me." Called a familiar girl's voice.

"Bianca! What are you doing here?" Nico said, realizing it was his older sister. "I thought you were reborn!"

"I was Nico. But all the heroes who are reborn into mortals have their old souls cast into Tartarus. I'm not really the human Bianca, just a soul." She said.

"So everyone who was reborn is in Tartarus?" Nico asked.

"Yes, Nico." Suddenly, a loud bell rang. "I must go. I might not see you again, Nico. But I will always be watching you."

"Bianca, wait!" Nico yelled, but she was already gone.

When Nico awakened, his face was even paler than usual. It looked like he was one of those actors in a cheesy vampire movie. He slipped on his black aviator jacket and walked out the door.

He was still shaken up from his dream.

He felt like he didn't sleep at all last night. Going back to bed wasn't an option though. Nico had promised to discuss the new prophecy with Jason and he wouldn't bail on him.

Nico knocked on Jason's door. Instantly, the door swung open, revealing a blue and white room. The floors were clean, the bed was made, and all Jason's clothes were stashed in drawers.

Jason gestured for Nico to enter, so he did. They sat at a table in the corner of the room.

Everything was silent until Jason asked; "I was thinking last night, what actually happened to Piper?"