Nico stared into the water of the River Styx, half convinced he had killed Percy Jackson. Damn, could this day get any worse? His father was an asshole, he betrayed Percy's trust, he had to walk through those fields.

And a different feeling reminded him of where he belonged. Only down there, among the dead, did he finally not feel the cold.

He never should have listened to Minos or his father.

Percy burst out of the water, sending him scrambling back in surprise. That skin that was once so beautiful, not steaming and bright red.

"Are you okay?" he asked.. "Your skin. Oh, gods. You're hurt!"

"I'm fine . . . I think." The color of his skin turned back to normal. Mrs. O'Leary came up and sniffed him with concern.

"Do you feel stronger?" Nico asked."Is it-"

His questions were cut off by his father's voice. "THERE!"

An army of the dead marched toward them. A hundred skeletal Roman legionnaires led the way with shields and spears. Behind them came an equal number of British redcoats with bayonets fixed. In the middle of the host, Hades himself rode a black-and-gold chariot pulled by nightmare horses, their eyes and manes smoldering with fire.

"You will not escape me this time, Percy Jackson!" Hades bellowed."Destroy him!"

"Father, no!" Nico shouted, but it was too late. The front line of Roman zombies lowered their spears and advanced.

Mrs. O'Leary growled and got ready to pounce. Maybe that's what set Percy off. He was protective of his dog. Or he was just sick and tired of how Hades was acting. Nico would fully agree, if that was the case.

Percy yelled, and the River Styx exploded. A black tidal wave smashed into the legionnaires. Spears and shields flew everywhere. Roman zombies began to dissolve, smoke coming off their bronze helmets.

Percy charged. All Nico could do was watch, eyes wide, at the display of power. The curse of Achilles. It really worked.

What Nico would have given to have had that before he died. Maybe he could have won the war, or at least changed its course. He could have been something more than one of the many to die.

How had his war ended? It was then he realized that he had never really found out.

Percy broke through the enemy line and leaped into the black chariot. Hades raised his staff. A bolt of dark energy shot toward him, but he deflected it off his blade and slammed into Hades himself. They both tumbled out of the chariot.

Percy's knee was planted on Hades's chest. He was holding the collar of his royal robes in one fist, and the tip of his sword was poised right over his face.

Silence. There was no army left.

Hades swallowed. "Now, Jackson, listen here. . . ."

"Just because I'm a nice person," Percy snarled, "I'll let you go. But first, tell me about that trap!"

Hades melted into nothing, leaving him holding empty black robes.

Nico whistled.

"I think the river thing worked," Percy said.

"Oh gee," Nico said sarcastically. "You think?"

Mrs. O'Leary barked happily and wagged her tail. Nico was about to go on about how awesome that was, but Percy spoke before he could.

"Go back to your father," he told Nico. "Tell him he owes me for letting him go. Find out what's going to happen to Mount Olympus and convince him to help."

Nico stared at him. "I . . . I can't. He'll hate me now. I mean . . . even more."

"You have to," Percy said. "You owe me to."

Nico looked down at the beach of the river. It was as dark as ever. "Percy, I told you I was sorry. Please . . . let me come with you. I want to fight."

"You'll be more help down here."

"You mean you don't trust me anymore," he said miserably.

Percy didn't answer. Nico could feel their friendship breaking, could feel his made up world crash down around him. He was dead. The dead didn't have friends. They didn't go into the world of the living. They were trapped.

"Just go back to your father," Percy said. "Work on him. You're the only person who might be able to get him to listen."

"That's a depressing thought." Nico tried to keep his breathing under control. Panic was rising up in his chest. He wasn't getting out of there. "All right. I'll do my best." Hold back the tears. Keep them hidden.

"Now Mrs. O'Leary and I have to go."

"Where?" Nico asked. His hands were shaking.

"To get this war started. It's time I found Luke."

Percy left, then, on the back of Mrs. O'Leary. Nico wanted to run after him, scream, yell. He wanted to demand that he bring him back to the world of the living. But he couldn't. And he doubted he'd be able to leave on his own.

"No..." he sunk to his knees, stared into that hopeless river. He needed to get out of there. He needed to.

But there was nowhere to go. Panic, fear, death.


Nico stayed cleared of three things in the Underworld: the Fields of Asphodel, Persephone, and Hades. As long as he did, the panic wasn't too bad. But it never went away, just as the cold had stayed when he was on the surface.

Unlike the first time he was dead, nothing kept him in the fields. He could wander as he pleased, learn from any ghost he wanted. And now, sick and tired of trying and failing to find his mother or sister's ghosts, he decided to try to conjure them.

He dug a hole in one of Persephone's flower beds, then poured a goblet of wine into the hole and began to chant. "Let the dead taste again. Let them rise and take this offering. Maria di Angelo, show yourself!"

An image formed. It was a scene rather than a single ghost. In the mist, he saw himself and Bianca as little children, playing in the lobby of an elegant hotel, chasing each other around marble columns.

His mother sat on a nearby sofa. She wore a black dress, gloves, and a black veiled hat. On a chair next to her sat Hades. He was leaning toward her, using his hands as he talked, like he was agitated.

"Please, my dear," he said. "You must come to the Underworld. I don't care what Persephone thinks! I can keep you safe there."

"No, my love." Nico had long since forgotten her voice. "Raise our children in the land of the dead? I will not do this."

"Maria, listen to me. The war brewing in Europe has turned the other gods against me. A prophecy has been made. My children are no longer safe. Poseidon and Zeus have forced me into an agreement. None of us are to have demigod children ever again."

"But you already have Nico and Bianca. Surely-"

"No! The prophecy warns of a child who turns sixteen. Zeus has decreed that the children I currently have must be turned over to Camp Half-Blood for proper training, but I know what he means. At best they'll be watched, imprisoned, turned against their father. Even more likely, he will not take a chance. He won't allow my demigod children to reach sixteen. He'll find a way to destroy them, and I won't risk that!"

"Certamente," Maria said. "We will stay together. Zeus is un imbecile."

Nico smiled at her courage. He hadn't remembered this from his childhood.

Hades glanced nervously at the ceiling. "Maria, please. I told you, Zeus gave me a deadline of last week to turn over the children. His wrath will be horrible, and I cannot hide you forever. As long as you are with the children, you are in danger too."

Maria smiled, and again it was creepy how much she looked like her daughter. "You are a god, my love. You will protect us. But I will not take Nico and Bianca to the Underworld."

Hades wrung his hands. "Then, there is another option. I know a place in the desert where time stands still. I could send the children there, just for a while, for their own safety, and we could be together. I will build you a golden palace by the Styx."

Maria di Angelo laughed gently. "You are a kind man, my love. A generous man. The other gods should see you as I do, and they would not fear you so. But Nico and Bianca need their mother. They are only children. The gods wouldn't really hurt them."

"You don't know my family," Hades said darkly. "Please, Maria, I can't lose you."

She touched his lips with her fingers. "You will not lose me."

The scene changed. Maria was older, more worn. Bianca was sitting beside her on the same couch. With a start, Nico realized that it had to have been after he was already at war. Why hadn't his father taken them already?

"Maria, please." Hades was begging again. "Zeus grows more impatient each day. No doubt he's going to get Nico killed-"

"Don't talk like that," Maria put a hand on his shoulder before looking to Bianca. "Bianca, dear, I think we should do what your father says."

Bianca twisted her hands nervously. "A place where time stands still? I...I'm still scared, momma."

"I'll come with you," her mother assured. "Wait for me while I get my purse."

She kissed the lord of the dead and rose from the sofa. Hades watched her walk upstairs as if her every step away caused him pain.

A moment later, he tensed. Bianca looked to the father she knew so little of. "Wha-"

"No!" Hades said. But even his godly powers were too slow. He only had time to erect a wall of black energy around his daughter before the hotel exploded. The force was so violent, the entire mist image dissolved.

When it came into focus again, it showed Hades kneeling in the ruins, holding the broken form of Maria di Angelo. Fires still burned all around him. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder rumbled. Bianca stared at her mother in mute terror.

The Fury Alecto appeared behind them, hissing and flapping her leathery wings. Bianca didn't notice her.

"Zeus!" Hades shook his fist at the sky. "I will crush you for this! I will bring her back!"

"My lord, you cannot," Alecto warned. "You of all immortals must respect the laws of death."

Hades glowed with rage. Nico himself felt chilled at the words.

"Take her," he told Alecto, choking back a sob. "Wash her memories clean in the Lethe and bring her to the Lotus Hotel. Zeus will not harm her there."

"As you wish, my lord," Alecto said. "And the woman's body?"

"Take her as well," he said bitterly. "Give her the ancient rites."

Alecto, Bianca, and Maria's body dissolved into shadows, leaving Hades alone in the ruins.

"I warned you," a new voice said.

Hades turned. A girl in a multicolored dress stood by the smoldering remains of the sofa. She had short black hair and sad eyes. She was no more than twelve.

"You dare come here?" Hades growled. "I should blast you to dust!"

"You cannot," the girl said. "The power of Delphi protects me."

"You've killed the woman I loved!" Hades roared. "Your prophecy brought us to this.'"

He loomed over the girl, but she didn't flinch.

"Zeus ordained the explosion to destroy the girl," she said, "because you defied his will. I had nothing to do with it. And I did warn you to hide her sooner."

"I couldn't! Maria would not let me! Besides, she was innocent."

"Nevertheless, she was your child, which makes her dangerous. Even if you put her away in the Lotus Hotel, you only delay the problem. Bianca will never be able to rejoin the world lest she turn sixteen."

"Because of your so-called Great Prophecy. And you have forced me into an oath to have no other children. You have left me with nothing!"

"I foresee the future," the girl said. "I cannot change it."

Black fire lit the god's eyes. "Then, Oracle, hear the words of Hades," he growled. "Perhaps I cannot bring back Maria. Nor can I bring you an early death. But your soul is still mortal, and I can curse you."

The girl's eyes widened. "You would not-"

"I swear," Hades said, "as long as my children remain outcasts, as long as I labor under the curse of your Great Prophecy, the Oracle of Delphi will never have another mortal host. You will never rest in peace. No other will take your place. Your body will wither and die, and still the Oracle's spirit will be locked inside you. You will speak your bitter prophecies until you crumble to nothing. The Oracle will die with you!"

The girl screamed, and the misty image was blasted to shreds. Nico fell to his knees in Persephone's garden, his face slack with shock.

Standing in front of him was the real Hades, towering in his black robes and scowling down at his son.

"And just what," he asked Nico, "do you think you're doing?"

Nico stared up at him. Every time he looked the god in the eyes, he felt just as dead as he truly was. "I... Bianca...momma..."

Zeus had killed his mother. Zeus had most definately got him killed on the battlefield. Zeus had done who knows what to his sister.

"Never do that again." Hades warned. His voice sent shivers down Nico's spine. "If you do, I'll put you back where you belong."

Nico swallowed thickly. "But...you're not going to now?"

"No," Hades growled. "You need your training incase this Percy Jackson fails."

"Will you help in the war?" Nico asked hopefully.

Hades scowled and disappeared into the darkness. Nico could do nothing more than stare at where he once was.

In the image, they had spoken about him as if he was already dead. Had he been? He'd never be sure. And had Bianca truly been sent to this place where time stands still? Was she still alive?