I was about to post this chapter and I realized it only had 400 words when I knew I had written at least a thousand. So, I checked the document and it was horrible! A space-less mixture letter and bold and italics. I hope I never have to witness anything like that again. I checked the chapter before that too and sure enough Chapter 11 was only a blob! Why did no one tell my this! So I fixed it and someone please let me know if my updates are horrifying.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and The Olympians, nor do I own Heroes of Olympus.

What had I done wrong? I remembered the line of the prophecy from so many years ago. One will be lost in the land without rain. It meant Bianca, who sacrificed herself to allow us to leave the desert. And with her though, someone else was lost. The excited kid who played mythomagic and asked far too many questions faded. A boy forced to grow up too quickly, filled with anger resentment and pain, replaced the happy one. Even if Nico had forgiven me for Bianca's death I would never forgive myself. We might have ended up friends, instead of the dangerous relationship filled with secrets, lies and betrayal.

I sat there for I don't know how long staring into space. The skeleton bird still sat in a tree. Even dead it sung. The bird's dreary lament filled the void. Annabeth had not left my side but I could tell by her expression that her mind was elsewhere. Probably processing her recent realization. I had no clue what it was, and I didn't ask. Nico would always have his secrets, and I'm pretty sure Annabeth would help him keep them.

Eventually, after I had reawakened my foot that had fallen asleep, we trudged back towards camp. I checked my watch and although the darkness had never alleviated, it was nighttime again. The pavilion was empty, except for two figures. Piper was still in a wheelchair and Jason was beside her, staring out into the woods, maybe awaiting our return. We reached them.

"How's your foot doing Piper?" Annabeth and Jason looked at me as if I was crazy. Piper smiled softly.

"What!?" Whoa, Jinx Annabeth and Jason.

"It's okay, that's what I told him." The daughter of Aphrodite spoke quietly, and then she turned to me, not a hint of magic in her voice.

"I never hurt my foot. Drew stabbed me, literally, in the back. Ambrosia saved my life, but couldn't undo the damage. I will never walk again." My first sentiment? Shock. Then, disbelief. Pipes, who had far more gifts that simple magical speech, the member of our group of seven who had torn through Gaea's army determined not to let the goddess of the earth harm her friends, would never run to a loved one's side to give consoling words, or lead the charge at an enemy. Before I could process it, we had a visitor.

"Skia" Annabeth actually came close to snarling. I didn't understand her rage. "You claim to be on our side, and then you leave us at the mercy of that…that…monster!" Oh yeah. That.

"Tell me, have you ever had a person who wishes to do you harm know your every fear, every fault, know the placement of your every wound because they were the one that inflicted it? Have you ever had an enemy you cannot harm, but can rip you apart from the inside, rip your mind to shreds as they leave scars on the outside, but no matter what you just keep living? I have hundreds of those people, like Momos, Ahklys, the aurai, like my mother Nyx herself. I remember when you asked Night to choose her favourite child for a "picture". I was there, although you didn't see me. She told you she couldn't because all her children were terrifying. She was lying. They aren't all bad, Hemera, Day is kind and generous, according to legends, but her realm destroys me, just to mock my plight. I am forever trapped in darkness. I had hoped coming here would save me, but no one can escape the great Night. You spent a few days in Tartarus, spend a few centuries alone in it's deepest region tortured daily, used as a training dummy for your cruel and powerful siblings, but unable to die, and then see if hope is still there. See if you would disobey a direct command from one of them when ordered to leave their presence. I did it only once. For you. The mansion Night entrance had a door; I'm the one who opened it for you so you wouldn't end up flattened when you decided to jump blindly from a cliff. I paid dearly for that. I lost an eye"

My jaw dropped. Annabeth for once was speechless. I had gone from accusing, to wanting to give the daughter of darkness a hug.

Skia then held out a familiar bronze dagger and gave it too Annabeth, who took the weapon gingerly. "I am on your side." Annabeth looked on the verge of tears, I knew how much that weapon meant to her. We stood together in silence unsure of how to respond.

In order to break the seemingly endless silence, Jason asked a question that I had almost forgotten about. "Where's Nico?" he sounded concerned. Skia looked up abruptly as if she wanted to know the answer to that question as well.

"He left. I figured out his secret, and I have the feeling you know it too." Wisegirl responded. Jason's shoulders sagged as he nodded. I was starting to get frustrated. What secret was bad enough to make him run away and that my friends wouldn't tell me? I had understood by now that the "him" Nico had referred to was me, they weren't allowed to tell me in particular, and I had a feeling it wasn't because the son of Hades was planning a surprise party for me.

I yawned realizing how tired I was. It was time for bed, saying it had been a long day was an understatement. Jason wheeled his crippled girlfriend to the Aphrodite cabin and Annabeth and I walked to her cabin. I being to good boyfriend I was escorted my lady to the door and kissed her goodnight.

Back alone in the Poseidon cabin, sleep would not come. My brain was working at speeds worthy of a daughter of Athena, trying to comprehend the horrors that had befallen us. Suddenly a detail came clear. Jason and Nico had seen you Cupid while I was in Tartarus. I had assumed that it was about Nico's crush on Annabeth, but that didn't seem to be the case after today's events. It was about someone Nico didn't what me to know about. I felt like I was on the verge of understanding when my mind shut down and sleep over took me.

For the record, normal demigod dreams suck, demigod dreams controlled by a god suck even more.

A cold voice greeted me with a simple question. "Jackson, do you wonder what your doom will be? I am more than willing to show you, but first let's look at your friends shall we?"

My dream shimmered and I was looking at Leo. The little pyromaniac was crouched alone in a cave, a large cut on his forehead bleeding. A weak flame flickered in his hand, but he was slowly being covered in ice. Khione, the goddess of snow was laughing. "Finally, Fire will bow to ice." Leo slumped unconscious on the ground and his spark died.

My vision blurred and then I was looking at Jason who had grown significantly older with five-o'clock shadow on his jaw. He was summoning a storm and fighting the Nemean lion. He was sadly lacking in space food and a huge paw swept him aside easily and scored his chest with enormous claws. With a shout Jason turned the monster to ash using a lightning bolt, but it came to late. Piper was there too, trying to reach him, but her wheelchair lay in broken heap. She was muttering to herself with tearstained cheeks, "You can make it Piper, you can save him" as she pulled her limp lower body forward with her shaking arms. She ended up cradling a dead son of Jupiter, who had lost too much blood, and trying to revive him with charmspeak. "Live, c'mon, wake up Jason." Rain was still falling around them.

Next, the scene showed the Roman praetors Reyna and Frank who looked only a little older. They were leading the forces of Rome into battle against thousands of Zombie like creatures. "For Hazel!" was Frank's battle cry. What had happened to Hazel? Reyna was beside him, but it was clear they were losing. Reyna was carrying the Twelfth Legion's eagle, but a huge sword, wielded by what I realized to be the terrifying manifestation of Tartarus, crashed down upon it. The symbol of power and hope broke in two and an explosion shook the earth, blasting both praetors backwards.

I was struggling against my dream, trying to force myself to wake up, but it was in vain. The images continued with Nico standing on the edge of the empire state building. It was completely deserted and dark clouds rolled overhead. His fists were shaking. He left a note taped to the railing. It read:

I haven't slept without nightmares since Tartarus, and I was alone. If you get this Jason or Annabeth, tell Percy the truth, if he blames himself, tell him not to. It's my fault for wishing for the impossible, and it's the Fates' fault for being so cruel. I just can't take it anymore.

I realized the note was dated. Two days from now.

Dun dun dun...

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-Wishsight