Hey guys... here we gooo!

R&R

-Percy's POV-

"Rachel... Rachel... Rach, you okay? Rachel talk to me!"

I didn't know what to do, she wasn't answering, so I did what felt like the right thing to do: prayed for Apollo to come soon, and prayed for Hermes to help on Apollo moving faster.

"Oh my gods, Nico... Nico man, wake up!"

I ran to the window and looked down, nothing in sight. How could I leave this place with both of them asleep? Just then my phone rang: Annabeth. It wasn't safe for demigods to have cell phones, but sometimes they were faster than Iris messages

"Hey Percy!" she said cheerful

"Hi."

"Hum, what's wrong Seaweed Brain?"

"Nothing... We just got attacked. A dracaena and a young half-blood came to our hotel room. Nico was asleep, Rachel was stabbed on her left arm. I think the wound is poisoned."

"Have you seen the weapon? How is she? Is she conscious?"

"No, uh, wait, it was a knife... A half steel half celestial bronze knife. She's, she's completely out Annabeth. So is Nico. I have no idea what to do."

"Have you called Apollo? He's probably on the way Percy. Don't freak out, try to wake Nico, he can tell if she's... If she's.. Fine."

"You were going to say another thing... She can't be dead!"

"Like I said, calm down. Wake Nico, and wait for Apollo. Things are heating up here Percy. I have to go. No, no, you can't take his robot! Because it's his. Now, leave your brother's robot. Yeah! Uh... Sorry about this Perce. Talk to you later. Call me when things get better."

"Bye Annabeth."

With that I turned the cellphone off, and tried to wake Nico one more time. But now, the attempt wasn't a failure as I thought it would be.

He woke with a scared look on his face, as if I had just pilled him out of a bad dream, Hal of his hair was flattened against his cheeks, the other half looked invitingly for a rat to make a nest.

"Nico! Gods I'm glad you're awake!"

"Percy, what in Hades happened here?"

"Long story... Can you check on Rachel for me?"

"Oh, this is definitely not good."

"What?"

"She's loosing her aura. What happened?"

"A dracaena and a half blood entered the room, she charged at Rachel. I wasn't paying much attention, I had the demigod badly injured, and look at this," I said as I showed him Rachel's portrait of our recent encounter with the she devil. "She saw this happening."

"And she didn't warn you?"

"Three minute before. She was watching the news, then she called me. She showed me. And then they knocked the door off."

"Apollo must arrive soon. She won't handle for long."

Just then a faint glow appeared on the room's balcony: Apollo was standing there, with a hand on his head, the other on his left arm, the same place where Rachel was injured.

"Lord Apollo," I stumbled through the scattered pieces of furniture left on the floor to help the god of the Sun "Are you okay?"

"Ouch, uh, no, not really." he was pale green, if a god could be vulnerable, Apollo was. I remembered Rachel's words: "My pain is his pain too. We are connected somehow."

"We need to help her. Like, right now."

Without a word Apollo knelt next to Rachel, and spoke a rhythmic enchantment, placing both of his hands over the bruise. Slowly, a faint glow appeared on his hands, and part of her arms shimmered gold too. He took a some bandages from a bag, and tried putting on the wound. His hands were shaking so bad I had to help him do it. Just to clear things out, I'm not good at fixing things at all, as a half-blood I tend to destroy things, and when I saw the shade of green her arm was turning, it did no good. So, something that I was bad at, I became worse then before. Nico came closer and started muttering something along with Apollo, whose hair was losing its brightness.

"Uh Percy... I think you should hurry. Like, really hurry."

"Geez Nico, really? Have you seen the color of this?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm concentrating on this spell so I won't send our friend to the Asphodel Fields. She can't die."

"Apollo, Lord Apollo?"

Apollo winced as if speaking was an effort for him "Yes, Percy?"

"You think she'll get better? Are you okay?"

"Recovering slowly. But fine. Ouch, wait... The pain is fading. The enchantments worked. Good job Nico."

He smiled slowly, not showing his I-can-make-you-blind-with-the-whiteness-of-my-teeth smile, but his normal one.

"She'll need to rest a little more, maybe wake up in two or three days max. Nico, I think you can take care of it, can't you?"

"Yes sir. Even though the spell made me a little weak, I can handle it."

"I don't see anything in your path for now. But she'll wake when something bad is about to happen. Stay prepared, this will be a long quest. Take care."

With that, he faded into a ball of light, leaving a burned spot on the floor where he stood.

"Now that was very clear." Nico said with a hint of sarcasm hanging on the edge of his words

"I think I'll take a siesta..."

"Percy, what about leaving first?"

"Can't... Too... Tired." and then I fell on the bed he was laid down during the fight.

I remember the dream, well, most part of it actually.

Nico and Rachel were running very fast, and I was far behind them, with Riptide on my bloody hands but nobody was chasing us. A ball of light was coming very slowly towards us, but it didn't seem to make any harm. Wen I looked back at Rachel again, she was literally glowing in a beautiful shade of gold: the blessing of Apollo.

"Look up!" I said

I woke jumping in the bed, too stunned to realize what was going on; it wasn't until Nico pinched me in the arm that I came back to my senses.

"Rachel isn't getting better fast. She needs to heal, but it doesn't seem to work."

"She needs to rest."

"Percy, she's been resting for a DAY!"

"A day? You're kidding right?"

"No, you drifted off for 12 hours. Guess the curse really drains your strength doesn't it?"

"Completely. I think we need to move to a safer place."

"Yore right, the monsters are still around."

"How do you know that?"

"The news. Mortals are assuming there's a new serial killer attacking in the city. Monsters of course. Monster to be more specific."

"Dracaena."

"No, an empousa. Long time right?"

"Yeah... Guess we have trouble. Is she following us?"

"Following her." he said pointing out at Rachel.

Nico and her always had a strange relationship, with emphasis on strange. They were always sharing secrets, and theories about her visions and prophecies. I guess that's why he went to her house and ask for a quest.

"Why in Hades would an empousa be following Rachel?"

"I might have a theory about that..."

Hope you enjoyed it :D