Chapter Twenty-One:

Hiya, guys! I'm SUPER exited! The first chapter of Marco's story is up! Thanks ShadowTravel for already following, favoriting, and reviewing! I was SO happy. :D It would mean a lot if you guys would check it out! Anyways, hope you guys enjoy BOTH stories! :)

Reviews:

ShadowTravel: Oh no! THALIAAAA…. Poor kid…

P.S. I think it's Typhon, not Typhoon(?) Confession time: I type on my iPhone. It's always with me, and when inspiration strikes, it's convenient to jot it down. However, it also has this annoying feature called "auto-correct," which is evil and very inconvenient. Apparently names like "Typhon," and "Annabeth," are incorrect and are not accepted. Grr... Curse you auto-correct! Anyways, thanks for the review, my lovely! I fixed the error. :)

And thanks to FairyPalace and Nayrade for following! You guys rock! :D

Disclaimer: If I owned anything, Nico's life would have been happy and carefree. This is not the case.

When you see a hero getting captured in a movie, or read about one in a book– they're brave. They taunt the enemy, laugh in the face of danger, and resist torture... Well, that's not exactly true. At least not in my case. You're scared. You don't know what's going to happen next. You have no clue where your friends are, or if they're even alive. You don't know if you'll live to see another day. You're not sure you want to. You can feel you sanity slipping away. And sometimes... You have your heart broken. A huge part of you just wants to cry. The one thing that is somewhat true in movies and books; is how horrible your captors can be. I sat against a wall of my dark cell. 'I'm sorry, Dad.. I failed..'

Suddenly, the door to my cell swung open.

"Alone at last, Thalia... Let's have some fun." His dark laughter echoed off the walls, as he strode towards me.

I scrambled back into a corner of my cell, my fight or flight instinct kicking in as Dylan smirked down at me.

"How's the shoulder?" Dylan asked. "Still hurt?" He made a pouty face.

I just glared in response.

"Well, you don't have to worry for long." His grin was positively evil. "We're going to fix it." He snapped his fingers and two earthborn marched in the door.

"No.. No, no, no, no! Don't do this!" I said, trying to fight them off with only one arm, the other limp and useless. They easily overpowered me and held me still, while Dylan placed his hands on my hurt arm and shoulder.

"Since you're a daughter of Apollo, I shouldn't have to tell you this will hurt."

"No! Please, no!" I begged.

With a strong shove and a horrible wrenching, popping sound, my shoulder was back in place. I screamed, long and loud, tears streaming down my cheeks. As soon as the earthborn let go of me, I collapsed on the ground and curled up in a ball, trembling. The earthborn left, leaving Dylan still smirking down at me.

"Why.. Why are you doing this?" I croaked.

"We can't have our Army Healer injured, now can we?" He asked.

"W-What?"

"Think about it, Thalia. You can heal anyone from any kind of pain: physical or not. Now, what would an army, who is about to go to war, want with someone like that? Not to mention your secret gift. If we got you to use that against your friends, we'd be two-for-two." Dylan smirked.

My eyes widened in horror. "N-No. You can't. I won't! I won't do it!" I yelled. "Besides, I thought I was supposed to be sacrificed! Then Gaea would let the others go!"

Dylan turned and headed for the door. "She'll let them 'go,' all right. Go to Hades." He chuckled at his own joke. "If you thought Gaea would let your friends live, you're more pathetic than I thought. As to using your powers.. When it comes to pain, Thalia: do you really have a choice?"

Dylan's dark laughter was the last thing I heard before the metal door slammed closed; plunging me into darkness.

I stared into the dark, thinking that it matched my mood perfectly. "I'm sorry, Nico. It was all for nothing." I whisper.

~*~*O*~*~

Third POV:

Piper dropped her dagger, Katropis, in horror. She didn't realize until just then that tears had been running down her cheeks.

"Pipes? What did you see?" Jason asked, worriedly.

They had all gathered around Piper as she was looking into Katropis, hoping to see something about Thalia– and to learn what Gaea wanted her for. It had been hours since Thalia was taken. It was now late in the evening and they were camped in San Francisco, gathered around a fire.

"I-I saw her. I don't know what Gaea's planning, but whatever it is, it has Thalia terrified. I've never.. I've never seen her so scared." Piper sniffled.

Jason pulled her into a hug and held her tight. After a minute, Piper was composed enough to recount what she saw. When she finished, everyone looked shaken. Leo looked a little green when Piper mentioned they popped Thalia's shoulder back in place.

Annabeth had winced. "If they didn't put her shoulder back just right, they could have permanently damaged it. Not to mention I doubt they'll give her ambrosia for the pain. Her backpack is with us, so no help there... Okay, think. If I was Gaea, what would I want Thalia for?"

Nico looked like he had been thinking hard the entire time Piper and Annabeth had been speaking. The only indication he had been listening, was when his expression darkened at the mention of Thalia's shoulder.

"Her powers." Nico spoke up.

Everyone turned to him.

"From what we heard, Gaea wanted one of us– and in exchange, she would let the others live. Instead of letting us help, Thalia chose herself." Nico still sounded angry that Thalia didn't tell them what had been going on.

"Which is what Gaea wanted all along." Annabeth said. "She's no doubt gone back on the deal, now. Gaea is going to have her army kill us."

"At the end of the vision, Thalia said something. I'm pretty sure she said: 'It was all for nothing.' So that would fit with Gaea going back on her deal. But why pick Thalia? We all have abilities. And Jason and Nico are children of the Big Three. Why not take them?" Piper asked.

"If I had an army prepared for war, where I knew there would be injuries, what would I want?" Nico asked.

Jason's eyes widened. "A healer."

Nico nodded. "Thalia can't help but heal people. She can't resist the pull. If she's on site, she's going to heal any injured monster nearby. And with the numbers Gaea is most likely to have.." He paused. "The strain from using her powers that much, will kill her."

"We gotta save her." Leo said.

"Yes, but how?" Piper asked.

Annabeth's storm-grey eyes glinted. "I have a plan."

After everyone had their assignments, they prepared for bed. Tomorrow, which was Saturday, they would scout and get things ready. Sunday, they would put their plan into action. As everyone was getting their sleeping bags out, Piper approached Nico.

"I didn't want to say this in front of everyone else." She said, quietly. "Thalia said something else in the vision."

Nico raised an eyebrow, encouraging her to continue.

Piper took a deep breath. "She said, 'I'm sorry, Nico.' I thought that you should know that."

As Piper walked away, Nico felt his cheeks burn.

I really hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know what you thought and REVIEW! Seriously, reviews mean the world to me. :D I smile for hours. Days, even! So review!

Thalia Bolt