Sorry it took so long. I kinda had writer's block and couldn't think of what I should do.

Chapter 19: An Unexpected Surprise (Nico's pov)

We appeared somewhere but not Camp. Crap! I messed up. But how? I've been doing this for a long time now and haven't messed up since I was like, 11. Something feels…off

"I think we're in New York." Annabeth said. She was right. We were in New York, New York.

Just then I saw some black smoke appear in the middle of the sky and seep to the concrete. It twisted and churned until I could roughly make out three people. They completely materialized and they looked normal. Emily looked like her mind was just blown by what just happened. Grover looked pissed off for some reason and Lauren passed out…again.

Thank gods Grover caught her or she would have cracked her head on the concrete.

"Shit!" I said as I ran over to Lauren and took her from Grover. "Thanks man."

"Hey, I AM a protector after all. I'm always ready for that kind of stuff." He said cockily.

"You know, that wouldn't happen if she did it at night." I heard Annabeth mumble in a sing-song like tone.

"Shut it, wise girl. And can someone get me some ambrosia?" I said frustrated at her. Stupid know-it-all.

Percy ran over to me with a plastic bag filled with the little squares. I nodded my head toward him in a silent thank you sort of way and cradled her head in my hands. Percy peeled open the bag and pulled a square out and broke it up into little bits, putting them in her mouth one-by-one.

Her eyes slowly flutter open. As soon as she saw me over her she smiled.

"Hey. Did-did I pass out…again?" She asked me.

"Yes. Yes you did." I answered her, slightly chuckling. I stood up, grabbed her hand, and pulled her up.

"We aren't at camp." She noticed.

"No. But something's up. I can feel it." Emily said in this weird voice that, frankly, scared me. We both felt bad about something and I pretty sure the others felt it, too. I grabbed Lauren's hand and pulled her to me in a protective way.

All of a sudden, without any warning at all, the ground began to shake.

"EARTHQUAKE! HIT THE DECK!" Percy yelled. We all crouched down. Everyone was bracing for contact I guess, but I watched. In the middle of New York a giant crack busted open.

My eyes widened and mouth dropped at the sight. I slowly stood up and I heard Lauren whimper.

"N-Nico! W-what are y-you d-doing?" She shouted with worry.

I pointed at the crack and just as I did the worst happened. My father came out of the ground along with…Miana and Ember? My father was dressed in black robes with his helm of darkness on his head. Miana was now wearing a black shirt and jeans with black battle armor. Ember was wearing the same thing except his armor was gold.

They all were riding in chariots. My father had his own pitch black chariot with platinum skulls encrusted at the edges and smoky, wispy skulls painted on the front. Miana and Ember had simple chariots that weren't too fancy. Behind them were hundreds of undead soldiers.

"PERCY!" I yelled shakily. He stood and looked at me. Then he looked behind me and gasped, with his eyes wide in fright.

"What the hell are we going to do?"Emily shouted.

"We need back up. Like NOW!" Annabeth said.

"Now Annabeth, how are we going to get help if we can't...get…to…camp?" Grover stated, annoyed.

"Oh, well maybe you'll just be very lucky people." Someone said. We all turned to the voice. A girl with dirty-blonde hair, a graphic tee, and skinny jeans in battle armor stood there. Carlie…the girl who scares me.

Lauren got up, smiling, and ran to her friend. "CARLIE!" She screamed as she hugged her.

"Ok, Lauren. Fight now, hugs later." Lauren shook her head and let her go. I looked behind her and saw all of the other campers jumping out of the camp vans, ready to fight. Magnus came up to Carlie and put an arm on her shoulder.

"Ready to kick ass?" He asked her.

"Yeah." She kissed him and pulled her clip out of her hair. We should get ready too. Carlie saw Emily and a puzzled look came across her face.

"Who's that?" She asked. Emily walked over to her and outstretched a hand.

"Emily, daughter of Apollo." She said proud.

"Well, Emily….let's kill us some zombies!" Carlie shouted. The campers behind her all shouted YEAH! She must have been the leader. Figures. Everyone charged except Lauren and me. We walked to each other, both wearing the same expression: Excitement with a pinch of worry.

"Ready?" She asked me.

"Almost." I answered her. She looked at me, with her head cocked to the side, questioningly.

"What else do we need?" She pondered.

I grabbed her, pulling her closer, and whispered in her ear. "This." I kissed her gently. I knew that there would be deaths and in case it was one of us we needed something to remember each other by. She stuck her fingers in my hair and I held her tighter. I didn't want to break apart from her but we had to.

"Oh and battle armor." I said still holding her close. She giggled and we ran to the vans and found some. They had actually brought my stuff for me. Maybe they DO like me. I put on my black armor and unsheathed my sword. I was helping Lauren find some armor, and we found some in a pile that wasn't there before.

There was a deep purple breastplate, with matching shin guards and a gauntlet. A note was attached to them. Lauren snatched it up and read the note. She smiled and handed it to me. It read:

Dear Lauren,

I have been watching you and thought you need this.

Love, Nyx

"Cool." I said aloud.

Lauren picked up the breastplate and put it on along with the shin guards. She put the gauntlet on her right arm, because she held her sword with her right hand. She grazed her fingers along her necklace and her sword and shield appeared.

"Are we ready now?" she asked playfully.

"Yes." I told her. I couldn't help but stare at her. Even though she was dressed to kill, she was hot.