Bell's POV

"Is there Mist to cover the ship?" I ask no one in particular.

Jake nods and replies with his blank, emotionless tone, "Most likely."

I give a small scowl when neither of the guys are looking.

Dylan carefully steers the ship, but it's still rather uncomfortable. The water sways the yacht a bit more vigorous than I'd like it to be, enough to make me feel quite nauseous.

"I'll get everything we need," Jake claims, then walks down the stairs, leaving Dylan and I alone.

I sit down and close my eyes, letting my head fall into my hands. My temples are aching, and so I try to think about anything but the rocking ship.

California. That's where we need to go. At least we have a destination now. Could be worse; we could've been sent in the depths of Tartarus and be left down there to fend for ourselves, but fortunately not. No, we're going to California. The place where I used to live. California.

I slowly lift my head. My headache's getting worse. If only there were more ambrosia or nectar, maybe that would help.

I try not to pay attention to the spray of the water hitting the ship.

We seriously need to finish this quest already.

A memory suddenly spouts itself at me, urging to be noticed.

"I'll see you again, right?" Nico asks me.

"Yeah, I'll be back."

Suddenly another scene appears, but I don't remember any of it happening:

A transparent girl is speaking to a smaller Nico, who seems to be years younger than he is now. Her eyes look sad, but so does the son of the god of the Underworld.

"You must listen to me. Holding a grudge is dangerous for a child of Hades. It is our fatal flaw. You have to forgive. You have to promise me this," the unnamed girl urges Nico.

"I can't. Never."

The memory continues, and a few minutes later Nico says something: "I don't care about Kronos. I just want my sister back."

Another one hits me as if I just ran into a forcefield:

"You have no power over me. I am the lord of the spirits! The ghost king!" Another transparent figure was the one who spoke.

"No," someone else, the same young Nico, drew his dark sword. "I am."

Another memory, flashback, scene, whatever, throws itself at me. This time, I am one of the people speaking instead of watching from a distance like the other ones.

"It's my fault the monster came after us," I say, feeling a weight of guilt heaving itself on my shoulders. I'm looking at a maybe-thirteen-year-old Percy Jackson, who seems extremely worried. "It's my responsibility. Here." I pick up a little god statue and press it into Percy's hand. "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him . . . tell him I'm sorry."

All of it stops there. No more long scenes that I've never experienced before, none.

Jake's POV

I venture around the ship, below deck. Bell and Dylan probably believe I'm down here to seriously get the supplies, which is half-true. The other reason, well, I just needed to get away from talking for awhile.

Last night, Bell said that stuff, sounding as if she really didn't need me anymore. But, hey, it's not my fault for falling in love during this quest.

I find a backpack, and fill it with some water bottles and money, along with clothes for four. After all, the three of us still have Melody to rescue.

I turn around and see a rainbow shimmering right in my face.

"Jake," somebody calls from the rainbow. It's Nico di Angelo.

"Er. . . Nico?" I reply. He's the last person I would've expected to Iris-message me.

"Hey. Sorry for surprising you, some spirits just informed me you were near the coast in Florida," he explains. "How's Bell?"

It looks like he's still at Camp Half-blood, which I find a bit odd since he usually travels around by himself all the time.

"She's fine. Why are you so eager to call, anyways? If you don't mind me asking, I mean."

He shrugs. "I just wanted to make sure, I mean, I wanted to check up, ugh. Okay, fine. Here's the deal," he scratches the back of his neck as I stifle a laugh.

Nico continues, "I needed to know that Bell was okay."

I nod. "Of course she is."

He still shakes his head. "No, Jake, listen. Can you promise me that you'll make sure she's safe? Promise that you'll protect her? Please?"

I see now. He looks up to Bell as if she's a real big sister. I know why. The poor kid. His older sister died when he was about ten years old. I don't know how, but I knew she was on a quest. The ten year old then had to force himself to grow up, and he ended up throwing away a game that he now calls stupid and hangs out with the dead more than the living. I would talk to Nico a lot while his sister was on that quest, and I would call us friends, yeah. But when his sister died, man. I don't know what to say.

Being a half-blood is dangerous. It can mess with your mind. Being a half-blood is never really anything but painful.

"That's a big promise, Nico." I finally say.

"Please, Jake," he pleads. I see the desperation in his eyes. It's weird because all he does now is shield his emotions.

"Okay," I agree. "I promise, Nico."

Suddenly I see another, dim, rainbow appear behind him, high enough that only I can see it.

"Nico, someone else is trying to Iris-message you."

His eyes go a bit wide with shock.

"Okay, um, just stay there."

He turns around. I feel rather guilty because I can hear everything.

Bell's POV

"Nico di Angelo, Camp Half-blood." I say to the rainbow, which Dylan is controlling.

The rainbow shimmers and a dim camp appears. I see the sun is about to set there, and someone stands in front of the rainbow, oblivious.

"Nico?" I call. The boy rapidly turns around, surprised.

"Bell," he says, his eyes lighting up at the sight of me, but keeping the rest of his face straight without emotion. "You're still alive!"

I smile, although my heart is pounding at my head, screaming to escape.

"Yep! I'm as alive as ever. Are you okay?" I ask him. It's been a while since I've seen the guy, which doesn't make me feel any better since it feels like I'm the one responsible of him.

While he's thinking of a good response, I see it: the difference in his posture, his eyes, the way he talks, all darker and sadder than I witnessed in those memories.

"I'm fine, Bell," he finally says. "I've just been hanging out here at camp since you've left, you know? Making sure the dead stay dead, reincarnations don't remember they're reincarnated, Hermes kids not playing pranks on other campers, Aphrodite kids trying to ship me with other people, the usual."

I crease my eyebrows at his stiffness. Then I realize he keeps jerking his head back to move his hair out of his eyes.

"Jeez, Nico, you need a haircut," I tell him. My temples are pounding on gongs, now. I push the pain aside.

The corner of his mouth rises, if only a little. "Not a chance."

"Oh, no. You are so getting your hair cut when I get back. Anyways, how's everyone there? Chiron still worried? Is Annabeth okay? And Percy?"

His body goes tense, as if I said something wrong.

"Oh, they're fine, too," he replies. "But, I know none of that was really the reason you IM'd me. What's wrong?"

I shrug, but it kills me. "Dunno, just needed to talk, you know? What's that behind you?" I noticed something shimmer from behind, but Nico swiftly shifts so his body is blocking whatever it is.

"Oh, just a shield I found on the ground. So what did you need to talk about, Beauty Queen?"

I scrunch my eyebrows. "Don't call me that."

He replies with a smile, "Sorry, that's what Leo does to annoy Piper sometimes. He said it all the time while we were aboard the Argo ll."

I don't know what the Argo ll is, but I don't say anything.

"What's wrong?" Nico asks me, his voice cracking a bit. I hide a smile; he's growing up. "Do you need a hug or something?"

Now I don't hide the kiddish smile from the boy. "Sure. I want a hug. But not just a normal hug, no. I want one of those pick-me-up-off-my-feet-squeeze-me-tight-spin-me-ar ound-hurts-my-tummy-but-still-makes-me-smile-leave s-me-breathless-gives-me-butterflies-makes-me-gigg le-stupidly kind of hug." All of that took a large effort in me not collapsing. The pain spreads to my stomach.

A horn blows in the distance, and Nico's expression drops.

"Sorry, that was Chiron. We're about to play Capture the Flag. Bye, Bell. Happy, er, quest-ing."

I wave and call, "Luck." He waves his hand over the rainbow, ending the Iris-message.

I sit down, clutching my hands so I won't hit anything. My headache, I don't know what's wrong with it.

"Bell, are you okay?" Dylan asks, finally saying something since he agreed to help with the rainbow.

I nod, although it's a flat out lie. I am not okay.

"Bell?"

It feels like something is actually inside my brain, wanting so hard to rip itself out.

This headache is seriously on my last nerve, now.

I don't know what's wrong. It's all mostly my head, my temples, all of it. It makes me feel weak and an urge to just cry it out.

I let one hand go on my stomach and double over in pain, falling to the floor as the light inside me dies out.