Okay, so here is the next chapter! This is something I'm excited about, though I'm nervous about how smoothly everything goes out.

I do not own Percy Jackson...or Nico. If I did, he would definitely be more awesome than he already is!

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The large room was dimly lit; shadows flickered around the room, writhing like snakes. The cold air sucked the oxygen out of Thalia's mouth, crushed her lungs and made her curl up against herself to draw some warmth. Tall columns wound around the length of the room, black as obsidian. It scared her, not that she would ever admit it. She worked to control her breathing and stared at Nico, wondering just how he was with coping.

His face was impassive, though she could see a shadow pass his eyes at being back in the Underworld.

"Where is he?" Nico muttered, scratching his head in confusion, "He's always on his throne; it's not like he's not expecting us." He stared at the black throne as though waiting for someone. Thalia, impatient as always, took a few steps forward and knocked on the throne three times.

"Hades, get your butt in this throne room and give me back our friend!" She yelled. Nico stepped forward to restrain her, fearing that provoking Hades would lead to nothing but trouble for her. Before his hands could make contact with her arm, she stumbled backwards as though stung, tripping over his feet and knocking them both over.

"Watch where you're going," She snapped, glancing at the throne. Her face was pale, as though she had just seen a ghost. Nico frowned, glancing in the same direction she was yet not seeing anything.

"What are you staring at?" He asked, puzzled. There was nothing there, nothing but the plain throne and the darkness it surrounded.

"I felt something there," She muttered, her eyes wide. She slammed a palm to her forehead and cursed in Greek, "Oh gods, I'm so stupid."

"What?' Nico asked, feeling slightly sheepish for not understanding what Thalia was trying to say.

"Hades must be wearing his Helm," She hissed. Comprehension dawned on Nico's face, along with irritation for not realizing it. "So that means that he's here."

"Father, are you there?" Nico asked, feeling foolish for talking to thin air. He scratched his arm for something to do and then repeated, "Are you there?"

"It appears you two really won't leave me alone, will you?" Hades answered, and leaned forward. He appeared quite literally out of thin air, scaring Thalia again and causing her to curse under her breath. His face was smooth, devoid of any emotion. Amusement flickered in the pits of his eyes, though, which made Nico get a bad feeling about coming there in the first place.

"Uncle, Did Jaime already pass?" Thalia asked, glancing at him with something close to respect, "Did her spirit already make its way to the Underworld?"

"Even if it did, it hardly concerns you, now, does it?" Hades said, amusement flickering on his face, alternating with irritation and something close to respect.

"She already came here, didn't she?" Nico asked bluntly, used to the icy chill of the room and adverting his gaze so he was talking to his shoes instead of addressing his father, "I can sense her here, faintly."

"So, you can," Hades said, "But what does it mean to do? More yet," Here, he leaned forward and the shadows across his lap shifted restlessly and moaned.

Thalia frowned but didn't say anything about it, her brow creasing as she realized that they were human souls.

"Why do you care what happens to her?" Hades continued, snapping Thalia to focus with a cynical air to his voice, "She's hardly a friend, is she? Why go through all of this-risk the world, no less-just to save her? Zeus knows you never tried this hard with Bianca." Nico's eyes darkened briefly at the mention of his sister, but he refused to let it faze him. Thalia was full of grudging admiration for the prince of the underworld. The gods knew that if Hades had been baiting her like that, she would've already lost her temper and thumped him already.

"She didn't want to be saved. It was her time," Nico managed to spit out, hating how easily he was willing to sell his sister, yet at the same time so consumed with the thought of finding Jaime and the person who had killed her that he hardly noticed anything else. "But it wasn't her time yet, father, and I need to find her. She might be our only chance of defeating Kronos."

"Why do you say that?" Hades asked, lifting up one of his eyebrows, "What makes you so certain that she would be willing to help you? You haven't exactly been the best of friends to her, have you?" It was here that Nico fell silent, unable to say anything to take away the sting of Hades words because, as much as he wanted to deny it, Nico knew that they were true. More than once, he'd turned his back to her.

"She wouldn't do that; she's a good person," Nico insisted. Hades smiled slightly, a smile that made chills run down his back.

"How would you know that?" He asked again, "You don't know anything about her or her past."

"I know her enough to know that she's a kind person," Nico insisted.

"Do you?" Hades sighed heavily, "Well, then, I suppose you already know that her aunt isn't really her aunt."

"I-," Nico stopped talking before saying in a low voice, "You're lying."

"I have no reason to," Hades said smoothly, "What do I gain by tricking you? It's true when I tell you that her aunt isn't really her aunt. In fact…," He went on to explain about what had happened to Jaime's mother, how she fell in love with Kronos, how she had been another demigod and how long Jaime had been slumbering. With every word that dripped from Hades' face, Nico felt his heart drop and plummet to his feet. He'd never known…he never would've guessed just how much Jaime had gone through. Much more than him, that was for certain.

And he's never asked, never tried to figure it out, never tried to figure her out. Was he really so blind that he couldn't have guessed about this. His heart chipped into tiny pieces and fell to the ground, limp and lifeless.

"Did you know that?" Hades finished his depressing story and gauged both of their reactions. To both of their credits, neither one of them looked as bad as he would've guessed. Nico's face dropped, as though a heavy pain had shot him and Thalia looked more than a little disgusted.

"Ew," She muttered quietly to herself, "What person would be dumb enough to fall in love with…,:"

"Thalia, shut up," Nico said tersely. Thalia glared at him with anger-honestly, she would've loved to smack that skinny bag of bones around-but his expression made her stop. Underneath his façade, he was still a little kid who looked like his entire life had come crashing around him. So, Thalia listened and faced straight ahead.

"She never knew about that," She hissed, coming to Nico's defense, "And even if she had that awful life, it doesn't mean that she's anything like her mother. Or her father."

"Oh, doesn't it?" Hades said softly, "Standing before me right now is Thalia Grace, who has both her mother's obsession with being better than everyone, being noticed by everyone, doted on by everyone and her father's stubborn temper that won't let him admit that he's wrong. Doesn't Jaime resemble her parents at all?"

"Jaime resembles herself," Thalia snapped, her face flushed with what he'd just said about her, "And it wouldn't matter if she's the spitting image of her mother-we wouldn't give up on her."

"And why not?" Hades asked, "Why would you be so willing to give her a second chance at life?"

"Because she's my friend," Thalia said, her voice fierce, "And damned by the god or goddess who tries to take her before it's her time. Now are you going to let us get her back or not?"

Her voice was so fierce that for one second, Hades expression faltered. Regaining his composure, he shrugged carelessly.

"All right, then," He said, "I'll allow you to go get her back." Thalia, too busy ranting to hear him, continued on with her angry tirade: "And another thing-huh, did you just say you would allow us to get her back?" She stared at him as though he were any alien.

"Yes, I said I would allow you to get her back," Hades said, "It's really none of my business whether or not she lives, but if she's as important to the war as I think she will be, then it would be foolish to give up our best tool for winning the war."

"She's not a tool," Nico said angrily. Hades pointed at him with one long, pale finger.

"You can try and get her back-only you, because if your friend venture to where I'm going to place you, she'll be stuck there forever. Originally, Jaime chose to go Tartarus-,"

"She did what?" Nico choked out but Hades didn't appear to hear him.

"But I took mercy on her, and I placed her in Elysium. Her memories are most likely gone, everything that's ever made her suffer. She's blissful ignorant of everything right now, but if you want to torture her with your presence, feel free to."

"What do you mean, torture her with our presence?" Thalia demanded, "Are you saying that we're mean to her or something?"

"No, but every since she'd met you, her life hasn't exactly been the easiest, has it? And everywhere she turns, someone or another has betrayed her; it has to be getting old. So why wouldn't she want to see you and be afraid that you'll try to kill her the moment she turns her back?" Things were quiet for a second, nothing more than the sound of breathing before Thalia let out a strangled gasp and took a step forward.

"If you think for a second that I haven't regretted what I've done, than you-,"

"Thalia, it's fine," Nico interrupted, "I'll go find her and bring her back. After that-after that, we have a lot to make up for and a Titan to defeat. I'll bring her back, so why don't you just catch up to the rests and let them know that we're going to be there shortly."

Thalia looked ready to argue than seemed to think better of it and shrugged indifferently, hoisting her bag over her shoulders and shooting Nico a backwards glance.

"I hope you know what you're doing," she said.

Nico wanted to say that, no, he had no idea what he was doing, that his tongue had glued itself to the roof of his mouth in terror, that he was seconds away from running away like a big baby, but refrained from doing so. It would make him look scared, and the last person he needed to see him freak out was Thalia. Instead, he nodded.

"We'll be out soon," He said. Thalia's face softened, if only somewhat, at the mention of Jaime coming back and left, without another glance back at him. He dark hair blew in a halo over her head as the door slammed shut behind her. Nico swallowed harder, and turned to face his father, who wore an expression that was inches from smugness, yet not quite there.

"Ready?" Hades said. He snapped his fingers, and a mist began to form inches from Nico's feet. He backed away as the shape expanded, pushed outward into the approximate shape of a door. It shimmered, glowing a silver color that made him squint through his lashes.

"What is that?" Nico asked, turning his head away before it blinded him. As though Hades could tell Nico didn't like it, the light dimmed down. The door was now obsidian black, smooth and marble-like and so smooth, Nico caught his own reflection in its dept. he wished the silver hadn't faded. It was much more pleasant to look at.

"This is your way to where Jaime is," Hades said, shrugging, "Oh, and by the way. You only have a limited amount of time to get there and get back before you're trapped there with her forever."

"What?" Nico shouted, before remembering who he was talking to. Hades' face soured at Nico's tone. "You never mentioned this before." Nico said in a much calmer voice.

"You never asked me to," Hades said, "But if Jaime's as loyal to you as you claim she is, then you'll have to problem getting out of there, right?" His tone was mocking, cynical. Nico stiffened, drawing his mouth into a taunt line.

"She'll come out with me, just watch," Nico said. Hades laughed behind him, a booming voice that sent fingers crawling up Nico's back. Turning red, Nico wrenched open the door and fell into darkness.