This chapter is massive. I had a brain storm, and I just had to put it in this chapter. It's literally over three thousand words. I could've cut it in half, then I'd just be delaying the end even more. Please review, it would mean the world to me. We have 250! Can we make it too 300 by the end? Thanks!

(PS- I didn't do the individual thanks because there were only five, so I'll put them in the next chapter.)

Nico's POV

Our footsteps bounced against the narrow, whitewash walls that threatened to close in around me. Striding swiftly, our eyes darted everywhere, searching for something that was even the slightest bit off. We finally reached the main stadium, peeking inside; I saw that it was crowded with people. I swore and looked towards Annabeth, gauging her response.

"We need to find Percy and Thalia, and then get out of here." She said, head swiveling, eyes searching for familiar faces.

"I have an idea." I said quickly, "Let's just IM them, tell them to get back to the hotel. We need to bolt, it's only a matter of time before people notice something's up."

"Great idea, it shouldn't be too hard to find water around here." Annabeth said turning around, back the way we came.

"There, it's a water fountain." I said pointing to the fountain down a deserted hallway.

We were soon connected to Thalia, and we quickly got her attention. Her head whipped around, and our eyes connected.

"Oh, I was just about to IM you guys." She said, her eyes dancing around, not paying attention to us.

"What's going on? Where's Percy?" Annabeth questioned, looking confusedly at her.

"Well, he seems to have found Nike." Thalia said, her voice trailing behind her towards the end.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Annabeth asked incredulously.

"Well we found her in one of the trainers' rooms, and she had an athlete with her. She's a track coach for Greece. Percy said that now's the perfect time to strike! She's probably alone by now, and she'll be completely surprised! I told him no, we need to plan, then he just disappeared." Thalia said, getting angrier and more worried with each passing second.

"That's just great; the idiot just went rushing into battle like always." I said seething; his stupid decision could ruin this for us all.

"Maybe he's not as stupid as we think." Annabeth said slowly, but gears turning quickly in her head.

"What?" Thalia said, clearly agitated.

"He's right I suppose, what do we need blue prints for when she's right in front of our face? Why do we need to plan for some surprise, which clearly isn't going to happen? All we need is our gear and we should be fine." Annabeth said, adrenaline clearly pulsing through her.

"Okay, if you really say so, I mean you're the one that wanted the blue prints in the first place." Thalia said, not seeing any flaws.

I on the other hand, didn't think it should be that easy. Really I had no rhyme or reason, but something told me something wouldn't turn out right. I had no evidence, so I couldn't disagree.

"Tell us where you are. I'll shadow travel with each of you, so we can put on our armor. Before we do that though, we need to find kelp head." I wondered, thinking of what Percy could be up too.

"I'm near the front entrance, down the hallway to the left." She said, before swiping her hand through the connection.

Annabeth and I made our way down the hallway Thalia instructed, and we saw her near a set of blue double doors. The sign above them read 'Trainer's lounge.'

"Nike is just behind those doors, so I don't understand where Percy is." Thalia said, confused with Percy's whereabouts.

"Why don't we just IM him like we did Thalia?" I asked, seeing an easy way out.

"If he's near Nike, we could completely give him away." Annabeth exclaimed, not convinced.

"There's a window at the top, if only one of us were tall enough to see in." Thalia said, trying to jump almost two feet.

"Thalia, someone would have to be seven feet tall to see in, let me put you on my shoulders." I said, kneeling before her.

"I like this bowing thing; you should do it more often." She laughed, and then climbed on me.

"Gods Thals, what have you been eating?" I said jokingly, easily taking her weight. She was probably even lighter than before this whole thing started.

She whacked the back of my head, and continued to look through the small glass pane that connected the door to the ceiling.

"No sign of Nike or Percy." She said, clearly confused.

"Are you sure? He might not look the same, Nike would've recognized him. Although I'm not sure where he could've gotten a disguise." Annabeth said, clearly unconvinced.

"Wait, maybe he's the guy in the hat. I can't see his face; he's turned away from me." Thalia said.

I thought quickly for a solution, and only one came to mind. I loudly banged on the door, which sent Annabeth diving for a hiding place. I quickly shoved myself against the wall opposite of the door.

"That's him! The bang got his attention, he's getting up now. Nico put me down, before he slams the door into your head." Thalia exclaimed, wiggling around on my shoulders.

I set her back on the ground and went over to the empty room where Annabeth was hiding in. Percy walked out the doors, eyes glancing around. Thalia caught his attention, signaling for him to close the door. He shut it behind him, and then took off the ridiculous baseball cap he was wearing. We were never fans of headgear.

"Why would you make such a big decision without us?" I hissed and yanked him towards us.

"I was so close; maybe I could've just found the potion without even notifying her that we were around." Percy whispered, trying to get us to see his logic.

"Percy he knows we're around! She's not stupid; she's the one who's baiting us in the first place. If you were caught, you would've sacrificed the element of surprise. It's one of our only advantages at this point!" Annabeth explained, obviously aggravated with Percy.

"Okay I'm sorry! It seemed like a good idea at the time." He said, surrendering to Annabeth's anger.

"I'll bring each of you back to the hotel to prepare for battle. We need to hurry though; Annabeth and I may have set a trigger for people to start looking for us." I said, grabbing Thalia, and pulling her into the shadows.

When we stepped back into the light, Thalia stumbled a bit, but I caught her.

"A little warning would've been nice." She said sarcastically.

"Like I said we need to hurry, now go change into your formfitting clothes." I retorted, dragging out all of the armor.

I then changed quickly, climbing feet first into the bottom half of my armor. No chain mail was needed for this type; we didn't need more weight added to it. I fastened the clasps on the hips myself, which wasn't very easily done, before Thalia came out.

"Could you help me? I've only used metal armor once or twice before, and it'll go faster this way." She asked, obviously annoyed she needed my help.

I nodded, "Put your legs in, I'll do the hip clasps."

I could see goose bumps appear on her arms, when my hand accidentally brushed the exposed skin on her waist. I chuckled to myself, and grabbed the top piece. I was immensely glad that the skeletons could make some strong, but light and thin armor for us. That clunky stuff wouldn't have suited our purposes anyways.

Soon Thalia and I were wearing baggy pants and shirts to conceal the harsh lines of the armor. It changed our body types slightly, maybe our lines straighter, shoulders broader. Her curves almost completely disappeared, which I didn't mind at the time. We didn't need unwanted attention.

We shadow traveled back to Percy and Annabeth, which we surprised. I cleared my throat and their lips detached. Without a word, I grabbed Percy, and into the shadows we went.

Annabeth's POV

Percy and Nico were back in record time, considering Percy was quick with his armor. Nico soon took me back with him into the darkness. Shadow traveling wasn't my preferred method, but at the time I was glad Nico had that ability.

"Are you sure this isn't too draining for you Nico? It's a lot of shadow traveling back and forth." I asked, concerned for him.

"My powers don't drain me as much as they used to. Practice makes perfect, remember? Shadow traveling only weakens me slightly." He said, waving me off.

I sighed and disappeared into the bathroom to change into my leggings and long-sleeved shirt. I gathered my blond hair into a pony tail before exiting the bathroom.

"Gods Annabeth, you took the longest time yet. Here I was thinking Thalia took forever." Nico said, sitting up from his position on the couch.

"Ha-ha Nico very funny." I said, tossing a glare his way.

Truth be told, I did take longer than I'd like to. I'd discovered I was spotting slightly, which calmed my worries. I hadn't had my period in a month. It was probably from all the stress I was under.

Nico helped me into my armor, the bottom we had no trouble with; it was the top that had a hitch. When he went to clasp it, he paused.

"What? Just clasp it so we can leave already." I said, looking over my shoulder at him.

"I think the skeletons got your body type wrong, it's going to be a little snug on you." He said his head tilted in confusion.

"Okay, fine, just pull it together." I sucked in my breath and he stretched the clasps enough to bring them together.

My breasts were slightly spilling out the top, which wasn't comfortable at all. I burned tomato red, slightly embarrassed. I hadn't grown that much since my last visit to the underworld had I?

Nico handed me my white sweatpants and blue shirt, his checks slightly red.

"I thought they would've known what you look like, you've been to the underworld many times, and they don't forget the living souls that come down there." He apologized; I could tell he blamed himself.

"It's not that tight, honestly." I lied, trying to make him feel better.

"If you say so." He grabbed me again and we were soon met with Thalia and Percy

They turned towards me and their eyeballs almost feel out of there heads. Percy's whole head turned beet red, and he turned his attention to Nico. I pulled my shirt up, subconsciously, there that was better.

"Yeah, the skeletons weren't as good with measurements as I thought. Anyways, where is Nike?" Nico said, avoiding the topic that I asked him too.

"She's alone in the arena with one of the athletes. We have perfect timing." Percy said, clicking riptide into a sword.

Thalia whipped my knife and sword out of her backpack, and grabbed her collapsible bow and quiver also. She twirled her silver-plated, celestial bronze sword, an evil grin forming on her face.

"Let's do this."

Thalia's POV

Percy and Nico whooped in agreement, Annabeth just smiled and shook her head. She then slid her sword into its sheath and twirled her knife just like I did.

I winked at her and raised an eyebrow looking at her chest. Her face burned and she pulled up her shirt once more. Now you couldn't see anything that she didn't want you to see.

Nico summoned his Stygian Iron sword, laughing at a joke that Percy said. I could see the laughter and excitement in his dark eyes, it was beautiful.

I could see lust and love dancing around in Percy's green eyes, turning them into a slightly darker shade. He kissed Annabeth running his fingers through her curly locks. For once I smiled slightly, I happy for them, instead of disgusted. Aphrodite was getting to me.

"You know you're even prettier when you smile." Nico whispered in my ear, catching me by surprise.

I jumped, and turned towards him, he had a smirk smeared across his lips. I laughed and tilted my head back; he grinned and grabbed my face in his hands. He kissed me long and gentle, and then he pulled away, his lips lingering on mine.

As always Percy and Annabeth took the lead, leaving our secluded area, marching towards the main arena. I rolled my eyes and followed with Nico, our hands clasped together.

Annabeth poked her head out into the main hallway, "It's mostly empty like before, plus it's getting later, so people are starting to filter out."

"Perfect, so who's going to distract her?" I asked.

"Well, I was thinking Nico might be good for the job. I doubt that she's seen you since the Titan war; you've been in the underworld a lot. Plus, you can blend into the shadows, surprise her." Annabeth said, seeing the surprised look on Nico's face.

"Okay, let's go find her then." Nico said, nodding at Annabeth.

I paled slightly, worried about Nike seeing Nico first. Nico sensed that and squeezed my hand; I looked up at him and gave him a slight smile.

When we reached the arena we were met with a women flashing by us in light blue shorts. We slammed ourselves against the wall, hoping she didn't see us. She either didn't because she was running too fast, or choose to ignore us. Either one I was thankful for.

I could see Nike at the North end of the arena, far away.

"59.6 δευτερόλεπτα δεν είναι αρκετά γρήγορa!" She screamed, yelling at the obviously tired runner.

She meant, '55.6 seconds, not fast enough!'

I have no idea what distance she was running, but it probably would've taken me two minutes to do it. That woman was ripped, not an ounce of fat on her.

We made our way toward her, she sent the athlete back to the locker room, to get more water. Her back was turned away from us, when Nico disappeared. He emerged from the shadow of the timer, right beside her.

"I believe you have something that I need." He told her, his face right next to hers, his blade across her neck.

She laughed before reaching her hand up and twisting Nico's hand away with an extreme amount of force. He yelped and slashed her scalp, making golden ichor drip from her blond French braid. Percy and Annabeth took off running, Percy got a good slice to her back, before she whipped around and roundhouse kicked him in the face.

Percy stumbled backwards, but still remained upright, much to his credit. Nike was also the goddess of speed and strength, so she fought in hand and hand combat incredibly well.

Anticipating this, I notched an arrow in my bow and shot at her, I luckily caught her arm. She was an incredibly hard target, especially because, Annabeth and Nico were still slashing with all there power. Yet, she still managed to avoid most of their blows. Percy got a lucky slash at her middle, ichor spewing out of it. I shot my last arrow at her, my quiver no longer enchanted. The perks of being a hunter were gone, but the skills were still there, because my arrow hit her right in her chest.

Nike pulled the arrow out of her chest, and looked at me angrily. She then ran towards me, at the speed of cheetah. Before I knew it, I was slammed onto the ground and my own arrow stabbed through my left hand. I pulled out my sword and got a good slash at her eye before Nico had pulled her off me and thrown her into a bench.

I pulled the arrow out of my hand with a cry of pain. I was too weak to fight so I had only one option, my powers. Electricity spewed out of my sword, narrowly missing Annabeth but hitting Nike. She wasn't finished yet so she grabbed Nico and threw him against the wall. I cried out, but I was unable to move. Hell I was barely able to keep my eyes open. I saw the blood seeping out of hand and couldn't help but close my eyes.

Nico's POV

I got up slowly, aching everywhere. I knew that if I used my powers, I would be down for the count. All that shadow traveling did weaken me, despite what I told Annabeth. Percy and Annabeth were still fighting Nike but she had weakened considerably. I made my way towards them; I know where the potion was. She was very over protective of her right side, and I could see a small vial in her pocket.

"Percy! It's in her pocket!" I screamed, knowing that I was no good to them anymore.

Nike heard me and was momentarily distracted. Percy slashed her leg, taking a considerable chunk out of it. Annabeth slashed her cheek with her knife, angering Nike further. Knowing she was done for, she used the last of her strength to punch Annabeth in the gut, sending her flying. Annabeth hit the wall and ended up a pile of limbs. I stumbled my way towards her, feeling a life source draining.

Percy was then distracted. This gave Nike the opportunity to nail him in the side of the head. He was then disoriented, but still able to give a cry of rage, and chop of her left foot. Nike was on the ground wailing in pain Percy fished the vile of potion out of her pocket. He examined it, and somehow Nike was still able to crawl towards her. I changed my direction to Percy.

"Nico, catch!" He screamed before Nike grabbed his ankle, and then they disappeared in a cloud of dust.

I ran desperately needing to catch the glass vile, I then dove towards it, catching it in my hands. I whooped, finally happy that we had what we were searching for.

I heard Annabeth's cry of pain, and then glanced at Thalia. I decided Annabeth was in greater distress because I could feel a life fading from her direction. As I came closer I saw her crying from her paralyzed position on the ground, her leg obviously pointing the wrong direction. Blood soaked her white sweatpants, turning them red.

I focused on her life source and felt it still strong, and then I was immensely confused. I listened to her heart closely, a power I had developed since training with my father. It allowed me to tell when someone was fearful, lying, and the most obvious, dieing. Her heartbeat was strong, but I could her something underneath it. Another fluttering heart beat.

It then dawned on me, as the soft heartbeat came to a stop. Annabeth was fine, but she was pregnant, and her baby had died.

Percy's POV

After I desperately threw Nico the potion, Nike grabbed me and we were suddenly in Olympus. All her wounds were healed, and her long blond braid even looked freshly done.

She literally dragged me to the throne room, the doors closing behind us. Zeus as always, was sitting at his throne, but this time Ares was at his side, almost like he was guarding him.

"I have brought you one of the wanted half-bloods; I was promised the award of becoming an Olympian." Nike said, obviously happy that she would have a throne in this room.

"Ah yes, you know where the other four are also, correct?" Zeus asked, surprisingly calm that I was here.

"Yes I do, two of them are unconscious at the moment also." Nike said smiling cruelly.

"Very well, make him kneel for me." Zeus said happily, the glee obviously kicking in.

Nike stood me in front of Zeus, and then knocked me behind the knees with enough force to make me kneel.

"Ah Perseus, we meet again." Ares sneered, unhappy to see me.

"Nice to see you too, you son of a bitch." I hissed, not liking where this was going.

"Enough, I am going to kill you; neither your parents nor your friends can do anything about it." Zeus said, bringing his sword to my neck.

Then arrows whizzed right by my head, to then impale the wall right next to Zeus' head.

"Stop, the future has changed!"

I was never in my life happier to see Apollo, the god of music, healing, and most importantly, prophecy.

I know, you probably hate me right now. Relax, you'll get more details next chapter.

R&R!