AN: I was sick, okay? :(

"Are you okay?"

Nicole nearly jumped out of her skin. She was physically shaking. "I'm... fine."

"You don't look it. Tell me what's wrong."

Nicole felt her mouth open. Then she realised. Charm speak. She wouldn't fall for it. She couldn't tell anyone about that vision, if you could call it that. She knew she had to resist it. "Nothing."

Piper smiled. "Good. You looked a little... shaken up."

"Today's been a bit daunting, that's all." Piper nodded. "You probably want to be alone."

Piper tried to protest, but Nicole had already walked out of the door. In truth, it was her who needed some alone time. Why had she looked? She cursed herself. The image kept replaying over and over in her mind. She probably had a lot of time before that happened, but she had dealt with fate. There was no changing it.

It felt like hours later when Leo and Hazel returned, carrying a huge sheet of metal. Before they had even walked through the door way, Nicole burst out laughing. He looked like some kind of Grease reject, minus the leathers. It didn't matter that it kind of suited him... not at all. His hair was all greased back, mostly covered by a pair of welding goggles. Tattoos covered his arms and his t-shirt said Team Leo. She didn't know what to think about that.

"What in the names of the Gods of Olympus happened to you?" She managed to ask through laughs.

"We had to make an impression..."

"Oh, I see that. Hazel? Care to explain?"

Hazel shrugged. "We have to hurry." Leo nodded and they went to see Jason and Piper. A few minutes later, Leo came out again, looking a little less flustered.

"Why do we have to hurry?" Nicole asked.

"Hazel and I may have, uh, angered some nymphs."

The ship started to rock. "Understatement much?"

"Ha-ha. I have to get this ship away from this lake as soon as possible."

"Oh yay, more crash landings..."

"Shut up." She did, but she followed him into the engine room anyway. Within seconds, she saw him go into auto-drive. He barely noticed when the tar arrived. Throughout the whole time, which was probably a few minutes, the boat rocked back and forth. Why couldn't this be a shadow ship? Heights and water, literally the only two things she didn't do.

Eventually he pushed a button and the Argo II lifted unsteadily into the air. Leo turned and grinned like a madman. Leo's smile, even when genuinely happy, always gave Nicole the urge to scold him for something. The impulse was worse when he grinned. He went outside to inform the rest of them that they were safe.

"Is this Pac Man?" She asked when he came back in to steer.

"Yeah, I thought it might get boring."

She walked around. "And a, what do you kids call this, Ipod?"

"Angel, this is Ipod times infinity. One thousand times better, mainly because I invented it."

"What does it do? Play infinite songs?"

"That's one of the many functions."

"Right." She grinned just as widely as he did when Adele started to play. Without meaning to, she sang along. "There's a fire, staring in my heart." This had become a sort of tradition between both of them. She had no idea when it started or why, but it was just a joke between them. Neither of them were exactly talented...

"Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark," he joined in.

"Finally I can see you crystal clear, go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your shit bare," they both sang in time now and it was turning into an impromptu karaoke session. By the time the song reached the pre-chorus, they were performing perhaps the messiest dance routine ever.

"WE COULD HAVE HAD IT ALLLLLLLLLLL" Leo stopped singing. "ROLLING IN the deep." The words became a whisper when she noticed Percy was standing behind her with a rather amused look.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"N-no," she stammered, "nothing."

He raised an eyebrow. "Since when have you been into singing and dancing?"

Leo started laughing. "You call that singing and dancing? You should've seen what happened why she discovered Queen! I think We Will Rock You was the best of the lot, or maybe We Are The Champions."

"Shut up Flamey! So, what did you need Perce?"

"It's time for the meeting."

Nicole looked down. "Why am I still wearing a dress? Seriously? Why didn't I take this thing off!" Her face must have turned pale. "I have to go to Camp Jupiter, don't I?"

"I guess it would be helpful," Percy thought. "We could use intel on the situation."

"Why does shadow travel exist?" She groaned.

"Just... don't be seen."

She rolled her eyes. "See you guys later."

~0o0~

Camp Jupiter was in ruins still. She found that odd. She knew they had the building skills to take the whole place down and rebuild it in three days at the most. Maybe the morale was too low. The streets were pretty much clear, though covered in rubble. Maybe there had been a curfew?

There was a feeling of desperation that made Nicole's hairs stand on end. She wasn't sure what her status with the Romans was. They most likely didn't know she was a Greek demigod, though they did see her talking to them. Then again, they barely trusted her in the first place. Her sister had run off with the Greeks, so that was a minus.

She decided it was best if she hid in the shadows, but didn't sneak. That would be mildly explainable. She got all the way to the praetor's house. Reyna was pacing.

"I'm telling you, we must attack. For Rome. For honour." The voice sounded like Octavian's.

"We can spare a day. The Greeks seemed pretty eager to leave, anyway. The girl, she was telling the truth when she said she didn't understand why they attacked. We can hold off until tomorrow morning."

"This is-" He said something in Latin that Nicole didn't understand.

Reyna held her hand in a calming manner. "You've already sent the eagles. We'll follow them at sunrise. Morale is an important thing." She turned her head and looked out of the window. This was Nicole's cue to leave. She had a feeling that she shouldn't, not yet. She wanted to stay, for some reason.

She noticed a young woman perched on some rubble. She looked sad, to say the least. She was grumbling, something about doors, maybe. Her hair was the exact shade of mahogany and her eyes, much like Hazel's, were almost metallic. They were a sort of soft silvery grey.

"Are you... okay?"

The woman's head snapped up. "So many gone! So much destruction!"

Nicole bit her lip before it flashed in front of her eyes. Her powers had a mind of their own sometimes. This wasn't a woman, her aura wasn't blue. It was gold in its entirety. She could only guess that was the symbol of immortality. It was her instinct to bow. "My apologies."

The goddess sniffed. It was then that Nicole noticed she was stroking a door handle like it was a kitten. "You don't even know who I am. Nobody does."

Nicole raised her head. "If that was true, you would've faded. But now you bring it up, who are you? I'm not really up to speed on Roman goddesses."

Her expression hardened. "Cardea."

Nicole's brain went on ultra speed mode. She recognised the name... something from Mythomagic. It was a rare card. That was probably because they didn't bother to make that many. Cardea it was a pretty lame card, to her memory. The attack power was pretty rubbish, though she had a good ambush bonus because... because...

"You're the goddess of doors? Right? Hinges, handles etcetera."

Cardea smiled weakly. "Not many demigods remember me. You're the first I've met in fifty two years."

Nicole shrugged. "I'm different. I'm sorry about the destruction to your... friends..."

She shook her head. "Perhaps I was overreacting. What has been destroyed can be rebuilt."

"Is that what you're here for? Goddesses don't usually appear for no reason."

"I needed a little peace, you could say. The rest of the gods have been acting cranky recently."

"Why aren't you? Isn't it meant to be really hard now or something?"

"I have no Greek form. I am only a Roman goddess. The change doesn't affect gods and goddess like I."

"I am sorry though, for not recognising you at first. I- I know how it feels to not be considered."

"Oh?"

Nicole perched on the rubble next to the goddess.

"My father's Pluto. His children aren't usually regarded as good."

Cardea smiled fully now. "But you strive to be the opposite, I can sense that about you. You want to abolish that judgment. You want to defy what you were perhaps fated to do. You crave recognition, and possibly you deserve such a thing. Be careful, young demigod, because such goals may be the death of you."

"How-"

She sighed. "One of the only useful things I can do is open closed doors, even if you don't like it."

"I really don't 'crave recognition'-"

The goddess raised her hand gently as a gesture for peace. "Just because I can see through closed doors doesn't mean that everyone can. But it would do you some good to be able to."

"What do you mean? If you don't mind me asking?"

"I'll help you, kind one. You'll make sure not to forget me too, won't you?"

"Of course! But-"

Cardea wrapped her hand around Nicole's wrist and for a moment it stung. She nearly jerked back, physical contact was a no no. "Someday you will be remembered. Don't overlook me in the process. Perhaps this is more literal, but you will have the power to open doors. To find what is concealed. Always remember Cardea when you do so. You and I, we are not so different."

Nicole swallowed. "I promise."

"Tell your friends to be more careful around doors, will you?" With that, she was gone.

~0o0~

"So Kanas? What could we possibly find there?"

Percy gripped the edge of the Argo II. "Leo needs to finish his repairs somewhere. It just seemed like the best option. Piper suggested it anyway, and there weren't any counters so..."

"Got it," she smiled.

"What did you find at Camp Jupiter?"

She took a deep breath. "Well, the Romans are following us with the eagles. They're not going to chase after us until dawn, something about morale. They haven't bothered with repairs just yet. The place is still smoking."

Something in Percy seemed to click just then. His expression hardened momentarily. "I bet Octavian had some sort of input?"

Nicole nodded. "He wanted to attack earlier. Reyna told him to hold off. She believes, to some extent, that it wasn't our fault."

"Leo's fault," he muttered.

"We've established that he didn't mean to already. Unless you want to swap fatal flaws, which I would gladly do, let it go."

"Fine." He loosened his grasp. "Okay. Sorry."

She stoked his arm softy. "Just... don't be too hard on him. He feels really bad. C'mon, you need to rest up."

He rolled his eyes, "alright, mom."

"Ha ha. But seriously, you came back from a quest, fought in a war and killed a giant yesterday. You need to regain some strength."

Percy smiled. "Alright. Where are you going to stay? With Hazel? Because I know how much power you used as well and-"

"Perce, six months is a long time. I can do that kind of thing now. I'll... patrol?"

"Twenty-four seven?"

She shrugged, "I'll find somewhere."

That night was unsettling. She ended up sleeping in the crow's nest, which was an extremely weird choice considering she was scared of heights. She could only pray that Zeus didn't zap her out of the sky. She didn't dream, which only made the experience worse. She knew there was something she was missing, like it was being shielded from her.

Waking up was worse. Coach Hedge's voice into a megaphone was not exactly soothing. "That she blows! Kansas, ahoy!" He yelled. Even she knew that was incorrect ship talk. She was confused to as why they had landed in Kansas, which was pretty much just Gaia's territory, but she didn't say anything. Damn Piper's stupid knife. There was a part of her that yearned for it to be lying. She knew it wasn't, fate never lies and so on.

She considered skipping breakfast, but she'd take that over ship landings. Gods, did she ever hate this flying thing. There was something in the air again. A feeling that made Nicole want to bite her lip and hide. It was insane, she never felt like that, not unless she was missing something. She toyed cereal with her spoon. She disliked the stuff immensely, but it was the only way to stay on Demeter's good side. She doubted the goddess was particularly happy with her for eating a pomegranate outside her cabin at Camp Half Blood. It was funny, okay? Besides, she liked the flavour.

Piper and Annabeth walked in and joined the table. "Here we are. What's the plan?" Annabeth asked.

"I want to check out the highway," Piper said. "Find the sign that says Topeka 32."

Leo spun his, what was it? Wild controller? Whatever it was, it controlled the ship. "We shouldn't be far. Festus and I calculated the landing as best we could. What do you expect to find at the mile marker?"

Piper explained a weird vision about a man with a goblet or something.

"Purple shirt?" Jason asked. "Vines on his hat? Sounds like Bacchus."

"Dionysus," Percy muttered from next to her. "If we came all the way to Kansas to see Mr D-"

"Bacchus isn't so bad," Jason said. "I don't like his followers much but the god himself is okay. I did him a favour once up in wine country."

Percy didn't seem to like the idea of Mr D having a decent personality. "Whatever, man. Maybe he's better on the Roman side. But why would he be hanging around in Kansas? Didn't Zeus order the gods to cease all contact with mortals?"

Frank grunted. "The gods haven't been very good at following that order. Besides, if the gods have gone schizophrenic like Hazel said-"

"And Leo said," added Leo.

Frank shot him a look. The tension was more than obvious. "-Then who knows what's going on with the Olympians? Could be some pretty bad stuff out there."

"Sounds dangerous!" Leo said cheerfully enough. "Well... you guys have fun. I've got to finish repairs on the hull. Coach Hedge is gonna work on the broken crossbows. And you two," he pointed at Annabeth and Nicole with both hands, "I could really use some help. Annabeth, you're the only other person who even sort of understands engineering. Nicole, you know what I taught you, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Best lesson ever," heavy sarcasm was implied.

Frank coughed slightly, breaking a weird silence. "I think I should turn into a crow or something and fly around, keep an eye out for Roman eagles."

"Why a crow?" Leo asked. "Man, if you can turn into a dragon, why don't you just turn into a dragon every time? That's the coolest."

Frank didn't appreciate the compliment. "That's like asking why you don't bench-press your maximum weight every time you lift. Because it's hard and you'd hurt yourself. Turning into a dragon isn't easy."

"Oh." Leo nodded, but it didn't seem like he understood. "I wouldn't know. I don't lift weights." Okay, she had to stifle a laugh.

"Yeah. Well, maybe you should consider it, Mr-"

Hazel stepped between them before they caused an explosion. "I'll help you, Frank. I can summon Arion and scout around below."

"Sure," Frank said, "yeah, thanks."

Hazel turned to Percy. "Just be careful when you go out there. Lots of fields, lots of crops. Could be karpoi on the loose."

"Karpoi?" Piper asked.

"Grain spirits," Hazel said. "You don't want to meet them."

"That leaves three of us to check on the mile marker," Percy said. "Me, Jason, Piper. I'm not psyched about seeing Mr D again. That guy is a pain. But, Jason, if you're on better terms with him-"

"Yeah," Jason said. "If we find him, I'll talk to him. Piper, it's your vision. You should take the lead."

Piper didn't look too excited. "Of course. Let's find the highway."

~0o0~

Whose idea was this? Nicole was going to kill Leo. She had to spend a whole day with Annabeth. Did he not see the faults in that plan? Ugh she was going to murder both of them. Viciously. With a rusty knife so it would be slow and painful... No, Nicole was not a psychopath.

"Locked," Annabeth muttered when they reached the supply closet. "You'd think he'd remember to give us a key."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Good luck getting one. He'll be so caught up in his repairs that he'll barely notice us."

"So what do we do? Break the door down?"

"Yes, Annabeth, best plan ever!"

"Alright," she pulled a face. "I'll just go find one. It'll be in the engine room, right?" She paused and looked at Nicole. "What's that on your hand?"

Nicole looked down. Her hand was glowing, literally. She inspected her palm; it was the same silvery grey as Cardea's eyes. Well, that's new. She placed her hand on the closed door before feeling a slight buzz, like static electricity. "No way," she whispered .She pushed the handle and the door swung straight open.

Annabeth looked just as shocked as Nicole. "And how is that anything to do with Hades?"

"It's not," Nicole admitted.

For once, she looked puzzled. "The only time I've seen something like that was L- children of Hermes. How did you-"

"It doesn't matter. We're time sensitive at the moment."

With that, they began repairs in silence. It was hard work, though of course Leo seemed to find it easy. Then again, he knew the Argo II like the back of his hand. Nicole could only be slightly pleased when she had to instruct Annabeth on a few occasions. She was not a happy when Annabeth corrected her multiple times.

It felt like hours later when Leo told them the ship was ready for takeoff. Annabeth opened her mouth, but Nicole placed a finger on her lips. It only worked for ghosts, but she hoped she would get the message.

There was a thud on the deck before Hazel and Frank called out to them. Jason and Percy were unconscious and lying on Blackjack, Percy's pegasus, whilst Piper looked like she'd gone into shock. They weren't dying, but there was something in their auras. A tint of red. She was too confused to do anything about it at the time, but after they were sitting in sickbay the thought wouldn't leave her brain.

She double checked three times. It was definitely there. She could only clasp Percy's hand as tightly as possible and pray for an answer. He had hoof shaped dent on the back of his head, she chose not to ask. Piper explained what had happened.

As the story went on, Nicole suspected her skin was getting paler and paler. "Golden eyes, possession, weird voice... Are you absolutely sure?" Piper nodded. Nicole closed her eyes and tried to focus. Yes, now it was definitely there. The Underworld. "Eidolons," she managed to say. "Of course it's eidolons."

As she said this, Percy and Jason woke up at nearly the same moment. It took them a few minutes, but they recovered to a good enough extent.

Jason groaned. "Knocked out twice in two days, some demigod." He glanced at Percy. "Sorry, man. I didn't mean to blast you."

Percy's shirt was pretty much burnt to almost nothing, now that he mentioned it. "Not the first time. Your big sister got me good once at camp."

"Yeah, but... I could have killed you."

"Or I could have killed you," Percy said.

Jason shrugged. "If there's been an ocean in Kansas, maybe."

"I don't need an ocean-"

"Boys," Annabeth interrupted, "I'm sure you both would've been wonderful at killing each other, but right now you need some rest."

"Food first," Percy said. "Please? And we really need to talk. Bacchus said some things that don't-"

"No," Nicole cut him off. "Before you, Jason or Leo do anything, we need to ensure that you're safe, for our sake. There's no easy way to say this, but you three, possibly more of us, have been possessed by extremely dangerous Underworld spirits." Percy and Jason blinked.

"What?"

Nicole looked at Annabeth. "Find Leo, mess hall as soon as possible."

It was extremely awkward waiting for everyone to gather. The ship could be filled with deadly spirits. She was pretty sure it couldn't affect her or Hazel, maybe, but it was still unsettling. It explained a lot, though.

"So..." Frank started. "You think these things are lurking on the ship, or-"

"Possibly lurking inside of us," Piper said.

"They wouldn't be just hanging around," Nicole said. "The dead are restless, if they bothered leaving the Underworld then they would have done something by now. I think it's just the three of you," she addressed Leo, Jason and Percy, "but that doesn't make it any less dangerous."

Percy gulped. "What do we do?"

Nicole paused. She really didn't know. "I can try and draw them out..." She closed her eyes and focused. She could sense them, but they didn't want to listen. "It's not working. Piper, charm speak might do it."

"Eidolons," she said, "raise your hands."

Leo laughed nervously after a brief pause. "Did you really think that was going to-" he stopped talking. The three boys' faces turned emotionless and their eyes changed to gold.

"Can you cure them?" Annabeth managed to get out.

Piper looked at Nicole expectantly. She pretended not to be scared. "They don't want to obey me, maybe it's something to do with Gaia. You'll have to."

Piper's face showed determination. "You will leave those bodies," she commanded.

"No," Percy said. It wasn't like his voice. It was hollow and cruel.

"We must live," Leo said with a hiss.

Frank, who had stumbled against a wall at some point, was searching for his bow, like that would help. "Mars Almighty, that's creepy! Get out of here, spirits! Leave our friends alone!"

Leo turned to him. "You cannot command us, child of war. Your own life is fragile. Your soul could burn at any moment." His soul could burn at any moment, what?

He drew an arrow, but his hands were shaking. "I- I've faced down worse things than you. If you want a fight-"

"Frank, don't." Hazel rose from a chair.

Jason drew his sword. "Stop!" Piper ordered, but it didn't help much.

"Listen to Piper," Hazel made the golden sword fall out of his hands.

Percy growled in a way that made all the hairs on Nicole's neck stand up. "Daughter of Pluto, you may control gems and metals. You do not control the dead."

"I do," Nicole glared at him, almost forgetting he was possessed for a moment. "No weapons. I may not have complete control over eidolons but you are in fact dead. That means you have to choice but to obey me, and if you attempt to harm any of us again it's straight back to the Underworld for you." The eidolons were all physically shaking. She noticed a flower in the corner of the room had wilted all of a sudden. Nicole turned to Piper. "I can only command them to a certain extent. You need to use mind control."

Piper was obviously annoyed at her refereeing to charm speak as mind control, but she took a deep breath. "You will leave those bodies."

They tried to resist it. "We- we will leave these bodies," Jason repeated.

"You will vow on the River Styx never to return to this ship and never possess any member of this crew." That earned a hiss from Leo and Percy. "You will promise on the River Styx," Piper insisted.

They spoke in unison. "We promise on the River Styx."

"You are dead," Piper said.

"We are dead," they agreed.

"Now, leave."

All three of them slumped forward. Percy and Jason were caught but Leo landed on the ground. The weird feeling was gone, and something in Nicole managed to relax for a moment.

"Ow!" Leo groaned.

"Are you alright?" Hazel asked.

Leo managed to pull himself up. "Did it work?"

Nicole smiled. "They won't be back any time soon."

Jason blinked. "Does that mean I can stop getting head injuries now?" Piper laughed and soon everyone joined in. Maybe because the nervousness was almost gone. Almost.

"So," Nicole said, almost regretting ending the nice moment. "What happened with Bacchus?