Aww, guys, thanks for the extra reviews! To show you that they really do matter to me, I'm updating today as a thank you :D So let's keep it up, right? Hehe ;) I'm gonna have to work harder on finishing this if I'm gonna be able to keep up with this speed...

So thanks bunches to those of you who reviewed! Enjoy!

XXXVI
NICO

Nico didn't want to wake up. As consciousness slowly returned to him, he chose to lie where he was with his eyes shut tight, trying desperately not to think about what he was going to have to face when he woke.

The rest of the Resistance needed to know what had happened in Death Valley. He knew that, but still he didn't want to be the one to have to tell them. It was one of most wide-scaled good-news/bad-news situations anyone could possibly imagine, with good news so incredible and bad news so terrible. It was odd, the mix of excitement and grief Nico was feeling inside. It left him confused, more than anything, not sure what kind of demeanor he should take on. Regardless, he knew that Nyx's defeat offered them an important chance—a chance everyone had to be aware of right away. He would need to face his friends' questions and give them answers—even if some of those answers weren't ones anybody wanted to hear.

With a short, defeated sigh, Nico finally opened his eyes and stared up at the dark canvas far above him—the curved ceiling of the medical tent at Camp Half-Blood. He brought both hands to his head, massaging the dull headache that persistently wouldn't go away, and wondered absently how much time had passed since he'd returned to camp.

"Oh, you're awake!" a voice said suddenly as someone approached the side of his bed. Nico dropped his arms and dragged himself into a sitting position as the girl—a camper he recognized from the Apollo cabin, though her name he didn't know—watched with critical eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," he answered truthfully. "How long—?"

"Only about four hours. It's just before six A.M. Really, though, I think you should lie back down and rest some more. You were really weak when Hazel brought—"

"No, I can't," Nico interrupted. "Bigger things to worry about."

The girl huffed in mild frustration, though she didn't look incredibly surprised. "In that case," she said, "I was told to take you to the Big House when you woke up, as long as you were up for it. The council's been in there all night, and they're gonna want to hear from you. If you're ready, I can help—"

"I can manage on my own," he argued, dodging her hands as she reached for his arm to help him stand. She raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and backed up, allowing Nico space to climb down from the bed. He noticed he was still wearing the dirty, blood-stained clothes he'd had on all day, but it didn't bother him. Beneath them, he could tell his wounds had been healed and a good deal of his strength had already returned. He wasn't about to volunteer to take on the King of Darkness, but a quick walk to the Big House was something he could easily handle.

Nico pushed his way out of the infirmary without meeting anyone's eyes. He walked across the way and entered the Big House, all the while wondering how he was going to report what had happened. He was just deciding to start at the beginning of the quest and go from there when he paused just outside the rec room door, hearing voices from inside.

"…left Indiana and headed for California," someone was saying. He recognized the voice as belonging to Reyna and realized briefly that he hadn't noticed her absence at the infirmary tent. She must have recovered enough to rejoin the others as well. "We reached Death Valley a while later after no other interruptions and found Nyx's castle. It was right where she'd transported New Rome before the war."

Nico leaned against the wall and listened to Reyna recount what had happened at Nyx's Midnight Palace. He knew the time would come very soon when she could no longer give account, but until then he was perfectly content to put off his own questioning. He reasoned that it would be better to let Reyna finish her story without interruption, though really he knew he only wanted to delay having to share his news.

"…So Nico and I left the castle, and that's the last thing I remember," Reyna concluded a few minutes later, after an account of her battle against Nyx. "I woke up here a little while ago."

"So Hypnos is free," someone else said thoughtfully—Annabeth, Nico was almost certain. "If that's true, then why haven't we heard from the gods? It's been hours, and as far as we know, nothing on Olympus has changed."

This struck Nico as odd, but his attention was diverted when Chiron said, "Perhaps Hypnos has had difficulty getting around Erebos. We may not know for some time. What I'm concerned about for the time being, however, is how this encounter with Nyx ended. But I suppose we'll have to wait until Nico has recovered to hear a full account."

Nico's heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name and he realized he couldn't delay any longer. With a deep breath, he reached for the doorknob and twisted it, pushing the door open with numb resolve and stepping into the room.

Only about half the usual council was present, but all eyes turned to the doorway at once. "Nico," Percy said in alarm, rising to his feet from his place on the sofa beside Annabeth.

Someone uttered a breathy "Oh!" and the next thing Nico knew his field of vision was covered by a head of curly, brown hair as Hazel leapt up and threw her arms around him, causing him to stagger backward a step in surprise. He returned the embrace momentarily before she backed up and asked, "How are you? Are you alright?"

He gave her a weak smile, her concern genuinely helping to lessen the dead weight on his shoulders. "I'm fine," he promised. "Still a bit tired, that's all."

"Glad to see you back on your feet," Chiron said with a smile as Hazel stepped aside. "Reyna has just finished recounting the events of your quest up until her return to camp. Now, I know everyone is wondering, so I'll say it first. If you're feeling up to it, we'd like to know the rest of the story. Why you ran off again so suddenly earlier tonight, and what you found."

Nico met Chiron's eyes. For some reason, it felt as though the centaur knew exactly what Nico had found when he'd returned to Death Valley. How that could be possible, he wasn't sure. But even if it was, the collection of wide eyes around them told him that Chiron was the only one with any possible knowledge.

"Nyx is gone," Nico answered, deciding to go for the good news first. A fragile tension rose suddenly around the rec room as everyone reacted to this news with tentative hope.

"What do you mean?" Reyna asked sharply.

"I mean gone. Defeated. Not dead, but definitely out of commission. Her part in this war is done, no question."

"Awesome!" Larry, a centurion from the Second Cohort, said excitedly with a broad grin.

"How?" Reyna persisted in apparent disbelief.

Nico tried not to cringe. Now came the hard part. "When I got back to Death Valley, the castle was destroyed. I could sense her inside, but her aura was so weak it was hardly even there. When we found Hypnos, he told us about a spell we could use to trap her there—the same kind of blood magic the gods use to seal immortals in the Underworld. It only requires immortal fire—which, thanks to Leo, we had access to. When I brought Reyna back here, I'm guessing Leo used the spell to bind Nyx to the castle and then… demolished it."

Many council members looked extremely pleased with this news, grinning at their neighbors and laughing at their good fortune. A few, however, exchanged looks of confusion.

"What do you mean, you're 'guessing'?" Percy asked with an uncertain frown.

"Well…" Nico said evasively, and Percy's eyes flashed anxiously like he had an idea where that sentence was going.

"Nico," Piper said in a brittle voice, "where's Leo? Why didn't he come back with you?"

"I…" he started weakly, breaking off at once. No more avoiding the issue. He had to answer that question, and he had to answer it truthfully. He breathed a heavy sigh and admitted with leaden finality, "Leo's dead."

Every smile around Nico slowly slid away in shock. Piper gave a choked gasp, her kaleidoscope eyes filling instantly with tears. Percy froze like a statue. Annabeth grimaced as though in pain. Jason made an odd jerking movement, looking like he was about to be sick. Hazel threw both hands over her mouth and hunched her shoulders like a cold draft had blown through the room.

"What…?" Frank spoke first, his mouth dropping open. "You're joking, right?"

Nico stared at him with incredulity. "Why in Hades would I joke about something like this?"

"No, of course you wouldn't, I just mean—" Frank backtracked absentmindedly, looking stunned. "I don't understand… It's Leo. This can't…"

Nico stopped listening. He caught Reyna's eye across the room and her expression startled him. She still looked worn out, like she hadn't completely healed from her fight with Nyx. But her eyes were alert—wide, dark, and unblinking. Her mouth was slightly open in shock; her eyebrows twitched and chin quivered just barely as though she wanted to speak but didn't have the right words. With a jolt, Nico remembered the look on her face after Leo had kissed her—surprised, but… accepting, strangely glad even. Nico had thought Piper, Leo's best friend, would be hurt the worst by this news. Maybe that wasn't entirely correct.

"I was afraid that might be it," Chiron said heavily, and Nico frowned at him. When he received a few other questioning glances, he sighed, looking worn and tired, and explained, "The prophecy. It warned us this would happen."

"Of course," Annabeth breathed. "'Hero's sacrifice buries the night'."

"I told him not to be a hero," Piper said miserably, tears now dripping down her face.

"Well, like it or not, he was," Octavian cut in, his firm tone of voice startling a few people. "He defeated Nyx—the one responsible for killing so many of us in June. Now one of the two gods leading this war is out. I say we use this chance we've been given and take advantage of Erebos's moment of weakness."

That may have been a bit insensitive, but the simple fact that Octavian had, in a way, complimented Leo—a Greek whom he was known to particularly dislike—overshadowed this by a long shot. Nico wasn't the only one staring a bit dumbfounded at the augur. What exactly had happened here while they'd been away?

Reyna suddenly raised her chin, drawing herself up. "I… agree with Octavian," she said stiffly, her expression now an emotionless mask. "We haven't the time to grieve right now. We're in a war—one that, with a bit of luck, may not last much longer."

"Being rid of Nyx is great and all," said Butch, the counselor from the Iris cabin. "But we still don't stand much chance against Erebos without the gods. Hypnos had better get them free soon."

"Either way," Reyna added, "we need to make sure we're ready for when he does. Jason, I'm going to want to speak with you immediately about what's happened during my absence. If we're going to rally the Legion for battle, I need to know where we stand."

Jason blinked and turned toward his fellow praetor, the nauseous look on his face fading to a sort of blank confusion. "Huh? …What?"

Reyna's eyebrows drew together and her eyes darkened. "Jason," she said more firmly. "Are you listening?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Jason said absently. "No—I heard you. You're right. We should move."

Reyna nodded, though she still looked irritated. "Octavian, you as well. Chiron, if there's nothing else that requires our immediate attention…?"

Chiron frowned. "No, we've gone over the necessary information here. But Reyna, make sure you don't overdo it. You had a bit of a close call this morning." Reyna nodded curtly and rose to her feet, beckoning the Romans after her with a steely expression. As they began filing out, Chiron turned to the remaining campers and said, "Butch, if you would—the Hephaestus cabin is busy with electrical work and couldn't make this meeting. …They'll need to be told about their counselor."

Butch nodded solemnly. "I'll pass on the message." He picked up his crutches and stood, following the Romans out with Chiron right behind him. This seemed to signal the end of the meeting, and others began shuffling toward the doorway as well.

A few people stayed behind, however. Piper dropped heavily into an armchair and hid her face in her hands. Annabeth stood up and pulled Percy, who was staring straight ahead with a blank expression, into a tight hug. Hazel, still standing beside Nico, clasped her hands together and muttered, "This is my fault. Oh…"

Nico turned to her, startled. "Your fault? How? You weren't even there."

Hazel grimaced, tears in her eyes. She turned to face Nico but wouldn't look him in the eye. "I… I made him promise to look out for you, t-to make sure you made it home."

"Me?" Nico said in surprise. His little sister had really been that worried for him?

She nodded numbly. "I couldn't lose you again. Not after last month. But I didn't want—I mean, I didn't mean for…" A sob interrupted her broken sentence and she bowed her head, looking ashamed. A little stunned, Nico wrapped his arms around her in a rare comforting gesture. Her hands clung instantly to his shirt and she buried her face in his shoulder. With a sharp, painful pang he was reminded of his other sister, Bianca—of the day she'd left camp on a quest and never come back. He'd asked Percy to protect her, the same as Hazel had done with Leo. And in both cases, someone had wound up dead.

"Hey, don't…" he said haltingly. "Look, don't think like that. Octavian was right—thanks to Leo, we've got an opportunity here. Nyx is done. Erebos is all that's left. And soon we'll have the gods back on our side. This is the first good chance we've had to end all this. And you know he'd kill us for not taking it."

Hazel pulled slowly back, taking a deep breath. As her fingers poked absentmindedly at the dried blood on Nico's shirt over his left shoulder, he saw tear marks on her face. "I know," she said. "I do. I just want this all to be over."

Nico forced a weak smile as she finally looked up at him. "It will be soon. It has to be."

"I still just can't believe it," Frank muttered from behind his girlfriend. He had a bewildered sort of expression on his face. "It doesn't feel real—feels like a bad dream. We were doing so well, keeping everybody safe. And now…"

As Hazel moved to grip Frank's hand, Nico lowered his gaze to the floor and stayed silent. He resisted the urge to point out that the war wasn't over yet, and that their losses likely weren't finished counting up. The battle with Erebos and his army was still ahead, and gods or no gods, Nico didn't believe for a second that it would be anything close to easy.

Somehow, he couldn't shake the unnerving feeling that the worst was yet to come.

What do you think? Could he be right? Could things actually get worse? Considering my penchant for drama, I'd say it's likely. Next chapter set is actually extremely dark and heavy, heh heh.

And hey, this ain't over yet! Still a bit of a ways to go. Want another quick update? Then drop me a review! I'm sticking to it for now - the more I get, the faster you'll see the next chapter. Come on, surprise me! Haha :D

Later days, everybody!

-oMM