DISCLAIMER: Rick Riordan still owns the PJatO series. Don't listen to the cat; he's lying.

REVIEW RESONSES:

Cookie Spasms – Nyx: They're looking for the MR cast now, actually, if I'm right. They've got the script and directors and crew all set. They just need actors and they can start rolling. James Patterson is directing it with some guy named Gary. They are no longer considering Robert Patinson and Keirsten Stewart for Fang and Max, thankfully.

oOo

Fury began to flicker and burn in my veins, but I held it at bay. "And what would you want with her?"

"Just to speak. I swear by the Styx, if I harm her against my word, I will drown myself in Greek fire," she insisted, eyes blazing now.

I scowled. "And if an oath over the River isn't enough for me to trust you with that?"

"You expected it to be enough for Jason when his and his friends' lives were on the line. It seems fair that I should expect the same of you for your sister."

Gods, how I wanted to smack that smile off her face.

It widened when she saw I was stuck. "I'm not out to hurt you guys. Honest. You have no idea how long I've waited for a moment like this."

Despite the devious look on her face, the gravity of her tone betrayed something deeper. As did those bright eyes. Something told me that she meant exactly what she said.

I sighed and sheathed my sword. "Here. I've got some nectar. It's a small cut on your shoulder, but it's by Stygian iron, and I wouldn't trust it."

"I'm fine. I have some at the beach," she said, waving off the hand on the canteen at my belt loop. "But if you had a pen, that'd be nice."

"A pen? Well, I know you don't go to our school," I muttered, figuring she must've been the one person in the world who'd expect me to have a writing utensil on me. As I reached for my pocket I glanced around nervously, watching for any movement. But we were still alone.

Eventually she found a marker in her pocket. It was dirty and nearly dry but worked. She scrawled an address in Greek across my left forearm and sat back, admiring her work. "There. It's not too far from here, actually."

I looked up at her, not sure what I was waiting for next.

"Please give it to her. My life depends on this."

"You know, the fact that you're desperate doesn't comfort me," I decided, eyeing the skies again. The sun was slowly sliding on, like a schoolchild dared to reach out and pick up a spider. "Noon, you said?"

"Noon. Today. If you miss the meeting, I'll knock on your door tomorrow."

"And this meeting place. It's a safe location to talk?"

She chuckled. "Not for most. But so long you're with me, it'll be fine."

That wasn't too comforting, either. Though if she had wanted Hunter and wanted her harmed, coming up with this complex ambush plan was much more work than holding me ransom, especially since Gaea wanted me alive. And perhaps I was biased. Perhaps I'd trust anyone with that strange color in their irises.

At least she wasn't some demon wolf or infernally creepy voice.

"Alright. Noon, got it."

She nodded eagerly and, moving faster when I made no move to stop her, backed into the alley once more. "You should get home soon. I've seen what the Daylight Disaster can do. You don't want to run into it. May the Fates favor you."

With that, she turned, disappearing into LA's streets, and I knew that if I wanted to find her in this city again, it'd be a long, long search.

oOo

Shadow travel. Thank the gods.

No sooner had she gone did I run into the alley after her. Only I ran much, much faster.

The half-dreaded, half-welcome living room blurred and bled into existence, colors fading in and shadows thinning out to the strange dark planes that they were in this dimension. My own shadow still buzzed and whispered, as if it were alive. Sure enough, it moved with me, silently from the door to the couch. My heart began to race as dark memories came back to me. I stared, horrified, for a moment at the corner leading to the kitchen. When no demonic creature peeked its head around, I let out a breath.

Sunlight streamed in through the blinds. The shadows weren't hiding so much from me now.

I cast one more glance around the room before turning my back to it and tip-toeing to the window. One peek through the blinds revealed the city. No Daylight Disaster, no winged, goo-covered drakon, no Manticore.

I dimly wondered if we'd already met the Disaster. It could easily be the drakon, which had the size and had been seen in broad daylight, something most monsters were afraid of. I should mention that to the others…

…The others.

A fierce worry lodged itself in my throat as I whirled, searching. But the stairs were empty and the room so painfully vacant. No creaks or groans could be heard of them upstairs.

They're gone!

Phil stared at me, grinning his little sadistic grin, hollow eyes reflecting the lonely old funeral home.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind did I hear the basement door open and slam shut again. Striding, slightly uneven footsteps rang out from the kitchen. I tensed and let my hand fly to my pocket, flinching at the resulting sting from my cut, dread filling my throat. So the demons were here after all…

…Nico's voice rang out, too loud and too fast to be characteristic, but his nonetheless. "No. The chain lock was done from the outside; nobody's been in the tunnel alone."

My muscles relaxed and I let out a long, heavy breath. Just Nico. If I was right, then he was probably talking to my sisters, who must've been waiting quietly in the kitchen and out of my sight. It was alright. They were still here.

I glanced over my shoulder, eyeing the stairs. No evil and twisted creature emerged. Yet I still didn't trust this house.

In the kitchen, the conversation continued. Hunter's forced tone and carefully even voice set off warnings in my head. "No, I don't think so. The better bet is to head back to where the Manticore was when the might-be spell was attempted. If she has anything to do with that magic, then she'll be with them in their new location. We can try and track them down from there."

"That makes sense," Nico mused in a monotone. His voice was still too fast, like he was eager to get every word as far away as possible. There was the crinkle and crackle of paper unfolding before he said, "But it still wouldn't hurt to map the Disaster sites out, just so we can see if there's a pattern." He cursed. "We should've investigated this before now."

"Well, let's make up for lost time," Hunter snapped. "Where were we when we fought the Manticore and his demigod buddy? The night when I accidentally snapped your brace?"

I frowned. What on earth were they talking about?

"Give me a sec…" Nico replied in his strained voice. "It should be… No…" Anger bled into his tone. "Gods forsake it! Stupid dyslexia!..."

There was a heavy sigh from Hunter, followed by a sharp smacking sound. She'd hit him. "You've got it upside-down again, genius! Give it here!"

There was more shuffling and silence from Nico as he surrendered. He didn't even mutter his frustrations to Phil. This, to me, seemed very off. Like opening a book to find the words were gone.

Hunter scowled audibly at him. "Don't give me that look. At least I'm being productive."

"Guys!" Brook yelled.

There was silence.

"Stop arguing," she said, much softer now. "It's wasting time. We know that they have her because they need her alive for something. The longer we sit here and think, the more they'll try to force it out of her, and the bigger chance they'll get it done and relieve her of her use, which would result in them finishing her off. If we don't want that then I suggest we SHUT THE HELL UP and WORK TOGETHER."

I froze, utterly shocked. It was so rare, Brook got that furious….

And then I realized what they were talking about.

My mind was in a jumble of thoughts, tumbling around one another like they'd crashed on a Ferris wheel, as I strode forward. Time to end this, dang was she angry, Hunter was gonna kill me, Brook never used that language before…

"You know," I said as I let my boots clack loudly on the kitchen floor, "I know that Hunter and I do it all the time, but you really shouldn't curse. It's a bad habit."

It was the thought on my mind at the moment. Too late, I realized it was probably the wrong one.

I found myself staring at the three of them. They were gathered around the table, a map spread out over the dark wood, frozen in place and staring right back at me. Even Moon had stopped squirming and shuffling in her usual goofy manner.

Then Brook seemed to shadow travel, one moment across the room and the next squeezing the air out of my lungs. "Enph," I wheezed, stumbling.

She laughed at me. "You're back!"

Those two words, all she had to say. You're back. Didn't ask where I'd been, what I was thinking, why I was bleeding. Not 'What would Ethan say?'

I'd honestly, truly worried her. Guilt felt like it was rotting my insides.

"Yeah," I rasped through her tight hold, squeezing back lightly. "I'm back."

"And she's alive!" Hunter crowed, shattering the stifling quiet. Her long arms wrapped around us both. "Group hug! Come on, Nico! Join in! We know you want to."

And just like that, everything was back to normal. Her voice made the tension dissolve and the guilt let up and my lips twitch into a smile. The house dispelled the demons it hid and they didn't come back.

For the first time in days, I wasn't scared.

Then, of course, there was the suggested idea of phlegmatic Nico participating in a hug. I laughed.

Brook pulled back first with a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"It's alright," I said, gasping at the air. Hunter let go as well and spun me around, holding me at arm's length by the shoulders. She stared for ten long seconds before nodding and turning me loose.

"Could be worse," she approved, "considering The Patron is looking for a chew toy. Hold on. I've got some nectar in my bag." She disappeared into the living room.

I smiled after her and turned, unconsciously towards the eyes I felt on me. When I caught Nico's gaze, the smile vanished.

He stood rigid, made of stone, lips pressed together and dark eyes beyond furious. In them was the all-too-familiar hate.

I cringed back slightly. "…Hi."

"Hi?" he spat. He didn't have to scowl; I could read it in his eye. "Hi? Where have you been?"

"Um… I, uh, went for… a walk."

"A walk?" Hunter asked as she reappeared, nectar and bandages in hand. "Oh, good. I was afraid it was a jog."

"A walk?" Brook echoed, looking confused.

"Walk. Two-legs walk," Moon confirmed, sniffing my feet. "Concrete smelling."

Nico's crippling glare intensified. "A walk? Why?"

"I, see, uh.. Had a…" Suddenly, the idea seemed ridiculous to me. "…Nightmare?"

"You went out alone? In this hellhole? Do you realize – when you didn't come back…"

He cut off rather suddenly and stared at his feet. I opened my mouth to speak but closed it again when I saw, glinting through his bangs, that the hate was still in his eyes.

I looked away from him. "I'm sorry."

He had no reply.

Hunter motioned towards a chair. "Sit. Let's fix the cut, and you can explain. I'm sure there's a legitimate reason."

"Not really," I muttered, but sat down anyway. I didn't even feel guilty anymore. Just miserable. "It was just a stupid dream. I needed some air, so I set out. I didn't think it'd take that long… I spoke to Charon while I was out, though. And a couple other people. So it wasn't fruitless."

"Charon?" Hunter asked, handing me the nectar. "The skeleton ferry guy?"

"Mm-hm. And I came across Jason Grace. The Roman demigod leader. And then there was this weird chick with knives. She's the one that did this. She tried to say hi and I was a little jumpy and might've started a little scuffle…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," she said, cutting me off with a chuckle. "That all sounds really interesting, but you've got to slow down."

So I did, and I told them. First of the nightmare. Hunter thought that the ruined mansion might be the Underworld, but Nico quickly shut that idea down. I then moved on to Jason and his quest to save demigods. There was discussion on how I'd sent him off, whether he'd come back, and if we should be worried.

"The girl with the knives said they left," I pointed out. "Shay, her name was." Hence us skipping Charon and explaining Shay's odd request first.

I held out my arm for Hunter to see, careful to keep my other hand on the insecure bandage. "This is the address. She's pretty desperate to meet with you."

Hunter studied the grape-colored numbers carefully. "…Huh. Long Beach. Weird."

"Not really," I muttered. "She used a lot of water magic. Though she used them differently than Percy did on Mount Olympus when we fought him."

Hunter's eyes leveled with Nico's. "…Another child of the Big Three?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. She might be, like, the daughter of Triton or something."

His voice was still cold, signaling that I hadn't been forgiven.

I sighed heavily and, slipping my hands under the back of my shirt, tried to tie the bandage behind my back. It wasn't working that well. Every time I let it loose, it'd slide down to a place where I didn't really need it. I'd grunt and move it back into position just to have it fall again before I could tie it.

While I struggled with this, Brook spoke for the first time in ages. "And what did Charon say?"

"Charon? He was a royal hellhound," I muttered. "Decided it was funny to give me Hunter's answer machine routine."

"Great minds think alike," said blonde grinned. She was still trying to cheer us up.

I scowled down at my bandage again and held it firmly on my collar bone, staring at it, trying to figure out a better way to make this work. Maybe if I tied it around my neck, it wouldn't slide as I tied it…

From behind, another pale hand landed on mine. Nico. I craned my head back to smile at him, hope fluttering in my chest, before realizing the cold loathsome look had not left him. He was merely helping. I sighed and went back to tying the bandage.

"Did he have anything useful, though?" Brook asked, suspicion clear in her tone. She knew I had something.

I chewed on my tongue for a moment. "He, uh… He said he knew why the Underworld was closed."

Silence.

"Well?" Nico muttered, hand tensing.

"Apparently, Jupiter ordered it. But he wouldn't explain why."

Another moment of silence.

"Because he's a bull-headed control freak?" Nico muttered bitterly.

A barking laugh escaped my lips. "That's a distinct possibility, but I think The Patron had something to do with it. Maybe it's a protection measure. Maybe something's wrong inside the he doesn't want us to know about. I don't know. But he ordered both Hades and Olympus to be shut down. Charon confirmed it."

"A bull-headed control freak," Nico agreed.

Hunter laughed at it that time. "You know what? I think we already knew this. Why else would The Patron be so interested in LA? If they break into the Underworld, there isn't much in this world that could stop them then. And that would mean she isn't already in there. So it had to be an order from Olympus itself."

"I think that's the only reason he told me," I muttered. "Oh, and he said he'd like to kill us. Sorry, Nico."

He shrugged. "Charon will be Charon. Did you ask him about your dream?"

"Something about him didn't encourage discussion about my personal life."

"Hm," Brook muttered. Her gaze met mine. "So, that's it? Nothing else?"

"No, that's everything. There was one point where I thought I'd seen the drakon outside, but that was my imagination. We'd have heard about it if it was there."

She sighed heavily. "You know what? Ethan was right. We're all idiots. I'm gonna go check the news." With that, she disappeared into the living room.

Nico took his hands off the bandage – I'd finished the knot – and stared after her. "She seems upset."

"She worries. A lot," Hunter sighed. "More than she lets on. She woke up one day to discover Kronos and Ethan were both gone, and us damned to whatever fate Zeus had in mind. Today, she woke up to Bree missing. To top it off, she is the only one here who doesn't have Underworld magic. This place has her on edge. That, and the fact that the drakon got away, and that things don't stay dead. She's used to killing her prey and having it stay that way. Not it coming back and running off."

"This is kind of upside-down to her, isn't it?" I muttered, feeling bad that I hadn't considered that. I mean, I knew she worried, but she'd agreed so easily to come here. Something told me she hadn't known what was in store for her.

"Yeah. Upside-down," Hunter muttered, glancing at the map. "Nico, do you still plan on traveling to the Underworld today? Now that we know it'll be upsetting Zeus?"

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Please. Like Father would listen to him. That tunnel has to be open because he wants us there, no matter what his little brother wants. He knows his realm way better than the guy high on clouds all day."

I wasn't sure if I should laugh at the image that produced or worry that Zeus was now going to kill him for it. But no lightning decided to burst through the house and turn my half-brother to ashes, so I assumed if the god had heard, he was too stubborn to break his quarantine and avenge his dignity.

So I laughed.

Hunter did, too, more of a dark chuckle. "That's true. Still going alone?"

"Well, I was considering the consequences of going alone. Since you're all banned, I figured I didn't have a choice. But you've got summons now."

Hunter looked down at my arm. "…Yeah…"

"And since its in the daytime, you're taking Brook with you. So she doesn't worry."

"…Right…"

"And I'm beginning to wonder if it's wise to leave this idiot alone," he finished, jabbing at my left shoulder.

She nodded, clearly foreseeing this. I just stared at him in shock.

"You want…"

He scowled at me. "Well, did you want to be left here for the dreamt-up werewolves to come and get you?"

"I figured I'd just go with Hunter and Brook…"

"Yeah, well, just in case we run across something down there, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have backup. And someone needs to keep Phil in check, which I've proven I can't do."

Still I stared.

"Stop gaping like that. You look like I've told you The Patron ate your pants."

The contempt in his eyes was still there. Yet here he was offering me an invitation, as if there had never been a problem.

"Sure," I heard myself say. "I'll come with you. I just can't enter the actual Underworld, right?"

"Right. The tunnel should be fine." He stood and stretched. "Well. I'll go get my bag. Hunter, are you sure you guys will be okay?"

"We'll be fine. Brook can shoot a basilisk through the eye at two hundred feet. There's no way we'll fall into any ambush."

I followed them into the living room, where Brook was still examining the mortal news channels. There, they stopped, grabbing bags they'd set ready and packed by the door. I stood patiently to one side.

"Hey," Brook greeted me without taking her eyes from the screen.

"Hey," I sighed. "I really am sorry. Please don't be mad. I already have Nico ticked off."

"What, that psychotic idiot? He's as bad as Zeus," she said, lips twitching. "You should've heard him arguing with that skull earlier. Don't worry about him."

"I heard that," Nico muttered.

A smile broke across her face. "I know!"

"Moon know!" Moon echoed.

I chuckled at them. "Oh, that reminds me – I picked something up for you, Nico. Found it growing through a crack in the sidewalk." I dug around my pocket, shoving aside my iPod, until I found it. "Here."

He frowned at the wilted flower. It had withered and crumpled at my touch, but the wide mane of petals was still very recognizable.

"Ah. That's a dandelion, Ghost Boy," Hunter said, matter-of-factly. "A magical plant that Persephone uses to torture those who annoy her. Have you heard of it?"

He picked up the little flower and studied it. Then, surprising us all, he said, "Yes, actually, I have. She uses the white and fluffy kind, though. That way she can call them old." He raised an eyebrow at me and handed the dandelion back. "Nice try, though."

Moon frowned. "But seedheads are…"

There was a moment of silence as that awkward thought sank in. Nico shifted uncomfortably under our gazes until his eyes lit up and he, too, understood. His face fell to a grim, horrified look.

"No," he said flatly.

Which just made us laugh, and laugh hard.

Cheeks red, he made for the stairs, as if he'd left something up there. Hunter pointed and tried to say something, but it was lost in her hysterics. He refused to look at us.

But I caught a glimpse. On his face was a smile. And not the creepy kind.

oOo

Nyx: Okay so yeah… This scene was not liking me very much… I fail at humor…

Nic: We are still looking for feedback on Shay, guys. Any predictions as to who exactly she is? Please do review! It'd be greatly appreciated!

Nyx: The cover is going slowly, but it's moving. I may lose my computer for a day or two in the near future, but no longer. The cover'll probably REALLY get going when I sit down and randomly decide to dedicate a whole day to it for no reason and then BAM it'll be like just a couple layers from finished. My inspiration will come soon. And hopefully it'll be better than the late inspiration that came for this scene.

Nic: Our poll currently has a five-way tie, if anyone's interested. Fav. PJatO characters. Go ahead and vote if you'd like; we need the tie to break before we close it.

Nyx: I think that's all…. So, until Monday…

Nic: What is that on your desk?

Nyx: An Altoids can…

Nic: And who supplied it this time?

Nyx: Um…. *eats Altoid nonchalantly*