AN: I can still recall, ourrr last summerrr (trust me, it makes sense). Anyway, I'm half sorry about this chapter's ending. Not.

For some reason, she was weirdly peaceful when she woke up. She was warm to the point where it was like a nice bath. Relaxation. Which was yet again strange considering she felt no comforter. Then she realised she wasn't in her bed. Yeah, that's when things got weird. Especially when she remembered exactly where she was and what she was doing there. Then everything started to hurt. From her knees to her neck, it stung like hell.

She bit the inside of her cheek as she freed herself and stood. Standing, she then discovered, was a lot worse. She would have to pull through it, though. Mostly because she couldn't find words to say that wouldn't make everything more complicated than it was already. She sighed. An eye for an eye, right? Wrong, this was more like a fingernail for an arm.

She groaned. Apparently her jeans had somehow disappeared into the void. Perfect. Well, she could just shadow travel... Yeah, that was a good idea-

"Good morning to you too."

Damn. Perhaps the worst part about all of this was that she couldn't bear to speak. "Ithoughtyouwereasleep," she said really quickly.

"I was, until you began playing the drums or whatever."

"Yeah, well, your workshop's messy."

"And what were you looking for, exactly?"

"Pants," she murmured.

He looked her up and down. "What happened to y- oh."

"'Oh' what?" But she glanced herself. Most of her thighs were covered with burns. From the way the rest of her clothed body felt, there were probably a lot more. "Holy shit! What did you do to me?"

Surprisingly, his faced darkened slightly. "Well-"

She rolled her eyes. "You know what, I'll live with it." Physical punishment. Well, she probably deserved it.

"Do you want me to take you to the infirmary?"

Was he kidding? "And say what? 'Leo Valdez can't control his powers'? I'll be fine." She heard a creaking noise down one of the many tunnels of Bunker Nine. "What's that?"

"Nothing..."

But she saw a gleam of bronze out of the darkness. It took a few minutes but soon she found herself face to face with a bronze dragon. "Hey... Festus..." She took a few steps back. If he was still unpredictable, she was in no shape to fight. "I thought he broke down in the winter," she called out.

Leo appeared behind her, partially clothed, thankfully. "That was months ago." She guessed the reason why he was shirtless had something to do with the fact that she ripped it in two. And then she remembered. Flickering lights, harsh floor, heat. Losing control of her English, words not making sense at all, true speechlessness. Fire. Great, now she was drooling. She decided it probably wasn't best to mention the claw marks that covered his back.

"Are you okay?"

She snapped out of it. "Yeah." It was a lie. She was struggling to breathe. "You?"

"I'm good." He tapped his sides, like he was struggling to stand still.

Her brain didn't seem to be awake yet, apparently, since she took a step closer to him. "Uncommon now, isn't it? Two people being completely fine."

"Unless you're lying," he gulped. "How do you really feel?"

"Like I want to take you down below, feed you pomegranate seeds and never let you leave."

"You could do that?" His hands rested against the wall of tunnel, which seemed to be getting narrower by the second.

"If you were stupid enough... Or willing. But that would never happen, right?"

"Uh..." His voice raised in pitch slightly.

"Be thankful I have some self restraint. Believe me, if you knew..."

"Then what?" It was a question of curiosity, not challenge.

She whispered into his ear this time. "Then you wouldn't be walking for weeks." She took a step back. "So he's all fixed up?" It was a sudden change, going back to Festus.

"Pretty much." He regained his composure. "I've tested him further than Washington and he seemed to manage it, so..."

"I guess you're going to fly to Ogygia now, then?" Her gaze dropped. Dread, maybe. Jealously? Not relevant. It couldn't be. Not now.

"Not right now," he mumbled. "I still can't figure out the astrolabe. If the Styx's timer runs out..." The last part was almost unintelligible, but she heard it.

"The Styx's timer?"

"You know, before the eternal punishment sets in-" he realised what he just said.

"You swore an oath!? Are you absolutely insane!? Now I'm convinced you have a death wish!"

"You did it as well! To the giants, remember?"

"But that was something that actually mattered!"

"And this doesn't?"

"Oh, I don't know! The world against some random girl that falls in love with every guy she sees! Which will win?" She turned away.

He didn't get mad, rather annoyingly. In fact, he had the gall to laugh. "Nicole, are you jealous?"

"No," she said quickly. "But perhaps I care about you enough to hope you don't get tortured over and over forever."

"Sure..."

"Look, do who you want. I mean, what you want! Whatever. I have to go." Without another word, she faded into the shadows.

~0o0~

If there was something she was grateful for, it was definitely her supplies of Nectar. She thought, as she spilled the liquid over her burn covered body, that she would probably spontaneously combust at some point. She already felt her skin beginning to melt. Enough.

Well, as she looked in the mirror in her cabin she decided it had helped a lot. The Nectar had helped to heal the worst of the burns, and made some disappear all together. It wasn't perfect, but at least she could walk without wincing. She'd just have to wear her aviator jacket for the next few weeks. Maybe battle a monster or two so she had something to blame the scars on.

Speaking of battles, she probably should go check on the Hecate cabin. Well, given the attack was less than twenty four hours ago, she probably wouldn't have much look. Most likely, they hadn't even started to look at the strange salt.

The thought had been enough to get her outside, though. Outside and not looking. "Sorry," she muttered, before looking up at the person she'd just walked in to. "Oh, hey Percy," she said, returning her focus to the ground.

"You're speaking to me?"

"Oh," she said, "guess I am."

"Are you okay after yesterday? I came to the infirmary, but you weren't there."

Fortunately for you. "I was attending an important council meeting. Which you should have been at, by the way. So where were you, Percy?" The level of accusation in her tone was unmissable, but this was Percy she was talking about.

"I told you," he itched the back of his neck. "At the infirmary."

She raised an eyebrow. "For the approximate two hours of important information exchange?"

"You know what I'm like with time..."

Was Percy... lying? Even if she didn't know, she wouldn't believe him. But he was trying. She swallowed. Gods, she remembered when she was under the impression that there wasn't a dishonourable bone in his body. "Walk with me."

It was a strange request. Both of them were well aware of that. "Really?"

"Yeah," she tried to smile, "of course." She was instantly certain it was a bad idea. A walk was meant to clear your head, not fill it with a bunch of other shit. But every step stung like a thousand suicidal bees. She remembered looping Camp Half Blood, just like this, before. However, those times she had a real smile on her face. She recalled it all. Mainly being completely drenched one day because Percy decided it would be 'funny' to push her in the canoe lake. Of course, that gave him an 'excuse' to put his arm around her for 'drying purposes'. Well, his powers had taken strangely long to work. Now they just walked in silence. No laughter. No play fighting. No royally pissing off a nymph because they were making out against her tree.

These feelings, whatever they were, made her almost regretful. Cliche, she knew, but if she had one wish... She wouldn't go to the other world. It was that she would blame. Thinking about that was better than words. What would have happened, then? Everything would be a lot less messed up, she supposed.

"You trust me, right?" Her question was random and unprepared.

He looked at her strangely. "I told you where my mortal point was, when I had one."

"Right..." She took a deep breath. "We'd tell each other, wouldn't we, if there was anything we should talk about."

"I guess so-"

"I'm sorry." He raised an eyebrow. "I've been a really shitty girlfriend recently. Well, for ages actually. I know I went a bit AWOL but I'm better now, I think. But nothing excuses my behaviour and if I could I would take it back. Honestly, I wouldn't blame you if you ran off the the hundreds of other girls that would treat you like they should." Well, at least that started well.

He took a deep breath. "It's not that you didn't speak to me it's that you didn't tell me why."

She bit her lip. "I don't trust myself to talk about it."

"This is it! Why, even!"

"Percy," she tried to keep her voice calm, "can't you just accept that and move on?"

"Why should I?"

"Because I know you!" She raised her voice. "And I know exactly how you'll react."

He gave up evidently. "I guess that's how much you trust me."

"I killed someone." Once the words had fallen out of her mouth, she instantly wanted to take them back. But she couldn't. The least she could do was not mention the specifics.

He stood frighteningly still. "You... what?"

Somehow, she managed to hold it together. "It was necessary. I had a goal, he stood in my way."

"What-"

"A demigod," she said, just to keep it simple. She was still lying, though. What she really meant was 'demigods' and two immortal beings. But that was hard, she actually didn't know how many there had been. "And no, I'm not proud of it. But I wouldn't take it back either. That's what you wanted, isn't it? Some sort of heartfelt confession."

He shifted, finally. "Why didn't you just tell me before?"

She faltered. "Because of a year ago. Why have the same argument again?"

"You're not sorry at all, are you?"

"No." She looked him straight in the eye. "I wasn't a month ago when I did it, I'm not now. And honestly, I never will be."

"And not speaking to me?"

She could tell him part of the truth. "You need to stay away. Before the bodies pile up." Literally.

She'd barely seen Percy in deep thought before, mainly because he was so impulsive, but she guessed this was one of the few times. "What do you mean, 'bodies pile up'?"

"It doesn't matter. You wouldn't understand, anyway. You don't have the capacity to do something wrong, right?" She didn't let him answer before she walked away. She couldn't stay, she realised. That didn't mean she was immediately going to take off, though. Gaia first. Then she'd leave. Everyone was better off without her, anyway.

But right then, she also needed to leave. If they were going to kick Earth's ass, they needed to do it quickly. The only way to achieve that? Underneath.

~0o0~

No sooner had she gotten to the old entrance, she heard footsteps. "No," she said firmly. "You are not coming into the labyrinth with me."

"You're not going alone," he protested.

"Alone is what I do, Leo, you should have learnt that by now."

"I'll follow you down."

"I'll shadow travel."

"I know you're powerful, but you can't be ridiculous enough to think you'll be okay down there by yourself!"

"Why not? I did it when I was thirteen and I came off perfectly fine."

"You had a ghost to tell you where to go and didn't you fall straight into their trap?"

"That's beside the point," she muttered. "But," she groaned, "it would be useful, maybe..."

He grinned. "So, how do we get in?"

"Well," she looked at the pile of rocks. "I kinda blocked it a few years ago, but..." She clicked her fingers, and the many shards of obsidian shrunk back into the ground. "Amateur," she muttered, "probably could have destroyed them with ordinary tools."

"That wasn't intimidating at all," he said.

She half smiled. "Get used to it."

She was almost concerned when the hole through Zeus' fist still led to the tunnels. It was light, for some reason. She recognised it as a modern subway station. At least, it appeared like that. Pristine floors and walls, all painted white. Okay then, so a brand new, fancy station.

"See? It's not that bad," Leo commented beside her.

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. "Look behind you, the way we just came." She turned as he did, and sure enough an inch behind them was filled in with uncovered bricks. They turned round again, and the subway station had become a whole tunnel of these bricks.

"How did you know it was going to do that?"

"The labyrinth is created to trick you," Nicole said, looking at every inch of the place. "The second you can't see it, it may not exist. If you turn back like that again, anything could go wrong. So don't."

"Where are we, then?"

It may be a little fun to mess with him. "Look at your compass."

"That's messed up." She looked over his shoulder at it. With every foot step, it changed its mind about which direction they were facing.

"I told you," she said, "direction and distance are meaningless. We could be in China for all I know."

"China, right." He looked around in amazement again. "And time?"

She shrugged. "We could have been here for years. Which means we have to start moving." They walked side by side for a few minutes, but it could have been hours for all she knew. Apart from the randomly changing tunnels, there was nothing to deal with. Something told her that was bad. She groaned internally.

"What are we looking for, exactly?"

And that was why she shouldn't have let him come. "Anything but a fight, for once. Not alone. Even I'm not that cocky. We're just going to prove my theory about the giants' base. So we're only looking."

"Isn't that exactly what you said not to do?"

"Have you forgotten my personality or-" Without warning, Leo pinned her against the wall. She was about to shout at him, but he covered her mouth.

"There are monsters through that arch." He pointed. Gods, she hadn't even noticed the weird split in the tunnel. Or the voices. Slowly she removed his hand.

"Can you see what they are?" She whispered.

"I have no idea," he replied.

"Great," she muttered. Her blood started pumping faster. Like it was trying to point her somewhere. "Trials," she said suddenly. "Gaia wants to know if we're worthy of her time."

"How do you-"

She hushed him. "Earth and fire... Volcanoes."

"I thought you weren't looking for a fight," he protested.

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind. And we may as well give them a show."

"Hephaestus is god of fire not hot stuff everywhere!"

She rolled her eyes. "No harm in trying." With a nod of the head she let go of him and slid across the hall. Now they were each stood at different sides of the archway. She crouched, feeling the earth churn beneath her feet. She wouldn't dig as deep as last time, no way, only far enough to find a pocket or whatever the term was.

The hole wasn't large, just big enough for an average sized person to fall through. She mouthed 'magma' to Leo, and they got to work. She began to raise the melted rock to the surface, Leo keeping the heat in so it remained a liquid. The result was an eruption of lava and screams from the monsters. Dying, presumably. The effect was larger than she's expected. In fact, she had to use even more energy to create a 'shield' to stop the lava from coming out of the room and into the tunnel.

Once they were certain there was no living being was left, he nodded and she forced the majority of the lava down the plug hole, quickly sealing it. Time to breathe. He waded through the steady stream of lava, his arms positioned like he was going to scoop her up. "Um, no," she said. "Do I look like a damsel in distress?"

He rolled his eyes. "Would you like to burn alive?"

"Turn around." He obliged, and she hopped on his back. The room didn't look natural. It was painted white, in the shape of a ring. No way. And if there were monsters... "We found it. The beginning of Gaia's lair."

"So we're going now?"

"Are you kidding? We may never find it again!" She looked over her shoulder. The opening they'd come through was gone. Now there was another one in the opposite direction. They didn't have a lot of choice. She was about to let go of him as the entered the next corridor, but he stopped her.

"There's something here."

"Are you really going to make me-"

"Yes." He shuffled initially, but then took more confident steps. They weren't normal, he was avoiding stepping on something. A kind of mechanism she couldn't see. He looked back once they were through. "I wish I could disable it, but I'm not sure what kind of system it is. If I took a closer look-"

"We're alive, that's all that matters." Relief spread through her when her feet hit the floor. She was surprised to find it was sand, like a fighting arena. "What do you think would have happened if you stepped wrong?"

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "Explosions, arrows, a warning alarm. Anything."

"Next tunnel, then?" She looked ahead.

He stepped first, cautiously. "Clear, as fast as I can tell." He felt the walls. In fact, it was the easiest tunnel yet. Absolutely nothing, but it was the anxiousness that set her on edge. The passage way seemed to last for hours, all of which time they took in silence. It was almost blissful when the opening appeared. This ring was different, though. Instead of it being empty, there was a large machine. One part of it was a giant wooden cube, about the size of herself. But it was resting above the ground, like you'd be able to lie underneath it. What was odder, however, was the fact that the cube was split into nine smaller squares, each having a different shade. Some repeated, though, like there was meant to be a pattern. Beside the cube was a table of levers (well, they looked like levers). Six, to be exact. Each was resting in the middle. Aside from that, there was no door open.

"It's a giant Rubik's Cube," Leo said, "I used to solve them all the time."

"What's a Rubik's Cube?" She asked.

"A puzzle," he said. "I think these," he pointed at the lever looking things, "are what turns it."

She pulled one down to test it, the first to her left, and sure enough the top three squares turned ninety degrees anticlockwise. Pulling it up, she discovered, changed the cube back to what it had previously looked like. "You think you can do it?" All he did was smile. For the next twenty minutes or so, he shouted commands like 'one, up' or 'five, down'. But finally, with the last pull of the lever, the puzzle was solved. All the darker tones were on one side, the lightest on another.

"Damn I'm rusty," he muttered. But without warning two parts of the wall began to disappear into the ground. One contained a raging fire for as far as she could see, the other a wall of water. "Great," he said, "what's this?"

She looked at the two paths. "I'd say it was pretty obvious. Fire or water, opposite elements."

"You're going to swim, then?"

Her heart sank, no pun intended. Most people would choose the water. It was safer somehow, less threatening. The smarter option, no doubt. Bad stuff could happen in water, sure, but it didn't scream death the way fire did. It would be so easy, just a few movements and she'd be done. There was something about the heat, though. It was uncontrollable, once it was lit nothing could ever be the same, danger, she would never get out of it unharmed. But it was also passion, thrilling danger, life in one of its purest forms. She grabbed Leo's arm and looked him in the eye. "Fire. I'll always choose fire."

His face lit up momentarily. "I'm not sure if I can-"

"You will."

"Sometimes I can barely protect something that's on me! I don't think I'm powerful enough."

Slowly, she reached out and touched the flames. She felt nothing but pleasant warmth, like a sunny day. "Told ya." She pulled him further so they were both fully engulfed in the fire. It was tingly, sure, but bearable. The tunnel wasn't even that long, but every second felt strange. Good strange, but still unusual. She was doing something she wasn't supposed to. She liked that, for some reason.

Within a minute, they were out in another ring, without a cube this time. She was completely fine, but Leo nearly collapsed. "I'm sorry," she said, giving him a square of her emergency Ambrosia. "I forget sometimes."

"I'm fine," he lied. "See," he removed her support, "ready to go."

She smiled. "And I remember when you couldn't get a candle's worth of flame."

"I'm fine!" But then he stopped, and cupped her cheek. "Look."

She was scared. She took a step back. "We can't."

"Why?"

"Because," she shook slightly, "it's not right. Not now."

"So you want to pretend like it never happened?" He accused.

"Yes," she said, "because it shouldn't have!"

"You stay here," his tone was cold, "I'll go first to check for anything else."

"I'm going too."

"You'll never be able to sense it like I can."

She tried to stand taller. "I'm not just going to stand here!"

"Five minutes," he said, "and then you can play hero."

"Oh my gods, are we really doing this right now? Grow up, Leo."

"Me grow up? Have you looked at yourself recently?"

She glared at him, almost tired. "Now's not the time for this. I can feel it, I don't know how, but I can. She's laughing. Just go, I don't care anymore. Leave before I regret it."

"That's rich."

She was extremely close to slapping him. "It could have been anyone and I would still take it back! Why can't you get that?"

"Oh, I got it." He walked swiftly away down the tunnel.

"Not like that," she whispered, but it was too late. He was already gone. So she paced around the ring. Every second felt like an hour. She was sure it had been five minutes, but she was probably just being anxious. She counted this time, and the time had definitely passed. She groaned, trying to mask her own concern.

There was nothing down the tunnel, that she could see. It was just dark. Eventually it opened out into another ring, identical to the one before. Empty. But then she saw it out of the corner of eye. A dim, sickly glow. A golden bubble and... Leo's body. She ran over, without thinking, and tried to break through. It stung, so hard she fell back.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, you'll probably hurt him more." Nicole turned quickly, to see a girl of about her age. She was beautiful, yes, but the one word that filled her brain was 'youthful'.

"What's happening?"

She blinked, her eyes wide when she opened them. "Don't you wish to learn who I am?"

"No time," she raised her voice.

"My name's Hebe."

Usually, Nicole would have been respectful to a goddess, but she couldn't think straight. "Do something, then!"

"That's why I'm here," she walked over slowly. "To answer your question, it seems to be an outdated immortality spell."

"Immortality?!"

"Gaia's final push," she nodded. "There's nothing I can do to save him, I am truly sorry about that."

"Then why-"

"If you were to be immortal now, you would need a majority blessing from the Olympians. This spell, however, only required someone with enough power and me, my charm."

"Of course," she murmured, "eternal youth."

"The most I can do is allow this, face whatever punishment I'm given, and let Gaia get what she wants. I'm sad for you, Nicole. If I reject her attempt, he will die. But you should make the decision."

Was she crazy? Thanks, Hebe, for putting her in control of the world's fate. She tried to comprehend losing him for just a moment. "Do it." They were perhaps the most selfish words she would speak for a long time, but she didn't care if the world crashed and burned. It would be worse if he died.

Hebe nodded and placed her hand on the bubble. From her facial expression, Nicole could tell it hurt her too. She chanted something, so old it wasn't even Ancient Greek, and a tear rolled down her face. "It's done. The Earth Goddess is ready. Run, Nicole di Angelo, before she wakes. It will be your life if you're not fast enough."

She vanished, then, and Nicole was completely still. She needed to go, but her legs just wouldn't move. She watched, just wishing she could get through. She said 'I'm sorry' over and over again, but it made no difference. She couldn't leave.

Suddenly, the barrier disappeared. Nicole became more alert as Leo sat up, slowly. He looked no different at first glance. Then she saw his eyes, which were black voids. She shook as he ignored her, standing and testing his limbs. Then he faced her and blinked, like a robot.

"Leo?"

"Nicole di Angelo, daughter of Hades, blood sister of mine." The voice was what shook her the most. It wasn't Leo's at all, but not overly feminine. In fact, it was a sound she could not even begin to describe. She realised that it wasn't Leo at all. He was gone. "I am Gaia."

She may have made a choking noise.

"This isn't a preferable body, but it will do." Gaia held out Leo's palm, and fire began to shine. "Interesting." Gaia returned her attention to Nicole. "I have a message for your friends. I'm back, and there's nothing they can do before I regain my true form. You have sixty days before my power is at full. If you want to be spared, your own conscience will find me."

Leo's form began to shine, and Nicole knew exactly what Gaia was doing. True godly form. But she was foolish. So she looked, because she could not turn away. All she was blinding light and then painful darkness.

~0o0~

The ground scraped against her back. Her head hurt more, though. She groaned. Was she being... dragged? Immediately she sat up, tugging at the bronze that was wrapped around her leg. She might have said she was shocked when the dragon turned and snorted at her like 'don't think about tugging me again', but honestly, it was one of the least crazy things she'd seen in her extended life.

She panicked. Massively. At first. Then she somehow managed to manoeuvre her may out of its grasp. The dragon turned its head again, obviously annoyed. She realised then that the dragon was made out of metal. "Festus," she said, almost sleepily, "you co-dependent idiotic machine."

His eyes glowed red. Insulted. Right. "Why did you follow us, huh?" She tried to pat his head, but he turned it up. "Fine." He looked at her pocket longingly. "Get me back to Camp Half Blood and I'll give you food. Deal?" He lowered his back, but first looked around.

How in Hades was she alive? She choked up a little. "Leo's gone, Festus." Then she stood properly, looking down the empty tunnel. Anger. Uncontrollable rage. She stamped extra hard, causing all the ground she could see in front of her to split in two. "I'm going to kill you Gaia," she almost screamed. "I don't care what it takes, what I have to do. Just know that I will tear you apart until you're nothing. And when you die in the most painful way, I will stand there and laugh, even if I die too." Then she took a deep breath, trying not to rip the world apart. "I don't care if I die. I'm never going to be afraid of you."

She turned back to Festus, before pressing her hand against a glowing delta. "I don't think he's ever coming back." That's when she lost the rest of her remaining sanity.