As Nico stared at his destroyed chariot, a small sigh escaped him. His gaze moved towards Will. His boyfriend was staring at the injured demigods who lined the chariot track. Thankfully, the injuries didn't seem to be that serious, other than a broken limb or two. Will shook his head and frowned, clearly annoyed. For the past week, Will would not stop talking about something bad happening during the chariot races.

To be fair, the first four races had actually gone really well. All of the chariots had really cool devices and tricks. An average of two demigods per race were injured, which was their lowest amount so far. Nico and Will's race was going to ruin that average, of course. It was also the last race before the finals, where all of the winners went head to head.

It was also the race where every single one of the participants managed to make the worst chariot possible. All of those cool devices and tricks in the other races were not found in this one. Some of the chariots fell apart on the second lap. Others fell apart when a weapon was thrown into a wheel. Only two chariots had been intact by the end of the race, and Nico's chariot was not one of them.

"We won," Nico began. It was technically true. Their chariot may not have been fully intact, but there was enough of it for Nico to cling onto for dear life as it was pushed past the finish line. The Demeter cabin was nice enough to destroy Nico and Will's chariot, get stuck on it, collide with another, and use the momentum from the crash to push Nico's chariot forward. For Nico, it was a win, and he would take it.

"It's going to be a long night," Will muttered. He walked towards the injured demigods. Nico sighed and looked at his chariot. It was split in half, and one of the wheels was barely hanging on. Nico blinked, and he watched a wheel fall to the ground. Of course.

Nico slowly walked towards the chariot and placed a hand to the chariot. It groaned and completely fell apart. Nico stared down at the remains of his chariot and blinked a few times. Then, he turned and walked away. The finals would be in a week, and they could make improvements to their chariot, but they had to use the same chariot as their first race. How was Nico even going to put that back together?

"Oh man. I really need to visit this place more often," a voice said. Nico turned and stared at Infra. The ambassador gave him a wide grin. Her hands were stuffed into the pockets of her blue jeans, but she made rapid arm movements, like she was trying to wave. "Chariot races are like the coolest thing ever."

"You just like the violence," Bellamy commented. Infra shrugged. "How are you doing, Ambassador Di Angelo?"

"I'm good," Nico said. He was aware of the fact that he was drenched in sweat, wasn't wearing his favorite jacket, and probably looked like he had gotten into a fight with the ground. At Camp Jupiter, Nico felt like he was starting to get a bit of the cool kid reputation with the ambassadors, and part of him felt like this was totally wiping out that image.

"Do you guys win a trophy or something?" Titus questioned. Nico slowly examined the ambassadors. Infra was leaning against Bellamy, which only seemed to annoy him. Titus was examining all of the demigods around them. Anthony was in the background smiling, probably because of all of the destruction. The only one he didn't see was Arria.

"That race was just to qualify for the finals," Nico said. He looked at the rubble. "We need to rebuild this in a week."

"I can help," Arria said from behind Nico. After jumping and feeling like another year had been taken off of his life, Nico turned towards Arria. "I know a thing or two about chariots. You did good with no tricks up your sleeves."

"Thanks," Nico said. He looked at all of the ambassador. "No offense, but why are you guys here?"

"The Senate wants us to visit Camp Half-Blood," Titus replied. "We are suppose to find the director. Chiron I believe. Is he the Chiron from the stories?"

"He is," Nico confirmed. Infra cursed and muttered something about five dollars. As she went to pull her hand out of her pocket, Bellamy slapped her arm. She gave him a look and spoke in Latin. Bellamy responded back in Latin, and it sounded like they were going to get into an argument.

"Enough," Arria said. The two looked at her. "We need to make a good impression on the Greeks. Titus, you and I will go speak to Chiron, and you can meet the legend himself."

Nico watched the two walk away. It wasn't until they made it to Chiron that Nico heard movement. Infra walked right into his personal bubble and got in his face. Nico took a step backwards, only to run into someone else. A glance back showed it was Anthony.

"Sorry Nico," Bellamy said. He glanced around. "We just need to know why Reyna broke up with Arria. It's been tearing Arria apart."

"I saw Arria crying. She doesn't cry. I didn't even know that she knew how to cry. I swear she only knew how to smirk and get on my nerves," Infra said. "So, why did Reyna break her heart?"

"I don't know," Nico lied. He couldn't tell them the truth without breaking his promise to Reyna. "I've asked Reyna, but she won't tell me. She just gets really upset and tells me to drop it. Has Arria told you guys anything?"

"No," Anthony answered. He sighed. "We can tell that it is tearing her apart, but she won't tell us what happened. We didn't even know that they broke up until Infra teased Arria and got snapped on for it. We just want to help our friend."

Nico looked down. Did Nerva care that her blackmailing Reyna was causing a ripple effect? Why was Nerva blackmailing Reyna anyway? It had been a week since Nerva confronted Reyna, and as far as Nico knew, Nerva hadn't said another word to Reyna. No news was hopefully good news.

"I guess we have to go confront the praetor for answers," Infra said. She glanced around and started to make those rapid arm movements again, even though her hands were still in her pockets. Nico turned and watched Annabeth walk up to all of them.

Annabeth greeted them and glanced at Nico in confusion. Nico spoke, "They are here to visit Camp Half-Blood. Did Hazel use shadow travel for to bring you guys here? Where is she?"

"We rode a private jet," Infra said with a shrug. Nico shared a look with Annabeth, and he could see Bellamy shaking his head. "My mother married this real rich guy, and he let me take the private jet from California to here. Did you know that Titus is afraid of heights? Arria's coming back. Act normal."

"We weren't even talking about her," Nico began, but Infra gave him a scalding look. Even though Nico knew that Arria was coming, he didn't hear her footsteps. He really needed to get lessons from her. Arria appeared at Nico's side and studied all of them.

"Hey Arria, how are you doing?" Annabeth asked. Arria shrugged slightly. She slowly slid her backpack off of her shoulder and pulled out some files. Bellamy laughed, and Infra's mouth dropped open.

"No. No. No. I did not forget any of my files. I triple checked everything. I did not forget to give a single paper to the praetors," Infra argued.

"You say that all the time," Anthony said. Bellamy laughed again. "It's no surprise that you left something out. Just be grateful that Arria is there to cover for you."

"I'll slip it into the papers that I give the praetors," Arria muttered. She handed a paper to Infra. After a moment, Infra rolled her eyes and signed the paper without looking at it. Arria tucked the paper away and looked at Annabeth. "I'm doing fine. How are you?"

"Everything is going good. For now," Annabeth said. She focused on Infra and then the hands that were in her pocket. "You guys aren't going to destroy anything or steal anything, right?"

Infra didn't say a word. She just gave them a half shrug. Bellamy and Anthony gave each other looks. Arria spoke, "If they do anything to disturb the camp, they will answer to me."

The other ambassadors didn't say a word, but they did seem to pale. Infra glanced around, and Anthony grabbed her arm and led her away. Bellamy spoke, "Do you have temples here?"

"Not really. I can show you," Annabeth said. She looked at Arria. "We should gather the other ambassadors, and I will give them a tour."

Arria nodded. Annabeth led Bellamy away, which left Arria and Nico alone. After a few moments, Arria sighed and looked at Nico. She spoke, "I have a question for you, Nico. I just want a real answer. Why did Reyna break up with me?"

Nico met Arria's gaze. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked exhausted. Arria spoke, "I just want an answer, please. Reyna won't talk to me. She has been avoiding me, and I can't take it anymore. What did I do, Nico? Please just tell me."

"I can't," Nico said. Arria stared at him. There was something in her eyes that Nico had never seen before, and he didn't like it. "I wish I could, but I can't."

"I just want an answer!" Arria snapped. She stared at Nico for a few moments and took deep breaths. "I just want to know what I did wrong. Reyna says she loves me one day, and then, she won't talk to me the next. Nico, I just want to know what I did."

Nico looked away. He felt absolutely terrible. Nico knew exactly why Reyna had broken up with Arria, but he couldn't break his promise to Reyna, even if they weren't any closer to a solution.

"I guess Nerva was right," Arria muttered. Nico slowly looked back at Arria. "Nerva said that Reyna only wanted to use me for sex. Reyna didn't actually care about me. I just don't know why Reyna would have agreed to go out with me. Our relationship could have stayed how it was."

"Nerva is bribing Reyna," Nico said. As soon as he said the words, he wanted to grab them and shove them back into his mouth. How could he just say that? How did he just break his promise to Reyna? Arria stared at him. "Nerva knows that Reyna committed patricide, and she told Reyna to break up with you."

Why was Nico still talking? Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut and not say anything? Arria spoke, "Reyna broke up with me because Nerva told her to? Why is Nerva bribing Reyna?"

"I don't know," Nico answered. After a moment, he decided to tell Arria everything. He had already broken his promise to Reyna, so it wasn't like he would gain any brownie points by hiding any information. "Last week, Nerva stopped by Reyna's house, and she kept accusing Reyna of doing something to you. Arria, was Reyna ever abusive to you? Did she do something to hurt you?"

"No," Arria replied. "Reyna and I had our arguments, but she wasn't abusive. She didn't hurt me. I don't know what Nerva is talking about."

Nico nodded. For a few moments, he thought of telling Arria about Reyna's theory that the Inquisition had something to do with the town. He decided to keep his mouth shut on that one. Arria spoke, "Thank you for telling me, Nico. It's nice to have a reason."

"You can't tell Reyna or anyone else," Nico said. Arria looked at him and nodded. Her gaze moved away from his. The anger that he saw earlier was back in her eyes, but this one made his gut twist. "You can't tell Nerva that you know."

"I won't," Arria muttered. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "The dream that you had at the town. It was lifelike, correct? It seemed like it had actually happened, and it was hard to differentiate it from reality?"

"I thought it was real," Nico confirmed. He thought about his dream and almost shivered. The thought of all of his friends dying by the hands of his best friend was still not something he was comfortable with. The events of the dream freaked him out as well, especially since Reyna had nearly killed him in it."

"You were stabbed with a needle?" Arria asked. Nico looked at Arria and nodded. It seemed like her mind was racing, and there was a frown on her face. She finally cursed in Ancient Greek and crossed her arms. It seemed like her mind was somewhere else.

"What are you thinking?" Nico asked, but he didn't receive a response. A hand suddenly clasped onto his shoulder, and he felt someone shove him away. Nico stumbled and turned around.

"Scram. I need to talk to her alone," Clarisse said. She sneered at Nico and then looked at Arria. After a few moments, Arria looked at Clarisse. Nico really debated telling Clarisse to back off. Arria clearly wasn't in the mood to be talked to.

"Whatever you want to say can be said in front of Nico," Arria muttered. Clarisse looked at Nico for a few moments. She finally shook her head and looked around once again.

"Do you know Gleeson Hedge? He's the Satyr who has probably showed you all of his karate moves. His birthday is coming up soon," Clarisse said. She leaned in closer to Arria. "He's a big fan of the Specter of Sparta and would love an autograph."

Arria stared at Clarisse for a few moments. Then, her gaze moved down to the ground. Arria spoke, "How did you know?"

"I recognize the tattoos," Clarisse explained. Arria closed her eyes. "It's only because Hedge and I have watched the fights dozens of times. If this is awkward, forget I asked."

"Just don't tell anyone," Arria said. She opened her eyes and looked at Clarisse. "Swear to me that you will not say a word."

"Of course not," Clarisse said. Arria glanced at Nico. "Hey. I am not going to tell anyone. I'm not going to judge you for the things that you did, whether it be for thrills or money. I really don't care."

Arria nodded and glanced around. She spoke, "I left my past behind years ago, but I will give Hedge an autograph."

"I'll get his favorite club. Thank you," Clarisse said. She turned and hurried away. Arria sighed tiredly and closed her eyes. After a few moments, she nodded.

"Well, we should discuss your chariot," Arria said. She opened her eyes and looked at Nico. There was that scary look in her eyes once again, and it seemed all too familiar. "I have a few ideas that might improve, and we should also make sure that Infra hasn't tried to steal anything. She's been eyeing the hill."

"The Golden Fleece?" Nico asked. He stared at the hill. That was the last thing they needed.

"Oh no. The dragon," Arria replied. Nico looked at her and then back at Peleus. "She's done it twice before. It's a long story. Just make sure that her hands don't leave her pockets."

"Great," Nico said, and he almost let out a tired breath. Arria smirked, but she looked off into the distance. There was this look in her eyes that scared Nico. He recognized it all too well. It was the same look that he got when he was going to do something that he would regret. Nico just hoped that he hadn't made a mistake by telling Arria the truth.