As Nico walked down the hall, he debated going to his room. It would be easier than going to Reyna and apologizing for just dumping how Bianca died on her. Nico stopped walking and sighed. Why did he tell Reyna about Bianca? She obviously wasn't expecting it, and he made the entire conversation awkward. There was no way they were that close.

Nico glanced around at the rooms. It seemed like most of the pirates were asleep. Nico wasn't quite sure what was wrong with most of the crew. They seemed fine before breakfast, but after, most had complained about not feeling well. That was why Reyna and Nico were on the crow's nest. Nico volunteered to keep a lookout, and Reyna joined him to help pass the time.

A minute after Reyna left to escape the awkward conversation, Nico's relief had come. He had climbed down the crow's nest and debated about whether to jump into the ocean or apologize to Reyna. Nico decided on apologizing.

Nico shook his head and forced himself to focus. He was almost to Reyna's office when he felt something like a strong breeze. Nico turned and stared at the mist that covered the floor. He quickly turned back around, only for two pirates to appear out of nowhere.

Both of the pirates immediately turned towards Nico. They both unsheathed their swords, and Nico grabbed his weapon. He heard sudden yells and cries of alarm throughout the ship. Nico didn't understand how he didn't see the mist when he was going below deck. How had this ambush happened?

Reyna's office was only ten feet from him. He watched the quartermaster suddenly stumble into the hallway and catch herself on the wall. One of Nico's attackers turned towards her. Nico gripped his sword and tried to get over his shock.

"Get to Arke!" Reyna yelled. She unsheathed her cutlass but seemed to struggle. Nico realized that her hands were cuffed together. Nico attacked one of the Mistveil pirates, and they stepped back. Reyna slipped in between the pirate and Nico. "Grab the rod and go!"

Reyna deflected an attack and moved closer to Nico. As Nico reached out for the rod, the other pirate almost cut his arm off. He jumped back and deflected an attack. A glance at Reyna showed that she was shoving her attacker away. Then, she slammed into the one who was attacking Nico. Reyna looked at him and yelled, "Just go. I'll give it to you later!"

"I'm not leaving you," Nico said. He didn't care if they were facing impossible odds in an ambush. They would survive this together. Nico stabbed one of the Mistveil pirates, but he blinked, and two more appeared almost out of thin air.

"Go!" Reyna yelled again. Nico shook his head and focused on the pirate that he was attacking. Reyna was his friend, and she was crazy if she thought Nico would just abandon her. "Nico. Go! Take your friends and leave with Arke! That is all that matters!"

Nico wanted to argue, but he knew that Reyna was right. If the Mistveil got their hands on Arke, everything they had done would be useless. Nico stared at Reyna and tried to apologize with his eyes. He backed away and spoke, "Send us a message when you can."

Nico hated himself, but he forced himself to turn away and run down the hall. Nico ran towards the room that he shared with Piper and Jason. As he made it closer, a pirate flew out of the room and slammed into the wall. They crumpled, and Jason stepped out of the room.

"You okay?" Jason asked. Nico nodded but turned back around. He felt Jason grab his arm. "We're going to help."

"We need to leave. Reyna ordered me to find you guys and leave," Nico said. Jason's eyes narrowed, and he instantly shook his head.

"I don't run away from fights," Jason said. Piper stepped next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Jason looked back at her. "We have to help."

"If Reyna is telling us to leave, we should listen to her," Piper said.

"We can't let the Mistveil get their hands on Arke. If they do, the heist and Circe's island would have been for nothing," Nico said. Jason frowned, but he finally nodded. Piper motioned for them to follow, and they took off down the opposite way of the hall. Nico just wanted to turn around and help Reyna, but he couldn't take the chance.

As they made it to Arke's room, they saw two of the Mistveil pirates trying to open the door. Jason slammed into one of them, and Nico knocked out the legs of the other one. He slammed the hilt of his sword into the back of the pirate's head.

Piper knocked on the door and spoke, "Arke, it is us. We need to go."

The door opened a moment later, and Arke peeked her head out. She looked down at the two unconscious Mistveil pirates. Then, she looked at both sides of the hallway. The goddess spoke, "I smell death."

"Smell?" Jason asked. Arke didn't answer. She just let go of the door and turned away. Jason glanced at the two of them in confusion. All Nico and Piper could do was shrug. Arke was saner, but she wasn't completely there. She was still missing a few, well a lot, of marbles. Half of the things that she said made no sense.

"We need to leave," Piper said. Arke turned back towards them. "Reyna ordered us to leave before they can find you."

"I can't leave Reyna. There is death approaching," Arke said. She started to walk out of the room, and it took all three demigods to stop her.

"Reyna ordered us all to leave. We'll see her soon," Nico promised, but he didn't believe his own words. Nico was worried about the pirate sisters, especially Reyna. She was always getting into trouble, and danger followed her wherever she went.

"Let us go then," Arke said softly. She frowned and held out a hand. After a moment, Piper grabbed the goddess' hand. Nico and Jason slowly followed her example. Arke closed her eyes, and her face screwed up in concentration. Arke started to glow. Nico quickly averted his gaze.

A cry of pain caused Nico to look back. Arke stumbled away from them and collapsed into a chair. She hissed and slowly turned to look at her back. Arke stroked her wings and spoke, "It will be okay. You just have to work with me."

Piper offered her hand to Arke, and Jason moved to their side. They both helped Arke stand. The goddess paid no attention to them. She was still focused on her wings. Arke spoke, "Don't talk back to me."

Arke spoke in an ancient language, and a growl left her. She sneered and looked at them. Arke spoke, "My wings won't let us travel."

"Your wings," Nico repeated. He swallowed painfully and studied the goddess. "Why won't they let you?"

"If I knew, I could solve the problem," Arke whispered. She closed her eyes. Nico looked around. It would be up to him to shadow travel, but he had never tried to shadow travel with a goddess before. Would that even work?

"Nico," Jason began. It seemed like he knew what Nico was thinking. It took a moment for Nico to nod. "Where do we go?"

"Wherever Nico can take us without hurting himself," Piper answered. She looked around. "We're running out of time. Let's just get somewhere safe. Then, we can make our way back to the pirate's base."

"Can you handle this?" Jason asked softly. Nico looked at him and nodded. They had no choice but to shadow travel out of there. Arke was just crazy. They couldn't trust that she would try to help the Mistveil pirates.

"I can," Nico said. He glanced back down the hall. All he wanted to do was help Reyna. Would she be able to fight off the pirates? A hand grabbed his arm, and Nico looked at Piper.

"It will be fine," Piper promised. Nico nodded and grabbed Piper's hand. Jason grabbed her other hand. After a few moments, Arke grabbed onto Nico's shoulder tightly. Nico closed his eyes and tried to focus on the shadows.

As Nico focused on their destination, he felt another presence. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and saw someone standing in the shadows. Some of the light glinted off of their Roman armor, and their cloak looked singed. Nico knew he had seen this man once before in a dream.

"Do not worry, son of Hades. I do not come for you," the figure said. Their words echoed all around Nico. "Do get your friends to safety, and I will make sure that you do not interfere."

Nico opened his mouth to ask just who in Hades' name the figure was, but he felt the shadows consuming him. Everything about him started to pin, and there was a painful tug in his gut. Nico's feet hit solid ground, but the world began to spin. Someone called Nico's name, but he didn't hear them as the ground rocked beneath his feet. Nico collapsed and was unconscious before he hit the ground.