Chapter 8

"Something's up," said Harry, storming into the Gryffindor common room. He plopped down on his favorite chair, stuffed from the delicious feast, and groaned. "I finally defeat Voldemort, and then eight of his minions are out to get me. What else could go wrong?"

A voice cut through his contemplation. "Pixie Coral." The portrait of the fat lady swung open, and in climbed Percy and Annabeth.

"Oh yeah, they're in our House."

"Hi!" They smiled nervously and sat down. Harry eyed them while they sat and whispered, Percy's arm around Annabeth's shoulders. Harry frowned and tried eavesdropping.

"It shouldn't be too messy. We don't want to make a scene. We just have to kill him."

"Exactly. He should've been dead long ago. Him and his friends too."

Harry jumped, immediately alert. Kill him, dead long ago, friends too. They were after him. He looked at his best friends next to him and promised that he wouldn't let them get hurt.

More and more students filled the common room, and chatter made it impossible to hear Percy and Annabeth's conversation. Hermione and Ron were soon bored of watching Harry uselessly spy on the new kids, so they decided to retire for the day. Eventually, Harry was having trouble keeping his eyelids open, so he too staggered to bed. One after another, the common room's residents decreased, until the only ones left were Percy and Annabeth. They stayed up for hours, being stuck on New York time. Talking and talking, telling stories and reliving memories, they tried to feel at home, when they were anything but.

At the same time in the Slytherin tower…

Nico was lounging in a armchair, thinking about the crazy events in the past 48 hours. Of course, his friends from camp had shown up, but something else had caught him off guard.

Two days ago, the nightmares came back. Nico was pushing through Tartarus alone, fighting monsters, smelling death. He had no one to rely on, no one to keep him sane. He was at the breaking point, but he had to keep going. He collapsed in pain, unable to take it any longer. Monsters surrounded him, ready to pounce. Nico was panting, sweat dripping into his eyes, blisters bubbling on his arms and legs. "No, no, no!" He cried. Images flashed before his eyes.

The gods sitting on their thrones, scowling on him. Percy, Annabeth, Jason, all of them standing in front him. "You failed me," they said in one voice. It was Bianca's. The ground under his friends caved, and they fell into an endless pit. Nico lunged for a hand and caught it. He hauled the body up. All the monsters transformed into Bianca, hissing and growling. He felt razor sharp claws pierce his skin, and he whipped around to face his friend. Bianca looked right back into his face. He remembered being trapped in the jar, his breath clouding the glass, and now he felt trapped in the same way. The Bianca next to him yelled, "It's your fault, it's all yours! It's your fault I'm dead." The hundreds of Biancas pounced on him, teeth and claws bared.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Nico woke up in the common room screaming, flailing and kicking his arms and legs. Panting frantically, he reached into his robes and clawed out a picture of Will. For several minutes, Nico sat there, the photo calming him down, telling him, "It's ok, it was just a dream." The more he said it the less he believed it. He had had enough. Nico stood up to go to his dorm, ready for a good night sleep, even though it was highly unlikely.

On the way there, he spotted Leo in the corner with a girl he'd never seen before. Although, he didn't recognize her, he had seen other students acknowledging her in the hallway, as if she had been there the whole time. He squinted to get a better look, and the girls green eyes caught his. They immediately turned from sea green to glowing red, and Nico dropped to the floor, unconscious.