Christmas came and went as well as another birthday, making me now seventeen years old. Our ship was ravaged daily by Poseidon, but older and more ancient ocean deities kept us from sinking. I sometimes wondered if Poseidon knew that I had chosen Luke and was trying to cast me into the sea to drown me himself. I wasn't too worried, because we had people on our side too protecting the ship, though we very rarely got any sunshine these days. Luke and I did not speak again of that moment we'd had together, because the last thing we wanted was to appear like we were planning a mutiny or were being insubordinate to Kronos and be subjected to his wrath again. The only peace we got was when he was quiet, which was not often these days though because of this, Luke sought me out more often until eventually I simply stayed by his side all the time. I think he did this partly to protect me, because although the other half-bloods were cool with me despite everything, more monsters were appearing and they were getting darker and older, and they would always lick their lips loudly whenever I walked past. They didn't take too kindly to my actions on the summit of Mount Tam, though the other half-bloods understood that I hadn't realised what was going on and was just trying to protect my brother. They'd all seen me dive after Luke, so they figured I was still on side. I was relieved, because honestly I don't know otherwise how I would have managed being seen as the suspicious hostage again. They probably would have killed me. Anyway, Luke kept me close, which now meant that I was able to hear everything that was being discussed. Much good it did me, I couldn't pass anything on to Percy or Chiron or anyone.

From what I heard, Luke was searching for paths through a labyrinth, and it took me a while to realise he meant the old Labyrinth, the one that had originally held the minotaur. I scowled at the thought of that monster, it was probably one of my top most hated monsters on account that it kidnapped my mother and sent her to Hades in the Underworld. Hades and I might be cool, but not the minotaur. Anyway, Luke was searching for Ariadne's string, a magical item that would allow a person to navigate the Labyrinth against all its traps and confusion, which was what he wanted because it had been decided that the army would attack Camp Half-Blood. Now this meant it took every ounce of self-control not to panic and react, remaining blank faced and chill even when I first heard the plan. I knew Luke had glanced to me when he'd first revealed it in my presence, but luckily I had been wearing my headphones and listening to music, so I'd just continued to bop my head lightly and pretend that I wasn't paying attention. Searching the Labyrinth wasn't easy, and he still hadn't found the exit he wanted, directly into the heart of camp and he'd already lost several of his warriors to the Labyrinth, including Chris Rodriguez who hadn't been seen since last year. Everyone believed him dead.

Anyway there was a lot going on, and that wasn't even the half of it because I'd also started having dreams on a regular basis. You know, being a demigod meant that sometimes you dreamed of not very nice things like doom and gloom, or a god was visiting you to demand things, or of things that that were happening in the present and future, or even the past, but then sometimes you just dreamed regular dreams where your pudding comes to life and eats your head. Yeah, that one had freaked me out as a kid. I sincerely hope that one wasn't a prediction. With these dreams it was hard to tell sometimes whether or not they were real, so when I started dreaming of a little boy with dark, lanky hair and woeful eyes the colour of shadows, I was rather suspicious at first. It was highly likely that this was a message of some kind, or even possibly a trick of Kronos, but although I got a chilled feeling even when dreaming, I didn't sense the presence of the Lord of Time. It was similar, but not quite the same. The one bonus about dreaming for me was that I could see. So before I called out to the kid, I took a moment to look around. It was an eerie place, dark and cavernous somewhere underground, with faint lights gleaming in the far distance like pale lamps though they flickered and moved. I had no idea where it was, but instinct told me it was far, far underground. The kid was hugging his knees to his chest, sniffling softly which meant he was crying and, being a sucker for people who were upset, I softened. "Hey kid." Immediately the boy leaped to his feet and yelled.

"Who's there?!"

"Whoa chill, I come in peace." I laughed as I lifted my hands up in surrender, because the boy had grabbed a rock and started staring around wildly with the intention to lob it. He had rather pretty olive skin, but the closer I got to him I realised that it was starting to lose its lustre and turn pale, like it was being washed away little by little. "I'm not going to hurt you. Couldn't even if I wanted to since I think we're both dreaming." Now he saw me so I gave him a big smile and hoped I looked friendly. The kid studied me suspiciously with a heavy frown and a look of confusion in his eye, but his mouth was pressed into a line of rage. I think he seemed to recognise me. He demanded to know who I was and what was going on. "My name's Lily. Lily Jackson. Who're you?" The boy was so shocked he dropped his rock.

"Jackson? You mean like…Percy Jackson?" A burst of emotion fluttered through me and I was propelled forwards with eagerness, startling the kid as I came closer towards him.

"You know Percy? Is he alright? Do you know…?"

"Stay away from me!" Hearing such fury and hatred in a guy so little, I stopped in my tracks and blinked at him. Tears were starting to roll down his cheeks and he was shaking violently all over, like his anger was so great that it couldn't be contained in his small form. Something was wrong, and it appeared to have something to do with my brother. I didn't know what, but seeing that boy trembling with pure pain and even grief shining in his coal black eyes, my heart quivered for him and I softened, speaking in a gentle tone that had been mastered as the tender big sister towards a little brother who needed genuine comfort and reassurance.

"Percy did something, didn't he?" Mutely, the boy nodded. "Tell me what happened, try and start from the very beginning if you can. What's your name?" Sniffling and using a rather dirty looking sleeve to wipe his nose, the boy told me that his name was Nico di Angelo. Nico. It was a nice name, I liked it. Setting myself down to sit, I kept a fair distance between myself and Nico so that he didn't feel crowded, but close enough that I could stretch out and just about reach him if I wanted to. He told me all about his sister Bianca, how they had been moved to a boarding school where they had been found by a person named Grover, but then had to be rescued by a bunch of people because they were being targeted by a monster called Dr Thorn, who Nico remembered was a manticore. He told me how Percy, Annabeth and Thalia had fought off the monster to try and protect him and his sister, how Artemis and her hunters had appeared and saved them but Annabeth had fallen over the edge of a cliff with Dr Thorn and been lost, though he assured me that she had survived when he saw my look of panic. That must have been how Annabeth came to be bound on the summit, Luke had mentioned a few things over the winter that were now beginning to make sense.

Nico then told me how Bianca had decided to leave him and join the Hunters of Artemis, swearing featly to the goddess and gaining immortality but this meant that she could no longer fall in love or have any contact with boys. I heard his resentment in his tone at that and I had to feel for the kid. I could never imagine leaving Percy, not for any kind of offer. I couldn't say what might have driven Bianca to make that decision, but it had clearly been her own choice and so remained sympathetic to Nico but assured him that I was positive Bianca had still loved him, even after swearing off boys for the rest of her life. He sniffed and nodded at me before carrying on. It was difficult to understand the entire story because Nico wasn't entirely aware of it himself, as far as he knew, the goddess Artemis had left them to be taken to camp by her brother Apollo in order to hunt something herself, a kind of super monster, only to be captured which then meant that a quest was required to go rescue her. Five went, only three came back. Bianca had gone with the Hunters' lieutenant, Zoë Nightshade. Both of them had been killed. Now Nico was crying. "And Percy promised to protect her! He followed them in secret because the other Hunter that was supposed to go got injured, and the prophecy had said five needed to go west…he promised to keep my sister safe, but now she's dead! Percy lied! I couldn't stay at camp, so I ran away after these skeleton things attacked." Staring at Nico I could hardly bring myself to believe this.

I couldn't imagine his grief, losing his older sister like that, but it was clear that as I looked at this frail looking child, he was deeply overcome with anguish. Shifting closer, I didn't stop until I was right next to him where I scooped him up without a word and deposited him on my lap where I then wrapped my arms around him and cradled him close, like I had done with Percy when he was little and he'd scraped his knee or bumped his head or something. Nico floundered at first but then continued to cry, curling up and hiding his face. I wonder how old he is, he can't be any older than ten, surely. He was just so small looking, and thin. Like a puff of wind would knock him over. I knew then that this wasn't a natural dream, because Nico's grief was far too real. I hated the fact that we couldn't actually feel one another, my arms felt empty even when holding him, but I hoped that the simple act was enough to bring him some kind of comfort as he sobbed for his sister. What should I say? I couldn't tell him everything was going to be alright because it wasn't. How do you console a ten year old after he'd lost the only family he had left? There was no way, so I just sat in silence and let him cry until he must have been exhausted. When the garbled bursts of sobs finally subdued, I lifted my hand to begin brushing at his hair, moving it away from his face so I could see him properly. Now he was looking at me. "Percy said that you were blind, but you seem to see me just fine."

"That's because this is a dream. I can always see when I'm dreaming, because I wasn't born blind." I revealed, giving him a soft smile as he awkwardly slid away from my lap but didn't retreat, choosing to sit right in front of me so that our knees touched. "Because we're demigods, or half-bloods if you prefer, we sometimes get these mystical dreams like premonitions, or even seeing things as they happen, but I don't think I remember Chiron saying anything about a dream where people can interact. Unless this is all just some kind of trick that's being played on us." Nico didn't know either, not having a clue about dreams mystical or otherwise. Now that he had calmed down, I saw a glint of curiosity in him, hiding behind the sorrowful look in his eye.

"You know, I heard a lot about you. Some people at camp think you're one of the bad guys now since you've been away so long, though Percy always insisted you were just trapped. Are you? Are you being held prisoner? I could come and rescue you if you want!" He offered rather enthusiastically so I laughed good naturedly, finding him cute.

"Let's just say I'm making my own way, and leave it at that." I said with a wink at him. "But you're sweet for offering to come rescue me, however I'm exactly where I need to be right now. If you ever come across Percy again, so long as you don't feel like killing him, could you tell him that I'm alright? It's been…a long time. I miss him." Feeling sad for a moment, I quickly pushed it aside because my sadness was nothing compared to Nico, and we shouldn't talk about Percy in front of him just yet. "Listen Nico, I know things hurt right now, but whatever you're thinking, I know my brother. He would have done absolutely everything in his power to try and protect Bianca. It's in his nature, he just can't let things alone, he feels like he always has to prove himself because of who our father is, and I know that he'll be just as cut up and devastated about what happened as you. He'll probably blame himself for the rest of his life." Nico's eyes flashed at me in the dark and for a moment, they kind of spooked me

"You would say that. You're his sister."

"Then you know that big sisters will do anything for their little brothers." I countered and this time, Nico stopped and looked away as he knew what I meant. "You don't have to forgive him, Nico, but try not to cut yourself off from people. If you need help, Percy will be there for you. You have to look after yourself now, if you're not going to go back to camp. Make sure you eat properly, as much as you can, but not all junk food. Make sure you eat plenty of vegetables too because they're good for you. Get some sunlight and try to sleep plenty and stay warm." I listed off, feeling like a true-blue older sister as I did so but I just felt so worried for Nico and his condition, I couldn't help it. I had so many more questions that I wanted to ask him but it would have been selfish of me to do so, so instead I tried to take care of him the best I could. I tried to think of who could have connected our dreams. Maybe Morpheus, the god of dreams? Somehow I didn't think it would be that. It had to be one of the top gods who had done this, though which one I had no clue.

"You sound like Bianca." Nico mumbled though he was trying to hide his smile behind his sleeve.

"Well then she sounds very sensible. Promise me you'll try look after yourself? I know you're angry at Percy, but at camp at least you'll be safe from monsters." Shaking his head adamantly, Nico told me that he didn't need to worry about monsters because he'd figured out how to hide from them which made me curious. As far as I could tell Nico seemed to be an average kid, but this feeling I kept on getting off him told me he was a lot more than he seemed. "When I split open the earth before running away from camp, I figured out who my dad was because I can do stuff, though I'm still learning." Inwardly, I began to dread the answer but I asked anyway, wanting to know who Nico's godly parent was. I was right. It wasn't good. "Hades. My dad is Hades." By the gods…another child of the Big Three.