(A/N) HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Sorry if the time skip here bothers some of you, but the writer's block prevented me from writing the stuff in between. Besides, it would've been a monster attack here, an intimate moment about not giving up hope there. It would've dragged immensely.

Disclaimer: I do not town PJO

Nico POV

I felt my way through the darkness, which spread before me like a gigantic black tarp. My only light was from the gleam of Jason's Imperial Gold sword as it shined dimly. Even so, it was not enough to see through the large expanse of nothingness that lay ahead. We were surrounded by stone on four sides, our footsteps echoing down the tunnels like a dying scream. The cold nipped at my nose and nibbled on my cheeks as I walked, my eyes searching the blackness for some sort of light. There was nothing, though, just shadows, like the void of nothingness that would swallow you whole if you took one false step in Tartarus. I shivered, trying not to think of that horrible experience.

The demigods at Camp Half-Blood had watched anxiously as we left on Festus, out on a search for both the Praetors and Percy. Camp Jupiter had appointed two temporary Praetors to run the camp until their other ones returned…if they returned. Gwen, even if she had retired a somewhat long time ago, had willingly volunteered to run the camp as despair loomed over everyone like a storm cloud. Along with Leila, who had helped them during the war with Gaea despite Camp Jupiter's feud with the Greeks, she was running the camp as best she could.

That had been three months ago. The quest was only supposed to take three weeks, and we'd gotten terribly lost in a maze of dark tunnels, with Festus probably worrying himself to death up in the world above. We'd been there for days, not sure due to the fact that there was no sunlight, our food and water dwindling and our air as stale as old bread. We couldn't tell the difference between night and day, and we had no idea when we should rest and when we should keep moving. Every minute that ebbed away was another minute that Percy spent being controlled by that wretched parasite, and that was enough morale to keep us going.

The selected demigods will fly to the place

Where the son of the sea left without a trace

As they search the dark in vain

They will come across suffering and pain.

One will finally take the last breath,

And welcome the night as dark as death.

Rachel's words rang loud and clear in my head, clawing at my skull and demanding attention. I heard the labored breathing of my companions as they followed the sound of my footsteps, and I was careful to make sure that I tread loud enough and slow enough to make sure they were able to follow. My heartbeat roared in my ears and sweat beaded on my forehead despite the frigid cold in the tunnels. Leo's fire hadn't been working for some reason, and every match we'd lit spluttered out only after a few moments. Whatever lived down there sure didn't enjoy fire…or light, for that matter.

"Stop." I heard Jason gasp. "Please I'm exhausted." There was the sound of everyone collapsing onto the ground, bone tired. I clawed for air, but the staleness that I was able to gather did nothing. I struggled to breathe, coughing and gasping as my lungs searched for amounts of air that just weren't available. Jason patted me on the back until the fits ceased. "Shallow breaths, my friend. There isn't enough air for deep ones."

My head spun and if I could see, I was sure that my vision would tilt and swim. I was probably suffering from cerebral hypoxia and my companions probably were, too. It was only a matter of time before we suffocated. But we couldn't stop now; I could feel Percy getting closer and closer, like a pull in my gut that led me to him. Well that pull in my gut had led us down, down, down. The path we were following didn't slope up, not even for a moment. We just kept descending.

"Remind me to bring a portable tree next time were down here." Leo panted in attempted humor, which didn't so much as lighten the dreadful mood.

"If there is a next time." I muttered. "I doomed us all. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, we'll think of something. Percy is close. I can feel it." Jason assured me. It was just like the son of Jupiter to be an optimist. He was the one that was coping the best down here. With one eye, he wasn't affected as much when the sight from his other eye was taken away. I enjoyed the darkness, but after my experience in the bronze jar I had developed an increasing phobia o suffocation, and with this stale air I was beginning to relive that jar all over again. I had led my friends into a death trap, and I was panicking more than ever.

Jason, surprisingly, had shed his fear of touch long ago, becoming stronger as he learned more. Meanwhile the rest of us were becoming fearful and nervous, scared to look back at the past and horrified at what may lie in the future. Meanwhile, Jason kept looking straight ahead, charging through the good and the bad times. He was our beacon of hope. I remembered back when I first decided to lead us into the tunnels.

Nico? Nico. Nico! I'm over here, Nico! Percy's voice had chanted my name over and over again, leading me to the tunnels. His voice invaded my dreams and cried out into the night whenever it was quiet. I had told my friends of this voice, of Percy's voice coaxing me and this pull in my gut that was telling me to go west, towards the Romans. Leo had averted Festus' path towards Canada and backtracked to Kingston, New York. The trip had sapped us half a day, but I was pretty sure that Percy was there somewhere, trying to break free of Exodus' strong hands that held his mind in check.

That day they we were flying over the upstate town, searching for something. Anything. As long as it led us to Percy, Frank, and Reyna we were happy with it. That's when I saw the tunnels, well I didn't see the tunnels, but I sensed it. If I wasn't a son of Hades, then I would've never even known it was there. I had to say, it was hidden very well.

"Look!" I cried and pointed down. The large, towering trees obscured most of it from view, but I could see the blackness that the opening led into.

"I don't see anything!" Jason called over the wind. Leo chuckled.

"Says the son of Jupiter with one eye!" he joked. Jason was not fond of the jokes he received about having one eye, but he handled it better than he had before.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." he snarled.

"Don't go all sour on me, Jay, I can't see it either." Leo replied, sincerely guilty. I rolled my eyes at this as Leo steered Festus around so we circled the area again. How did the few mortals who lived here see us through the Mist? Were we a plane? Circling birds? I was leaning towards the latter.

"Let's just land. It's right there." I pointed to where I thought I'd seen the opening to the tunnels. And that's how we'd gotten into that mess.

"C'mon, let's keep going." Leo's voice cut through my reveries. With I sigh I hauled myself to my feet and began trudging down the tunnel again, with my companions on my heels. We walked for a long while in silence, the ringing in my ears joined by the sound of our footsteps on stone and Percy's voice urging me forward. I couldn't give up on my friend, even if it killed me. The second, minutes, and hours dragged on, the darkness still not clearing from my vision. I wondered if this was just a dream, no, a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare. But even as I pinched myself and my lungs searched for air, I knew that this was reality.

That's when I heard it. I stopped dead, my hearing sharpened due to the fact that my eyesight was useless. Jason bumped into me, as did Leo, but they didn't object, for they heard it too. The sharp sound of feet slamming on stone. Footsteps. Something was running straight for us. "Run!" I cried, and shoved my friends backwards. They stumbled, but didn't need to be told twice as we struggled up back the way we came. Instinctively, I kept looking over my shoulder, but I knew it was useless. I couldn't see what was coming for us. My heard slammed in my chest and my legs screamed in agony as I clambered up the steep slope. It wasn't just the hill that was slowing us down, it was some sort of force like in Tartarus. It pulled at our feet, urging us to go back down and confront the monster that was pursuing us.

My muscles needed more oxygen to run, and there wasn't any to spare. The fact that the thing was sprinting towards us proved yet again that it wasn't human. Its footsteps drummed against the stone ground like a bass drum, echoing throughout the tunnel. I gasped for air and stumbled, clutching my chest. I physically could not run, I couldn't. "Nico! Come on!" Jason cried as he and Leo pulled me forward.

"I can't!" I cried and crumbled to my knees, feeling as if though I was being strangled.

"We're not leaving you!" he was out of breath and I could feel how sweaty his palms were as he tried to pull me to my feet.

"Go." I breathed and collapsed onto my side, my consciousness winking out like a dying star.