(A/N: And back! Here comes chapter 2. Enjoy!)

II

Percy

"Greetings! Still alive and well and yet booking another trip to the Underworld?" Charon bowed courtly before adjusting his maroon tie with silver stripes and dusting his now expensive Italian suit. If it's possible, he looked more cheerful than the last time Percy saw him. "I must admit, your talk with Hades last time really did quite a lot of good. So a trip for two I presume?"

Even though he'd been there before, it took them a while to find DOA Recording Studios again. He remembered all those years back with Annabeth and Grover. The run-in with the gang of no-good kids. The time they stumbled upon Crusty's Water Bed Palace…

"Yep. Here's something for any of your troubles and stuff." Percy handed him a gold ingot the size of his fist. Hazel insisted that they pay real money rather than her cursed stuff but Percy knew otherwise.

Charon's eyes gleamed greedily. "Ah yes, cursed gold; a bane for mortals but not for me. This will do nicely. Right this way please…"

They followed him across the gray lobby. A few souls made agitated chattering noises and grabbed at him even though their hands passed right through his body as if he was the one made of thin air. He recognized some of the souls. They were there the first time he went here and they're still hanging out in the lobby. Strangely enough, they didn't bother Hazel. She just glared at them and they all backed off; probably because of the whole child of the Underworld thing.

It was like a blast from the past but this time, Charon didn't hesitate to bring them to the Underworld and Grover and Annabeth wasn't with him. He found himself crammed in the same ferry with all the other souls. He started to feel that familiar dread building up inside and the thought of having a child of Hades as the only other living thing aboard didn't make things any better. The last time he was here, Annabeth held his hand for assurance. That won't be happening right now. Hazel on the other hand looked calm and collected. Normally, boats would make her seasick like on their last quest but apparently this was one exception.

"After all this time, I'm back here again…" Hazel muttered with a sigh.

Charon's skeletal face turned and grinned at her. "Indeed little miss, not to worry, you'd be joining your siblings soon."

Percy wondered if he heard it right when Charon said 'siblings'. Nico's the only other demigod child of Hades; the only other live one to be exact. That he know of. Or maybe Charon's pertaining to her joining her dead siblings. Either way, it doesn't matter. They came here for Nico and they'll make it out. Just like the last few times.

Charon pushed his pole along the polluted waters of the River Styx while he hummed some sort of Lionel Richie song. Percy noticed something he hadn't seen before. Right on the far banks to his left were packs of glowing crystals that illuminated from the dark.

"Stygian Ice…" Charon told him. "Better stay away from it son of Poseidon. Don't want this short trip of yours to end up even shorter…"

The ferry waded closer to the black sandy beaches. Not too far ahead loomed the Gates of Erebus still looking the same as before. They also both heard the familiar growling. They reached the banks and everyone disembarked save for Charon who made some kind of salute to the two demigods with his pole. "As I have said before, good luck! But don't expect to find any luck here since there is none. I have a good feeling this will be the last time I'm taking you here. No worries, it's just a hunch. I could be wrong. Mind you though, I've never been wrong about my hunches. Farewell…"

Percy figured by this time that Charon is the last person you would come to for moral support. He slung his backpack on his shoulder and turned to Hazel. "So…now that we're here, what's next?"

Hazel took a deep breath. She scanned the gates and then the wasteland of the outer regions of the Underworld. "We're not going to through the gates. He's somewhere else. I can feel it."

That made sense. If Nico was somewhere inside, then there was nothing to be worried about. He's like at home in there. He's free to go in or out unless he's been grounded by Hades which is unlikely. But outside these walls, it's a different story. He remembered Nico telling him once. The outer regions are merely an extension of the Underworld. Nothing but a vast array of wastelands as old as the Underworld itself but there is something out there; lots of things unknown to many even to him.

"C'mon, let's head for those mountains. That looks like a good place to start." Hazel pointed out at the mountain range not too far from where they are at the moment. "And I can feel a strange energy coming from there. I don't know. It's hard to explain."

Percy gripped Riptide from his pocket. "Alright then. Let's go."

While they made their way past the old gnarled petrified trees, they come across the river bank that they saw earlier. The Stygian Ice lit up the whole section of the shoreline right to the river's mouth. Its somehow bright translucent color is so opposite to the river's murky water which made Percy wonder. What's even stranger is that the ice doesn't seem to give off any coolness. The temperature and the air was still the same; warm, dry and musty. A part of him wanted to touch it but Charon's words stopped him.

"Percy, come on." Hazel called ahead. She was in some sort of trance that she barely even gave the strange ice a second look. He hurriedly followed.

They made it to the mountain's base. Now that they're there, Hazel looked confused. "I don't understand…he was supposed to be right in there. There should be a cave entrance somewhere but I don't sense it. It's like the mountain's pure solid and he's embedded inside."

That sounded bad. Percy glanced at the mountain and frowned. There has to be a reason, unless Nico accidentally shadow-travelled inside a solid mountain which really is bad. He wondered if that's even possible.

"It doesn't matter. I'm breaking through and I'm getting him out!" She kicked aside a large ruby the size of a basketball and focused. When she touched the wall of rock, pushed with all her might, and yelped as she went right through it.

"Whoa!" Percy uncapped Riptide. "Hazel! Are you okay?"

Hazel's head popped right out of the rock which freaked him out a bit. "It's fine. It's all an illusion and I think I just found the entrance."

Something at the corner of his eye caught his attention. A gray shimmering figure that dissipated a few seconds later.

"What's that?" He asked Hazel. "A ghost?"

"A specter." Hazel replied cautiously. "Nico told me they were normally souls who spy on people. Someone else knows that we're here now. Not a good sign. C'mon, this way."

(A/N: Hmmm…I wonder what awaits them inside. Find out on the next chapter. Don't forget to leave your comments! See yas! Iron Raven out…)