When I can think again, the first think that comes to mind is how freaking hot it is. My skin is prickling with heat and pain, my insides are contorting and aching, my head and lungs are about to explode. Every breath in is like breathing fire. It felt like someone with really long, gnarly nails was squeezing my heart as tightly as possible. So. Hot. Is the building burning? Is Joel here too?

"C'mon… Please…" Who is that? I don't know. It's too hot to tell. Why would anyone else be in this hellhole? Suddenly a very cool pressure is applied to my forehead, soothing the insane headache and heat. But I could swear that my insides were imploding. I'm panting and sweating and aching and hurting all over and only thinking about Joel, although that voice pleading with me is definitely not his. For the love of all things holy, why the Hell is it so hot? "Please wake up…"

"Hurts…" That's what I attempted to say. My throat was so dry that I sounded like a dying bird. I remembered how to open my eyes, and saw that no, I was not inside a burning building or tied to a flaming stake as I had previously theorized. I'm on a beach that looks very familiar, especially the blood drops all over it. First I notice the sound of the ocean, the blinding blue sky above. Horribly gritty sand sticks to my skin. Two black orbs are centimeters from my own eyes. They're Nico's- I can tell immediately without even seeing the rest of his face. His stare was so intense. I imagined he saw candy in the back of my head, and was trying to figure out how to get it without killing me in the process. Then it's too painful to think and I curl into the fetal position, squirming around to make it comfortable for my churning insides. "So bad… Hurts a lot…" I look back and see his eyes like it's the first time. Wow. I never realized how dark they are. All black. Kinda angelic, in a twisted, roundabout way. I reached my hand up without thinking, grimacing at the pain, and brushed over his temple. "Your eyes are really pretty."

He rolled them at me, but flashed me a toothy grin. How can he smile when it's so hot? "Thanks, babe. You're so stupid sometimes. And also your atoms are being ripped apart." He frowned at that part. "I gave you ambrosia. It wasn't that much… Did you have some already?"

It was my turn to frown. Did I? What happened? Everything's so fuzzy. "I don't know. Where's Calypsa?"

"I think it's Calypso-"

"Ok, but she was here, right? Then there was a goat-man with a really… really scary hammer. Where are we?" I struggled to sit up, but had to quickly lay back down before I screamed and made Nico deaf. "Oh gods, oh gods, dear Zeus…" Heat and pain and just someone kill me please this is so not worth it, what is going on-

"I got finished… confronting someone about half an hour ago," Nico began as he pushed me back down by my shoulders. It was only then that I realized I was back to being in my boxers again, as was he. I paled when I saw two of my ribs poking against my skin in a sickeningly unnatural manner. Bandages wrapped around my knee, both elbows, and my upper thigh. Sweat pooled on my stomach like a lake. "You were just about to drift out to sea when I saw you, and you were bleeding all over the place. Then I fed you some ambrosia, and you couldn't breathe and you were turning red and I thought you were dying, basically." He shifted uncomfortably, like he was about to do something he didn't like. "I think we should put you in the water to cool you down. Otherwise your atoms move too fast and start to dissipate."

I didn't say anything. Too hot and there was no arguing with him. But I did wince and groan and almost pass out while he slid an arm under my back and behind my knees to lift me. "Holy Hades," he muttered as he stood under my weight. I could hear the joke in his voice, but I couldn't react. I was frozen in place, clutching around his neck and hoping to whatever could help me that my body would either please, please cool down or just stop existing already. Anything to get rid of this pain.

Then I saw through squinted eyes that Nico's feet were already sloshing through the water, and I took it back. "Nico, I don't think it's a good idea…" My voice was broken and shaky, and not extremely convincing. The deeper we got, the more I tensed and lifted as far away from the water as I could. I think the problem is not being able to see parts of my body. It's like those parts are in some way completely separated from me, and I have no control over what happens to them. My body shook involuntarily, I'm assuming from the atom-ripping thing, and sweat dripped down my hairline. "Can we try something else-"

"I'm gonna stay here too." His voice is so close to my ear. Just don't look. Just don't look and everything will be fine. I stared over his shoulder like there was gold back on the island. Breathe. Everything's fine. I felt the water slide over my feet and my body went into hyperventilate mode. "You're gonna feel better in a minute. You're not gonna drown."

I did feel better almost immediately. The feeling took my mind off the ocean for a second. I sighed at the cold, my muscles relaxing, my headache disappearing in an instant. My forehead rested on Nico's shoulder in uneasy contentment, but the relief was unexplainably euphoric. My panting turned to slow, calm breaths, and Nico blew cool air across my shoulder.

"…Can we go back now? Please?" The tied-to-a-flaming-stake sensation had subsided greatly, and I could feel the ribs slowly and quite painfully healing back into place. Let's just get me back to that stupid sand again.

"Hold your breath."

The experience was apparently traumatizing enough that my brain has blocked it out. But I'm told that we ducked under the water for a few moments. All I remember is heading back to the island as I sputtered and shivered and internalized everything that just happened.

We made it back in silence. He set me down on his pants instead of the sand, reaching for his shirt. I didn't look at him as he dried me off with his clothes. Did I hate him? Did I want to yell at him? What am I supposed to feel right now? Because I just felt numb.

Milo's here all of a sudden, exchanging stories with Nico. They're just staring at me a little worriedly. I get up, slide my clothes on, and quickly jot down in my notebook the past few hours, beginning with Kymopoleia. As I finished writing, the communication thingy started to ring in the depths of my bag. I fumble for it with numb fingers and a tight smile on my face, ignoring the previous traumatizing happenings. Joel's still in my room, but this time Quintenn is sitting behind him, unseen. "Hey, little man," I start. But the solemn look on Quintenn's face makes me a little worried. Joel also doesn't seem too happy. "Is everything OK?"

"Mommy called."

My smile froze. There was nothing to say, it had been so unexpected. What does she want? Why would she contact us? "She wanted to talk to you and Daddy," he answered my unasked question glumly. "Daddy says we have a baby sister. A half-sister."

My only emotion in response to that was anger towards Garrett: why did he tell Joel all this? He's just a kid. He shouldn't be hearing this stuff. "… Does she want us to meet her?"

He shrugged. Behind him, Quintenn nodded. I sighed and ran a hand through my damp hair. "Don't do anything until I'm there. I'll be back very soon, OK?"

He nodded.

We sat there silently a few seconds more before the call ended. I angrily shoved the device back in the bag, unsure what exactly I was upset about. Probably just that Joel has to deal with this much at such a young age. This isn't fair to him. Why couldn't she just keep to herself? Why did she have to inflict more damage than she already had?

Milo and Nico began gathering their things. "We should probably search the island," Milo said, haisting his bag onto his shoulder. "We'll either find the others or make progress in the quest."

So we headed into the jungle-like forest single-file with me at the back and Milo up front. The only good thing about the trek was the blissful shield from the hot sun. Other than that, there were snakes, tangled vines (that Milo kept constantly knotting himself into), insects, tough terrain… I almost missed the sandy beach.

Ten minutes later, Nico broke the silence. "It's getting darker."

Until then I hadn't noticed. But the difference in shades between the shadows and the light was lessening significantly. A thick black fog had descended over absolutely everything, getting thicker by the second. Nico was barely visible three feet from me.

Then he was gone.

"Nico?" It was so sudden that I jumped. The fog trapped my voice around me, stilling any possible reverberation. I could no longer see my hands in front of my face. Not wanting to be completely defenseless, I yanked an arrow onto my bow with familiar readiness. I had to rely only on my hearing, because not it was black as night.

Ï blinked.

Night.

Nyx. That's what the skinless satyr said, right?

"You finally got it."

My head whirled toward the sound. The dark subsided just enough to reveal the speaker. Luckily I first saw his hoodie and hair because I then remembered not to look into his eyes. "Timor?" I asked more than stated- my memory wasn't coming back that well. But I associated his apparel with the horrible vision of Joel that- no matter how many accidents- I would never erase from my mind.

"Yes, yes, that's already been established." He sounded quite calm, and though I hate to admit it, his voice had an incredibly soothing effect on me. I watched his converse as he moved without purpose across the tree roots to close the gap between us. "It took you long enough to guess Nyx, though. And she's only half of the threat."

"What's the point of controlling this island?" I genuinely wanted to know. "What good will that do anybody?"

His laugh chased chills through me. "Ah, what else don't you understand yet? Your good friend, the Son of Hades, should know by now. This island is a gateway to the Underworld. A shortcut directly to the dead. This is why it is made so difficult to find. In fact, Nyx stumbled upon it by accident on the other side. But it took years to find the gate on the side of the living. Now she will be able to let Erebus out of his prison in Hell. He- AH! You…"

I just shot an arrow in the direction of his chest, making sure not to look up too high. "Sorry," I said with some honest sincerity. "You were taking too long, and I'll never remember all that anyways. You said Nico knows it, so I'll just ask him later."

He breathed heavily, clutching at his shoulder, I think. A gold shimmer suggested that I'd at least hit something. I pulled another arrow, but keeled over in pain when a dagger flew almost completely through my left side. "You remember the lovely vision I showed you?" The malice in his voice filled my gut with dread. "It would be a shame if-"

He was interrupted when Milo sliced across the back of his legs from the darkness. The god fell forward under the attack, shot me a knowing smirk, and disappeared. My heart raced at the thought of where he might be going.

"Ah!" The breath was knocked out of me as someone barreled into the darkness. "Calypso?"

"Oh, thank the gods!" she exclaimed. She clung to my hand with a vice grip and pulled me up. My side burned and I let out a mangled scream as I wrenched the knife out of my skin. "Nico!" she yelled. I could no longer see anything, but I heard much labored breathing. Someone grabbed my free hand, and I knew it was Nico right away. "Is everyone attached?" called Annabeth. We all answered.

"Now what?" Milo asked from somewhere to my left.

"Now you choke on the dark!" a silky smooth voice replied. It came from everywhere at once. From ten feet in front of us rose a pitch-black figure even darker than the surrounding black. A pair of dark eyes glittered, attached to a body with huge black, feathery wings just blankets of darkness.

"Nice of you to finally stop by," the feathered goddess said, twisting around us in some sort of shadowed dance. Her chuckle was so malicious. I felt Nico's hand tighten around mine, removing me from my terrified thoughts about Joel. "Brace yourself," he whispered super close to my ear. Brace myself for what?

The stomach-wrenching feeling of shadow-travelling, though only experienced 1 other time, was immediately recognizable. Everything lightens to an ashy grey for a few tumultuous seconds during which Calypso is screaming, Milo is cussing, and Nyx is whirling about in confusion. Then we are all in an extremely shiny, extremely hot, and extremely bright car, possibly a Jaguar. This car, I notice, is flying through the sky and looks to be driven by a (now very surprised) 15 year old.

"AAAAHHHHGGHSDKJGHGFKJDH-" Nyx screamed and wailed as she disintegrated into light particles beaming blindingly from the surface of the Jaguar. Even with the initial threat gone, the car is still spinning out of control in the clouds, and all 6 passengers are screaming- excluding myself: I was too busy vomiting over the side, careful not to get it on the car. Annabeth and Calypso are squished into the the right side, and Nico and Milo are basically sitting in each other's' laps, yelling at the top of their lungs. It is at this point that I realize the magic car is heading at the speed of light towards the surface of the earth.