Nico was waiting for me outside the Poseidon Cabin. His hands were shoved into his pockets and he was scuffing one sneaker along the dirt path that ended at the door. He looked up as I approached, but I pointed to the cabin door. I wanted to talk to him where no one else would overhear.

He followed me in, glancing around at the clean floor and recently-made beds. The cleaning harpies had been through after I'd left camp, and the place always seemed like someone else's room when I first came back to it. Once we were inside with the door shut behind us, Nico turned and looked at me expectantly.

"We're going to visit an Oracle," I told him, thinking back on what Chiron had said. "Annabeth and Grover and me. Chiron knows where she is. He says she's known for her accuracy, and that she might be in danger. He thinks if Luke finds out about her, he'll want to capture her. So we need to get to her first." I paused. "We're supposed to leave in an hour."

I watched Nico's face as he nodded. I was getting better at reading him – or at least I thought I was. His expressions weren't as obvious as most other people's were. "Oh. Okay," was what he said, but the way the corners of his lips were tugging downward told me that he wasn't as okay about it as he sounded.

"Look, if you could come, you know –" I began, but he shook his head and cut me off.

"I know." He sighed and sat down on my bed. "I just don't like it. Something about this feels… I don't know. It's just, why you? Why do you suddenly have to go on this quest all of a sudden? It doesn't feel right. And then there's that thing with the water…"

"Yeah." Bad feelings and weird powers were usually about as likely to be nothing for a half-blood as our dreams were. Which was to say, they were worth taking seriously. I went and sat down next to him, our hands close enough to touch if either of us moved. "Do you think it's something we should tell Chiron or Mr. D about?" I hadn't seen Mr. D at the Big House, but he was probably around here somewhere.

Nico shook his head. "No. I don't think they trust me. And besides, I don't trust them either." He saw the look on my face and went on before I could protest. "Look – I know you do. I just… I'm not sure about them." His mouth set into a line as he pressed his lips together. "Not the way I'm sure about you."

That felt like a punch to the gut – well, if punches to the gut could feel good. Something about what he said made me want to cancel the quest and lock the cabin door and just stay in here with Nico for the rest of the day. Except that was pretty stupid, and I knew it would never happen. So I settled for the next best thing, which was leaning over and kissing him. And the next thing I knew, he was on his back and our clothes were on the floor and I didn't think anything had ever felt more intense.

I'd been drowsing happily on top of Nico when there was a knock at the cabin door. A couple of quiet curses and groans later, I called, "Come in!" just as Nico got his right arm through the armhole of his t-shirt.

The door swung open and Annabeth stood there, blinking into the dimly lit cabin. She looked from me to Nico and back again. "… Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Nico said, glancing at me. I could tell that the nonchalance in his voice was mostly an act. "We were done." Well, I guess that was pretty true, even though the truth was also that I liked lying there with him afterwards a lot. It didn't feel like it had been an hour already.

The look on Annabeth's face was kind of weird, and I wondered if she noticed we were sweaty again. But all she did was jerk her head in the direction of the stables and motion to me. "It's time to go, Percy."

I nodded and gathered up my things. I already had a spare backpack here, sitting at the end of my bed and stuffed with a flashlight and extra t-shirts, underwear, and socks. Riptide was in my pocket like it always was, and I'd lost the shield Tyson had made for me over the summer when we'd been fighting for our lives in the Labyrinth. I flexed my shield arm, wishing I still had it with me. Just in case.

At least I didn't need too many supplies, I thought, swinging one strap over my shoulder. Chiron was hoping that we would get to the Oracle before trouble did. But I still wondered just how likely that was going to be. Somehow things never seemed to take the easy path where half-bloods were involved.

I turned to Nico as Annabeth and I left the cabin. I hoped he didn't mind too much that I was leaving him at camp. He'd be okay here, even if he didn't really trust Chiron. "I'll see you when I get back."

He nodded, following us out. I didn't blame him for not exactly wanting to stay in the Poseidon cabin alone. I was pretty sure he didn't really feel comfortable there even when I was with him. "Yeah. See you later."

Annabeth and I headed for the stables. She was walking fast. In fact, the pace was almost too fast to call it walking at all. I had to jog a few yards to catch up before I fell into step beside her. "Excited to go?" I asked, wondering if that was why she was so antsy, but the sidelong glance I got in response wasn't exactly what I'd expected.

"Not really," she said, and her pace quickened again. "But it'll be nice to be doing something, at least." Her voice sounded odd, like she wanted to say more, but she didn't.

Well, I thought, maybe she was still mad about Luke. I mean, it was pretty clear that Luke was firmly on Kronos' side. At the moment he pretty much was Kronos. But every time someone mentioned that, or said something about how Luke had given himself up completely to the Titan's cause, Annabeth would go prickly. That was why I hadn't really talked to her about what had happened in the Labyrinth over the summer, and why I hadn't even thought about bringing up Nico's proposal when I'd met with Chiron earlier. Annabeth would have shot down our plan in ten seconds flat. I was sure of it.

When we arrived at the stables Chiron and Grover were already there. Grover was wearing his fake feet and his cap was tugged low over his unruly hair to hide his horns. Blackjack and two other pegasi were standing outside, saddled and ready to go. Heya, boss! Blackjack pranced in place as he greeted me. You're not gonna leave me out this time!

I grinned and scratched his nose. "Nope, not this time. I'm sorry about that, buddy." He sorted softly into my hair, and I figured I was forgiven. Then Chiron cleared his throat and the three of us gathered around him.

"Now, I know I said this shouldn't be difficult, but I want you to be on your guard. Don't do anything that might give yourselves away. And don't go looking for trouble." He looked right at me as he said that last part. I glanced down and scuffed my foot in the dust a bit, feeling both guilty and a little unfairly accused. I guess I wasn't particularly good at keeping out of trouble, but it was usually because the trouble followed me.

He handed out thermoses of nectar and baggies of ambrosia to each of us, and we mounted. Grover needed a little help, but eventually he was seated astride his pegasus, looking nervous but ready to go. Juniper melted out of the greenery alongside the stables just as we were about to leave so that she could say good-bye.

Annabeth was the first to take to the air, with me and then Grover not far behind. Even though this wasn't exactly a pleasure ride, I loved flying on Blackjack and he knew it. He showed off with a few fancy tricks that had me hanging on for dear life before his horsey laughter echoed in my mind and the three pegasi turned their noses and wings to the west.

Rising Star, Texas, wasn't exactly the middle of nowhere. But it was pretty close. From the air it was just a patchwork of squares that looked slightly greener than the brownish orange of the surrounding area. The pegasi wheeled in a wide circle until Annabeth spotted an empty field where we could land and our mounts could mingle with the herds of animals already there. Anyone who saw them would just think they were regular horses. The Mist would take care of that.

Just give me a call when you need us again, boss, Blackjack told me after we'd landed. We'll just be here having a snack.

"Thanks," I said, as the three winged horses ambled off to find some sweet grass to munch. Then Annabeth and Grover and I turned towards the town.

The Oracle's house wasn't exactly in the town – more like the outskirts. Chiron had given us a map, and Annabeth led the way, squinting in the sun before finding the right direction and setting off. Grover and I hung back a bit – Grover was mostly admiring the scenery, though occasionally he pulled at some flowers or long grass to munch on. The air smelled clean and fresh out here, nothing like it did in the city. It was nice, but I couldn't imagine living out here, with barely any neighbors in sight.

Grover and I chatted a little, mostly about how he'd been since I'd left and what had been happening with the satyrs now that Pan was dead. He told me he'd only gotten started convincing other satyrs that the task of preserving nature was up to them now. I guess it made sense. I mean, if I'd been waiting for a hero to show up all my life, and then I suddenly found out he was dead and would never come to help me, I'd be pretty reluctant to believe it too. But I had faith in Grover. If anyone could spread the word and get the satyrs to work together, it would be him.

After maybe twenty minutes of walking, the road split off onto a dusty driveway of sorts. There was a house at the end of the drive. Annabeth looked at the map, then at the dirt-track road. "I think we're here."

We walked up the drive in silence, careful to keep a lookout for any suspicious activity. But the sun was shining and there were cattle mooing off in the distance, and there was no sign of trouble as far as I could tell. The house looked like it had been through a lot. The wood of the siding was sun-bleached and the roof looked like it had been patched more than once. There was a line of laundry hanging in the yard and the windows and door were flung open to catch whatever breeze there was. The long grass in the front yard ruffled in the wind as we hiked up to the door. Annabeth got there first, knocking hesitantly on the doorframe and peering inside. "Hello?"

"In the back!" The voice that answered was a girl's voice, and sounded pretty young. There was just a hint of a Southern twang. Annabeth glanced at me and Grover. I reached into my pocket, fingers closing around my pen just in case, and nodded.

The three of us walked into the house. The front hall a braided carpet on the wooden floor and a pair of tables, each with a vase of flowers on it. It led into a dining room with a painted wooden table that was decorated with stenciled vines and roses. Next there was a kitchen, with red checkered curtains and an old white refrigerator that looked – and sounded – like it was on its last legs. The back door was open to another yard full of long grass. There was a figure with a watering can hunched just outside the doorway tending to what looked like violets.

"Hello?" Annabeth asked again, as the three of us crowded around the back door.

The figure looked up at the sound of her voice, and smiled warmly. She looked young, maybe twenty-five or so. Her face was pale, with a spattering of freckles across her nose, and she had brown hair tied up in a messy ponytail. She was wearing overalls with a white t-shirt and red Converse sneakers.

She stood, setting the watering can down and dusting her hands off on her thighs. "I was wondering if you'd make it in time."

I wondered what exactly that meant, but Annabeth spoke again before I could ask. "Are you the Oracle?" she asked uncertainly.

The brown-haired girl smiled down at us. I noticed her lips were a rosy shade of pink, which stood out against her freckled cheeks. "That's me. Chiron sent you, didn't he?"

"Yes," Annabeth said slowly, though I could tell by her voice that she was starting to relax just a little. This did seem pretty straightforward. I mean, Chiron had told us the Oracle would probably know we were coming, and he didn't think she'd have any reason to turn us away. And she wouldn't be on Kronos' side. He had been very sure of that.

"Are you really an Oracle?" Grover asked, shifting in his fake shoes. He was looking at her with wide eyes, like he couldn't believe that she could be the same as the Oracle at camp. I definitely understood where he was coming from. Technically I'd never seen a live Oracle before either. The one at camp lived in the mummified corpse of some hippie lady that never moved, the one time it had decided to take a walk in the woods notwithstanding. But this one was definitely alive and breathing.

And laughing, I realized, as she chuckled politely at Grover's question. "Yes, little satyr, I am." Then she winked. "I'm a bit older than I look, I admit. But not all of us have chosen to appear in such a morbid form as Delphi."

Grover blushed a little, but the Oracle only kept smiling. Then she turned to Annabeth and me. "You've all traveled a long way to get here. I have some iced tea in the fridge. Why don't you come inside and we can sit down and talk." She started to lead the way back inside, but as she walked past she glanced over at me.

"Percy. I think I'd like to talk to you later."

"… Uh. Yeah, okay." I got a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach, and not just because she knew my name without asking. I mean, whenever I'd talked to an Oracle before, it had been to get a prophecy. And those weren't usually good things. But maybe I was overreacting. Maybe it was something else completely.

Annabeth looked a little unnerved too, but we all followed the Oracle into the kitchen and were given glasses of iced tea. We sat around her table under a white ceiling fan that turned lazily but still managed to make a nice breeze in the room.

We must have talked for a long time – an hour or more, probably. By then it was clear that what Chiron had believed was true. The Oracle wasn't planning on joining Kronos, and Luke hadn't found her yet. "I don't really want to leave, but it is safest, I suppose," she said, swirling the ice in her third glass of tea so that it clinked against the sides. "I would rather die than see him rise to power. I know what will happen if he does."

She looked up at the three of us, then back down again. I shifted in my chair, feeling uncomfortable. She was nice, sure, and she was on our side, which made me feel a whole lot better. But there was something about the way she talked and the look in her eyes that bothered me. It made me think of something morbid, but maybe that was just because she was an Oracle and she was old, no matter what she looked like now. I hoped that was just it.

"I'll help you for as long as I can. I know that –" She stopped short, looking up again at us with wide brown eyes. "Oh, no. They're already here. But it's too soon –"

At the same time, I heard something off in the distance. It was a sort of whine, that started out soft but got louder and louder until suddenly I could identify it. Motorcycles. It was the sound of motorcycles, and they were getting closer.

Annabeth stood so fast she knocked over her chair. She pulled her knife from her bag and looked around like she was assessing the defensibility of the Oracle's house. Her mouth set into a thin line, and after a minute she said, "We have to go. We need to get you back to camp."

After that, everything happened too fast. The motorcycle noise grew until it was nearly unbearable – they were in the yard now, and seconds later two dracaenae burst through the open door. I yanked Riptide out of my pocket, uncapping it and stepping back to come shoulder to shoulder with Annabeth.

She and I formed a line, side-by-side in front of Grover and the Oracle, who were still on the other side of the table. Grover was tugging the sleeve of her t-shirt, trying to get her out the back way while I called frantically for Blackjack in my mind. But just as Grover had gotten the Oracle turned, a shadow appeared in the back doorway. There was a snap and a whistling noise, and Grover suddenly let out a yelp. I spun around to see that a girl had managed to get in the back way. She looked human, so she must be a half-blood. She had dark hair and a red leather jacket, and an empty bow in her right hand.

And sagging in Grover's arms was the Oracle, a red-fletched arrow lodged deep in her chest. "No!" I kicked at one of the dracaenae, sending her skidding across the room on her snake-trunk legs. The other one let out an angry cry and slashed at Annabeth, but she parried and ducked out of the way.

"We're done here!" the enemy half-blood cried, and before I'd done anything more than spin on my heel to grab for her, she was racing out the door and into the yard. The two dracaenae retreated out the front door and the motorcycle engines flared to life a few seconds later.

I wasn't going to let them get away with what they'd done. But I'd only gotten three steps towards the door, when Annabeth's frantic voice made me stop. "Percy!"

I turned back towards her as the sounds of the motorcycles faded into the distance. Grover and Annabeth had laid the Oracle on the floor. Annabeth had one hand on the arrow shaft, and her face was so pale it was nearly white. There was a large red stain spreading across the front of the Oracle's overalls, and there was blood all over her hands and Grover's shirt as well.

"I can't… I don't think I should… Oh, gods," Annabeth was saying, her eyes wide as she looked down at the place where the arrow had penetrated. Then she looked up at me. "Percy, what do we do?"

I didn't know what to do either – the Oracle looked pretty bad, and there was this weird gurgling sound every time her chest heaved. Grover was trying to keep her steady, but his hands were shaking and his skin was almost as pale as Annabeth's.

My body and mind felt strangely numb as I plodded clumsily over to them, Riptide almost falling from my fingers as I stared down. She was dying. The Oracle was dying. I just knew it. And there was nothing we could do.

"Don't – don't worry," she rasped, but the words only made Annabeth look even more panicked. "It's supposed to be this way. I knew my time was coming. You – " She coughed, and there was blood on her lips. I couldn't do anything but stand there dumbly, watching her die.

And then the Oracle looked right at me. "You. Perseus Jackson," she said, but the way she said it, it didn't sound like her normal voice. "You must listen – " For a minute her eyes seemed like they were drilling through my skull and into my soul.

But before I could say anything, her eyes clouded over. Green mist began pouring from her mouth. Annabeth gasped, pulling her hands back. Grover stared. The mist wrapped around the chairs and the table, then curled up and around my legs. And then the Oracle spoke.

"Your plan he does not dare allow,
He seeks the one left disavowed.
When lover's touch has since grown cold,
You must repeat failed quest of old.
They gods are not lightly defied,
But one may yet come to your side.
Baser than blood the two have shared,
The only way to be prepared.
Put your trust in unheard steps,
If you would bring love back from Hades' depths."

Her voice faded, and the mist faded with it, almost like it was melting away. And as it disappeared I felt a tugging in the pit of my stomach, almost like the sensation I felt when I called on water to do my will. But this feeling chilled me to the bone. And I knew with absolute certainty that she was gone.

"She's dead," I said out loud, my voice sounding hollow in the silence after her words. "The Oracle is dead." As if to confirm it, the Oracle's body suddenly turned to dust and crumbled away. The arrow clattered to the floor. Grover jumped.

For a minute Annabeth just stared at the film of dust on her hands. I thought I saw a tear or two run down her cheek, but then she lifted one hand and scrubbed them away. "Dead…" she echoed. "We failed. Chiron was wrong. Kronos didn't want her on his side. He just wanted her dead."

"He must have known she'd never cooperate," I said, slowly re-capping Riptide and replacing it in my pocket. The movement felt incredibly slow, like I was moving my arm through syrup.

"But… what about the prophecy? I mean, she did just give Percy a prophecy, didn't she?" Grover asked nervously. He pushed himself up off the floor and looked from Annabeth's face to mine. "What did all that mean?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. The words echoed in my mind like they were on replay, but for a minute I couldn't make heads or tails of them. Annabeth stood too, and I realized that she and Grover were now looking at each other with strange expressions on their faces. "I think it Grover's right. It was a prophesy," Annabeth agreed, frowning. "But I don't get it either. Lover's touch gone cold?"

Grover shivered. "It sounds like it has something to do with death. And she said something about Hades." He looked at me. "I don't get it. Was that what she wanted to talk to you about? Maybe it was just because Nico's been hanging – "

Whatever he said next was totally lost on me. Suddenly I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me. The words replayed in my mind one more time, but now I understood exactly what they meant. For a minute I didn't know if I could explain it… but then suddenly I could. "The gods – the line about the gods." I shook my head. It felt like I couldn't get enough air, like my lungs were only half-inflating every time I took a breath.

"Percy?" Annabeth and Grover must have noticed I wasn't listening anymore. "Percy," Annabeth said again, more sharply, and my eyes focused on her even though I felt sick to my stomach. "What do you know that we don't?"

"'The gods themselves are not lightly defied.'" I moaned – it made sense, it made so much sense. "Hades – he already tried to – " My whole body froze at the realization of what the rest of the words meant. Because I was pretty sure she'd been talking about Nico.

I'd never thought about what we were in words before. But that's what he was, wasn't he? My lover. But in Hades – dead. My hands felt numb. My stomach felt like it was filled with lead. I wasn't sure if I was breathing.

Nico. Something was going to happen to Nico.

I closed my eyes for a minute, but this wasn't a dream. I wasn't going to wake up. And if we didn't get back to camp, Nico might –

I opened my eyes. "She was talking about Nico," I said, still feeling dizzy and sick and a million other things I couldn't name. "We have to get back to camp. Something's going to happen to Nico."

Annabeth opened her mouth, probably to ask how I knew that, but just then Blackjack and the other two pegasi came pounding up into the yard. Boss! We came as fast as we could! Some farmer thought we were part of his herd and we couldn't get away! He shook his head, then looked at the tracks the motorcycles had left in the yard. What happened? Are you okay, boss?

It only took a split second for my reflexes to kick into gear. I was on Blackjack's back before I realized my feet were moving. "We have to get back to camp. Now."