As I sat there and tried to figure out the rest of my plan, I realized that Nico's Stygian iron sword was propped just inside the doorway. I wondered how it had gotten there – he wouldn't have left it if he'd fought with Kronos' assassins. Someone else must have left it there afterwards. I couldn't imagine why, but all the same just looking at it made me feel a little better, somehow. And a little more determined, too.

I got up and went over to where it was leaning against the doorframe. The blade looked cold and dead – well, as cold and dead as a blade can look, I guess. I reached out to touch it. The hilt was cold as ice, but I wrapped my fingers around it and hefted it experimentally. It was much heavier than it looked and its balance was completely different than Anaklusmos'. I swung it a few times and watched the blade arc through the air, adjusting my grip on the hilt until it felt better in my hand.

Night finally fell and the sounds outside the cabin died down as everyone settled in for the night. I waited for a good hour after everything had gone quiet before I gathered up my dinner leftovers and Nico's sword and snuck out the cabin door as quietly as I could. Curfew was still in effect even though the summer session was over and I didn't want to be a Harpy snack. But I ran into no one and nothing as I made my way down the sloping hill to the woods. I ended up at the creek, mostly because even though I'd nearly been killed there more than once I still felt somehow connected to the place. A lot of important things had happened near here. And besides, the water would give me strength. I figured I could use all the help I could get.

I took Nico's sword and began scraping away at the ground in front of me. It wasn't exactly a shovel, but it would have to do. After about half an hour's hard work I was sweaty and dusty but I had a decently deep furrow gouged out of the ground. I figured that would have to be good enough. I was ready to begin.

I didn't exactly have McDonald's, but I did have the brisket I'd brought from dinner. Barbecue would be just as good as Big Macs, wouldn't it? I didn't have anything to drink, but I guessed I could probably get some water from the creek if the dead wanted beverages with their meal. I took a step back and put one foot into the water for good measure. Then I chucked the meat into the ground.

"Let the dead taste again," I said, echoing the words I had heard Nico speak last year when I'd seen him do this in an Iris message. My voice sounded loud in the still night air. "Let them rise and take this offering. Let them remember."

I remembered that when Nico had done this he'd also said something in Ancient Greek. I hadn't heard most of what he'd been saying – stuff about memories and returning from the grave was all I remembered. So I just made some stuff up and started talking, babbling about how if the dead could still remember their lives then they could remember what it was like to help people. I said something about how they could have this yummy meal of barbecue if they'd just come up out of their graves and help me. It probably wasn't as morbid as what he'd said. I hoped it would be good enough.

When I finally ran out of stuff to say, I stopped. All around me the woods were deadly silent (no pun intended). I could barely hear the creek burbling in its bed, and I was standing right in it.

Then, suddenly, there was a scratching sound. The sound grew louder and the hole I'd dug started bubbling up with what looked like coffee-colored A-1 sauce. Figures started to appear in front of me among the trees – only a few, maybe five or six in all, but they were still there. I'd managed to summon the dead with my leftover dinner and some cheesy lines about helping me from beyond the grave.

I wasn't sure which scared me more – the dead people in front of me or the fact that I'd actually managed to bring them here. I hefted Nico's sword and plunged it into the ground in front of me. "I want to talk to Nico!"

"He can't come," said a voice behind me. I turned so fast I nearly lost my balance, blinking as I saw the shadowy white figure standing there as it swayed in the wind. Or, at least, it looked like it was swaying in the wind. I couldn't feel any wind. After a moment it seemed to materialize and grow more solid in front of me until I suddenly knew who it was.

It was Bianca di Angelo. She smiled. "Hello, Percy."

I swallowed. "Bianca. Hey." I suddenly wasn't sure what to say – I hadn't talked to her for two years, which I guess made sense when you considered the fact that she was dead. She'd been killed two summers ago, fried inside a giant robot in the junkyard of the gods. But then there was also the fact that she'd been the one who'd been leading me to Nico last year, even though she was dead. When you really thought about it, dead people got around quite a bit, for being dead.

I just stared at her for a minute until my brain finally kicked into gear and I could think clearly again. There was a reason I was standing here offering a bunch of dead people leftover barbecue, after all. Then I suddenly had a million questions for her. "Why can't he come? He's… he's dead, isn't he?"

She nodded, her eyes never leaving my face. "Yes. But he won't even talk to me. Something's wrong with him."

I frowned. Something was wrong with Nico on top of his being dead? This wasn't good. Somehow everything felt more urgent. Nico needed saving, that much was clear. And of course I was going to be the one to do it. That pretty much matched what the Oracle had told me – that I would repeat a failed quest. I hoped that meant that this time it would succeed. I mean, the rest of the prophecy had sounded pretty promising, right? I just had to trust…

"Bianca, I'm going to rescue him," I said. The relief on her face was visible even on her half-transparent features. I hoped that was a good sign. "Can you help me?"

But she shook her head, and my stomach felt like it had fallen through the creekbed below me. "No," she said grimly. "I can't. There's nothing I can do from here."

I felt my fingers curl into a fist – why did it seem like everything in the universe was against me on this one? Chiron and my friends thought going on a quest to save Nico was a bad idea, the Oracle had said that all the gods hated me and I definitely knew she was right when it came to Hades. And if Bianca couldn't help, then it was going to be up to me. Alone. And I didn't want to admit it, but I didn't know if I could do this one alone.

I suddenly grew aware that I didn't have a lot of time here. Bianca was more solid than the other figures crouching at the hole in the ground behind me, but she was still transparent and starting to fade. I guessed that just because I had some of Nico's powers didn't mean they were very strong. I needed to get as much out of this as I could, because I wasn't sure I was going to get a second chance.

"Bianca," I said, my mind racing frantically, "if you can't help me, then do you know anyone who can?"

Bianca's face grew hopeful for a second, and my heart leapt. Maybe there was someone who could help! But then her face fell, and she said, "Yes, but she's… not here right now." She glanced around, like she was looking at the trees. "What month is it?"

I blinked. What month? "September," I said, wondering if maybe they didn't have calendars in the Underworld. I supposed the passage of time didn't exactly matter much down there.

Bianca didn't look pleased with my answer. "It's still too early. November, maybe…"

My throat felt dry. November? I didn't want to have to wait until November to save Nico. That was two months away! And what if something happened in the meantime? What if Kronos attacked? He could attack tomorrow, for all I knew.

"Why is it too early?" I asked, wondering what the month could possibly have to do with things. But Bianca only shook her head and looked around again.

"Percy… I have to go." I realized she was beginning to fade faster. I glanced behind me, and realized the other spirits that had come to feast on the leftover barbecue were gone, or nearly gone. I looked back to Bianca, my mouth opening to plead with her. But she spoke before I could get a word out. "You shouldn't try this again," she said, and smiled sadly. "It's too dangerous. I'll try to get you help, but…"

I didn't know if she had more to say, but she faded out before I could ask and I was left facing nothing but the dark shadows of the trees. I got the feeling that even if I did try again, I wasn't going to get any response.

I went back to my cabin, feeling uneasy and sick to my stomach. What was I going to do? I couldn't just leave camp, but I definitely couldn't stay. If I didn't do something soon, Chiron would find a way to keep me here and Nico would… I swallowed. Nico would stay dead. And I didn't want to think about that. I'd been hoping I would be able to talk to him tonight. Maybe I could've told him I was coming and we could've formulated a plan. But he hadn't come, and Bianca hadn't been able to help.

To say I was disappointed would be a pretty big understatement. I didn't think I'd be able to fall asleep, but I figured I should try. Even if I was going to go on a quest to rescue Nico, it wouldn't be tonight. I sat on my bed, still wearing my dirty jeans and sneakers. I felt grimy and sweaty; the air was still hot and sticky outside, and I'd gotten dirt pretty much all over me trying to dig that trench. I don't even remember lying down, but I guess I must've because before I knew it I was asleep.

That night I dreamed of pomegranate trees on the beach.

I don't know how I knew they were pomegranate trees – I mean, I'd seen pomegranates before, but I didn't know what the plants they grew on looked like. Besides, I'd always thought they were too much work to eat. Mom would get them sometimes, but you had to cut them open and then eat the stuff around the seeds and spit the seeds out unless you really wanted to eat those too. It was more work than eating a watermelon. And they were expensive, so we didn't get them a lot.

So there was no good reason that I would have a dream about pomegranate trees, especially not when they were growing on a beach. I didn't think pomegranate trees grew on beaches. But that was where I found myself, wandering down the waterline with the sand squelching in between my toes and pomegranate trees on either side of me.

As I walked by one of the trees, a piece of fruit fell from it and rolled across the sand to hit my foot and come to a stop. I bent down, picking it up. The fruit was cold – ice cold – and it almost burned my hand to touch it. I hissed, dropping it, and when I looked up again, I stumbled back in surprise.

There was a woman standing in front of me. She had long dark hair and pale skin, and she looked sad. There was something about her expression that made me think of prisoner who'd been trapped so long that they no longer thought about escape. I opened my mouth to speak to her, but she only shook her head and pointed out to sea. I frowned. I wanted to ask her who she was, but it seemed like my voice wouldn't work.

She reached down and picked up the pomegranate, smiling sadly and holding it out for me to take. I reached for it before I could stop myself, but when I touched the fruit again, it was warm. I looked back up, but she was gone –

I woke up just as the sun was starting to rise. I couldn't have gotten more than a couple of hours of sleep, but I wasn't tired enough to try for more. I still felt pretty gross, though, so I dragged myself out of bed and found some clean clothes and started heading for the showers. It was light out by now, so the harpies wouldn't try to eat me for being out of my cabin.

But as I made my way towards the showers, I thought I heard something rustle in the trees. I stopped, wondering if it was one of the nymphs or something, but no one appeared. Figuring it was just my mind playing tricks, I turned back to the path and went on my way, but then there was another rustle and the sound of someone calling my name.

"Percy."

I stopped again, staring at the trees.

"Percy Jackson."

Well, if there's one thing I've learned from being a Half-Blood, when someone knows your name it's either really good or really bad. I was already reaching for Riptide in my pocket when the trees rustled a third time and out stepped a woman I'd never seen before.

But suddenly I realized I had seen her before. She was the woman from my dream! I'd only jst managed to open my mouth when she raised a hand and spoke first.

"Percy Jackson. I must speak with you." I nodded. When someone steps out of the woods and speaks to you like that, you kind of have to agree. "Do you know who I am?"

I was about to say no when I thought about my dream again. She'd been on the beach with all the pomegranate trees –

Wait a second. Pomegranate trees. Suddenly I did know who she was. I swallowed. "You're… you're Persephone, right?" I paused. "Ma'am." I mean, if she was, she was Queen of the Underworld. I figured that probably at least deserved a ma'am. I didn't want to get on her bad side.

She smiled. "Yes, I am. But I am not a queen right now." She looked over at the trees, then at the sky. "It isn't winter yet. That is why I am able to come to you here."

Suddenly what Bianca had said the other night made sense too. If it wasn't winter, Persephone wouldn't be in the Underworld, and Bianca wouldn't have been able to ask her for help. But then how had she known to come? "But Bianca said…"

"Bianca might not have been able to contact me, but others have," she explained, though I guess it wasn't really much of an explanation at all. I wasn't sure anyone else I knew would've contacted someone like Persephone on my behalf. I mean, most of the gods weren't too fond of me, and I still didn't even know how my own father felt about my relationship. Or whatever it was.

"You know what you must do, if you want him back," she continued, her dark eyes watching me carefully.

Apparently she wasn't one for beating around the bush. I swallowed and nodded. "I have to go and get him back. Right?"

But there were so many problems with that plan it was hard to begin to think of how to deal with them. For starters, how was I even supposed to get to Los Angeles from here? The last two times I'd gone to the west coast it had been… well, it had been quite an ordeal, let me put it that way. I didn't want to have to go through any of that again – don't get me wrong. I would if I had to. But that didn't mean I was looking forward to it. I'd barely made it to California alive the last two times. And even if my goal was the Underworld, I was pretty sure I had to be alive if I was going to walk out of there again when I found Nico.

And even if I could get there in one piece, somehow I got the feeling that if I was going to get to the Underworld I couldn't just waltz in and ask Charon for another ride. Sure, I supposed if you thought about it you could say he was on my side. Or, well, I was on his side. Or at least, I'd pretended I was. But I still didn't know if that would exactly buy me any kind of favor with him a second time. I didn't think so.

What I wanted was to ask Annabeth or Grover for ideas – they'd know what to do – but I felt like if I did that they would only try to discourage me from even going. How was I supposed to do this when all my friends thought it was a bad idea? I didn't think I'd ever felt more alone in all my life. At least when I hadn't had any friends, they couldn't have made me feel this way.

"My husband has only ever agreed to relinquish one subject. And I do not think he wishes to repeat that incident," she said. I wasn't sure if that was supposed to comfort me or not, because it definitely didn't. She smiled again, but it was a sad smile. "I would do what I could, but I don't think you have the time to wait for winter. You need to go now."

Well at least there was one thing we agreed on. "There is another way, Percy Jackson," she said. "A way that you might find easier than most." She paused and glanced to the side, like she was worried we were being watched. "There is another entrance to the Underworld," she said slowly, turning back to me. "It wasn't always underwater, but it has come to rest there over the centuries. The mortals call it the Puerto Rico Trench." She paused, making sure I understood. "Find that, and you just may find your way in."

My stomach felt like it was suddenly full of butterflies. Another way in? Underwater? That was definitely something I could do – it was practically an invitation. All I would have to do would be to find a way to this Puerto Rico trench. And all I would have to do to find it would be to step into the water. I'd found out two years ago that once I was on the water, I could tell exactly where I was in relation to everything else. It came in pretty handy, I had to admit.

"Take this, too," she said, as a pomegranate appeared in her hand. "Remember, some supplies are best used before the journey begins." She threw the pomegranate to me, and the fruit arced gently through the air to land squarely in my hand.

"Thank you, but – " I looked up to ask he what she meant by that, but it was too late. She was gone. And the only way I knew she'd ever been here was the piece of bright red fruit in my right hand.

"'One may yet come to your side.' Huh. Never thought you'd catch the eye of Persephone, Seaweed Brain."

I whipped around, nearly dropping my towel and the pomegranate in surprise. Standing there just behind me, pulling her invisibility cap off of her head, was Annabeth.