Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

I am extremely and sincerely sorry for not updating in what feels like forever. I am going to try better to update more as soon as summer time rolls along.

The city itself was lit up like a neon light, done especially for the event. The buildings glistened gold and marble, and the plants were so green and fresh that they almost looked unreal. Music, laughter and words drifted through the air and mixed in with one another to create a symphony fit for only the grandest of parties.

It was the event of the season, maybe the next few centuries, but the facade of happiness could only mask so much of the nasty secrets and wrongdoings that were churning under the surface. A majority of the people did their best to ignore it, acting as if this were any normal social gathering. Others acted warily, appearing cool and collected while inside they feared the worst.

And a few faced the obvious secret head-on, not caring who it would upset or what fight it would cause to break out later.

Thalia Grace was one of those few. She always had been. It was pointless and somewhat naive to try and hide something that desperately needed to be addressed, especially something as important as this.

As she walked through the gilded streets of Olympus, giving an appropriate nod to whoever passed by, she couldn't help but wonder what sort of unrest the aftermath of this "party" would cause. It would be bad, that much was obvious, maybe even chaotic, but she couldn't wait to get it over with at the same time. Thalia could already feel the pint up angst and guilt threatening to take place in her heart.

This was a touchy subject, to put it lightly. And unless everyone put forth their best effort and did all they could to control themselves just to avoid one thing leading to another, there would be Hades to pay.

'Almost literally,' Thalia thought sadly as she scanned through the crowd for two specific sets of families. Just as she was beginning to feel somewhat lonesome, a small pair of arms wrapped around her from behind as much as they could.

"I found you Auntie Thalia, this means I win!" A small voice with a slight lisp cried out from behind her and the arms around her waist tightened. Thalia felt a grin appear immediately appear onto her face as she looked over her shoulder to find a bright eyed, blond haired 4-year-old looking up at her with all the adoration in the world.

"Yep, you won, Jazz." Thalia spun around and pulled her youngest niece into a tight hug, "But next time it'll be me who wins!" She blew a quick raspberry on Jasmine's cheek, which made the little girl squeal and start giggling.

"Well, that was fast."

Thalia looked up and felt herself smile even more when she saw her half-brother Zeke sauntering over with the rest of Jazz's family. She barely had enough time to register how much everyone had changed, before being hounded by her three other nieces.

Zeke couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of his usually serious sister trying to keep her balance after being attacked with hugs and senseless chatter by his daughters. He wrapped his arm around the woman next to him and gently rubbed her arm lovingly. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and gave him a warm smile.

To anyone else, it was just a simple exchange of affections between husband and wife. But those who were close to both knew it was much more than that.

Thalia noticed the subtle gestures; even when mobbed it was hard not to see how much the two loved each other. It was nice to know that there were still couples out there who still had such genuine feelings for one another. Being a hunter usually implied that she was a skeptic on the concept of love (and she was), but the daughter of Zeus made a few exceptions every now and then.

"I was beginning to worry you all wouldn't show," Thalia hugged each of her nieces, making sure to not give one more time than the others, "but I should have known you would be fashionably late, as always."

Zeke Adams released his hold on his wife and stepped forward, a lopsided grin plastered on his face. His daughters relaxed and backed away from their aunt to make room for their father.

"You know me too well, you know that," Zeke wrapped his arms around his sister and gave her a tight hug, lifting Thalia into the air due to the rather obvious height difference. He set her down after a few moments and smirked, "plus, parking was terrible."

Thalia laughed before turning her attention to her sister-in-law, Katarina Lyn-Adams, "I still can't get over how you manage to look so nice, even after all these years, especially after having four kids."

The woman giggled and pulled her into a warm embrace, "Yeah, about that..."

The Lieutenant of Artemis halted her thoughts when she heard what Kat had said, confused before finally understanding what those words meant. Thalia let go of her brother's wife and held her out at arms length to get a better look.

Kat was wearing a rather nice semi-formal dress that reached her knees that was a lovely dark green color that complimented her eyes. It had a sash just under the bust and had only one sleeve. She looked stunning, as usual, but it wasn't the dress that caught Thalia's attention. It was the way the dress fit around her sister-in-law's midsection that did.

"By the gods, why didn't you tell me?!" Thalia's jaw went slack and she cast a shocked look in Zeke's direction.

"We wanted to surprise you," the son of Zeus was trying hard to contain his laughter. The look on her face was almost too much.

She crossed her arms and pouted, "Getting me a new bow is a surprise; this is life changing news!"

Zeke sniggered and took Kat's hand in his own, "We'd thought you'd be used to it by now." He looked at her with a playful expression, "Besides, Kat's so pretty I can barely control myself." He laughed as she swatted his arm and gave him a reprimanding look.

"Zeke, don't talk like that around the girls." Kat tried to keep a stern expression when scolding her spouse, but she could feel the corners of her lips twitching up into a smile.

"Talk like what?"

Kat rolled her eyes and Zeke saw this as the perfect opportunity to pull her in for a quick kiss. He leaned toward her and planted a quick peck on her cheek.

Well, it was more than a quick peck in Thalia's opinion. Zeke drew it out a lot longer than she thought necessary; he kept trying to catch her lips with his own. It was cute at first, but after a while it got a bit too mushy for Thalia's taste. The kids, apparently, agreed with her because they started to scrunch up their faces and gag. Jazz even went as far as to "Eww!".

Zeke sighed dramatically and stopped trying to kiss Kat. "It's a sad, sad day when a man can't show his affections to the woman he loves," he stated with a theatrical wave of his hand, "but, I will survive as long as I have my beautiful Katarina by my side."

Thalia's nieces giggled at their father's antics. She almost laughed along with them if it weren't for the nymph who suddenly appeared.

"Excuse me," she said in a rather high-pitched, timid voice, "but the gods request that the son and daughter of Zeus and the daughter of Aphrodite report to the throne room."

Kat saw the way both Thalia and Zeke scrunched up their noses after being referred to as children of Zeus. It was almost as if they had eaten something that had left a sour taste in their mouths. After a few moments of awkward silence, Kat thanked the nymph and told her she could go. The nymph, who had begun to blush because of her husband's and sister-in-law's reactions, curtsied and walked off with as much grace and speed as she could muster.

Zeke exhaled and forced a smile onto his face, "I guess that's us." He entwined his fingers with Kat's and made off in the direction of one of the few places he hated. "Might as well get it over with," he mumbled to himself.

None of the girls seemed to notice their fathers sudden change in demeanor. They were all too busy trying to talk to Thalia, who was also caught up in her own emotions. The only one who noticed how uptight he had become was Kat, who'd always been able to tell how he was really feeling.

She could feel how tense he was as he grasped her hand, almost as if he was hoping for a reason to leave right then and there. Kat gave his hand a quick squeeze and offered him a reassuring smile. "It'll be over soon, just be patient. We'll just go in, listen to what they have to say, exchange a few polite words, then leave and go home."

"You make it sound so easy."

Kat chuckled and leaned into her husband. She felt him let go of her hand so he could wrap his arm around her. "Oh, and Zeke?"

"Hm?" He looked down at her to give Kat his undivided attention.

She glanced up at him with jade green eyes, "Please don't do anything rambunctious."

He smiled, though it looked more like a grimace, "So blasting my dad with winds from the arctic tundra is a no?" He snickered as Kat hit him on the chest with the back of her hand, "Okay, I'll behave."

Kat rolled her eyes again and was about to make one of her famous sassy comments before she felt Zeke come to a halt, causing her to come to a rather jerky stop since his arm was still wrapped around her. She looked over at him, about to ask what was wrong, until she followed his gaze to see what had caused him to stop so suddenly. The family had reached the doors to the throne room.

They loomed in front of them, standing tall and foreboding. The doors shone a brilliant color of gold and bronze, greeting anyone who dared to enter them with a cold glisten and heavy presence.

Kat felt Zeke's hand tighten around her arm. He hadn't made a move to enter yet, and something told Kat that he wasn't going to. She sighed and shrugged his arm off of her before grabbing his hand and pulling him off to the side.

"Zeke, look at me." It took a minute before he finally made eye contact with her. "You have got to relax, okay? We don't need any trouble, so if you start to get angry just try to focus on something else, like the kids. Neither of us want them to get caught up in anything."

Zeke closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck, "I know, I know, you're right. I just hate being around him. I hate the way he views you and the girls, and I hate everything he's done to us and our friends." He took a deep breath before continuing, "I think the only way I can get through this without losing it is if I don't talk to him."

Kat watched her husband's attitude change as he grinned and got down on one knee in front of her. "I wonder how he'll react when he finds out that it's another girl," Zeke said as he gently rubbed his wife's baby bump.

"Who cares," she said with a shrug and a small smile, "as long as she's loved. We love her, so his opinion doesn't matter. If he can't get over himself enough to care about his female grandchildren, then screw him."

Zeke laughed out loud, the first real laugh Kat had heard from him in a while. He planted a kiss on her round tummy before standing up.

"The fact," he said while pulling her into a hug and burying his face in her hair, "that you aren't afraid to talk about how you really feel about the King of the Gods is one of the many, many reasons I love you so much."

June: 15 years ago

Nico moaned into his pillow for what felt like the thousandth time that night as his stomach turned violently. Acacia placed her hand on his back and tried to rub it soothingly, but Nico shoved her hand away. He lifted his face out of the pillow long enough to shoot her a glare before curling back up under the covers.

Zeke and Percy glanced at one another before coming to the same conclusion: their kid cousin was seriously sick, and it may have been their fault. Maybe if they had just monitored what Nico did a bit better, he wouldn't be so ill.

It had started just before dinner.

After getting a room at a nearby motel, the four tried to decide on a place to eat. Acacia attempted to convince the three boys to come with her to her home for dinner (she did live here after all), but Nico had been so adamant against the idea that the other two boys declined her offer. She went on by herself, more to explain her situation to her grandparents and get her things than actually eat, and left the guys to their own devices. After much debate, they decided on a rather popular buffet.

That was when things went downhill.

The two older sons of the Big Three noticed an abrupt change in Nico as soon as they entered the restaurant. The wooziness, nausea, and exhaustion seemed to vanish and he perked up the minute the delicious aromas passed under his nose. He stood up straighter and eyed all the food like a starved carnivore. Zeke later swore he saw Nico's eyes dilate.

Percy and Zeke shrugged it off. They knew about their younger cousin's rather aggressive appetite and assumed he was just hungry...which turned out to be an understatement. Neither of them knew anything about his 'condition', but if they had known at that time it wouldn't have made a difference.

Nico tried hard not to go overboard, but five minutes into the meal he eventually just came up with reasons why he should go overboard. By the time they left, he ended up eating more than both Percy and Zeke, which ended up being a serious mistake. Nico doubled over and turned a sickly shade of green almost the minute they got back to their hotel, which had landed him temporary bed rest courtesy of Percy and Zeke.

"Why, why, why did I let myself get carried away?" Nico shifted onto his back, attempting to get more comfortable. He was also trying to get Acacia to stop babying him. What was her deal, anyway? He had been nothing but cold to her and yet here she was trying to make him feel better. It almost made him feel kind of guilty...

His stomach lurched and Nico could taste something sour and bitter in the back of his throat. He clamped a hand over his mouth and closed his eyes, trying to fight off the oncoming queasiness.

"You want some medicine or something?" Zeke eyed Nico with concern. He and Percy were watching a movie on the television, but it was kind of hard for both of them to focus when their kid cousin was sick to his stomach on their watch.

Nico weakly shook his head, "No, it's not that bad, honest."

"Not that bad?" Percy spoke from his position on the second bed, "You had nine helpings and practically ate a whole cake. If I were you, I'd be puking my guts out."

"Please don't talk about puking," Nico moaned before suddenly feeling lightheaded. He was beyond tired, but couldn't fall asleep because of the terrible ache in his tummy. It seemed like sleep was out of the question that night, unless...

No.

He wasn't going to ask her for help. She was nothing but annoying and he most certainly did not need any help from her.

Nico couldn't help but glance at Acacia, who had stubbornly remained by his side. She was starting to nod off in her lounging position in the space on the bed next to him. Her eyes were starting to close and there was a peaceful and content expression on her face as she hugged a pillow to her chest. He thought Acacia even looked kind of cute-

'Whoa, Nico, get a hold of yourself,' he thought. 'Sheesh, you must be worse off than you thought.'

He felt his own eyes begin to shut as drowsiness began to win the battle against nausea. In a matter of minutes, Nico fell into a deep sleep.

Maybe he should have asked Acacia for help, because his dream that night was wild.

...

When Nico next opened his eyes, he was no longer in an old hotel with his cousins and Acacia. No, he was in some large room. The walls were stone and a large fireplace burned in front of him. Two floor to ceiling windows stood facing each other on the walls opposite to each other. Long transparent drapes dangled beside each window. The ceiling itself was so high up that Nico couldn't tell where the windows began or where the roof was, when he looked up all he could see was blackness.

It was cold, even though the fire was burning so strong that Nico could feel a dull warmth in his belly similar to the one that night in the forest, as if the flames were calling out to him, even in a dream. The window curtains blew softly even though there was no breeze. He could faintly make out the moon in the frosted window that looked as thought it hadn't been washed in ages. The only source of light was the large fire, which only cast its glow so far into the cavernous room.

Nico didn't know where he was or why he was there. Other than himself, there was nobody else in the-

"Honestly, father, I have now lost all respect for you."

He whipped around, almost tripping over himself in the process, only to find a rather unusual sight.

There was a small table with what looked to be some sort of game board sitting directly on top. On either side of the table were two chairs. And seated in those two chairs, were two men.

"Out of all the possible things you could have done, that is your move?" The man on the left spoke mockingly, and Nico thought he recognized the voice.

"I make every move for a reason. Just because you don't see it's importance, does not mean it isn't there." The man on the right had a hard voice, which made it clear he wasn't someone to joke around with.

"What a wise thing for you to say," the other man mumbled, "but really, you choose him?"

"I didn't choose him, Fate did."

Nico had to register those last two bits of conversation twice; he thought they were talking about their game pieces. But...what they mean by 'him' and 'chosen'?

"No, seriously, I can understand you picking Jackson, or even Zeus' ridiculous son...but him?"

Nico felt his heart stop.

The man on the left was holding out his arm in a gesture toward him. Both men were now looking at him, even in the dark Nico could tell.

They knew he was there, even though he was only present in the form of a dream.

"Come here, boy."

Nico managed to collect himself enough to know that one of them had called him forward. He took a cautious step, the iciness of the polished stone floor tingling the soles of his bare feet.

"Oh, for Nyx's sake, he said COME HERE," the man on the left slowly clenched his outstretched hand into a fist. He then jerked his arm back as if to hit himself on the chest.

Nico felt an invisible force grab the collar of his shirt. He gasped as he was suddenly pulled forward, his feet lightly dragging along the floor. The force kept pulling him until he came to a halt directly in front of the table. Now that he was closer up, much more than he was comfortable with, he could see that the thing sitting on the table was a chess set. A chess set entirely made out of glass. In fact, the table and chairs were made of glass as well. He examined the chess game and was surprised to find only one of the pieces moved. One of the right sided pieces. It was a pawn, moved forward to where the bishop could be released.

"Now, this brat is the perfect example of someone you do not want as your champion."

Those harsh words broke Nico from his trance. He looked at both men, only to find he had no earthly idea who they were. Both sat with a refined air of importance and pride. Each of them wore a suit, reminding Nico that he was still in his pajamas and he felt heat rush to his cheeks. The man on the right had short, salt and pepper hair and a short beard to match. He had dark grey eyes that made it hard to look at him for too long and a stern expression. He reminded Nico of an army general.

The man on the left was a different story. He had dark brown hair that fell over his eyes and a cocky demeanor. Nico couldn't make out his eyes because of the shadows that covered them, but he felt as though he knew this man.

"I mean look at him," the man on the left continued, "he might as well be one of his father's skeletons."

Nico was offended, but didn't let it show. Since he had no idea who these two people were, it was best to not give them a reason to hate him.

"He is young, and still has much to learn and do, but if anyone holds the potential needed for this prophecy it is him."

The son of Hades started. What prophecy? There couldn't really be another prophecy, they'd just gotten over one! Nico was about to blurt out a question when the man on the right began to shimmer. It was if his form wasn't stable. He stood, and the shimmering got worse.

"I'm afraid my time here is up." He bowed his head toward the man on the left, "Son, I look forward to our game. It will indeed be exciting." He lifted his head and turned toward Nico, looking down at the small boy from his great height, "We will meet again soon, Son of Hades."

With that, the man slowly melted into the air and vanished.

The man on the left's lips twisted into a sneer and the air of the room changed almost immediately. The room became colder and every shadow seemed to grow thicker. Nico felt as though he was frozen in place.

"If you think," the man said with a snarl, "that I'm going to be that nice again, then you are highly mistaken."

"That was nice?" The words escaped Nico's lips before he could think.

"Shut up," the man growled as he stood. Nico tried to take an instinctive step back, but found that he couldn't. The man slowly advanced toward him until he stood directly in front of the boy, "I won't take any snide comments from an insolent boy like you!"

He leaned forward until he was directly in Nico's face. The son of Hades still couldn't see his eyes which were still hidden by dark shadows, and he found that rather disturbing.

"What makes you think that you can defeat me?" The man questioned in a sharp whisper.

Nico's eyes widened, "I-I don't know-What?"

He didn't have time to react as the man grabbed him by the throat and shoved him into one of the chairs. The sound of glass scratching against stone echoed throughout the room. Nico gagged and struggled, but the man was inhumanely strong and tightened his grip. He gasped as his vision became starry.

"YOU PATHETIC CHILD!" The man's voice caused the entire place to tremble, "How dare they face me against an unworthy opponent! HOW DARE THEY!" He paused as his mouth morphed into a manic smile, "I believe it's time for me to make my move."

While keeping one hand tightly wrapped around Nico's neck, he used the other to snatch up one of his own chess pieces: another pawn. He held it in front of the boy's face as if to taunt him. Nico watched in fear as the pawn slowly changed from its transparent beauty into something terrible. The glass turned black, and the pawn began to look as thought it were slowly melting. The black inky substance it had turned in to began to drip and ooze, looking nothing like a chess piece in any way, shape, or form.

Then, without a warning, the man slid the thing into the small opening of the son of Hades' mouth.

Whatever it was it tasted awful, and Nico could do nothing as it slipped around in his mouth for a brief second before oozing down his throat. The man finally released Nico and he began coughing and retching, trying in vain to get that thing that was now inside of him out.

The man chuckled, "You poor child, there is no getting that thing out of you by yourself. It's there to stay. Slowly, it will fill you up, consuming you from the inside." The shadow finally lifted from his face and Nico could finally see his eyes.

And what he saw horrified him.

"And now, I am going to make you scream," a sword appeared in the man's hand and he positioned himself to strike, "and I am going to enjoy every second."

He moved with unnatural speed, plunging the blade into Nico's chest.

...

Nico awoke screaming. It was the sound of true terror, his yell causing everyone to wake up in panic.

Percy and Zeke drew their weapons immediately, only to put them away when they saw there was no immediate threat. They dashed to their cousin's bedside in an instant, now worried out of their minds.

Nico could feel his heart pounding in his chest and heard the rush of blood in his ears. He was sweating like crazy and couldn't seem to catch his breath.

"Hey. Hey! Nico!" Zeke clamped a hand down on Nico's shoulder and shook him gently, but his cousin didn't respond. His eyes were wide and he breathing sounded constricted.

The son of Hades tried to get a grip so he could put together everything he'd just witnessed. Unfortunately, his stomach decided that it was the perfect time to be an issue. Nico slapped a hand over his mouth as he felt it lurch and churn, his dinner starting to come back up. He flung the covers off of himself, shoved his cousins out of the way, and made a mad dash for the bathroom. He barely had enough time to lock the door before falling onto his knees in front of the toilet, the impact on the tiled floor causing them to pop. Nico gagged before throwing up violently.

His cousins could hear him retching and they couldn't help but grimace. Acacia anxiously rubbed her hands together, wishing that she could do something.

When his stomach was finally empty and the nausea faded, Nico collapsed onto his back and groaned. He took a few deep breaths before groggily sitting up and feeling for the flush handle. He made a point to not look at the contents of his stomach, fearing that they would make him sick all over again. After pulling the handle, Nico took a few more deep breaths and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His stomach was terribly sore, and the memories of the dream were starting to come back. He felt himself shiver after remembering all the gruesome and grim things that had happened in his sleep.

He hit the floor with the palm of his hand in frustration, realizing that one problem was leading to another. Things just seemed to be getting worse and worse with no explanation as to why all this was happening in the first place. It was crazy, and Nico wanted to believe that all this wasn't real. That it was just some messed up dream he'd had.

But no, all demigod dreams meant something. It was one of the perks of being them...

Nico grabbed the counter to pull himself up, hoping to sort this out somehow, when he saw it.

There, on the back of the hand he'd used to wipe his mouth, was a dark black smudge. It contrasted with his pale skin and looked like tar, and it had some from inside of him. He felt his stomach start turning all over again when he realized what it was. It was that...stuff the man in his dream had put inside of him.

"So that really happened," Nico whispered to himself. Any hope that the dream meant nothing had dissolved into thin air, and Nico felt panic and fear grip his heart. Every horrible thing he wished and prayed wasn't true was now a reality, and somehow he was in the middle of it all.

Zeke and Percy, who were waiting outside the door, were beginning to lose their patience. The son of Poseidon shook the door handle, and when he saw that it was locked, began pounding on the door itself with his fist, "Nico, you okay? Open up." When he didn't get a response, Percy considered breaking the lock.

Before he could do that, however, the handle jiggled and the door slowly opened to reveal a very pale, shaky Nico. He wore an indefferent expression, as if didn't know how he felt.

Percy glanced at Zeke, who shrugged, and back at Nico, "Are you alright?"

Nico blinked a few times before forcing a smile onto his face, "I'm fine...just fine."

That was a lie, and everyone knew it. But Nico couldn't tell them the truth, no matter how much he wanted to. They didn't deserve having to face that matheir his dream again. The man who wanted him dead...

The man with the horrific, manic, golden eyes.

"It turns out that an eerie type of chaos can lurk just behind a facade of order - and yet, deep inside the chaos lurks an even eerier type of order." - Douglas Hostadter

Well, that was a pretty big chapter, in my opinion. I hope you all enjoyed it and that it made you move to the edge of your seat. Stay tuned for more.

P.S. - do you know who Nico is so scared of?

~Fantasila~