Percy and Bianca sat for what felt like an eternity, neither yet coming to terms with that simple phrase. Suddenly, Percy stood up triumphantly, pointed to Tartarus and Nyx accusingly and exclaiming, "Aha! Didn't use protection? I knew you wouldn't listen to me!" Finishing his point with feigned sadness, Percy fought well to keep his blend of sadness and indignation, but his raucous laughter soon dominated him.

"Joke's on you, I was never pregnant."

"Oh…"

"But there's another reason we came here. We understand Bianca's brother isn't open to us?"

This time, it was Bianca who answered. "Pfft. I might be trained to see a person's emotions, but even an idiot like Percy can't possibly misunderstand 'I'd rather die than go with you'".

"Yeah, and even if he somehow manages to - hey, don't call me an idiot!"

Nyx cleared her throat. "We think it best that you two talk to Nico today. If we delay it any further, we could pass the message that we are hostile."

Taking some time to let that sink in, Percy stood up. "I'll go. We can just have a chat, guy-to-guy, try to convince him to not try to kill us every chance he gets."

Bianca shook her head. "I'm his brother, I think I can sympathize with him."

"You heard him yourself, he spent four years alone because you ditched him. I don't think that would be a very smart decision."

Tartarus cut in. "We'll all go. I think that should suffice, and our points should reinforce each other. More persuasion power."

Everyone else nodded their assent. "Great. We'll have that in 40 minutes. Don't be late."

35 minutes later, the four of them stood outside a solid obsidian door, obviously containing Nico inside the room it guarded. "Well," Tartarus began a bit awkwardly, "since we're all here, uh, we might as well start now...yeah…"

Nyx promptly slapped her husband, then opened the door. As expected, Nico was waiting for this opportunity, attempting to run out, only to bump into Percy. A door closed on the other side, and now the five were stuck in a torchlit tunnel.

"Listen, Nico, all we're asking is to hear us out. After this, the door will open and you can leave or whatever suits your fancy." After Nico's skeptical glance, Percy added, "I swear it on Tartarus."

Nico looked around for a bit, contemplating the situation, before he shrugged and waved his hand in a "go-on" motion.

"First off, we're champions of the Pit and the Night (hehe). Second off, they're our parents. They gave us a home when we couldn't have it, even if it's in the mythological world where it's ten times harder than in the mortal world. Me? I was living on my own, stealing to get money and food. I was turning sadistic too - lucky for me, Tartarus found me and taught me how to control it."

"Okay," Nico interrupted, "but weren't we all living tough lives?"

Bianca grimaced. "When I went out for food four years ago, two large men kidnapped me. Tried to tell them that I had no parents so they wouldn't get any money, but that just made them more eager to kill me. They were going to rape me," she finished with a scowl.

"However, Nyx here plunged the entire situation into darkness, and then she guided me out to the street, where she did much like Tartarus did for Percy."

"So you couldn't have gone visit me anytime in the past four years because…?"

"We didn't have enough skill to get here the way we did." At Nico's inquisitive look, she elaborated, "driving four hours in a hijacked Venom."

Nico let out a low whistle. "So, about all this mythology stuff...it's real?"

"About time you got it…" Percy muttered.

Nico gave him a death glare. "Just checking. Are we done? I'm ready to make my decision whether to stay or not."

Nyx waved her hand, and the door opened to let in some stray rays of light. She immediately withdrew into a corner.

Nico promptly started strolling away. Before he stepped out, he turned back to look at the four of them.

"I understand your points. I think I was wrong to hate you for leaving, Bianca," he smiled sadly at her. "But I don't think my place is here. I think I serve my father and my father only. Bye Percy, Lord Tartarus and Lady Nyx. See you soon...maybe."

With that, he turned back and left.

Percy turned to Bianca, who had tears silently streaming down her face. Awkwardly, he wrapped an arm around her, blushing crimson as he did so. Bianca buried her face in his chest, eliciting even more blood to rush to Percy's face. He turned to Tartarus and Nyx, who were quietly laughing at Percy's fate. What do I do? He mouthed to them.

Tartarus only winked, while Nyx completely ignored his question.

Bianca mumbled something that was muffled against his shirt. Percy pulled away, and Bianca whispered, "Thank you," before turning and retiring to her own chambers.

The next day, breakfast was eaten in silence. Tartarus and Nyx merely appeared with a piece of bacon in their hands. No one knew what to say after the events of yesterday.

After about fifteen minutes of this state, Tartarus frowned and pulled out a black iPhone with tinges of red on the edges. "No, no, this couldn't have happened. Percy and Bianca just saw her a couple days ago!"

"What is it Father?" inquired the two witnesses in question.

Since Tartarus was opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, Nyx took over. "Artemis has been captured."

Percy and Bianca shared a glance. "Our support goes to Olympus, does it not?"

"Well, yes. Although we agree that most of the Olympians have points to work on, the Titans would do a much worse job at ruling Earth."

Bianca smiled. "Then let's go. I don't feel like waiting around for the one good Olympian goddess to free herself."

Percy murmured his assent.

Meanwhile, a girl by the name of Zoë Nightshade sat in a tree located in Acadia National Park, brooding over what could possibly have happened to her mistress. Normally, Artemis would have been back an hour ago, but now the sun was setting, and there was still no sign of her.

"Zoë! Dinner's ready and we're just waiting for Artemis." Her closest friend in the Hunt, Phoebe, joined her in the tree. Noticing her shadowed look, she continued in a hushed voice. "What do you think would set Artemis back so much?"

Zoë merely shrugged; there wasn't any cause off the top of her head. "Does thou think that we must assume the best for our Lady?"

Phoebe nodded. "You are the Lieutenant of the Hunt. Everyone will listen to you."

Still, Artemis' lateness was a concern on its own. Artemis had never been one to be late, much less by an hour. If Artemis had been captured…

"Phoebe, pack up the Hunters after dinner. We are going to Camp Half-Blood."

As expected, Phoebe exploded. "What do you mean? We have no need of those idiotic campers!"

"The Oracle. Thy suspects that Artemis may have been captured. We need a prophecy."

Phoebe slowly nodded. "I'll go to dinner now." She fell from the tree, getting to her feet in a perfect roll, before she turned back to face Zoë. "I hope you're right about this decision. After all, we wouldn't want to go to camp for nothing."

Then she actually left Zoë to be alone with her thoughts.

Camp was currently in pre-war mode. With the inevitable rise of the Titans and Artemis' disappearance, everyone was practicing their war skills. Monster attacks have gotten more frequent, giving the Apollo campers plenty of battlefield medic experience. All activities not contributing to the war effort have been cut off. The arena was always packed with demigods sparring, improving their fighting skills.

But it simply felt too peaceful. Something wasn't right.

A cry erupted from the infirmary as an Apollo camper found an arrow in her head, dead before she hit the ground. Campers prepared and not hastily threw together a defense, but everyone knew it wasn't enough as they saw the army they were against.

Over nine thousand monsters were marching towards Camp Half-Blood, with Echidna and the Chimera at the vanguard.

AN: Well shit. I lost another day of updating. Don't kill me.