So, yeah, I'm 17. Happy birthday to me and all that crap. Sorry for the non-updating thing; I had a bit of writer's block, and this fic always takes the backseat to 'When It Rains'.

By the way, if you don't know, the Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the Earth's oceans, and the lowest part of the planet's crust.

How long we stood there, discussing all that had transpired with the God of the Sea, I don't know. All I did know was that Poseidon shouldn't have provided such comfortable chairs, because somehow Nico managed to fall asleep in one. Resisting the urge to pull every single strand of hair out of his head, I instead slapped him in the face. It felt good, and released some of the pent-up emotions inside me. Of course, Nico didn't respond well to this, and was now pouting in the corner with the beginnings of a large bruise on the side of his face.

That was when Poseidon revealed a vital piece of information that made my blood run cold.

"A week ago," he said calmly, "Aphrodite encountered something in her temple that would have given her a heart attack, if she were human and capable of dying. Kronos' hand, totally reformed." There was a shocked silence from the room. Even Nico stopped whining to hear what Poseidon said next. "She came to alert me and my brothers, but by the time we had arrived, it was gone."

Kronos is back, Kronos is back, Kronos is back...

Poseidon urged us not to focus on that, and I tried not to, but in the back of my mind, it was always there.

We also discussed tactics. Poseidon could, to some extent, detect where Percy was in his realm. He knew he was somewhere off the coast of Japan, in the Pacific Ocean, but anything more detailed was fuzzy, like static on an old television screen. This made him very frustrated, and subconsciously I held onto my seat, lest he start another earthquake like the one that destroyed our house. There was only one well-known underwater geological feature in that area. The Mariana Trench.

Poseidon, however, shot down this idea. "Why would Kronos pick the easiest place in the world for me to find to store my son?" he asked, in what was evidently a rhetorical question. "No, he must be somewhere else."

But I had a feeling I was right, and I won't relent until an exasperated Sea God finally relented and would grant us the ability to go down, all the way to the bottom of the trench.

"Tomorrow, though," he said firmly, ignoring me when I protested. "I have been more than giving to the three of you. On this I will not budge. You three are half mortal, no matter what you feel; you need sleep." He smiled briefly, and he looked so heart-breakingly like Percy that a hole ripped through my chest.

I had read New Moon, and quite frankly thought that Bella going to pieces because her vampire dumped her was ridiculous. And I still do. But now, I realise that the pain the author described through the passages, as though a part of you had been torn out, leaving painful, ragged edges, is true. Because that is what I felt. And it damn near killed me.

All that kept me going was the fact that we had a plan to find him, and that I would find him, and I would hold him in my arms again, even if it did killed me.

So, we bade farewell to Poseidon, who promised to devote as much of his kingdom as he could to finding his only human son. The beautiful woman lead us back up to the beach, and after making sure there was no one around who would question why we emerged from the water perfectly dry, we walking back onto dry land.

Thalia was behind me, but Nico was a little in front. I could see the beginnings of a bruise on the side of his face, and I suddenly felt remorse.

I ran to him and hugged him. He was taller than me now, and I buried my face in his neck.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I don't know what came over me."

He hesitantly patted me on the back. "It's okay," he said. "I know you were under a lot of stress. But now you've spoiled my good looks!"

I broke apart and stared at him. He was pouting again. And that combined with what he just said had me laughing. I don't know why, probably stress and nerves, but I just couldn't stop.

Then I remembered what I was doing tomorrow, and sobered up immediately. Not from alcohol, I hadn't touched that since my eighteenth birthday, but from the feelings of happiness I felt I had no right to have.

Thalia, who had been wearing a smile, frowned when I stopped laughing, putting her arm around me.

"Don't worry," she said. "We'll find him. Between us and the God of the Sea, how could we not?"

I allowed myself one brief smile, before my face reformed back into its mask.

"That's what I need to keep telling myself," I said, walking back up the beach with the others.

oOo

We were about to eat dinner when it happened.

Feeling lighter than I had for a while, I was the one who elected to cook for the night. I'd decided on something simple; pasta with a chunky tomato sauce. I stirred mince through it, sprinkled it with parmesan, and viola, easy dinner.

Rachel was sitting at the end of the table, her hair messed and eyes sleepy because she just woke up. Nico sat on the left side, facing Thalia who was on the other.

I placed the dish in the middle of table and sat down opposite of Rachel.

We sat there in silence for maybe a minute, absorbing what we'd done for the day, before Nico reached for the ladle.

I stared at him.

"What?" he asked. "I'm hungry. Besides, you hit me today. I get first dibs."

I shrugged, not caring either way, and looked away. However, when the ladle clattered to the table, flecks of tomato sauce hitting my cheek, I looked back with alarm.

Nico had his head in his hands, teeth gritted, and his body was shaking.

"Nico?" Thalia asked, as I sat frozen. "Nico!"

She pushed out her chair and rushed to the other side of the table, and put her hands on his shoulders.

"What's wrong?" she asked, urgently. "Are you okay?"

But he obviously wasn't okay. Tears glinted in his eyes as stopped shaking, and finally straightened.

"He's dead." Nico's voice was flat and unemotional, all traces of humour gone. "He's in the Fields of Asphodel, waiting to be judged."

And that was when my world shattered.

oOo

How long I had been there for, I didn't know. The chains that still bound me wouldn't even rattle, let alone break.

I didn't seem to be hungry, or hadn't been down here long enough to get hungry, but my torment was constant.

I missed Annabeth, more than ever. Kronos had allowed me small, fleeting glimpses of her, not enough to gage how she was truly feeling. I liked to think that she missed me, though. Gods know I missed her...

"My dear Perceus!" said the voice that I loathed from behind me. "Good to see you again."

I remained silent, the only form of defiance that I could employ at the moment.

Kronos ploughed on in his smooth voice. "I have a treat for you. More than a glimpse of your lover." He spat the last word, as though he was incapable of understanding love. Which he probably was.

He pointed at the water in front of me. It glowed, forming a scene.

"She thinks you're dead," Kronos said. "That stupid Nico fell right into my clutches."

I remained silent, though my heart was aching. I couldn't find it within myself to care how girly that sounded. It was true.

It showed a beach in twilight. There was no one in sight, except for three figures; Thalia, Nico and Annabeth.

Thalia was standing off to the side, a smile on her face, which puzzled me, because I probably wouldn't be laughing if she died. However, she only caught my attention for a second, because there was something more pressing to focus on.

In the middle of the shot, stood Annabeth. She was very close to Nico, their bodies almost touching, but that didn't faze me for more than a second. What fazed me was her facial expression.

Her eyes were shining, her head thrown back, beautiful hair trailing down her back. She was laughing, obviously happy.

She's happy I am dead.

And something inside me hardened.

oOo

It was dark in the apartment, and quiet too, the only sound the faint noises of Annabeth through the walls.

Nico was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't believe that his friend was in the Underworld. But he was. Nico could feel it.

Suddenly, he went rigid, his eyes rolling back in his head. A grey smoke poured from his mouth, somewhat assembling in the air in front of his body.

It assumed a vaguely human shape, gave a spinechilling laugh and was sucked out the window.

Nico relaxed and settled into sleep.

That's it. Not a lot more to say, except I need more RPers on my forum.

-sighs-

Anyway, this is chapter six, and, well, I hope you enjoyed.