A/N- Hey! I just realized that it has been a really long time since I updated this. I'll try to make this a longer one! Enjoy!

Disclaimer- Rick Riordan? Doing a collision story? On FANfiction? Isn't gonna happen.

Chapter 11: Missing

Khristi

So, let's get up to date on our situation. Travis had been taken by Nyx, leaving us with Skylar, Connor, and I. Well, Phil and Jonah were with us as well, but they were off looking for something. The three of us -Connor, Skylar, and I- were waiting in Central Park at the Doors of Orpheus. We'd been waiting for at least half an hour without seeing any sign of the boys. After an hour, I had to make an executive decision. We had to assume the worst, which was that Phil and Jonah were either lost, captured, or -I hated to think of this- dead. "Okay, does everybody have their weapons?" I asked.

"Yeah," Connor muttered, picking himself up off the rock he'd been flopped on.

"Well, I couldn't really find my knife, so is it okay if I use your two?" Skylar asked.

I nodded. "Sure. Is there anything else that we're missing?" They shook their heads. "Then we're going to have to assume the worst. Jonah and Phil are probably lost or dead. We're going to have to go rescue Michael, Naomi, Gage, Ellery, and Travis on our own."

There was a moment of shocked silence. "So…what if they aren't dead and show up after we're gone?" Sklyar asked.

I smiled, but it felt unnatural and forced, and I got the feeling that it was more of a grim smile then anything else. "That is where Connor gets to be a vandal. Well, sort of a vandal." Connor immediately perked up.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked.

"Does anybody have a sharpie?" I asked.

"Give me five minutes and I'll have a sharpie," Connor smirked, then took off running.

Five minutes later, Connor was back with a couple sharpies, a pen, and a mouthful of what looked suspiciously like chocolate. He handed the pen to me and looked for further instructions. "What's the plan, oh brilliant one?"

I sighed. "Lay off the sarcasm, please. It's not exactly been an easy day."

"I'll try. What's the plan, though?"

"We need to leave a message here for Phil and Jonah that only they would be able to read," I said.

I could practically see the wheels turning in Connor's head. Then the penny dropped, so to speak. "Oh…I see. And you have to much of a conscience to do it yourself, so you're asking me."

"Could you just write the message?" Skylar asked.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Connor turned to the rock he had been sitting on and started scribbling with the sharpie. A couple minutes later, he turned back around. "Done!"

I looked over his work. It said, in moderately clear Greek, "Phil and Jonah, we had to leave. We're headed for Seattle. Don't try to follow us. Meet us back here in three days unless you have a better plan. Yours not-so-truly, Connor Stoll."

"You didn't have to illustrate it!" Skylar exclaimed. I took a closer look. Sure enough, Connor had drawn various stick figures to illustrate several parts of his message, including some dying bloody deaths. I did not know it was possible to give a stick figure a bloody death, but then again, the impossible tends to happen around us. .

"Who cares? If I'm going to write on a rock, I can at least have some fun while I'm at it," Connor whined.

"Whatever. The point is, we need to get to Seattle and we don't have the money for plane tickets," I pointed out.

Connor grinned, and I found myself instinctively reaching for my necklace to make sure it was still there. "That's what you think," he smirked, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a wad of bills. "You'd be amazed at how much money some of these people will keep in their pockets."

"Well, I guess we're good to go then," I said, relieved.

Several hours later, we stepped out into Seattle. "I am never riding a plane again," I moaned, laying down on the sidewalk and pressing my cheek to the pavement, glad to feel something solid again. Air travel made me sick.

"I am never going through airport security again," Connor grumbled, nudging me with his toe. "That was awful!" I think most of this groaning was over the fact that his sword had been found and taken.

"What are you all complaining about?" Skylar asked innocently. "I thought it was great! Except that it would have been better if the plane was open, like the first prototypes were."

"You would think it was great, you're Aeolus' child," I groaned, sitting up.

"So, where are we going?" Connor asked.

"I really don't know," I answered. That was when we saw the note in Ancient Greek taped to the side of the post office. For a moment, we just stood there, looking at it. Then Connor started running towards the post office, trying to get to the note. That was when a gust of wind blew it away. Wind…I suddenly had an idea. "Skylar!"

"Yeah?"

"Can you, by any chance, get that note back? I think it might be important."

Skylar nodded. "Just give me a second." She closed her eyes and scrunched her face in concentration. About thirty seconds later, the piece of paper floated back to us on a gentle breeze.

Connor grabbed the note and read aloud, "'Ha! I fooled you, didn't I? You actually thought I would tell Michael where he was! As if! Now, of course, you are on the wrong side of the country, and very separated from your friends. Good luck finding them again!' It's signed by Nyx."

Skylar let out a low whistle. I massaged my temples. Suddenly an idea struck me. "Turn it over!" I exclaimed. Connor gave me a strange look, but did what I said.

"There's nothing on here," he said.

"Well, so much for that idea," I sighed. "Quiet, please. I need to think." This was directed at Skylar, who has started humming under her breath.

"You heard her. She needs to think," Connor echoed.

"Hurry up, then," Skylar snapped. "It'll be night soon." She was right. The sun was starting to set and the sky was darkening. I sat down on the edge of the sidewalk and rested my head in my hands. Connor and Skylar sat down by me. We sat there, watching the sunset for a while until an idea fell on me like an atom bomb.

"I've got it!" I exclaimed.

"What?" Connor asked.

"They're in the Underworld! Phil and Jonah saw something down there. The only reason they wouldn't have met up with us would be if they'd found something. It stands to reason that they found Nyx's prison. So, it must be in the Underworld," I concluded. Connor and Skylar nodded. I continued, "And where is the nearest entrance to the Underworld?"

A look of realization came over their faces. "LA," Skylar said.

"That's right," I replied, nodding grimly. Connor swore under his breath. "I agree with your sentiments exactly," I added dryly.

Michael

I had redefined "supremely, utterly, completely, totally, and any-other-synonyms-that-you-can-think-of annoying" several times within that day. Or at least I thought it was a day. Being in a cell without a visible door or even a freaking window, it can get kind of hard to tell what time it was. For all I knew, it could have been only an hour, although I certainly hoped that it had been longer then that. At the moment, Travis was gloating about how he had a window and I didn't. "Will you SHUT UP!" I yelled for what seemed like the millionth time.

"You know, Michael, you have such a nice view from this window. I can see across the hallway- say! There's Gage! I think they just questioned him or something, 'cause they're pulling him back to his cell. Hey, he punched one of them in the jaw! Did it without turning around, either. Man, for an Athena kid, he can fight!"

"He's a son of Morpheus," I corrected, but Travis wasn't listening.

"He's attacking them! One's down, but there's two left- Ooh! That must have hurt."

"What happened?" I asked. You know, having hardly seen light for four days- or was it five now?- I was getting rather eager for information. The only real way to keep track of time now was by how far up the sand came. It was up to my chest now, and I was starting to get really tired. I couldn't even sit down without starting to suffocate.

"Gage happened. He grabbed the one guard's shield and decked the other guard with it. He's holding the other guard off now- Oh wow, I didn't know Athena kids were that tough. Most of 'em are a bunch of wimpy bookworms."

I allowed myself a small smirk. "Do you want me to tell Khristi that?"

I could practically see Travis pale, even though I was alone in my cell. "Um…you wouldn't tell her I said that, would you?"

"And actually, I already told you that Gage is a child of Morpheus. Not Athena, Morpheus," I laughed, but it died in my throat. It really isn't easy to laugh in a completely black cell that is slowly filling with a thin sand that will eventually suffocate you. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself. "What's happening?" I asked.

"Well, Gage just got a slash down his cheek, but he didn't even flinch. He decked the other guard, too. Man, for someone armed with only a shield, he's a pretty good fighter. Now he's running down the corridor. He's-"

"Wait," I cut Travis off, "Did you just use the word corridor?"

"…Yeah."

"Dude, Khristi has been rubbing off on you."

"Anyways, back to Gage. There's a couple guards turning the corner- Look out Gage!" Connor suddenly shouted. "Ooh, that was awesome," he added after a couple minutes of some suspicious-sounding banging.

"Well…what happened?" I asked impatiently.

"Didn't you see?"

"I don't have a window, idiot."

"Oh, right. Anyways, Gage body-slammed the one guard as he was turning the corner. That in itself was awesome, but the really cool part comes next. So anyways, Gage doesn't even wince, and the guard is wearing full armor. While the guard is stunned, Gage grabs a pair of handcuffs of the guard's belt and handcuffs the guy. Then, he grabs the guard's sword just in time to block a strike from the other guard. They fought for a minute, but then the guard- Hold on a minute."

"What?"

"He needs a name."

"He's a guard. Why are you giving him a name?" I asked.

"Because I don't want to just call him "the guard". He's Joe."

"I have a cousin named Joe. Go on…" I was getting pretty interested.

"Joe charged Gage, but Gage ducked down, so Joe kind of tripped, and when he was about to land on Gage, Gage stood up and Joe went flying. He hit his head and he hasn't moved."

"What's happening now?" I demanded.

"Gage is running again. I think he took a sword with him. Oh, shoot. That isn't good."

"Tell me!" I yelled.

"Gage just got ambushed by three guards. They've dragged him back to his cell," Connor sighed. Something flickered in front of me and I blinked.

"Michael?" a voice asked. The flicker solidified into the familiar figure of Khristi.

"Yeah. Travis is in the cell by me, Gage is across the hall. There's a lot of gurads in this section," I blurted. Khristi had to know that much at least.

"Good to know. Connor, Skylar, and I are in Seattle. Nyx tricked us," Khristi sighed. Her image started to flicker again. "Michael?" her voice floated out.

"Yeah."

"Don't die on me, 'kay?" Khristi said.

"I'll try not to," I promised.

"I'm coming," I heard before Khristi disappeared completely.

Naomi

Prison was getting really boring. I had run of things to do, and for me, that can be really bad. I'm always doing something. Just ask Connor. Oh. Right. Connor still hates me. I sighed. There had been a commotion around the corner a few minutes earlier, but other then that, nothing had happened all day. That is, until I heard soft footsteps and a British accent. I was tempted to call out, but decided against it, thinking it might be a trap.

"There's nothing here, Jonah. Let's go the other way," the guy with the accent said.

"I don't know, Phil. What if Ellery's around here?" Jonah replied.

"What if she's the other way?" Phil asked.

"Fine, we'll go your way." Their footsteps receded and I sighed.

"So, ready to join us yet?" Ami asked, looking into my cell.

"Go drown in a vat of urple, dummy," I said.

"I guess not. You'll come around eventually, though. Everybody does," Ami said.

"What was that commotion earlier?" I asked, trying to get some information.

Ami immediately clammed up. "That is classified information." Well, so much for finding out something interesting.

A/N- Pretty long, for one of my chapters. For those of you who don't know what urple is, it's pink and purple combined in the worst way possible. It originates in the fic, "Official Fanfiction University of Middle Earth". Review?

-Smartone101