Phew!

Prelims are over, my time is free, and that means a new chapter, finally! Sorry, I know it's been months, but I seriously need to focus on my course, you know, College and all. Seriously though, please forgive me if I hadn't posted in over TWO MONTHS (Yes, I was keeping count), and I totally understand if you want to kill me, though I would gladly prefer if you wouldn't (:P)

Well, enjoy!

Carter

They had done it. The Roman city was burning to the ground, the Romans had fled, and the enemy's strength was cut down substantially. But there was still one thing that kept egging Carter's mind.

Why haven't they given Sadie back? He pondered. There was no gain in keeping her. With their city destroyed, I could order them hunted down within weeks. They're completely at my mercy as of now.

Carter sat back on his throne with comforting ease, his mind half at peace. They would be getting Sadie back soon.

Percy

"Wha-what happened?"

Percy clutched his head, which felt like it had been hit with a two-ton wrecking ball. Annabeth frowned at his reaction.

"Please don't tell me that you don't remember anything." She hissed. "Do you?"

"Of course I do." Percy rubbed his head and winced in pain as he tried to remember the happenings at New Rome. "Did we-"

Annabeth shook her head solemnly. "I'm sorry Percy. There was nothing we could do."

Percy leaned his back against the headboard, letting his failure soak through. There was no doubt now that the Romans blame him; he was their praetor, after all. A feeling of regret passed through him. How could he have failed, just when they needed him the most?

"Oh gods." He moaned. "How long have I been out?"

"Just a few hours." Annabeth replied. She had a worried look on her face, and Percy had noticed.

"I failed them, Annabeth." Percy said. "Some leader I am."

Annabeth tentatively put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault, seaweed brain. Nobody expected something like that to happen. Besides, you should be feeling thankful that we just saved most of New Rome's citizens from that assault, as well as most of the legion. That was a feat enough in itself."

Percy smiled half-heartedly. He knew that Annabeth was just trying to point out the positive facts, but he didn't care about those.

New Rome lay burning, the legion was decimated in record time of fifteen minutes, and, worst of all, he had absolutely no idea how to retaliate. Heck, he didn't even know where the Egyptians were!

"Percy, are you okay?" Annabeth asked him worriedly, breaking the silence that enveloped the room.

"You're right." He finally said, for her sake. "No use moping in here and feeling sorry for myself." He stood up, smiled gratefully at her, and went outside to check on things.

Nico

Nico waited patiently.

Sadie was sleeping on the bed in front of him, tired from the scorpion attack in the woods. He immediately took her to the infirmary, where Will helped patch up her wounds. She was currently in one of the beds, mumbling something about Walt, love, and traitor.

Nico kept on wondering who Walt was. An enormous lump formed in his throat. Was he her boyfriend?

It wasn't that Sadie wasn't cute, but the actual reason that Nico doesn't want to get closer to her than he already was is because of fear. He was afraid of rejection, the instant that Sadie got her memories back. He was afraid of being a third wheel in a relationship. He was afraid of what would happen if he met this "Walt". And finally, he was afraid of losing her, not that she was his to begin with.

Sadie moaned in her sleep.

Nico sighed deeply. He felt his eyes closing from fatigue, and promptly fell asleep by her bedside.

When he woke, the back of his head crashed against something hard.

"Ow!" Sadie protested, rubbing her chin. "Watch it, death boy."

Nico gave her one of his world-famous death glares. "You watch it, miss oh-I-can-take-a-giant-scorpion-by-myself. I nearly got myself killed trying not to get you killed."

Although his head was still hurting, Sadie, apparently, didn't care. She slapped him upside the head so hard, he almost banged his head on her bedside. "I didn't ask for your help." She hissed. "But thanks anyway."

"Is that how you say thanks?" Nico said. "I pity Walt."

"What do you know about Walt?" Sadie suddenly snapped, her arms grabbing him by the jacket collar.

"Nothing. You talk in you sleep." Nico said truthfully.

Sadie released him, and he promptly fixed his jacket. "This is Armani, you know."

"Don't care." Sadie glared at him. "What did I say?"

Nico thought for a minute. "Something about Walt, and a traitor, I think, but I was too busy trying to save your life to remember."

"Oh." Sadie said.

"Is Walt your boyfriend?" Nico suddenly blurted out.

"The hell?" Sadie spurted out.

Nico mentally kicked himself. What kind of question was that?

"Uh, I mean- I didn't- it was actually-"

"Save it." Sadie said. "Yes, I think Walt's my boyfriend, though my mind's still too foggy to be sure."

If it were possible, Nico's heart sank even lower. His worst fears were just confirmed. He felt his chest contract at her revelation, and all of a sudden, it became very hard to breathe. Nico wondered at what he was feeling. Is this what heartbreak feels like? He asked himself mentally.

"Oh." He simply replied. "That's…good, I guess."

Sadie

Sadie felt herself cringing as she saw Nico's reaction.

"Oh." He said. "That's…good, I guess."

Sadie had to sigh deeply at his reaction. Even though he would not say it, Sadie knew he was crestfallen. She had admitted, ever since their meeting a few nights ago, they had become close, at least, as close as she could get to anyone at this camp. Sadie actually did feel something for him, at least, until she remembered Walt.

Actually, she didn't know who Walt was. It was just that, when Nico asked his rather rude question, her body acted like it was on autopilot all of a sudden, and answered "yes" before her mind could even contemplate on her answer. It just felt so right. But she wished she could take it all back, if it means removing that look from Nico's face.

"But-" Sadie started to say.

Nico stood up abruptly. "I think Jake's calling for me. I'll be back later. Rest, and don't…don't go anywhere."

Without as much as even a proper goodbye, he left her there, alone.

I'll try posting again tomorrow, or probably next week, since we have a rather LONG vacation.

Till then! Oh, and thanks for all the reviews. You guys are the best!