OK, I do realize that satyrs are half GOAT, but understand that Posy isn't as informed as I am. She doesn't have the books to read like we do. Forgive her...she's mortal. Chapter 12, people. ps. if you read could you please review. I need feedback

Disclaimer: Don't own PJO

Chapter 12

Posy's POV

Walking up the stairs to where Nico and Percy lived, I thought about the hours that had just passed and thought about how so much could happen in so little time; finding the cave and secret chamber that lay within it, learning that truth about Landon for whom I had previously had the most admiration, and the feel of cold metal against my throat. When I ran to get Percy and find help for Nico, I thought my legs would collapse from panic.

Percy hurried ran the distance of the hallway to the door and banged furiously on it.

"Mom, it's us!" he yelled. The door swung open and a tall woman with brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. They were worried, her eyes. The skin around her eyes seemed to sag a little as if from a lack of sleep, and they were red as though she were crying not too long ago.

"Oh, Percy!" she rushed out the door and went over to Percy, throwing her arms around him. She looked down at Nico who was clutching his side and ready to pass out. She took his face in her hand and examined him and then opened the door and led us inside.

"What happened?" she demanded as soon as Percy and Nico and I were inside. Percy took Nico into a bedroom and had him lay down on one of the beds.

"Ran into trouble, Mom. Titans, again," Percy said, frantically searching his pockets and rummaging around his room.

"WHAT?" Percy's mother said aghast. "What trouble? Nico is bleeding! I want to know what happened! Where's that satyr? We need help!"

"I don't know exactly how it happened. But somehow, Nico found out about a Titan plan to rebel against the gods, again."

"Nico?"

"It's true," Nico said, laboring to talk. "They wanted to use me to get to the Underworld. Their plan is to bring Kronos back by finding these urn things and one of them was in the Underworld, that's why they needed me."

Robbie returned with a white gauze and bowl of some strange liquid. My head was spinning by now; this was all too much for me to take in on one day. Landon was evil, Nico got cut, Percy's a demigod, too, and Robbie is a frickin' horse thing! My hand flew up to my forehead and I started to feel disoriented while Percy and his mother continued to shout replies.

"Percy, what on earth are you look for?" said a man from behind me whom I presumed to be Percy's father. Or stepfather since his father is a god.

"Drachmas!" Percy said, patting his pants for the so-called drachmas. "We have to contact Camp or Annabeth somehow. They need to know about this Titan rebellion."

Percy kicked the side of his bed from frustration. The mattress on his bed bounced up from the force of his kick and from under there, I saw small glint of gold.

"Under there!" I said, pointing to the mattress. Percy peered down at the bed and then lifted the mattress. Among the dust and miscellaneous small objects that find their way under a mattress, there lay seven gold drachma coins.

Percy scooped them up into his hand and ran to the bathroom. What he was planning on doing with the coins there, I did not know, but I followed him anyway. Percy fumbled with the shower, twisting the head this way and that until finally the water came out in a sort of mist.

He took notice of me watching curiously from behind and smiled as if the assure me. "You'll want to see this," he said. With the mist nicely falling in the shower, Percy mumbled what sounded like a prayer asking for someone named Iris and then the person he wanted to speak to and then tossed the coin into the mist.

I couldn't explain it even if I tried. But somehow, the mist started to…change. First I saw what looked like…oh god, like a rainbow and every so slowly, it shifted. The next image that the mist took was that of a tree. A tall White House Christmas tree-sized pine tree with a dragon wrapped around it.

"Chiron?" Percy says into the mist. I wasn't ready for it, but suddenly someone else steps into the image in the mist. It's a tall creature with the torso of a man and from the waist down he has the body of a horse. He has a quiver of arrows slung over his back and he stands dignified and tall. I recognize him; a centaur.

"Percy, what's wrong?" He said.

"How did you know something was wrong?" Percy asked.

"I had a feeling. Where's Nico?"

"That's just it. Nico's found out about another Titan uprising. He found some cave or something with Titans in it and they were plotting to bring Kronos back. They needed Nico in order to complete the plan."

The centaur, Chiron, looked away for a bit. His eyes were filled with distraught at the news that had just been reveled and for a second the mood in the room began to darken.

"Are you sure of this, Percy?"

"Nico wouldn't have made it up. I saw everything with my own eyes, the temple they have somewhere underneath the city, it was their fortress. They're planning something."

"What have done about it so far?"

"All we really did was collapse their fortress but I can't be sure they're dead. For all we know, they could be regrouping as we speak. But without Nico, I don't think they can put their plan in motion."

"Good. You'll be in charge of him, Percy. They'll need Nico in order to get into the Underworld. We can't let them. Keep him safe."

Percy nodded. "I will."

"Good boy. Who's that?" he said, tilting his head and looking straight at me. Percy turned around and looked at me too. I looked long and hard at Percy because his face seemed familiar to me. He was about as old as my brother, Peter, and his face tugged and tugged at my memory like a candle fighting to stay lit on a windy day. I knew him from somewhere even though we had only first met just half an hour ago maybe.

"She's a friend," he said. "She can see through the Mist. She's helping me to keep Nico safe."

Chiron nodded his approval and then the image in the mist dissolved. The water that collected at the bottom of the tub slipped into the drain and was gone.

Back in Nico's room, Robbie had dressed his wound. When I walked in, Nico had his shirt off and Robbie tightened the gauze around his stomach and over his cut. I felt the heat rising to my cheeks when I saw him and I quickly shut the door.

"You can come in," said Robbie from inside. I didn't know if I should open the door or not. It felt somewhat like accidentally running in on someone in a public restroom and then trying to avoid that person altogether. It was embarrassing, but I had to see Nico again.

Robbie left the room as I walked in, leaving me alone with him. Thankfully, he was fully dressed this time.

"You're not hurt, right?" he said, and for a small brief moment, the girly side of me was absolutely thrilled knowing that he actually cared whether I was hurt or not. But I didn't care voice that thought now.

"I'm fine," I answered instead. "And I really am sorry about all this. I can't believe I was so insistent on going inside a cave to rescue some…dumb cat. It's my fault you got hurt."

I couldn't believe I said that either. Willow wasn't a dumb cat, but it seems the appropriate thing to say right now.

I grabbed a chair that was near a desk and sat down next to Nico's bed, but he just shook his head.

"Landon planned it all," she said. "I would have ended up in that cave with or without your dog."

"Cat."

"Whatever. But one way or another I was going to end up there. Don't lose too much sleep over it."

For what seemed like the first time that day, I smiled at him. I don't know why I did, it hardly seemed appropriate, but after all we had been through today, I thought he might need a reminder of what one looked like.

"Nico," Percy's stepfather knocked on the door and then walked in. I stood up from habit. "Sally said you can you eat in your room." Nico looked at him for a few seconds and then nodded.

"Ok," he said. Paul nodded too and then looked at me. "C'mon, Posy. I'll take you home." He stretched his hand toward me. I looked back at Nico one last time before walking out the door. The drive back to my house seemed to take forever and I wondered what excuse I would give my mother for being late to dinner.

Later that evening...

I started remembering the nightmares I used to have. When I was a little girl, my parents used to drive me all over the place looking for psychiatrists, therapists, polysomnographists, and other shrinks and quacks and doctors to find out why I was losing sleep and having nightmares. But somehow nothing helped. No one knew exactly why I was terrified to go to sleep or why these scary dreams were coming to me. I was far too young to lose sleep over stress and I hadn't experienced anything traumatizing that would have triggered these nightmares.

But they still came.

I used to dream about monsters; horrible flying hags with black skin. Not black like the race, but black skin like a black crayon and hair like snakes and wearing grey robes. I dreamed about terrifying hybrid creatures, dragons with multiple heads, a green-skinned woman, giant crabs, cyclopes, birds with heads like women, sea serpents, and god knows what else. I always woke up screaming in cold sweat whenever I had dreams about one of the most horrible monsters; this one I couldn't rememeber because it was too terrifying, but if you could imagine a terrible storm mixed in with the personification of fear, then there you have it, one of my worst nightmares.

But there were also the harmless dreams; the ones that did have some monsters in them, but they were always dreams that moved along like a roll of film and I felt like I was watching a storybook unfold and come to life. A boy battling a giant monster with the head of a bull and body of a man, a girl going into a maze that seemed impossible to ever get out of, a boy with a scar on his face stabbing himself to save his friends, another boy raising a dead man. Those are just a few.

Of course when I was younger, I just thought they were dreams, nightmares, and nothing else. I didn't pay attention to them. And now that I'm older and given the series of events that jave just passed, I'm beginng to think that they were than just dreams. They had something to do with what was happening now.

But as I got older, I started ignoring my dreams. I started doing other things, I joined cross country. And soon enough, the dreams just stopped.

That's what I thought about as I lay down on my bed at night. Mom and Dad were pretty upset with me for staying out so long, but soon the heat died down and I was allowed to go up safely to my room. I was tired; my body was tired and worn and wanted nothing else but sleep. But my mind wouldn't let me. There was too much to sort through and think about. One of my friends had almost died today.

I shifted over to the other side of my bed and stared at the door. It was shut and the house was quiet and dark. Everyone was asleep now and I knew that should have been, too. But I couldn't sleep. And so I shifted my thoughts onto something else.

Landon.

I know I shouldn't think of it as such a big deal, but... c'mon, I really liked the guy. I liked him so damn much. I had been watching him, and staring at him, and looking out for him, and admiring everything he did. Landon was the school president and a nice person, it's hard to accept him as the bad guy. I had been watching him for so long and secretly wishing that he would come up and talk to me. And now that he has... well, what now? In honesty, he probably only came up to me because he knew that I was friends with Nico. And he somehow needed to get to him. That's harsh. The one time a guy I like actually talks to me and it's to get at one of my friends. What an unfair world we live in.

I wondered if he was dead, crushed by the rocks that had fallen back in the secret cave. Would he be at school on Monday? What would happen to him?

My eyes drooped shut and for a second or two I was asleep. I woke up again to continue my thoughts, but when my eyes got heavy again, I knew that I was done thinking for the night. I got comfortable in my bed, pulling the covers up to my bare shoulders and drifted to sleep.

An hour or two later...

I was having a good sleep. A very good sleep. I was peaceful for once, but all that was gone when I suddenly felt a hand on my mouth, muffling me. My eyes shot open and I screamed on instinct, but the sound was muffled by the hand around my mouth. It was still dark and sometime in the middle of the night and I looked up to see who had snuck inot my room.

It was Nico.

My pounding heart slowed down at the sight of a familiar face. Nico lifted his index finger to his face. "Shh!" he said. He let go of my mouth and went over to my door. He opened it and looked into the hallways, right and left, checking if the coast was clear. He closed the door and went back over to me.

"What are you doing!"

"Shh! You'll wake up the whole house! Whisper!"

"What are you doing here?" I whisepred again. Nico stood over me next to my bed. "Are you insane? My father will skin me alive if he finds out I'm letting boys into my room at night! You cannot be here, I'm serious! How did you get in here anyway? The windows are locked-"

"Shadow travel, duh. Listen, I-"

"I'm in my pajamas!" I interrupted, suddenly aware that Nico was in my room and I was clad in naught but a spaghetti strap shirt and pajama pants. I pulled my blanket over to cover myself. Nico looked at me and raised an eyebrow and my cheeks turned pink again (I don't think he noticed, it's too dark. But then again, he can see in the dark). Then he scoffed. He grabbed the sweater that I had slung over my desk chair and threw it to me.

"If that's all you're worried about, put this on." I slipped my arms and head through the holes and felt more comfortable.

"What do you want? It's the middle of the night."

"I know. But it can't wait." Nico sighed and his eyes wandered to the floor. I suddenly felt worried about the news he had to bring.

"What's so important that you have to tell me now? Can't you tell me tomorrow, what if you get caught?"

"Shh! I-" Nico never finished the sentence, because right then, we both heard a pair of footsteps at the door. Nico and I looked at each other in panic and I ducked back under the covers and feigned sleep as the door open and the lights went on. Frankie stood in the doorway.

He was still half asleep as he walked into my room; his hair looked like a freakin' broom and he was drooling. Ew. He looked around for a while before spotting my hair brush. He picked it up, examined it, and then walked right back out of my room with my brush and turned off the lights. So that's where my stuff was disappearing to.

I waited a few seconds in my beds in case he came back. When I was sure that Frankie was long gone, I sat up in bed again, but Nico was nowhere in sight.

"Nico?" I whispered into the darkness. "Nico, you there?" no answer. I was a bit disappointed. I sighed and decided to go back to sleep, but before I could even lay my head on my pillow, a dark figure rolled out from under my bed. I had a mini-heart attack and covered my mouth to keep from screaming.

"That was close," Nico said, peeling one of my lost socks from his jackets and tossing it on the floor.

"Stop doing that!" I said. "You're scaring the bajeezes out of me, gosh! Anyway, so you were saying?"

Nico kept his hands in his pockets as he spoke.

"I can't see you anymore," he said. The color from my face was drained. What did he mean?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, we can't see each other anymore and I can't hang out with you or anything. You have to stop coming to look for me, alright?"

"I don't understand. Why?"

"Because of what happened earlier today. You got involved in the Titans' plan and if it gets any further, well.. you might get hurt."

I couldn't believe what he was saying. He made me sound like a little child being scolded, telling me not to climb a tree because I might fall. I was tired of being treated like the baby and I didn't want it anymore. I thought it would all end with the birth of Sebastian.

"Well... so?" I said. "I can handle a little trouble, I'm not a little kid."

"It's not a matter of whether you can handle it or not, Posy. And it'll be more than a 'little trouble', I mean you could be seriously hurt and you'd put your family in danger, too."

"Yeah, but-"

"Don't argue with me. I'm sorry, but you can't have anything more to do with me. It's too dangerous and I can't fight the Titans if I'm concerned for you. It's for your own good." Nico stood in front of me and didn't move an inch. I tried to search his face for some sign that this was all a joke and we could still be friends. But there was nothing to indicate that. He was being completely serious.

"Being a demigod is kind of like digging a hole. The older you get, the deeper the hole. And soon it'll be to hard to get out of it. So don't fall in."

"So... you came here to say goodbye, then?"

I tried my hardest not to cry because I didn't want to look like a blubbering idiot in front of him. But my lip was already quivering from the effort. I didn't want him to leave. Even though we'd only known each other for a short while, I already felt as close to Nico as I did with Ariel, Lauren, and all my other friends. And like my other friends, it would be hard to let him go. God, I sound like such an emotional idiot. Nico wasn't even my boyfriend, and already I felt like he just broke up with me. What is wrong with me? Jeez...

"Pretty much," he said. I couldn't understand how he could just talk without his voice breaking from sadness like me. I forced myself to look up at him.

"Oh, don't start crying," he said. His hand flew up to scratch the back of his head, something he did whenever he became upset. "Please, don't. I'm really sorry it's gotta be like this, but Percy and I talked about it and we both agree that this is the best path. Don't make this difficult, Posy."

He looked at me with pleading eyes, like a puppy. And so I just nodded, accepting the decision made for me. He sighed again. "Alright. I'm sorry I woke you. Really, I am. Go back to sleep." I nodded again but dind't make a single move to go back to my bed. Instead, I stood in front of him and tried to memorize his face; his dark hair, his eyes, his olive skin, the way his eyebrows moved too much when he spoke, his leather aviator jacket.

And because there was nothing else to say or do, I hugged him.

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged my newest friend that I would have to say goodbye to. I took in his smell, as dorky as it sounds. But I did. Ironically, that smell wasn't one of death. That outdoorsy, grassy, wonderful smell that had just a small trace of the scent of blood is what came to me. I pressed the side of my face on the cold leather of his jacket and didn't feel akward at all.

It was the first time I ever hugged Nico. And with a grimm realization, it would probably be the last and only time I would ever hug him.

I felt Nico tense and tighten up but I continued with it anyway. After a few seconds, he relaxed, and I felt him hug me back. After I let go, he nodded toward me, and then he turned and ran at a dark shadow on the wall and was gone, just like that. And I went back to bed, but couldn't sleep. I was too busy thinking about a demigod who saved me from a hellhound.

TBC

That's all for now.. hope this redeems me from the long hiatus (no it doesn't) .. please review :)