When Nico went downstairs, Percy and Annabeth still hadn't come back, so he went to the couch and turned on the TV. About an hour later, his eyes began to get heavy. They kept closing and before he knew it, he had dozed off.

Nico was having a very vivid dream with dragons and furies and Zeus knows what else, when he felt someone shaking him. At first he thought it was part of the dream, but as it continued he realized it wasn't. He opened his eyes to see Charlie's pale face looking back at him.

"Charlie? What's wrong? What time is it?" he said, suddenly awake.

"Its six-thirty," Charlie replied, whispering. "And mom and dad haven't come back yet."

Nico felt his stomach drop, but he tried to stay calm. "Are you sure? Did you check all the rooms?"

Charlie nodded. "Besides, if they were here, you wouldn't be."

That was true, Nico thought. Before he could say anything in reply, however, they heard a crash somewhere in the attic. Charlie jumped. "W-what was that?" he asked.

Nico stood up. "Come on. We need to go wake up your siblings." He led Charlie up the stairs and went to Bianca's room. For some reason, he felt he had to go there first. He opened the door and went over to her. Gently, he shook her. "Bianca? Wake up."

He kept saying that until she mumbled and opened her eyes wearily. When she saw him, she frowned. "Uncle? What time is it?"

"Its six-thirty, but you need to get up."

"What are you still doing here? Didn't mom and dad come back yet?"

"No, that's why you need to get up."

"But—" Another crash above them interrupted her. "What was that?"

"I don't want to wait and find out. Come on," he said, helping her up. "We need to wake Luke up."

They went out into the hallway and saw Charlie fiddling with the doorknob on Luke's door. He turned to them. "He always locks his door when he sleeps."

There was another crash, this time from inside Luke's room. They all froze and Bianca called, "Luke, is that you?"

They had to get in there. Now. "Stand back," Nico said, and pulled a sword out of his cloak. Its black blade glinted in the faint light of dawn.

As soon as he pulled it out, Charlie gasped and Bianca looked at him strangely. Nico brought down the blade, hard, down onto the hinges and broke them easily. He pushed down the door and found no one except Luke, lying down on his bed in the exact position Nico had left him. Even his headphones were still on.

Nico walked over to him and took out his headphones. "Luke, wake up." He grabbed the covers off of him and dragged him out of bed. "Hey, what's going on?" he mumbled sleepily. Then he saw him. "Dude, what are you still doing here? Where are our parents?"

"They didn't come back yet."

Luke looked outside his window and saw the light of dawn. "That's impossible. They should be here by now."

Nico was about to answer when Charlie shouted from the doorway, "Uncle! The window!"

Nico looked up instantly and saw one of the Furies perched on the window sill of Luke's bedroom. Luke looked up as well. "Dude, what is that lady doing there?"

Nico held out his sword. "What is it, Alecto?" he asked her.

"Young master, you must flee. Your father sent me to tell you to get out, before they arrive."

"Before who arrives?" he asked.

Alecto shook her head. "I do not know, he wouldn't tell me. He only sends a warning."

"Dude, why is that lady calling you 'young master'?" Luke asked, standing up.

"That's not a lady! What the heck is that?" Charlie screamed.

"You can understand her?" Bianca said to Luke incredulously.

It took Nico a minute to process what Bianca was saying. Then it hit him that they were probably speaking in ancient Greek. And Luke understood them.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked. "She's speaking plain English."

Before anyone could say anything else, a deafening roar shook the house. Alecto the Fury looked up and screeched. Nico held his sword up and ready. "Stay in the corner, all three of you," he told them. Charlie and Bianca ran over to Luke, who put a hand protectively around them.

For a minute all was quiet. It had started to rain, but that was all that could be heard. Then the roof came toppling down on them. Nico instinctively put up a protective shield of black energy around them, praying that it would hold. It did. The rubble simply bounced off and flew at a range of three feet away from them. Charlie looked up and gasped. Nico followed his gaze and groaned.

Perched on top of what was left of the roof, was a large black drakon. It would have been considered small for its type, but that didn't make it any smaller to them. Alecto was scratching at the drakon's scaly hide and Nico was just about to throw his sword at it, when he heard more screeching. He looked to his left and saw a small army of dracaena coming at them.

Luke, Bianca, and Charlie were all screaming in terror. Nico didn't know what Luke and Bianca saw, but it must have been terrifying. He left the shield and started slashing at the dracaena with every ounce of energy he had left in him. Charlie was trying to help him.

"Uncle, watch out! To your left!" he shouted. Nico slashed and slammed and stabbed maybe fifty of them, but they just kept coming. The drakon was trying to get rid of Alecto and her two sisters, who had now joined her. It was raining heavily and Nico could hardly see a thing.

"Uncle! I can help you!" he heard Luke shout from behind the shield. "I'm a good fighter!"

"No!" Nico shouted back, stabbing another dracaena. "You have to stay safe!"

"You need help! If anything happens to you, we won't be."

He had a point, Nico thought. "Ok, draw your weapon. I'm going to let the shield down for a second, so you can come here. Run as fast as you can, because I can't keep it down for long!"

"Ok!"

Nico stabbed another three, and saw his chance. But the instant he let down his shield, one of the closer dracaena grabbed Bianca and ran towards the hole in the wall.

"NO! BIANCA!" all three of them shouted. Luke ran after her and tried to grab his sister, but the dracaena slashed at his arm with her sword. "No!" he screamed. As if they'd gotten what they wanted, the dracaena and the drakon all retreated and left. In a second they were gone, and Nico, Luke, and Charlie were all staring after them in dismay.

"No! No, Bianca!" Luke shouted. Nico couldn't be sure from the rain, but he seemed to be crying. Charlie just stood there, dumbfounded.

"Alecto!" Nico shouted. The three Furies came up to him. He turned to them. "Find her. Find her, or I swear Hades will curse you." The three of them bowed. "Yes, young master," they said together, and flew off.

Nico turned to the two boys. "We have to leave. Now."

"Our sister has just been taken by a snake thing!" Charlie said. "We have to find her, we have to—"

"We have to leave and find a safer place. Then we can talk."

"Can someone please explain to me what just happened?" Luke said.

Nico sighed. He had to tell them. "Ok, sit down and I'll tell you everything." He had put up the shield again, so the rain repelled off of them.

And so he did. About their parents and the monsters that Charlie was able to see. Why Charlie could see them and Luke can't. When he was done, they just looked at him.

"That explains so much," Charlie said. He was staring at his shaking hands.

"A-are you one?" Luke asked. "A half-blood, I mean."

Nico looked at him. "Yes, I am."

"Who's your Olympian parent?" Charlie asked.

Nico looked at them uncertainly. They were sure to freak out if he told them, but their sister had just been taken away, so he did.

"Hades," he said simply.

"Wait. Isn't that the god of the underworld?" Luke asked.

"Yes, he is."

"Dude, that explains so much," Luke said. "Does that mean you can see dead people?"

"Dead people don't roam the earth. When a person dies, their ghost goes straight to the underworld."

"Awesome," Luke said. Considering what he had just told them, Nico thought he was taking it rather well. Charlie, of course, was downright relieved.

"So, those things," Charlie said, "the ones that you told to search for Bianca, what were they?"

"Furies. Servants to Hades, my father."

"That's why they called you young master!" Luke said.

"Yes. Luke, do you know ancient Greek?"

"Um, no."

"Yes, you do. Because I just said that in ancient Greek."

"What? No way." he looked at Charlie, who nodded. "Are you saying I know a language I've never learned?"

"That's what it looks like," Nico said. He stood up and let down the shield. "Now, come on, both of you. We've spent too much time here. Grab anything important, and meet me downstairs in an hour." As he was leaving, he saw the picture of the young man Luke had drawn. Without hesitation, he took it and stuffed it inside his cloak.

An hour later, the three of them met downstairs. They had all taken showers, and Nico had bandaged Luke's arm. Charlie had grabbed food and water from the kitchen and left a note on the fridge, just in case.

"Ok, I think we're ready," he said.

Nico nodded. He turned to Luke. "Do you have an extra weapon for Charlie? We're going to need them."

At this, Luke grinned. "Follow me." He led them to a black door beneath the stairs. He fiddled with the lock for a minute, then opened it. "Check it out."

He flicked a switch and the lights came on. It was the basement, but Percy and Annabeth seemed to have turned it into an armory. Sword, bows, arrows, shields and even spears hung on every inch of the grey wall. There was even a corner for target practice.

"Excellent," Nico said. After letting Charlie try a few weapons, he chose a sword and shield that he felt comfortable with. They grabbed a few extra weapons and shields and, finally, left the house.

"Where are we going?" Luke asked, as they put everything in Annabeth's car. There were two cars. One was taken, and the other, the one they were taking, was left in the garage.

"I don't know yet," Nico replied, getting in the front while Luke sat next to him. Charlie sat in the back. Then it hit him. "I have an idea. I know someone who can help us."

"Who?" the boys asked together.

"A friend. She's very good at…finding things." And with that, they drove off towards their next destination.