AN: So yeah, I'm late updating today. Sorry. Also, not five chapters again. So sorry about that. But an update is better than no update right? Anyway, here you go.

Chapter 8: Why I'm Banned From Broadway

I sped home after taking Alex to camp, then immediately ducked into my room to change. I came out in new jeans, a plain t-shirt, and a nice cyan sweater. "Thalia," I called out.

She emerged from the kitchen, crunching nachos. "Sup, Percy?"

I tossed her the car keys. "Here, just in case. I'm taking Mom's cell. If I have an emergency, I'll call you, okay?"

She nodded. "It'll be fine. Enjoy the theatre. And get over to TKTS before Annabeth decides not to hold your place in line anymore."

"Right," I said. "See you later." And with that, I was out the door, bounding down the stairs, and out onto the street. From here, it was only a block to the subway station. People who aren't from the city would probably say, just take your car, but that would be a terrible idea. I hadn't exactly thought the car was a great idea in the first place, but driving it to Time's Square would be like going into the Underworld, walking up to Hades, sucker punching him in the face, and then jumping into Tartarus. Not a good idea.

I entered the subway station and bought my ticket. As I descended to the platform, one of the security officers pulled me aside, asking to see my ticket. I showed him.

A look of disgust appeared on his face. "Time's Square?"

I sighed. "Yeah, unfortunately. My girlfriend is from out of town, so… yeah. Trust me, I am not looking forward to mobs of tourists pushing me around, like I'm the one that doesn't belong."

I said my farewell, then boarded the train. As always, it was standing room only. As the train trundled along, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned. It was Nico, though I couldn't see him very well from the angle I was at.

"Nico," I said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," he said, "I wanted to talk to you. I'm sorry I complicated things at the school… yesterday? Was that yesterday?"

I gave him a weird look. "Yes, it was yesterday. How did you not remember?"

Nico glanced around. "Another time."

"Well," I said, taken slightly aback, "it's no problem. You actually saved Charlotte's life, probably. It was a deus ex machina moment, though." He shrugged. As the train shunted, I got a really good look at him. He looked awful. He had a black eye, and bruises were evident on his arms. "Nico, you look awful. What happened to you?"

"What's happening," he corrected. "It's still going on. And I can't tell you. It's related to why I wasn't sure yesterday was yesterday. I'm not really here, this is just a projection. I'm… doing some research. Soon, hopefully, I can tell you what's going on."

I tilted my head sideways a bit. "Well, listen, I thought it would be good if you helped us out more often. You know, we could pull some strings, make you a student at Goode."

He shook his head. "I'll be able to help occasionally, but I can't be full time. My research is keeping me far too busy. You're coming up on your stop, Percy, and I can't leave the subway. It's hard enough doing this projection, period. I don't think I could get it any farther up."

"Alright," I said. "Well, Nico, just be careful, wherever you are and whatever you're doing. And I'm sure I'll see you sometime."

He nodded. "Have a good time, Percy."

His form flickered, then he disappeared. What was Nico up to? And when did he plan on telling others? And how did he know where I was going?

After getting off the train at Time's Square, I made my way through the huge masses, and hurried over to TKTS. I had managed to get a hold of Annabeth and had her go ahead and get in line, but I really didn't want to be late. A bit too late for that though. Ha, late.

I finally made my way over to TKTS, which was in the middle of Time's Square, where you could see the flashy lights and the shiny billboards from all sides. I ran up and down the line looking for Annabeth, but couldn't find her. I was starting to worry. Suddenly a hand shot out of the line and grabbed my arm. I turned, surprised. It was Annabeth. I had run past her at least twice, which she had apparently found amusing, because she was laughing pretty hard.

"What's the matter, Seaweed Brain?" she asked. "Not used to seeing me in a skirt?"

That was probably part of it. She was dressed in dark, knee length skirt, and a white blouse. Her blonde hair was loose and wavy. "Uh," I said. "Would you hit me if I said yes?"

She laughed and playfully punched me in the arm. "Maybe. Your sweater is pretty nice, by the way."

"Thanks," I said. "Your everything is pretty nice."

She laughed. "Thanks." She kissed me, and my brain shut off for a moment. When it came back on she was saying, "Is this line always like this?"

"Yes," I said. "We're in Time's Square. Everything is always this busy. How's school going?"

"Pretty good," Annabeth said. "I've been keeping busy with architecture classes, and my calculus classes are going pretty well. I'm struggling in English though, the dyslexia thing is challenging to work through. In classical studies I'm doing really well though. I know it's only about a week in, but I think that I'm going to do really well this year."

"Good for you," I said. "First year back in classes, and you're definitely going to blow me out of the water."

She smiled. "I'm sure you're doing great, Percy."

We slowly moved forward in line, chatting about mundane life, until eventually I got to talking about today, specifically my conversation with Nico. "Do you have any clue at all what sort of research he's doing?" I asked. "And how he got hurt so badly doing it?"

Annabeth's eyebrows were pulled pretty tightly. "I don't know Percy. Seems kind of mysterious. Anything else weird happen recently with Nico, besides what you've already told me?"

"No," I said. Then, suddenly, I remembered. "Well, there was this second door in his cabin, but there wasn't a back exit. And he said it didn't lead to the Underworld either."

"Then why did he put it there?"

"He said he didn't," I said. "He said that he opened the door to the cabin one day, and it was there."

Annabeth stood still, contemplating. "I really have no clue Percy. I'm sure he'll say something."

"Have you met Nico?" I asked. "He's the most secretive kid I know. He probably won't just tell us what's behind that door, or what his research is about. I'd like to find out myself, someday."

Annabeth shrugged. "You can't force him to tell you. And you can't break into his cabin. If he wants privacy, then give it to him. If he needs you, he'll tell you more."

"I guess," I said. "Sometimes, though, I just don't completely trust him. He's dangerous. He may not look like it, but he's as powerful as Thalia or I. The three of us are probably the three most powerful demigods alive. If he goes bad again… well I don't know if I'd be able to save him again. His powers have grown exponentially more powerful recently."

"It'll be fine, Percy," Annabeth said. "You need to trust him. Just because he's secretive doesn't mean he's untrustworthy."

"I guess," I said.

After that, we were silent for a bit, until we started talking about more lighthearted things again. We went through several topics, until, eventually, we were at the front of the line, where a red-haired lady with strange purple eyes asked us what show we wanted to see. There were still available tickets for Wicked, so I asked for two tickets for that show. It was a pretty big deal, apparently, and both Annabeth and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

The red-haired girl smiled and said, "Well have a magical time at Wicked."

"Thanks," Annabeth and I both said. We still had a couple hours before Wicked, so we walked around the Time's Square area. A couple times, people tried to ask me if I wanted a guided tour of New York. My response was always, "Buddy, I am a New Yorker. Why would I need a tour?"

We stopped at the Time's Square McDonalds to eat. Not the classiest meal Annabeth and I had ever had, but we needed to get something quick. Then we hurried off to the Gershwin Theatre. Now, I know what you may be wondering. The Gershwin Theatre? I thought you were taking her to Broadway? Well for all you non-New Yorkers out there, Broadway isn't just one theatre. It's a bunch of theatres, of which the Gershwin Theatre was one.

We entered the theatre about a half hour early and found our seats. They were in the middle section only a few rows back from the orchestra. They were insanely good seats. I was surprised; we shouldn't have been able to get these seats for the price we payed. Something was wrong…

Annabeth leaned to me, "These are great seats, Percy. I'm surprised we got them." Then she put her head on my shoulder and all my worries were forgotten. It didn't feel like very long until the curtain was up, and the cast of the show was singing "Good news! She's dead!" and off went the show.

I'm not very artsy, but I thought Wicked was really good. As intermission rolled around, I sat eagerly, waiting for the second act. Unfortunately, I wouldn't get to see it.

As long as it was intermission, I decided to go to the bathroom. As I was washing my hands, I heard a commotion from outside. I hurried out, and saw something that made my stomach drop. The girl from TKTS was holding a knife to Annabeth's throat. People were screaming and running in all directions. I jolted forward, but slammed into an invisible wall.

The girl laughed. "Hello, Percy Jackson. So you're the one I have to hear my idiotic half-sister complain about all the time. 'I can't find his weak spot, wah, wah wah.' Well look at you now."

"Who are you?" I growled. "Let her go!"

She laughed. "Right to the point? No witty banter? I'm disappointed. Whenever Luke spoke of you, he would always mention how much your witty banter annoyed him."

I was suddenly very confused. Who was this person? Annabeth was gritting her teeth, struggling to break free from the woman's grasp. All she did was laugh again. "Now, now, my dear. We wouldn't want to hurt that beautiful head of yours. And your boyfriend would be so upset if you died before you could share your little secret with him. Go ahead. Tell him. Now. When's better than just before death?"

She elbowed the woman, who let her go. "I'll tell him in my own time," Annabeth snapped, then tried to hurry over to me, but she ran into the invisible wall, too.

The red-haired woman laughed again. "And Luke always spoke so highly of your intelligence. I'm disappointed. Anyway, for introductions: I am Andromeda, daughter of Trivia… excuse me, daughter of Hecate. Trivia is such a better name though, wouldn't you agree?" I gave her a confused look. Annabeth was turned in Andromeda's direction, probably giving her a death glare. "Nevermind, you wouldn't know." Suddenly, she was holding Annabeth again, a knife to her throat. I hadn't even seen it happen. And from the surprised look on Annabeth's face, neither had she. "So, Jackson," she said. "I'm going to offer you a trade. I will give you your girlfriend, unharmed, but I want something in return. Not your weak point, no, I'll let my idiot sister Helen bumble away at trying to find that. I want something else. It's not even something difficult. I want you to cut a gash in my arm."

"What?" both Annabeth and I asked, in confusion.

"I'm not going to explain my reasoning," Andromeda said. "It has to do with politics, let's just leave it at that." She brandished her free arm, where there was a tattoo with what looked like bars code and the letters SPQR. "Just slice this tattoo."

"I don't like this Percy," Annabeth said.

"This seems suspicious," I told Andromeda. "Why would you want me to cut you?"

She shrugged. "Why indeed? Maybe I'm emo, but I don't think either of you would believe that. I'm not asking for much. Since when has it been an issue for you to slash the person holding your girlfriend captive?"

"Why the invisible wall if you want me to just hurt you?" I asked.

Andromeda sighed. "Firstly, it's more of a field, not a wall. As for why, I had to be sure you would cooperate. See, if you were to slash me anywhere else, that wouldn't produce the same results that I want."

"What's your plan?" I snapped.

"Do I look like I have a plan?" she asked. "I'm just a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't-"

"Oh shut up," Annabeth snapped. "Do you really think quoting the Joker has a place here?"

"Yeah," I added. "I mean, he was a great villain, but he obviously had a plan. And so do you. So cut the bull."

Andromeda looked taken aback, but she pressed the knife into Annabeth's throat, where little beads of blood appeared.

"Just do it Jackson," Andromeda said. "Unless you want to see your girlfriend's head severed from her body."

I sighed. I looked at Annabeth. "I don't know what she's planning, but I'm going to do it."

"Percy…"

"Shut up," Andromeda said to Annabeth. "The field is down."

I walked forward and pulled out my sword. Now that I was closer, I saw that Andromeda's dagger was made of gold, rather than bronze, which I found very odd. She held out the arm with the tattoo.

"If you could slice the SPQR," Andromeda said, "that'd be great."

"Fine," I said. I quickly did the slice, and then there was a gash across the SPQR. Andromeda winced in pain, and let go of Annabeth, sheathed her knife, and put her free hand over the bleeding gash. I grabbed Annabeth and kissed her quickly, before turning back to Andromeda.

"Many thanks, Jackson," Andromeda said. "I'll be off now." She disappeared, but then her voice came back. "I'll just leave you with an old friend."

There was a roar from the bathroom. Suddenly the door was torn off its hinges as a massive form emerged. His legs were fairly normal and covered in torn blue jeans. His torso and head though, they were a bull's. That's right. You know him, you love him, it's the Minotaur!

He charged. I stepped in front of Annabeth, but she pushed me aside, pulling out her own dagger. "Please," she said. "Let me take out some anger on him."

As he got close, Annabeth took one step to the side, and dug her dagger into his ribcage. He bellowed, then dissolved.

"Whoa," I said. "Remind me again, why anyone would want to get on your bad side."

She smirked. "No one would want to get on my bad side. And Andromeda did. Talking about Luke like that…"

I felt awkward. Annabeth and I were happy together, but Luke was a… touchy subject, at best. "Well," I said, "I'm sorry our night at the theatre got ruined. We're probably banned now, but do you want to come over and have some birthday bash ice cream?" Birthday bash is my favorite ice cream because it's blue.

She smiled. "That would be nice."

I pulled out mom's phone. I hadn't really had a chance to call Thalia before, but I did now. Mom picked up the phone. "Hi Percy, what's up?"

"Hi, Mom," I said. "Could you give the phone to Thalia?"

"Sure," she said.

After a pause, Thalia was at the phone, "Hi Percy. Sup?" There was a lot of background noise, and what sounded like shooting of guns.

"Um… could you come pick us up?" I asked.

"Are you in danger?" she asked.

"Well… no," I said. "Not anymore."

"Then take the train," she said. "I'm the middle of a match. Shit shit shit SHIT! Oh, hey, look, I'm still alive. And BOOM! Headshot."

"You're playing Call of Duty, aren't you?" I asked.

"Hell yeah I am," she said. "Look, someone's gotta show these dudes that girls can totally kick just as much video game ass as they can. And who better than the lieutenant of Artemis to do so?"

I sighed. "Fine, see you in a bit."

After dodging our way through the police who had just arrived at the theatre, Annabeth and I made our way to the subway station, where we took the train back to my place. As we walked through the living room, Thalia started muttering expletives as the scores came up.

"Lose?" I asked.

"No, I won," Thalia said. "But I didn't win by as large a margin as I would've liked." She stood up and gave Annabeth a hug. "Hey, how are you?"

"I'm okay," Annabeth said. "The theatre was a little too exciting for both of our tastes."

"Tell me what happened. Percy, get ice cream."

"Wait," I said. "I have to get the ice cream? You've been doing nothing but play CoD all night!"

"Well," she said, "I was nearly stretched to death today, so I deserve a break."

I rolled my eyes, but went into the kitchen and got out bowls, each of which I filled with a generous portion of ice cream, then came out into the living room, where Annabeth had just finished telling Thalia the story of the evening. "Andromeda huh? That seems odd…"

I cleared my throat. "But for now, ice cream. Let's not worry about Andromeda now."

We ate the ice cream quickly, then Annabeth and Thalia played two player on Portal 2, while I watched. That game was way too complicated for me. Eventually Thalia went to bed, and Annabeth and I sat on the couch talking a little and kissing a lot. And then she had to go. As I walked her to the door, I asked, "Annabeth, what secret are you hiding? What do you need to tell me?"

She bit her lower lip. "Percy I… I can't, not tonight. I promise I will tell you soon."

"But what-" she cut me off with one last kiss. By the time my brain had turned back on, she was gone. What was going on with Annabeth?