A/N: Holy Hera! 68 views already?! Sparks, you're amazing! And thanks to the 2 followers, favorites, and reviews I've gotten! Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: Still don't own it...


Nico had a rude awakening that night, with Annabeth practically grabbing him by the ankles out of bed, letting his head slam against the wooden floor, before beginning to drag him out of his cabin and in the direction of the Big House. His head throbbed with a dull ache, but with a single kick of his legs, Annabeth immediately let go, his lower half landing in the damp grass with a gentle thud.

"Get up!" she hissed. "Come on, di Angelo!" Annabeth reached for his wrists, pulling him to his feet, before once again beginning to drag him like a toddler.

Nico wrenched his wrist free from her grasp, rubbing the gently. That girl had a grip like iron. He rolled his wrist around a few times, checking that she hadn't shattered any of the bones with her uncanny strength. Immortality was working for her as well.

"What do you want?" he asked back, venom tainting his voice. It was a well-known fact you did not simply wake up Nico di Angelo and expect to see the next sunrise. If you were that stupid, might as well tattoo the words "Kill Me" on your forehead. "I was actually able to sleep tonight."

And that was his second problem. He didn't have insomnia or anything else that would give him trouble to fall asleep, no, it was once he was asleep that the problems began. Nightmares, visions of Tartarus, that one male voice that seemed persistent on invading Nico's subconscious 24 hours a day, piercing his mind like a knife. Whoever this guy was, he always spoke about making deals, but for what, Nico had no idea. That voice had been haunting his sleep for the past few days, and tonight the voice had finally gone silent.

"They found him!" The excitement in her voice was unmistakable, but Nico's mind was still too muddled with sleep to make any clear, coherent thought.

"Whom?"

Annabeth gave him a look with her piercing gray eyes, a look that said it all, "How stupid are you, really? This better be the fact that you're tired, or I'll smack you so hard that you'll be standing in front of your father."

"Ugh, this is why I hate people in the mornings and at night," she muttered to herself, shaking her head in the dark. The only reason Nico could see her at all in the darkness of the night was her blonde hair, which the light from some of the torches the cabins had, glinting off her curls.

Nico grumbled something to himself about night owls, only concentrating hard enough to not face plant into the dirt by tripping over his feet or some other embarrassing way. His clothes were slightly damp and caked with dirt from being dragged around, the coldness sent a slight chill up his spine, helping to wake him up a little.

Once they entered the Big House, Nico's senses were overloaded with people screaming and crying and cheering, along with the vibrant colors of people in their pajamas or those that were wearing their armor from guard duty. Someone must've alerted Dionysus of a party, because Nico smelled the fruity scent of wine in the air, along with other kinds of alcohol for the older campers. He wondered who could be so important that alcohol was allowed in a celebration for finding them.

Off in the corner was a couple furiously making out, red plastic cups in their hands, and Nico instantly knew both had hit the happy juice a little too hard that night. This seemed to be more of a party than anything serious, but once again, Annabeth grabbed his hand, dragging him through the mess of bodies.

And then someone started up the music. The most popular songs on the radio started blaring through speakers that Nico didn't even know the Big House had. If the scent of alcohol hadn't woken him up, the loud music definitely did.

"Follow me!" Annabeth shouted over the music, shoving people out of her way with her shoulders, scowling at them for blocking the path. She raced up the stairs to the second floor, and Nico followed behind her, right on her heels.

They stopped in front of the door leading into Chiron's office, which coincidentally had a horseshoe hanging off a nail. He wondered if that was a joke or if Chiron genuinely liked having it there, seeing as he wasn't too fond of the stables.

"His office?" Nico asked. At least up here the ruckus from below wasn't that bad. But he could've sworn he heard someone scream, "PUT SEYMOR BACK ON THE WALL!" Oh well.

Annabeth nodded, opening the door for him, before shutting it behind her. "Sorry for the abrupt wakeup call," she apologized, brushing some of the dirt off his shoulder. "But this is extremely urgent."

"I hope you didn't wake me up for the party downstairs," said Nico darkly, still upset over being yanked from one of his good nights.

"Party?" Chiron chimed in from his wheelchair. "What party?"

"You don't hear the music?" Will asked incredulously. "Seriously, it's a wonder the campers down there haven't gone deaf yet."

When Will spoke, Nico glanced over the room, seeing who else was there. Will and Chiron were there of course, along with Bianca carving something into her bow; Annabeth, who took a seat next to the centaur; Jason and Piper, who were sitting on the couch, holding hands; Frank, Hazel, and Reyna were in an Iris message, looking in with shared looks of concern on their faces; and Leo and Calypso, who were present via a Skype on Chiron's laptop, which Leo had monster-proofed before he left to show his girlfriend the world.

"Good, you're all present, in one way or another," Chiron said in a slightly amused tone, smiling.

"It's nearly two in the morning!" Hazel exclaimed, biting her lip from her outburst. Nico looked at her in shock. His sister had changed more than he thought. "Sorry, I'm just tired."

"Wow Haze, you just got sassy!" Leo said mischievously, smirking. Calypso smacked his arm affectionately, but just sighed at his antics.

"Ms. Levesque, Mr. Valdez, let's please focus on the matter at hand. Thank you."

"Sorry, Chiron," they both apologized.

"That's quite all right, dears, it's late. Now, this has been something I have been sworn to secrecy ever since I found about it almost two millennia ago."

Nico watched as Annabeth's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "You've never kept secrets from me. Even during the Titan and Giant war you told me everything, minus the Camp Jupiter thing!"

"Annabeth, realize that there are many things I'm forbidden to talk about. Those are one of the setbacks of being immortal, but all these secrets are for the betterment of everyone."

"Sure," Annabeth scoffed, taking a seat next to Bianca, crossing her legs and arms as she huffed in anger.

Chiron rolled his eyes at her behavior, but Nico knew Chiron was like a father to Annabeth, and she hated being kept in the dark about anything. He remembered when a few years ago she had come back from a mission with mud painted over her eyelids and began grilling Chiron on everything he knew about Egypt. He had no idea what that was about.

"So, why'd you call us here?" Nico asked, moving to lean against the wall, unless he wanted to fall asleep in a seat. The last time he had been in a meeting in the middle of the night, he had started to doze off five minutes in, and by the eight minute mark he was completely out of it. Clarisse had had to scream in his ear to finally wake him up.

"I was about to get that," Chiron told them all, before running a hand through his graying hair. "The Olympians have always had a small special ops force that work undercover for them during exceedingly dangerous times, such as the war with Kronos."

"And how come we've never heard of them before?" Reyna asked, giving a slight scowl through the IM.

"When I say small, I mean about ten demigods strong. They are typically children of minor gods and goddesses, as they can slip in through most situations virtually undetected until the damage is done. On Olympus, there have been rumors of another Primordial having awoken around the time of Gaea's rising, and that they're recruiting demigods and demi-titans to their cause."

There was a collective groan at that. They were just about to make it to the two year mark of not having to fight in a war for the Olympians, but now it appeared like they were going to fight again.

Nico wanted to go bash his head into a wall. He had been in wars his entire life: he was alive during World War II, he was twelve when he was fighting against Kronos, and he was fourteen when he was fighting against Gaea. The only time he could truly claim he had been at peace was when he was in the Lotus Hotel and Casino, where he was basically mind-controlled to not have a care in the world and play fun games as seventy years in the real world rushed by in what seemed to be only months.

"And now the Olympians want us to fight?" Piper asked from her seat on the couch. "We're not restrained by the Ancient Laws as we're only partially immortal, but are they really going to send us to the front lines?"

"I hope not," Will said. "I'm still a healer, not a fighter. Put me on the front lines, and I'll be in Elysium again before you can say 'Charge.'"

Chiron grimaced at the fact that Will had again, emphasizing the fact that he and Annabeth had died before, and now they were supposed to put their necks on the line again. Well, they had all put their lines on the neck before, Nico thought, so how was this time supposed to be any different?

"Slowly," Chiron continued, "the ops entered the enemy's army, but no one knows how or where they are. As you all know, we've heard rumors about…" Chiron faltered, glancing upwards at Nico, as if scared of his reaction to the news.

"Out with it, Chiron," Nico said sternly, tilting his head back against the wall, looking at the ceiling.

"One of the ops contacted me, Nico. Percy's alive and well, just at the hands of the enemy."

The reactions were immediate, from people crying tears of joy and relief, to stupid smiles that threatened to rip faces in half, to straight up laughing-but Nico was none of those. If anything, he didn't even react. His expression was completely neutral, but in his mind, his thoughts were whirling around like a maelstrom.

He's alive? Why didn't he contact me? Why didn't he even try to let me know he's alive? Is he okay? What has he been doing all this time? I'm going to kill him for disappearing on me, again. Ugh, why couldn't my love life ever be easy?

Nico felt tears burning in the back of his eyes, but he blinked them away. He should've been happy at the prospect that his boyfriend was alive, like the rumors had said, but any possible joy was instantly extinguished by the sole fact that Percy was at the mercy of whoever was trying to take over Olympus, again.

Nico looked at his friends, all happy and cheering and crying, and fondly shook his head. He loved these idiots, but they couldn't see past the fact that Percy was alive. And though he was ecstatic, he was already thinking up ideas on how to get Percy's dumb ass out of there. Nico allowed himself to smile, before leaving the office, fully prepared to start planning his boyfriend's escape.


Vicky walked at a leisurely pace around Central Park, enjoying some of the scenery, while simultaneously wanting to brain all the mortals that had their phones out, playing their stupid Pokémon go! game instead of actually enjoying the night. It wasn't like they had that much free time left anyway. (A/N: No offense to those of you who actually play the game, but I heard about this on the news and just had to put that in here. Sorry, again) She nearly punched a guy's lights out for running right into her, then picking himself up and scrambling off to find the next Pokémon that was in the park.

She glanced down at her watch, which was a simple, blue Swatch with its only design being a droplet of water carved into the back, where the battery resided. Other than that, you would've never known the watch was anything out of the ordinary. But to her, it was the only thing marking her as one of Pontus' soldiers. Without it, she wouldn't be able to make the delivery.

She looked around, sighing slightly as people continued to stare at nature through their phones, and turned right at the corner where a little café was situated, although at this time of night was all locked up. A hot breeze blew through the park, causing for Vicky to take off her flannel button-up, leaving her only with a slightly revealing tank top. Hopefully she would be meeting with a female, not one of those hormonal flesh-bags, otherwise known as men.

Vicky took a seat at one of the benches near the café, under an arch of leaves flowering with purple orchids. She plucked one, fingering the petals gently, before crushing them in her hands, staining her fingertips with a purple powder. As she went to reach for another one, she heard someone clear their throat.

Instinctively, she stood up and kneeled, keeping her head down in case it was a superior that had come instead of one of the foot soldiers she had gotten used to. Vicky kept her gaze on her boots, perfectly laced up as she had been taught, waiting for any sign that she could look up. Instead, she heard laughter.

Tentatively, she looked up, but still didn't look higher than the person's chest. By that single glance, she immediately knew she was speaking with a male, perhaps one of the generals even.

"Milord?" Vicky asked hesitantly, cowering at the sound of her own voice. She knew it was against the rules to speak out without permission.

The laughter ceased. "Look at me, girl," a man's voice said coldly.

Please don't be Kronos or Perses, Vicky thought to herself, before raising her eyes to the general that had spoken. Much to her relief, it wasn't either of the Titan's she had thought, instead it was someone she knew extremely well. He was her uncle, after all.

"My apologies, Percy." She rose to her feet, keeping her gaze level as to not show weakness. Even though Percy had begun to grow fond of her, he wouldn't hesitate to point out all the flaws in her posture and position, claiming her to be weak. She couldn't allow that, especially when she was working at the right hand of Pontus. She did not want to spend time in Thalassa's torture chamber.

"Relax, my dear," Percy said jovially, affectionately touching her shoulder.

Vicky stiffened under his touch, only relaxing slightly, while slowly reaching for the charm around her neck. It was a trident pendant that would transform into a bow or sword depending on the way she touched it. Her sword was already out by the time Percy had tried to amputate her arm.

"Good. Never relax, even when you're with people you trust. Follow me." Percy nodded his head to a triangular bush that was shut off on every side, except for a small part of one, which had a waterfall closing off the area inside. (A/N: Kind of like the bush in The Giver) He went through the waterfall, and Vicky quickly followed, not wanting to catch the attentions from one of the mortals. Then again, it wasn't like they were paying attention to her anyways in the first place.

She was going to break a number of phones in the nearby future.

"Permission to speak?" she asked, squeezing droplets of water out of her flannel over-shirt. Even though she was a daughter of Triton, she was still learning on how to dry things once wet instead of just attempting to stay dry.

"Granted," Percy said, leaning against one of the sides casually. His silver medal gleamed against his black jacket in the moonlight. A new medal adorned his jacket too, a golden circle with a teardrop shape engraved into it-the symbol of Pontus. He had finally achieved general status.

"We have a spy in our midst, General. I followed that son of Hades, the one with the name I can't speak, with that daughter of Athena, Annabeth, to the Big House after hearing rumors being spread that you were alive."

"That's impossible. Everything was in place, making the foolish Olympians believe I had passed. Hell, I even had a small portion of my soul roam around the Underworld for a while!"

Vicky held her hands in a placating manner. "I have no idea, General. Anyhow, I listened in on their conversation with Chiron, along with the other heroes of the prophecy, including Will Solace and Reyna Ramirez-Arellano for some peculiar reason. Apparently, Olympus has a special ops program that's ten demigods strong, and the ten have infiltrated our ranks. One of them contacted Chiron yesterday, saying they saw you alive."

The expression on Percy's face was one of pure fury. His eyes swirled with power, and the little waterfall had begun to batter the sides of the bush, and occasionally splashing the both of them as well. He breathed deep breaths for three heartbeats, before adopting an expressionless mask, like the soldier Vicky had gotten used to seeing.

"I believe I have an execution or two to set up for the week," Percy said coldly, still slightly trembling. Vicky carefully patted him on the shoulder, trying for what she hoped to be a reassuring smile. She must've succeeded, for her relaxed under her touch, but not enough to be caught off guard should the need arise for him to fight. "Go back to camp, Niece. You will be rewarded greatly for your deeds, I promise you."

She bowed her head. "Just helping out is reward enough."

He chuckled. "You're beginning to sound like me, Vicky. Be careful when you're with the campers, understand? I trusted them once, and look where that got me. Don't trust anyone but yourself."

Vicky nodded once. "I understand, General."

"Please, you've earned enough respect from me to call me Percy, or even Uncle, if you wish. You only need to be formal around Pontus."

It was good to know they both agreed on that. She hugged her uncle tightly, before flattening herself against the bush, his blade nearly entering her abdomen. They broke off laughing, only to be silenced by a deafening roar. Seriously? Vicky had believed that Pontus had an agreement with Tartarus, but she guessed not.

Beside her, Percy rolled his eyes, pulling on his general's helm over his eyes. His clothes had transformed into his ornate armor of Imperial gold and sapphire that Pontus had enchanted to withstand against most monsters. Vicky tapped her watch twice, and her own set of armor appeared on her body. Hecate had taught her how to enchant things into ordinary objects, much like her weapons. She twisted the pendant clockwise, and her bow appeared in hand. She nodded in his direction, passing under the waterfall without a sound.

Vicky began scouting around the bush, only to run into another Pokémon go! player. With the recurve of her bow, she smashed it against the girl's temples, smashing her phone with the heel of her boot at the same time. Percy gave her a questioning look, which she brushed off as she ducked under the cover of another floral arch.

The creature roared again, to which all the mortals rushed to, making her want to groan at their stupidity. Luckily, Percy waved his hand across the general direction, eliciting a ripple to cut through the air. All the mortals that slammed into the ripple passed out instantly-it had been a sleep spell. She wondered who had taught him that, either Hecate, Erebus, or Nyx.

She mouthed "Thank you" over her shoulder, stepping over another fallen mortal, careful not to step on their face. Vicky remembered the direction of which the roar had come from, and sprinted off in that direction, heading back towards the entrance she had entered from. This time, she let the groan escape her lips when she realized what monster had been the one to go rogue: the Minotaur.

Vicky nocked an arrow patiently, letting the bull-man charge past her from where she had previously been standing. Her arrow flew true, piercing the Minotaur in the chest, right where the heart was. But he was too big for a single arrow to kill. She felt Percy's appraising eyes boring into the back of her skull, judging her in combat. Vicky nocked two arrows this time instead of one and aimed for the beast's eyes.

"Hey, Red Bull, over here!" taunted Vicky, pulling the string back as the monster stupidly charged again. She rolled under his meaty arm, which reeked of rotten meat and wet dog, causing her to gag at the scent. She released her arrows, hitting the Minotaur in the back of the head, imbedding into his skull. Not the eyes, but it was still something she could work with. She continued shooting at his hide, until one arrow landed in what she guessed could've been called his butt cheeks, causing for him to roar in anger.

Once more, the Minotaur charged, to which Vicky calmly waited as he grew closer. At the last second, she jumped upwards, swinging her bow around his neck and pulling hard on the frame, causing for the string to begin to bite into the flesh. He tried to buck her off, but her grip was like steel: unflinching and unmoving. She released a hand, forcing her to ride the Minotaur cowgirl style, as she reached for her pendant again. Vicky turned the charm counter-clockwise, and her bow transformed into her sword. Where the string had been was now her blade, which she brought upwards with all her strength, cutting through muscle and fur and sinew, decapitating the Minotaur's head.

The head rolled off as the body began to disintegrate into golden dust. Vicky brushed the dust off her shoulder, tapping her watch and pendant twice as both her weapon and armor transformed back into their everyday objects. She walked over to the head, kicking it like a soccer ball into the nearest tree, causing it to crumble into dust from the force of impact. Only the horns were left to retrieve. She picked both of the pointed horns up, tucking them under her arm, and walking back to the tree where Percy had been waiting the entire time for her.

He was grinning like an idiot, his green eyes alight with happiness. "You did a fantastic job, Vicky!" he praised, hugging her tightly, not even attempting to cause her bodily harm in anyway. "I should've taken some pointers from you the last two times I tangoed with him."

"You've fought the Minotaur before?" Vicky asked, her eyes wide, and her mouth hanging open.

"Twice. Once when I was twelve, and the second time when I was sixteen. I wish he would've been that fearful of me, but oh well. Next time he reforms I'll hunt him down and scare the fur off of him for betraying our master." Percy smiled down at Vicky, before ruffling her hair fondly. "I should get going. Let me know immediately if our position is compromised, alright?"

"Of course, Percy."

He went to vapor travel back to base (which was so unfair in her opinion; she couldn't vapor travel yet!), but paused, looking back at her one more time. "You're so mature for your age, you know that? You're only eleven, yet you have more discipline than some of the twenty-year-olds we have recruited."

"I appreciate the compliment, Percy," Vicky said with a small smile, "but you really should be going. We don't want any unnecessary attention drawn to you."

"See, right there, maturity. I'll see if I can assign you to a better mission instead of here, but I'll need to speak with him first."

"Thank you. Now go!" She thrust one of the Minotaur horns into his hands, and she smiled the entire time until he finally disappeared, leaving her the only one awake in Central Park, full of sleeping people mumbling things about Pokémon in their sleep.

Her smile quickly vanished, replaced by a look of pure mischief as she hefted the Minotaur horn and began to smash phones.


A/N: I'm still open to doing a Q&A if you guys want, just leave a question. If I get enough, I'll answer them all, but if I don't get any, I just won't do anything. Thanks for readings, Sparks! Leave a review if you liked, or if you didn't, let me know what I can do to improve. But please, no flames! See ya next chapter! ~RainbowSpark18 (::) (::) (::)