First: I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. I've been so busy with life and school and whatnot that I haven't had time. And, I have Writer's Block for this story.

Two: You guys complained I wasn't writing. Actually, to prove you wrong… My new stories: Just Go With It (PewDiePie FanFic), Kill Your Heroes (My oneshot for PJO), Summer Love (a new chaptered PJO story). Updated stories: Hell and Silence (chapter 3) and Dear FanFiction (almost every day!).

Sorry for typos/OOCness.

Happy Reading!

Chapter 34

Nico

Thalia woke them up early that morning, and Nico groaned as light came down on him. The morning sun burned his eyes, and even when he put his fingers in front of his face, the light managed to peek through.

"Come on," Thalia said, nudging him with her foot. She looked bright and stubborn, like she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Nico finally managed to roll over and jump to his feet. He wobbled for a second, dark spots appearing in his vision, and he put his hand against a tree trunk to steady himself. His head felt unnaturally huge for his body as he tried to remain upright.

When he looked around at the others, he saw that they were having the same problems. Leo almost fell back down and Jason had to catch him. Piper's hair was a rat's nest and she wouldn't stop yawning. Frank and Hazel were using each other for support.

"Well, you guys clearing haven't slept well," Thalia said, munching on a Poptart she had stolen from Jason. Her back wasn't against and tree and she studied them all with mirth in her eyes.

"No, we were sleeping fine," groaned Frank, scratching the top of his head and yawning loudly. "We just didn't sleep enough."

Thalia waved what he said aside. "You slept for about six hours, so that should be enough." Then, she whipped a map out of her bag and put it on the ground. "Well, gather around, everyone," she called out, and her voice echoed in the woods, making it sound like there were multiple Thalia's.

"So, now, I need you guys to help clarify these Gates that you pass through. They usually happen in big landmarks, right?"

They looked around at each other, seeing who was going to speak first, and everyone focused on Nico. He narrowed his eyes but spoke up. "Mount Kilauea in Hawaii was a big landmark, but the first one we went through was underground in a bunch of caves. That's not a big landmark."

Thalia considered this for a moment and took a small bite out of the pastry. "Where did you say that the first gate was? Like, where in Greece?"

"Ioannina Island," Jason answered.

"That's a landmark," Thalia told them. "Those tunnels you were in were probably catacombs to bury the dead or something. Maybe they wanted to put them on a secluded island where no one would find the bodies. I'm not sure, but probably back when the Giants walked the earth, those catacombs had been a big deal. And maybe they were the way into the House of Hades. That makes that a landmark too."

"So the next set of Gates is in Yellowstone," Hazel guessed.

"That's what I think," Thalia agreed. "And since Yellowstone is famous for its geysers…"

She stopped there, letting them think about. They glanced around, mouths dropped open. Nico knew Thalia had to be joking, but then again, she rarely did. Jumping in a volcano and stupid, and jumping into a geyser was pretty much up there on the same level. It was pretty much a volcano, with water instead on lava.

"You must be crazy," Jason murmured. He was the only person who could say it without getting slapped by Thalia, since they were related.

"I'm not," she said. "It would make sense. And besides, you already jumped into Mount Kilauea. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that before, we had someone actually confirm that it was true," Nico muttered, thinking about Triton. They hadn't even trusted him, so his argument was weak and pointless. Even Thalia rolled her eyes at the comment.

"Maybe on the way to the geyser we'll have someone confirm it then," Thalia sighed. "Yellowstone is riddled with monsters and minor gods and goddesses. Plus, we'll have nymphs everywhere, so we should be good."

"Which geyser then?" Piper asked. "Half of the world's population of geysers is in Yellowstone. How are we supposed to know which one to go into? We couldn't just try everyone of them and see what happens, because our skin would be burnt off by then."

"Probably Old Faithful," she confirmed for them. "It is the most famous."

"Why would the giants even choose a geyser as one of the Gates?" asked Leo exasperated.

"Maybe because most people aren't big enough idiots to try and jump in one," Nico suggested.

"We need to get a move on," Thalia said. "We're actually in Cooke City, Montana right now, which is on the outskirts of the park. It's over a 100 miles to Old Faithful, and if we walk four miles every hour and rest for six, then we should be able to reach the geyser sometimes tomorrow. And if we're lucky, we might find a park ranger's car that we can highjack. Then it'll be quick."

No one said anything for a minute until Nico spoke up, once again. "I trust you Thalia, I really do. But how are we supposed to make sure that you are correct? If you're wrong, then it's our lives."

Everyone nodded a little, since they had been thinking the same thing. And Thalia then started to turn into the lieutenant that she was. She straightened her back and adjusted the tiara. She crossed her arms over her chest and let her eyes bore into everyone else's.

"Listen to me," she said calmly, but there was underlying anger in her tone. "My two friends, Percy and Annabeth, are fighting for their lives in Tartarus right now. We may never see them again unless we do something, and right now, none of you have a better idea on how to get back to Greece."

She stood up and brushed off her pants. "Now, you guys might think that the smartest idea is to find an airport and just fly back, but you don't have enough money and who knows how long it would take. We don't know where the next set of Gates are, so the only thing we can do is search for the closest ones to here. And maybe if we're lucky along the way, we'll find a god."

Thalia snatched the map from the ground. "Now, you guys can either follow me to Old Faithful, or I can go back to the other Hunters who actually might need me and capture Camp Jupiter. It's your choice entirely." She spat the last word.

Nico had only seen Thalia this mad on a few occasions, and it was usually during a fight between her and Percy. When she was determined, nothing was ever going to get in her way. And Nico understood her anger, because he had felt it himself.

She wasn't mad at them. Not really. It was almost like Survivor's Guilt. She still felt like it was her fault that Percy and Annabeth were Tartarus, even though there had been nothing she could have done about it. Nico had felt the exact same way when Bianca had died, all those years ago.

In a way, Thalia was right. None of them were really sure where to go, and flying back to Greece wasn't really an option at that point. They had a hunch that they weren't sure what to do with, and if they went to Old Faithful, the might be able to get some guidelines or help along the way. It was the only idea that they had, and they were running out of time.

Nico though back to the prophecy, and how it said he was supposed to die. Well, he wasn't going down without a fight. Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter were at war with one another. Percy and Annabeth were running for their lives. He wasn't going to sit back and do nothing.

So he stood up too and joined Thalia. "I'll go. The idea may be a little crazy, but it's the only one we got."

Hazel stood up next, and Frank along with her. They joined the two of them, leaving Leo, Piper, and Jason still on the ground, sitting next to each other. Then Leo stood up, a goofy smile on his face as he pushed around them and went right next to Thalia. She looked as if she could've done without him joining in too.

And then, Jason and Piper linked hands and joined Thalia. "Well, I'm glad that's settled," Thalia said finally as she assessed all of them. There was some sort of pride in her stance.

A twig cracked in half, and they were all alert in seconds, their backs pressed against each other so that they all had a view of the forest. The sound was not made again for quite some time, so Frank said, "Are we just being paranoid or what?" with a nervous laugh.

Nico could feel the end of Thalia's spear pressing into his back, and they all disbanded except for her. She stayed in her ready stance. "No, we weren't being paranoid. It's being paranoid if one person hears the noise, but we all did. Someone's out there. I'm sure of it."

Slowly, she crept forward. There was giggle, a girl's voice, and they knew that they weren't alone. "Who's there?" Thalia called out. When no one answered, a huge wind ripped through the forest and bent the trees, no doubt caused by Thalia. It wasn't Jason, because he looked just as shocked.

"Lieutenant Thalia, I don't think Artemis would appreciate you having used your powers to try and hurt me," said a girl's voice. It came from the same direction of the giggle. It wasn't that far away. The girl didn't sound scared, or even annoyed. She sounded like they were playing a game.

"Um, Thalia," Jason started. "Do you know this person?"

"I'm not sure… the voice seems familiar." Her eyes widened as the twigs snapped again and the leaves rustled, and they all remained frozen as a little girl stepped out from behind a few trees, a smile on her face.

The girl was clearly in no position to attack, as they had their weapons out. But she didn't look like she was trying to get into a fight. For starters, she could not have been older that Nico, and she was really small. She wore a brown sun dress and had her brown her up in a ponytail. Dirt was smudged across her face, and her teeth looked sharp. She had her hands to her sides, palms outward.

Recognition flared across Thalia's face as she lowered her spear. She gave the girl a small bow and put a smile on her face that Nico couldn't decide whether it was forced or real. "Well, I haven't seen you in a while. What are you doing here?"

The girl shrugged. "I needed a change of scenery. After the Titan War, Central Park wasn't exactly doing it for me. And Yellowstone is full of wildlife. It seemed sort of fitting. Who are your friends?"

Thalia looked over at them, gesturing with her head and hand. They bowed to her too, even though Nico had no idea who the person was. "These are Nico, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and Leo."

She looked confused. "Are the girls part of the Hunters? Are these men your captives?" The questions made sense. This girl was probably used to seeing the Hunters with only girls and no guys. Nico wanted to blend back with the shadows and pretend he wasn't there. The girl didn't look bad, but looks could be deceiving. He had learned that even by meeting Triton.

Thalia shook her head quickly. "Actually, Jason is my brother, and these are his friends. I'm going to help them a little bit with their quest before joining the rest of the Hunters again."

"Ah, well, that's nice of you." She still looked confused.

"Thalia, who is this person?" Jason asked again.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Guys, this is Taygete, and she's a good friend of the Hunters. Artemis and her go way back. The good part is that she's not an enemy, and she might be able to help us. Speaking of that, will you help us?"

This Taygete person, whoever she was, considered them for a second. "Sure, why not?"

Boring chapter, but necessary, so sorry about that. Once again, I have Writer's Block! Percy Jackson won Battle of the Characters! Yay!

Reviews and Ideas are LOVED! Please check out all of those new stories I listed above!

-BBH