Thanks for nominating me for the FanFiction Choice Awards by Lightning-at-221b. You can go check it out to cast your votes and whatnot:)

Sorry for typos/OOCness. This chapter is not very good, but you guys wanted an update so this was the best I could give you, 'cause I'm sorta stuck.

Happy Reading!

Chapter 46

Nico

While they fell, darkness ended up swallowing them, and Nico was ripped from the grasp of the others. For a second, he still felt like he was falling, but then he was standing up in a room all by himself. He had been in this place before.

He was in the House of Hades, but at the time, he hadn't known that.

Nico was covered in dirt and bruises. His body ached. He'd just been pulled down a staircase for what felt like forever. There was a long cut on his forehead, causing blood to drip into his eyeball and blur his vision. All of his weapons were gone, leaving him with nothing to defend himself. He let out a deep breath and sagged against the wall, which was closer to him than he'd thought.

He turned around and looked up. The staircase was gone. There was no light shining down from above. There was no chance of hope. The only light came from the torches along the walls, burning Greek fire.

Sighing, he snatched one of the torches. Greek fire was dangerous, so it was better than nothing.

Nervousness and excitement boiled inside of him. After traveling around for days in Tartarus, he'd finally reached the Doors of Death. This had to be the place with them. But he knew that Gaea was down there too, and she was probably going to do everything in her power to make sure he died.

The crazy part was that Nico hadn't been trying to find the Doors of Death. He had been trying to stay alive. He'd had no idea what was in the basement, but now that he was in there, he felt this power being radiated all around him. It was full of evil. It could only be the Doors of Death, because that was the only explanation.

Wherever he was, there was nothing. Just a dark cavern made of obsidian. The torch light only gave off so much light; he could see about ten feet in front of him, which wasn't exactly reassuring.

His footsteps echoed as he began to walk, wishing that the staircase was still there so that he could turn around and leave. But he needed to do this; he had to shut the Doors of Death, because then all of the madness would stop and his friends would be safe. He was the son of Hades, so it shouldn't be too hard.

You think you will be a martyr, Nico di Angelo, but your time has yet to come.

Nico jumped at the voice, because it was ancient and female, but he knew that it had to be the voice of Gaea. What did she mean by his time had yet to come? Nico wasn't trying to be a martyr, because he didn't want to die, not in Tartarus with no one near him. He just wanted to close the Doors so no other souls would escape, because that was unnatural, and he was the only person who could do something.

Each time a demigod dies by me, each time one is sacrificed, I get stronger.

That made him stop walking.

Gaea laughed, but Nico thought about what the Earth Mother had said. If he died by her hand, she would get stronger. Those words gave him extra motivation to be an even better fighter, because she would definitely put up a fight. If the Doors of Death were closed, it could very well postpone Gaea's takeover. He started walking again, but then began to run. The Greek Fire flickered, and he realized how much the flame reminded him of the moon outside, as both casted things into greenish shadows.

The walls were beginning to widen when Gaea spoke again.

But you, Ghost King, are needed as bait. I can't have you dying now, no matter how strong it may make me. No, you will bring them all to me, and I shall rise.

"You're wrong!" he yelled into the air. His breath was coming out in huffs, and it was becoming impossibly cold. "I would never lead them to you."

You never would do that intentionally, she corrected. But by the time you remember this, you and your friends will be coming to me on both sides, and once they all arrive, they shall all die at my hands. Until that time comes, however, you do not need to remember any of this.

What did she mean? Would he get amnesia just like Percy and Jason? And by what she was saying, she intended on him getting out of here and staying alive. His didn't realize he was shaking until he almost dropped the torch.

The torches began to line the walls again, and he could finally see better. His mouth dropped open as he laid his eyes upon the Doors of Death, and what was Gaea.

There was only half of the doorway, and the door was open. Both were made of cement, and the freaky part was that when Nico looked through the doorway, the other side wasn't this cavern at the basement of Where the Lost are Revealed. It was an entirely different place, and Nico had a feeling that if he ran through it, he would be back in the world of the living.

But at the bottom of the doorway, in the very center, was a giant, churning pit of dirt, and Nico could just make out the head of hair that belonged to a very bad goddess.

It was Gaea, and she was rising.

With a gust of wind, all of the fire went out, and Nico was in darkness once more.

I'll be seeing you soon, Nico di Angelo. And when that day comes, someone is going to die.

He heard a snap, and something hard hit him in the chest. He sailed backwards and kept on going until his head cracked against the stone wall. Gaea's victorious cackle was the last thing he heard before the pain was so unbearable that he blacked out.

As he spiraled through black, he thought about the memory he had just seen. Gaea was right. He hadn't remembered anything until the very last moment, when he had decided to lead his friends to the Doors of Death. He gulped and also realized that he was leading his friends toward their possible deaths, and that he wasn't taking them to the House of Hades.

The House of Hades had been in Tartarus, at Where the Lost are Revealed. That was where he had been, and that was where Percy and Annabeth needed to go.

She would be seeing him again soon, because she was rising on each side of the Doors. She had access to each group of demigods. She had knocked Nico out without any trouble, and only her head had been out of the pit. Now, time had passed, and she would be stronger. If she managed to kill them, she would definitely rise.

When he had opened his eyes again, the pain was a dull throb, and there was a floating candle in front of him. Before he could be too confused, however, a man walked up to him, and he was standing in front of the giant Tityos.

Always a diplomat, he wore a suit and tie and his scars seemed even more prominent, because his skin was very pale. He was very thin now, like an old man. His messy dark hair was gray and his brown eyes looked sad and defeated. He eyed Nico with grudging respect, but also something dangerous. "Well, Nico, you've outsmarted me, I suppose. I can only be amazed at how you managed to make the Greeks and Romans work together."

Nico wanted to yell IN YOUR FACE, but it was depressing to see this man. "Well, I guess I have my ways," Nico ended up saying while tapping his foot.

Tityos shook his head. "And by that, you mean luck. You forced them together through fear. It seems as though you aren't so different from us as you think you are. Ruling by terrifying those around you. You've even scared your friends." He began to pace back and forth, but the movements were cautious and careful, like he could fall over at any moment. "You've stopped a war and you've stopped my rise, all because you have literally scared everyone to death."

"I am different from you," Nico thundered at the dying giant. "You wanted people to die so that you could rise to power and join Gaea. I put a stop to that, and now, you're dying, and you'll never rise."

"But you used fear, Nico di Angelo, which is what we have been doing all along."

He took a step back and hit a wall. There was nothing that he was going to be able to do. Tityos couldn't hurt him; he was powerless. But so was Nico. He was still exhausted from using Terror. He legs wobbled, and Tityos chuckled. Nico reeled his fist back to put it in his face, but an invisible force stopped him.

"Nico, you're going to die when you reach the Doors of Death this time. Gaea will not spare you. The only thing you can do now is join our cause. That, my friend, is the only way you will be spared."

"I'm not your friend," Nico spat.

"My apologies. But we aren't enemies either, Ghost King. If we were, I would've killed you by now, because if you die it'll help my mother rise. But if you don't we can work together to accomplish a common goal, and that's stay alive. Neither of us want to fade. We don't want to become martyrs. We want to do something."

It was true; he didn't want to die, even if it was for a cause. He liked to travel through the Underworld, but not as a dead person. But he would never join Gaea's army. For all he cared, Tityos could rot for all eternity. If he died, he died. Even Rachel thought he was going to. All he could do now was keep on fighting, and fight to the very end. He had to defend his friends, even if they were horrified of him now. He wasn't going to give up on anyone. Percy and Annabeth had to get out of Tartarus.

And he was sick of being called the Ghost King.

"I've said this before, and I'll say it again," he started, his voice dangerously low. "I. Will. Never. Join. You."

Tityos sighed. "Even if that guarantees your death?"

He nodded.

"Because, boy, your death is inevitable. The prophecy has predicted it. If you lead them to Gaea, even your friends may end up dying. I say that it is very selfish to risk their lives. If you join me now, I can promise you that they will be safe."

"You Giants always lie," retorted Nico. "And we will fight and we will win."

Tityos just looked at Nico. He stared at him for so long that Nico began to squirm. Tityos had never really given them an offensive attack before, but standing so close to him was unnerving. So Nico broke the silence and continued to talk to the giant. "You have only caused destruction everywhere. So many innocent half-bloods just died. Kauai faced destruction. Our friend Taygete is probably dead because of the fight she had with Bellona, and our friend Thalia stayed behind in Old Faithful just to make sure that we would live. She might be dead too. And it's all your fault."

He shook his head once more. "No, Ghost King, it's also your fault."

"Quit calling me the Ghost King," he automatically snapped.

"We said before that if you joined us, your friends would be spared. This is the price that you have paid for not taking up our offer."

Nico was taken aback.

"Goodbye, Nico di Angelo. You'll be joining be soon enough."

Before Nico could say anything else, Tityos faded into black smoke. The candle flickered off, and his back landed against a hard, rocky surface.

"NICO!" someone was yelling, and he was being shook rather violently. He groaned and let his eyes fall open.

Hazel was kneeling over him, hands on his shoulders, shaking him. He looked over and saw everyone else standing up, looking down at him. For some reason, he noticed that Piper and Jason were standing far away from each other, which was weird, because they were usually holding hands all the time. What had gone down between them? Well, that wasn't important.

Nico recognized the place immediately. They were in the catacombs of Ioannina Island, in Epirus. This was where he had realized that he had amnesia. This was the place that they had once believed was the House of Hades. How far off could they have been?

Rachel had been right, after all. The Gate on Olympus had brought them all the way back to where they had started.

"How long have I been out?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head as he stood up. Hazel had to grip his waist to keep him from falling over. He was seeing stars.

"A few minutes," Leo informed him. "Not too long, but we need to get moving and retrace our steps to where we'd been before. We're all pretty sure that the place where the Gate was before is where the Doors of Death are now. There are probably tons of monsters everywhere, so we need to be prepared to kick some serious monster butt."

But there wouldn't be. Nico told them about the things he'd remembered while he'd been out. He told them about Gaea rising in the center of the Doors and what the scene looked like. He told them about how they could see right through the other side into Tartarus and vice versa.

But he didn't tell them about how Gaea and Tityos believed he would die.

The others took in the information, and once Nico could stand straight again, they began to move through the underground tunnels. Nico led them all, because over the course of this quest, he'd become somewhat of a leader. This was where everything was going to end, if they were lucky. They were coming up to the epic finale of all of this.

The closer they got to the Doors of Death, the more Nico knew what he had to do.

He had to be the martyr.

Happy Birthday, Jason Grace! Happy Kalends of July! Okay… so I have some updates for you guys, regarding my updating schedule.

So, this week I am going to Ocean City, Maryland, with Kimmie G914, to see our grandma for the Fourth of July (America, Frick Yeah), and she has no internet. Then, I have tennis three times a week, every week, all summer. On the Fourteenth, I am going to Orlando, Florida, for about a week with my dad. When I get back, I have band camp for six days, and then I am going to a Train, the Script, and Gavin DeGraw concert. So… yeah, updating is going to be crazy, but hopefully I'll have the story finished by the end of the month!

Reviews/ideas are loved. Review challenge: What is the newest song that you've fallen in love with? For me, it is San Francisco by the Mowgli's.

-BBH