Leo Valdez P.O.V.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round!"

"LEO VALDEZ! STOP THAT INFERNAL SINGING!" Annabeth yells at me.

I lean closer to Piper and whisper, "Tough crowd," at which she laughs and we continue on in silence.

Frank leads us until we finally reach the bus stop and Annabeth checks the schedule. "The next bus isn't coming for a half an hour," she states. "Guess we'll just have to wait."

No one says anything. After a few minutes, Percy pulls Annabeth away from the group to talk with her privately. I focus on Percy's lips, trying to know what he's saying to her, but I catch the sound of his voice.

"Annabeth, I'm telling you, we aren't going the right way," he says. "This just doesn't feel right."

"Percy, I don't know what to tell you," Annabeth replies. "Frank is pretty keen on where he's taking us."

"How do we know this is Frank leading us? He has an eidolon in him too. What if it's trying to lead us the wrong way?"

"Well, if that's the case, what do you suggest we do?"

Percy looks back at the group, thinking. "We split up," he finally says.

She rubs her temples. "If that's what you think is best." They make their way back to the group.

Before either of them say anything, I poke Piper. She looks at me quizzically, then asks, "What is it, Leo?"

"They want us to split up," I answer. "Percy thinks Frank is leading us the wrong way, but they aren't sure, so Percy's going to lead some of us the other way."

She looks back and forth between me and Percy. "How could you hear that from way over here?"

"I don't know. It wasn't that hard. You seriously couldn't hear them?"

She shakes her head just as Annabeth begins talking to the group. "Alright, Percy and I were talking and... and we think it's best if we split up."

Piper's mouth gaped. "Leo, that's amazing," she whispered before Annabeth continued.

"Piper, you'll come with Percy and I, and Leo will go with Frank and Hazel. How does everyone feel about that?" No one argued.

Piper looks at me with sadness. Neither of us say anything, but we hug. We don't pull away for what feels like a long time. When we finally do, I say, "Don't worry, Pipes. We've got this." I wink and give her a smile.

She smiles back, but it's obviously a forced smile. I notice her eyes watering, so I pull her into another hug. "He'll be okay. I promise you, he will be okay."

We release each other and she wipes at her eyes. "I know. I'm just scared is all." I just nod.

"Everyone ready?" Annabeth asks. Piper nods to her.

She just gives me a sympathetic smile before saying, "Bye, Leo." And I reply, "Bye, Piper." And she starts following Percy and Annabeth in the direction we came from and turns to me one last time and waves. And I wave back.

Jason Grace P.O.V.

I dream of Piper.

She's hugging Leo, saying goodbye. She follows Percy and Annabeth but I have no idea why they're leaving Leo, Hazel, and Frank at a bus stop.

When they're a good distance away from the other, Annabeth speaks first. "Percy, where are you leading us?"

"We need to go back," he replies with a soft anger in his voice.

"Back? Back where?"

"We need to go back to camp." He says it like it's obvious.

"Why? What's there?" Piper asks.

"It's where they are. That's where Jason and Nico are."

I blink a few times, forcing myself to wake. Heavy. My eyes are so heavy. Everything is heavy. Existence is heavy. The world seems to be spinning. I can't focus on anything. I can't hear anything. I can't feel anything - my body is numb. There's an intense throbbing in my head.

After Hades-knows-how-long, I finally spot, through the corner of my eye, my surroundings. They seem to be changing - one moment it's a dark room, another it's the woods.

You've figured it out, a voice whispers in my head.

"What?" I ask in only a mumble, as that's all I can really manage.

It's all just a dream. Everything. You know where you really are. All you need to do now is focus.

"I don't understand."

Jason Grace, you need to wake up.

"But I am..." My eyes become heavier. I try to move, but it results in immediate pain. Waking up is the last thing I want to do.

Jason, you need to do as I say. Wake up.

My consciousness is fading. I want to do as the voice says but it's impossible. "I can't." And I fall asleep again.

The next time I wake, I hear something... voices? Yes, and I recognize them, but they're distant and getting farther. I open my eyes to find myself in the woods of Camp Half-Blood. It was true - we have been here the whole time. But how is that possible?

You dreamed the whole thing up, the voice whispers again. It was all in your head.

"Wait, what?" I ask. "What was in my head?"

You were tortured, just as you remember. But the place itself, the nice room you had, the blood you thought you drank, none of that was real.

I focus on everything else besides the voice, hoping to tune it out. I sit up slowly, but everything hurts. I'm dying. I groan in frustration.

I notice the bloody scratches all over my body. My arm stings the worst so I hold it up to take a look.

Carved into my skin as if by a knife are the words We'll Be Back.

I lean to my side and throw up. Surprising I have anything left in my stomach. My head is spinning so I lay down again and just look up at the sun overhead through the trees. Thank gods I don't sparkle.

"Jason?"

I turn my head to find Nico laying only a few feet away and I don't know how I hadn't noticed him before. "Nico, man, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he answers. He sits up and rubs his head, then nearly shrieks in pain. The arrow is lodged in his stomach again. No one ever really took it out. "Oh gods, this sucks," he says.

I sit up again. "Nico, are you okay? I can't get you out of here."

"I'm fine, it doesn't hurt. Are we in Camp Half-Blood?" Nico asks.

"Yeah," I answer and he looks at me questioningly. "I had a dream. Percy knows we're here. He's on his way to find us."

Nico lets out a sigh of relief.

"Uh, Nico," I say before he gets his hope too high, "you should see this." I show him the engraving in my arm.

"We'll Be Back," he reads aloud. "Well, that's absolutely fantastic. They're not done with us yet."

"Why do you think they'd just let us go like this? Why'd they let us go at all? They must be pretty confident they can kidnap us again."

He nods. "I wonder when they'll be back. And how did we get here?"

"We've been here the whole time," I reply. He gives me another funny look. "I heard this voice. It told me we were imagining the whole place. Not the torturing part, that was all real, but the building, the room, the food - it was all in our heads."

He looks genuinely surprised. "They've never been so... complex before. I just can't figure out what they're thinking. I don't understand what this all means, what it's for."

"Me too."

It's quiet for a second. Then Nico speaks up, asking, "So, how long ago did you have that dream that Percy was looking for us in the woods?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. For all I know, they may not even be looking right now. When I saw him, he was just heading back to Camp with Annabeth and Piper."

He closes his eyes. "I'm tired. Since it looks like neither of us have the strength to get back to Camp, I'm taking a nap."

I lie down one my back, looking up at the sky again. "I guess I'll keep watch," I say, but he's already asleep.

My stomach growls. I ignore it. I'd rather die before I have to drink blood. Like the first time wasn't bad enough, but apparently it wasn't even real. That's just bull.

My eyes grow heavy again. I know I have to stay awake, but I just can't.

The next time I wake, it's dark. Only half of the moon is visible overhead. I hear voices.

"Jason! Nico!" someone calls. Other voices too. It's a search party.

I try to shout back, but my throat is too dry. I'm so cold, I can't stop shivering. I curl into a ball on my side and see the light of a torch.

"We're here!" Nico shouts. He stands up, and I'm surprised at the sudden strength he has for someone with a freaking arrow in his stomach. He nearly falls over for a moment, but then waves his arms around frantically. "Over here!"

The light moves closer. "Nico!" a voice I can easily recognize as Percy's shouts in relief.

I close my eyes again but only for a second. When I open them, I see a shape laying in the dirt only a few feet away.

Nico.

I suddenly can't breathe. I'm hyperventilating and can't control it. Why is Nico's body on the ground? Why is there another Nico standing and jumping around?

Then it hits me like a brick, and breathing only gets harder.

Nico is dead. He's a ghost.

Piper McLean P.O.V.

Nico is transparent.

"Annabeth, something's not right," I say.

"What?" she asks. "Never mind. Let's just figure that out after we make sure the boys are okay."

"But-"

"Nico!" Percy shouts as he jogs ahead of us to where Nico stands. "Where's Jason?"

"He's here. He's... he's alive," Nico's voice grows quieter as he speaks. "You'd better hurry."

I sprint forward. I break through some bushes and enter the small clearing to find a definitely transparent Nico DiAngelo and a barely conscious boyfriend of mine. Jason lies in the dirt shivering. There are cuts and scrapes all over his body, and he looks like he hasn't healed a bit. I kneel beside him and feel his forehead. Freezing, just as I'd expected.

"Hey, P-Pipes," he chatters.

"Jason," I reply stroking the hair out of his face, "what have we gotten ourselves into this time?"

"Quite a p-pickle," he jokes. He laughs the most silent of laughs but is nonetheless a laugh.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with that." I smile down at him.

Percy kneels on the other side of Jason and looks to me as if to ask permission. I know what he wants, so I nod. He and Jason look at each other, and Percy asks, "Jase, would you mind if I, uh..."

"It's f-fine," Jason answers. "I j-just want this to be over."

Percy lifts Jason into his arms with difficulty and Jason groans. I turn to Nico, finally ready to confront this transparent issue, finding not one but two Nico's. I understand.

"Oh my gods!" I shriek.

Nico's body lays on the ground unconscious with an arrow lodged in his stomach, and his ghost stands feet from his body. Annabeth quickly moves to the body and feels for a pulse in his neck. She sighs, and for a moment I can only think the worst.

"He's alive," she explains and relief floods me, then she continues, "but barely. We'd better hurry and get them back to camp."

"Wait," Percy stops us. "Why is Nico a ghost if his body is still alive?"

We all look to Nico, who shrugs. "A child of Hades thing?" he guesses.

"Let's go with that," Annabeth says, trying to move us along. She and I latch either of Nico's arms around our necks and drag him along as Percy forces himself to move along carrying Jason and Ghost Nico follows close behind.

A/N

So, sorry it's been a while since I've updated. (How many times have I said that now?) I've been preoccupied. I believe that I have been writing this fanfic since I was fifteen, maybe fourteen, but I think fifteen. I'm seventeen now. Wow. I don't want to just wrap this up or something. I feel like this fanfic isn't even close to done, but I have ideas for another (also HOO). I don't think that it will be supernatural like this one, but I don't really know right now. I have to finish this one before I move on to another. And I don't want this one to end xD

Okay, well, I'll be off now. I hope you guys enjoyed this and please review, favorite, whatever! I love all of your comments-you have no idea how happy they make me ^.^ I love you guys so much, you're all so sweet! Have a good week guys!

One more thing before I go procrastinate homework: I wanted to share a list of my favorite songs! I always love when people do that so I thought "Hey! I should try!" So here it is! Enjoy3

**Tove Lo - Habits
**Tove Lo - Not On Drugs
**Mikky Ekko - We Must Be Killers**Mikky Ekko - Sedated
**Mikky Ekko - Who Are You Really
**James Vincent McMorrow - Look Out

(I have more songs but I can't remember the names of them right now so maybe I'll add them later)