And so Ragemoon decreed some more chapters...

Nico

"Babe," Morris said as he sipped iced coffee from a beer glass, "I can't believe you brought me to Greece."

Nico didn't smile. "Don't call me 'babe'. And I didn't bring you. The gods brought all of us." Nico saw his boyfriend's face falter and immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry," he said at once. He leant close to Morris and kissed him on the cheek, inhaling his salty scent for the millionth time. "I'm just stressed," he confessed. "I haven't been on a quest this big since we brought the Athena Parthenos home."

He wasn't being entirely truthful, but he couldn't bring himself to explain further. He wasn't even sure what was wrong with him. Maybe he was paranoid. He had enjoyed months of happiness, more than most demigods got in a lifetime. In the eight months since he had taken the world's grossest risk and kissed Morris under the sewage of the River Thames, he had finally found a home at Camp Half-Blood. Sure, the other kids pissed him off sometimes, he had to see Percy, and occasionally he had to perform burial rites on a heroically-killed demigod, but his life was better than he could ever remember it being—or at least, since he was very small.

So what was wrong with him?

Long after Morris had kissed him properly, tasting of coffee and stubble and the ocean, then walked back to HQ toting dirty crockery, Nico was still sitting, so still he almost melted into the lengthening shadows as he stared into the horizon.

As far as good views went, this was one of them. Several miles down the mountain, orange in the sunset, was the remains of the Temple of Delphi. Columns stretched upwards, supporting nothing but stone blocks; circular steps led to platforms which used to be indoors; grass and trees crept up into the rubble, reclaiming the stone. The ancient Greeks had named it axis mundi, the centre of the earth, believing it to be the spot where the points of the compass met and the connection between earth and the heavens was strongest.

It would have been postcard-perfect if not for the giant snake twisted around the ruins.

Python was an 'earth dragon', who in ancient times guarded the centre of the earth. Then Apollo came along, liked Delphi as a holiday home and killed Python, opening Delphi as a hotspot for talking to the gods. A woman would listen to the spirits and murmurings of the gods and would interpret them accordingly. Rachel Dare's predecessors, basically. Of course, Gaia in her role as Evil Earth Mother Extraordinaire had resurrected Python—he had after all guarded the centre of Her—and plopped him back in his old stomping ground, effectively blocking the magic of Delphi.

Maybe the quest was bothering Nico.

It was the first big one since the War; a bunch of Apollo campers plus Nico the Spirit Guide and his favourite hand luggage. Rachel Dare was fed up with being jobless and the Sibylline Books weren't as helpful—or precise—as they'd thought. So Chiron had spoken with the gods and it had been agreed to send a crack squad out to Delphi, to slay Python and release the magic. Nico got to go because he was "experienced in dealing with the Mediterranean" and "good at talking to dead people, which there will be loads of because Greece is really old." Eloquent, Percy.

Nico missed Reyna. Even though he had been across the world and back with Morris, he felt odd being in this part of Europe without her and Coach Hedge. This quest even had Phoebe the Huntress's magic tent. His 'comrades' were decent, but Nico's gut instinct was that something bad was about to happen, and he hated not knowing what.

Well, he decided, standing up and brushing earth off his jeans, no time like the present to find out.

"Guys," he explained when he got back to the others, "I'm going down to Delphi. I want to check out the spirits."

"At night?" demanded one of the Apollo kids. "Isn't that a bit stupid, since we're kids of the sun god?"

"I'm not," Nico pointed out. "Python won't be expecting a visit at night, especially not one from the Underworld dude. Plus I only want to get close enough that I can sense the magic. I'm not stupid enough to face Python on my own."

Ignoring everyone's protests, he leant backwards into a shadow and tried to focus.

"Show off," he heard an Apollo camper mutter.