Well damn...sorry this took so long! Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner.

This chapter was a lot longer than I expected it to be...I expected, like, half of this. But whatever, I hope y'all enjoy this...and don't hate me too much for what's going to happen XD

I was wrong.

Oh gods, was I wrong.

I was reckless. I was stupid and reckless and now I was paying for it.

This wasn't good.

I'd never considered this mission much. It just hadn't been a big deal. Just another mandatory mission from Dad. No big deal. I'd been doing them since I was a kid. I knew my way around the Underworld. I had a good grip on my powers, and they were still growing. I'd been fighting monsters since I was ten, longer than most demigods could claim.

It shouldn't have been a problem. Not at all.

I'd done similar things before.

But I'd allowed myself to become preoccupied this time around.

I'd been thinking about Percy too much. How much he meant to me, how I felt about him, how worried I so often was for his wellbeing. It felt like he was always on my mind. I couldn't escape him, not even down here. I could never forget him, not entirely. He was always there.

That was a mistake, a huge mistake. I shouldn't have thought about Percy at all. I should have pushed him away, just for the time being. I should have focused on the mission, should have thought about what I was doing.

It was stupid. This whole thing should have been simple, no room for error and no reason to worry.

Check the Doors. That was it. Simple mission. Just a couple days of scouting. Maybe a week, since I wanted to stay away for a bit to assuage Annabeth's angers. Maybe two weeks, if my dad was being an ass and forcing me to stay longer than was necessary. It was usually in the effort to "protect" me. Apparently the only place I was truly safe was in in the Underworld, far from the sky and the sea.

He was just paranoid now. He though that Thanatos would just disappear one day after getting captured by some straggling members of Gaea's offensive yet to be completely picked off.

It had been a sense of shame for the God of Death, having the Doors opened and his domain compromised, one of his own children escaped and roaming the Earth once more. He wouldn't let it happen again, whatever the cost. After all, Poseidon never lost control of the sea and Zeus never lost control of the sky.

He didn't need any more reasons for the Olympians to hate him, to disrespect him. It was bad enough already, for the both of us. I'd never managed to command the begrudging respect of Zeus, while Percy had over achieved the impossible over the course of the two wars.

But I was stupid. I hadn't believed him when he said there might still be stragglers, hanging around the Doors. I hadn't thought about the monsters that could be there.

I hadn't thought at all, really.

Too confident in my own ability. Too distracted by ceaseless thoughts of Percy.

They'd caught me off guard, attacked me before I could even draw my sword.

So now, all I could do was run. Run, despite the searing pain in my side that I had to ignore or I would collapse. Run, despite my heaving chest and labored breathing. Run, despite the hot, dripping blood trail I was leaving behind me.

Run, despite the monsters probably snapping at my heels. Run, despite the horrible screams and howls and barks.

I know that if I stop, they'll catch me.

And they can't catch me.

If they do, I'll be a goner. Completely at their mercy.

Ready to die a gruesome, demigod death.

And I would never see Percy again.

I would never...never get to tell him how I feel. I would never even have the chance.

I would never know if he were capable of loving me the way I loved gim.

But if I stopped now, I would die.

So I continued running. I ran until I couldn't run anymore.

I was near collapse. My consciousness was wavering, my vision going black as I stumbled on, my feet seeming to find every jutting rock or crack in the stone. I couldn't go on much longer.

I ran around a corner, trying to lose them.

I backed myself up against the jagged stone wall, feeling the pointed stones dig into me. I took a second, tried to breathe deeply and evenly even though my lungs were practically screaming for air. I tried to evaluate my situation, tried to push down the panic rising up inside.

Okay. Deep breaths.

Fighting wasn't an option.

I could barely stand up straight without feeling faint, so using my powers wasn't an option. If I tried to summon anything, even from down here, I would surely faint. And I couldn't take all of them out in one shot. I didn't have the energy to summon enough skeleton warriors. And if...if I passed out trying to get rid of them, they would get me sooner or later. I would die anyway.

My shoulder was messed up pretty badly too, with my arm hanging almost totally dead at my side. Maybe it was dislocated, maybe not. But either way, swinging a sword was impossible. And even I couldn't fight them off with one hand. Especially without my powers, my skeleton warriors by my side.

And then there was the one things I was completely unwilling to evaluate.

My side.

It burned, worse than my lungs. I knew it was bad, I wasn't stupid. Hell, I could hear the blood dripping down onto the rocky floors. I couldn't look. So, with trembling fingers, I worked my good hand up the tattered remains of my shirt and jacket.

Dear gods.

I had to bite my lip just to stop myself from screaming out of pain and fear.

Not good, definitely not good.

If I didn't do something soon, I would bleed out before the monsters even got to me.

So just one option, one last ditch effort.

I would have to shadow travel, try to get to Camp Halfblood.

But I only had one shot. I wouldn't have the energy for two trips.

One shot. One last shot before it was all over.

I had to make this count. I had to focus, ignore the pain and the weakness and the monsters that were already gaining on me.

Percy. I had to think of Percy. Think of his cabin. Picture it perfectly. Then gather the shadows.

Simple. I'd been doing it since I was ten or eleven.

I just had to think about Percy, about his cabin. Then I would be there.

And he could save me. He would be my hero again.

I gathered the shadows.

The screaming speed of shadow travel consumed me.

And I was gone.

Everything was black.

But there were no more monsters.

I would be okay.

Percy would save me.

Will Nico live or die?! *insert maniacal laugh* Drop a review and tell me what you think. Um...see you seen, I guess!