Hi, guys! I was gonna wait 'til tomorrow to post this, but that last chapter was pretty short and lame so what the hey. This one's a bit more entertaining, at least.

So on with the show! Thanks to the couple of you who reviewed. Enjoy!

XXXV
NICO

Nico's heart stopped dead. He staggered to the top of the sandy incline and dropped to his knees, legs giving out from a horrible mixture of exhaustion and shock. Dark blotches crept across the edges of his vision, but that didn't deter him from taking in the unexpected sight before him.

Nyx's castle had collapsed. Every wall, rampart, tower, and parapet had crumbled, leaving behind a gigantic mound of cracked stone and shattered glass. It had been minutes since he'd left Death Valley. How had this possibly happened in such a short amount of time?

And more importantly, what had happened before the collapse? Did Leo use the blood magic spell on Nyx? Was she somewhere inside that pile of rubble? And where was he?

"Leo!" Nico called, listening hard through his pounding headache for any sign of a reply. When none came, he shut his eyes and concentrated hard on his mortality sense, surveying the valley below and the surrounding area with his mind. He detected the hint of a godly aura, but it was extremely weak. That was good news—Nyx was still here, but she'd been defeated. Gods couldn't die; their auras would never completely disappear. But their bodies could be destroyed, and their energies beaten down so weak that it would take ages for them to regain the strength they once had. Even with Erebos's help, Nyx would no longer be a factor in the Shadow War.

As comforting as that discovery was, Nico was more preoccupied with what he didn't discover. He hoped his sense was playing tricks on him in his exhaustion, because he was picking up a distinct lack of any other living souls nearby. He opened his eyes and peered anxiously through the darkness, as though his sight was more reliable than his mind. Nothing moved at the bottom of the valley, but when he raised his head and looked around he caught a glimpse of movement far off to his right and scrambled quickly to his feet. He was halfway to the source when he realized what it was—Festus the dragon was standing on its bulky legs, stomping slowly up to the edge of the incline.

For a second, Nico felt a wash of relief. Surely Leo was with the dragon, about to fly home and meet them at camp. But as Nico neared, he could see that that wasn't the case. The dragon was decidedly alone.

"Hey!" Nico called to it, not sure if it would hear or understand him. It turned its head and stopped, opening its jaws and releasing a series of whirring noises—possibly in recognition, but Nico really had no idea. "What happened here?" he asked the dragon urgently. It answered with another string of machine noises, and Nico sighed in anxious frustration. He wished Leo was here to translate—though, of course, Leo's absence was the whole problem, so if he was there then he wouldn't need—oh, whatever.

"Festus," Nico said to the dragon, unwilling to give up on the only eyewitness, "where's Leo?"

Festus turned its head and looked down into the valley, loosing a long, low, mechanical whine that was impossible to misinterpret. Then the dragon dropped to its belly, curled its neck, and laid its head on the sand, placing a bronze claw over its nose and eyes and clicking mournfully.

"No…" Nico murmured, taking two staggering steps backward and feeling like he'd just been punched in the gut with a battering ram. Leo couldn't possibly be dead. That wasn't how this quest was supposed to end. They were supposed to free Hypnos so he could wake the gods, and maybe—if they were lucky—defeat Nyx in the process. They were supposed to make it back home—to help the rest of the Resistance at Camp Half-Blood bring an end to the war. They all knew the danger when they'd set out; but after everything they'd been through, every other dangerous task and impossible fight, they'd always come out with their lives. There was no way it could be different this time, was there?

As the truth sank in, a powerful anger settled over Nico. He should never have left Leo alone with Nyx. The building collapse had to be his doing. Leo was too skilled with fire and mechanics for his own good. Maybe if Nico had been there, though, he could have gotten the idiot out before the explosion had gone off. This whole thing could have ended differently. But then—what about Reyna? If he hadn't gotten her the aid of magical medics immediately, would she have been the one to die instead? Were they destined to lose somebody, no matter what outcome the night had taken?

Nico let out a frustrated scream and threw a punch at the closest thing he could find—which happened to be the dragon's hide, just above its front left leg. The impact jarred his whole arm painfully, but oddly enough he didn't really care. He kicked the dragon with his good leg, trying to vent just a little bit of anger, but it didn't work. Hands shaking, he leaned his forearms against the automaton and hung his head between them, feeling painful spikes of anguish start to cut through the frustration. He heard Festus whine again and felt something cold brush against his back. Raising his head, he saw that the dragon had spread its left wing and stretched it around Nico in a sort of comforting gesture. He turned and stared at the automaton's eyes, sort of speechless.

Suddenly there was a rush of wind and a voice cried out, "What—This can't be!"

Festus lifted its head in interest, but Nico made a frantic shushing gesture and the dragon remained still.

"Impossible!" another, similar voice answered. "This must be a trick!"

Eyes widening, Nico ducked lower beside Festus. The voices were coming from a few yards away on the dragon's other side, and he recognized them easily.

"This is no trick," the third Fury said to her sisters. "The Queen has fallen." The other two wailed in despair, their horrible voices echoing through the quiet desert. Nico stayed perfectly still and listened, mind racing as he tried to decide the best course of action. He could wait until they left, or he could try and intercept them. Would it be better to fight them, or to try and gain information? Did he even have a chance against all three, weak as he was?

The problem was solved for him, however, when the third Fury hissed, "Enough, both of you! We're wasting time! Did you not notice that we have company?"

As the other Furies paused and seemed to realize that their sister was right, Nico clucked his tongue and mentally uttered a few unpleasant words. So much for the element of surprise.

"Who's there?" one of the Furies called out. "There's no sense in hiding! Come out and we'll kill you quickly!"

"Quiet, Tisiphone! That will hardly help!"

"Why not? Personally, I like a quick death better than a slow one—"

"We can't kill them quickly. We must torture them for news of the Queen's defeat."

"Oh. Alright. In that case—come out and after we torture you we'll kill you quickly!"

"Yeesh," Nico said loudly, stepping around Festus and into view. "You guys sure drive a hard bargain." He leaned sideways against the dragon and folded his arms, eyes landing on the three Furies standing nearby in the sand. They all whirled around and flinched visibly. Tisiphone even cowered a bit behind Megaera.

"You," Alecto spat in her snarling, raspy voice.

Nico tried not to look too satisfied by their obvious trepidation. "Me."

"So it was you. You are responsible for this!" Alecto flung an arm outward, pointing a clawed hand at the ruins of Nyx's castle.

"Actually, no," Nico argued calmly, ignoring the lump rising in his throat as he glanced at the wreckage. "I can't take credit for that one. I'll gladly take credit for getting rid of you three, though."

They all hissed angrily in response. Megaera said, "I'd like to see you try, boy."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "'Boy' now, am I?" He shrugged. "Fine. I mean, if you'd like to see it…"

He'd barely stepped away from the dragon when Megaera pulled her flaming whip from somewhere in her orange-and-yellow-striped dress and Alecto shouted at her, "NO!" Nico threw up a hand and reached toward the Fury with his mind, penetrating her consciousness easily. Confidence and believed dominance were key to this trick, after all, and Nico had never been afraid of the Furies. He forced on her the idea that she couldn't reach him—that the thing she needed to kill was in fact much closer. Megaera shrieked in alarm and made an odd jerking movement as, instead of striking toward Nico, she snapped her whip to the side and it wrapped tightly around Tisiphone's throat.

Tisiphone gagged and dropped to her knees as Alecto screamed, "Nico!" She lunged for him, both claws outstretched, and he quickly thrust his other arm toward her, dividing his concentration with some difficulty and staring her down. She stumbled and faltered, hissing madly as her bronze claws shot up toward her own neck.

Hey, Nico had wanted to vent some frustration. Who could have asked for a better outlet?

"Stop it!" Alecto growled as she fought against Nico's hold, her arms shaking inches from her throat.

"Nyx is finished," Nico announced firmly, doing his absolute best to appear strong despite how exhausted he felt. "Hypnos is waking the gods as we speak. Erebos's days are numbered. This war, for all intents and purposes, is over. Which means you three have a choice to make. You can stick with Erebos until the end, but if you do, keep this in mind—soon creatures of the Underworld will be back under the control of my father, and you can probably imagine the kind of reward he'll hand out for your mutiny. Or—you can surrender now. Swear to me that you'll return to my father's service immediately, and I'll make sure your punishment is less than what you deserve."

Megaera gave a high, hysterical sort of laugh. "And you expect us to trust you?"

Nico glared pointedly at her. "Yes, I do. You see, unlike all of you, I'm not a traitor."

Alecto and Megaera glowered while Tisiphone thrashed around, pulling at Megaera's whip. But Nico could tell he'd already won. The threat of Hades' wrath was always especially effective against certain Underworld denizens, and he had no doubt that it would prove sufficient to draw the Furies to an understanding.

"Alright!" Alecto snarled at last. Nico raised his eyebrows expectantly and she added scathingly, "We swear! We swear to renounce the King of Darkness and return to the service of the Lord of the Dead! Happy now?"

Nico shot a glance at the other two Furies, both of whom echoed "We swear!" and with a smirk he answered Alecto's rhetorical question, "Very happy, thank you." He lowered both arms and released his mental hold on Alecto and Megaera, both of whom gasped and dropped their arms limply to their sides. Another wash of tired nausea hit Nico and he leaned back casually against Festus in an effort not to appear as completely drained and powerless as he felt. "Since your schedules are suddenly wide open," he said to the Furies as they regained their composure, "I've got a job for you. If you'll accept it."

His tone of voice made it clear that they had no choice in the matter, which they of course realized. With a resentful scowl, Alecto said, "We are at your command."

"Good. As I'm sure you've realized, order in the Underworld has fallen lax in my father and stepmother's absence. I need you three to go down and do what you can to restore it. Use whatever means of discipline you feel are necessary." The hardness in their expressions seemed to soften somewhat at this bit of freedom, like they were reluctantly looking forward to the task. "Succeed, and I'm sure my father will be pleased. Might lessen your sentence a good deal."

For a moment, Alecto looked as though she wanted to respond with something particularly nasty. But all she did was bow and say stiffly, "As you wish, my lord." Then she, Megaera, and Tisiphone vanished.

As soon as they were gone, Nico slid heavily to the ground, his legs too sore and tired to hold his weight. On top of that, the sudden quiet reinforced on him the painful accusation that he'd failed to save a friend. Leo's conspicuous absence pressed down on Nico like an invisible weight, making his head and heart feel leaden and cold.

A mechanical whir caught Nico's attention and he glanced to his left to see Festus's head swing toward him, piercing red eyes looking at him questioningly. He knew he had to get back home as soon as possible, but he had no hope of successfully operating the dragon. His only option was to wait until his strength was replenished enough to shadow-travel back to New York, then find someone who could fly Festus back home and figure out a way to get them here. Because he sure as heck wasn't trying extended shadow-travel with a passenger again anytime soon.

"Sorry, buddy," he said despondently to the dragon. "I think we're stuck here for a while."

As if on cue, a deafening WOOF broke through the silence and Nico jumped a mile high. He spun around as the darkness seemed to unfold to reveal a huge, black hellhound—a very familiar huge, black hellhound.

"Benny?" Nico said in disbelief. Benny gave another thunderous bark and Nico winced. The dog bounded over and bathed Nico with his tongue, drenching him and the dragon's right side in monster slobber. "Yeah, good to see you too," Nico said wryly, brushing the stuff from his face. He struggled to his feet but stumbled when his head ached particularly insistently and his vision turned momentarily black. Benny whimpered sympathetically and lowered his massive head, probably sensing either Nico's exhaustion or his anguished frustration.

"Hey, Benny," he said a bit weakly, "think you can give me a lift back to camp?" With difficulty, he sent Benny a mental image of Camp Half-Blood back on Long Island, and the hellhound barked his understanding. He plopped down onto the sand, causing the ground to rumble and subsequently knocking Nico off his feet again. Eventually he managed to climb onto the dog's back and grip his fur as tightly as his loose muscles would allow.

"I'll be back for you," he promised Festus. "Stay out of trouble." The dragon opened its jaws and gave another series of mournful clicks, whether regretful about being left alone or sad for its former master Nico couldn't be sure. Either way, he felt his throat constrict painfully and he averted his eyes, not wanting to look at the dragon anymore and everything it represented. Possibly sensing that it was time to go, Benny barked again and jumped, leaping into inky blackness.

They appeared almost instantly outside the borders of Camp Half-Blood. "Let me off here," Nico told the dog. "Wouldn't want anybody attacking you." Benny obliged at once, lowering himself down so Nico could slide from his back. He turned and patted the hellhound on the nose in thanks, feeling another uncomfortable twinge as he bid Benny goodbye. Leo had been right—it was convenient to have a giant hellhound on call.

Once Benny had disappeared, Nico trudged toward the camp, dreading the questions he knew were waiting for him. The weight of all that dread seemed to pull on his arms and legs, slowing him down, and by the time he crossed the border into camp his eyes were feeling heavy.

"Nico!" someone shouted from nearby. "Oh, thank the gods! Annabeth said you'd gone back to Death Valley!"

A pair of hands gripped Nico's shoulders and he blinked deliriously, eyes coming to focus on the fearful face of his half-sister, Hazel.

"You need help," she realized, golden eyes widening as they looked him over. "Oh, gods… What happened? Nico, what did you do?"

Nico opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. Instead he stumbled forward and collapsed, feeling like heavy hands were pulling him down into the ground. Hazel cried out in surprise and her grip on his arms tightened, but she couldn't support his full weight. She dropped down beside him and shouted something he couldn't hear over the roar of the darkness closing in, bringing a restless sleep more welcome than Nico had ever had before.

A blanket warning: the tone of this is about to get pretty dark. The next few chapters are very heavy. Just bear with me. You guys like a little drama, right?

So if you want another chapter this week, then drop me some reviews! The more I get, the faster the next chapter will be up ;) We're almost at 200! Woo-hoo!

Thanks, guys! Later days!

-oMM