Here's a Nico chapter! Next is Reyna, which I already have finished, and then we'll have a POV that I've never done before.

Because I like trying new things. And also because someone requested it.

But, anyway, I've decided not to tell you who it will be. Because I'm evil like that. :)

Happy reading!

Chapter XXIII

Nico

Nico was surprised at himself. He hadn't laughed like that since...since he didn't know when. A while. Something about Reyna relaxes him, makes him feel at home in his own skin for once, which is definitely an accomplishment. Maybe it's because she's someone who knows what it is to be alone.

He sneaks a glance at Reyna as she walks next to him. Her face has been carefully wiped clean of emotion, but Nico can see some emotion that bubbles just beneath the surface. Excitement, maybe? She walks with a slight bounce in her step that wasn't there before, and her shouders are straighter, as if a weight has been lifted off of them. She seems almost giddy.

That's another thing that surprises Nico. Reyna is usually so strict, so carefully neutral. But now she seems freer, lighter, happier. Even though she's on a quest that could and quite possibly would lead to her death.

As he's thinking this, Reyna turns and catches Nico staring. He starts to look away, ashamed, but her eyes catch his and hold them. She smiles.

"Wanna have some fun?" She asks, whispering so as not to alert the monsters near them to their presence. Nico shrugs his shoulders noncommittedly. Reyna bends down and picks up a decent sized rock, bouncing it on her palm. Then she hurls it at the nearest monster-which just happens to be a Laistrygonian giant-with surprising strength.

It hits him in the forehead with a meaty smack, and the giant roars in rage, clapping a hand to his forehead and looking around for the thrower. His eyes come to rest on another Laistrygonian giant, nowhere near Reyna and Nico. He walks over to the other giant, and without another word, starts pummeling him.

Next to him, Reyna stifles a giggle. He looks at her, amused, and picks up a rock of his own.

He hits a Cyclops right in the eye. And thus begins another brawl.

Reyna steals a spear that's leaning against one of the tents and uses it to whack a dracaenae in the head. Then she puts the spear beside a Cyclops and watches as the two start to fight.

Nico and Reyna continue to do this as they walk through the camp, and soon the whole place is in chaos. It's very satisfying to see the monsters fighting amongst themselves, weakening-and even killing-each other.

Nico can feel himself grinning like an idiot, but at least he's not the only one. Reyna has a huge, silly smile plastered on her face too. And then it disappears, quickly replaced by a cold anger that scares Nico a little. She stops dead in her tracks, glaring daggers at a huge, gaudy red and gold tent that's much bigger than all the others. Nico's own smile fades.

"I'm guessing that's Sinis' tent?" He asks. She nods. "Doesn't think much of himself, does he?" Nico mutters sarcastically. Reyna glances at him sharply, but a sparkle in her eye lets him know that she's not really irritated. "Well, come on then, let's go get your sword and Coach Hedge's baseball bat."

"If Sinis is there, I'm going to kill him." She says, her voice deadly calm. Nico waves his hand at her impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Can we go in now? The sooner we get out of here, the better." He says. She walks forward, taking quick, crisp strides towards the tent. Her back is perfectly straight, her head held high, and even without her cape or sword, she radiates an aura of command that leaves Nico a little bit in awe.

He follows her quickly, lacking her air of command but making up for it with the power that he can feel rolling of him. The little grass left on the path turns gray and brittle where he steps. It takes all of his effort to keep from accidentally summoning the dead. Which would not be good in this particular situation.

They enter the tent to find it empty. Reyna seems disappointed, but she brightens when she spots her sword on the other side of the tent, next to Coach Hedge's baseball bat. They walk over, and Reyna picks up her sword at the same time that Nico picks up the baseball bat. But as soon as they do, the shadows concealing them from view disappear.

"What-?" Nico starts confusedly. Then he stops. He can sense some sort of spell on the weapons they're both holding. Something that's not letting his invisibility thing work. He drops the bat immediately, but the damage is already done. He can't get the shadows back.

"Reyna, what are we going to do? How are we going to sneak back through the camp to Coach Hedge? The shadow thing isn't working anymore. Reyna? Reyna?!" She's staring off into space, her eyes glazed over slightly, far off in her thoughts. Nico wonders briefly what she could be thinking about that would make her so distracted, but then her gaze clears and she looks at him.

"Sinis knew. I don't know how, but he knew." She says.

"But how is that possible? He didn't see me; I know that much. He never even looked in my direction. And how could you have gotten free on your own?"

"I couldn't have." She admits.

"So how could he have known you were going to escape and try to get your sword back? And why would he put a spell on them? I didn't even know I could do the whole shadow invisibility thing until a few minutes ago! There's no way he could have known before I did. Is there?" Nico asks uncertainly.

Reyna shakes her head. "I don't know, Nico. We have been walking on the earth; maybe Gaea heard and told him. Although why she'd bother talking to Sinis, I wouldn't know."

"Why are all these monsters here in the first place?" Nico asks. It'd been bothering him for quite a while, but he hadn't asked because he didn't think she would know.

"Oh, that I know. Sinis loved talking about his plans. The pig. They're all on their way to attack Camp Half-Blood." She says, her lip curling up in disgust. Nico hopes it's towards Sinis, and not the camp.

"But why? Camp Jupiter is already planning to attack. Why would they need to attack as well? Gaea is so sure they're going to destroy each other." Nico wonders out loud.

"Because there will still be survivors. Even if there aren't that many left alive after the two camps fight, there will still be some. And Gaea wants them all to be utterly destroyed. So she's sending Sinis, along with his army of monsters, to attack them both while they're weak." Reyna explains.

A feeling of dread curls around Nico's stomach. Gaea really has thought of everything. But then, she's had thousands of years to plan. Nico quells his feeling of foreboding and reassures himself that it will never happen anyway. Because he, Reyna, and Coach Hedge are going to make it to camp in time. They're already so close. And they still have-what is it? Eleven days now?-to do it.

"We need to find a way to stop them. Somehow." He mutters. Reyna nods.

"I'm not entirely sure how we'll manage to accomplish that, but yeah, we need to. Although our little bit of fun on the way here might have helped matters for us a bit. If we're lucky, they'll destroy half the army before someone gets them under control."

"Yeah. Luck. Not really my strong suit." Nico says, his voice slightly bitter.

"Mine either." Reyna agrees. "Which means we should probably find a few other ways to at least slow them down. Any ideas?"

"No..." But then, suddenly, he does have an idea. "Wait. We might not be able to do much on our own, but with a little help..."

He explains his plan to her in detail. She nods thoughtfully as he speaks, and a dangerous light in her eyes brightens.

"That's actually a pretty good idea. And you're sure you'll still be able to shadow-travel after this?" She questions.

"Probably not very far, but enough so that we're safe from these guys." Nico assures her. She nods again.

"Good, good." She seems a little disappointed that his plan doesn't involve killing Sinis, but then, looking around, her face lights up. "Could we burn Sinis' tent before we go?"

Nico shrugs. "Sure, why not." Reyna grins wickedly.

"Perfect." She says.

"We should probably go ahead and get started. I want to leave this place before nightfall." Nico tells her. Then a cruel, rough male voice speaks from behind them.

"Oh, I assure you, Son of Hades, you won't be leaving before nightfall. In fact, I daresay you will never leave at all."

Okay, I really need a better catchphrase or sign-off or whatever you want to call it. 'Happy reading' just doesn't seem to capture all the weirdness and randomness that is me. Any suggestions?