Sorry for the wait, guys. I haven't been feeling well.

anyway, this one was actually supposed to be the experiment chapter with first person POV, but it didn't work out. It sounded terrible. So I changed it back. Sorry if it sounds a little strange, or doesn't flow very well.

Happy Reading!

Chapter XXIX

Nico

I hate zombies. Nico thinks as he shoves his way through the horde of undead he summoned. If Hades knew what he was thinking, he'd probably-no, no he wouldn't. He'd probably agree with Nico. After all, he spends all his time surrounded by the dead. It can't make for the most stable of minds.

Reyna stands at the front of the skeleton army, turning monsters to dust with her sword. Technically, Nico should be up there, directing the zombies, but they seem to like Reyna, because they follow her orders, which Nico finds extraordinarily weird considering the fact that they usually only listen to the children of Hades-or Pluto. And even then, they aren't usually in any particular hurry to listen. But they follow Reyna without question, watching her back and making sure the monsters don't overwhelm her.

Okay, Nico, you can think about that later. Focus. He tells himself. More skeletal warriors swarm out of the tent.

"Reyna!" Nico calls, trying to get her attention. "Reyna!"

She starts to turn in his direction, then stops when a giant nearly decapitates her. "What?!" She yells, obviously irritated.

"Get over here! Now!" He orders. She takes a second to glare at him and then turns back to the monsters in front of her.

"I'm a little busy right now!" She shouts.

"I don't care! Get over here! The skeletons will cover your back!" He tells her. She stabs a hellhound in the chest and another in the throat. Nico's about to call to her again when she turns and starts wading through the skeletons towards him. As he said they would, they close ranks behind her and make sure the monsters can't reach her.

"What?" She huffs, annoyed, when she finally reaches him.

"We have to stick to the plan. Come on, we need to get to Coach Hedge." She rolls her eyes at him, but lets him take her hand. He feels weird holding it, but it's the easiest way for him to make them both invisible with the shadow thing again.

As soon as the wispy shadows cover both of them, they start to run back through the camp, dodging monsters on the way. The Athena Parthenos serves as a very good guide to get them through the monsters, towering over the tents. It isn't long before they get there.

"Hey, Coach, nice to see you again." Nico says, undoing the shadow thing for a second so Coach can see that it's them.

"What in Hades did you two do?" He demands, referring to the noises coming from the direction they just came from.

"Oh, we're just shaking things up a bit. Here, take your baseball bat." Nico tosses it in his lap, then remembers his hands are still tied. Reyna's one step ahead of him though, and is already cutting the ropes with her sword.

"There you go, Gleeson." She says. He rubs his wrists before snatching up his baseball bat and jumping to his feet-er, hooves.

"I hate not being able to see you two. It's not right." He grumbles.

"Well, you're going to have to deal with it a little bit longer. At least until we're ready to get out of here. Reyna, where are your and Hedge's backpacks?" Nico asks. She points to the other side of the statue.

"They're over there. The monsters, luckily for us, didn't find them particularly interesting." She tells him.

"Go get them, would you?" He asks her. She nods and disappears behind the base of the Athena Parthenos. She returns after only a few seconds with both backpacks slung over her shoulders.

"Here you go, Gleeson." She drops it next to the satyr. It becomes visible as soon as it leaves her hand, and Coach Hedge jumps when it appears suddenly next to him. Nico has to stifle a laugh, but he has the feeling that Coach heard him anyway, since he turns towards Nico with an annoyed look on his face, hefting his baseball bat. Luckily, he's distracted by an explosion over by Sinis' tent.

"What was that?" He shouts gleefully, an excited light coming on in his eyes.

"Nothing, Coach." Nico says hurriedly. "We need to go."

"Aw, come on, can't we kill some monsters first?" Coach whines.

Reyna and Nico look at each other. "No." They say at the same time.

"Come on, cupcakes, where's your sense of adventure?" He barks at them.

"I don't need a sense of adventure. I'm a demigod." Nico tells him. "If I had a sense of adventure, it'd be right up there with a death wish."

Reyna glares.

"Whatever, kiddo. Hurry up, we better get going." He orders. Nico gives Reyna an incredulous look, but she just shrugs.

Just go with it. She mouths. Nico looks back at Coach Hedge and shakes his head in exasperation. But he starts getting everything ready.

Where he touches the ropes, the wispy shadows start winding up them to the statue.

"Okay, is it just me, or is the statue disappearing?" Coach asks. "Is it supposed to be doing that?"

Nico curses inwardly. If he makes the statue invisible now, the monsters-the ones who have brains, anyway-will start wondering. But when he tries to stop the shadows from spreading, they just wind up the ropes faster.

Nico works more quickly, tossing ropes to Coach Hedge and Reyna to hold on to. Then he closes his eyes and concentrate.

He casts out his senses into the earth, stopping at the edges of the camp. Then he takes a deep breath and starts to let it out, focusing on the task at hand.

But then he feels something else. Monsters, running towards the clearing.

He opens his eyes just in time to see them burst out from the tents. This time, he curses out loud.

Coach Hedge and Reyna are about to charge.

"No! Stay by the statue!" Nico yells to them. They look surprised, and, on Coach's part, a little angry, but they listen.

Nico closes his eyes again, breathing out. He feels for the ground at the edges of the camp again, along with the ground directly in front of the monsters making their way towards the statue, even if though it's technically invisible.

Then he snaps his eyes back open and claps his hands together. The ground in front of him erupts, growing into a spire of rock almost as tall as the Athena Parthenos, blocking the monsters' way. At the same time, he can feel a chasm opening up around the camp, blocking them in.

The drain on his strength is sudden and drastic, but he's not finished yet. He grabs onto the statue and draws on his steadily flagging energy to get them away from that place.

They fall into the shadow of the Athena Parthenos, into darkness. Nico feels the familiar chill of cold shiver down his spine, and hurriedly closes his eyes. Whatever resides in the shadow realm, he doesn't want to see it.

For one, terrifying moment, they start to slow down, still in the shadow realm.

No. Nico thinks. I am so not getting stuck in this place. He concentrates harder on they're next location, despite his exhaustion. They speed up, and then the shadows deposit them into the woods.

As tired as Nico is, he somehow manages to stay on his feet. He leans on his sword, looking around them.

"Where are we?" Reyna wonders aloud.

"Maine." Nico answers tiredly.

"Maine?" She echoes. "Why Maine?"

"Farthest I could get us." He mumbles, struggling to keep his eyes open. Honestly, he's surprised he hasn't passed out yet.

Reyna hurries up to him, draping his arm around her shoulder and helping him to the nearest tree, just like she did the first time they shadow-traveled.

"Thanks." He murmurs.

"No problem, Shadow Boy. Get some rest. Gleeson and I will keep watch." She says.

He's too tired to argue. He curls up at the base of the tree and closes his eyes, still holding his sword.

He's already half-asleep when he feels Reyna gently pry the sword out of his hand and lays it on the ground next to him before spreading something over his chilled limbs. A blanket.

And then he succumbs to his exhaustion and spirals off into sleep.

if you guys have any advice or suggestions for me to make my writing better, just put it in a review. I'd appreciate the feedback.