Nico

Nico sat in the darkness, wind rustling his dark hair, listening intently to the leaves swishing around. The air whipping its way through the maze of trees created a whisper. It was this whisper Nico was trying to translate. He begged the voices for answers. He could almost hear the truth when the snapping of a twig brought him back into the apparent reality.

"Will. What did I say?" Nico's eyes snapped open as he saw his boyfriend, sitting cross legged next to him.

"Quiet. Yup. My bad." Will looked down guiltily. Nico sighed and closed his eyes again, pushing all other noises from his mind. He began to listen to the voices in the wind again. In front of him sat an open grave, filled with the dinner from Camp Half-Blood. The sounds picked up again and in them he heard a word.

"Now" The voices told him. He took the sign and began to chant in Ancient Greek. He heard Will rustling again, uneasy given the circumstances, but he was too far in now to stop. After everything they had been through, he wasn't going to leave him now. Nico finished the chant and opened his eyes. A blue-ish glow filled the forest. Shadows stood off to the side, finally the voices had a vessel.

Will stared at the figures, his usually tan face pale. He begged Nico for him to be there, claimed Nico needed someone for support. Nico wondered if he regretted that now. Nico hadn't done this kind of summoning in a long time. He typically refrained against it, but it was important now. Some times he could drop his moral compass for the greater good. He beckoned one of the shadows forward and they knelt to drink from the grave.

Luke Castellan stood up. Will shifted uncomfortably. Although they had both decided he was the best option, both of them were uneasy. Luke had chosen the right side before his death, but he did stand with Kronos for a long time. That was precisely why they had chosen him.

"Luke Castellan." Nico stood tall. Luke took in him and Will, then the clearing.

"I haven't been here in a long time." He acknowledged. Nico hated talking to the spirits of the underworld. After spending however long dead, they no longer retained normal human conversation skills. Their conversations were always awkward and somewhat accusatory.

"Luke, we have some questions we would like to ask you. About when you were alive." Nico said carefully. Will swallowed heavily.

"Is Annabeth here?" Luke asked suddenly. Nico forgot. When the dead come back, they are needy.

"Yes, she is here." Nico said impatiently.

"And Percy?" Luke looked off into the distance, as if he could see them through the trees.

"Yes, now Luke-" Nico started.

"Would you like us to bring them to you?" Will cut Nico off. Feelings were something he understood, facts were Nico's domain.

Luke, however, shook his head. "It's probably for the best they don't know I'm here. Let them heal and all."

Nico clicked his tongue, "Right. Now Luke, can I ask you some questions?"

"Go for it." Luke shrugged. His once blonde hair looked almost white in his ghost-like form. His outfit consisted of blurred lines, but the longer you stared at it, the more you could distinguish the armor in which he died. His sword was not in his spirit, although it had always been by his side in life. He stood with his hands in his pockets, offset, like any young adult would.

"When Kronos took over your body, how did he physically leave Tartarus?" Nico inquired, wondering how to phrase his questions.

Luke frowned. "He didn't physically leave Tartarus. His old body had been destroyed by Zeus. It was only his spirit that was me."

Nico and Will exchanged glances. Maybe this wouldn't help answer their concerns.

"Did Kronos leaving, even in spirit form, affect Tartarus in any way?" Will tried to reword the question.

"I'm not sure I understand." Luke looked confused.

"Did it... rip the gap between Tartarus and the mortal world?" Nico blurted. He figured he should just get to the point.

"Not that I know of." Luke said, but it sounded almost like a question. Nico and Will looked at each other, disappointed.

"He did say something like that if I went to Tartarus." Luke added. Both Nico and Will whipped their heads in his direction.

"What do you mean?" Nico asked sharply.

Luke shrugged. "When he was first speaking to me, I offered to travel down to Tartarus and receive him myself. He refused because he said the laws of mortals being in Tartarus are very unknown. There was a myth that if a mortal were to travel back to the mortal world from Tartarus not in an already made gateway, the barrier could shatter. Kronos didn't want to risk it because it was dangerous for the mortal. He needed me, otherwise he wouldn't care. That's why he made me bathe in the Styx." If this topic was sensitive for Luke at any point in life, he was over it now. It seemed death really had granted him peace.

"Not in an already made gateway? So like, if the mortal makes their own way out? That's when the barrier rips?" Will asked, shooting looks at Nico almost as if saying 'are you getting this?'

"That's the myth." Luke said simply.

"So," Nico paused searching through thoughts. "If a mortal were to fall into Tartarus, then crawl back up the same way, nothing changes. But if a mortal fell in, then... made his own way out, that breaks the barrier?"

"That's what Kronos believed. That was his plan for Ethan Nakamura after he gained his true form and I was killed. He wanted to break the barrier to truly expand his reign." Luke said it so casually.

Nico and Will looked at each other. It made so much sense. That is why Annabeth and Nico could leave Tartarus without consequences. Percy on the other hand did not escape through a pre-made gateway. He made his own exit which broke through the barrier. His escape was never supposed to be possible. And if it was really true, and he really did crack the wall between Tartarus and the mortal world, it was reasonable to assume that the crack will widen. The army on Camp Half-Blood was just the beginning. Unless they closed it.

"Is there a way to undo the breech?" Nico asked sharply.

"I believe so." Luke's eyebrows scrunched, as if deciphering a very old memory.

"According to the myth, the only way to undo such a crack would be for the mortal to return to Tartarus. It would patch the damage. I don't know why you guys are asking these questions though. No mortal has ever been to Tartarus." Luke finished.

Nico and Will turned towards each other in horror. If Luke was telling the truth, Percy would have to return to Tartarus.

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"He can't go back!" Piper's face had gone shockingly pale after hearing the news the next morning.

"We just got him back!" Hazel had clapped a hand over her mouth.

"We told you guys," Nico leaned forward at the camp table, "the barrier between the mortal world and Tartarus will completely collapse if we don't."

"No." Jason was pacing. He had jumped to his feet as soon as he heard the news and was now unable to sit still. He paced back and forth, rubbing his hands through his hair and on his face. "No way. I won't let him go back."

"I agree with Jason. You guys weren't there when I found him. He was literally seconds away from dying. Not only is this a terrible idea for him mentally, but I'm not sure he'll survive it." Thalia stared at Nico with anger in her eyes, as if he was the one to create the problem.

"I don't like it either, but I had suspicions and Luke confirmed them. If we want to save the mortal world, Percy has to do it. There is no other way." Nico took a sip of his water. He lowered the cups to see his friends' outraged faces.

"He's been through enough. He deserves a break." Leo shook his head.

"I agree, but he doesn't really have a choice." Nico exclaimed.

"Then what? Do we leave him to die down there? There's no way!" Frank yelled.

"He doesn't have to die. All he has to do is go down there, then leave through a pre-made gateway. Then we'll all be saved." Will explained.

"Oh, is that all?" Piper gave a humorless laugh.

"I hate it too, but we'll all die if he doesn't!" Nico yelled. Everyone went silent after that.

"I don't think he can handle it. You guys didn't see him after he escaped. He was seriously messed up." Thalia said in a low voice. Nico looked down. She had told him how traumatized he is, and he had seen it first hand. He didn't want to think about what a second trip would do to him.

"He wont be alone." Nico insisted. "I can go with him, Annabeth, Grover, whoever. He just needs to be down there for a couple of minutes." Nico said, shooting a glance at Grover, who had been silent up until that moment. Nico knew that Grover was terrified of the underworld, but he also knew he would not hesitate, not even for a second, if Percy needed him.

"What if he doesn't agree? I mean, I wouldn't want to go back." Hazel said, looking around at everyone.

"He'll do it. He wont want to, but if it means saving everyone, he will." Grover said quietly.

"No." Jason repeated. "You guys saw him. He can barely walk, he's been tortured down there for almost a year, he jumps at every sound, he can barely even eat a full portion of food." Jason listed them off on his fingers. "Do I need to list more reasons why this is a terrible idea?"

"It's our only idea, Jason!" Nico exclaimed, annoyed.

"How do we even bring this up to him? 'Hey, Percy! Remember how you spent a year dragging yourself out of literal hell? Want to go back? Free vacation!'" Leo rubbed his hands over his face.

"I don't even think convincing Percy is the problem. There is no way Annabeth will let him go." Frank added.

"She might if she can go with him. She can go with him, right?" Piper asked Nico.

"She can as long as everyone there leaves through a pre-made gate." Nico was annoyed by how many times he had to explain. Silence fell over everyone, all of them thinking, desperately trying to come up with another solution. When none came to mind, Hazel finally broke the silence.

"This is horrible." She said quietly.

"Yeah." Jason finally sat down. Everyone's silence was an affirmative answer.

"How long?" Grover spoke up.

"I'm not sure beyond a feeling. But I think a week, maybe more." Nico answered. Again, silence.

"Who's going to tell him?" Will asked.

"No one." A voice came from behind. Everyone whipped around to find Annabeth standing there, holding two plates a breakfast, one for her, one for Percy. Half the group got to their feet, the other half sat in a guilty silence.

"No one is going to tell him anything, because he is not going. He barely made it out with his life and sanity. I can't let him go ruin himself again!" Annabeth said forcefully.

"Annabeth," Nico rose to his feet.

"No!" Annabeth said again. "Don't give me that bullshit, Nico, about how he needs to do it to save the world. He has saved the world too many times for this to be his responsibility anymore!"

"He has to-" Nico tried again.

"What if I don't care?" Annabeth cut him off. "What if, just for a little bit, I want to appreciate the fact that he's alive. What if, just for a little bit, I don't want him to run towards his death again? What if I just want him to stay alive and to stay safe?" Annabeth was almost begging now. Everyone's face had a stoney expression. Leo stood up slowly and walked towards her. He held her wrist gently and guided her to a seat. She sat down heavily, trays clattering down in front of her.

"Annabeth," Leo's voice was low and soothing. "You can't appreciate the fact that he's alive if everyone is dead."

"I know." Annabeth's voice was breaking once again. "I'm not stupid. I know. I just wanted it to be over. I just wanted everything to be done."

"I know." Grover's voice was hushed.

"I'm not going to cry. I'm sick of crying." Annabeth's voice hardened. "And none of you are making this decision. We'll tell him, then he decides. None of this sitting around and talking about him like he isn't just two minutes away. He decides wether he goes or not. And if he does decide to go, I'm going with him. I will not let him go without me." She nodded at the end of her speech as if she was consoling herself rather than speaking to any of them.

"Are you going to tell him?" Jason asked.

"It would probably be for the best if it was me." Annabeth looked down. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, then grabbed her trays and set out back across the lawn, back to the Poseidon cabin, back to Percy.

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Points for whoever guessed the reference!