"Hey...can you ask what's his name," I indicated to Eurytion, "if there are other horses around here?"

Nico turned and spoke to the huge son of Ares, who spoke to Nico and shook his head. I could feel the panic in the horses. Especially Sparkle. She kept side stepping, and rainbow sparks kept shooting from her nose. Nico finally turned to me.

"He says there hasn't been any kind of horse like that. He promises on the River Styx. And if there was he would free her. He's not like the former rancher. He's more into veggie burgers and stuff. He apologizes and if he hears anything he'll send word."

I sighed. "Thanks Nico."

I relayed the message to the horses and just as they started to really get antsy a silver chariot pulled by four gold reindeer dropped from the cloudy stormy sky and landed beside them. The horses whinnined and trotted over, apparently excited to see the reindeer.

Artimis and Thalia jumped out and walked over. They had grim looks on their faces.

Artimis nodded at Eurytion who held the tip of his cowboy hat and nodded. Artimis's said something to him he nodded. He said something to Nico and then nodded his head in my direction and walked away with another bow to Artimis.

"He says thanks for helping get rid of the monsters. They had taken over and had him ready to be sacrificed." Nico explained quickly.

Artimis turned to me and Nico. She looked at him hard, her face sad and troubled. Nico's face morphed into a scowl and his jaw was clenched tight. He backed up and side stepped so he was directly behind me. Artimis sighed and shook her dark hair and looked at me and with her broken sign language priced together as best she could.

"Had to check the mountain Percy Jackson made erupt. The giant Typhon was prisoner under it. He is stiring. Mount Orthrys, where Kronos is said to be, also has monstrous activities. We are late in helping as I promised. I appolagize."

I glanced over my shoulder at Nico, his hands were balled into fist, and his face was twisted in pain.

"Nico and I had it covered." I signed back.

"So I see. I will take the Sun horses back to Apollo. Our father is quite angered."

"Not Apollo's fault. Dark magic was used. Look." I signed and then held my burnt hand out to show them.

Artimis took my hand and examined it closely. Her lips purses and her eyebrows pulled together. She let go of my hand and signed.

"Hecate has gone over to the other side then. Dionysus tried to convince her otherwise."

"Why did she switch?"

"She wants more recognition."

"Huh. Wonder how that feels." I thought and signed. "to be seen and recognized by the mighty Olympians."

"You are going to get cursed twice!" Nico warned.

"Nah. Auntie Artimis would never. She's cool." The amount of sass and sarcasm I could throw behind the words made Nico snicker.

"I agree." Artimis signed with a serious nod.

"See?"

Nick rolled his eyes.

"They do not get recognized as much as they should, I tell my family this all the time. However now is not the time to discuss family matters. I must get the horses back."

Sparkle neighed and stomped her feet. "My foal, my lady!"

"Yes I'll ask."

"Sparkle's foal was taken...at some point," I signed, "have you seen her?"

Artimis frowned. And shook her head.

"I did not know a foal of the Sun horses existed. This is troubling, if Hyperion knows of this!"

Thalia was saying something, but she was talking so fast I couldn't catch what she was saying. Artimis nodded and looked to me again.

"We will deliver the horses and then look for the foal. I suggest you two get back to camp. A war is coming."

And with that she turned, her chariot now had a horse trailer attached to the back. Sunny came over and lowered his beautiful white head.

"Thank you my lady. And thank the death boy for all his help. We owe you! If you ever need a lift. I'll tell the boss."

"Thank you Sunny. I'll tell Nico."

He bowed one more time and clopped inside the trailer.

"They say thanks for the help. And if you need a ride..." I though as I turned to Nico.

"I'd rather eat vegetables!" He wrinkled his nose as he looked at me like I suggested he dance naked at the Camp Half Blood sing along.

"I can arrange that."

"I know you would!"

We watched as Thalia and Artimis got into the chariot and took off. We stood for a long time.

"I'm hungry. And I need to thank my dad for his help. Think this place has food?"

"Ya know? I know an ever better place."

"Lead the way."

🔆

We had found our way out of the Labyrinth and we were sitting at a McDonald's in some small city in the middle of Utah. Nico had ordered and I payed, still having all the money from Chiron. I hadn't used any of the money they had given us at the beginning of the quest.

We collected out orders and made a quick dash out of the city and to a small state park where there were bonfire pits. I started a fire and I chucked a full happy meal and coke into the fire. Just as the clouds and the stormy dark sky broke, revealing a beautiful golden sunset.

"Thank you Apollo. For everything. I know...I know I haven't been very... cooperative... And I've been quite... difficult. Thank you for not giving up on me."

The sky thundered and I saw a flash of sun as it set. Nico dumped some food as well and murmed some words. I couldn't hear and I didn't ask. We sat in silence as we ate McDonald's cheeseburgers and french fries.

"So? Will you come back to camp with me?"

Nico was quiet and he seemed agitated, ever since Artimis and Thalia showed up. He shrugged.

"Nico. I need words."

"Dunno. I don't really belong."

"Says who?"

"Says them!" His voice was loud in my head. He was yelling. "They don't even have a cabin for my father. He's not welcome on Mount Olympus, he's not welcome at camp."

I looked at him and tilted my head. Debating something until I shrugged and decided why not. I trusted this kid. More then some other demigods.

"Can I tell you another secret? One only Apollo, Artimis and Asclepius know. And they are sworn on the River Styx not to say anything."

"But your not?

I shook my head. I never made the deal, and I was glad I didn't it was my life, my heritage, and if I wanted to tell people I should have the right. I didn't know why they needed to have such a taboo on it. I figured the Greek and Romans were just different faces of the same coin.

"It's not actually Helios who is my father."

Nico sat up straighter and leaned in slightly. He was silent, and his dark eyes were glued to me.

"It's his Roman counter part, Sol. Apollo and Sol."

Nico gapped at me for a long time. It looked like his mind was short circuitung.

"That's...not possible!"

"It is." I sighed. And I explained what Asclepius had said before I released his spirit.

"Fuck."

"Dude your cursing is terible! I love it!" I shook my head with a small smile.

"My sister never let me say anything, not even dang it!"

"Ha. Really?"

"We...we were..."

I waited for him to explain. I didn't push it. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who opens up, kind of like Raph, so I just sat patient. I pulled my note book and markers out and started to draw as I waited for Nico to get his thoughts in order.

"You and your sister were...?" I encouraged gently.

"My birthday is January 28th ...1932."

My brain took a minute to process that.

"But you're like ...8!"

"I'm 11! Almost 12 thank you! Well if you want technical years...almost 76."

I stared at him. I tried focusing my vision on his vitals. His heart and breathing, any sort of "old person" diseases or give aways. But he was a healthy 11 year old boy- for a son of Hades.

"How? How is that possible?"

"My sister and I lived in the Lotus Hotel for 70 ish years. We thought it was only a month."

"Oh! I know of that place. It's got weird magic. Like what happened with Thalia. She should be way older then 16."

Nico nodded.

"So...bad words in the 30's were a big no no."

"Do you remember your past?"

"No." He spat bitterly. "My past is a all mixed up and big blank spots."

I reached out and placed a hand on his knee gently. He flinched, like he was scared of physical touch. And I slowly took my hand away.

"I'm sorry you went through that. Is there anything I can do to help?"

He looked at me like I grew a second head. Maybe I did. Wouldn't put it passed me in this weird world I found myself in.

"Why would you help me? You don't know me!"

"Pretty sure you haven't told anyone about that little piece of information being like an old grandpa."

Nico opened and closed his mouth.

"How in Hades did you do that? Get me to talk?"

"It's a natural talent."

He glared at me.

"I'm assuming not many people sit and eat cheeseburgers with you, who aren't evil ghost spirits. And I'm just listening. I ask a follow up question and you choose to answer. It's this really weird phenomenon called friendship. Where two people choose to trust each other and have conversations and tell secrets and sit in silence and go on death quests together...and insult and judge people together."

"It's weird. I don't like it."

"Do to."

"Do not."

"Do to."

"Do not! It's awful!"

"Do too. Dream team!"

"I regret all my decisions in regards to you!"

"Ha! No take backs!" I smirked.

"And if I summon all the dead to my aid?"

"I'd fry 'em all like marshmallows."

"I hate you "

"Aww. Love you too little emo boy."

"I'm the Ghost King!"

"Well the Ghost King didn't finish his happy meal and I'll shove it down his old grandpa throat if you don't finish it!"

He glared at me so hard, like he was trying to kill me with a look. I just chuckled silently and kept doodling. He slowly munched on fries and as I drew he slowly inches closer until he was almost knee to knee beside me watching me draw.

"You should sleep a little. I'll wake you when I'm done drawing. Then we should keep moving. Us two together is gonna draw alot of monsters."

"Maybe a quick nap."

He lay down using his jacket as a pillow and he was asleep in minutes. I smiled as I watched the scowl melt off his face. And now, he just looked cold sad and dead. His heart beat slowed down to hardly a pulse, if I didn't know who his godly parent was I would have panicked and tried to jump start his heart. I pulled my backpack closer and pulled out the sweater that Thalia had packed. I laid it over him like a blanket.

I finished the drawing. Nico was still sound asleep and I didn't want to wake him, he didn't seem like he slept much. So I kept the fire going and called my Sight up. Seeing if I could check in on Will and Raph. See if I could see Tyson and Grover or Annabeth and Percy.

🔆

The vision shimmered and I scrolled through all the different things I could see. Chiron was pacing back and forth inside the Big House in his office. I saw Selina and Beckendorf, hiding behind the Hephaestus cabin. He was leaning against the wall, Selina caught between his huge arms. He was slowly leaning down-

NOPE! NEXT!

I saw Lee and Kayla and Michael and Austin and a few other Apollo campers running towards the big house. Will was just leaving the steps when they swarmed him in a giant group hug. They were all talking over each other. It was like a whole bunch of voices rattling around in my head, it was hard to distinguish and gave me a headache. But the general gist was "tell us everything! Where is Nora and what's wrong with Raph?"

Will glanced at the door of the big house and I saw his body sag. Lee pulled him into a hug and the rest of the cabin followed. My heart hurt. I missed them. Lee's voice when he sang with the acoustic guitar, was like listening to an angel. And I missed Kayla, the only sister I had ever had. I watched as Lee and Kayla throw arms around Will and lead him away from the house and to the cabin for some much needed rest.

I swiped again and saw Raph. He was laying in a bed in the big house in the infirmary. He had rolled, his back to the room, I saw a paper clutched in his hand. But he had blank eyes and stared at the wood wall muttering incoherently to himself.

Clarisse sat in the chair between Raph's bed and another boy. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling and muttering to himself. The infirmary door opens and Chiron clip clopped in. Clarisse jumped to her feet.

"What happened? And where is that bratty little no good pipsqueak? What did she do to my brother? First Chris! And now Raph!" she shouted.

Chiron sighed and gestured for her to sit.

"Sit child. It is a long story."

I swiped, I didn't want to hear about how Raph was still stuck in his own mind. I came to a stop when I recognized three people. Percy was alive and well. I stared hard at him. The only thing that was slightly different was he had a bit more of a haunted look and the edges of his hair were slightly singed.

My head was already sore from the trying to listen to the other voices, but I focused on the conversation. Annabeth, Rachel and Percy were sitting at a coffee shop in the sunshine. They must be in a different time zone right now. It was sunset right now for us.

"So," Rachel said, "it's Annabell, right?"

I couldn't help but snort in a amusement. I couldn't tell if Rachel was being a smart ass or not and it made my day.

"Annabeth," Annabeth corrected. "Do you always dress in gold?"

"Not usually," Rachel said. "We're raising money for our group. We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids 'cause they're cutting art from the schools, you know? We do this once a month, take in about five hundred dollars on a good weekend. But I'm guessing you don't want to talk about that. You're a half-blood, too?"

"Shhh!" Annabeth said, looking around. "Just announce it to the world, how about?"

"Okay." Rachel stood up and said really loud, "Hey, everybody! These two aren't human! They're half Greek god!"

Nobody even looked over. Rachel shrugged and sat down. "They don't seem to care."

I narrowed my eyes. She did the same thing in the band room, just listed off as many monster names as possible and then 2 cheerleaders who had terrible school spirit showed up and tried to kill me and Percy. This girl was a smart ass, but dangerous. I liked her.

"That's not funny," Annabeth said. "This isn't a joke, mortal girl."

"Hold it, you two," Percy said. "Just calm down."

"I'm calm," Rachel insisted. "Every time I'm around you, some monster attacks us. What's to be nervous about?"

Because you keep yelling monster names and announcing our presence.

"Look," Percy said. "I'm really sorry about the band room. I hope they didn't kick you out or anything."

"Nah. They asked me a lot of questions about you. I played dumb."

"Was it hard?" Annabeth asked.

He held a hand up for both girls to stop. "Okay, stop!" Percy intervened. "Rachel, we've got a problem. And we need your help."

Rachel narrowed her eyes at Annabeth. "You need my help?"

Annabeth stirred her straw in her smoothie. "Yeah," she said suddenly. "Maybe."

Percy told Rachel about the Labyrinth, and how they needed to find Daedalus. He told her what had happened the last few times we'd gone in.

"So you want me to guide you," she said. "Through a place I've never been."

"You can see through the Mist," I said. "Just like Ariadne. I'm betting you can see the right path. The Labyrinth won't be able to fool you as easily."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Then we'll get lost. Either way, it'll be dangerous. Very, very dangerous."

"I could die?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you said monsters don't care about mortals. That sword of yours-"

"Yeah," Percy said. "Celestial bronze doesn't hurt mortals. Most monsters would ignore you. But Luke...he doesn't care. He'll use mortals, demigods, monsters, whatever. And he'll kill anyone who gets in his way."

"Nice guy," Rachel said.

"He's under the influence of a Titan," Annabeth said defensively. "He's been deceived."

Rachel looked back and forth between the two. "Okay," she said. "I'm in."

Percy looked a little shocked. "Are you sure?"

"Hello little demigod "

A deep threatening voice reverberated in my head, like a scraping knife my skull.

"I can feel your presence. You are strong. Stronger than most. You can't hide for ever. I know who you are."

I tried to scream. But I couldn't. The pain in my head grew to the point where it felt like it was going to explode.

My vision flashed. I saw a body inside a stone coffin. The lid was decorated even more intricately than the sides- with scenes of carnage and power. In the middle was an inscription carved in letters even older than Greek, a language of magic. I couldn't read it, exactly, but I knew what it said: KRONOS, LORD OF TIME.

"Only a matter of time Daughter of Light and you will bow to me."

"Nico!" I managed to scream. My head was going to split open with the pain. Pain flared through me. My back arched as it spasmed.

I saw a blurry form of Nico sit bolt up right and scramble over to me. I had collapsed to the floor thrashing.

He grabbed my head and I heard ancient Greek being muttered inside my head. Nico was doing some kind of counter curse or something. The voice screamed inside my head.

"Be gone!" Nico ordered.

The voice fled. Leaving my mind empty, my body shock violently and then my eyes rolled into my head and the world became black and silent.

🔆

Awwww BONDING!