I trudged back to my room, not having the heart to tell anyone that Asha was gone.

As I laid in bed that night I had time to think. My head immediately became full of nagging thoughts that had been driven from my mind on our quest.

Finally I settled on one thing.

Nico.

I flew back to the day Nico got stabbed at Camp Half-Blood. Curiosity still plagued me. I wanted to know who had hurt him.

I hopped out of bed and walked slowly to Nico's room, which used to be Asha's.

The door was open. I poked my head in the doorway and looked around. I couldn't find Nico.

Panic seized me. This is how it had happened when Nico got taken away. Now all I needed was an Iris Message...

I spun around and found myself staring not at the ship's hallway, but at a totally different place.

"Oh my flipping gods." I whispered. "REALLY!? YOU'RE GOING TO BE SO CRUEL AND NOT LET NICO AND I HAVE...I DON'T KNOW...A FEW YEARS PEACE!?" I screamed at the ceiling.

"Erica?"

Chiron's face appeared in the image. He seemed older since the last time I'd seen him. He had more worry lines, and they were etched deeper.

"Oh thank the gods." I sighed. "What is it Chiron?"

Chiron smiled a little. "I've already gotten my question answered, judging by the way you just screamed...but I was going to ask how the quest was going."

I couldn't help but grin. "Great Chiron. We're heading home now..."

I paused, frowning. "What is it, Erica?" Chiron sounded concerned.

"Well, actually I don't think we're heading home yet. We've lost someone on this quest...and I think we should return her home."

Nodding sadly, Chiron held up his hand. "See you soon, Erica." He made to slash his hand through the message, but I began to speak to stop him. "Is Connor alright?"

Chiron paused. "Goodbye, Erica."

The Iris message dissolved. I felt my heart sink. That probably meant that Connor wasn't doing well.

"Asha's dead, then?" A quiet voice asked behind me. I spun on my heal and came face to face with Nico. "Yeah," I murmured.

Nico slid his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder. "I'm sorry." He whispered. I laid my head on his head. "So am I."

~*~

The next morning, we all gathered in the mess hall for a silent ritual. Afterwards, we spoke about Asha and shared memories, though most of us had very few.

"She was the best friend I ever had." Reagan murmured, silent tears streaming down her face. "She supported me in everything I did. She was one of my closest friends...Lola and her took me in when I joined the Amazons and..."

Reagan choked up. She closed her eyes, looked away, and sat down. Lola got up, gave her one pat on the back, and stood before us. "Asha and I became Amazons together. It hurts to lose someone who was my friend for so long...I hope she goes to Elysium, because that's where she belongs."

A tear glistened at the edge of Lola's eye, and she sat down, covering her face.

We all went up, one after the other, expressing our feelings of grief and gratitude.

Once we had all gone, Piper spoke up. "I know it's a private question, but you guys haven't ever told us who your father or mothers are. I'm curious, but I guess you don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

Lola sighed. "Reagan is a daughter of Hermes, Asha was a daughter of Demeter and I...well I'm a daughter of Apollo."

We all nodded. "I know a couple sons of Hermes that would be pretty proud of you." I said, grinning. I realized that, despite her attempts to hide it, Lola did have some of the features of a Hermes child. She had a wicked grin, and the same upturned eyebrows as Connor and Travis.

Connor...

"Welp," Leo clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Time to drop off our friends. I know you Amazons like to keep your hideouts all secretish and junk, but we gotta get there. Plus, I'm the only one that can operate this ship."

Reagan shrugged. Her voice trembled a little as she spoke, but she didn't stop. "We'll lead you there."

Leo nodded and lead Lola and Reagan up to the main deck.

I clasped my hands and rested my chin on them. Looking sideways at Nico, I asked the question that had been bothering me for a while. "Who stabbed you?"

Nico stared at me a moment. He was frowning, his dark eyes confused. "Back at Camp Half-Blood?" He checked. I nodded awkwardly. Do you know how hard it is to nod when your chin is on your hands?

Nico leaned back in his chair and put his scarred hands behind his head.

There was only one word to describe that pose:
Hot.

No, I am not going to sugarcoat it. That was just a hot, hot pose. All of you girls, out there, who also think it's a hot pose: back the heck off. This boy is mine. You try to steal him and I will hit you so hard you won't even know who you are when you wake up. I freaking died for this kid. I'm not going to let you have him without a fight.

"Well," Nico muttered, "I don't really remember. I just...I felt it go through me. I looked to the side and this blond dude was standing over me. Then I got really dizzy..."

I winced. I didn't want him to relive this.

"...I couldn't keep standing, obviously, so I laid down...I got kicked in the head and I passed out. That simple."

I lifted my head off my hands. "But you don't know who it was?" I questioned.

Nico looked at me. His eyes were pained.

I felt my heart crack in two. I didn't like the look on his face. Nico stood up. "I think I need some air." He said simply, heading out the door.

"But Nico-"
"I don't know, Erica. Okay? I don't know."

I sighed. Why couldn't things just be simple with this kid?

~*~

A/N: Special shoutout to TheBlindHorse for being an awesome person and making me laugh like a lunatic with her comments. I love you for that.

And yeah people, I read ALL of your comments. Every. Last. One of them.

Peace for now!