Remember?

Θ We Surround Ourselves in Death... And Nico Θ

ANNABETH

I'm still in shock.

How can Damasen be dead?

Oh yeah, he and Bob came to help us close the Doors of Death, even though most of Gaea's army was there defending them.

Oh, gods, Bob...

I have to choke back another sob. Plus, on top of all that, I had to break down and cry like a baby in front of Nico and Percy. I have to be strong for both of them; Nico didn't make it this far, and Percy doesn't remember any of this.

Finally I see something else familiar: Aklys.

She's sitting in the same spot as we found her last time. She hasn't bothered to wash her dress; in fact, there's fresh blood dotting it, joined by new splatters dripping from her torn-up cheeks. She's staring into Hercules's shield and bawling her eyes out.

Percy nudges me. "Uh... Who's this attractive chick?"

I glare at him. "This is Misery."

Percy frowns. "That's not very nice."

I roll my eyes. "No, Seaweed Brain. She's literally called Aklys; she's the goddess of misery."

"Seems like a pleasant lady," Nico says sarcastically. "Let's go over and meet her, shall we?"

ΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘ

Aklys sees us approaching and starts shrieking even more.

"Geez!" Percy yells. "What's wrong with you?"

"You are!" Aklys shrieks. "Have you come to send more poison on me?!"

Percy opens his mouth in protest, but I elbow him in the ribs, sending him a look that says, Let me handle this.

"Yeah, that was an accident last time. He won't do it again, as long as you don't give him a reason to," I say to Aklys, pushing the horrifying image of the wave of poison controlled by Percy out of my mind.

The blood drips from Aklys's face grow in amount and speed as her pale, gaunt face flushes red. "Fine," she spits. "What do you want?"

"Same as last time," I say slowly. "We're heading to the Doors."

"Again?" Aklys looks perplexed. "But why-"

"Long story that we don't have time for," Nico says quickly.

Aklys frowns. "And who might you be?"

"Nico di Angelo," Nico says, his chin rising ever so slightly. "Son of Hades."

"Hm," Aklys huffs, but I can hear a tone of admiration in her voice.

"We need the Death Mist," I say, sounding braver than I actually am.

"Fine." Aklys waves her hands, and I feel... Lighter. That sensation is familiar, though, so in a horrible way it's comforting.

I look at the boys. Nico honestly doesn't look that different, but Percy looks like a corpse: gaunt, skinny face with skin stretched tight, and painfully thin.

I swallow my fear and another sob and nod to Aklys. "Thanks."

She shivers. "Just as long as you don't send poison at me again!"

"What happened? What'd I-"

I cut Percy off by grabbing his arm and following the all-too-familiar path towards Nyx's hideout.

"Next on our Tartarus tour," I say professionally as Nico follows us," is Night's palace. Shield your eyes boys, this won't be pretty."

++

Can I just start by saying that I love you all?

I don't deserve it; I've been a really bad Wattpadian author... I feel like a millennia passes between any of my updates. I promise I'll try to update more often from now on.

I know, this chapter was crappy and slightly boring, but I also promise that it's about to get interesting. L=

All rights go to Rick Riordan...

Happy reading,

Katia