~Lia's POV~

None of us were anxious to travel that night, so we decided to wait until morning. Somehow the others convinced Nico and me to take Geryon's room for the night. I think they just wanted Nico to have a good night's sleep after what happened with Bianca's summoning. I only agreed because I wanted to be with Nico in case something happened during the night.

Geryon's room was very big to say the least. It had an abnormally large bed, probably because of his three bodies. A simple dresser and closet was in the back with curtains covering the two windows on each side of the room. Besides the large bed and the gun and sword display above it, the room looked pretty normal.

Once Nico and I got comfortable in the bed, I tried to talk to Nico about what happened with him and his sister, but he declared he was tired and soon fell asleep. I could only guess how Nico was feeling, but I knew he needed to vent out his thoughts before he let it all out in a vulnerable moment. He did need time to process what happened though, so I just let him be for the moment and fell asleep myself.

I dreamed I was watching an open field covered in different kinds of flowers. The sky was a clear blue with not a cloud in the sky. There weren't any signs of civilization anywhere. I saw a beautiful woman with grass green eyes and hair as black as a raven's stroll through the flowers, looking like she was in complete peace. She wore a simple white tunic with no shoes and was carrying a bundle of black cloth in her arms. She looked down at the bundle with a smile, and I could hear a delighted giggle come from the bundle. I realized it was actually a baby swaddled in the cloth.

A large booming sound drifted into the area. The woman looked to where the sound was coming from, and her face had turned into a glower. A figure came forward from the distance and approached the woman. He had striking golden eyes, black curly hair, and a long pointy beard. He was dressed in a brown chiton and carried the largest scythe I had ever seen. It was made of all different kind of metals that blended together to make it look even more threatening. He exuded power and strength. He towered over the woman by a good foot or two, but the woman didn't look scared at all. She looked more worried than anything.

"Rhea," the man said, his voice cold and powerful, "is this my new son?"

The woman nodded and gripped the baby tighter in her arms. "Yes, Kronos. This is your son, Hades."

I realized I was dreaming about the early days of the universe when Kronos was king. Annabeth had mentioned Kronos before, but I didn't recognize the name until now.

Rhea turned the baby to face his father. He had hair like his father, but his eyes were black unlike both his parents. The baby had a glow around himself which showed the power he had even as a baby.

At first, Kronos looked joyful, but then his face quickly turned stony. "Let me hold him."

Rhea clutched Hades closer to her chest. "No. You will not eat another one of our children."

Kronos's eyebrows narrowed in anger. "As his father, it is my right to be able to hold him. You would not deny me that, would you, wife?"

Rhea looked conflicted, but she very reluctantly held out Hades to Kronos. Suddenly, I was the baby looking up at Kronos. He looked so content and didn't look like a scary Titan at all. Suddenly, his mouth opened unnaturally wide, and his eyes glared down at me with pure hatred. I tried to scream in protest, but nothing came out as he shoved me down his throat, falling down into the blackness of his body.

Gasping, I shot up in bed with wide eyes. My chest heaved with heavy breaths as I tried to calm myself down from my dream. The dark of the room reminded me of the emptiness of Kronos's insides which did not help me calm down.

Now I remembered Kronos's story. He chopped up his father Ouranos with the scythe he was carrying in my dream into a thousand pieces. Later, Kronos ate his children - the Olympian gods - in fear of them taking over his reign one day. All of them except for Zeus. If he was the one making an army, I did not want to meet the guy ever.

Just as I was about to drift off to sleep again, I heard a whimper come from the boy next to me. Turning to face Nico, I saw his face was scrunched up into a painful expression.

"N-no," he cried. "Bianca! Please! Don't leave me! Not again!"

His body was shivering violently. I frowned and went to reach out for his shoulder, but I stopped myself before I did.

"Nico...Nico, you need to wake up!" I said worriedly.

Nico's eyes shot open and he panted for breath. I could see the perspiration forming on his forehead.

"L-Lia?" Nico said. His eyes looked at me as they were filled with fear and sorrow.

"I'm here, Nico," I told him. Hesitantly, I put my hand on his pale cheek. Even though I was the one to enact the touch, I still flinched. He just look so scared. My instincts pushed me to do something to ground him so he wouldn't be stuck in his head. Surprisingly, he leaned into my hand as he kept his eyes on me.

"You okay now?" I asked. He just nodded, and I noticed he had stopped shivering. I pursed my lips before asking, "Do you want to talk about it?" He shook his head slowly, and I nodded. "Okay. Let's try to get more sleep."

Nico nodded as I slowly took my hand off his cheek. Before I could put my hand back to my side, Nico gripped it and said in a hoarse voice, "Can-can you sing to me? Please? Bi-Bianca used to."

My eyes softened at his weary face, and I whispered, "Okay." It almost seemed like Nico was hesitant to let go of my hand, but I didn't pay attention to that idea for long. As he closed his eyes, I tried to think of a song that I knew. Suddenly, a lullaby popped into my head. Just thinking about it almost made me tear up. My mother used to sing a certain song to me when I had nightmares or couldn't sleep. I hoped then it would help Nico the same way it helped me. I took a deep breath and started to sing.

I sang quietly to let my voice be background noise to lull Nico to sleep. His breathing slowed down, and his body steadily relaxed into the mattress. Even after I knew Nico fell asleep, I sang the rest of the song just for the nostalgia. When I finished, Nico for once looked at peace. The poor kid shouldn't have gone through what he did. Nobody should have to go through the pain of losing a sister so early like that.

With that though in my mind, I looked down at the son of Hades and smiled sadly. Then I pulled the covers over my body and eventually fell asleep.

The next morning, for once, Nico was already awake before me. But he didn't look so good. He still must have had more nightmares. His eyes were red and his face chalky and his body was shivering.

"Geez, Nico, how long have you been awake?" I asked him as I groggily sat up.

"Not too long," he responded.

I snorted. "Your face and body say otherwise."

I got out of the large bed and went toward the closet.

"What are you doing, Lia?" Nico asked slowly.

I didn't answer as I opened the doors of the closet and looked through Geryon's clothes.

"Ah ha!" I exclaimed and held up a black robe that was bigger than Nico. "Put this on. It'll stop your shivering."

Surprisingly, he didn't protest and I helped him into the robe. My theory was right about the robe stopping his shivering, but Nico still looked terrible from last night. The two of us then met with the others and went down to the cattle guard to say our goodbyes.

"Nico, Lia, you two should come with us," Percy blurted out.

This surprised me. I understood why they'd want Nico to go with them, but me? I was basically a stranger.

Nico shook his head. "I need time to think." His eyes wouldn't meet Percy's, but I could tell from his tone he was still angry. The fact that his sister had come out of the Underworld for Percy and not for him probably didn't sit well with him.

"I'm going to stick with Nico," I said. "I'm not going anywhere without him."

Percy nodded to me in understanding.

"Nico," Annabeth said. "Bianca just wants you to be okay."

She put her hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away and trudged up the road toward the ranch house. Maybe it was my imagination, but the morning mist seemed to cling to him as he walked.

"I'm worried about him," Annabeth told Percy. "If he starts talking to Minos's ghost again-"

"He'll be all right," Eurytion promised. The cowherd had cleaned up nicely. He was wearing new jeans and a clean Western shirt and he even trimmed his beard. He'd put on Geryon's boots. "The boy can stay here and gather his thoughts as long as he wants, along with you, miss." He gave me a promising look.

I nodded. "Thank you, Eurytion." I said goodbye to the others and wished them luck on their quest, then ran back to the ranch house.

~Nico's POV~

I sat in the living room of the lodge thinking to myself when Lia came in. She didn't say anything and just sat down next to me quietly. We sat in comfortable silence for a bit. I was glad Lia didn't ask me anything yet. I just needed to think over what Bianca told me.

Eventually, Lia spoke up. "Are you hungry, Nico?"

I was, but I didn't have much of an appetite so I shook my head no. Frowning, Lia stood up and went upstairs. I sighed, thinking I upset her. Lia came back down with her backpack, and I thought she was going to leave. Instead, she sat down where she was before and went through her bag. She pulled out a cookie and an energy bar and held the items out to me. I gave her a strange look, and she rolled her eyes.

"You need food. What better way to get that than a chocolate chip cookie and an protein bar? Plus, it's all I have," Lia explained.

I slowly took the cookie and took a small bite. It tasted really good, so I savored the flavor as I continued to eat the cookie. Lia took another cookie out of her bag and started to nibble on it. We sat in silence again, contently eating our baked goods.

"What's your favorite kind of cookie?" I blurted out. I don't know why I asked that, but I just wanted to know.

Lia looked at me, not shocked by my question, but more sad about it. She looked down at the quarter sized piece of cookie that was left and picked at it.

"One time, my mom and I made sugar cookies with chocolate chips in them, mostly just to see how they would turn out. They were the best. We only made them once, but they're still my favorite." She chuckled a bit. "Your questions always seem to link to my past in some way."

"I don't mean to," I said defensively.

"No, it's not a bad thing. I think I've just forgotten all the good that did happen before. It's...kind of nice thinking about the good parts in the past. It kind of makes it a little less painful to remember."

Lia looked at me in the corner of her eye, and I had a feeling she was hinting to me that I should do the same with the memories of my own past. I wish I could, but Bianca's words replayed over and over again in my head, keeping me from thinking about anything else.

Lia sighed when I didn't say anything. "You doing okay? I mean, with what Bianca said to you about not holding grudges?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It's a lot to process. I need to think a lot about everything she told me."

Lia nodded and then hesitantly asked, "Are you still going to try to bring her back?"

I opened my mouth to say an automatic yes, but Bianca's words echoed through my mind again. "I...maybe. I don't know." I want to still so very badly, but I still wanted to consider what Bianca told me.

Lia nodded and stood up. "Just think it over carefully, alright? What would...what would Bianca want?" She paused for a second before speaking again. "I"m going to look around the ranch. I'll be back soon." Lia gave me a small smile before leaving the ranch house and leaving me alone with only my thoughts.

A/N. Okay, everything in this chapter besides Lia's dream was from my old writing of this story. Originally, I wrote Lia having a different dream, and I changed it because it just didn't fit and wasn't super relevant to the story or Lia. That's all I gotta say. Hope you all enjoyed! Comment and vote! -Anna