Hey guys, remember my warning last chapter? Well... Do any of you watch Doctor Who? There may or may not be a reference. *laughs nervously* Bye!

Nelson's PoV

I honestly wasn't sure if I could get my legs working again. Talking to Tartarus again was not on the top of my to do list. Then the hags came, and Annie fell back against me in a rush to get away from the monsters. How we stayed standing, I had no idea. Nico turned to Will and said, "Run." I, personally, did not need to be told twice. I grabbed my knives, turned them into my bow and quiver of arrows, slung the quiver onto my back, and I sprinted in the opposite direction. I looked back at Annie, and she loaded her bow and fired an arrow. The monster she was aiming at turned to dust, but Annie shrieked in pain. "Don't kill them! They'll curse you if you do!" Nico yelled.

"Now you tell us?" Annie yelled. She stumbled and fell to the ground. Gab helped her stand up again, but she had to lean on em for support.

"Her ankle is broken!" Ze shouted to us.

"Oh one of the curses her step father gave her!" The arai shrieked with glee. "He's given you plenty of good curses! Why don't you let us give you more!"

"You know, you may have a similar name to Ari, but you're definitely not as nice," I said to them as I made my way to my friends. "Don't ever tell her I called her nice. She'll kill me."

"If you do not wish to die by your curses, we will destroy you ourselves!" The arai cackeled.

"You are way too eager to destroy us! It's not very healthy to be destroyed before lunch, you know!" Will shouted.

One of the arai swooped down, and we ducked to avoid its claws. Will bent down and put his hands on Annie's ankle. She gave a small yelp. Will turned back to us. "I've got her. Go! We'll catch up!"

"I'm not leaving you alone down here! You need someone to distract them." Nico said. He made to go stand in front of Will, but he pushed him back.

"You need to protect the others, Nico." He looked away to try and hide his tears. "If this is the last chance I have to say it, Nico Di Angelo, I-" He got cut off by the flock of arai attacking him and Annie.

"No! You stupid monsters, it's me you want! Come and get me!" Nico screamed. He stabbed one of them to make his point, and we fled into the darkness.

Nico cut down monster after monster. Gab and I tried to help as much as we could without getting in the way of Nico's sword. He fought like a demon despite his growing amount of blood loss and pain from the curses. Finally, the arai fled, but that didn't seem to reassure him. He stumbled toward us, and we caught him before he fell flat on his face. Annie ran up to us with tears in her eyes, but Nico didn't hadn't noticed her yet. "We... We need to run," he groaned. "They wouldn't... wouldn't leave if there was something... more dangerous that could threaten them. We have to-" He finally looked up and saw Annie. "Where's Will?" He shouted.

Annie looked down at her shoes. "He told me to run. He said he would find us, but there was something else chasing us. I argued, but he didn't listen. He left." She explained quietly.

Nico stared at her in shock. "Stupido ragazzo stupido stupido! Non lascerò che si esegue questa operazione! Come hai potuto lasciare che ti trucco?" (Stupid stupid stupid boy! I won't let you do this! How could you let him trick you?)

"Um, what?" I asked timidly.

He glared at me so intensely, I thought I was going to die. "Never mind!" He snapped. "We need to get out of here and find Will."

"I-I'm so sorry," Annie stammered.

"Just..." Nico looked like he was fighting not to lose it. "It wasn't your fault. He's just a stubborn stronzo. (Asshole) I shouldn't have left. Now we really have to-"

A loud humming filled the area. We raised our weapons and got ready to fight. Then out of the darkness, a giant blue and silver... god? with silver Einstein hair and a calico cat on his shoulder appeared. Nico dropped his sword in shock. The giant looked at him and frowned. "Nico, you have an owie." Nico fell forward, unconscious.

*keeps hiding while knives and other missiles are thrown at me* Is it safe to come out yet? *more missiles fly at me* Well I guess not, but hey! Bob is back! Am I right? *ducks again*

So I hope you liked this chapter! Should I upload the next one today?

I hope you had a nice day!