~~~A Deep Dark Secret~~~

Chapter 16: Nico

---Chapter 16---

Nico's Pov

          I Iris-messaged Hazel and Frank. They were about to kiss when I interrupted. Hazel brightened up as soon as she saw me, as for Frank, who looked kind of disappointed. I told them about the plan, and that Annabeth figured it out, so that I wouldn't technically be telling them about Jasmine myself. Before I swiped my hand through the Iris-message, I told Frank to take good care of Hazel, which made them both blush.

          We all caught up at Thalia's Pine. Jason, Piper, Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, Frank, Leo, and I were all set to leave. "You guys ready?" I asked.

          "Oh yeah! Let's do this!" exclaimed Leo, who seemed the most excited to go on this quest.

          "Alright, let's go to San Francisco," I said as we all walked out of Camp Half-Blood. "Should we get there on a plane?" I asked, because the eight of us had made no progress. Percy paled at what I said.

          "I don't think Zeus would want me in his realm," said Percy with a worried look on his face. 

          "Right," I mumbled. "How about a train?" Everyone agreed, so we bought our tickets. We split four in each compartment; Piper, Jason, Annabeth, and Percy in one. Frank, Hazel, Leo, and I in the other. Night had fallen and everyone got ready to go to sleep. Hazel and Frank fell asleep almost instantly. Leo was fidgeting with some metal scraps while I stared out the window.

          "Hey, we'll find her, don't worry," said Leo with a reassuring smile. 

          "Thanks. What are you making?" I asked. Leo place the metal on his palm and wound it up. Now that I looked at it closely, I could see that it was a little music box. The music started playing, and it was beautiful. The box started glowing and had complicated yet amazing designs on it. "Woah. That's-that's amazing," I said, chocking on my words. Leo can make anything... I thought.

          "Thanks. It's for Reyna. She's drowned in work and needs some time to relax. Reyna told me that this was her favorite song. Her older sister sang this to her," said Leo. I saw that there was something carved into the side. Its said, 'Reyna, I love you forever and always, Leo.' The song continued to play. Leo put it away after a few more minutes of listening to the music. "Night," he said before going to sleep.

          I looked out the window and was lost in my thoughts. Jasmine, why'd you leave? I miss you. Please, be there. We're on our way... I drifted off to a dreamless sleep, but not before having one more thought. I love you, Jasmine.

-------------------------Time Laps------------------------------

          I woke up the next day, only to find Frank and Hazel kissing while Leo was sound asleep. I cleared my throat and the two sprang away from each other, blushing.

          "Good morning, Nico," said Hazel. I nodded and got up to get my backpack. "We should go get the others," she said, trying to shake Leo awake. We got the rest of the four and waited until we were finally there.

          "Ready?" I asked. They all nodded as we headed out of the train. We were hiking up Mount Tam. Out of exhaustion, we all stopped at an edge big enough for all eight of us to rest on. When we all caught our breath, the eight of us resumed climbing, except for Jason who flew Piper up, but waited for us. Frank changed into an eagle and was flying Hazel up. We stopped again.

          "This is taking way too long," I said. "Frank, Jason, fly the girls up. I'll take care of Percy and Annabeth."

          Everyone agreed and I told Annabeth and Percy to hold on to me. I shadow traveled them up, but nearly fainted out of the energy it took to take three people. We met up with the rest of the group and made camp. We weren't at the very top, because we would probably be killed by monsters guarding to top.

          I was the last one to be awake. Everyone was so tired, so they instantly fell asleep. Suddenly, I heard the rustling of leaves somewhere nearby. Then marching. I spotted giants at the top of Mount Tam. Oh no, I thought. I didn't dare move, being too afraid that I would make a slight sound and trigger all the monsters overhead to slaughter us. Leo, out of the blue, began snoring. Oh shoot, I thought. Leo snored louder, causing a few of the monsters to look around and question each other where the source of the sound was from. Leo, SHUT UP! I wanted to yell. One of the Cyclopes looked down and spotted Leo moving around. Ohhh sheeeeeeet...

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Cliffhanger! Kinda... Sorta... Not really... Lol. Oooo the eight are at Mount Tam. Where's Jasmine?????? What's her plan??????? Will the eight be able to defeat all the monsters and Gaea in time???????? Will I ever shut up and continue??????????? Yesh, I will. Haha. Btw the song that the music box was playing was the song on the right (Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift) Time for the fuuun to begin in the story >:DD Lol. Kayy, so read on!!!

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P.S. Please read my MoA as well!!! Thnx!!! :DD