Isabella, Tartarus survivor

Quest time!

"Grover isn't here." Nico said plainly.

"Di immortales, Nico, what is wrong with you? Can we please just talk about this?"

"By the gods, Is, I can't lose you again! If you end up in Tartarus, and I don't find you, or worse, you die, I would never forgive myself! And... and you've only just got back. You need a break, you need to relax. If you push yourself too hard you'll only delay your recovery! Trust me, I would know."

"Nico, I know you want to protect me, but Chiron says I have to go on this quest."

"Rubbish!" Nico interrupted me again, but I held up a hand to silence him.

"You know that bit of prophecy I told you the other day?"

"Yes."

"Well, Chiron thinks this is it. Listen, you can't tell anyone, but he says that the giants and the Jötunn have teamed up. They want revenge for us killing Gaia. Nico, if they're out to destroy the world, they need to be stopped. And if I'm the only one who can stop them, I have to try. Please?" Nico was quiet for about a minute. I was getting more and more anxious the more time he took to speak. "Please say something." I begged. Nico took a deep breath.

"Okay. Okay, I understand. But I want you to promise me you'll Iris-message me every day." I nodded.

"Yes. I can do that." Nico smiled sadly at me.

"Need any tips?"

"Have you got any?"

"Always, always have a plan. Don't just go in with no idea of what you want to do. And try not to let people manipulate you into doing their will. Make sure every decision is your own. I didn't do that once, and it ended badly. And don't ever push yourself further than you can go. It will almost always not end well. Be prepared to improvise. The plan might not always work, so always have a backup plan. And, well, just don't die. Don't you dare." I gave Nico another hug, holding him tightly.

"Fratello, I'll be okay. I survived for over 70 years in Tartarus, and we all know time works differently down there, so technically it was a whole lot more than that. The giants won't kill me. Fratello, you know me. My sheer force of will will stop them from hurting me." (A/N- 'Fratello' means 'brother' in Italian) Nico ruffled my hair.

"Okay, if you want, you should go and talk to Percy. Gods know that man is experienced when it comes to quests." I gave Nico one more hug and stepped back into the shadows, willing myself outside the Poseidon cabin.

I knocked on the door, crossing my fingers and hoping that Percy would be in there, but he wasn't. That was the point where I had an idea. Something I'd never done before. What if I tried to shadow travel directly to a person? With shadow travelling, I'd only ever travelled to certain places, but it would be so helpful if I could find someone just by willing it. I shut my eyes and thought of Percy. How we'd met, how he and Annabeth had saved me, how he'd helped me cut my hair, how noble he was. I focused so hard that I heard myself whisper the name "Percy" out loud, and I stepped back into the shadows.

"Di immortales!" I heard a voice yell as I fell from a height. I landed on something hard, and was immediately pushed onto the ground with a sword to my throat. I stared up at a disgruntled looking Percy, who realized it was me and lowered his weapon. "Issy? What in the underworld was that about?" I stood up, brushing myself off.

"Sorry. New way of shadow travelling, I'd never tried it before." Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Right. You all good?"