Why Hello, there, lovely readers.

Nico shouldn't have made that promise. He should've known by now. Promises led to nothing but trouble. And he had more than enough of that already.

"Come on!" He waved to them. His voice was barely a whisper but they both understood him. Coach Hedge was frozen, his eyes wide. Nico could see the pain in them, all the confliction he was battling. It was a hard thing to see. It made Nico's stomach twist sickly.

Gleeson Hedge was a teacher. He'd been there since before...Bianca... had come to this school. Nico knew that, even though he'd never had the coach or even talked to him. The same way that the gym teacher knew him--just a name and a face in a sea of names and faces in a pit of despair that had swallowed them all up that morning for real this time.

Nico, like all the other kids (except maybe Leo, now that Nico was vainly thinking about it. Leo was an oddball), had seen a teacher and an adult that could...somehow keep them safe. They'd all forgotten that Gleeson Hedge was just a gym teacher. Not a miracle worker, not a superhero. Nico could bet his short, profoundly miserable existence that the coach was even more scared than all of them put together.

Zoe Nightshade had taken him down with one quick movement and shot kids in the hallway. And Now he was trapped in this nightmare realm and had promised all of the survivors that they would get out.

Bullshit. Nico called it.

"Reyna!" Nico called. Coach Hedge grabbed her arm, and pulled her down the side hallway. Her eyes were narrowed, her mouth a straight line that said everything better than words.

The coach shot a ferrous glance around the corridor, his worn sneakers making surprisingly no sound for a man his weight. "Di Angelo, let me carry him!" He hissed.

Nico shifted Leo's surprisingly light weight in his arms. Even in this askew situation, Nico's face flared up at the thought of his deadweight. This was no time to be thinking about Nico's stupid emotions. And he was thankful that in the sway of the adrenaline rushing his veins, his furiously blushing cheeks could be misinterpreted for his breathlessness.

"It's fine, Coach." Nico huffed quietly, "I've got this."

"Damn, Di Angelo!" The old man muttered, "You're just like your sister!"

Nico's heart stopped, unsure if he'd heard correctly. "Bianca?"

Reyna peeked around the corner, her braid fading over her shoulder. She tried to look like she wasn't paying attention, but Nico could see her almond eyes darting back to them.

The gym instructor wheezed, "Hell, she was just a stubborn as you! I remember this one time she had a doctor's note that excused her a week, and that little cupcake was sneaking off the bench every time my back was turned so she could participate in class! I should've made you all do more laps!"

"No thanks..." Leo coughed, "I'm quite okay."

"Shaddup, Valdez. I should've made you run even more yesterday!"

Nico was at a lost for words. Bianca...her name pricked his heart drawing blood that flooded the floor. With one breath it felt like she was nearby again. And it hurt. It hurt like Hell. Actually he would've preferred to have been shot like Piper. Leo slid out of his arms leaning only on his left shoulder. Though Nico couldn't remember if it was his doing or Leo's himself.

"She...she was brave." Nico whispered quietly.

It wasn't nearly enough to satisfy the truth about his sister. His perfect older sister. Bianca wasn't just brave, or kind, or pretty, or any of the mundane words that the English language had for those things. Nico had honest to goodness looked up to her in every way.

Why'd she have to die?

If Bianca were the Sun.... And the sun went out....

"Why do you wear black, Nico?"

The only thing left would be the her lost and lonely little brother, Nico the boy in the shadows.

Nico couldn't bring the words to exit his mouth. There was no describing Bianca. She was the brightest star in the sky, a burning, breathing, living fire when everyone else were just cooling ashes. And when Bianca was around she had made Nico feel like the most important thing. An adult when others saw him as a little kid.

"Sure, Nico you can come along, when I go find Hazel! An extra pair of eyes can't hurt."

Nico clammed his mouth shut, drawing blood when he bit into his tongue. The silence afterwards was golden. It felt like they were honoring her. Even when Nico knew it was just because no one else had the guts to say anything.

It felt like hours but it was only a few quick seconds.

"Coach, I think we need to talk." Leo bravely said. His eyes were alight with a secret fire that made Nico feel both sick and enthralled. "About the call."

Reyna swallowed so hard, Nico could hear it from across the hall. All his thoughts about Bianca vanished.

"I don't care what that asshole said!" Coach venomously hissed. It was so out of character that Nico took a step back, pulling Leo along with him.

"I don't think you're allowed to call General Zeus that." Leo smiled painfully, "He is like up there, you know?"

"I don't care who the Hell he is. I'm not going to abandon any of the kids left here! Not one! I took an oath when I became a teacher!" Coach Hedge's voice raged, "I swore to protect all my kids! E-every last one of them! I-I- I already failed once...I'm not going to let anymore of you kids die! I can't!"

Leo got a sad look in his eyes. The look of a solider who'd seen too many good men die. Reyna cleared her throat, and when she spoke her voice flowed over them like a refreshing bucket of icy water.

"All due respect Coach, None of us are kids anymore." She reminded them, "We've seen too much blood for that."

"Shut it, Cupcake!" the gym teacher howled, "You're all my kids! You're always going to be! I'm going to protect you all even if its the last thing I do!"

"Touching, really, I'm moved. If this were a chick flick, I bet all the girls would be sobbing right now." Leo commented. Then he shrugged to himself, "Of course they would've been sobbing since I almost died, but girls have an infinite supply of tears these days, right?"

Nico ignored him. "Coach, we have to do this."

"No way, Di Angelo! No way in Hell! I'd sooner stuff you in one of these lockers than bodyguard Princess Peach over there to the safety of the Police Line!"

Reyna looked miffed. "I'm not even wearing anything pink."

Coach shook his head like they were all crazy. Who knows, maybe they were. It was insane. Nico could feel the heavy weight of the phone in his pocket, the words of the army general echoing in his ears.

It was an order from up top. They were to protect Princess Reyna to the Police perimeter at any cost. Her life was worth more than theirs. Her life was protecting half a billion others right now. Everyone had known it was coming. Jason had even said it earlier. Reyna was more important.

Way More Important.

Coach Hedge glanced around the corner Reyna had been watching, and then motioned for them to follow. They'd been standing still to long. Leo didn't move. Reyna looked at them, her façade of indifference finally falling to misery.

It wasn't a good look on her.

"Nico, " Leo whispered in a hushed voice, "Listen to me, I took a knife for you right? You owe me?"

Nico knew where it was going and he shook his head, "Leo, don't do this..."

"Put me down, grab Reyna, and run." Leo said. He was smiling, as if it would change the meaning to his horrible words. It made Nico want to do the exact opposite. "Nico, you have to do this. I'll only show you guys down at this rate. I...I'll be fine here. It's your duty to do this. You fucking owe me this, Man."

"Your asking me to let you die after you saved my life." Nico fought the blush rising on his cheeks when Leo fell closer, their faces almost touching, "Damnit what about my sister?! Jason? Percy? The Girls? What am I suppose to do? Run away with a princess and if by some miracle we survive, we get to sit and eat popcorn and watch the rest of you guys die!?"

Leo hung his head ashamed, "No." When he looked back up Nico was surprised to see his brown eyes full of determination. "I'm going to save everyone else here. Somehow. I'll find a way. Give me the phone, you can have Hedge call us when you are safe and we can discuss other options. I swear to you, Nico, I'm not going to let your sister die."

The black clothed teenager shook his head, "You're mental, Valdez. Fucking mental." He used his other hand to pull out the phone and slip it into Leo's back pocket (he blushed awkwardly when his fingers brushed Leo's butt). "I'm holding you to your promise, okay?"

Leo nodded like it was no big deal. He was just going to do an impossible task when he couldn't even stand by himself. "Someone's coming. Go, Nico!"

"Your promise!"

Leo grinned,"You keep yours, I'll keep mine."

Leo slid off Nico's shoulder, the warmth of his body fading from Nico's. Nico backed away slowly, then quicker, then quicker. He grabbed Reyna's astonished hand and linked their fingers in a grip that wouldn't break even if they were hit with a nuclear bomb. And he ran.

"I'll see you later!" Nico shouted over his shoulder, catching one last glance at Leo before he turned the corner sharply.

He had no way of knowing that was the last time he would ever see Leo Valdez. The last vision of him laid propped up against a dented locker, stupid Everything-is-awesome smile, and brown bouncing curls that casted shadows over his eyes.

Nico swallowed the guilty feeling trying to pretend like he wasn't betraying everyone. Reyna let out a squeak, completely breaking her royal emotionless face. Nico looked back at her giving her hand a tight squeeze, "Run."

"DID YOU JUST PULL A DOCTOR WHO ON ME?"

Nico didn't dare answer that. "Come on, Coach!" He yelled to the old man as they ran by. The gym teacher gaped at them going through seven different emotions before his face turned the color of radishes.

"Di Angelo!" He had no choice but to follow on his short little legs.

Nico plowed through the hallway, dragging Reyna while she screamed something about her arm socket or whatever. Behind them, Nico didn't have to look back to know they were being followed. The sound of pounding footsteps, too many to be just their coach, echoed off the walls, breaking the sound barrier.

Nico yanked Reyna around a corner her braid whipping his cheek leaving a painful red mark he couldn't think about. His heart had leapt up into his throat, beating with his footsteps and in between as if he was moving slow motion.

Did Reyna feel like that, too?

A bullet punctured the locker next to his ear. "YOU'RE DEAD MEAT, FREAK!"

Nico stared wide eyed, in front of him, where everything was blocked off by another group of the gang members. I'll see you soon, Bianca.

The sound blasted his brain almost like an actual slug. Reyna's arm barely even shook at the rebound of Coach Hedge's handheld. The end of the hallway exploded in chaos for whatever reason.

Reyna's eyes steamed, "Don't call him a freak." She lowered her gun.

"You're terrifying." Nico told her truthfully.

She offered a twist of her lips that could just barely be classified as a Mona Lisa smile. "You have no idea, Shadows."

"Run now, flirt later, Cupcakes!" Coach Hedge shoved them forward again through the mangled pile of limbs that had cleared for them. Nico wished he had enough breath to tell them he was in no way flirting with the Amazon princess.

Instead he prayed to the gods that he didn't believe in that maybe, possibly, they would live long enough for him to think another thought and that maybe, possibly, Leo might be okay, and that maybe, possibly, those gunshots he heard weren't the ones ending the odd new kid's life.

"Window!" Coach Hedge called, in case in the past seven seconds both Nico and Reyna had gone completely blind.

Reyna pointed the gun barely missing a stride and shot four, five, six times into the glass ahead of them. Nico should've thought about it, but he didn't. He threw all of his weight into his jump. The fortified glass gave way easier than eggshells. For a horrifying, second Nico was suspended in the air.

Then the ground rushed up to meet his face in a grassy high five. He stumbled as Reyna followed with the grace and poise of a ballerina. Coach materialized after her thrusting them forward.

"Go, go, go!" He barked, his fist in Nico's back and his voice in his ear.

Adrenaline thrashed his veins. Nico's senses exploded outward. The air smelt sweet, too sweet to be real. Up ahead people were cheering and screaming and yelling and waving like plastic bags in winter wind. News cameras were turned towards them.

Great, he was going to die on National TV.

"Faster, Cupcakes!" Coach roared. "You fail these laps... and I'm giving you both...Fs!"

"Don't think..." Nico huffed, but he couldn't getting the other "it will matter," out of his compressed lungs.

Was it just him or was distance getting longer? The screaming people, oh gods were they even humans anymore? They were reaching for him Like he was suppose to save them as well.

Nico saw men in dark police uniforms levels guns towards them and for a second he thought they were going to shoot at them as well.

Reyna screamed, unceremoniously as a bullet from behind them grazed her arm. Nico shoved her in front of him, getting whipped again from her stupid braid.

Bullets rained on them. Nico yelled out, as pain exploded on his arm. He stumbled.

Pain exploded in his leg.

Blood.

Nico crashed to the ground.

"NICO!"

Nico Di Angelo felt the grass under his palms. The air left his lungs like a punch. His body felt like lead. Agony spread through him like a virus, contaminating every part of of his being, absorbing him.

No it can't end like this.

He...He wasn't ready.

"Geez, Neeks, what am I going to do with you?" She said.

All the world around him seemed to stop. The noise faded like it part of another universe. The air smelled like vanilla and peppermint. Reyna didn't tug on his hand, Coach Hedge didn't scream at him to get up, Leo wasn't grinning that stupid I'm-going-to-save-the-world smile, Hazel wasn't in any danger of any kind.

"Bianca..." Nico gasped. There she was, bright in the afternoon light. (Was it afternoon?) She smiled down at him, making her dimples deeper. The splash of freckles on her nose wrinkled as she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"What are you doing?" She asked, tipping her green hat. Nico couldn't breathe. There she was. Everything he remembered. Tears formed in his eyes, because this was his sister. Her; not the empty carcass that was buried in the six-foot, dirt grave when all her life she'd been highly claustrophobic.

"Come on! When I tell you to stay and not to follow me, you keep going. But when a couple of bullets hit you can't take it? I thought you were a man, Neeks!"

Nico glared through his tears, "You couldn't take it either."

She smiled, "No, you're right. I couldn't." She reached out as if to ruffle his hair but paused an inch from his bangs, "Tell the boy you like him, Neeks. You never know when you're going to run out of time."

Then just like that she was gone. Reyna yanked on his arm, Coach Hedge roared at him.

And Nico...Nico laughed. Because what else was he suppose to do? The tears were already flowing, he was shot, people were shouting like Hell had come to Earth.

Nico forced himself up, pretending like the pain was someone else's. Some other person's arm screamed as liquid fire ripped through it. Some other person's leg wobbled and collapsed, some other person far away was in so much writhing agony they couldn't get up.

Nico could get up.

He shoved Reyna forward towards the police line once again. Coach Hedge grabbed him by the shoulder and partially carried him forward. The gun fire stopped, ugly dying screams could be heard still though.

Then something impossible happened.

They crossed the police barricade.

Thousands descended upon them, like a flood gate of hands. Human contact. Medics. Screams. A camera appeared out of the air and Nico couldn't think, much less respond to any question being asked.

Reyna.

Nico watched her being treated by a doctor. She was safe. Coach Hedge was talking to a police officer, a medic treating something on his side. Two emergency medics were on either side of Nico saying things he should've been listening to.

But he couldn't. For a second, Nico stared at the crowd around him wanting to do nothing but sob incoherently. But then he saw something that made his body go rigid.

Out of the crowd, a single familiar looking person stood. Nico recognized his slouch, the sickly pale skin, and the stingy dead blond hair. Even if they'd never met before, Nico would've known exactly who that was by the sneer on his face. But that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was when Octavian raised a .45 automatic towards Princess Reyna's head and pulled the trigger.