I slid my knife into Nico's open wound. He let out a muffled scream but otherwise took it fine. I took tiny, precise slices, opening up the wound as I searched for the shrapnel. With each cut, Nico screamed in agony.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I don't have much to work with."

"Aw fuck!" he screamed.

When I finally found the shrapnel, I caught my breath. Nico managed to look up at me.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"The shrapnel's lodged in your aorta. I could pull it out now, but it looks barbed. Might end up just sending Stygian iron into your bloodstream. I could cut it out, but then we risk massive bleed out," I told him.

"Make the cut," he ordered.

I wasn't about to argue with a dying son of Hades with an attitude, so I made the cut.

"Shit! Dam Percy that hurts!" he yelled.

"You asked for it," I told him. And he had.

I slowly pulled the shard out. It was about two inches long and covered in blood. Nico grunted, reminding me he was there. I sealed his wound, and it closed quickly enough. Nico was still unconscious. I felt his pulse. It was weak, barely-there even. An idea hit me, and I scrambled for the weapon locker. I shoved a few swords and spears aside and came out holding Zeus's master bolt. I turned back to Nico and fired the smallest lightning bolt I could manage. I must've not had very good control, because a good-sized bolt struck Nico in the chest.

Electricity coursed through him and his body went into a spasm. He suddenly gasped and sat back up. His hair was smoking, but other than that he was fine. He cracked his neck and stood back up.

"Ow," he groaned.

He felt his chest as if to reassure himself it was still there. He sighed contently once he was done making sure all of his body parts were in order.

"Not bad Percy," he told me.

"Well," I said, "I doubt Thalia would appreciate my getting you killed."

Nico laughed. "Oh really, you're bringing her into this?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am," I told him. "I saw the way you were looking at her. You didn't take your eyes off her once during the whole freaking hike."

"I was watching her to make sure she didn't fall," he lied.

"I'm sure that's why," I scoffed.

"Yeah well I'm gonna need a new sword now thanks to you," Nico returned.

"Because of me? You're the one who shoved a sword into me," I reminded him. "Why'd you do that anyway?"

"Well, I can see people dying, the energy just leaves them. With you, it was the opposite. It looked like you had too much life force in you, and you were about to burst. So I figured I could use my sword to drain some of your excess energy," he explained.

"So, you purposely drained the life out of me?" I asked.

"I drained the life out of you to save your life," he said.

I huffed. Nico may be a lovesick son of Hades, but he does make a good point. Dam.

We picked up other weapons besides the bolt. My dad's trident, Hades' helm, a new sword for Nico, and a cool rapid fire crossbow to name a few.

"So, you and Thalia, huh?" I asked.

"Whatever," he grunted. "Anyway, why are we always talking about my love life? What about that girl from the sabotage job?"

"What about her?" I asked.

"Oh come on, I'm not stupid," Nico told me.

"You sure?"

We talked like that pretty much the whole time until we shadow traveled back to Mt. Whitney. I reemerged from a shadow created by one of the eagles, while Nico somehow landed on top of Thalia. He smiled before promptly being shoved off.

I blasted the two eagles with a couple of blasts from the trident. Zeus looked both relieved and angry. I cut his bonds with my knife and tossed him the master bolt.

"Make it quick I got a Titan to kill," I quipped.

I went off to go check on Nico and Thalia while Zeus said goodbye to his favorite weapon and powers. I found them staring at each other with their faces about six inches apart.

"Uh, Nico...?" Thalia started.

"Yeah?" Nico asked.

Instead of continuing, they very slowly started to lean in. I cleared my throat, and that saved me from having to deal with watching another make-out session among my friends. For some reason, it got on my nerves.

They both blushed and pulled away from each other before they even kissed. When we came back, Zeus was done with his goodbyes. Albeit a little reluctantly, he gave me his powers. And with that we all shadow traveled home.

It was business as usual in Typhon's Prison. Athena had come out to meet me, or more likely she'd come to make sure I hadn't screwed up again. She saw Zeus, looking like a tired eighteen-year-old demigod, and nodded at me.

"Well Percy, it seems the time has come," she said. She held out her hand, and her powers flowed into me. Which was weird because I'd thought she'd already given me her powers. Oh well, thoughts for another day.

"Alright, just point me in Kronos's direction and I'll be off," I said weakly.

Athena shook her head. "Percy, have you seen yourself lately?" I looked at the reflective glass surface of the dome. I looked awful. My hair was beyond a mess, and I was covered in scars. My shirt, which I'd gotten before going off to rescue Zeus, had Nico's blood on it and was getting pretty tattered. I admitted I was pretty messed up. It'd be wise to take the night off.

I was sitting in my tent wondering what to do with my time off when Poseidon walked in.

"Hey Dad," I greeted.

"Percy, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"I've been better," I admitted. "Dad, do you think I honestly have a chance beating Kronos?"

Poseidon looked at me sadly. "Percy, no one being has ever defeated Kronos alone. For you to try this..."

"Do you think I can win?" I repeated.

He sighed. "No, Percy. I do not think you will win this fight. I am sorry," he told me sadly.

I merely shook my head. "Every kid dreams of proving their parent wrong. Looks like this is my chance."

"Percy, do you want to do this?" he suddenly asked me.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to fight Kronos?" he asked.

"Of course not," I admitted. "I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to keep the world safe, get a decent job, maybe meet a nice girl, and raise a family, I don't know. I can't take all of this stress and danger and...and I'm scared. I really need something to support me right now."

Poseidon placed a firm hand on my shoulder. "You will fight well Percy. Of that I am certain."

I hugged him. It felt weird calling an eighteen-year-old demigod my dad. But he was my dad, and nothing was changing that. He patted me on the back and left. When he was gone, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. I needed some air, so I walked to the training dome to find something to hit. There was in fact plenty of stuff to destroy, and I let out a nice amount of steam. I returned to my tent, feeling better.

I was woken up from a dreamless sleep by a voice that whispered, "Percy!"

I rolled over groggily. "Just...five mo minutes," I begged.

"Percy it's me," the voice whispered.

I opened my eyes and saw... Annabeth?