"blah blah"- Speaking Greek (or a dream)

"blah blah"- Speaking Amestrian

'blah blah'- Thinking

***** - Begin/end flashback

Disclaimer: Seeing as I am neither British, Japanese, or a man; I am neither J.K. Rowling, Hiromu Arakawa, or Rick Riordan, which means I do not own their respective works. In addition, I do not own the song 'This is War' by Thirty Seconds to Mars.

Percy

Percy Jackson had a dilemma. Not only that, but for the first time in his short, often miserable life, it was a normal dilemma that any teenager might have. Well, if you looked on the surface, that is. Percy Jackson wanted – no, needed – to be at the Quidditch World Cup. The only problem was…he didn't have a ticket, and he had no way of getting one.

"What are we going to do?" Thalia repeated for the fifth time that evening, turning on her heel to continue her pacing through the small tent. "At least one of us needs to be there to make sure nothing happens…how are we supposed to get a ticket?"

Percy shrugged helplessly from his spot on the floor. He leaned back slightly as Thalia passed him again, not wanting to be stepped on. "Maybe Nico could shadow-travel in and keep an eye on them that way?" Percy suggested.

"But isn't that too risky?" Nico questioned. "If I get seen then that's going to raise a lot of questions. Everyone thinks that we're in America for the summer."

Percy shrugged again. "So, don't be seen."

"Thanks Percy," Nico said dryly. "You're a real life saver, you know that?"

"I do my best," Percy replied with a smirk.

Thalia tugged at her hair in frustration. "We don't have any other options," she growled. "There's no way for us to get tickets because we have no money…"

"I told you that camping out in a tent for the whole summer was a bad idea," Percy muttered.

"Well I didn't see you throwing out any better suggestions!" Thalia snapped, glaring down at Percy.

"…Fair enough."

"As risky as it is," Thalia continued with a sigh, "we're going to have to send you, Nico." She turned to face the boy with a worried look. "Do you think you can handle it?"

Nico scoffed. "Of course I can handle it! I've handled way worse!"

"Yeah, and 'way worse' almost killed you," Percy reminded him grimly.

Nico ducked his head. "I'll be careful," he promised quietly. "I won't over exert myself – just a jump there and a jump back."

Thalia nodded, satisfied. "You better keep that promise," she warned him.

Percy grabbed his bag that was lying near him and dug around in it. After several seconds of searching, he found what he was looking for. "Here." Percy held out Annabeth's invisibility cap. "Take this so you won't be seen."

Nico accepted the hat with a nod. "Thanks."

"You'd better not lose it," Percy warned. "Annabeth will kill me if I don't bring her hat back."

"As amusing as that would be to watch," Nico said with a smirk, "I'll do my best to keep track of it."

"That shouldn't be too hard because it should be on you head the entire time," Thalia reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah," Nico grumbled, falling back onto one of the makeshift mattresses that took up much of the tent's space. "Don't be seen, don't lose the hat, keep an eye on Harry." Nico held up a finger for each task he listed. "Am I missing anything?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Thalia.

"If you see Elsie, don't engage with he unless absolutely necessary," Thalia said, crossing her arms over her chest. "We have no idea how dangerous she is; not to mention if you're seen fighting–"

"I get it, I get it," Nico said, annoyed. "Don't be seen. Trust me, I'm good at that." He gave them a reassuring grin. "Quit worrying. Nothing's going to go wrong."

"Famous last words," Percy muttered under his breath. Nico glared at him and Percy raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I'm just saying, words like that are asking for something to go wrong."

~o~O~o~

"So, how did it go?" Thalia demanded the instant that Nico appeared inside the tent.

"You still have the hat, right?" Percy asked at the same time

Nico, still breathing heavily from the effects of his shadow-traveling, took several deep breaths before responding. "Everything was fine, as far as I could tell," he assured them, sitting down where he stood. "It all happened like it was supposed to – the Death Eaters attacking, the house elf being accused – everything."

Percy let out a breath that he felt he had been holding since Nico left. 'We've messed up so many things already…thank the gods this isn't another thing to add to the list.'

"And here's the hat." Nico half-heartedly tossed the baseball cap to Percy, who let out another breath that he had been holding for just as long.

Thalia looked as relieved as Percy felt. "Only a few more days until we're back at Hogwarts," she said, seemingly assuring herself as much as the two boys. "Then we'll be able to keep a closer eye on everything – or everyone, rather." Thalia gave Nico a worried look. "Are you alright?" She asked, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You don't look so good."

Percy drew his attention back to Nico, who he realized didn't look any better then he had when he first arrived.

"I'll be alright," Nico said, brushing off Thalia's hand. "I've been shadow traveling too much, trying to keep tabs on Harry and the others – but I'll be fine."

Thalia didn't look convinced. "No more shadow traveling until you're fully recovered," she ordered, fixing Nico under a fierce glare. "I mean it, Death Breath. No exceptions." Reaching into her bag, Thalia pulled out a bottle of nectar and tossed it to Nico.

Nico caught the bottle and rolled his eyes at Thalia. "You're making a big deal out of nothing," he grumbled. "And aren't we supposed to be saving this for emergencies?" He added, holding up the nectar bottle."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "I think you fading into oblivion qualifies as an emergency," he said.

"I'm not even close to being that bad," Nico muttered, but he unscrewed the bottle and took a drink anyways. "There, happy?" Nico was still frowning, but Percy saw with satisfaction that some color had returned to the pale boy's face. Well, 'color' was a strong word, Percy decided. 'Less like an ashtray' was more accurate.

Nico half-crawled, half-walked to his makeshift bed. "Wake me up in a week," he mumbled, curling himself around his blanket.

"We should sleep too," Thalia said, lowering her voice as Nico's breathing became deeper, a sure sign of him being asleep. "Maybe you'll get some more information," she said.

Percy shook his head. "I've had the same dream for the entire summer, Thalia. What are the chances of it changing now?"

"Well, maybe you'll notice something new," Thalia said, traces of aggravation seeping into her tone. Sighing, she turned to look at Percy. "We need something," she said. "Whatever it is that Elsie is planning…from what Luna told us, it's happening this year."

Percy nodded grimly. "I remember – the graveyard, where the three great powers come together," he recited. "Assuming that the graveyard she was talking about is that graveyard, then we have until the end of spring to stop her."

"Right," Thalia said. "And from what we've seen of her…she's not going to slip up any time soon. At this point, the only additional information about her we're going to get will probably be from your dreams."

"Too bad I can't control what I dream about," Percy said sardonically. He fell back onto his bed with a sigh, and heard Thalia do the same soon after he closed his eyes.

Darkness. That is always how it starts. An endless void, filled with silence. Then voices. Whispers. Barely distinguishable, slowly growing in volume. A murmuring that fills the void, overlapping voices causing an incessant buzzing. To hear even fragments of a sentence is nearly impossible, but it can be done…

"You heard?"

"Awful, isn't it?"

"Hard believe something so horrible…"

"His poor family…"

"He and his siblings were really close, weren't they? To lose him in an accident like that…"

"Really? I heard…"

"Seriously? Her? I mean, even for a Slytherin…"

"Her own brother…can't be true…"

'Stop…'

"I guess it makes sense…she was the only one there, after all."

"Even so, do really think she would do that?"

'No! It was an accident, I swear…'

"Didn't you see how she treated him before it happened? She probably jumped at the chance!"

"Forget chance, she probably planned the whole thing ahead of time! Why else would they have gone there, alone?"

'No, I didn't! I would never! I-I wouldn't…'

"Shouldn't get on her bad side…"

"Yeah, no telling what she would do to someone who isn't family…"

"Accident? Yeah, sure. Who'd believe that?"

"Stop it!"

In a breathtaking instant, everything comes into focus. A crowded hallway. Black robes. One girl stands out from the rest; wide, red-rimmed eyes, gasping breaths, a rumpled uniform. Her wand is out, though she can't seem to hold it steady; she aims her shaking wand from person to person, unable to land on anyone for more than a few seconds.

"All of you, shut up! You don't know anything!"

The crowd slowly backs away, casting fearful glances to the wand in the girls hand. The darkness begins to encroach upon the edges of reality. The whispers are heard again.

"Unstable…"

"Dangerous…"

"She scares me…"

Darkness again. Silence.

'I can't take this anymore…I have to get away…I'll come back, eventually…but for now; I'm leaving…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry Mathew…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…I swear…I'm so sorry…'

Guilt. Soul crushing, never ending, all-consuming, your fault your fault your fault your fault your fault YOUR FAULT –

'I'll fix it! I swear I will! I'll make it right somehow! I have to! I can't live like this…I can't…I'll save him…I will…somehow…there has to be a way…there's nothing magic can't do…how hard could time travel be, right?'

Darkness. So much darkness. It goes on for so long…years and years, decades of darkness…decades of searching, of planning, of trying, of reaching yet never accomplishing anything. How long can a human live like this? How long before they give in to the despair?

'Mathew…I swear…I'll save you…I'll make the others pay…I will…'

"Excuse me? Sorry, it's just – you look lost. You aren't from around here, are you?"

"Uh…n-no, I'm not."

'Play innocent. She can't know, how could she…'

"I didn't think so. Maybe I can help you?"

She doesn't want help from anyone she can't let anyone get close to her they could find out they would blame her it's all her fault she can't let her know – but something about the concern and kindness in those golden eyes…

"Yeah…maybe you can help me…um – I'm Elsie. Elsie Taylor."

The woman offers her hand. "Nicole Elric. Pleased to meet you."

Darkness again. But for the first time; hope. Searching, planning, reaching, and finally getting somewhere. Power…power beyond her wildest dreams…and finally, a plan.

'All I have to do is–'

With a jolt like an electric shock, Percy's eyes flew open.

~o~O~o~

"Nothing new? Are you sure?"

"Yes, Thalia, I'm sure," Percy repeated.

"And it stopped in the same place?"

"Yes, Thalia."

"And the conversations were all the same?"

"Yes, Nico."

"And–"

"YES, it was all the same! It ended at the same place that it always does, in the same way that it always does, causing the same headache that it always does, and followed by the same questions–"

"Okay, we get it," Thalia interrupted crossly.

"Next time you might want to save the interrogation for when we're not inside a crowded station," Percy advised. "Or better yet, don't do it at all and trust me when I say that it was all the same!"

Thalia merely huffed in response and continued to navigate towards platform nine and three-quarters. Percy smirked and followed with Nico close behind. Several days after the Quidditch World Cup, they were finally heading back to Hogwarts, where, hopefully, they would begin to make progress. Percy hoped that maybe with other things to focus on, such as ensuring that the school year went exactly as it was supposed to, Thalia would be able to leave him alone about his dream.

Not only that, but Edward Elric would be at Hogwarts. With any luck, he could answer some pressing questions; mainly, did he have a relative named Nicole Elric. As far as Percy knew from looking through Edward's mail – er – investigating – the only person that the alchemist had regular contact with (who was also a relative) was his brother. There was no mention of anyone named Nicole in any letters or notes that Percy and the others had gotten their hands on; though, to be fair, they hadn't read very much.

"Percy, pay attention!" Nico hissed, nudging him from behind. "It's your turn!"

Percy turned, startled, to see that Thalia had already disappeared behind the brick wall. "Right, sorry," he muttered to Nico before hurrying after her.

Nico passed through soon after, and the three demigods hurried onto the train. Once inside, it was quite the adventure to find the correct compartment – what with all the people moving around carrying luggage and the hallways being much too narrow – fortunately, Ron spotted them.

"Oi! Percy! Thalia! Nico! Over here!" The tall ginger waved at them enthusiastically from a compartment door halfway along the train. The three lugged their baggage to the compartment and were soon comfortably seated with their friends.

"How have you been doing all summer?" Ron asked eagerly. "You heard about the World Cup, I'm sure," he continued, not giving them a chance to respond. "I would've invited you three but we didn't have enough tickets, sorry – you don't believe what the Prophet says, do you? Most of it's a load of rubbish, we'll tell you what really happened."

Ron proceeded to give a detailed explanation of everything that happened at the Quidditch World Cup, interrupted occasionally by Harry or Hermione.

As the scarlet engine pulled out of the station, Percy was finally able to take a deep breath and relax. So far, so good. At the end of the school year, one of the most traumatic events in Harry Potter's life would occur; and Percy was going to make sure it happened exactly the way it was supposed to. So far, so good.

A/N - I'm baaaaaaaack! Man, I needed that break way more then I though I did…I kinda burned myself out by writing so much, I think. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the second book! Also, I am now looking for a beta. If anyone would like to volunteer, or recommend someone, or whatever, feel free to PM me. In the meantime, please drop a review and tell me if it was worth the wait!