A/N: And as promised, here is the sequel to Ocean Eyes! If you haven't yet, please read Ocean Eyes first – this will make no sense otherwise. For the rest of you, thank you muchly for sticking with me and my first stories, and I hope you enjoy this one! Thank you for reading, and please leave me a review at the end. Love to hear from you!

Chapter 1

Another tear rolled down her cheek as Lily sat on her bed, the blankets wrapped around her, sick of crying but unable to stop. Memories of the kiss ghosted across her lips, and when she looked towards the window and saw her reflection on the glass, the hickey on her neck made her remember the way the sparks had jolted through her body when Nico had moved his kisses to her neck.

Before she knew it she was weeping silently, the pain she was feeling growing exponentially as her iTouch played Vanilla Twilight by Owl City, the song describing her feelings nearly perfectly. She moaned softly, feeling suffocated as memories of her with Nico crowded through her mind, tainted with flashing images of Chase. Somehow even the thought of letting Chase kiss her the way Nico did made her feel sick – but the worst part was, Lily realized, that she couldn't stand the thought of Nico doing those things with someone else. The thought of him with another girl, kissing her till she was breathless and weak in the knees, leaving purple promises of love on her neck, made Lily see green, the jealousy making her nearly dizzy.

"Lily?"

Dabbing at her eyes and pasting an unconvincing smile on her face, Lily turned around. "Hi Percy," she said.

"What's the matter, why are you crying? Did someone hurt you?" Percy plonked himself down next to her, eyeing her worriedly.

"No, I just…"

"Chase gave you a hickey?" Percy exclaimed suddenly. "You let him?"

"No, it was Nico," she choked out, before dissolving into tears again. A few moments later she had calmed herself down, telling herself to quit acting like a drama queen.

"Are you two…back together?"

"No, we were just talking," she sniffled. "Did you get all the stuff together? What time is it? When are we leaving? How – "

"One question at a time, okay? Connor said he and Isabelle will pack backpacks for everyone, Chiron has loaned us a bunch of drachmas and dollars, so we're set in terms of money. There are supposed to be little spray bottle things per group in case we need emergency rainbows. It is around six right now, and I think you know we're heading out at midnight. I saw Jessie on the way here, and she asked me to tell you to meet her and Isabelle by the creek whenever you have time."

"I'll go now," Lily said, untangling herself from her blankets and standing up.

"Hey," he said softly, standing with her. "I…we might not get to say goodbye after this – alone, I mean, and…I know you and Nico are at a tough place right now, and I don't even know how I feel about you two being together, but stick close to him, okay? He knows what he's doing. And he's a good guy. He won't let you get hurt. And stay safe, okay? For me?"

Without answering, Lily pulled her older brother close in a hug, feeling incredibly grateful that he hadn't exploded over her hickey. He really was practically the perfect brother – sometimes, anyway.

"I will," she whispered finally. "And let Annabeth take care of you, okay? She's much smarter than you are." Giggling as he scowled at her, she hugged him again and then walked towards the door, mentally thanking him for the smile on her face.

"We has food!" Jessie shouted when she saw Lily walking towards her and Isabelle. The girls were sitting with their feet in the creek, with sandwiches and fruits spread out on a cloth on the grass.

Lily smiled at them and sat down, helping herself to a strawberry. "Hi guys."

"How'd it go?" Isabelle asked.

Sighing, Lily finished her strawberry and detailed her meeting with Nico.

"Wowww," Jessie teased when she'd finished. "That sounds so hot! I bet you can't wait to run off with him!"

"Shut up," Lily mumbled, blushing bright red. "We aren't running off anywhere. We aren't even together."

"Yeah well after you turned the poor guy down again," Jessie said with a hint of irritation in her voice. "You can't just make out with him and then tell him you don't want him! He knows you're lying, and we do too!"

"It's understandable, though," Isabelle interjected, glaring at Jessie. "But Lily, don't keep pushing him away, okay? Eventually you're going to have to make a decision for sure, and you can't do that if you keep insisting you're dating Chase, who you don't even like as much."

Lily sighed, looking down at her feet, and Jessie took pity on her.

"Have you tried the blackberries yet?" Jessie asked, offering a handful to Isabelle and lily. "They're fantastic, have some. I tend to prefer raspberries, but these are amazing." She prattled on, and soon they were talking about inconsequential topics, until they left to go to the pavilion for dinner.

Afterwards, Lily whiled away the time sitting in one of the trees near Zeus's Fist by herself, carrying a small bag with her weapons and armor in it. She was playing with the bracelet she was wearing, a silver slinky that was made to be wrapped around her wrist, when she heard a faint sound below her. Looking down, she saw Percy and Annabeth creep out of the shadows to stand by the rocks, and moments later Nico melted out of the darkness and joined them, talking quietly. She slid down the tree just as Isabelle, Leo, Jessie, and Connor walked up, each of them carrying a large black backpack.

"Here is your luggage," Connor announced, dumping his back unceremoniously on the ground. "It weighs a ton, so guys, be gentlemen and don't make the ladies carry them. They might get hurt."

Isabelle smacked him, and he yelped. "Shut up," she warned, glaring at him before depositing her own bag on the ground. "One per group," she announced.

"Okay," Annabeth said, putting her hands on her hips, "So Nico, you and Lily will be shadow-traveling, but the rest of us are supposed to be taking pegasi." She turned to stare at Percy. "How are we going to take pegasi if they aren't here yet?"

"They should be," he muttered, staring at the dark skies. "I don't want to whistle – if someone else hears…There they are!"

The pegasi landed gracefully, their hooves thumping against the ground softly.

"Let's go," Percy ordered. "Iris-message us if you need anything, or each other, if your situation gets too unstable get the hell out of there and let us know later."

"Good luck, guys," Annabeth called before letting Percy pull her up onto Blackjack. After hugs and hurried goodbyes, Blackjack, Porkpie, and Guido all rose into the sky, leaving Nico and Lily standing by the rocks together.

Lily was staring at the ground, a faint blush covering her cheeks as she realized they would have to touch each other to shadow-travel – and she didn't trust herself to be able to control her reaction if he were to put his arms around her. His soft footsteps sounded, barely discernable, against the hard ground as he moved to her, and she tensed as she felt him stop so close to her that his sweatshirt-covered arm was pressed against hers, and out of the corner of her eye she saw him stop next to her, gazing in the same direction she was. Then his head turned.

"Shall we go?" he asked quietly.

Trying not to blush, Lily nodded and placed her hand in his when he held it towards her. Moments later Nico had her wrapped in his arms, her head resting on his chest and her hands on his shoulders. Looking up, she watched him close his eyes and crinkle his brow with concentration as he prepared to shadow-travel them away, but then she noticed the leaves of the bush behind him move.

"Hey! Get away from her!" Chase bellowed, rushing out of the bushes with his sword drawn, but before Lily could even react, the scene shifted and wind and darkness assailed her senses as she was dragged into the void.

"Was that Chase?" Nico asked her, steadying her as they materialized in the Fields of Asphodel.

"Yes," she breathed, enjoying the feeling of his hands on her arms. But suddenly she moved away, realizing that she had turned him down earlier. Staying away from him was going to be much harder than she'd thought. "It doesn't matter," she added, noticing the concern in Nico's eyes as he watched her.

He nodded, running his hands through his hair, leaving it delectably tousled, the smooth strands overlapping. "Let's move. Come on." He began to walk, slowing his pace slightly so that it was one with which she was comfortable.

Glancing around her, Lily felt her heartbeat quicken as ghosts drifted around in the distance, and moved slightly closer to Nico as the shadows around her seemed to move on their own. She had hoped he wouldn't notice, but he had. His arm shifted, and he kept his sword drawn, his fingers firm on the hilt.

"You'll be okay," he said softly, keeping his eyes in front of him. "At least for now. You're with me, and most of the creatures down here will leave you alone because of that. Unless they're scarier than I am – in which case you need to be prepared. Keep your sword out."

She unwrapped the hilt of her sword from the slender leather belt around her hips, noticing as she did so that Nico wore a very similar one – but his was black while hers was brown. Blinking away the sudden moisture in her eyes, she drew her sword, deriving comfort from the warm glow it exuded. While her weapon seemed out of place in the Underworld, Nico's blade seemed remarkably at home, appearing to nearly blend into the shadows.

"Where are we going?" she asked finally, trying to break the silence that had become so long it was painful.

"Near Tartarus," he answered evenly, his eyes constantly studying the landscape around them. He was tensed, ready for a fight, she could tell just by his stance.

"Is that safe?"

"Yeah. I know some good vantage points – we just need to keep watch for a while, that's all."

They walked in silence for some more time, before she turned to him again. "You know which god it is, don't you? Or at least you have a good hunch?"

"Yeah," he sighed, scuffing his black sneakers against the ground. After a short pause, he spoke again. "What's worrying me is that my father should have sensed it if something was wrong. He probably knows too…but he's keeping his counsel to himself."

She watched him, studying the emotions swirling in his impossibly dark eyes, and sighed. He was wondering why his father didn't share anything with him, that she could tell. The fear, confusion, and determination in his eyes kept her gaze fixed on him, but what truly struck her was the haunting loneliness they held.

Without thinking, she reached over and grasped his left hand firmly in her right, squeezing slightly as his fingers automatically curled around her hand. She had forgotten how good it felt to hold hands with him – she felt small but safe and cared for. Glancing up, she froze. His eyes were fixed on her, and she could practically hear her own heartbeat as she was rooted to the spot by the intensity of his gaze, the warmth from his hand making her loath to let go. And damn, those midnight eyes…they were beautiful.

A/N: What do you think? Bounces around happily – like my quick update? Please drop off a review if you did! The little blue button is right below ;)