The Ghosts of Millennia

Embarrassed Alabaster: Just Add Water

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Thalia and Alabaster try to save Nico. Zeus's tornado continues to wreak havoc. Cho makes a decision.

BEGINNING NOTES

Chapter Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Content Warning: Cursing, Violence (mild), Sexual Imagery (mild), Torture (mentioned only)
Word Count: 3831

I'm going to be real with you guys for a sec.

So, I didn't post last week because I was kind of thinking. While I love this story, it's getting hard for me to get into it since I'm also posting my new fic, "Shoot and Arrow Through His Heart." That's why I keep missing uploads and uploading so late. I'm fatigued, in a way.

The thing is, I've been involved in this particular universe for a while, years, long enough that I'm getting a little sick of it. It's so much easier to post one chapter a week instead of three.

So, this is what I'm going to do. I'm just going to post it all in one dump. I'll post a few chapters each day, like maybe 2-3, ending on some major plot cliffhanger or whatever, until, in like two weeks, the story's over. It's just something I HAVE to do or I'm not going to finish posting this story at all. I know this means I'll get a lot fewer hits on this story, and that it might overwhelm you guys enough that you'll stop reading, but it's just something I have to do for myself. I hope you understand.

Three other quick notes for this chapter:
1. Fanous is the Roman name for Pan.
2. When something is both bold and italic, it's in Ancient Greek. I don't have access to the Greek keyboard so I had to improvise.
3. This is one of my favorite chapters. Hands down.

And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.

____________________THALIA____________________

No one rejoiced when they saw the "Welcome to Yellowstone National Park" sign as Newt made his descent. They didn't mind that the sun was finally rising over the horizon, bathing them in its bronze glow. They didn't notice that their divine blizzard had given way to green grass and crisp, winter air.

They couldn't care less, because Nico di Angelo was dying.

Alastor's poison didn't just kill him, it made him suffer. He cried out again and again as his sickly, feverish body convulsed in spasms that got more and more frequent with every mile they flew. Each time his anguished mumbles came out in a language Thalia could understand, she filled in another piece of the puzzle that was the Ghost King. She gathered that he was having the same dreams over and over again, and that, in part, the Pact of the Big Three linked them together. The worst sin of their fathers, but, clearly, one of them suffered more from it than the others. Beyond being a pine tree for a few years, Thalia didn't see what negative impact it had on her life. Nor Percy's, except having to vaporize his pre-algebra teacher when he was twelve. No, the Pact caused lasting, permanent damage on only one.

And he was being tortured right in front of her.

"Sarà tutto come prima? Stop lying, Bianca, hic est de quo dixi vobis," Nico moaned.

Thankfully, he chose to stay in Latin for a while. Italian and Ancient Greek were his favorites, and when he settled on Ancient Greek, she caught every word he said. Being forced to hear his agony was so horrible that, when it happened, Thalia forgot she was up in the air for the first time in her life.

"This is Yellowstone?" Roszí gasped when Newt landed in the park.

"Yup," Ianthe replied. "What about it?"