Cecil and Lou Ellen looked at Will and Nico grimly.

"You're gonna take down Nyx?" Cecil echoed. "No offense, but...how?"

Will tried to push down the wave of irritation that flooded through him at Cecil's words, because honestly, it was a valid question. "I don't know."

Lou Ellen frowned. "You don't...know? And you're just gonna take her on? Do you have a death wish?"

"No, I don't have a death wish, Lou." Will snapped. "Someone has to do something." He squeezed Nico's hand. "And out of everyone...I think we're the only people who would be able to do it."

"But do WHAT?" Lou Ellen pressed on. "I mean, are you guys gonna take out her whole organization? Destroy her plan? Kill her?"

"Kill her-?" Will hesitated, because at the moment, that didn't seem crazy. "I don't know."

"And," Lou added. "How do you even plan on finding her?"

"We were with her before."

"What if she's moved, dumbass? And this place is probably crawling with security, looking for YOU. Considering you broke out of jail, and god knows what else you've been up to that you haven't told us. How on earth are you gonna track her down without getting caught or lost?"

Will really needed to stop being friends with smart people, because Lou Ellen was making some very good points. Before he could counter her with something really smart like "I don't know" again, Nico spoke up.

"I can find her." He said softly. "And I can get us there. Without being caught."

Will tried not to look skeptical. Nico was, after all, the most well versed in all the Mansion stuff. But he hardly knew his way around this building. How did he expect to get them to some location where Nyx was without getting caught?

Fortunately, Will didn't need to voice his doubt, because Cecil was there to do it for him. "How exactly do you plan on doing that?" He asked dryly.

"I have ways." Nico responded vaguely, sounding slightly exasperated. "I can get me and Will to Nyx. You guys do your thing here."

Cecil raised an eyebrow, but he didn't continue questioning. Even he seemed to have figured out that Nico was not the person to go to for thorough answers.

But now...it didn't seem like they had any questions left answering. This was real.

Will spoke up again, trying to hide the quiver in his voice. "Then...I guess this is it."

"Don't say it like that." Lou Ellen snapped, her voice wavering. "This isn't IT. We'll see each other again. After we free everyone, and you defeat Nyx, whatever that means, and we're heroes."

"I'm already a hero."

"Shut up, Will."

Will could see tears in the corners of her eyes, and Cecil wasn't doing a much better job at concealing his fear. "Guys." Will said softly. "It's okay. We're gonna be okay."

"I know." Lou Ellen sniffled. "Sorry-"

"Don't." Will said. "All of this hero stuff- I know it's new to you guys. And it's scary. Really scary. I'm terrified, okay? But we're gonna be fine. We'll see each other soon, okay?"

Cecil and Lou Ellen nodded, and for the second time that day, pulled Will into a hug. They stood like that for a long moment, trying to all shake the same thought: that this was the last time they were ever going to see each other.

Finally, Will pulled back. "Okay, okay." He wiped a tear that had traced down his face. "We have to go. You guys got this. Open the cells, let people go free. There's an exit on the other side of the hallway." He paused. "I think."

Despite Will's shaky directions, Cecil and Lou Ellen nodded with resolve, wiped their own tears (Cecil struggled with that, considering his hands were cuffed together) and raced down the hallway.

Will turned back to Nico, who had sort of drifted to the edge of the hall during Will, Cecil, and Lou Ellen's exchange. "Sorry about that-" Will started, but Nico waved him off.

"Don't be sorry." Nico said. "They're your friends. They're scared. I get it."

Will looked at Nico softly. "Are you scared?" He asked quietly.

Nico avoided his eyes. "Yeah. Of course I am. All of this- it's terrifying, Will. It brings me back to the worst parts of my life. But I just...have to get through it, you know?"

"I do know." Will replied reaching out and squeezing Nico's hand. He sighed softly. "Okay. What's your whole plan, for finding Nyx?"

"Promise not to totally freak out?" Nico asked.

Will's stomach twisted, but he nodded. "Yeah. Promise."

Nico pulled him down the hallway, into a particularly shadowy corner. "Hold on to me. Tight."

Will was VERY anxious about what was about to happen, but he tightened his grip on Nico's hand. "Okay."

Nico took a deep breath and closed his eyes, like he was focusing HARD. Suddenly, it felt like the room dropped twenty degrees, and everything was dark, and shadowy-

Will opened his mouth to speak to Nico, but he practically choked on shadows. He could barely even see him anymore; he could just feel the cool grip of his hand. Then everything went completely dark.

It felt like Will was falling, but not down. Falling sideways, almost. All of his senses seemed to overload then shut down, and he felt trapped in a dark void. The world spun around him, and the only grounding point he had was the grip of Nico's hand in his own.

Then, just as fast as the terrible sensation had begun, it ended, and Will's senses returned. He blinked rapidly, trying to see where he was. Unsurprisingly, he was in another dark corner.

He turned to Nico, who was still gripping his hand. He looked tired, like whatever they had just done had taken a lot out of him. "What WAS that?" Will hissed at him.

Nico rubbed his eyes. "You said you wouldn't freak out." He mumbled.

"I'm not freaking out." Will whispered. "I just have no idea what the fuck happened to us just now."

"It's called shadow travel." Nico said softly. "It's like, a Mansion thing, I guess."

"So you have powers? You've been holding out on me!"

"I haven't been able to do it for years." Nico looked around uneasily. "Being back around all these people, around Nyx...it did something to me."

Will tried to not think about how creepy that was. "Okay. Well, it was cool as hell, even if I thought I was literally dying."

Nico laughed weakly. "You feel like you're dying? I might pass out right now."

Will shook his head. "Nope. No falling asleep till we defeat Nyx. Speaking of..."

They were standing in a shadowy corner of a hallway, right outside a door. Will glanced at Nico. "...After you?"

Nico rolled his eyes, but he obliged and creaked open the door. Will and Nico slipped inside, as silently as possible.

The room they were in looked similar to the room they had been in when he had met Nyx. The main difference is that in this room, control panels lined the walls, and there were significantly more people, sitting around at tables and desks. They seemed to be working hard, typing rapidly and whatnot. And there, lounging on a couch in the middle of the room, was Nyx.

She was sitting with her children, Eris and Hypnos, and talking quietly. They were facing away from the dark corner that Will and Nico were standing in, which was very good for them.

"Don't know what he thinks." Nyx was saying. "He truly thinks he can escape who he truly is? It's ridiculous."

Will tightened his grip on Nico's hand. He had a very bad feeling he knew what they were talking about.

"Ridiculous." Eris echoed, sounding slightly bored.

"He was born into this. It's his destiny. I've always known it."

"Yes, we know, Mother." Hypnos groaned.

"You've told us MANY times. Can we go back out to capturing people now?" Eris complained.

"No!" Nyx snapped at Eris. "You are such a CHILD. Do you truly not understand that there are more important things than capturing people to be your little playthings?"

"Aren't we trying to capture the kid to be your little plaything right NOW?" Eris grumbled.

"That's different, child. I see the potential in him. He's trying to throw away his opportunity."

Eris sighed. "He clearly doesn't care, Mother. You need to let him go."

Nyx glared at Eris. Well, Will thought she did, at least. He couldn't really see her eyes. "Well, why don't we ask HIM?"

Wait, what?

Will barely had time to comprehend Nyx's words before Nyx snapped her fingers, and two of her guards marched over and grabbed him and Nico out of the corner.

They were dragged over to where Nyx was now standing up, that cruel smile on her face. Will felt the same frozen feeling he had earlier, like his brain was in slow motion.

"You two are so CUTE." Nyx laughed. "All your little sneaking around, hiding in corners? I control shadow travel, Nico. And I control you."

"You don't control me." Nico hissed. His eyes brimmed with tears that he wouldn't let fall. Will was surprised he was speaking at all.

Nyx smirked. "You're so adorable. Thinking you can get out. Just like your father."

"Don't talk about my father."

"And why not? I know more about him than you ever will. He was so devastated when you left. And of course, we had to punish him..."

"...No."

"Don't act like you care." Nyx scoffed. "You wouldn't have left him if you did."

"Stop."

"This is the culmination of your existence." Nyx continued. "Your whole family dead, because of you. So what do you choose now? To leave, to have all of their sacrifice be for nothing? Or join us, and do what they were all too weak to do?"

Nico breathed heavily, his legs looking like they were about to buckle beneath him. A tear reached down his cheek.

"Nico," Will cut in. "Don't listen to her. She's trying to get in your head."

"And you, Will!" Nyx laughed again. "Oh, we've been trying to get our hands on you for some time now. We came close with the museum bombing, but you were just too clever for that. We figured, if we can't beat you, have you join us!"

"The museum bombing." Will echoed. "That was you."

"Well, of course. Who else in this city is smart enough to pull something like that off?"

"You killed my dad." Will said, his voice shaking.

"Not intentionally." Nyx waved him off. "But it got your attention. So what's it going to be? Join me? Or end up like your parents?" She laughed at her last remark.

"I will NEVER join you." Will said shakily.

Nyx shook her head. "You're making a mistake. But we can cut our losses." She held her hand out to Nico. "Come along."

"No." Nico said, speaking for the first time in a while.

"No?" Nyx laughed. "And what else are you going to do, Nico? You need me."

"I don't need you." Nico said sharply. "And I'm going to make you pay for EVERYTHING."

With that, Nico jerked away from the guards holding him back, and the room erupted into chaos.