I died a long time ago. Like, what feels like roughly a thousand years ago. Yet somehow I'm here again, back in the real world. Somehow, I, Nico di Angelo, am back in the real world after being dead for so long. You ask how? I don't know. But I can tell you my story.

...

This entire thing began when I killed myself. Not long after I told Percy that I liked him, well, actually, that I loved him, I became hated by nearly everyone. Because Percy and Annabeth told Grover, and Grover told Coach Hedge, and Coach Hedge told the Aphrodite cabin, and... Well, you get the idea. Once everyone knew that I was gay, almost everyone hated me.

Almost. Only Jason, Annabeth, Percy, and Will still were my friends.

But even they couldn't give me as much support as I needed, because everyone else kept on pushing me down.

The others all made my life miserable. Well, more miserable than was usual, at least. I felt like I didn't have any options left, so one day, I went outside of Camp Half-Blood and just ran into the forest until I found a large stream, which I proceeded to jump into. Then I forced myself to breathe in the water until I was simply... gone.

Eventually, after a time that I prefer not to mention, I made it to the underworld. Most of what I remember is just sitting there doing nothing. I mean, sure, it was okay, but only because my father (who, by the way, is Hades) let me stay in his castle, and sure, I got to see Bianca again, but after a couple years, that just kinda wore off, and I just ended up staring at the ceiling all day, not moving, just thinking and keeping to myself.

But a few important things did happen.

While I was there, I was able to reflect on what I'd done wrong in life, and I was able to forget all the anger and lies and horrors. I was given the chance to start anew, and I took it. I lived happily - for the very first time.

Then one day, I woke up and I was in my cabin at Camp Half-Blood. I was back. I don't know why, or how, but I assume that it was Hades' doing. Maybe he'd gotten tired of me just moping about, but he decided to put me back into the land of the living.

...

When I open my eyes, everything is different. The cabin is not the same, not like how I'd redone it. It's, of all things, Monster High themed. Pink and Black. Cartoon skulls all over. Striped wallpaper. Casket shaped lockers.

I swing my feet off of the bed and look around. I'm wearing my aviator jacket, silver chain bracelets, black jeans. What I was wearing when I drowned.

I get up and slink into the shadows in a corner, waiting for someone to come in. I want to know who lives here now.

I don't have to wait long.

After only a few minutes, a crowd comes rushing in, laughing and talking loudly. A crowd of girls rush past , accompanied by a lone boy. I don't spend long looking at faces, but instead keep scanning the room, taking in the scene. The bed that I'd gotten out of is gone, replaced by bunk-beds, all but one with Monster High designs on them.

The only bed that looks different is the boy's. His is pitch black, silver, and green, with snakes and embroidered silver lettering on it. Slytherin themed. He must be a Harry Potter or a Slytherin fan, like me.

Nobody seems to take any notice of me, so I stay there in the shadows, observing. The girls all go into the bathroom to change, while the boy stays in the main part of the cabin and undresses. I cast my eyes down while he changes, looking up only occasionally. When he and all the girls are done, they climb into bed and fall asleep. After I'm sure that nobody will notice me, I begin to creep out of the shadows, towards the door. Suddenly, an icy-cold hand on my shoulder stops me.

I turn around. It is the boy I saw earlier. His face is cast in shadows, and I can't make out his features easily.

"Come outside with me, brother." He says, then walks out of the door without a glance back.

For some reason unknown to myself, I take a deep breath and follow him outside.