Summary: The village lived in fear of the Nightmare Man, attacking their village youth as he pleased. To Percy, that was nothing more than a legend, even when he had his own encounter with this man, who he came to refer to as his dark angel. Little did he realize, this one encounter would change not only how he saw things, but also fate's plan.

Trigger Warning: Minor character death.

His Dark Angel

Percy jumped back as the curtains were yanked out from around him. Immediately he met his mother's eyes, the deep blues wide with fear. Instantly, Sally snatched her son into her arms, securing the curtains to prevent him from seeing out. "I told you to go to bed," she chided when her boy started to protest.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Percy's own green eyes widened and lips poked out into a pout that he discovered was impossible for his mother to resist. "But Mommy! Fluffy ran outside and I want her back," he whined loudly.

Sally's lips twitched as if she wanted to frown, but stopped herself from doing so in front of her son. "You know the rules, Perseus. No going out after dark," she warned him.

He did know the rules; his mother went over them often. He also knew the reason for the 'not going outside after dark' rule. Apparently, his mommy believed too much in the scary stories his grandparents told about the Nightmare Man, someone who came and killed people in their village on the June and December full moons. Percy knew he wasn't real and he couldn't understand why his mommy insisted on pretending like he was.

With that in mind, Percy let out another whine, both in protest and from the use of that hated name. "But Moooommmy, all the other boys are allowed to go out after dark!" He wildly gestured to the window to make his point. Just the other night, Jason Grace and Leo Valdez from a street over had asked Sally if Percy could come outside and go night swimming with them. Obviously, the answer had been no. "Even Annabeth and Silly are allowed outside at night."

At the mentioned of Silena Beauregard, Sally flinched and her lips dipped in a frown. That was when Percy knew something was wrong. He never saw his mommy frown unless something was. "I don't know what Annabeth's family is thinking, letting her out," she said, more to herself than her son. Then, she turned those stern blue eyes on him. "Silena, on the other hand, is quite a bit older than you Perseus. She's well on her way to womanhood while you, young man, are barely six. What Silena's family allows her to do...that is their business." Her voice grew heavy and Percy tried to wipe away the tears building up in his mom's eyes.

They never fell. Instead, Percy was set down and told to go to bed again. He didn't argue and watched his mother wonder off. She didn't like seeming anything but happy in front of him and that's why he was so worried. Following her, though, would only make the whole situation worse, so he went to his room and tucked himself into his little cot.

Sleep didn't come that night as he listened to his mommy attempt to stop her sobs. He couldn't understand why she would cry over hearing Silena's name. She loved Silly just as much as Percy did, often having the older girl watch her son when she had to leave their village for work. In fact, Sally knew Silena was easily her son's favorite person with how much he asked for her. Knowing that only left the five year old even more confused.

Meow.

That was the sound that made Percy jump out of his bed. "Fluffy?" Hearing more meows, he scurried out of his room and through the house. His mother was asleep, if her even breathing said anything, but he still paused outside her door to check. Once sure that little noises wouldn't wake her, he slipped out the house in bare feet, thinking his shoes would have made too much noise coming in.

Meow.

"Fluffy?" He whisper-yelled the way children did. Percy saw the ball of white fur dart through the light of the full moon and into the shadows of a building. Not hesitating, he started after his friend. That was when he came.

He morphed from the shadows with a set sneer in his flawless features. A mess of black curls surrounded his olive skin and Percy found he couldn't look away from the midnight colored eyes that shone with something the shadows surrounding him didn't have. He resembled a dark angel. For that reason, Percy couldn't find it in himself to be afraid of the beautiful creature. Seeing his kitten in the man's hands only further gave reason why he couldn't fear this being. Then, the dark angel dropped to his knees and held out the kitten for Percy. The angel's voice was smooth like honey as it whispered against his ear, "Lucky child. Never again come out in the darkness, lest you wish to see the true horror of it." The angel was gone as quickly as he came. Heeding his advice, Percy tucked the kitten into his arms and ran back inside.

Not once did he associate this beautiful creature with the Nightmare Man in his grandparents' stories. The Nightmare Man was an evil thing who hurt people. This shadow angel gave him his kitten back and said the same warning Silly and his Mom had multiple times before. There as no reason for his mind to make the connection.

Sally hadn't questioned why their kitten was on Percy's bed when she checked on him in the morning, only hugging her child tightly to her chest. If he looked closely, Percy could see the tear stains on her cheeks from where she had, undoubtedly, cried the night before. He didn't realized she had already been out that morning, speaking with neighbors, and the tears were fresher than that.

Thankfully, her son had not asked to go outside during the night ever again. Unfortunately, though Sally shouldn't have been surprised, when he failed to see her over the next few says, Percy asked why his Silly no longer wanted come over and play with him. To that, Sally did not have an answer and could barely contain her tears.

It wasn't until he had grown older that Percy discovered the real reason why Silena had basically disappeared and no one spoke her name anymore. "Went away," they said. Apparently, Charlie went away too, and Michel Yew, and a bully a few years older than him named Drew Tanka. A lot of people around Silly's age "went away" over the next few years and everyone acted as if they didn't noticed.

Percy, of course, noticed but knew better than to question it. No one answered his questions, anyway.

His Dark Angel

When he was twelve, an older boy in school had told Percy and a number of children his age the truth of the oldest legend of their village. Percy had grown knowing him from his grandparents' stories. That's all the Nightmare Man had ever been to Percy as a child, a character in a story meant to frighten him into doing as his mother asked. It had only worked until he meet his dark angel.

Hearing the old story after so many years was also when he was finally able to connected the similarities because his dark angel and this Nightmare Man legend. That had made all the fear he had once felt for the evil creature disappear completely. His dark angel was something different, a new adventure. There was no way he was evil, despite what Luke said. The angel had been given the chance to kill Percy, a defenseless child, but instead given sent the child back to bed with his pet. That was not evil.

"He likes young men and women best," Luke Castellan told them, Percy barely listening to him. "He doesn't take the elders. There is something about them that tastes different, our people have speculated. He takes someone every six months, always on a full moon"—'like the story of the wolf,' Leo whispered in Percy's ear, to which Percy had promptly rolled his eyes, only to be ignored as usual—"but doesn't hesitate to take another if our village angers him enough. Best you hope the lot of you are lucky." At this point, Luke had smirked wickedly, a strange gleam in his eyes that frightened the majority of them. "When you grow old enough, you'll turn against one another, just watch. Half of you won't make it to adulthood and will die by the Nightmare Man's hand."

Apparently, that June, Luke had grown old enough because Percy stopped seeing him after the night of the fully moon. According to Annabeth, the Mayor and his 'goons'—Annabeth's word, not his—had forced Luke from the house kicking and screaming, Ms. Castellan begging them not to as they went. Thinking about it, he didn't see Ms. Castellan much after that, either.

Luke deserved it with the way he treated people, especially his mother. Ms. Castellan was probably better off. Considering the nature of thoughts like that would turn his friends against him, Percy kept silent, even as they continued to plague him.

It wasn't until he was fifteen that his dark angel was brought to the forefront of his mind again. Until then, he had busied himself with distractions. The dark thoughts had stayed at bay, mostly, until Sally Jackson grew sick and Percy's world was covered in shadows. More than anything, he forced himself to keep up the appearance of a happy teenager for everyone else's sake. Things would be much worse if he lost the few friends he had.

It was Annabeth, who had become his best friend after Silena died—because he refused to denying what "going away" really meant any longer, who brought his angel up. Of all the people of their age group, she had been the closest to Luke and it was understandable his death would shake her up the most. Once she had found her cooping method, the blonde girl suggested their little group of friends make a vow to stick together. She, as well as Percy, had observed that it was often the peers who decided whom would be left to the Nightmare Man. If they didn't betray one another, nothing would happen. Everyone had agreed, Percy more to keep up appearances than everything. After all, these people could decide his fate. He couldn't have them thinking he was more observant than he appeared.

Years went by and things got better. Sally Jackson overcame her illness and was able to keep a steady job; Percy's father came back in the picture, if only briefly, offering them support. Percy let his guard down and allowed himself to see the world with rose tinted glasses. He discovered, quickly, it was easier to be oblivious to everything bad happening. His angel slipped further away from him along with those dark thoughts that had haunted him for years. His chest felt hallow, but he ignored this for favor of his rosy world.

It was just a few months after Percy had turned eighteen when something went wrong. That vow the little group of them hadn't faulted, yet. The problem was, they were the last of their age in the village, the last people of a decent age for the Nightmare Man. Everyone else, the elders had already sent to death. Though, when the elders came to them and told them to choose, they hadn't. Percy was so proud of his friends; they hadn't betrayed one another. Instead, the lot of them locked themselves away on that December full moon and the Nightmare Man didn't kill. Or, that was the story the parents told, but Percy knew the truth, having overheard some woman gossiping the following day. Someone had sent out their eight year old daughter and that had angered the Nightmare Man. As everyone should have already known, the Nightmare Man refused to take them that young. Apparently, someone thought they could get away with it. Obviously, they didn't know his angel very well—though, he barely knew his angel at all as it was. The elders knew what the consequences would be and they weren't prepared for everyone to be slaughtered just to save one teen. "There were children to protect." Percy had spat at them when that phrase had been used.

Then, Luke's prediction had come true. The elders had locked Percy and his friends in a room and told them to choose who would suffice as apology to the beast that stalked their village. Percy had been proud at first; his friends had lasted for three days without giving in. Then, the elders pulled them aside, one by one. He could only assume Annabeth gave because her young brother Malcolm was threatened, but the others had no excuse. Percy had been the single one refusing to condemn a friend to death. Rose-tinted glasses in place, he had come out the loser.

The Mayor and his goons had taken Percy, kicking and screaming. The only thing that stopped his attempts to break free was when he saw his mother sobbing and screaming for her baby to be released. That was when he swallowed his anger and put on a smile for her, because he didn't want his mother to end up like Mrs. Castellan, who had become the insane woman of their village years before. As he was carted toward town hall to await nightfall, Sally Jackson could be heard cursing those who called themselves her son's friends but condemned him to such a fate.

His Dark Angel

A chill ran down Percy's spine, the type that warned of coming danger. Sweat prickled on his brow despite the cool temperatures. His heart sped, knowing the deadly fate that was soon to come. The Nightmare Man had once spared his life, but Percy wasn't a child anymore. He was a young man, beautiful, slender, and of the Nightmare Man's taste. He would not be spared again...and his heart knew it. That was why it tried to break from his chest. In one, last, desperate attempt to keep his sanity, he pulled at the ropes that bound him. They held tight, digging into his wrists enough to draw blood.

Away went his last hope.

As he had all those years before, the dark man blended out of the shadows that surrounded him, the shadows seeming to cling to his clothing and call him back. "My dark angel," Percy called out, voice shaking. He swallowed, wishing that away. He refused to be afraid. He could not be afraid. This was just his angel, not that evil thing of legends. This was the man who saved his kitten. Looking his his eyes, those midnight eyes, he could see that. His body knew, which was why his heart accelerated. Yet, his mind still screamed that this was the evil Nightmare Man who killed his Silly. Squaring his shoulders back, he ignored his mind in favor of keeping sane in his last moments, exactly what his heart was offering. "You have finally come back for me." The dark angel advanced toward the bright eyed teen slowly. Percy saw his dark man hadn't changed in the many years since their last—only—encounter. "Yet, as we once again meet, you only bring me death. Why must you have teased me with this image of you for all these years, knowing death was the only solution?"

He stopped in front of Percy, black eyes—no, they were shades of brown—seemed to stare past his physical appearance, into his soul. Percy's breathing hitched. "Do you fear me now, child? No, not child anymore. You are a young man now."

Percy's lips parted with no sound coming out. He took a breath and shook his head. "No. I could never fear you, my shadow angel, or perhaps you prefer Nightmare Man?"

His lips spread into a small smile. "Good," he whispered. "You are the single soul who has not feared me, or the infection of darkness I leave behind," He cupped Percy's cheek. Then, in a flash Percy couldn't followed, pressed his lips to the teen's neck. The pain was sharp and successfully pulled a scream from Percy's throat. Thoughts not his own filled the teenager's mind.

The moon shone with a brightness he had never seen before, the lights of stars showing kindly around it. Percy could feel a frown on the lips that were his, yet not. "Nicolas." The voice was soft and dipped in honey. Without commanding his head to do so, it turned to meet the sound of the sweet voice.

The girl approaching him matches the honey like voice. Her eyes are swirling pits of brown, similar to his shadow angel's, and her dark curls had been pulled into a messy braid that lay over her shoulder, giving a better view of her smooth olive skin and kind smile. Even Percy had to admit the girl was beautiful.

Lips that were obviously not his own spoke in the honey voice of his angel. "I'm sorry Bia. You know I am trying my best not to...give us away. Tell me now, how is she?"

Bianca...the name was supplied to Percy by memories that he could only conclude as his shadow angel's. Realizing he was there to watch, the teen settled and observed as he hadn't done in years through his dark angel's eyes...through Nicolas' eyes.

Bianca's smile only faltered slightly, moving to sit beside him. "It is fine Nicolas. I know this is all new to you. Believe me when I tell you that I did not wish this to happen to you." The girl pushed hair from her eyes and looked up, drawing Nicolas' eyes with hers. He watched as a young girl went about chores, the girl's skin shades darker than their own. Suddenly, the girl stopped and had a coughing fit before going back to what she had been doing. The sheer force of the fit caused Percy to flinch despite himself. "She has become infested, Nico."

"No!" Nico snapped, slamming his fist into the bench they sat on, the wood beginning to crack under the strain of his pure force. Percy noted that he, and his dark angel by default, felt no pain. Anger pooled throughout Nico and it was minutes before he had control over the emotion again. "If Hazel is infested with that virus, they will not even offer to help her. She is the illegitimate child of father. We have already been shunned for that, even if mother has accepted her into the family."

Images of the little girl, Hazel, filled Percy's head. He saw earlier memories of how others treated Bianca, Nico, Hazel, and what he could only assume were their parents. He saw how their church ignored them, how they were shunned by all. It caused Percy's own anger to surface.

Bianca stared at him with worried eyes. "We will do what we can for her, but if she becomes too ill and passes, we will have to leave. We can not risk the village noticing how we do not sicken as our family does."

Percy felt Nico shaking his head. "Hazel will not get sicker. She is strong," his voice faltered. Even Nico knew what a lie that was. They had lost their mother to the plague, the Black Death as it was called, not long before; Percy could see the memories. Now, their younger sister and father were beginning to show symptoms of it as well. They would die soon. "I can't sit and watch her wither away into death."

"I know."

"We will leave in three days," he shuttered at his next thought, "that will give me enough time to say goodbye."

Bianca nodded, looking up at Hazel once more, only to find the girl running toward them, horror-struck expression on her face. "Bia! Nico! Something is wrong with Papa! He collapsed!" Hazel's voice was quivering with fear and it caused Percy's heart to squeeze.

Nico and Bianca shared at look before getting up. Nico ran to go find his father and Percy could hear Bianca behind them as she spoke in that honey sweet voice, "Hazel, let us take a walk."

The memories moved at a quicker pace, Percy only getting small pieces of them. He watched as Nico's father's condition worsened. He watched as little Hazel contracted it. Nico stayed away from the house as much as possible. Not for fear of contracting the plague, for he knew it was impossible, but for fear of what he would do to save his family. While he was away, it was Bianca who tended to their father and Hazel.

"We leave tomorrow morning," Nico said one night as he came into their small house. Bianca looked up at him from where she cleaned Hazel's open sores the best she could without waking the child. Their father lay off to the side. Both had given up on him the day before; he was half dead already. "Hazel's condition has worsened and she will be lucky if she is to live that long. Father is already too far gone to help. I can not sit here and watch her die."

Bianca pushed hair from his younger sister's face. They could both see it, see the cells in Hazel's skin dying off. "Fine, we leave in the morning."

The images began to swirl and twist, causing Percy to jump. He reached out frantically, trying to reach the young girl. He did not want the little Hazel to die, yet he knew from these memories that she would. He could not change the past.

As the world stabilized again, Percy felt a stab of pain in his stomach and he wished to be sick. Bianca knelt on the ground before him, wailing in pain and agony. As the memory became more vibrant, he could see the crimson red of blood that covered the kind girl before him. As Bianca looked up, he saw the pink tears that continually ran down her freckled cheeks. The looked of sadness and terror did not match the kind personality Percy had accompanied with Nico's sister.

Taking the chance as Nico's eyes wondered, Percy took in their surroundings. It was dark and they were in what he could only assume was a forest clearing. A dark shadowed man who seemed even more like death than his shadow angel towered above Bianca. He held a silver sword in his hand, blood dripping from it. Percy took a sharp breath as he followed the path of the blood. In front of Bianca, who she hover protectively over, was the lifeless body of a dark haired girl. The girl was soaked in blood and her electric blue eyes were lifeless.

"Why?" Bianca's voice had lost the honey tone. It was hollow. Her head lifted to look up at the shadow man before her. "She wouldn't have been like the others. She is my mate! She followed the rules and did not wreak havoc for our kind like the others! Why did you kill her?"

Nico flinched, his heart becoming heavy. Still, he didn't speak. Percy wasn't sure if it was for fear of his own life, or because he knew his sister had already become resigned to her faith.

The shadow man began laughing, a sound that could have chilled even the warmest waters. Bianca was unphased. "There are rules, my child. I created three of you with a warning not to let the mortal humans become aware of your existence. You and my dear Nicolas," a shudder went through Nico's body, "heeded my warning and hid from them. The other...was not as smart as you pair. He created more beings and mortal humans became aware of us. After those were killed, I told you, my dear Bianca, to never created another. I was not cruel in this new rule. You had your Nicolas. You would not be alone.

"But then you found this girl. You did not heed my rule any longer and turned her into one of us. You had to be punished for that, my dearest Bianca. Watching me kill this girl you call your mate is your punishment." The shadow man lifted what must be his head. His eyes were as crimson red as the blood. A sense of dread went though Nico as they leveled with his own. "Now, my dear Nicolas, it is time for your punishment. You did not stop your sister from doing this silly deed. You will live to regret that."

The man lifted his sword and brought it down again.

Had Nicolas not looked away, Percy would not have been able to stop himself from being sick. The horrible scream and sickening cracking of bones was enough to up heave the contents of his stomach.

As the memories were suddenly pulled away from him, Percy could feel the hot tears leaving trails down his cheeks and he let out a pained whine, for the beautiful life that had been lost. Warmth flooded his neck and his shoulder grew wet with what he assumed was his own blood. Mind fogged with the loss of those strange memories and the loss of blood, it was some time before the teen realized he no longer stood, bound, but now felt the soft ground beneath him. The sweet scent of flowers flooded his senses. "Nico?"

In an instant, a warm hand intertwined with his own and calm flooded him. "Yes? You saw it. Do you fear me now?"

Percy began to shake his head, but that only jolted pain through his body. He groaned and felt warm liquid pooling beneath him. Blood...his own blood. To think, after so long denying it, by his shadow angel's hand he would die. Yet, the fear he once felt for coming death was gone. Death was a better world than this, as little Hazel, sweet Bianca, and the beautiful girl that was Bianca's mate had discovered. Was this how his Silly had felt in the end, too? Was that what Nico he tried to show him, to show everyone? "No. I will never fear you." The words were strangled. Percy no longer had control over his mind as it jumped from image to him. The blood he lost left him feeling light. "Going away." It was a statement, not a question.

Nico's eyes widened. "No!" His voice fuzzed around the edges and Percy found it difficult to focus on him. "You're the only one who has never been afraid. I left you alive!"

"I'm going to sleep. Goodnight my shadow angel." His eyes closed.

His Dark Angel

Percy hissed and jumped back from the light. He glared out at the sun, sneering at it before looking down at his hand and nursing the slight burn. Within minutes, the burn had healed and he, again, tried to step into the light of day, only to have the cycle repeated.

He wanted out of this stone room he awoke in what must have been hours before. The problem was this idiotic sunlight was stopping him and he could not understand why. It shouldn't hurt him! It had never hurt him before...he assumed.

A dark chuckle echoed off the walls. With instincts that he could not remember having, Percy spun around, eyes wide, as he searched for the source of the sound. His body had slipped into a defensive crouch, fingers curled similar to claws, and teeth bared. Percy's eyes fell on a man, a beautiful man with a mess of curls that seemed to blend out from the shadows. A dark angel? What was it doing here, of all places?

The man let out a sigh, walking away from his shadows and stopping in front of Percy. He roughly grabbed the teen's chin and tilted it up until their eyes meet. The angel's jaw was set. "I...I had wished you would have been like I was, or like Bianca was, or even as Thalia was. I had been convinced you would remember your own past. You could not be like those...beings that my creator was forced to destroy." Expression pained, the dark angel released Percy's chin and took a step away. "It seems I was wrong."

That pained expression on his shadow angel's face caused Percy's chest to grow heavy with what he could only describe as sadness. The teen let out a whine as he watched the dark man skirted around the sunlight, looking as if he would leave, and then physically stepping into it. "No." He reached out for his shadow angel—Nico?—and tried to follow, only to jump back with a hiss, having to nurse his burnt hand.

"I knew there was something special about you, ever since I spared you as a child. After all, you did not scream. Most children scream when they see me, because of the stories," he let out a humorless laugh, "Everyone will scream and run when they see me. But not you," Nico's midnight eyes seemed to stare through his physical appearance, into his soul. "You never ran. You took your kitten and skipped back joyfully to your home. Why must you be so strange? Why can you not be strange now? Why can you not be that miracle I expected you to be?" He stepped toward the teen and Percy refused to step back or look away from his eyes.

Suddenly, anger twisted into Nico's face. "Why can you not remember your life as I had remembered mine? Why do you not at least remember me? Was I not important enough to be remembered? I saved your life. Not once, but twice. I spared you! I am risking my own existence to have turned you and to keep you as my companion." Letting out a huff of annoyance, Nico pushed Percy back, pinning him against the wall. He leaned in until their noses brushed, until they were barely a breath away. "Why do you not remember me?"

Percy could only stare up at him with blank eyes. His heart was heavy with sadness and pain, but he could not understand where the emotions were coming from. Why was this dark angel affecting him so? He opened his mouth to ask that exact question, but no sound would exit him. He could offer this man no comfort because he did not know why these emotions existed. He did not even know this angel! What kind of comfort could he offer him? How was Percy to explain that his memories were dim? They were so dim, nothing but a phantom itch in his mind that could not be reached. How was that to be explained with words?

"Nico." It was the only word that would flick off Percy's tongue. From the look in his angel's eyes, that seemed to be correct. "I know...your name. I do not understand how I know that and not other things, but I do. Nicolas."

It was a long time before Nico moved again. Finally, after the sun had begun to sick toward the horizon in the sky and the shadows changed, he pushed back. "Come," Nico said, a hint of emotion in his voice that Percy shouldn't pinpoint, though it caused his heartbeat to quicken. Taking Percy's hand, Nico slipped a cool ring of metal onto his finger. A gem that resembled the calm ocean shone brightly against polished silver. Percy noticed how his shadow angel wore a similar ring, only with a black gem instead of green. "I have much to teach you." With those words, Nico pulled him into the dimming light.

Percy flinched as the light covered him, waiting for the pain to come, but it never did. Instead, only a pleasant warmth spread throughout his body. The teen looked up at Nico, tilting his head in question.

The dark man stared down at him, his expression full of pain. It was as if all his hopes had been destroyed. Again, Percy's heart dropped and a pain of his own spread throughout his chest. He wanted that look to disappear from his angel. "Nico," he whispered, reaching up and cupping his face.

Slowly, that pain faded from Nico's face and was replaced with that emotion Percy did not understand again. "Don't fret," he placed his hand to overlap Percy's. "I'll teach you everything. I will pull back those memories you claim are dim. You aren't going anywhere. I won't let you."