The shadows pressed against him. Demons threatening to tear him apart from the inside. He wasn't safe. Monsters started closing in, but he was weak. He'd fought too many of them off already. Demons and monsters, both inner and outer, started to overwhelm him. His life flashed before him. His mother's body after the house exploded. Bianca after she became a Hunter. Percy on his fifteenth birthday. The first time he saw Thalia. The first time he talked to Hades. Bianca's ghost. The Labyrinth. Hades's Mythomagic action figure. Thalia when she became a Hunter. The battle in New York. The pavillion in camp with a crack in it. His cabin at camp. Thalia with a pack of wolves. He saw all of his doubts and dreams. He was nobody. Just a son of Hades. Nobody wanted him. Thalia would never love him even though he loved her. What if he was trapped here forever? What if no one knew he was gone? What if they didn't even care that he was gone? He screamed in pain, in fear, in anger, in frustration. Death rolled off him in waves threatening to send the monsters to Tartarus, but he couldn't. He was already in Tartarus.
"Nico! Nico! Nico, wake up!"
The voice pierced through his nightmare of a memory. He could hear screaming. It took him a moment to realise it was his. He bounded out of the bed, not knowing where he was. Sweat dripped down his back as he lunged for his sword. He whirled around, ready to attack, but stopped short. Thalia kneeled on the bed, fear and worry in her eyes. All the strength left Nico. His sword dropped to the cabin floor with a clatter. Despair brought him to his knees. He put his head in his head and sobbed. Sobbed and sobbed as Thalia held him silently.