A.N. alright! So this is where the real story begins! Yes yes! I bet you are all excited (or not. Hey, I'm not one to be biased) ha ha ha ya! No prophecies in this one, though so I hope you all still like it! Oh, by the way, when we get into my characters heads, I try to make it as life like as possible. I argue with myself when I start to have certain thoughts, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. (if I am, well then now you know why I write it like that) so I have them argue with themselves, just so you know. On with the reading!

Disclaimer: Whew! Oh, what? Do I own Percy Jackson? Um…no. I wish. Do you?

Alone

Nobody should have to be afraid to sleep in their own house. It's your safe haven. Your escape to the big bad world. It can be warm when the outside is freezing, and cold when it's too hot outside. It's like your own little blanket of happiness. You feel safe. Even demigods felt safe in it.

Nico decided to stay the night at the Ahura's; their dad wasn't home yet and they had tons of extra rooms, and Nico didn't really feel like going back to the Underworld tonight.

So he chose a room one floor under Viscaria, thinking that if anything did happen, he could hear her. The Ahura's house was slowly becoming a home to Nico instead of just a house. It was nice to know that he would have at least one home.

Nico fell asleep easy that night, thinking happy thoughts about a family, and of course, Viscaria.

--

Viscaria was thinking along the same lines. She was glad that Nico stays at her house sometimes and sometimes he doesn't. Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

And she was quite fond of Nico.

Anyways, as Viscaria stared at her ceiling, she couldn't help but think that it was very comforting to know that there was someone you cared deeply for right below you. To bad he wasn't on the same floor. The same room.

The same bed.

Stop, Viscaria! Get your mind out of the gutter.

But it was only the gutter if it's bad thoughts! I was only thinking that Nico should be in my bed with me. Sleeping.

Mmmm hmmm. That's all anyone ever thinks about doing when they have someone in their bed. Someone they care deeply for. Even love. Uh huh. You were just gonna sleep.

Yeah! See? So there's nothing to worry about! I'll just go get him…

No! Go to bed!

Oh, shut up!

No getting Nico!

Fine, then my mind is going back to the gutter!

Whatever…

--

Viscaria was having the strangest dream. Men dressed in shadows crept into her room. They seemed to grow out of the shadows. Viscaria thought it was pretty. Shadows are so pretty. They came to her and put something on her mouth. It tasted like grapes.

The world slowly started to morph before her eyes. Wow. This is a big house. I wonder who lives here.

Ooooo, look. There are a lot of flowers in that room. So colorful. So pretty. I love flowers.

Hey, look! A window! I wonder why we didn't just use the front door.

These shadows sure are confused on where they're going. Don't they know the house is back there? That's where Nico and Adonis are!

Oh! Nico! And Adonis! I love them. I love Nico. I love Adonis. I love love love them! I wish they could come with me. It's so dark out here.

Hey, where are we going? I can't see anything!

I wish I would just wake up from this awful dream. Those shadows weren't just shadows anymore, they started to turn into things, and they're really scaring me.

I wish Nico were here.

Nico woke in a strange place. At first, he thought he was still in the Ahura's, but that can't be right. When he fell asleep, he distinctly remembers there being window on the walls. And a light. And he remembers falling asleep on a bed. He remembers having a strange dream where he was taken from his room and transported somewhere else, but that was just a dream.

Right?

Nico bolted up. He cataloged his surroundings, and what he had wasn't much.

Two beds. A little room where a toilet was enclosed. A sink. A shower.

Um…did he fall asleep in the prison room of the Ahura's?

No. They don't have a prison room.

So that means…

He's in a prison.

Oh, shit.

--

Adonis woke early. He had a strange feeling that something was wrong with the house. Sure, it was quiet. But it was a mansion, and was bound to be quiet sometimes.

Bt he usually woke to the sound of Viscaria snoring loudly, or maybe her making some food, or even her and Nico talking.

Nothing.

Maybe they aren't up yet.

Adonis went down the hall where Nico was sleeping.

Nothing.

Maybe…he left. Yeah, something came up. He had to leave in the middle of the night.

He went up a winding staircase where vines of flowers wrapped beautifully around it.

He opened Viscaria's door.

Nothing.

Maybe…Maybe Viscaria went with Nico. Yeah. Yeah.

But maybe not.

Adonis started to panic. Where could they be? Outside?

At six o' clock in the morning? Maybe. But probably not.

So he would wait for them. Yeah, wait for them.

--

Nico started to pace. What the hell happened? He was sleeping peacefully in his warm cocoon. Then he wakes up in a prison. A terrible prison.

Not the kind that mortals have. This one had no light. A steel door. No bars. Nothing.

And Nico could sense the monsters. Why would he be in a prison that holds monsters? Was he in the Underworld?

No, his dad wouldn't allow this, and Nico could escape. He's done it once before. But he couldn't this time. This dark hole was no part of the Underworld. This was a terrible place. A much more scarier place. A much more darker place.

Nico had to stop his thoughts before they got out of hand.

But once he stopped his jumbled thoughts, he finally heard what was going on.

Nothing.

There was absolutely no sound. Anywhere. It was a deafening silence. Nico curled himself into a ball.

He soon was lost in the overwhelming silence. And he was all alone.

--

Viscaria woke out of her haze. Her obscure eyes tried to focus on what was around her, but what she saw couldn't be right. She had her hands being held behind her back, and she was being led through many gloomy and lonely corridors. She heard the awful cries and tears of the souls behind those ethereal steel doors. She was instantly saddened. Where was she?

She tried to look at what was behind her, but once she turned her head, she was pushed to the ground. Hard. She even drew blood. She hissed in pain, but bit back her tears. Don't look weak in front of your enemies.

They ripped her up roughly. She tried not to cripple to the floor again. She could only hope that the place they were taking her to was close. She couldn't hold back the tears for much longer.

She was cold. She was sad. She was angry. She was hurt. She was alone.

They stopped at a door and thrust her into it. She fell on her already cut up knees. She only let out a small yelp.

It was so dark in here. And she was alone. She let the tears flow, and she sniffled.

"Viscaria?" she heard a small voice ask.

Adonis waited. All day. Almost all night. He knew he was gonna go crazy if he didn't admit that something was going on, that something wasn't right, and that something happened to his sister and Nico.

He started to panic, but it passed quickly. He ran to his room and grabbed two items; a drachma and his lucky deck of cards Viscaria had gotten for him on his tenth birthday. He started to play with the deck nervously while walking to the fountain out front. He needed to IM someone, and he only knew two other people at camp.

He only hoped that they would answer. If they didn't, then Adonis would be left…

Alone.

--

"N-Nico?" She asked, and her heart bloomed. Maybe she wasn't alone.

"Oh, thank the gods." There was a flurry of movements, and suddenly she was being hugged.

"Nico." She sighed in relief, and the tears burst like a damn. She wasn't sobbing, just had the tears cascading down her face. She was just lucky that the arms of Nico were holing her together or else she would fall apart.

"Sh. It's ok." he kept muttering to her, rubbing her back, finger combing her long black hair.

She just kept nodding. The tears kept falling. "W-w-where are we?" she stuttered through her tears.

"I don't know." Nico said. He lifted her up. Her knees buckled. "Whoa." Nico grunted as he caught her. There wasn't much light to see in the room, but she could see his eyes, and they were instantly angry. "They hurt you?"

"They pushed me down. No biggie." No need for Nico to already get killed because of her.

"No biggie?" he growled. He paused for a long moment, sighed in defeat then led her to the bed. "Come on. Let's lay down. We need some sleep."

Well, at least he didn't say it was only her that needed sleep. She didn't need another place to be alone in. Even if it was her subconscious.

He sat her down. Like she couldn't do it herself. Like she was too weak to do it. Like she wasn't capable. But she wasn't mad. It felt nice to be taken care of, even if it was in the most terrible place she'd ever seen.

Nico was about to say 'Top or bottom?' thinking that she wanted her own bed.

She laid down on the bottom, and he took that as his answer. He started to get up, but she grabbed his shirt.

"Stay with me?" She asked innocently, but Nico heard it. He heard how scared she was. And he didn't really want to leave her alone again. He nodded.

He lay down beside her, pulling her back against his chest. She sighed. At least she could find little comfort in this place.

Nico placed his arm around her waist, barricading her to him.

Nico didn't really want to think about how lucky he was that she was pushed in the same cell as him. He didn't want to think about what was going to happen to them or how they were going to get out. All he wanted to think about was that Viscaria was here, and that maybe this place wasn't as dark as he thought.

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