So, there were some flaws in the story, thanks to MarissaTodd for pointing that out! I worked an explanation into this chapter, I hope that it patches up the hole in the story logic. Drop a review when you're done, let me know what you thought about this chapter, please?
Disclaimers: I am not Rick Riordan. I do not own anything you might recognize. This story is a work of fiction, using the characters from Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus, with a plot that is a mash-up of plots from a few books and movies. As such, it's not marked as a crossover.
Warnings: Guy x guy pairing. The romance is not the main plot, but it is an important subplot, so if you do not like this, click the back button. Rated for mild cussing that might occur somewhere in the near future. The characters are slightly out of character, too.
Summary: It was only supposed to be just one day in someone else's life, to see what the world could have been like if things had only been the slightest bit different. When the time was 3:59 and he couldn't get back, though, Nico started to realise just how much can go wrong when you climb through the looking glass without looking to make sure that this was a two-way passageway first.
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
Dreams/Flashbacks/Memories
Just One Day
Falling asleep was starting to feel more like a dream that was unattainable. Especially tonight.
It was debatable whether it was the pain or the mirror keeping him up, though. While the bruises made it impossible to find a comfortable position to settle and go to sleep in, the mirror kept his mind awake, eating up his sleepiness in giant bites. He was so sorely tempted to go and check the mirror in the bathroom and confirm that it was only a hallucination, but something held him back.
Maybe, just possibly, there was a little part of him that wanted the mirror to be actually a portal to another world. He read the Chronicles of Narnia when he was younger, and he would be lying if he said that he had not studiously and systematically checked every closet or wardrobe in every house he visited when he was ten. He grew out of it, but a part of him would always want to explore another world.
Turning over yet again, he sought out the cooler part of his bed.
It still hurts. Damn the redhead. The only reason Hazel had not seen right through him was the fact that she came back late again, and thus he could snuggle into his blankets and pretend to be asleep by the time she snuck into the room.
At least the raven… Jack? Mark? Jackie? Whatever his name was, he was never this brutal. He preferred to do the work himself, only setting the others on him if he fought back. That meant that as long as Nico did not retaliate, it would not get this bad, since the guy's stamina was not that great. Which… what happened to him? Now that he was thinking about it, Nico realised that he had not even seen the guy in the canteen for at least a week now. Maybe he had went overseas? That was not right either, he did not have much reason to do that, no family outside of this backwater town and no thirst for adventure, for roaming beyond.
Sometime while he was picking apart the possible theories behind the disappearance of the leader of the group of empty-headed idiots, he slipped into the realm of unconsciousness. He was jolted back into the land of the conscious suddenly and unceremoniously by the urgency, the need to use the toilet. He winced as he applied pressure on his foot, but he made it there as fast as he could and did his business.
He was washing his hands when he realized that there was no one in the mirror.
The tap continued running as he stared at the spot where he was supposed to be.
Everything in the mirror was exactly as it should be, except, with minor differences that stood out. For example, the curtains surrounding the shower stall was drawn, and there was a towel there that had not been put on the rack with the other towels since –
"Hey, Neeks, can I come in now?"
The voice hit him like a bullet, catching him completely off guard, knocking the wind out of him with the sheer familiarity of it. That was a voice he had never thought he would be able to hear again, something he had thought was completely gone, forever.
"A second!" someone called back.
That someone sounded so suspiciously like him.
That is, if he spoke with an Italian accent all the time.
The running water went forgotten as the shower curtains were drawn open. Nico was tempted to turn around and check that there was no one in the shower behind him.
Because, there was no way that was him. Him from an alternate universe or not.
Mirror-him was the right side of scrawny, not lean per se, but not too skinny either.
Unlike him. Leo had once approached him about the fact that he looked like he was starved at home, and he had not responded well. He had not too kindly told Leo that it was not his business, and that it was not within his control what his appearance was like. Suffice to say, they never broached the topic again.
Leo doesn't need to know that he had never quite gotten into the habit of eating regularly, as he had the tendency to forget that normal human beings needed three meals a day to function, so he would forget to eat if he did not keep track of when his last meal was.
Their eyes met in the mirror then, and his thoughts were derailed by his doppelganger speaking up.
"Nice to know that someone actually lives on that side of the mirror."
Nico startled a little when he realised that he was probably the guy in the mirror to the person in the mirror. Gods. That sounds… exactly like something out of a fairy-tale or science fiction or something?
The words came out of his mouth unchecked, though. "You're real?"
"I think that I should be asking that," the guy said.
The second on the clock reflected in the mirror on the other side ticked closer to 4:00. The single-worded question spilled out.
"How?"
His doppelganger stared back. He was apparently just as unsure.
He flickered off. The mirror showed Nico staring back at himself, heavy eye bags and half-stunned expression all there. Nico stumbled out of the bathroom.
4:00AM
He fell back into the bed in shock, wincing at the impact before his mind turned back to the meeting. Was it even a meeting? What was going on?
The idea took hold in his head sometime before lunch. It stayed, persistently.
It started as he wondered about the portal as the science teacher droned on about the laws of physics. Many of the theories proposed were never disproven, even if they were not proven. The one that stuck out was the one on mirrored universes. It had something to do with a black hole and the antimatter, but it spoke about how for everything that were around, there was a carbon copy in a mirrored universe, and there was a link between them.
It did not explain why the link would be in his bathroom, and neither did it explain just why… why Bianca was alive there where she should be dead, but it was an interesting theory, and it was one of those that mentioned portals, even if it was brief. It stated that for every parts of the worlds that touched, overlapped, a portal would be formed, establishing a connection that would allow things to pass through. Does that meant that Nico could get to that world?
When that question came up, Nico spaced out more. This time, he contemplated the possible scientific breakthroughs if he could find out how this worked. Then he could, perhaps, finally stop being such a disappointment. Maybe this was it? He could prove that it was possible to get to another world, another universe, and the whole realm of science would be redefined, wouldn't it?
Perhaps all the scientists would be left trying to reconcile this with everything they have right now. It's not that they'll mind, actually, if they really enjoyed experimenting and testing and exploring. This was just a whole new world of theories and possibilities that would likely be frustrating and almost impossible to manoeuvre, but it would not be completely impossible and it would be satisfying and fun.
Even better, what if the technology and scientific advances in that world was light years ahead of that in this world? They could make improvements in leaps and bounds, and the breakthrough would be extraordinary.
All this swirled around in his head as he wandered home that night. It was enough that he mostly did not notice the pain that laced through his systems whenever he applied too much pressure on his busted ankle. Hazel had walked home with him, but she had mostly given up on trying to get him to respond to her questions. She could recognise that when he was stuck in his head with theories or blueprints to be built, there was no point trying to ground him in reality.
This time, it was definitely anticipation keeping him up. After Hazel settled in for the night, he found himself unable to fall asleep. He had enough time to wrap his head around the fact that this was, possibly, a ground-breaking discovery that would change science as we know it, and now he was just bubbling with questions. Obviously, he would not be able to fit everything into the one or two minute session they had, but they could figure something out, right?
What had the boy tried to say, though? Was it important? The questions marched around in his head, demanding his full attention.
Eventually, Nico gave up on sleeping. There was other ways to pass time, after all.
Instead, he went and retrieved a book from the bookshelf and settled down in the living room, choosing to read just to give himself something to do other than lying there, staring at the stars as the glows faded, counting the seconds while his mind sped off at a million miles an hour wondering what could happen next.
He was not entirely sure of when, exactly had he fallen asleep, or what had woken him up when he re-entered the land of consciousness.
Glancing down, he noticed that the book was open on page 187.
Huh. He could barely recall having read to page 123. Or was it 23? He wasn't quite sure, he just knew that it was the part where the main character jumped onto a flag pole from a window in an office building after discovering that his uncle's car was riddled with bullet holes.
Closing it, he looked at the clock.
3:57AM.
He was a little surprised by the accuracy of his internal clock, although he supposes that he should have expected it. He had been waking up at the same time every night for seven months, after all, excluding the nights when he did not fall asleep at all, or woke up due to a nightmare.
Putting the book back, he walked towards the mirror in the bathroom. Pausing outside the bathroom door, he hovered a little, suddenly nervous. What if the previous two nights were not real? Or it was, indeed, 4:00 AM there, and his doppelganger was not awake? What if –
Shaking his head, he cleared the doubts. No point thinking about that now, it would just make him unnecessarily worried.
Steeling his nerves, he went in, and stared at the mirror.
Unlike before, this time, he was a little more prepared.
It was still slightly disorientating and disconcerting to watch as he suddenly warped a little, before being replaced by mirror-him. Apparently, he had been waiting for this too.
The words spilled out of his mouth unchecked once more. Somehow, he could not regret what he said this time, though. It felt like a brilliant idea now that he voiced it out.
"Want to switch?"
To his credit, the boy in the mirror only hesitated a little before he replied, "Are you the guy I keep thinking was me in my dreams? You've got an interesting life."
Which, of course, was totally not what he asked, but while it threw him off guard, it made him infinitely more curious.
"You dream too?"
"The only reason I was up the first time I noticed that there was no one on the other side of the mirror was because I woke up at 3:58 and tried to clear my head," mirror-him snorted.
Nico thought about it. "Yesterday and the day before?"
"Mom's not home. Someone has to drive Bianca back." He paused then. "So, are you?"
"If I am, than you probably was the guy I dreamt that I was for the past seven months, give or take." Nico scrambled for something to confirm that. "You date Percy, right?"
The reflection processed that before huffing out a laugh. "This whole conversation sounds so weird. Yes."
"So, you know what I'm mostly like, and, if you're fine with being me for one day, can we switch? Please?" Nico steered the conversation back to the original question.
"Why would you want to live my life?" He sounded puzzled.
"It's not really just your life, I want to see what the technology and the likes there are like, I mean, if we combined the theoretical and practical sciences we both have, we could –"
"Okay, fine, why not?"
Nico glanced up at the clock on the other side of the mirror. They had about 10 seconds left. "We should do this fast."
His reflection stared at him for about a second before clambering onto the counter. As he got closer to the mirror, and, indirectly, Nico, Nico found himself instinctively backing up a little. Goosebumps formed when the mirror rippled, the person who looked exactly like him just coming out if it like…like…
"If you're not regretting asking me to switch with you, do it quick. Not much time left."
Nico glanced at him, blanking out for a moment in panic. Before giving himself a chance to rethink his words, though, he got onto the countertop and pressed forward.
The first contact with the mirror jolted him a little. It was still a hard surface, but the touch seemed to make the mirror meld itself onto him, sucking him in, as if it was trying to pull him into it. From his position there, though, he could see mirror-him studying him. Their eyes met briefly in the mirror, and there was challenge in his eyes.
Nico ignored the sensation as he pushed right in.
For the short moment before he hit the other end of the portal, he was suspended, the feeling of free-falling making him nauseous. In there, the in-between, there was absolutely nothing, not even anything he could feel. The whole place was colourless, without any identifiable colour even without being all black.
Being on the other side slammed into him like a truck. He tumbled out of it, spat out by the same mirror that had taken him in, only, not on the right side, not anymore. His heart had begun beating a little faster, and he turned around. Before either of them could get more than a glimpse of each other, the mirror warped.
His hand collided with a hard surface when he touched the mirror, leaving behind a handprint.
The clock showed that it was now 4:00 AM.
Turning towards the half-opened door, he tried to sort out his feelings.
On one hand, he was excited. For the first time in forever, he would be seeing Bianca, talking to her again. Percy actually remembers, and acknowledges his existence, and his mother was still home. That was, if the person he switched with was, indeed, the guy he thought he was in his dreams, as put by him. That aside, the possibilities in this alternate universe was endless, if he could find one, maybe he could find the next one? And if the person on this side somehow created that portal, then he would find that material and figure out how it actually works.
On the other hand, though, this wasn't his world, Hazel wasn't here. It only truly occurred to him when he noticed that there was only two towels here – one for him, one for Bianca.
Not once, he realized, had he ever seen Hazel in his dreams.
It suddenly hit him that this was the life he would have led if Bianca had never died. If Hazel had never came into his life, if mother had never walked out of it. Well, you're here to search for the knowledge that this place could offer, not the life that you could have had.
'You could enjoy this chance,' something residing in the back of his mind whispered. 'You have to be him for a day, anyway. Might as well enjoy it while you could.'
That gave Nico pause. He would not be here just trying to pick up the answers to the questions that he had. It was a weekday, meaning that he would have to go to school. That meant that he would have to interact with other people as his doppelganger.
What was he supposed to do?
'Act.' His subconscious provided helpfully. 'Acting's one of the only things you're good at, right?'
He needed the script, though, to be good on the stage, he had to know what he was supposed to do, but this was not scripted. I'll try not to screw this up, Nico told himself silently. It's just for one day. I'm going to be him for one day. Oh hell, how am I going to not screw this up?
His hand was frozen on the doorknob. Nico was suddenly unable to summon the strength to push open the door and face this life now. 'I can't have stage fright for this. Even if it's not actually on a stage.'
Why did he ask to switch?!
It was done, though, and he could not regret it. Besides, the longer he wait, the harder it would be to bring himself to go out there. Semi-composing himself, he pushed open the door.
He paused with one foot out as he took in the room.
It was like he had walked back into his own room, just, with that weird feeling that something was off about it. Like there was something different, but not something he could spot at first glance.
Everything was just so similar. The same arrangement, the same furniture, the same wallpapers, the same bunks, even the same books on the bookshelf, at the first glance.
Then, he started picking up on the small differences, the little spot-the-differences that made him a little off-kilter as his brain tried to match this room to his. For instance, the pattern on the bed sheet on his bed was different, with cars on it instead of dinosaurs (don't ask), the glow-in-the dark dinosaurs that had replaced the stars that had hung there, the laptop on the table was open instead of close, with the colour being silver-grey with a red sticker on the top left hand corner of the screen instead of metallic-grey with a post-it note stuck onto the top right hand corner of the screen, the books on the shelf (which had been Hazel's) had either an entirely different syllabus, or the same syllabus for someone who was two grades higher, the missing box of hair products abandoned in the corner from the time when Hazel still hoped to be able to tame her hair, the pile of novels and magazines where Frank usually leaves his deck of Mythomagic cards from the times when he came over with the intentions of playing with Nico –
It was a slap in the face when he realized that he was so used to having Hazel around he had moved on from Bianca. Had stopped thinking about her in present tense, thinking more about Hazel instead. Stopped seeing her every time he came back to his room, expecting to see Hazel, or possibly Hazel and Frank, or even his friends, instead.
How could he have just forgotten her like that?
The soft rhythm of snores filled the still air in the room as Bianca slept on peacefully, completely and perfectly unaware of what had just happened.
Just one day, he told himself firmly as he walked over to the bed that looked so much like his own, yet so different and definitely not his. From here, standing beside the bed, he only needed to tilt his head up a little to see Bianca, sleeping there. Guilt washed over him as he found himself tracing the lines of her, trying to remember everything he could.
That was when he spotted the something lining her right arm. In the dim lighting, it was almost indistinguishable, but that tattoo like thing definitely was not supposed to be there. Was it?
Gods, if everything was going to be this…off, this different, all the time, then it was going to be really hard for him to predict his moves and what he should say, but he was always good at improvising. Now that he was actually here, he could appreciate just how little he knew about the life of the person he lived at in his dreams. Sure, he got glimpses all the time, but they were just that – a glimpse that offered no real insight.
Exhaling, he looked at the bed once more. Suddenly, he felt exhausted. Without much complaint, he got into the bed and tried to get comfortable. It did not really matter, since he ended up falling asleep almost as soon as he laid down.
He woke to the semi-familiar voice telling him that he was going to be late if he did not get up instantly. He groaned, turning over and burying his head under the pillow as he mumbled for H-
The unfamiliar fragrance of another sort of detergent cut sharply through the haze of sleepy disorientation, making him alert, cutting him off before he could say Hazel's name as he registered and tried to place the scent.
Suddenly, he was wide awake and fully aware of what was going on.
He forced himself to finish up the sentence, though, mindful to use Bianca's name instead.
She sounded annoyed as she told him that he was usually better than this in the morning. He rolled over and got his first look at her, a proper look in actual person, instead of glimpses through Other Nico's eyes, or the previous night from the lower angle.
His eyes were instantly drawn to the row of 0's followed by a 1, separated by colons, printed on her right arm. It looked suspiciously like a counter, or a timer.
Only, there was 8 slots, way more slots beyond the usual seconds, minutes and hours, or even if the person used milliseconds.
He had never seen this in his dreams.
Then again, he hadn't paid much attention to details.
Still.
He must have stared for a little longer than he intended, for Bianca made another impatient sound and told him that he had a counter of his own, if he was so interested in it, he should look at his own instead.
Nico flushed a little, before apologizing for it.
She gave him a funny look, a hint of suspicion clear in her eyes. "Come on, you're up now. Get changed, we need to go. Or I'll just go without you," she stated clearly before waltzing out of the door.
Barely the start of the day and I'm already screwing it up, Nico thought as he pulled out the outfit mirror-him had been kind enough to leave hanging in the closet. Just like what I had expected. He changed quickly, the skill perfected after almost years of almost being late for school due to the lack of an alarm clock that could actually wake him up.
He was almost out of the door when he glanced down at the glaring lack of a counter on his arm.
Going back to the closet, he rifled through it for a jacket that he liked. Pulling it on, he picked up the bag left to the side of the table before running down the stairs and out of the house to catch up with Bianca.
She was in a car when he got there.
A Rolls-Royce that he probably wouldn't even have gotten to touch back home.
He refused to be thrown off by that, although he knew that father never had a car. Of course, it was a little harder to stopper his reaction when he realized that his mother was the one driving.
His glimpses of his life in his dreams was limited to snatches of his life in school, so he had never gotten to see his mother. No matter the fact that she had always preferred Bianca, she had never treated him badly. Even though he never said it out loud, Nico had missed having her around. Maria had aged gracefully, maintaining her regal air of authority. She caught his eyes in the rear view mirror and smiled at him. Thankfully, she looked back to the road before she could see his reaction.
Bianca simply ignored him, glaring out of the window. That did not sit right with him. From what he had seen in his dreams, the two of them got on quite well. Sure, they had not sat together during lunch break for a while now, but nothing had ever indicated that Bianca did not like him. What went wrong?
It occurred to Nico that it was entirely possible that the dreams were not connected to this world.
That made more sense, actually. Not that it would matter. He was here on a scientific journey. Besides, no matter how bad things might be here, it could not be as bad as life in reality.
And if it was, well.
It's just one day.
Wasn't it?
*** NaNoWriMo 2014 Winner ***
