A/N: I am so so sorry I missed updating last night. This week has been so busy and I can barely keep mi eyes open right now. But im cranking it out tonight because if I try studying, I WILL fall asleep.

Here's chapter 10. Its mostly filler leading up to the next chapter but hopefully works well. Enjoy!

TWO WEEKS LATER

Nico still felt miserable. He hadn't seen Percy for two weeks, purposely avoiding him. He hadn't really talked to anyone since his last talk with Annabeth. And to make it all worse, he had had nightmares every night. Dark, terrible dreams straight from his memories of Tartarus that woke him up after only a few hours and kept him pacing around his room until the sun rose.

He was on his way back to his cabin after a long healthy dose of sword practice against the Ares kids. He had worked extra hard, almost scarring one of his younger challengers for life after pushing him hard enough to end up on top of the poor kid with his blade pressed into his throat.

Yeah, he felt a little bad, but Nico was tired of not sleeping. He hoped the extra exercise might help him relax enough to sleep more than a couple hours.

But after an hour or two of restlessly tossing back and forth in bed, he realized it was hopeless. He was just about to go for a walk in the woods to find a few monsters to fight when he saw him.

Damen was leaning casually against the wall by his door.

Thankfully for Nico's sanity- the son of Eris was not wearing a skirt today. Instead, he wore a pair of baggy, bright red shorts with a silver chain hanging out of the pocket, a black and blue t-shirt, and a white hoodie. His hair was shaved short, but Nico could still discern the stripe of white that made his hair resemble a skunk.

What fascinated Nico this time were the tattoos that decorated the man's arms, legs, and neck. They moved across his tanned skin in bright swirls of color. Nico was able to discern different figures: gods, goddesses, monsters, and even a few heroes. A particularly energetic centaur galloped across Damen's neck, winking at Nico when it caught him staring and making Nico gasp.

They were obviously magic. And extremely beautiful.

"Good afternoon," Nico said stiffly.

An eyebrow was raised in response.

"Yo."

Nico wasn't sure how to respond to this, and chose not to. He instead flopped onto his bed and glared at Damen.

"Look, I've had a pretty long day and I really just want some sleep. Do you mind coming back another time?" Nico tried to ignore the fact he had just invited the man back voluntarily.

"That's actually why I'm here."

Nico looked over to see Damen walk closer to him. He reluctantly pushed himself back into a sitting position.

When Damen sat next to him, causing the bed to dip, Nico leapt back as if burned, despite not actually touching the man.

An awkward moment passed that allowed Nico's heart time to quit beating as furiously as if he had just ran a marathon.

"And how's that?" Nico asked once he could breathe normally again.

"I brought you this."

Damen reached into the pocket of his hoodie and produced a thin vial filled with a pink, pearlescent liquid and held it out to Nico.

Nico stared at it with distrust. One of the first things you learn as a demigod is not to accept vials of strange liquids from anyone.

"Go on. It's a potion I made. It will knock you out for the next eight hours or so."

Nico cautiously took the vial.

"What's the catch?" He asked. There's always a catch.

"If you count having amazing dreams as a catch," Damen smiled.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it varies but you'll dream about something you like or something you desire. Stuff like that."

"But what if I dream about Percy?" Nico said so quietly he wondered if the man could hear him.

"You might, but you will still feel rested afterward, one way or another," he shrugged.

Nico looked down at the vial again. He knew he shouldn't be so trusting, but it was certainly an attractive idea. A full night's sleep, longer than he's been able to get since before Bianca died. What's the worst that could happen?

He looked back up to thank the son of Eris, but discovered that once again he had disappeared without even a sound.

With a mental note to ask Damen about his disappearing trick next time he saw the man, Nico shrugged off his shirt, climbed under the covers, and downed the pink liquid.

It tasted like cotton candy, and Nico vaguely wondered if Damen had done something to it because potions very rarely tasted so good. Shrugging it off, Nico snuggled himself into a comfortable position, already starting to feel the darkness of sleep crowding in on him.