"Okay try this again Sam." Nico said as he leaned against a pillar, I wiped the blood from my mouth and tried to catch my breath from the strain of his training methods. I had run head first into the wall and cut my lips open in the process, such fun right?!

"I thought...this stuff made you pass out." I panted as I got back up to my feet and leaned against the wall for support. Shadow magic usually made Nico pass out why wasn't it doing the same with me? Does the universe hate me so much that they won't even let me pass out?!

"You're a Dark Demigod." Nico said, I glanced at him because what the fuck does that mean? Like...dark personality? Yeah that isn't news to anyone that has known me for more than like ten seconds, as I looked at him he rolled his eyes "Look here's the thing: I'm the son of Hades but Hades is the son of Kronos who in turn was the son of Gaea. You? You are the son of Eris, who was the daughter of Nyx. Your body is more finely tuned to the shadow than I am because you are literally descended from darkness unlike me. Even more than that I am the great grandson of a primordial and you are the grandson of one. You are more closely related to Nyx than we are to Gaea. Hence my term Dark Demigod." he explained.

Dark Demigod...huh kind of fits don't you think? I suppose it makes sense, after all I am descended from Nyx herself whereas most demigods are descended from Gaea. Also it gives an explanation as to why I feel tired but am not sleepy like Nico usually is, my body can take it. I stood up and grabbed a water bottle and gulped it down before giving Nico a grin.

"Alright let's fucking do this!" I said before walking next to him and looking at the pillar in front of me, it was casting a very long and large shadow and that was exactly what I needed.

"Remember, keep your destination in your mind, don't lose concentration for a second. Imagine every detail as clearly as possible and where you want to land, Got it?" he asked and I nodded before taking a deep breath and running forward. I cleared my mind and thought about the shadows on the other side of the arena, I started to feel this ice cold feeling in my gut that grew the closer I was to the shadow on the ground. My foot touched the edge of the shadow and as if the world was in slow motion I saw the walls dissolve, Nico vanished, and the sky seemed to become pitch black before suddenly everything became dark and cold.

I huffed a small laugh before suddenly that cold feeling in my gut grew more intense and started to spread throughout my body. It felt like I was encased in ice, it burned, stung, and was freezing all at the same time. I tried to scream but I was frozen I looked at my hand and saw my fingertips begin to dissolve as if made of sand. I closed my eyes in fright and tried to think of somewhere safe, the arena! Nico standing there! The warmth of the Sun!

The rushing sound slowed and I was propelled out of the shadows of another pillar in the arena and rolled across the ground grunting as I scraped my hands along the rough ground. Nico ran up to me as I laid on the ground shivering and hugging my body to try and warm it up.

"Oh my gods! You lost concentration didn't you!?" Nico said worried as he threw a blanket over me to try and warm me up. I nodded furiously as I blew warm air into my hands, Nico grimaced at the sight of me "You can never lose your focus, the shadow world is...I guess hungry is the best way to describe it. If you lose focus it will consume you and trust me on this when I say it is a slow and painful death. Their are very few ways to die that are worse than that." Nico said.

I nodded as I glanced down at my hands, my fingertips were back! I breathed a sigh of relief as I finally started to warm up, that shadow magic shit was no joke! I finally get one thing right and it nearly kills me! How the fuck does Nico do this all the time!? I saw my arms were becoming wet, they had become coated in frost during my travel and it was now melting off, I felt it running down my neck and face too and the feeling made me shiver.

"That was...horrifying!" I finally muttered and Nico nodded as he fed me a little ambrosia, my energy started to return faster and finally I was able to move normally again. I sat up and cracked my neck, "You know Nico I have to say I'm honestly impressed with how you do this so often it's..." I looked up at Nico but he was frozen.

"Nico?" I asked but the boy remained unresponsive suddenly I found him on top of my chest and his hands around my throat "N-Nico! What are you doing!?" I screamed as he closed my windpipe, this kid was a lot stronger than he looked! I choked as he pushed my head to the ground and poured in more strength, I tried to fight back but I couldn't use my artificial hand because I might break a bone but if I don't do anything this kid might kill me!

I pushed my hand against his face to try and push him away but he persisted and I saw no emotion in his eyes. I started to see black in my vision and my hand went slack when suddenly his grip on me loosened, as if someone turned on the lights I saw conscious thought return in his eyes as he looked down at me gasping for air.

"Sam?" he asked softly as I backed away from him and grabbed my throat, what the hell just happened!? It was like his brain had shut off and someone else was driving and they wanted to drive it right into me and run me down.

"Hey guys how's the training...going?" Will asked as he walked in but stopped when he saw how terrified I looked and how even more terrified Nico looked.

"It...It happened again." Nico muttered as he fell to his knees and curled up, I forgot about the pain in my throat and crawled over to Nico who was sobbing uncontrollably.

Will practically teleported to my side and knelt down and cradled Nico "It's okay Neeks, it's going to be okay. I'm right here." Will said soothingly and Nico slowly became less tense before relaxing into Wills arms. He looked at me and then at the bruises that were now forming on my throat "I'm so sorry Sam. See ever since Tartarus Nico has been hanging by a thread. Sometimes he has these small episodes where-" he started but I knew what he was talking about.

"Where he's back there, he can't escape, he has PTSD." I said calmly and Will nodded as he kissed the top of Nicos head. I sighed "Has he been getting help?" I asked softly trying not to disturb Nico who seemed like he was asleep.

"As soon as Dionysus returns we are going to have a long discussion about his mental health and how to treat it." Will explained and I nodded, war was bad enough I'm sure half the senior campers here half night terrors over the Titan and Giant Wars. I still have nightmares over my time in captivity when I was a pit fighter for the Gargareans.

"What was happening when he attacked?" Will asked curiously.

"I was on the ground, he was nursing me I had a bad little trip through the Shadow Realm." I explained.

Will nodded "Tartarus makes your nightmares come true, it's possible he believed you were a nightmare and tried to kill you to survive. I can't say for certain though."

"You should take him to the infirmary, I'll finish up my training myself." I suggested and Will nodded gratefully before picking up Nico and walking out of the arena.

I took a deep breath and held out my hands and closed my eyes.

After a few seconds a tingling sensation spread in my hands and shadows erupted and swarmed around my hands and arms. I smiled softly as I stared at the shadows under my control.

"I'm going to reclaim the Gargareans mother..." I said softly, not even sure if she was listening or not.

"I swear on my life."

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