Well, now we know why he's always asleep...
Chapter 5: Clovis goes channel surfing
You know how you turn on the TV and just keep hitting the UP button on channel, waiting for something interesting to flash on the screen? And you're seeing each channel for a split second thinking, "...Ad...Home Repair...Gardening...Ad...Cop show...Home Repair...Ad...Infomercial...Cooking Show...Ad..." and then you glance up and the channel thing says 239 and you started at channel 15 and you go "Crap, is there NOTHING on?"
Clovis was feeling like that.
Here were more than 100 demigods laying unconscious in their bunks, and it seemed not one of them was dreaming about something interesting.
Now, ordinarily, Clovis had a way to amuse himself if there was nothing good on. There were plenty of people in Camp who were less than kind to Clovis, and nothing was more fun than watching them dream about something embarrassing, or having a nightmare about something dumb, like that rabbit from Monty Python and The Holy Grail, and then spreading it around the next day. Yes, Clovis was a menace. And it felt really good.
But even though Mark from Ares Cabin was riding a unicycle across a tightrope above a pit of spikes in nothing but his underwear, the Son of Hypnos just didn't feel like revenge. And there was nothing good on. Usually one, if not both, of the Stoll brothers would be doing something hilarious, but they were both dreaming about snowboarding down a mountain of ice cream. And in their dream, there were a lot of people cheering for them. All the noise gave Clovis a headache. So he switched off the Stoll brothers and wandered around looking for anything to distract him. Sleeping could be so boring.
-Ω-
Will Solace was dreaming of his best friend. Nico was training by the banks of the River Styx, dueling with the shades of a Roman gladiator and a Napoleonic officer. Time and time again they came at him, the Stygian Iron blade intercepting each stroke.
Nico looked to be 12, at the most. His now well-fitting aviator's jacket was huge on him, rolled up at the sleeves. He looked tired and frustrated, fighting with vicious skill. Off to the side, the ghost of an old king looked on, smiling. He watched the boy with a hungry look in his eye. He spat out, "Faster!", and the emotionless shades attacked with greater intensity. Nico looked ready to snap. Tracking the trident and net of the gladiator, and the saber of the officer, he was forced down the banks of the Styx. He breath was labored. His hair hung in sweaty curtains over his eyes.
Finally, something within Nico seemed to break. Using the hilt of his sword, he slid the shaft of the gladiator's trident into the rib cage of the second shade, and then swept the gladiators head off in one blow. The helmeted skull flew with a 'plop' into the black waters of the river beside them. Nico dropped to his knees and slashed the Officer in the legs, toppling him. The Son of Hades stood, looking at the grinning king, before stabbing his blade through the head of the prostrate shade.
Will stood, invisible, on the opposite side of the river. He watched Nico sink down to gaze into the waters of Misery. Whatever he spoke about with Minos, Will could not hear. He wanted to move closer, but his dream-self could not seem to cross the Styx.
Suddenly, he was aware of someone behind him. Turning, he found a hunched form in a brown robe walking slowly towards him. Was this another one of Nico's shades? The hood of the robe came back and underneath was-
OK, this was creepy.
Firstly, it could see him. Which meant it wasn't in the underworld, it was in Will's dream. It looked him right in the eyes and smiled.
And it looked just like Lou Ellen.
"Lou, why are you here? How-"
The questions died in Will's mouth. This was not his girlfriend. This person had had bright pink irises, so bright their eyes nearly glowed. They looked at Nico, and the stranger shook her head sadly.
"Nico had a tough childhood. And that's putting it lightly. A mother stolen by Zeus, a Father who froze him in time, and his beloved sister, his anchor, taken from him. Like a trireme with no mooring, he was set adrift. After he ran from Camp Half-Blood, he lived for many months in the Underworld, and in the Labyrinth. Neither of those places are good for one's sanity. Nico is a strong boy, but the experience still affected him. How could it not? And the person he obsessed over all that time, the one he hated for taking his sister... Well, eventually, the trauma transformed that hatred into a different kind of obsession over Percy Jackson. Especially after he found peace in Bianca's self-sacrifice. There is much darkness inside Nico's heart, and that darkness daily threatens to consume him. A while ago, he met someone who could have purged the darkness from him. But... she didn't. And that was my fault."
The girl who looked like Lou turned to Will. She laid a finger on his chest.
"Child of the Sun, is your light strong enough? Can you do this? For your brother? For your friend?"
-Ω-
Rachel was in the dark. Both in that she had no idea what was going on, and that she couldn't see and inch in front of her face.
Dreams like this were usually annoying, but to Rachel this was exciting. Dreams like this had stopped when her gift of prophecy had been blocked. Maybe her power was back. Maybe something had happened in Delphi.
Something was moving in the darkness. A sound like paper over stone, magnified a thousand times. The sound of a giant snake.
A voice whispered out of the pitch black. "Something has happened. The Serpent has returned."
Rachel strained to control her dream, to force a light, a flame, something, into existence. The darkness remained.
"Something has disturbed Fate. This night, across a nation, someone will die who must not die. Rome will fall, the fault will lie with Greece, and the peace between them will burn like a dry reed. This must. Not. Happen. Look to the Dove. Take the last of my power."
Rachel felt something warm blossom within her, and a rush of cold air, as if a door had been opened to the outside. Light filled her vision.
And then she toppled off the bed.
-Ω-
Piper was a little confused.
Because of her and Jason's rendezvous by the catapult, they had forgone their usual escapade. Jason didn't want Piper to get caught, and he'd, (reluctantly,) deemed it too risky that night.
But despite this, Piper somehow found herself on Jason's roof anyway.
The stars were shining unusually bright, and there was no sign of the curfew harpies. The whole camp was silent. Piper looked around. Something was wrong. Where was Jason? How had she gotten up on the roof?
"No, my dear, it's just a dream."
Piper turned at the familiar voice. Her mother was smiling at her, in the same clothes Piper had been given at her claiming. The white sleeveless dress, the golden bands, her hair done up just the Piper's had been. The goddess looked around the roof with twinkling eyes. "Really, my dear, this place is so romantic. I'm very happy for you."
Piper blushed. "Mom, what are you doing in my dreams? I'm trying to sleep."
Aphrodite sighed, fiddling with a lock of her color-changing hair and looking sheepish. "Sweet, you've had campers come to you for relationship advice, haven't you?"
Piper was a little off-balanced by the question. She nodded. "Yeah, a lot, actually."
"But you don't really enjoy it, do you dear?"
"Well, no, I just... I try my best, but if things don't work out, I wouldn't want anyone to blame me. I usually just tell people to be themselves and to not be so shy."
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Would that I were as wise as you..."
"What?"
"Dear, do you remember what Reyna told you a few months ago?"
Piper was filled with anger. "Yeah, and you know what, mom, I've been meaning to ask you... Where do you get off, doing things like that? You just casually crush someone's hope and make them second-guess everything..."
"I was wrong."
Piper blinked. A couple times. "What did you say?"
"Must you make me repeat myself? I was wrong! I..."
Aphrodite looked at her shoes as though she were ashamed. "I was shallow, and stereotypical. Drew is your sister, Piper, but she inherited some of my... not as redeeming qualities. You got all the best."
"Mom, what did you do?"
Aphrodite sighed again, as if this topic of discussions were really wearing her out. "No demigod shall heal your heart. That's what I said. I looked to Reyna's future, and I saw either Reyna and Percy, or Reyna and Jason. I had seen Annabeth go through enough heartbreak, and I wasn't about to let Reyna take Jason. And there didn't seem to be anyone else."
"You just love playing matchmaker, don't'cha, mum?
Aphrodite ignored the comment. "But I was wrong and I need your help."
Piper sighed. Cleaning up after mom. "What do I need to do?"
Aphrodite began to disappear into the starry sky as a cloud of rose petals. "Because I discouraged her, Reyna gave up on the Third son of the Big Three. The one everyone overlooks."
Piper's eyes went wide. So did her smile. "Wait, you mean Reyna and N-"
And then everything went pink.
Classic Aphrodite.
-Ω-
Lou Ellen was walking through the woods. She did this often enough, but there were two differences now. Lou was asleep. And she was alone.
It felt odd, even in a dream, to be walking without Will. But she didn't want to see him. Boys could be so blind. Why didn't he ever listen? How could he have not noticed the way Nico acted? The way he looked at Will?
The sorceress kicked a rock and watched sail through the moonlight before disappearing in a shadow. The woods were beautiful at night. Some people liked the way the Sun felt on their skin. Lou could feel the cool light of the moon, soothing her anger. She tried to think of things other than Will. The way the aspen trees danced and swayed in the slightest wind, the far away monsters howling, the shadow moving just to her left...
Lou whipped around and stared hard. She knew she'd seen something. She sensed movement behind her and whirled again. Nothing. Not a thing.
A voice echoed through the trees around her. "Don't be angry with Will, my sweet."
A woman's voice... an empousa? Dracanae? Lou Ellen moved into the shadow of a thick tree, trying to find the source of the sound.
"Will wants what is best for Nico. But he loves you. That hasn't changed. All couples fight. It's one of the things they do best. He's accepted the truth. Now all he needs is your forgiveness. Wake up now. Will needs you, if he is to help Nico."
The forest floor turned to black water, and Lou fell in, sinking down, down, and out of the dream.
-Ω-
Clovis was freaking out. Things had gone from 0 to 60 in about 1 second. Aphrodite seemed to be everywhere. She was talking to Piper, to Will, to Rachel, and to Hecate's counselor, what was her name? And she was heavy in Hades cabin. Clovis couldn't get into Nico's dream because something pink and sweet-smelling kept pushing him back. Suddenly, a voice sounded in his head. Great. She'd caught him eavesdropping.
"I'm not mad, Clovis. Now you see all the pieces of this puzzle. You must assemble them. Bring the four to Nico, and Rachel will know what to do. Now, I know you don't like to, but for me... WAKE UP!"
-Ω-
5 demigods around Camp Half-Blood awoke simultaneously. Piper shook her head, still grinning. Rachel fell out of bed and bonked her skull on the floor. And Nico diAngelo slept on.
Aphrodite wasn't quite done with him.
A/N: Thanks for reading this far. Chap 6 might be a little long in coming, as I'm working on my Gravity Falls fic right now, and my writing style takes time. If you like the way I write, go check out A New Northwest Mystery. Nico's dream, Oracle weirdness, and more coming ASAP. As always my friends, stay sharp. -Hart