Alright, enough with this dream crap, time for a…

Chapter 7: Wake up call

Nico was a cautious person by nature. He was slow to trust, and slow to feel safe. He planned for the worst scenarios, the most unbelievable of betrayals.

So sneaking into his bunk-room was quite the near death experience. Had it not been for Lou, they probably wouldn't have made it inside.

Two dormant Spartoi warriors, undead commandos, were buried just under the dark sod surrounding Hades's Cabin. The spell that activated them, laced around the black doorknob, was hard to detect, and Lou Ellen grabbed Rachel's wrist just in time.

Then the torches on either side of the door, burning with emerald Greek Fire, almost flame-broiled the group, until a quick hand sign and word in Ancient Greek snuffed out the flame, again from Lou.

When they finally got the door open, the sorceress sent out a probing wave of Mist to find the spell of death-sleep shimmering in the floorboards.

"Jeez, Nico," Clovis muttered, as his poplar rod nullified the spell, "paranoid, much?"

Pushing past Clovis crouched on the ground, Will made his way to Nico's bed. His friend laid under a blood-red sheet, tossing and turning as though something inside him wanted to be outside. His eyes were closed shut, his face contorted in concentration. Or perhaps… pain.

The son of Hypnos drew near. "Girls, you can come over here, he's not sleeping nude."

"Clovis!" Rachel gave him a scolding look, slightly dampened by the smile she had failed to contain.

The others crowded 'round, and for a moment, and then another, and another, the five looked down at their friend, twisting about in the throws of an unknown dream.

-Ω-

Nico watched the firestorm with a smile. He was floating too far offshore to see the form clearly, but he'd have known that maniac laugh anywhere. He watched the battlements crumble, the high walls and barbed wire blasted into piles of rubble. Finally the fiery comet burst through the cell in the high tower. As it flew out the other side the structure collapsed with an almighty crash, and Nico thought he could see a second figure, held in the arms of the comet. Nico chuckled. "Well, Calypso. Welcome to the wide world."

-Ω-

Finally, Piper spoke. "Guys… I'm sorry, but what are we meant to do? I know we all had weird dreams, and I get that something's wrong, but why are we here? Now? In the middle of the night?"

"It must be time sensitive." Lou gave a start as Will finally spoke. "There has to be a reason we need to do this now."

The sorceress spoke up. "But what is this? What are we even doing?"

Clovis looked at the group assembled. Time to explain, it seemed. "It's a kind of impromptu ceremony, or spell. We heal Nico, and he does what he's meant to do. We need to hurry though, 'cause he's on the clock, meaning we're on the clock. Now, let me give you the rundown, and then we'll do this thing."

-Ω-

The raft tipped subtly as someone else stepped on. Nico turned, unsurprised at who he found there. It made sense she would come as her. "Hello, Aphrodite. Do you really have to look like my sister?"

Bianca's shoulders shrugged. "I felt uncomfortable enough coming here. I thought this would make things easier. I hope you don't mind."

Nico turned, sticking his feet in the water. "Well, I'm at peace with it now. So I suppose you can keep looking like that."

"Thank you, Nico."

-Ω-

"First, I'll use my power to gain manual access to Nico's dream, and therefore, his mind." Clovis moved to Nico's head. "I'll put my hand to his head, and that will start it. Will, you'll put a hand on my shoulder. I need you to think about every person you've ever healed, every remedy, every healing spell, everything you can remember. And above all, I need you to think about the Sun. Got it?"

Will, a tad confused, nodded. Clovis turned to the Counselor of Cabin 10. "Piper, you'll need to kneel down by the bed. Put a hand on Nico's chest, over to the left where his heart should be, and hold Will's free hand with your hand. Think about Jason, how you feel about him, things you two do together, that kind of thing."

Piper nodded. "Alright." She knelt by the bedside, looking at the sleeping demigod. "Oh, Nico." She spoke under her breath. She thought about how she'd acted in Europe on the Argo II. She hadn't been downright rude to Nico… but she could have been a lot nicer. "I'm sorry."

Clovis looked at Rachel. "Put both your hands on Piper's shoulders, and think about Delphi. Imagine you had your full power. Think about the way things need to end up."

Rachel moved behind Piper, looking down at Nico and thinking of the task ahead of him. Though Clovis had an inkling of what was going on, only Rachel knew how serious the situation was. She wondered if she should have brought Nico's gear from the armory, until she remembered how fast Nico could be outfitted for duty under normal circumstances. She grinned at the thought of how fast he'd be ready this time.

Lou Ellen stood by Clovis, waiting for her assignment. "Lou, I need you to give Will as much power as you can. Just charge him up, so he doesn't pass out."

"Oh, gladly." She moved to stand behind Will, and the medic gulped, remembering that he and his girlfriend had not been getting along as of late. This would be interesting…

-Ω-

Bianca's hunter eyes turned out to the island, surveying the flaming wreckage with satisfaction. "A heart broken over again and again over thousands of years. And I had nothing to do with it. I may have a shallow side, but Zeus took it too far with Calypso. She's such-" Bianca's voice broke, and Aphrodite collected herself. "Such a sweet girl. She deserves Leo. I owe him for finally ending her torment."

"So he's alive, then." He said it conversationally, not surprised, or questioning. Just stating a fact. He'd already guessed, but he wanted confirmation.

"Oh, yes. Though don't go telling your demigod friends, just yet. He wants to surprise them when he and Calypso are done with their…" She gave an ungodly giggle. "Well, I don't want to call it a honeymoon, as their not married, but when you get right down to it…"

Nico sighed. Leo was alive. And of course he was having the time of his life with the love of his life while his friends mourned back home. He smiled in spite of himself. Typical. Classic Leo. He smiled broader at the thought of the reaction at camp. Leo comes out of the sky on Festus with his girlfriend. He could practically hear Piper and Hazel shrieking, Percy and Jason shouting themselves hoarse, Frank probably throwing him into the air…

Imagining all of his friends together reminded Nico of everything else he had seen in this out-of-control nightmare. He was pretty sure he'd worked out the meaning, but not what it was trying to tell him. If anything, it made him happy, but a little bit sad. The Dove and her Storm, the Owl and her Ocean, the Shape-changer and his Jewel. But where did that leave Nico?

Alone. Per the usual. Leo had Calypso, and Will had Lou, but he had no one.

Mentally he slapped himself upside the head. "Listen to yourself, di Angelo. You sound like a walking soap opera. Boo-hoo, no one likes you. No one gives a flying pig. Get on with your life. So much for the scary Son of Hades. Nothing but a lonely little broken-hearted loser.

These were the wrong thoughts to be thinking when Aphrodite was standing right behind him.

-Ω-

"Everyone ready?"

The demigods nodded, getting into position. Will glanced back, nervous. "Hey, Lou? I-I'm sorry. I was blind, and I don't… I just…"

A pair of thin arms snaked around Will, as a voice murmured softly in his ear. "You love me and don't deserve me?"

He felt her body press against his back. His voice was low and hoarse. "Yes."

She went on tiptoe to kiss the skin behind his ear. "Same here, Doc. Same here."

-Ω-

Sitting on a raft his missing friend had made, in the middle of an ocean that didn't exist, talking to his dead sister, who was actually the goddess of love. Well, this dream was just a little more interesting than most. And a whole lot more depressing.

"Why bother showing me this?" Nico rounded on the goddess, trying his best to be upset at something that looked just like Bianca. "Trying to make me feel worse? Haven't the gods gotten tired of beating the ever-loving crap out of me? How am I not boring by now? Doesn't some other sap deserve this more than me? It seems like I more than atoned for my sins a long time ago."

"Self-pity doesn't suit you, Nico," Aphrodite murmured. "You're not used to it. You're out of practice."

Rage burned in the cold spans of his eyes. "You don't know anything about me, do you? Self-pity pairs with my story perfectly. Like clouds and the rain. Like a graveyard and moonlight."

He couldn't look at her. He turned his eyes towards the slow sunset over the ocean. "Everyone I love was taken from me when I was young. The father I thought I had, the mother I never truly go to know, the sister I grew to love, just to lose her in the end. Then the theme changed. I was denied the love of those who weren't taken away. My father, a god I never believed in, is a cold-hearted, self-obsessed nóthos-"

"Language," the goddess said quietly.

"-when I forgive the one who killed my sister, I fall for him…"

"It was never Percy's fault."

"And his heart is meant for some other girl, because he doesn't feel like I do. Even my little sister, who I brought back from death, is a nation away. To top it off, I'm watching my best friends fall in love, and there's nothing I can do but watch. Because I could never tell Will that I'm… that I think… thought…"

There was no way to go on. He couldn't. He fell to his knees, his broken form rocking the carefully constructed raft precariously on the crystal waves of his dreams.

Careful steps made their way to the prone boy. Aphrodite sat next to Nico, her legs trailing in the water, letting the silence stretch on.

She spoke. "Did you know that it was a joke at first?"

Nico looked up at her, confused.

The goddess of love sighed. "Hm, how do I put this...

"You know from experience that my son, Eros, can be rather uncaring? On one occasion, he decided that it would be amusing to make one man fall in love with another man. He only meant to freak us Olympians out, but it turns out that humans can be surprising. Though it didn't happen often, after that day, such pairings, among men and women, would take place without Eros's involvement. Mortal scientists can say whatever they want about the subject, but the truth is, humans are the only creatures who- put frankly, are capable of putting love, and the heart, before biology. Humans have diverse and specific destinies, unlike many animals. And if they're destined to be with someone they can't have children with, then to Hades with science. 'Love conquers all' it would seem. Which makes me rather powerful, I suppose," she tittered.

Nico stared into the water. Why was she telling him this? What was the point?

Taking a breath, Aphrodite went on. "But you can't let your past define you, Nico. You can't turn your back on Love."

Nico blinked. "Turn my back? I've been denied that salve my whole life-"

"Because you didn't know where to look for it." From Bianca's satchel, Aphrodite pulled a dark, thin object.

It was a rose. With a stem of viridescent jade, the curved petals were made of the finest obsidian. And strangely enough, Nico recognized it.

"That's from my stepmother's garden…"

Bianca flipped her hair in a way Bianca had never flipped it while she'd lived. "Persephone and I don't always get along, but she does like you, Nico. I asked her for her choicest gem. Give it to her when you find her."

Nico sat up, his face entirely puzzled. "Find who now?"

-Ω-

"Now."

A gentle hand on Nico's head, and the convulsion's ceased. Clovis closed his physical eyes, and in his mind's eye, he could see… the ocean… an island in flames.

Piper laid a hand on Nico's chest, and warmth blossomed from her hand, as she remembered Aphrodite's words about Reyna. A son of the Big Three…

Will was shining. There was a light coming from underneath his skin, lighting the scene brightly. Lou Ellen embraced him from behind, whispering Ancient Greek into his ear. Each syllable seemed to magnify the healer's light, as the couple shed hopeful tears for their friend.

Rachel stood with her hands on Piper's shoulders, unsure of what to do. She didn't feel any different, but she felt as though she had to say something. Feeling stupid, she opened her mouth, and suddenly she found herself speaking in strident tones, wise and bold; not her own voice, and not the Oracle's, but a place in between. The words came without effort, and longer she spoke, the more confident she became. Her eyes began to burn with green light.

"The time for sleep is long past- awaken your true self and be the person you were meant to be. For you are not alone, Niccolo di Angelo, but one half of a whole. The goddess has made amends, and your friends are here now. You are the son of Hades, and in this hour, you are the hero. Your blade is needed elsewhere. Now, King of Ghosts, up with your sword."

-Ω-

Nico reached out to take the rose from Aphrodite, but a great warmth was blossoming deep within him, and he was losing feeling in his fingers. He was falling backwards down a long tunnel, Bianca's voice fading with the sound of the ocean. "Hurry, little hero."

Now he was really falling, towards a volcano's plume of steam. She was holding his hand, her dark hair flying out behind her. She was imbuing him with her strength, yelling at him to shadow travel.

He did, and suddenly he was free-running across the rooftops of the Old Viejo in Puerto Rico. There was desperation in his steps, and he feared he would be two late. With a final burst of speed, he drew his sword and dashed along the last stretch of stucco, and he was leaping, falling, swinging his sword with all his might. With a barbarous cry, he slashed the bowstrings of the Hunter Giant, and fell to the pavement. He stood, sword raised, the last defense between Orion and his quarry.

And then Nico's sword was gone, and he was standing in the shadows of the campfire, listening to her speak, wishing he wasn't so comfortable with being on the sidelines. And then she was reaching out. She pulling him to her, into the light. In front of near 300 demigods, she was holding him, a tear from her cheek wetting the skin of his jaw, and he was putting his arms around her…

Pain.

She was in pain.

A mountain top. It was night, a fire cast dancing shadows. Dragon women with strong cords. A knife. Why was there a knife, so close to her? and she wasn't kicking, cursing, threatening, she just hung there, limp. And still.

-Ω-

The five demigods, gathered around Nico's bed, jumped back as the boy flailed in the sheets, his eyes open, and wild with fear, as he shouted one word.

"Reyna!"