Nico opened his eyes.
He woke up drowsy, and felt like he had his stomach stabbed. Nico was lying on a bed in a dreary, black room.
He saw a tall girl that reminded him about flowers in springtime. She was looking right at him.
Nico asked her, "Where –"
"Shh… drink some of this." She handed him a cup full of a bubbling, brown liquid.
He drank it and instantly felt better. It tasted like his favorite, chocolate.
"Now you may talk," the girl said.
"Where am I? Who are you?" Nico asked.
"I am Persephone, Goddess of flowers. Hades assigned me to take care of you while you were out. You been unconscious in the infirmary for days."
"What do I do now?"
Persephone answered, "You need to see Alecto. She wants you to go back to the field once you woke up."
"OK."
"Where have you been?" Alecto asked.
"I was unconscious."
"For three days!"
"I guess."
"One shadow travel and you're unconscious for that long. And you call yourself a son of Hades. Now I see why you needed to come here."
"Sorry, its just that I'm messed up because my sister died-."
"It is no big deal. We will come back to shadow travel. For now, geokenesis."
"What's geokenesis?"
Alecto replied, "It's control of the earth. Let's get started."
She continued, "Close your eyes and think about the earth as blackness."
"Uh-uh."
"Now, Imagine the shadow below you rising about 5 feet in the air."
"OK?" Nico replied skeptically.
"Open your eyes."
"OH MY GODS!" Nico shouted.
He was standing on a pillar, five feet in the air.
"Whoa, this is so cool!"
"Don't over react. This is nothing compared to other abilities you will soon have even more spectacular powers. But now, make a wall around you pillar."
He made one, and was more amazed than the first time.
Alecto said, "Congratulations. Everyday, you will add something to this structure. By the end of your learning, it will be known as Castle Nico."
"Sweet!"
"Now, make some stairs and come down."
Nico concentrated, and made rocky stairs.
"I'm really tired now," Nico complained.
"Go to the castle and get some rest. Tomorrow you will do a multi-day training about the dead."
"The dead?"
"Ask questions after you see it. Now go!"
A wave of darkness came from her and consumed him.
He found himself lying on a comfortable bed in a black bedroom with jewels studded everywhere and no light.
He was so sleepy; right now all he wanted to do was sleep.
So that's what he did.
He dreamed he was at Camp Half-Blood. It was in the summer, strange because it was in the middle of March. It should have been snowing.
He was right outside the Poseidon Cabin. Percy's home. Seeing him ignited his anger. He headed for the door.
When he grabbed the handle of the door, his hand went through it. He instinctively knew that he could walk through walls.
He entered the cabin and saw Percy, looking happy to be at Camp, polishing his Minotaur horn.
Nico wanted to kill him. Nico knew he was a ghost, but that didn't stop him.
Nico put his hands around his neck, and right as his hands touched it, everything vanished.
He opened his eyes and saw a grave. The dirt around the black tombstone was thumping, like something was trying to escape.
Then a hole in the dirt appeared and a white, dense blob of mist rose out.
It started moaning and mumbling. Nico couldn't make out many words, but he heard one sentence. One sentence that changed everything.
"I can bring back Bianca."