Chapter 3 Can't wake up

Clovis ran as fast as he could, which considering he usually sleeps unless he has to attend meetings or eat was actually quite fast, but it could be the rush of adrenaline causing the burst of speed. He couldn't focus on that right now, all that mattered was waking Nico up before something happened to him and he never woke up again!

Clovis was nearly out of breath as he burst through the door of the Hades cabin, Will looked up from where he sat at Nico's bedside to see the now wide awake –and slightly winded- head of the Hypnos cabin. "Clovis what happened?! Why are you here? Is something wrong with Nico?!"

Clovis panted as he rested his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath so that he could answer Will's questions. "The voice…" huff "I know who it was…" huff "Need to… wake him…" huff, Clovis slumped against the wall next to the door completely out of breath.

Just then Jason, Piper, Percy, and Annabeth rushed into the room looking around at the three already in there, Clovis slumped against the wall next to them, Will sitting next to Nico's bed holding his hand and looking pale, and Nico laying on the bed with sweat covering his face as he lay there sleeping.

"What happened? We saw Clovis running over here and got worried, why is Nico asleep?" Jason asked trying to process everything while clearly worried about his friend.

A few other demigods had noticed Clovis rushing over and wanted to know what was happening but Piper used her Charm-speak to shoo them away. "You guys go back to what you were doing before." And the crowd dissipated. Meanwhile the rest of them waited in the too quiet room for someone to answer Jason's questions.

"Nico told me he was having trouble sleeping due to nightmares and when I asked how long this had been going on for he said for a few days now so after breakfast we went to the Hypnos cabin to see if Clovis could help us figure out what the dreams were about since Nico couldn't remember them by the time he woke up." Will said, his voice a little shaky.

The other's still seemed to be confused so this time Clovis explained. "I was going to help him sort through it so that the dreams would stop and he came back here so that he could have some privacy and Will was going to watch over him while he slept to make sure he was okay."

Annabeth nodded understanding everything up to this point but still lost on why Clovis was awake and here in the Hades cabin and why he had ran all the way here. "So I take it something went wrong while you were trying to analyze the dream?"

Clovis nodded. "Everything was okay until Nico mentions hearing a voice before I got there and then we both heard it and then something ran by, some kind of animal from the looks of it, but it was too dark to see it clearly. When I realized what was happening Nico slipped away into a different dream plain and I couldn't reach him. The sheer terror of his dream woke me up and I rushed over here so that we could wake him." Clovis said and then tried to catch his breath, he wasn't used to having to speak so much in one go and it would have been more exhausting if it wasn't for the adrenalin rush right now.

"So then let's wake him up." Percy said as he looked at Nico, his face a mask of pain, though from what they couldn't be sure.

Will shook his head though. "I've tried, as soon as the dream took over I guess; Nico started to break out into a sweat and he was mumbling something but I couldn't understand him. I tried shaking him and calling his name but I can't get through." Will's blue eyes filled with tears and he gripped Nico's hand a little tighter as though his hold on him could keep him anchored there and not slip away into whatever dream realm held him.

"Is there anything we can do?" Piper asked, they were all worried for their friend and wanted to do something.

"Maybe your Charm-speak can wake him." Jason said to her, it was worth a shot Piper stepped closer to the bed and spoke to Nico. "Nico wake up." she said using her Charm-speak but nothing changed so she tried again putting more power into her words. "Nico Wake UP!" she said again but all he did was stir slightly and a small raspy cry came out.

Percy and Annabeth froze by the door. "Clovis," Annabeth said addressing him once more, "where was Nico in his nightmare?" the worry in her voice had turned to fear and they all heard it, Percy reached over and took her hand in his, his face looking as pale as hers was now.

"I-I think he was describing Tartarus before I was forced out of the dream…" Clovis said holding his head in his hands. The room was completely silent, the air feeling too heavy all of the sudden.

"We need to wake him up." Percy said his quiet words like cannon fire in the silent room.

…

Nico couldn't understand what he was seeing or how he was seeing it, he couldn't be back here, and she couldn't be here, but it all felt so real right down to the feeling of jagged glass cutting through his shoes and into the bottom of his feet. Most of all it felt real when Bianca stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug like she used to do when he was little and was afraid.

"Nico I'm here now it's okay."

He shook his head wanting to pull away from her but couldn't bring himself to do it. "You're not real…" he sobbed and she held him closer.

"Shhh it's okay I'm here now, we'll get through this together." she said in that soothing way she had and he wanted to cry harder.

They both went stalk still when they heard the other voice again as it laughed and out of the corner of his eye Nico saw a shadowy shape run by again, was it the source of that voice? Was it one of the monsters or other beings that resided in Tartarus? He didn't know but he had to get Bianca out of here even if she wasn't real he couldn't let anything happen to her here in this living hell.

Please let me know what you think!