The Heroes Of Olympus & The Surrounding Darkness

Hey, thanks so much for reading! And I'm sorry if you think this story is a slow read so far. I'm trying to step up my game and I'm gonna try to make it a little more interesting. If you have any ideas for what should happen next, please don't be shy to tell me in the reviews. I love hearing your thoughts. Enjoy!

Nico DiAngelo P.O.V.

It's just about noon and all of my friends are still sleeping. Percy and I are supposed to hang out. We were planning on going to the city. We thought we'd visit his mom for a little while, go see a movie, and do anything else we think looks like fun.

But no. Instead, he probably stayed up late last night and now he's sleeping in.

If this goes on for much longer, I am going into his cabin to get him.

I see Tyson sitting on a bench next to the basketball court. I walk over and sit next to him.

"Nico!" He exclaims with a big grin.

"Hey, Tyson." I reply. "Is Percy awake yet?"

His expression darkens. "No. He's sleeping in cabin. Annabeth too."

"I'm starting to get a little worried. Leo, Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank are still sleeping too."

"What if bad thing happened?"

"I hope nothing bad happened. I think I'll go wake Percy."

"Yes. I will come with?" Tyson says with a funny smile.

"Sure." And together we walk to cabin three.

When we get there, Percy is still crashed on his bed. He's sweaty and keeps groaning like he's having a nightmare. Or maybe he's really sick.

"Tyson, can you go tell Chiron about this?" I ask the big guy.

"Yes." He answers. "You should check others."

"Alright, I will. Meet me back here with Chiron in ten minutes."

He nods his head and runs out the door with me trailing behind him. I stop abruptly in the doorway to give Percy one more look, but this time I notice something.

His wrist is bloody.

I walk to him and grab his arm. I see that this is no ordinary wound. It's a bite.

What would Percy have been bitten by? I wonder. Annabeth was the last person with him. I should ask her.

I run to the Athena cabin. I see that the door is open but I knock anyways. I peek my head in and see that no one's there. I've never been into the Athena cabin and it's not exactly what I had expected.

I thought it would be really clean, but instead there are papers, books, and scrolls scattered around the room. I ignore the mess and search for Annabeth. I find her completely crashed on her bunk, snoring. I almost laughed, despite the situation.

Why are they sleeping? It's noon and Annabeth has never been known to sleep in. I should check the others.

I run to the Zeus cabin. I knock on the door. No answer. I knock again. No answer. I decide to go in, not caring if I get in trouble or not, and luckily it was unlocked. I discover a sleeping Jason in a bed in the corner of the room behind the giant statue of Zeus. I can see why he'd want to sleep over there. This Zeus statue gives me the creeps, and I'm a son of Hades, so that's saying something.

I decide to check on Leo in the Hepheastus cabin. Once I get there, I see that the door is open. Almost every time I go there, the demigods are too wrapped up in building some little trinket to even acknowledge that someone just knocked on their door, so I just walk in. I see that there is a girl sleeping on the top bunk of a bed, but no Leo. I walk to his bed and sit. I see a red button, and being ADHD, I couldn't help but push it without thinking about what the consequences might be.

I don't know why, but I close my eyes. When I re-open them, I'm somewhere completely different.

I don't acknowledge where I am because I spot Leo sitting in one of those cool spinny chairs with his head on the desk in front of him. He's sleeping face-down on a book, drooling, and mumbling something. It sounds like he's saying, "I can't do it."

This is not good. I think. Why are only the seven from the last prophesy the ones that are under this sleeping curse? And what is it he can't do? Why can't he do it?

My mind is on over-drive. I can't help but think about the millions of questions that race through my head. Maybe if I shake him he'll wake up. I try it but he only manages a weak cough. I now see that he's holding his stomach. I pull his arm away from his stomach and see that there's blood. A lot of blood.

I realize the time and sit on Leo's bed again, leaving Leo alone, still drooling a puddle and clutching his stomach. I press the same button I that brought me here and it brings me up like an elevator. Once I'm on the main floor of the cabin again, I run out the door as Nyssa wakes up from her nap and yells in an attempt to stop me.

I run back to Percy's cabin and find Tyson and Chiron inside. Chiron looks down sadly and says, "Nico, we have trouble."

"Well, of course we have trouble!" I shout back. "The seven from the last prophesy won't wake up. And I've noticed that they're hurt."

"Hurt?" Chiron asks. "What do you mean they're hurt?"

"Look." I say as I walk to Percy and hold his wrist up for them to see. "And Leo has a cut or something on his stomach."

Chiron's expression changes to shock. He canters over. "This is not good. I think I know what's happening to them."

"What?" I ask.

"They're in a special kind of dream state. Anything that happens to them in the dream will happen to their physical bodies."

"How did they get into this dream state in the first place? How do we get them out of it?"

"I believe someone or something brought them into their own dreams by poisoning their physical bodies with a special potion mix made by themselves. As far as I know, they can only get out by escaping their captors dreams. To do that, they must get far enough away from their captor to diconnect the dreams."

"But they don't know that. What if they can't get away in time and they get killed? What can we do?"

"I have an idea. It will require someone to go into the dreams with them and help them get away. I think that person should be you, Nico."

I think about that for a moment. What if I get captured in the dream too and it was pointless? What if I accidentally get killed and they don't get away? I can't fail this. But then again, getting captured or killed was something a demigod had to think about almost every day. "Alright, I'll do it."

"Excellent. First, we need to get the seven into the infirmary, then I'll put you under."

The way he said 'Put me under' scares me, but I know I have to do this for my cousin, sister, and only other friends that accept me.

We get help getting the seven into the infirmary and fixed up from some of the other cabins. I didn't expect Clarisse to care so much for their sake, especially Percy and Annabeth, but she just kept insisting.

After we examine the sleeping demigods, Chiron insists I get into a cot of my own. I do, and he hands me a small cup filled with a pink liquid.

"What is that?" I ask, disgusted.

"This is that special potion mixture that will keep you asleep long enough to get them out of their dreams. After you fall asleep, you'll appear into the dream, same as them. But you must be careful. You can get hurt as well as they can. And remember: just get them away from whoever controls the dream. You should all wake up immediately when you're far enough away."

I nod and drink. It doesn't taste as bad as it looks. It kind of tastes like bubblegum. I get tired instantly after I swallow the last gulp.

"Nico, I forgot to tell you. You can't-" Chiron doesn't finish his sentence. Well, either that or I fell asleep. I'm guessing it's because I fell asleep. I think about what he was saying to me. It sounded something like, "You can't go chasing nightmares." I might never know for sure, but I don't dwell on the thought because I find myself in a dungeon-like room, face-to-face with Circe, the most powerful sorcress ever born.

A/N Hello again. I thought that I would mention that if you think I wrote this chapter a little different, it's because I wanted it to sound like it was Nico telling the story- not me. I've decided that I should get into the characters a bit better, so from here on out, I will throw in a little humor here and there. I've realized that my story seems to have been a bit of a drag so far. I'll try harder! And I wanted to mention: PLEASE REVIEW AND GIVE ME YOUR SUGGESTIONS. I would like to know what you guys would like to hear from the story and it would make me feel better knowing that I've scored with some people, if you know what I'm saying. Whatever, I gotta go to sleep... it's a school night. And I still need to write a poem for English class. Lmao. Thanks for reading and I'll continue the story soon. Have a good week! And don't forget to watch the Packers vs. Lions game this Sunday! :) GO, PACK, GO!