AN: This adds virtually nothing to the story line, but I wrote it and so here it is. We'll get a glimpse at one of the world's she was too embarrassed about later. You'll understand after reading. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

I sat up in my dream castle, and looked around.

Nico was sitting on a chair. "Been a while since I did this. Wasn't what I was expecting."

I stared at him, then rubbed my eyes. "Crap. You're actually in my dream."

"Yeah. It was kind of weird that you were sleeping in your dream, though. Only ever seen Morpheus kids do that." He got up, as if nervous he would disturb something. "This dream is really solid."

I got up, not sure how to respond, but I glanced to make sure the entrance to the room of doors was closed. Thank goodness it was. "Why…"

He shrugged. "We were worried about you. I wanted to make sure you weren't having nightmares again."

I nodded then glanced around. "So, yeah. This is where my dreams start out when I don't have demigod-type dreams or nightmares. At least, recently."

"Because of what happened in New York?" Nico asked, his voice a little tight.

I looked at him in surprise. "Why…"

"Give me some credit," Nico said with a wry smirk. "You've been a little different ever since you were kidnapped by whatever the heck that was. Then there was that talk of meddlers. And you're calmer in the mornings. Less nightmares. More driven and worried, though. Secretive. You've always been secretive, but you seemed like you had something you were afraid to tell me."

"I wasn't sure I'd be able to tell you, or even explain it." I grab one of the blankets on the dream bed and wrapped it tightly around me. "Cold in here."

Nico glanced at me as he nodded. "It is a little. Which is funny, because until you woke up it was actually kind of toasty."

I shrugged. "Must be cold in real life."

Nico chuckled, then flinched as he looked in a mirror. "Whoa…"

"What?"

"Those are some big boots…"

"Shoot, Nico, stop looking." I forgot about that dang mirror and it's tendancy to play out memories.

He glanced back at me with a grin. "It's kind of weird how it shows it in third person."

"Fishing for answers here doesn't really work," I responded, silently willing the mirror to move upstairs while he was facing me.

He looked back, then froze. "Whoa…okay, that's cool! Where is it now?"

"Upstairs, and you don't have a security pass." I smirked and folded my arms.

"No fun," He laughed. "Seriously though, the detail in this place is crazy. What's it modeled after?"

"Would you accept that it's based on a conglomaration of three dozen photos on pinterest, a story, and a very active imagination?"

He nodded.

I spread my hands in a 'there you have it' gesture.

Nico nodded appreciatively. "So, what do you do here?"

"Oh, this and that, that and this. Sometimes I just sift through memories, other times I go over plans and such." Other times I'm creating worlds and manipulating details…

"You're still holding back. It's weird, but I think the fire in the fireplace turns green when you leave something out."

I looked at the fire. "That would be weird, but…" It wouldn't be the weirdest thing in this castle, I mean, there were four worlds hiding behind the door to my left.

The flames definitely turned green.

"Ugh! I can't even lie in my own dream? How incredibly rude!"

Nico smirked, then got serious and pulled up a chair, pointing at the other for me. "Tell me."

I sat down. "When I was taken that day, it was by some group that was reestablishing the meddlers."

"The people Grandpa Stoll mentioned," Nico stated more than asked.

"That didn't turn to gibberish? Huh, okay. Well, that's farther than I got with Dean." I rubbed my forehead for a second. "That first time I slept, the matriarch showed me this place…as well as…well, some other things. Ever since, when I'm not having nightmares or demigod dreams, I'm here."

"Other things?" Nico pressed.

I thought about my vault of secrets upstairs, and the room of worlds right next door. "A lot of it has been building this mind palace, but some of it is…like…"

Nico waited patiently, his stare intense.

"Kind of like a video game, one where you can create the world as you want and manipulate it in different ways." I figured there wasn't much harm in just telling him. It wasn't like I was actually twisting reality. It was all fake.

He looked surprised, then serious. "How?"

I shrugged and moved him and the chair across the room, then back again.

He was gripping the chair tightly. "Right, whims."

"Yup," I said, then shrugged again. Then I hesitated. "Would you…do you want to see one?"

He looked at me in surprise. "What?"

I got up and tossed the blanket over the back of the chair. "Do you want to see one?"

"Is that…possible?" He asked.

I nodded, my gut told me it was. He wasn't allowed to see the world room, but he could see the worlds. I had learned a day or two ago that I just sort of knew what was acceptable or not when it came to this dream place.

He stood up warily. "Nothing crazy, okay?"

I smirked. "So you don't want to see one."

He rolled his eyes, but took my hand.

"I have to blindfold you, okay?"

He looked uncertain, then nodded. "I trust you."

"A poor choice, but I'll try to live up to your trust."

He smirked at my half-hearted joke, then allowed me to blindfold him.

I led him into the world room, making sure it felt like a much longer trip for him.

"Dang, how far away was it?" He asked after we had actually taken three steps.

"Almost there." I pulled us into the world room, then looked at the ones I had and decided on the one where Johnny was the President of the Empire. I still wasn't sure how it had gotten to that point, but it was kind of a fun one to mess around in.

"Whoa…are we spinning?"

I took the blindfold off. "Nope."

He blinked a couple times, then looked around. "Um, this looks like New York."

"It is."

"Um…" He didn't seem to notice the differences.

I smiled at him. "Look at the lightpole, Nico."

He frowned and turned his gaze to follow mine. "No way…who put him in office? And…Empire?"

"Yeah, under Johnny's leadership, America actually took over five or six other nations and became an Empire. There wasn't even a war. It just sort of…happened. I'm still trying to figure it out." I shrugged. "In this reality, Percy and Annabeth already have three kids, I'm living it up as the reclusive writer in Ireland, Travis and Connor own a trillion-dollar company, Will found the cure for cancer, and you're a grief counselor with the hospital."

"Johnny is the frickin president of an empire? Hang on, grief counselor?!"

I shrugged. "Dude, I changed one thing and this is what happened. I plead innocent."

"What did you change?"

I bit my lip.

He looked at me with concern. "What did you change?"

"Well…I sort of…kind of…made it so…"

"Cassie, you're scaring me. Me." He added the last one for emphasis.

"I just…" I sighed. "I made it so I went to homecoming with him. Nothing big, we went as friends. Nothing seemed different and then all of this happened."

"You're a reclusive writer in Ireland, something must have happened. What about Malcolm?"

I shrugged. "We decided to go on a break when he went away to college the next fall and he ended up meeting someone else."

Nico looked at me. "Then what happened between us in this world that you're a recluse in Ireland?"

I shrugged. "I told you, I'm still not sure. I haven't finished exploring the history. But it's actually really cool. Pretty much everyone is living a happy life."

"Pretty much?" Nico asked. "You're a recluse in Ireland."

"You're a father, with four kids, a husband, a house, and what is seriously the happiest household ever."

He flinched. "Four?!"

"You had twins, congrats."

He shook his head. "How did I…nevermind, I don't want to know."

"That's good, because I don't know. Like I said, lots to explore here." I took his hand. It was comforting, having him there with me. Like it was real life, and not my freaky dreams.

He squeezed my hand. "So much going on in your head. How are you holding up?"

"Okay, it's actually oddly calming. I'm able to sort through things that I wouldn't be able to otherwise. Not enough time in the day and all." I shrugged. "The hardest thing is being able to do this and not knowing what it's actually for. Sure, it gives perspective, but…"

"Well, you said that this came about because of a small change in the past, and this is in the future, right? So can you go back and forth in time in these worlds?" He asked, his thinking scowl on.

I nodded. "Yeah, I seem to be able to."

He blinked, freezing for a second, still serious. "So you could see what happens in the original?"

I stood there, wrestling with the question that I hadn't even wanted to ask myself. "I don't think that's a good idea. That would probably invite more trouble than it's worth. No, I don't think I could do that."

Nico looked relieved. "Good."

"Good?"

"We've watched enough Doctor Who and all that to know that nothing good comes from knowing your future." He squeezed my hand. "It's more of an adventure this way. It is cool that Will and I are together in this reality, though."

"So far you're together in all but two. One because there aren't any humans and the other because you're with Connor."

Nico looked a little weirded out by that. "He's not…"

"I'm aware of that. Travis was with Katie in that reality, but they were both a little different as well."

"And in this one?"

"Connor and Katie, Travis and Michelle," I answered easily.

"Michelle?"

"Super Awesome," I answered. "In this reality they get married in December of 2018, and she's pregnant four months later. They have seven kids."

"Yikes," Nico shuddered.

"Oh yes," I led him around the block to where Percy and Annabeth were in the park with their kids. Two girls and a boy.

Nico stared for a moment. "That's so weird…"

"No, what's weird is seeing Leo with kids."

"Not Travis and Connor?"

I shrugged.

"Show me a different world. Like, right after the giant war." He asked.

I closed my eyes, imagining it, making a few changes here and there and then jerked Nico's hand toward me as we switched over to it.

We were in the Big house.

Nico shook his head slightly, then pointed at himself. "That's…that's me…"

I shushed him. "Chiron just told them he's goign to retire."

Nico tensed up, watching and listening with me.

"Retiring? But…who will run camp?" Annabeth's eyes were wide as she looked at the centaur.

Chiron shook his head, "The gods will appoint an activities director. Until then Mr. D will be in charge."

"Meaning the cabin leaders will be doing all the work," Connor muttered just loud enough for everyone to overhear.

Will looked worried. "What about the infirmary?"

"You are more than capable of handling that until a new activities director is appointed. It shouldn't take long, I know they already have a few in mind."

Percy scowled. "Right, because the last guy they appointed in your place was so great."

The older campers all grumbled agreement.

Chiron sighed. "I understand your concerns. However, it is still going to happen. I will stay for two weeks, then I will leave."

Lou Ellen sighed. "We'll miss you."

"And I will miss all of you. But times change, and it is time I did as well." Chiron wheeled himself out.

My Nico stepped closer to me. "Connor seems…"

I just nodded, watching.

Connor groaned and dropped his head to the table. "This is going to be a bigger mess than either of the wars."

"Especially if his replacement is as bad as Tantalus was," Sherman growled.

Percy shuddered slightly. "You all realize that Mr. D is going to make our lives miserable?"

"No, he's going to let us tear camp apart. He's not going to enforce much of anything, he never has. And he just lost a year to work off his penance so when he gets back he's going to be super grumpy." Katie shook her head. "How am I supposed to be okay with going home for school if camp is in chaos?"

Connor shook his head. "How can I ask Cecil to step up as leader? I was supposed to try and spend the fall with Travis. I've already paid the tuition for some classes. But Cecil needs a stable environment to learn how to reign in Alice and Julia."

The leaders all stared at Connor for a moment.

"I'm sorry…what?" This world's Nico asked.

"What what? Did I speak in Irish?" Connor asked, looking confused.

"I don't know, your assessment of Cecil or the fact that you're taking college classes in the fall."

"How did you pay for your classes?" Annabeth asked suspiciously.

"You speak Irish?" Lou Ellen asked.

He shrugged. "My grandfather is trying to make up for the fact that they wouldn't let him take me and Travis in. He gave us both some money. Yes, I'm taking classes in the fall. I've also been taking online classes this past year. As for Cecil…I thought it was a fair assessment."

"But you speak Irish?"

"Yeah. It was my first language. Only language my grandmother spoke. She was our babysitter." He tapped the table in no particular order, making Leo twitch. "Which is completely beside the point. With our luck, it will be someone as bad as Tantalus. Nothing we can do about that except try and prepare our campers for the worst." He got up and started to leave.

"That's it, Stoll? That's all you're going to say?" Sherman growled, standing up and placing his fists on the table.

"Temper temper," My Nico muttered, looking intrigued.

"I'm not a planner, Yang. That's the Athena cabin's bit," Connor spat out. "I have enough to do, preparing my cabin for this new challenge. I've had enough, I'm ready to move on with my life. Two wars, the battles…I can't do this anymore." His voice shook, and he glared off to one side. His hands were clenched in fists.

"Of course, Connor," Will said in a calming voice, giving Sherman a warning look. "You go ahead to get your cabin ready. We'll come up with a plan and I'll fill you in later."

"Will is pretty much the same no matter what happens," I told Nico, shaking my head a bit.

He smiled. "It's like watching a really weird TV show."

Connor gave a curt nod and left in a hurry.

Nico was frowning. "What was that?"

Will just shook his head slightly. "We've been through battles and wars, is it surprising that any campers have a bit of post traumatic stress? Much less the cabin leaders who got us through said wars."

Percy nodded slowly. "Yeah, which reminds me, my mom says I should talk to you about…some things."

"After we have plan," Will said easily, arm going around Nico's shoulders. He didn't seem surprised, and he wasn't. Nico had worked through his post-traumatic-stress, but Will had serious doubts about whether Percy or Annabeth had even acknowledged theirs.

Nico glanced at his boyfriend, then seemed to decide to settle his head on Will's shoulder.

"Hmm, you're bold in this world," I teased.

My Nico blushed. "He—I—He did it so easily…"

"What will we tell New Rome?" Chiara Benvenuti asked, folding her arms.

Damien White snorted. "We should worry about what to tell our campers, first. Then we'll let Percy and them deal with Rome."

"You mean Annabeth and them. Percy should give that a wide berth," Katie corrected, shaking her head a bit.

Percy only looked slightly insulted, but ended up shrugging.

My Nico pulled on my hand a little as the conversation around us broke into three groups. "I've seen enough here."

I nodded and sort of willed us out of the Big House.

Nico shook his head. "It's so weird, but it's cool. I just…what makes us different in this one? Why was I different?"

I tilted my head. "I'm not sure."

"What did you change?"

"Apollo's punishment. Actually, the whole situation around that. It was a bigger thing," I explained somewhat sheepishly. "But…" I gazed out over the field of strawberries.

"What?"

I shrugged. "Things seem better here. More difficulties in house, but no wars."

He frowned at the sky. "What does the future hold here? For both of us?"

I closed my eyes and focused on his future.

"Don't forget the cooler!" Will's voice called out. It sounded just slightly deeper.

Nico gasped next to me.

I opened my eyes.

We were standing in front of a house in a gorgeous neighborhood. The yards were spacious, none of the houses were the same, but they were all very nice. Kids played in the streets and on the sidewalks.

Will was loading up a vehicle with folding chairs and beach stuff.

An older version of Nico came out carrying a cooler. "Nag nag nag."

"Eh, you like it." Will scooped up the little boy that had followed at Nico's heels. "Doesn't he, Dec? Isn't he silly?"

"Papa silly!" The boy agreed, grinning. He was probably about five.

Nico death-gripped my hand.

Older Nico glanced at his watch after putting the cooler into the trunk. "Ana! Rory! Let's go!"

Two older girls—probably about twelve—came out together, bickering, identical twins.

"Interesting. They're identical here," I murmured.

Nico glanced at me. "They haven't been in other times?"

I shook my head.

"Dad! Papa! Tell her that she can't embarrass me!" The one pleaded, folding her arms.

The other girl, who looked like more of a tom-boy, stuck her tongue out. "You're the only one who's concerned about getting embarrassed with people we've known our whole lives!"

"There are boys there!"

"There are boys everywhere! I'm not going to stop having fun because you're overly worried about what boys think. Do these guys even qualify?" She rolled her eyes, naturally standing next to older Nico.

Will put an arm around the other. "Ana, relax. You're too young to worry about boys anyway. You're not allowed to date until you're at least sixteen."

"Eighteen," Nico came back with instantly.

"Nico."

"Will."

"Fine, Seventeen."

"Fine."

"You're not even allowed to date until you're seventeen."

"Is that how old you and Papa were?" The other, Rory, asked, Nico's questioning glare on her face.

"They…look like us…" my Nico whispered. His grip on my hand loosened.

I nodded and squeezed his hand, then found myself and pulled us there.

Nico shook his head, then looked around. "A…cemetery…"

I frowned and looked around, then my gaze landed on the tombstones in front of us. One was for my mom. The other was for me.

Nico was still looking around, confused. "Why are we here?"

I shook my head. "I was thinking about my mom. She died here too. Come on, let's check on Travis and Connor." I willed us away from there. He didn't need to know.

Connor was standing in front of a window, tracing something with his finger on the glass. He was wearing strange clothing.

Then I looked around.

"This…is this a mental hospital?" I asked, looking around.

Nico nodded slowly. "I think so."

I stared at Connor, trying to figure out what the heck had led to this.

Just then Travis came in.

"Hey, Con," He said in a forced cheerful voice. "I brought someone I wanted you to meet." He was leading a little boy that was the spitting image of them.

Connor didn't even look over. He stopped tracing the window, but continued to stare out the window.

"This is my son…this is Riley…" Travis said, his voice shaking.

The boy, Riley, looked up at Travis with understanding and sadness. Then he let go of his hand and went cautiously over to Connor.

Connor seemed to know and tensed up slightly.

Riley stopped about a foot from Connor, then stepped closer and boldly took Connor's hand. "Uncle?"

Connor didn't move a muscle, allowing the boy to take his hand. His gaze was unmoving, looking out the window.

No, looking at the reflection in the window of his nephew.

"Dad says that you and him did a lot together, growing up." Riley smiled easily. He didn't have the mischievous smirk of the boys, he had a wide smile, a genuine and friendly one. "He's been showing me how fight, he said that the sword I'm using was yours when you were little, like me."

I saw a tear streak down Connor's cheek, but he didn't move or change his facial expressions.

"Connor…" Travis pleaded. "At least look at us. Look at him. He's my son, Connor. You always said…you always said that you'd help me teach him how to fight, and play soccer. That we'd go to the orchards in fall and pick apples together. That you'd take my kid sledding in the winter so that me and my wife could have night with each other. Remember?"

Connor looked down, but that was his only response.

"This is seriously scary," Nico whispered.

Riley watched Connor for a moment, then looked back at his dad. "Why does he have to stay here? Can't we take him for a walk in the park?"

Travis looked at the ceiling, obviously struggling. "He won't go, Riley. Come on. We should leave him be."

Riley frowned, and looked back at Connor. Then he tugged on Connor's hand. "Get up. It's time to go for a walk."

"Riley."

"Uncle Connor, get up. It's time to go!" Riley's voice was forceful, and he pulled on Connor's hand.

Connor finally looked at Riley, his gaze flicking over to us briefly.

"He can see us," Nico breathed. "He can hear us."

I nodded slowly. "Connor, go with them. Go with your nephew."

Connor slowly nodded and turned around completely to shuffle along as Riley pulled on him.

Travis looked like he had been struck. "C-Connor?"

Riley grinned. "Come on, Uncle. Let's go for a walk in the park. Dad? Let's go."

Travis hesitated. "I have to talk to his doctors. Connor, can you wait for a few minutes while Riley and I check you out?"

Connor didn't respond.

"Dad, I'll stay with him. He won't hurt me."

Travis hesitated.

"Connor, look at your brother," I ordered.

Connor glanced our way, then looked up at Travis. He nodded a little, just barely moving his head.

Nico was holding his breath.

Travis stepped forward, then shook his head slightly. "I'll be right back."

Riley grinned up at Connor after his father was gone. "I knew you were in there."

Connor looked down at Riley, then over at us. He frowned as he looked at Nico, but he looked confused when he looked at me.

Nico squeezed my hand. "Will he…?"

I let go of his hand and walked toward Connor. "It's time to go back, Connor. It's time to be present. I know there was pain before, but you'll be okay this time." I gently touched his forehead.

He closed his eyes.

"What are you looking at, Uncle?"

Connor's eyes opened, and he blinked at me. "A girl I used to know."

Riley's eyes widened.

Something clattered to the floor in the doorway.

Travis stared at his brother. "Connor?"