When Nico walked inside the temple, his footsteps echoing off the marble floor, he was hit with such a concentrated force of sleep magic that he almost passed out on the spot.

He remembered Morpheus's spell, vaguely-he was finding it hard for his mind to travel at all in this state. The god had put thousands of people to sleep instantly with ease-minus Rachel Elizabeth Dare and all the demigods. Nico knew that the only reason he and his quest mates were not out for the count immediately was that they had godly blood counteracting the magic.

Still, it wasn't easy. He swayed on his feet, starting forward despite all of his better judgement. It was pitch-black all around...that is, outside of a faint light coming from underneath a set of double doors. Nico thought about what some campers had said once-something about a haunted house, where they turn off the lights and actors in costume try to scare you. Nico had never been to one, but he imagined this was what it felt like: waiting for anything, heart pounding, always on the lookout. Then again, that was a daily occurrence in demigodhood-why anyone would pay for that was beyond him.

Nico could hardly focus in the small hallway-not only could he not see very well, but the smell threw him off like nothing else.

"Do you guys smell that...?" Nico started, his stomach urging to crawl out of his throat and as far away from here as possible.

"Yeah," Leo replied. "Warm cinnamon rolls with icing...hot chocolate...some kind of flower, too, like lavender...it's really nice..."

"No," Nico countered. "No, it smells like...it smells like the dead..."

Something within Nico's words must have partially broken the spell for his companions, because he heard Piper gag. Nico liked to be informed, but he wished in that moment that the magic would have worked on him, too; he hated to be the one to open their eyes to the reality of death in here, but as a son of Hades, it was kind of his job.

Leo took out the spare knife Nico gave him. Unlike his own sword of Stygian Iron, the knife was Celestial Bronze, so it casted a dim, coppery light about the room. Indeed, as the trio looked around, they could see bodies lying around carelessly on the ground-twenty, thirty, maybe even fifty. Nico could hear Piper swear softly into her hand, and Leo made a sound as if he were covering a sob.

"These heroes," Leo's voice, despite its smallness, echoed around the temple. "They went to sleep and never woke up...but it looks like they're still dreaming..."

Sure enough, as Nico followed his gaze, he could see a fallen hero no older than twelve in a tattered purple shirt. There was no question that he had been dead for a few months now, but when Nico studied his face...he was smiling. Whatever he was dreaming about before he died had made him smile. Nico found a bittersweet comfort in that-and he wondered what his own dreams would look like if he succumbed to the magic, too.

"Piper," Nico started, the sleep magic beating down on him still. They were about two hundred feet from the door, but with every step the group took further, the door seemed farther away. It seemed...pointless. "Piper, what's the..." he yawned maybe five times in a row. "What's the plan...?"

"Make it through to the other side," Piper offered, trying to quicken her pace to no avail. Nico felt the same way, as if every step was sinking them deeper into a quicksand.

"Piper, the..." Nico yawned again. "The thing, with the girl at camp...the prophecy...you're the key."

"I know," Piper snapped. "But I don't think we need a key-we just need to keep going."

"Piper, come on," Nico said, the anger giving him the tiniest burst of consciousness before draining his energy. "If you're going to do something-"

Just then, the dark hands of sleep clawed their way to victory, pulling him into the depths. Literally, because as Nico took another step forward, he was thrown back by a gust of wind, slamming against the wall. He crumpled like a rag doll, his vision blacking out before he hit the floor.

He stared out into the darkness for quite a while-in a sense, Nico knew that this was exactly the same experience as when souls got their memories wiped from the River Lethe before rebirth. No memories of the past, no indication of a future before the bright light and coldness of the world. It was...peaceful.

But also scary as all hell.

The moments spanned on before Nico could sense his mind start regaining feeling. He wasn't dead, wasn't detached from any and all reality. He was simply...asleep.

Until he woke up, of course.

Nico reluctantly allowed himself to open his eyes as he yawned, rolling over. He was on a cot on the ground, which didn't seem like the best setup, but it was a surprisingly comfortable spot for a nap.

The first thing that hit Nico was the smell of machine grease and motor oil-the 'I should be disgusted by this, but it's surprisingly good' sort of smell. Unsurprisingly, matching his other senses, Nico appeared to be in a warehouse of some sort. The ground around him was loosely littered with different parts, some half-finished projects and torn up blueprints.

Nico had never been here before. But at the same time, he had-ritualistically, in fact.

"Sorry, sleeping beauty," Leo's voice greeted at the sight of Nico sitting up. "I hope the noise didn't wake you..."

Nico turned to see his friend in question, putting the finishing touches on a bronze bird. The sheer small size and detail rendered it not only a marvel in mechanics, but in art itself.

"I would have joined you," Leo continued with a smile-a hint of his usual slyness, but also a genuine sweetness that made Nico's face grow heated. "You looked so comfortable, but, uh...as you can see, I got distracted..."

Leo held out his finger, allowing the bird to balance on it for a moment. It then seemed to develop a mind of its own, flapping its tiny wings and letting out the most beautiful song as it flew away. It then landed on the nearby windowsill...ten feet above the pair of them.

Nico raised his brows, his mind not even registering to feel surprised that Leo had suggested he'd nap with him in the tiny twin cot he was currently on. He glanced at the bird-a beautiful but stupid move, which Nico felt about most all of Leo's projects. "Now you just have a bird loose in the bunker."

Bunker, bunker...they had a bunker? He'd said that as if he knew everything, but what was this place...? It was a stupid question-he knew what this place was.

"True," Leo nodded to Nico's point. "But at least this bird won't leave any, uh...droppings. At least, if it does, I'll know I did something massively wrong."

Nico found himself laughing, covering his mouth as he did so. Leo grinned, walking over a few feet and sitting on the bed. Nico didn't mind the slight dirtiness of his clothes-one look at the blanket alone suggested that cleanliness was not easy to come by here.

"Did you make the bird to help you capture the dragon?" Nico asked. His smile faded as he noticed Leo's sudden frown at the question. From what Nico could access of the things he knew, he could tell this was an ongoing issue.

And he knew it was, too. Genuinely. His mind battled itself, searching in desperation for what was real, but he knew he'd heard of the dragon before. It was Beckendorf's, before he'd passed.

"I'll get it one day," Leo sighed, snapping his fingers and urging a flame on the tip of his index finger just to watch it move. "With some kind of project or something...hopefully I won't have to resort to...what my cabinmates want me to resort to."

He didn't elaborate, but Nico could guess well enough. And he knew Leo-really knew him-and in that he knew Leo never wanted to give up on a project. To him, they were like living beings.

"But don't you worry about a thing, Neeks," Leo settled with a smile, and Nico felt a smile tug on his lips, as if Leo had called him that all the time, and Nico loved to hate it. "I'm close to a breakthrough, and I'm not pushing myself too hard, promise. But speaking of pushing it...it's getting kinda late, and I better get you back to your sister before she summons a legion of the dead on me."

Nico felt his heart rate rise, his eyes widen, every cell in his body lift with excitement, with anticipation. "My...my sister?" His memories at the moment could easily tell him-he'd seen his sister earlier that morning. But something in his aching, disoriented heart told him that he hadn't seen his sister in years.

"Yeah, silly goose," Leo nodded, as if it were obvious. "You must have had a really heavy sleep, huh?"

Nico nodded, looking down at his hands. For a moment, a vision flashed in front of his eyes-he was standing at the dining pavilion, yelling as he held out a hand. His hand here was smaller, he was younger. A massive crack spanned across the marble, and a dozen skeletons began to crawl from the ruins.

He blinked, and the vision disappeared, as if it had never happened. "I had..." he managed, his voice cracking. "I had a bad dream..."

"Oh," Leo started, his voice warm and concerned. "Well, we can just stay here a little while, that should be fine...hopefully your sister will understand and not suck my soul out of my body."

Leo had said something like that before, or asked that. Was that one of his reoccurring bits? He was always one for jokes, but Nico knew that he could be serious when the moment called for it. He knew that he was there for him...

Nico had an itching memory that he and Leo were more than close friends here, and that scrambled Nico's brain more than anything else.

But if they were close, and Nico really needed someone he was close to, maybe he wouldn't mind...

Nico reached out, leaned in, and wrapped his arms around Leo's waist. He rested his head on his shoulder, and Leo wrapped his arms around Nico in turn.

"Your sister is most definitely going to duel me to the death if I let you stay the night again," Leo murmured, running a hand through Nico's hair. "But you make a really compelling case, di Angelo."

Nico nodded, pulling away. "I wanna see her," he said, but he wasn't sure he was really ready. What was he supposed to do, or say?

Leo wordlessly helped him up, his hold on Nico's hand lingering for a moment before he let go. He took one or two things with him, slipping them into his tool belt pocket before leading him out.

The night was a cool one, nothing but the darkness and the trees as far as the eye could see. That is, until Leo lit up his hand and allowed fire to light their path. Nico breathed a few calming breaths, feeling the need to enjoy this, but also the need to collect as much information as possible.

"My sister's been gone for a while..." Nico commented, unsure if it was a question or not.

"Yeah," Leo said. "I wasn't a fan of that quest, either, but she's back now, safe and sound. Hopefully the oracle will leave her alone for a while after that."

His answer was vague, but Nico did remember his sister going on a quest. But she was here, and safe, and that was something entirely new to Nico.

"Piper," Nico started, embarrassed at how slow his mind moved when it came to remembering his best friend.

"What about Piper?" Leo asked. "She doesn't want to come around the bunker anymore, she's still boycotting until I install a home theater. Which is so unfair, given my list of ideas, but I'll get around to it."

Nico found himself smiling. That sounded like Piper, strong-willed about small ideas-but he wanted to see her. Tomorrow, maybe.

Nico felt another question or statement on the tip of his tongue, but just then, he heard a familiar voice calling for him.

"Nico!"

Nico started through the trees, shoving branches out of his way, leaving Leo behind without a thought.

"Nico!" his sister called again. Nico found himself running, his breathing heavy, his eyes stinging, a lump forming in his throat. Through the thinning trees, he could see her-his sister, but older, maybe 17. She was wearing a camp shirt, her expression worried; Nico had to get to her.

"Bianca!" Nico called. Suddenly, his foot hit a giant root, and he stumbled to the ground. He grimaced, waiting for the pain of his fall-

"WAKE UP!"

Nico's eyes snapped open to reveal the darkness of Hypnos's tomb, and the reality of his situation-of his life-hit him like a ton of bricks.

Leo's palm fire lit up the small space they resided, much like his dream. Leo and Piper both seemed beyond concerned, more like horrified, and very little relief flitted across their faces once they found they'd successfully woken up Nico.

It didn't take Annabeth to come to the conclusion that Piper had woken him up with Charmspeak-a thick layer of it, in fact.

"Why did you do that?" Nico asked, at first calm and slow. And then, more forceful: "Why did you do that? Why...why-no-no, no, no-"

"Nico, it's okay," Piper reached out, but Nico slapped her hand away, curling in on himself.

"Piper, you..." Nico swallowed, feeling panic start to consume him, body and soul. His stomach was a gaping black hole, his heart pounding out of his chest. His eyes stung, tears slipping down his cheeks. "I saw her...and I thought I was fine, but I could see her through the trees, but...you took me away before I could get to Bianca..."

"Nico, I checked your pulse," Leo started. "It was super slow. If we hadn't woken you up...you would've died-"

"Then you should've let me die!" Nico yelled, the darkness within him coming out within his voice.

A chilling wind rushed about the small hallway after his words, like the kind Nico could feel when he shadow traveled. But no, he could not accidentally shadow travel now, not when it took everything to get here in the first place. He could hear a familiar growl, reminding him of the night he'd met Leo on Half-Blood Hill.

Nico's stomach dropped as he met Leo's eyes. He didn't even know he could summon a hellhound like that, at least one that was clearly not Mrs. O' Leary. But then he remembered that strange sense of power he felt after shadow traveling off the cliff-with so many of the Underworld's creatures nearby, perhaps Nico could summon one.

But that didn't mean he wanted to. Nico held out a hand, concentrating his strength on closing this accidental shadow portal. For a moment, the darkness wavered, fighting him, threatening to overpower him. The corpses around the trio seemed to turn their decaying skulls to watch him, grinning sickeningly at his torment. Nico cried out, willing the shadows to bend to his will, not this temple's or the Tartarus's corrupt power. Down here, keeping his godliness was just as important-if not more-than maintaining his humanity.

After a moment more, the shadow mass began to collapse in on itself. The beast within clawed at the ground, cracking the marble as if it were a a chocolate bar. Soon enough, the growling ceased, and the bodies around them seemed to shift to their previous positions-inch by inch, so Nico was unsure of what was real and what was not.

Nico sat in the silence with his two quest mates, their eyes dark but full of life, blank but full of a swirl of emotions. He tried to catch his breath.

Nico allowed himself to cry for a moment, unsure of how to move forward, so unsettled by the happy curiosity of his dream. How he felt...he'd been temporarily lifted of all of his burdens, he could feel it. And his real life...his real life failed in every comparable way. Worst of all, the only way to get back to his imaginary world was to die, and Nico couldn't see that as such a bad thing, now.

"Piper," Nico started, wiping his eyes as he sat up. He'd been slouching against the wall instead of laying on the floor-one or both of them must have lifted him up in his unconscious state. He was the leader of this quest, and they were doing so much to accommodate him already-he'd been too soft this whole time. Even so, in his moment of trying to regain his strength, he'd taken his anger out on Piper. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, I...I just freaked out, and I...I'm so sorry..."

A terrible, sinking sense of guilt filled his chest as she met his eyes, her own reflecting the hurt that he'd made her feel. His life wasn't that bad, really-and even when it was, all the things that made it better were the ones Nico took for granted.

"I forgive you," Piper replied, her lips quirked to the right in that contemplative way of hers. "I think it's all this sleep deprivation magic, turning us against each other. I'm sorry that I woke you up, but...I mean, we couldn't leave you here. I'm not..." she sniffled. It was clear that she'd been crying, probably ever since Nico got knocked out. "I'm not gonna let you die, okay? I won't."

Nico could see tears continue to slip down her cheeks, and against his usual judgement, he pushed himself forward and hugged her. He held her close, and she let out a muffled sob against his shoulder.

Nico was momentarily reminded of the first night he'd met her-she'd put on such a big, brave show when he found her. Piper had stumbled in with a nasty cut on her leg, bandaged with her own ripped t-shirt. She shrugged it off like the most veteran of demigods, but when Nico started to patch her up, she softened up and started to cry a little. Nico wasn't sure how to react, but one awkward shoulder pat lead into an even more awkward hug, and before he knew it, Nico was tied into being Piper's new best friend.

And he wouldn't take it back for anything.

Nico glanced over to see Leo looking a bit left out, and he smiled and nodded in an offer for him to join in the hug. For not being a hugger, being hugged by two of his friends in a situation like this was pretty nice.

As they pulled away, Nico struggled to his feet, the dark hands of sleep deprivation continuing to pull at him. Every second he held himself up felt like lifting iron, and now that he'd seen into the other side of Hypnos's temptation, resisting would be even harder.

"Okay..." Nico started. "I think we've figured out how Piper's the key in all this..."

"Not quite," Piper countered doubtfully. "Waking you up took a lot of tries, and it felt like the longer it took, the harder it was to reach you. We can't risk that again-so we'll have to keep each other..." she yawned. "We'll have to keep each other from falling asleep in the first place."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Leo asked, shaking slightly from his own sleep deprivation.

"Well, I'm not looking forward to this, but what used to keep you up as a kid?" Piper asked, looking around at the both of them. "What was it above all else that kept you from sleeping at the hotel, Nico?"

Nico felt his heart skip a beat in recognition. "Fear."

Piper nodded. "Your regular amount of fear isn't enough to counteract the magic of the tomb, so it has to be counteracted with magic. Remember...remember what my mom said. You have to trust me." She locked eyes with Leo, then Nico. "You're scared."

Just as Piper had anticipated, Nico felt his heart rate rise. Adrenaline flowed throughout his body, waking and tensing every muscle.

"I..." Nico started, all of those awful emotions he'd dispelled moments ago coming back full force. What were they thinking? They were going to die down here, surrounded by fifty other bodies of heroes who had failed quests alongside them. Would anyone at camp really miss them?

"Piper, I don't like this," Leo started, two fingers pressed to the pulse point below his jaw.

They started forward uneasily, but just a few more steps in, and the magic began to fade-exhaustion seeped into Nico's bones once more, and he found himself slumping like a rag doll.

"Come on, guys," Piper encouraged. "Remember Nightmare on Elm Street? You guys aren't going to sleep on me. I'm scared-you're scared...you're terrified..."

Nico, in his fear, began to see visions around the darkness, much like when he was a child. Glowing eyes, shifting shadows, another occasional growl.

"Piper," Leo countered. "I-I don't think-I mean...I'm starting to panic..."

"I am, too," Piper said, and Nico could see it in her eyes-that cool exterior faded, the challenge of every day of being a demigod catching up to her. She wasn't just scared now-she'd been scared every day since before she even knew she was a demigod, and she'd just been keeping it together for everyone around her. "We're going to be okay. But for now...you're feeling very anxious, aren't you? You're scared that if you fall asleep, you won't wake up..."

Nico looked over to see Leo-he wondered if Leo was struggling more with this, or was simply more vocal. Remembering his own strange dream, Nico reached over, his fingers brushing over Leo's. His hands were shaking and covered in cold sweat, but Nico didn't mind-his heart relaxed a little just feeling that there was another person alive beside him.

"We have to finish this," Leo said, squeezing Nico's hand, perhaps a little harder than necessary in his anxiety. "Not just for Apollo, or the fate of the world or anything...but for Hazel. She deserves to come back to a world with sunlight..."

Nico swallowed, nodding firmly. Of all the injustice he could see, all the bodies that littered the marble floor of this tomb, there was one soul he could save. And no matter how hard his heart thumped in his chest, or how his body felt a heavy attachment to the floor, Nico knew he had to reach the end.

His vision seemed to shift, and he could see the dead heroes around his feet begin to rise shakily, gnarled hands clawing at the ground. Decaying heads smiled up at him as if to say 'Join us, Nico. Come join your sister.'

Nico felt his stomach curl in on itself, fighting the urge to hurl. He kept his eyes locked on the front, reminding himself with every step: I'm not leaving Bianca. She was never really here.

"Piper, I sure am sick of the hallucinations," Nico said, squeezing Leo's hand as if to reassure himself he was still there. "Can you get us the hell out of here?"

"See the light under the door?" Piper asked, and Nico nodded-the light was so close now, just a room's length away. "One more time, and then we're gonna run."

Nico had his doubts-his heart couldn't take much more of this, and his mind was working overtime on top of overtime. Still, he nodded, wiping sweat from his forehead with his free hand. And at Piper's last Charmspeak, Nico used his panic to run, pulling Leo along with him. The skeletal demigods clawed more feverishly, as if desperate to grab an ankle and drag them into the abyss.

Just when Nico couldn't take another step, Piper shoved the double doors forward, and the trio stumbled into a room flooded with light.