Nico's Pov*

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A blue sky and sunlight which was partially covered over by some of the very few clouds that floated by. That's what I was first met with. I squinted and rubbed my eyes to relieve them of the tired soreness caused by lack of sleep and the bright light. My ears were ringing and I could faintly hear the sounds of people talking. My dizzy brain and I couldn't completely comprehend what anyone was saying or who was saying it. I stayed where I was and tried to clear my head and make sense of where I was and what happened. I blinked hard and stared another moment right ahead of me before taking in my surroundings. The second I lifted my head off the ground, there was a sharp pain in my neck like when I've slept in an uncomfortable place for too long. I ignored it and looked around anyway.

To my right, there were trees. For however far I could see, that's all there was. I was in a clearing of a forest it seemed. A small patch of the woods where trees decided not to grow. Still without a single clue where I was, but the area felt like it should be familiar. The smell was too. I couldn't quite place any of this, but I felt like I should. It was like having dejavu.

"Nico?"

To my left, was everything.

She was just there. Just sitting beside me on her knees with her (e/c) eyes boring into mine intently. She tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows. "Hey, you alright?"

I looked around again. Me? After what happened. she wants to know if I'm alright? 

"Are you alright? What happened? Where is everyone?" I asked her.

I held her hand gently, but she just gave me an even more confused look. Good to know the both of us were just as confused as one another.

"Of course I am. What do you mean everyone?"

"Percy, Annabeth, Leo. What happened to them? How did we get here?" I questioned again.

She laughed a little bit like the answers were obvious. "They're back at camp. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be? How long have I been out?"I asked quietly.

She moved a bit of my dark hair from my eyes the quickly put her hand back down on her lap. "About half an hour. I thought you weren't going to wake up. We should go see someone just to make sure you passing out wasn't a sign that you're dying." She laughed a little towards the end of her sentence.

"Where are we?" I asked.

She gave me another 'duh isn't it obvious' looks. "Camp. You hit your head pretty hard, didn't you?"

"What?"

"You fell out of the tree and hit your head. Don't you remember?"

"No, I don't.... What happened to the enchantress? Is she gone?"

"Ok, we definitely need to get you back so we can make sure you're brain is still working right. C'mon." She stood up and motioned for me to follow.

I rushed to my feet but didn't move. 

"But is she gone?"

(Y/n) just looked at me. Still very lost and curious. "Neeks, I have no clue what you're talking about whatsoever. Who's this enchantress?"

I scoffed a little, thinking this had to be a joke. (Y/n) didn't seem to find it funny at all though. She crossed her arms and waited for me to answer.

"You're kidding, right? The enchantress that possessed you and tried to take over the world. Or ruin it... Not too sure which one. Remember? We went on a trip with Percy, Annabeth, and Leo and went to a bookstore where we lost you. Right before I woke up she tried to kill us. We killed her though."

There was a long silence. She went from looking very confused to concerned quickly. "Nico, none of that ever happened..."

How could she not remember anything that happened? Even if she somehow didn't, surely any of the others would have filled her in on the adventures. If they didn't tell her and she didn't remember, then did any of it happen? How much of it had he made up?

"Let's get you back to the others and find out what happened. Okay?" (Y/n) said in a cautious voice as she took me by the arm and started leading me back towards camp.

As we got closer I could hear the camp roaring with the sounds of demigods chattering, laughing, fighting, and practicing. The familiarity of the swords clashing against each other and people cheering on their friends through obstacle courses sent a wash of both relief and stress over me. All these people again..

(Y/n) led me through them towards what seemed to be the Apollo cabin. She weaved the two of us through large crowds and dodged anyone who looked like they may be walking towards hem with the intent to start asking questions or begin a conversation. We didn't make it even halfway to the cabin before she spotted Will among the swarm, going gods only knows where. 

She let go of my arm and half jogged over to the blond boy. I watched as she tapped his shoulder and waited. He turned around and flashed a warm smile that he always had on. He said something that I couldn't quite hear. (Y/n) nodded and began to talk. Her hands motioned around like crazy while she spoke. Will's expression turned serious as she was explaining the situation to him and once glanced over (Y/n)'s shoulder to take a look at me. He nodded along and waited for her to finish before saying something quickly and walking back towards his cabin.

(Y/n) turned around and motioned for me to come over. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket and walked over to her. She didn't waste any time to stop and kept walking with me in the direction of the Apollo cabin yet again. "I talked to Will. He's gonna ask you some questions and make sure you won't be dead anytime soon. He said he's not sure exactly what it might be that happened, but he can try his best to understand it better once you start explaining. Can you do that?"

I was inclined to say no immediately, but her (e/c) eyes wouldn't stop catching mine. I couldn't say no to her even if I really wanted to. Just her voice alone was almost enough to make me agree instantly. It was like she had been using charmspeak on me. I nodded and hummed.

-

(Y/n)'s pov

-

"Nico! Good to see you. How you feeling?" Will asked him.

Of course his bright and can-do attitude made Nico seem a bit more gloomy. Although he wasn't. Energetic people just tired him out. Their over-confident and happy behaviour makes him seem shy in his own way. "Fine." He replied lowly.

Will didn't seem wavered at all by his manner towards him. "Ok. Tell me what's going on? I heard you fell on your head from a tree?" He sat down in a chair and motioned for the two of us to sit as well.

"Don't really know. I don't even remember the tree or anything." He sat down across from Will and right beside me. He didn't seem very comfortable though. His hands were still placed firmly in his jacket pockets and he sat like a stone. I took a moment to examine his face... to make sure he was okay, of course...

"Can you tell me what you do remember?"

Nico sucked in a breath. I felt his cold fingers ghost over mine before they interlaced with mine. Strange...

Nico began to explain the story of how I came to camp and some other events that I remember happening. Most of his stories added up, except-

"Sorry to cut in, but are you two dating or.." Will questioned and pointed between our hands.

"Yea."

"No."

He said with ease as I said no. What?

I looked over at him with disbelief. Not in a "as if I would ever date you" kind of look, but a "what the fuck, why didn't you tell me this" kind of look. He glanced over at me and frowned. "What?" He asked in the tiniest voice ever.

"Neeks, last I checked, we aren't dating.." I said carefully.

His face fell and I felt regret immediately. He returned his hand back to his pocket and dropped his gaze to his feet. A piece of my heart broke off and was being burned somewhere right now. I could feel it.

-

An hour later Nico finished his story. I could tell he left some parts out. Occasionally he would almost slip up, but then he corrected or stopped himself, but I didn't want him to. I wanted to hear everything that he had went through, even if it was just in his head. Will wasn't sure what had happened entirely, but we both were sure that everything he was telling us never happened. 

The heartbreak in his eyes was real though. Every since I told him that we never happened, he didn't seem as open with me anymore. He shut himself down again like the first time I had met him. He would hardly even glance in my direction anymore. He kept his answers and conversation short and to the point as Will started to wrap things up.

"I know this is gonna be weird for you to come back and join camp again after everything that happened to you and the time difference you're experiencing, but tonight I'm going to bring this up to Chiron and see what he thinks of it all. It could be a warning or a prophecy. I'll let you know tomorrow if it's anything we should be really concerned about. As for the whole falling on your head thing, I'd suggest going and getting some rest. Besides the story you just told me, nothing else seems to be wrong with you, but getting some rest would be advised. Ok?"

Nico nodded. Will looked at him seriously. "I'm serious, Nico. Get some sleep please?"

"I'll make sure he does." I offered.

Will smiled at me and stood up. "Thanks. I've got to go help out outside. I'll see you two later." And he left. 

I watched and waited until he closed the door behind him to turn back to Nico who was still sitting there as still as a rock. "Let's not beat around the bush anymore than we already have. I think that poor bush needs a rest. We were together in this... alternate world."

"You can call it a hallucination. I won't be offended." He muttered.

"That's cool, but also not answering the question. Give the bush a break, Nico. Poor Bob just needs a break."

He breathed in heavily, but let out a shakey laugh. "Bob?"

"Bob." I nodded in confirmation. "The bush, Bob. Now question. Answer. Let's go."

"Yea. But it wasn't even real, so it doesn't matter." He shifted uncomfortably.

"Why wouldn't that matter? Even if it wasn't real, it was still something that you thought happened to you and seemed pretty real and important. If it mattered to you then it matters to me too."

"It wasn't anything. It was just- it was just nothing." He stuttered.

The look on his face sure said otherwise. I sat there in silence for what felt like forever trying to think of a way to respond to this without coming off as desperate and creepy. "So you wouldn't want this to be something?" 

His head snapped to face mine then went right back down to look at his shoes. They were some pretty nice shoes though. "I- I don't- I don't know." He shrugged.

"You can say yes if you want to. I'm not gonna punch you. If you want to say no that's alright too. I'll try to get over you." I tried to reassure him.

"You like me?" He asked in disbelief.

If fake me liked him then why wouldn't I? We both have really good taste in guys. "Of course. How much subtle flirting does it take for you to realize that?"

"You're not very subtle." He pointed out.

I smiled and punched him lightly on the arm. "Shut up."

He smirked. "You promised not to punch me."

"When have I ever kept my promises?" 

He shrugged. Now that hint of a smile was playing on his lips. 

"So, I know I might not be as amazing as your dream me, but can we try this?" I asked and took his hand in mine again.

He looked down at our hands and watched them intently. A quick swarm of emotions flooded through his eyes before they made their way back up to mine again. His deep dark eyes looked over my face to search for something before he nodded slowly. I smiled wide.

"Alright." I said as though to seal the deal.

"Alright." He replied solemnly.

-

The End

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~Hiiiiiiiii.....

Yea, I've been gone for a while, huh? Sorry if any of the characters or writing is out of character. It's been a while since I've read the books or my own book really. I actually read the last two chapters like four of five times so I could try to remember exactly how I was going to end this story. I had something really great planned, but I couldn't remember it for the life of me, so now you have Nico remembering too much. You're welcome.

This is actually the end, so says the two words up there, but I may be doing an extra chapter or two later on to satisfy you all. Just some fluff and shit, nothing relevant to the actual story.

It feels weird to end the book. I always have this nagging feeling or itch to write more for this and not having anything to write is going to feel like when I graduated and didn't have school. Oh yea, that's a thing I did while I was gone btw. Screw school.

Thank you so much to you all. I don't think you even realize just how much every single one of your comments means to me. Even my really terrible chapters have good comments which confuses me. I can't ever imagine telling myself years ago when I started this book that I'd get more than just 50 reads maybe. I never expected anything like this to happen and it really means something to me. Thanks you all so so so so SO much for reading. This has been an incredible adventure with you all. I hope you all have a great day or night, ily!~