The sound of metal against metal rang out through the completely dark landscape as the blond haired child swung his sword down onto mine. I was getting better, but he had more experience. You could tell by the way you watched him fight like the sword was an extension of his arm, and the from the fluidity of each move as if he had used it all his life.

Yes I was getting better, but he was also holding back, letting me get the upper hand sometimes. It took all my effort and skill just to find weakness in his guard, and even then he was intentionally letting me in his defence.

I slashed with my sword but he blocked it, never wasting strength with brute force because let's face it he was only 9, but redirecting it in ways that made me lose my balance. He came in with a offensive attack to my abdomen, because he was basically fending off my small attacks, letting me practice my maneuvers, and I blocked it like he showed me. He smiled proudly at my progress but while I was distracted he did an advanced disarming move that I could barely follow and my sword went flying. As the sword clattered on the ground the blond proceed to twist around me and place his blade on the skin of my throat.

The sharp cold metal bit into my skin but I didn't care, I couldn't feel pain in my REM dream anyway. I sighed as he released his hold and I spun around to meet his gaze. His expression didn't hold any disappointment from me getting distracted though, that's what I like about Luke, he focuses on what you can do to improve not what you do wrong.

"Can you tell me what you did wrong?" He asked me in a teacher tone, I hated the teacher tone. Though he was only a year older than me, he was mature beyond his age. He said that descendants tended to mature faster because of the death sentence on their heads, but it still freaked me out that he was so adult like.

"Sorry I got distracted" I apologized bowing my head in shame. The blond smiled warmly and shook his head.

"It's OK, most descendants have ADHD and get distracted all the time, it's in our blood. We have it because we notice more details, make more observations, or mind runs faster than normal people. Just focus on the observations that are important." He suggested."Also good job with that block, your getting better." He remarked proudly.

"Thank you....for everything and training me and.... being my friend." I looked down sadly but instantly brightened."Um.... could you teach me that disarming technique, it looked awesome." I gushed and he smiled.

"Yeah sure it's a little advanced but it's one of my favorites."

I got into a fighting stance and came at him with my sword and he quickly blocked the blow and practically flung it out of my hands with the move. He smirked at my exited expression as he showed me the steps to the maneuver, moving my sword into different positions against his. He came at me this time and I blocked the blow to my neck and twisted his blade it the way he showed me. I totally didn't squeal, boys don't squeal, stop judging me!

"Well done, most people don't get it on the first try. " He praised and I smiled sheepishly. " Sorry that I have to go, I have a... meeting with someone, but keep practicing, I'll be here tomorrow." I narrowed my eyes at his sudden outburst but just sighed, I would never figure him out, it was frustrating.

His presence soon left my mind and I found myself once against alone in a dark barren landscape. I sighed to myself as I changed the dream to one of my favorites, the night sky over an ocean. Laying back in the sand I was lost in the beauty of the memory. The sky and the ocean, so vast, so full of life, it was poetic how they met on the horizon. The stars shone brightly and with no source of light nearby they had different hues of purple and green all reflecting off the ocean, tinting it with light.

Being in this memory always calmed me, but brought me sadness, this is where my mom met my dad. She brought me as much as she could relishing the memory of my father. Who knew a little cabin on Montauk beach could bring such an internal battle within the mind. Without even realising it the words slipped out of my mouth.

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." Those words were so familiar they could have been etched into the back of my skull. A quote by Edgar Allan Poe, my favorite, with a meaning of sadness, and wonder intertwined.

For the rest of the dream I stared up at the sky lost in thought, trying to interpret the meaning of the collection of words

I soon left my sleep as the sun came over the horizon, flushing out the remnants of the darkness. I stared up at the white ceiling of my room, it wasn't even comparable to the night sky.

I went through my normal routine, so hacking into the league's system and spying on them then getting dressed in Batman merchandise. Making my way downstairs I thought about the talk me and Bruce had. He had only told Dick about them, with my permission, which I'm grateful for. I thought he would have loosened the reins a little, but if anything he kept me closer, I don't know if that's a bad thing.

Things were still very awkward, not much had changed, only they knew some of my secrets. I was still fine though, I was used to being alone and not very social, I was to different from the kids my age. That's probably why when the subject of school came up at the breakfast table, an attempt by Bruce to get us to connect more, I shrunk down in my seat. Them being the great detectives they are noticed.

"Hey Percy, what grade are you in." I shrunk down into my seat further.

"What grade am I in? Or what grade should I be in?" I asked rhetorically."because if it's the first one, I'm in 2nd grade, but according to a placement test I took a year ago I should be a freshman in highschool." If it was impossible to shrink down into my seat further, I did the impossible.

"That's great, you in I could be in the same grade." Dick disclosed with a smirk."Hopefully your good at math" It was my turn to smirk, I was basically only good at math and science because of my dyslexia, but I liked literature anyways.

"Try me"

"Square root of 17,956"

"134"

"Area of a circle that has the diameter of 57"

"2550.465"

"Find x in fx+6=gx-4"

"X=-10/f-g"

"The string theory"

"The theory by Albert Einstein on how particles interact through space" I smiled in victory as Dick pouted."You feeling truaght?" I inquired and he grinned at me once more.

"I'm feeling quite astrous now" Bruce smiled warmly at our antics, that's right we got Batman to smile.

"Maybe we should get you to take a placement test tomorrow in preparation for the school year." Bruce remarked. I took a shy bite of my biscuits and gravy, almost shuddering at the thought of constant social interaction and strict teachers.

"Yay school." I grunted without glee."That's bloody brilliant." All that came out of my mouth at this point was sarcasm and a failed attempt at a British accent, Alfred would be ashamed.

"Why don't we do something today?" Bruce suggested, changing the subject.

"Like what?" I inquired more excited. I never got to do fun things, my mom had to work for most of the day to pull the weight of the family, Gabe sure wasn't going to. I involuntarily shuddered at the thought of that asshat psychopathic drunk.

"We could go to the movies" Dick suggested. "I think Avengers just came out" My eyes lit up immediately, I had never been to the movies before. Bruce smiled once more.

After practically jumping up and down for 10 hours, testing the limits of my ADHD, we loaded up in a more modest GMC and headed out of the garage. The manor had its own viewing room and they could buy any movie they want to, but where's the fun in that. Sure it was much easier for us to just sit in the manor's private theater and not have to disguise ourselves so we don't get swarmed in public, but I think that defeats the purpose of developing people skills.

"Loki is definitely the best." I argued as we exited. There was no arguing with me about Loki he was the best character.

"Black Widow is the best by far." He retorted."And I don't know if I should be worried that you are rooting for a villain." I sighed heavily, I thought he was supposed to be smart.

"Time to rant." I muttered before taking a deep breath. "Ok 1, Loki's character is the underdog which makes him more relatable to the majority of people. 2, all he wanted was to be out of the shadow of his brother, who's friends made front of him behind his back, making him a bit bitter. 3, his father lied to him about his heritage which made him doubt his worth thinking he was a monster and making him confused." I had to stop for a breath before continuing the rant."4, he was obviously being mind controlled by the Mad Titan that showed at the end of the movie like he controlled other people with the scepter, if anyone didn't notice before, Loki's eyes are green not blue. And 5, he's adorable and mischievous." My eyes widened, I didn't mean to say that last bit. "And yeah" I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck and looked down at the floor.

All there was after my rant was silence, never mess with my Loki, yes that's right MY Loki.

"Black Widow is still awesome." I facepalmed and held my hands up in surrender.

"I'm not saying you can't like Black Widow, your untitled to your opinion. Just don't force your opinion onto me or you will never have an opinion again." I warned with a miniature glare that had no effect once so ever, I need Bruce to teach me how to glare.

"Was that a threat?" He questioned with a taunting smirk.

"Yes" We fell into an awkward silence.

I ran to our car in the parking lot but stopped right in my tracks as a tingling feel made it's way to the back of my neck. It wasn't necessarily fear but unease, like I felt that something bad was going to happen. A sharp pain pierced my skull, and black spots danced in my vision. I doubled losing lost my balance and I barely rendered Dick and Bruce rushing to my side. Images flashed in my mind so fast I barely saw them but stopped on one scene so abruptly a wave of dizziness made my vision swarm.

I heard the whimpering before I saw the scene. It was a small boy around my age who was curled in on himself, only illuminated by the yellow light that shined through the alleyway. He wore an extremely oversized aviators jacket and black jeans that contrasted sharply against his pale skin and had a mop of unruly pitch black hair. The whimpers of the boy, as much as it unnerved me, wasn't the worst part, it was that a pool of blood was slowly seeping out from where he laid.

I gasped for air as I was released from my vision, almost in hysterics. I felt almost drawn to the boy, like I knew where he was, then the information hit me, I did know where he was.

I stood up so fast I almost fell over again but broke into a run anyway, I had to save him. I rendered the surprised vigilantes start to chase after me trying to get me to stop but I ran through the streets of Gotham as if my life depended on it. Hands grabbed my shoulders and started to pull me back but I thrashed trying to get away, he wasn't dead yet I had to save him.

At this point I was in tears just trying to get Bruce to release me but I didn't hear anything he was saying, I only heard the small boys whimpers, and I only saw his bleeding form.

"Let me go" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "He's not dead yet, I have to save him." I sobbed hysterically. The grip of the arms loosened only a bit, but it was enough, I wormed my way out if his grasp and bolted.

I didn't know where I was going, but I felt where he was and my mind dragged my body as if it knew every twist and turn in Gotham. My muscles burned and my lungs were about to give out, but I didn't register anything but the panic and the feeling like I was being killed slowly and painfully inside. I couldn't let him die, I didn't even know who he was, but I felt with every minute passing that something was shattering, breaking, and I needed to find it be for it was lost forever. I couldn't let the boy be lost, not like my mom, I didn't even know his name, but the feeling of him slowly dying in pain was shattering something alright. What was this I was feeling?

The cold wind of Gotham's night ripped around me and cold tears began to stain my cheeks as I ran into an alleyway that was covered in darkness. The temperature in the alleyway was at least three times colder than the street and the shadows danced violently as if they were screaming.

My head filled with the screams of the shadows, screams of pure terror and anguish, but I couldn't tell who the screams were meant for. I burst through the wall of darkness that swirled around me and made me shiver in fear, but I didn't feel any fear of the darkness, the scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls. I spotted the boys whimpering figure and immediately knelt down at his side. I could feel the mix of fear heartbreak and anger rolling off him in waves, but I didn't care, I had to get him help.

I pulled his curled up form into my lap holding him and putting pressure on his wound, trying to retain the warmth that he was quickly losing in the ally. Alerting Bruce of my position with Leo, I watched the violent darkness relax and recede a little, I didn't know if that was a good thing. The boy looked so fragile and drained that it almost broke me, I couldn't stand the things that he was feeling, he shouldn't be in such anguish.

Bruce pulled up in the GMC at the entrance of the ally and quickly got out with Dick on his tail. He stood almost frozen in shock as he looked at the scene but got over it when I looked at him desperately.

"Please help him" It came out in a whimper but I didn't even care about showing how weak I was. He came forward and took the boy out of my arms and I didn't object. I tried to stand up as well but I found myself collapsed back on the cold concrete. Dick helped me into the car and I sat next to the passed out boy, why was everything numb?

I always analyzed everything around me and made connections about what thing meant, but I could only focus on the details of the emotions I felt. Everything was numb, because I could only feel the emotions coming off the dying boy, I felt ha is pain and now I couldn't feel anything else.

I didn't speak for the rest of the night, but I refused to leave the boys side. I told them that they could go home and that I could handle myself but they refused to leave me here alone, something about me being to young. He was in surgery for 4 hours and I don't even no how but I'm pretty sure that I moved the least I had moved in my life.

Now seated by his side at the bedside chair watching over him I looked down sadly at his sleeping form. I let my head fall back against the headrest of the chair as I entered his mind, it might be a bit evasive, but I could not give 2 waffles on what was socially acceptable.

Entering his mind wasn't too hard, it was just the awkward moment when I would have to explain what happened that I was hesitant about. I decided right away that I didn't like how cold his mind was or that his screams could barely be heard over the roaring wind. The boy sat in the middle of the chaos, his knees drawn up to his chest and all you could see of his head was the black unruly hair that framed his face.

I calmly walked over and sat down in front of him as if the storm didn't bother me at all, but it did, it unnerved me that his mind was so chaotic and desolate. We sat in silence, the wind still ripping around violently until he began to sob. I pulled him into a hug and he began to cry onto my shoulder. I didn't mind but I needed answers, what happened?

"It's so strange that Autumn is so beautiful, yet everything is dieing." I spoke softly. The boy looked up at me with an expression in his seemingly pure black eyes that I can't describe in one word. It was sort of like hope but with more confusion and sadness, I couldn't put it into words.

"Percy" I stated as I stuck my hand out. He just stared at it for a moment before taking it and answering.

"Nico, my name is Nico." I smiled warmly.

"What happened?" I questioned almost worried tone laced my voice. His eyes darkened and he closed them tightly letting a single tear roll down his face.

"The monsters came." It hit me like a brick, the bo... no Nico had shadows surrounding him that almost solidified, he had monsters after him, he may be a descendant. "The monsters took her... she tried to fight them off but they got her." He sobbed into my shoulder once more and I pulled him into a protective hug.

"Your ok now, the monsters are gone." I assured softly as I rubbed circles into his back. "It's sad how most people can't see the beauty in darkness when blinded by the light." I looked down at him sadly. "You will never get rid of the darkness inside of you, but I have a feeling that you will conquer it someday, so don't worry. You might only see beauty in life or only see the peace of death, but these opinions are biased, only in darkness can you see the stars and only in death can you see the brightness of you life." The wind calmed down to gentle breeze and just held him until he stopped shaking.

Sometimes the darkness is beautiful.

Sometimes the darkness is cold.

Sometimes the only thing that people are scared of is being in the darkness forever.