| The Rising Moon: The Awakening of a Demi-Goddess |

█▓▒­░⡷⠂ʜᴀᴜɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴍᴀɴꜱɪᴏɴ, ᴀɴʏᴏɴᴇ?⠐⢾░▒▓█

 It turns out, all of that dark energy had confirmed his thoughts. The mansion was letting out the cloud of negativity everywhere. He let out a soft growl. This is just getting so much easier, isn't it? He felt someone tense beside him and he turned to see Celestial. Right now they were facing the mansion in front of them. Imagine a haunted house with boarded-up windows, flickering lights inside, and eerie howling noises echoing through the air. Yep. That's what it looked like. He could already tell that they were going to fight monsters in there, but which ones?

"What, scared?" He scoffed at the blue and green eyed girl. How did she get her eyes to naturally be different shades? The question always hung in his mind, along with a dozen others, but it wasn't like it mattered. A mixture of emotions swam in her eyes as she slowly shook her head, her mind churning as if she was deep in thought.

"Something... isn't right..." He could barely hear her whisper, but it was still audible. The usual bitterness filled his chest as he scowled, scoffing at her remark. What is she talking about? Are we in danger? Did she plan an ambush? Why is she so sad? The questions rolled into his mind against his will, and he tightened his fist. Now wasn't the moment to be inquisitive.

"Everybody ready?" Piper asked, her dagger sheathed in her pocket. Uneasiness was in the atmosphere. The mansion was radiating negative energy. A small shudder passed through him and he saw Celestial turn to him.

"What, scared?" She mimicked, which made his insides burn with anger. Who did she think she was? She was their prisoner! They all uncertainly nodded, looking at the entrance of the mansion. Annabeth sucked in a breath.

"Then lets go-" She placed her hand to open the handle of the mansion, but it automatically swung open, as if it had been waiting for them.

"-in..." they all turned to each other, anxiousness churning. It was almost as if the Mansion had been waiting for them...

They all slowly filed in, sticking close to each other so they wouldn't get lost. The house was eerily quiet and dark. The cloud of dark energy engulfed his mind. He sucked in a sharp breath, sensing the looming danger.

"I think there's-" A low rumbling intercepted his warning as he felt the walls and ground shake. He tensed, trying to gain his balance on the trembling floor.

"What's happening?!" Percy yelled, clinging to the wall as it tried to shake him off. To Nico's horror, he saw the ground under them split right apart, a wall emerging in its place.

"Stick together, the house is trying to separate us!" He heard Annabeth's distant voice warned, panic in her tone. Too late. He was already trapped, the wall closing in on him.

"It's going to crush us!" He turned to see Celestial frantically trying to stop the wall from closing on them. She was trying to stop it from advancing forward, pushing it back with her body, but her efforts were useless. He joined in, applying pressure to the wall to make it stop, but there efforts were little. He heard Celestial curse. The room was so small she was able to place her feet on one wall and her hands on the other. She did just that, pushing as the room got smaller and smaller. Horror flooded through him. Would this be how he died? Crushed by some walls of a haunted mansion? No. He went into the same position she was in and used his legs to push with all his might.

To his surprise, the walls slowed, and soon, with barely enough space, the wall stopped. He jumped down to the ground, breathing heavily, with Celestial beside him. He turned to her, and saw the way she delicately yet roughly dusted off her cloak and tried to rub her moon tattoos, only to realize that her handcuffs would block it from happening. He caught himself staring and cleared his through, giving her an angry glance to throw her off.

"Now what?" He asked, trying to navigate through the small room. She shrugged her shoulders and used her handcuffs to point behind him.

"Maybe we could go through that conveniently placed door over there?" She offered, and he turned to see a large black door with dim candles and ancient patterns. He blinked. Had that door been there before? He let out a sigh and tried to listen for the others in case they were nearby. No luck. He slowly walked towards the door and jiggled the knob, the door slowly creaking open.

He turned to Celestial and gave her a you go in first, look, which she responded with you're the one who opened it, you go in! look. He begrudgingly surrendered and entered the room first.

Correction, it was a hallway. A very small one, in fact. It was dark, long, and narrow, the end unseeable. Celestial followed behind him, staying close enough to him for protection but far enough so that she wouldn't touch him. They kept on wordlessly walking through the hallway for what felt like hours, hoping to find an exit of some sort. He felt Celestial stop behind him, and he turned.

"Nico. The hallway!" She gasped, tugging his jacket. He turned in confusion, and his eyes widened. The long length they had walked had completely disappeared, and was met with a wall. As if they had just started walking now. No door was there, or any form of exit either.

"The hallway- It- but we started walking-" a sickening thought entered his mind. What if they both got separated in the hallway? If one of them stayed behind and the other kept on walking? Would one of them disappear in the illusion.

"We have to keep going," He said firmly. She cast him a worried glance, and shook her head.

"We can't! It's infinite! We need to find an exit of some sort," She argued, starting to inspect the walls for a way out. Something bubbled in his stomach. A type of anger he hadn't felt before. He grabbed her by the arm tightly.

"That won't work! We have to keep walking forward!" He said, jolting her arm forward. She glared at him and pulled back, her gaze defiant.

"You can't tell me what to do! Listen to me! We need to find a different exit!" She was now yelling, stepping away from him. The anger and resentment bubbled in his chest.

"We have to keep going forwards! I'll leave you behind if I have to," He warned her, stepping back. She pulled away, giving him a withering glare.

"Fine!" She shot back, and he stepped away from her. What is wrong with her? Can't she see I'm doing the right thing? He sharply turned away and started walking down the long hallway, his mind seething with anger.

It took him a while to stop walking and for the realization to hit him, but by the time it did, he was too late. If the hallway truly restarted... and he had kept on walking without her... he let out a gasp, and turned around, only to be faced with...

A wall. "No," he whispered, his fingers gently brushing the new wall. What had happened? The bubbling feeling of hatred in his stomach had left him as soon as it had entered him. What had overcame him?

She's gone. You killed her, a voice whispered in his head. He looked up, confused. His own conscious hadn't thought that. Someone else is in my mind. His body tensed up as he realized what had happened. It was a trap.

It was bound to happen. She betrayed you, now you betrayed her, the voice continued, filling his mind with lies. He shook his head, not willing to believe it. Was it possible... the Mansion had a mind of its own? His fingers brushed the wall again. It was an illusion, wasn't it? The Mansion wanted him to feel discouraged and depressed. It wanted to separate him from his friends. He turned to look at the endless hallway, then back at the new wall that had suddenly appeared. It's all just an illusion, he told himself, taking in a deep breath.

They're all probably dead, the voice pestered, but he shoved it away. He stood up, and glared at the new wall. What if he were to...

Suddenly, he swung his fist up and slammed it into the wall, making a large crack form. Pain started to scratch though his fist, but he brushed it away and punched the wall again. A purple light shone from the other side. What are you doing? Go back! Walk the hallway! The voice screeched in his mind. He used all of his willpower to shush the voice and continued to punch the wall, until finally, a satisfied hole was made. He gingerly stepped inside it and got ready to face whatever was to come.

What he saw was something he least expected.