Don't Fear the Reaper

72) A Bus Might Not Have Hit Me, But Exams Sure Are

A/N: I am dying. Kill me. Kill me. Kill me... also plz comment a lot so I have something to read that isn't my exam prep 

Nico was exhausted, so when his head hit the pillow, he wasn't surprised by how quickly he fell asleep. One moment he was looking at the door across the room from him, and the next, he was surrounded my darkness.

There was nothing there, only the dark, and yet it didn't feel empty. The liminal space was void, and yet it was. He stood in the dark, no concept of what was above or below, and yet, he was fine.

This wasn't a nightmare, nor was it a prophetic dream, this was the realm of dreams: a place he had avoided like the plague for two years. One couldn't really just stumble into this realm accidentally—it took immense focus to not only get there, but to maintain control of it—so he knew that meant someone had pulled him in. Someone was trying to reach him, and instead of appearing in his  dream, they—whether intentionally or on accident—pulled him into the dream realm itself.

Nico closed his eyes, trying to center himself before his surroundings inevitably shifted. He knew that the only people strong enough to pull him there were children of Hypnos or Morpheus, but the odds of one of them reaching out to him of their own desire was slim. Sure, he'd had a few conversations with them over the years, both awake and in this realm, but they weren't exactly close. 

He opened his eyes and the void transformed into a familiar sight: Camp Half-Blood. Usually he was pulled into the Hypnos cabin whenever his course was being controlled by someone else, but this time he was standing at the entrance of the dining pavilion.

His eyebrows furrowed scanning the campers around in search for the one who had brought him there, yet none of them looked like they were aware of his presence. He walked around to each table, hearing parts of conversations about petty gossip or parental drama, but none of the campers even gave a hint that they were the conscious dreamer.

He was walking by the fire in the center of the pavilion—the Hermes campers were taking turns making their offerings—when he froze.

"-And to Hades and Hestia," a young girl he didn't recognize muttered in prayer after she finished making an offering to her own father. She, without hesitation, pushed the entirety of her dessert into the fire. "Please keep Nico safe. I know I never met him and that he probably isn't coming back here, but protect him anyways. Please."

Nico was frozen in place as the girl walked back to her table and the next Hermes kid walked up. He didn't want to stay and listen—purposely listening to other's prayers was taboo at CHB—but he couldn't get his feet to move.

One after another, as the cabins changed and he watched an assortment of both familiar and new campers make their offerings, he heard them say his name. Each of them, whether they were there for the wars or not, made an offering on his behalf and asked for his safety. Some gave reasons, telling the gods how he'd saved the life of someone they knew or how he helped them after the war, but some just swept large portions of their food into the fire and uttered his name.

He couldn't process what he was hearing. They... they hadn't forgotten him. They remembered what he'd done, and they were asking for his safety. It had been over two years since he left, and yet they were still  thinking of him. Percy had told him they hadn't forgotten, but he hadn't believed it. He thought that Percy was just willing to say anything to get Nico back to camp, but this... 

The last camper finished making their offering as Chiron stood up at the main table and drew their attention. He had his usual announcements about the upcoming game of capture the flag, when the next cabin councilor meeting was, and things like that, but Nico wasn't really listening, too lost in his own mind, until the centaur got to his last topic.