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Ω Ι See Myself Die Ω

NICO

Everything is black.

Stereotypical knockout, right? But here, it stays black. I look around, but the darkness seems to pound into my skull, making my eyes throb.

"Okay," I say to myself, just to hear a voice, "so Bianca was scared of the dark." But she's a daughter of Hades...

I shake my head to clear my thoughts. Now what?

I close my eyes, but the intense darkness seems to seep through my eyelids, boring into my skull.

I start to hear things. Just creaks and groans, probably, but they echo throughout the seemingly empty space, sounding like screams and roars.

"This isn't real," I tell myself. "Any second now, I'll open my eyes and see Annabeth and Mn-what's-her-face."

My self-reassurance doesn't help. I don't understand; I've lived in the shadows my whole life. Why is this scaring me?

No, not me. Bianca. It scares Bianca, not me. Not me, not me, not me...

The creaks and groans become less frightening, more normal. I breathe a sigh of relief, but my gut tells me this is far from over.

The darkness seeps away, taking the form of human figures, far in the distance. They're talking and laughing about something. Their voices carry the space between us, sounding like music to my ears.

Isolation. Being lonely. I remember at school, Bianca was always with me or a friend, talking and sharing jokes. I never thought that she would be scared of not having someone to talk and laugh with.

Now I prefer to be alone. Sure, Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, even Leo are good company, but I always get the impression that they feel sorry for me.

I don't like pity.

I tell myself this over and over. I like being alone. I like being by myself.

Suddenly I'm part of the group of distant people. I turn around and see a lone figure where I was just standing. If I squint my eyes, I can make out its features.

It's me.

So Bianca didn't want me alone, either? Now I feel like I'm betraying her by liking it that way.

I start towards the figure. Soon I'm a few feet away, but he looks at me and turns away. I run the remaining distance and grab him by the shoulders, turning him around to face me. I look into my own eyes, full of sadness, for a split second before they become angry. He rips out of my grasp and takes off in the other direction.

I call out, reaching towards him, and I'm surprised by the amount of emotion in my cry.

Fake Nico runs a few more paces before a monster materializes in front of him. With a sharp breath I recognize it as Dr. Thorn, the headmaster at Westover Hall, the school Bianca and I attended.

Dr. Thorn's scorpion tail swings at Fake Nico, knocking him over and sending him tumbling to the floor. Dr. Thorn stands over him with his tail poised to kill. I break into a run towards them, but I know in my gut I can't get there in time.

Dr. Thorn's stinger swings down towards Fake Nico. I scream, but the noise is just ringing in my ears as the stinger goes through Fake Nico's chest. He falls to the ground, and Dr. Thorn explodes in a cloud of black.

I run over to Fake Nico and kneel next to him. I roll him over so I can see his face, even though I really do t want to. His aviator's jacket is already soaked in blood, as is the black t-shirt he wears underneath. His eyes are already starting to close.