Strings Unveil (Solangelo)

A Change In Fate

Nico bounced slightly as he sat on the white queen-sized bed, fiddling with his hands and counting in his head. Two hours. Two hours Bianca had been gone. He was becoming agitated, he wasn't supposed to leave the room until she came back. Alecto, the lawyer who had pulled them aside, asked Bianca if they could have a "small talk." Two hours didn't seem small to Nico. He rolled the skull ring Bianca gave him in his pocket, sighing.

Nico's attention span wasn't the longest, he had to do at least something to keep him entertained. Practically running out of the room, he dove into the elevator, scaring its occupants. He ran down corridors and through crowds of people. Bianca was nowhere to be seen. Nico only had one other option.

Standing in front of the big doors, he hesitantly grabbed the handle and pulled.

"Oh! Mr. di Angelo. Leaving so soon?" A peppy worker asked, resulting in an unsettling feeling in Nico's stomach.

Nico nodded quickly, opening the door hastily, and almost stepped outside. He heard the worker once more.

"Don't forget to visit!" They said, a mysterious glint in their eye, "The world can move on without you." With a wistful smile, they shut the door, leaving Nico with questions.

A cool breeze hit Nico's face as he walked out. Advanced-looking cars zoomed past, a few people gliding on what looks like light-up skateboard-dumbbell hybrids. The city seemed much brighter than Nico last saw it. Which was weird, considering he only stayed in the hotel for about five and a half days.

Nico walked around, wary of strangers on the sidewalk. He didn't want to stray far from the hotel, but then a distant voice hissed.

"A demigod?" The voice snarled. Nico spun around, trying to look for the owner of the sinister voice. "Ahh, a cute one too. Don't worry, I'll make your death a bit less painful."

Nico's heart stopped, fear crept on him as he started running. He got five yards in before a winged creature with frightening sharp teeth swooped down in front of him. His whole body went cold as the monster looked at him face to face with their milky white eyes.

"Empousa." Nico shakily whispered as he realized why the monster looked so familiar. As he made his conclusion, the creature swung their claws at him. He lurched out of the way.

Eyes widening as he noticed what he did, he started running, high off adrenaline. He ran and ran, vision becoming unfocused as he panicked.

Slowing down, he realized he had reached a dark dead end.

"Leaving so soon, are we?" The empousa sneered. Nico's breath hitched as he backed into a corner. "Don't worry," the empousa said, as Nico wished for an escape "It'll only hurt for a while." She raised her claws. Nico forced his back into the wall as much as he could. She struck, but Nico was swallowed by the darkness.

Nico had stopped counting the minutes he was in the room for. He had no sense of time while in that disturbingly quiet and dark place. His thoughts had stopped coming up with ways to get out.

The room was cold, shivers ran through him as he moved around, his face feeling as if it was being pulled off. The dark wasn't a very fun place to be, especially after have a traumatic event happen to you.

Nico moved around in the seemingly gravity-less darkness. The feeling of fierce wind pushed him back, He didn't know if he was actually moving or not, so he attempted to do what he thought was a backflip. Feeling no impact anywhere, Nico furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.