The Silver Ring (PJO)

Chapter 14

"Nightmares again?" Nico asked, staring at me sympathetically.

"Yep." I didn't feel like talking about it. 

I had woken up again very early in the morning (it was still dark out), my full body drenched with sweat and my hair sticking to my forehead. But unlike regular nightmares, I could remember every little detail clearly, as though it was a memory and not a horrendous fantasy.

They were about Tartarus—not the place, but the primordial. Every night, he would come into my dreams and torture me inhumanely and endlessly until I got up again. It didn't make any physical scars on my body, but it still hurt like hell. At first, I had thought those were lasting nightmares after Tartarus—but I slowly suspected that Tartarus had bribed Hypnos for giving him priority access to my dreams.

Again, lucky me.

Fortunately, nobody knew about them, and I planned on keeping it that way. I was tired of getting looks of pity for being the "hero with endless betrayals and pain," and it was driving me crazy that everybody treated me as though I was glass. Nico and Thalia did no such thing; instead, they understood what I was going through, and tried to support me through it.

"Want to talk about it?" Nico asked.

"Not really," I mumbled, rubbing my bleary eyes. My body screamed at me to go back to sleep, but I didn't dare. I usually woke up screaming, but since Nico hadn't shake me awake meant that I hadn't this time. "Why are you up?"

I saw Nico's silhouette walk towards my bed and sit beside me, the mattress dipping down as he sat down. "I'm nocturnal," he joked, but then his voice turned serious. "Nightmares for me too. About Tartarus."

I wasn't surprised, but saddened. We had all grown up too fast, and it had taken its toll. The only thing I was glad about was that I had the worst of it, so nobody had to suffer more than me. But still, Tartarus wasn't a joke. "How are you  doing?"

I saw Nico shrug. "I've had better times." 

Nico wasn't one to share. "Speaking of time, what time is it?"

"A few hours before breakfast starts," Nico said.

"What are you still here?" I asked.

"I only got up a few minutes before you. I was hungry, so I decided to stay until breakfast."

"So . . . In other words, Hades kicked you out of the Underworld?" When Nico didn't respond, I burst out into laughter.

"He said that I was 'working' too hard, and that I needed a break," Nico admitted. 

I snorted. "More like he wanted you to gain some friends so you wouldn't talk to ghosts everyday," I teased.

"It's part of managing the kingdom!" Nico exclaimed. "And it's not like the ghosts don't have a personality; they were people. And that's not why I'm here."

I clasped my hands together. "Then, pray tell, why are you here?"

"Dad learned about what happened from Olympus and updated me, since I hadn't met up with you for a couple of months."

I blinked in surprise. "They were talking about me on Olympus? That's creepy."

Nico scoffed. "You're the Hero of Olympus. Of course they're going to talk about you. But don't worry! I know how much you hate getting praised, so you'll be happy to know some gods hate you."

"Uh . . . I don't exactly like being hated," I informed him. "In fact, I would be happy if they didn't talk about me at all."

"Well, you can't ask for everything in life, right?"

"It seems like I can't ask for anything in life," I muttered.

"At least you have your father and Sally. Don't forget about Thalia and me, too!"

"You're right," I conceded. "Having a loving family is more than enough. Perhaps the Fates really aren't horrible." Then I thought about it for a second. "Actually, they're still horrible. Besides, it's Amphitrite now."

"What happened to Sally?" Nico asked in a panicked tone. He had become very close with my Mom, and to my happiness, thought her as his second mother.

"Nothing happened," I laughed. "Sally was actually Amphitrite."

Nico was shocked. "Wha-? Ho-how!?"

I closed my eyes. "It doesn't make sense to me either, but here's the gist: Amphitrite was depressed that Poseidon kept cheating on her, so unknowingly her 'kind' personality developed a conscious mind of its own—kind of like the Greek and Roman forms of each god—and started living as the nice and kind mortal known as Sally Jackson, so her heart wouldn't break with eh endless betrayals. In turn, immortal Amphitrite became cruel and vindictive towards her step-children.

"The same thing happened to Poseidon, but instead of his 'positive' personality splitting into two parts, his loyalty split away into Paul Blofis. His personality changed to become sadder, since he didn't have a close relationship with his wife anymore.

"Eventually, he stumbled upon Sally and immediately fell in love with her—although this was the kind of permanent love that made him want to whisk her away back to Atlantis, which made sense, because she was his wife. She, of course, fell in love with him, and her meeting Paul Blofis signified Poseidon and Amphitrite together again."

"Wow. That's amazing," Nico said after a pause, as though he was still trying to understand it through his shock. He then thought about something. "Doesn't that technically mean you're a god like Triton?"

I chuckled. "Thankfully, no. Mom was mortal, remember?"

"So is Amphitrite nicer now? And does she remember Sally's memories?"

"From what Dad told me, Mom became like her old self again, which is basically Sally but with different memories. So I guess she's still technically Sally, even though Sally was Amphitrite. She still remembers what happened in Sally's life, though."

"Does that mean you haven't visited her yet?"

"Yes. I've been wanting to though."

"Well . . ." Nico drawled. "I guess it's about time we pay her a visit."