Nico di Angelo x Reader Oneshots

35: After All This Time (pt. 1)

A/N: Changed the ending. Used to be titled "Lotus Casino" Enjoy ;-)

Nico and I ran through the Lotus Casino, laughing and screaming to our heart's content.

Bianca laughed softly as she jogged to catch up.

"Bianca! Bianca! Can (Y/n) and I go play in the arcade? Please please please?" Nico begged.

"Fine, just don't go too far okay?" Bianca warned.

"Promise!" I assured.

I grabbed Nico's hand and we both ran towards the arcade. The roar of various people cheering and talking was all too familiar. The loud sound of the electronic arcade games was prominent here.

Nico smiled, showing the gaps in his mouth from the tooth that had fallen out last week. Or was it last month? I could never remember.

"(Y/n)! Let's play on the shooting game with all the monsters!"

"Okay, where's your Lotus card?" I questioned.

He patted his pockets. "Oops...I think Bianca has it. Either that, or when I went to the bathroom earlier it fell into the toilet."

He laughed nervously.

I laughed. "You weirdo. Let's just use mine."

He smiled widely, his olive skin creasing into dimples.

I swiped the card into the slot and the game began.

Nico shot at all the monsters on his side of the screen as I shot all the monsters on mine.

The bronze bullets caused each of the monsters to disintegrate.

The monsters varied from Griffins to Hydras to Cyclops. Some of the bigger monsters took more than one shot to kill. 

The game continued, the loud gunshots booming in the speakers.

"Haha! I'm beating you!" I triumphed.

"Nuh-uh! It's a team game," Nico argued, blasting another monster.

"Team, schmeam. I'm still beating you."

After a couple more minutes of shooting, the screen showed the words "GAME OVER"

Nico and I 'booed' and climbed off the chairs.

"Man, I love that game. I wish it were real," Nico sighed.

"No, you don't. Fighting monsters? Almost dying? Sure, might be fun doing it behind a screen, but in real life?" I shivered. "I don't even wanna think about it."

Nico stayed silent.

"Your shoe is untied," I stated, the ADHD kicking in from the awkward silence.

"Huh?" He looked down.

"Ha! Made you look."

We both giggled.

"Wanna go back upstairs to our room and play Mythomagic? I got the new Afrikanus Extreme Pack," Nico sang.

"You always beat me though," I pouted.

"That's what makes it fun!" Nico said as he ran towards the elevator, leaving me behind.

"Last one there has to shuffle the cards!" Nico yelled.

I laughed and ran too. "Hey no fair!"

Nico smirked as he entered the elevator. I gasped, realizing I wouldn't make it.

The doors closed just as I ran up to it, leaving you on the floor of the arcade.

Little did I know, it would be the last time I ever saw him.

Bianca and Nico disappeared without a trace that day.

No more of Nico's toothy smile. No more of his high-pitched giggle whenever Bianca tickled us to death. No more of competitive Mythomagic games up in our hotel room. No more Bianca. No more Nico.

I was alone.

I had no purpose to stay at the Lotus Casino anymore. I escaped.

Once I got through the hotel guards and employees, I was free.

But the thing is, nothing in the world was left like how it was when I entered the casino.

There were concrete everythings and moving metal boxes that flooded streets and loud noises and people living on the streets.

Lost and scared, I ran away, constantly moving from one place to the next.

I eventually figured out that the Lotus Casino was not like any ordinary hotel. It was enchanted. I didn't know everything, but I knew I was special.

I encountered constant attacks from monsters that were so similar to the ones in the last video game that Nico and I had ever played.

Orphanages took me in.

The only friend I made in one of the orphanages was a boy with curly hair named Leo.

He disappeared too.

Years passed, and I found people who were special like me. They knew of the monsters.

They lead me to Camp Half-Blood.

The only safe place for people like me.

Bruised and tired from a hydra attack, I collapsed at the borders.

The stranger who took me to Camp Half Blood didn't make it.

The last thing I saw before I passed out was a group of teenagers gathered around me.

A familiar face stood out among the rest.

He crouched down and looked into my half-open eyes with worry.

"You're alive," Nico whispered in awe.