Nightmares of Tartarus (A Percy Jackson One-Shot)

Nightmares of Tartarus

Percy was tired. Like really tired. He could barely muster the energy to change into his pajamas before he flopped onto his bed. Him and Jason had been sparring all day long. He would have regretted it if not for the fact that he had kicked his butt! So yeah, it was totally worth it.

As soon as his head hit the pillow Percy was taken over by sleep. This unfortunately meant nightmares. It had been six months since the Giant war and he still hadn't quite gotten over the experience. When he and Annabeth fell into Tartarus that was easily the most terrifying moment of his life. They had both talked about their nightmares with each other and it really helped. They could each get at least two nights a week without nightmares. Talking about it really helped. At this rate, by the end of the year, the nightmares might be completely gone.

"Percy..." he slowly started to blink his eyes open. He had been dreaming about Bob. "Wake up."

His eyes finally opened and he saw a face staring down at him. "Annabeth? What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night."

"I know..." she watched as he started to sit up. "I need your help." He froze in waiting "You know how Chiron's doing that security thing where several demigods petrol camp at night?" he nodded "Well tonight was my night for patrol."

"What happened?" Percy was worried. Annabeth looked really shaken up.

She chewed on her lip "That's the thing... I'm not sure but... When I passed by the Hades Cabin I thought I heard what sounded like screaming..."

Percy's eyes instantly filled with horror "Nico?!"

Annabeth nodded "He might be having a nightmare. I want you to come with me to see what's wrong." Percy instantly threw the covers off and followed Annabeth out the door.

~time skip~

Annabeth knocked on the door of Cabin 13. "Nico? Are you okay?" they waited but they didn't hear anything. Suddenly a blood-curdling scream could be heard from the other side of the door.

Percy tried the handle but it was locked. Without even thinking twice he sliced Riptide through the air and broke the lock off. "Nico?" they both ran in and quickly closed the door behind them. Annabeth gasped.

Nico was tangled up in his blankets lying on his bed. He was sweating and his back was arched as he screamed his head off. It panged their hearts when they noticed the tears streaming down his pale boney cheeks.

Annabeth ran over to him and started shaking him "Nico you need to wake up. It's just a dream!"

Percy sat on the bed next to her and held onto one of Nico's thrashing arms "It's not real Nico. You aren't there anymore." Without warning, Nico's other hand formed a fist and punched Percy square in the nose.

Annabeth stayed with Nico as Percy went to clean up his bloody nose. Nico suddenly bolted upright and gasped for breath. "Shh it's ok..." she tried to brush the hair out of his eyes but he quickly slapped her hand away. It seemed that he wasn't completely out of the dream yet.

Nico was having trouble breathing when Percy came back with a glass of water. He quickly downed the glass and he slowly started to calm down. "You ok?"

Nico glanced around the room taking in his surroundings for the first time. "What are you two doing here?" he discreetly tried to wipe the tears from his eyes. But, of course, the two older demigods noticed.

"You were screaming," Annabeth explained.

"But..." Nico sniffed "How did you get in?"

Percy rubbed the back of his neck "Leo might have to make you a new doorknob."

Nico tried to play it off and roll his eyes but he just couldn't stop crying! He was so pathetic! "Well thank you for checking on me. But, I'm ok now."

Neither of them budged. "Nico were you having a nightmare about Tartarus?" he shuddered like a leaf at just the mention of the word. Annabeth took that as a yes.

Percy looked him in the eyes "Would you like to talk about it?" Nico shook his head "Have you ever talked about it with someone before?"

"A couple times with Will." He explained shakily "I never go into much detail though. I don't want to scare him."

Annabeth put her hand on top of his "We know what it's like down there Nico. You aren't going to scare us off. It's helped Percy and I when we've talked about it."

Nico sighed in defeat. "It was right after I fell in. I was completely alone. As a child of Hades, I saw the pit for what it really was." Percy thought back to the few moments he had seen that when he was injured. He couldn't imagine seeing that the entire time. Let alone being alone without Annabeth. "The monsters... they would take the appearance of different people. Other demigods, my mom, Bianca... they would tell me horrible things. At first, I wouldn't listen but towards the end... I slowly started to believe them..." At this point, he completely broke down into tears.

Annabeth and Percy quickly wrapped him in a hug. "It'll be ok Nico. We're here for you. We'll never let them take you. That's a promise."

From that day on anytime Annabeth, Percy, or Nico had a nightmare they would go to both of the others and talk about it. The next morning campers would often find the three of them asleep in the Hades or Poseidon cabins. They would be in a dog pile as they held onto each other. Six months later Nico's nightmares had gone down by half and six more months after that it was very rare that the three were plagued with nightmares of Tartarus. They had overcome their fears as a team. 

The End. 

(A/N - Thank you guys for reading! It really means a lot. I hope you liked it! :) Remember, with great power, comes the great need to take a nap. :) Bye!)