Worlds Intertwined

Chapter 1 - Nico's POV

Nico's POV

The falling sensation was all too familiar. I thought back to the last time I had felt this helpless, spinning through the air, hurtling towards the ground at an alarming speed. It was two years ago, as I fell alongside Reyna and Gleeson Hedge with the Athena Parthenos on our way to deliver the ridiculously large statue to Camp Half-Blood. Only thing was, this time I was alone and falling indoors, through the middle of an enormous tower full of staircases. I was rapidly approaching the ground, but thankfully the space was relatively dim lit. I closed my eyes and directed all my remaining will power into shadow travelling a second time. I let myself melt into substance and darkness and felt as the energy drained out of me. I re-emerged from the shadows in a fairly well-lit room. When I say room, I really mean a closet inside of a room. I pushed open the door of the dresser and promptly fell flat on my face, proceeding to pass out on the cold, stone floor.

My eyes opened with a start. I had slept peacefully and deeply, more so than I probably had in years. Guilt poured inside of me as I wondered how long I had been out for. Conveniently, there was a newspaper sitting on the table next to my bed. Bed? How in Hades did I get into a bed? I checked the date on the newspaper, which thankfully was only 1 day later. The time on the wall clock read 5:30am, which meant I had only been gone from camp for around 14 hours. I hoped Will wasn't too worried. You couldn't really blame him though. I had a reputation for going missing and showing up days later, with the beginning effects of fading (it's a shadow travel thing), covered in cuts and bruises, and barely conscious. I like to say its all part of the demigod life. Will then annoyingly points out that no other campers disappear for days on end and return clinging onto life. He likes to complain about having to heal me every other day, but we both know we enjoy getting to spend the extra time together. I stood up from my mysterious bed and immediately sat down trying not to throw up. It wasn't looking like I was leaving this place anytime soon. I used a drachma to IM Will and let him know what happened, hanging up before he could lecture me about my irresponsibility. I smiled as I ate the happy meal that had suspiciously appeared on a table in the corner of the room. Gods I loved that boy.

Following my early morning snack, I decided I needed to figure out where in Hades I was. I shouldered my bag, which I always kept stocked before a shadow travel exploration, and left the strange room which had weirdly met all my requirements. I found myself in the same tower I had fell through yesterday, lit with torches leading the way. I walked aimlessly through it, turning corners, going up and down stairs, until I found myself outside in a courtyard. From this viewpoint I could clearly see that the building I had just exited was a large, medieval England style castle, dramatic and elegant at the same time. The weirdest part? Standing on the smooth cut stone, surrounded by the tranquility of the central fountain and the beautiful greenery, all I could sense was death. Beneath the stones was the blood of fallen warriors, so much of it that I nearly collapsed with grief. Yet when I looked at the scene around me, I could not see any of the tell-tale signs of a battle as recent as my senses told me it had occurred. The confusion was so overwhelming that I had to sit down on the edge of the fountain to take it all in. Something terrible had happened here, around a year ago, yet the plantation and delicate construction work looked as if it had stood undisturbed for hundreds of years.

As soon as I had recovered enough to get back up, I left the courtyard as fast as I could. The whole dynamic was really messing with me mentally and I needed to leave before it got worse. As I walked back through the tall, grand doors leading to the tower of staircases/death, I heard footsteps coming towards me. I quickly ducked into a dark corner and watched as the boy walked past. He looked ridiculously similar to Percy, the same messy black hair and green eyes (although this boy's eyes were emerald, not sea green), but wore round, black glasses and was a bit shorter looking. He seemed to be leaving the castle in a hurry, but apparently he had enough time to notice short creepy boys standing in dark corners, because he suddenly turned towards me, a look of confusion spread thickly on his gorgeous face. I stood there for a moment, trapped by his stare, until I realised I wasn't supposed to be there. I willed myself back into the shadows, leaving the boy and the castle of death far behind me.