One-Shots: The Geek Collection

Nico DiAngelo - Heroes of Olympus

I screamed and shot straight up in bed, my forehead beaded with sweat. I turned my head back and forth, looking around the room like a cornered animal. I couldn't see anything. Darkness... Darkness was everywhere.

I could imagine hooded creatures grasping at me in the dark, sucking away my soul. Spiders crawling from every dark corner. Hands stretching from the shadows, reaching for life itself.

Anything and everything that terrified me seemed to come to life, surrounding me, freezing me in terror. The darkness suffocated me. My throat closed and I could barely remember how to breathe. My heart pounded, my lungs contracted, my breathing shortened. I was dying- smothering myself in my own fear.

My life was saved when my door cracked open, letting the low light from the hallway outside spill a yellow glow over the floor. Instantly, I gasped and took in a deep breath, filling my lungs with fresh air. I panted as my heart rate slowed back to normal.

The door opened wider and I squinted. I saw a familiar silhouette of messy hair and a tall and lanky yet lean and toned body.

"Nico?"

"I heard screaming," he said, walking into my room a few feet. He shoved his hands in his jean pockets. "Nightmares?"

"Uh... Yeah..." I said uneasily, glancing around the room as if the darkness might decide to return and swallow up the light itself. "I guess you could say that."

He walked closer so he was now stating in front of my bed. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just demigod dreams, you know?" I said, forcing myself to speak in a nonchalant tone.

I could barely make out his facial expression. By the looks of it, he believed that I wasn't telling the truth. He was right, of course.

He held out his hand. "Let's get some fresh air, sound good?" I looked at it for a brief second. I pushed back my bed sheets and allowed him to pull me up from my mattress.

We walked out of my door, down the hallway, and made our way above deck. As soon as we reached the deck of the Argo II, I gasped at the sight. The sky was littered with blazing stars. Millions were speckled in countless constellations, contrasting against the dark sky. The full moon shone so brightly that it casted a blue glow over the whole ship and its reflection sparkled on the waves.

"Nice, isn't it?" Nico asked.

"That's describing it lightly," I replied in awe, still stargazing. Nico turned and walked to broad-side, resting his elbows on the rails. I dragged my eyes away from the night sky and walked after him.

"So. Wanna talk about your fear of the dark?"

I whipped my head around, looking at him wide-eyed. My heart skipped a beat. "How did you know about that?"

He turned his head to me with a small smirk. "I didn't until you just confirmed it."

"Ugh! Stupid!" I muttered to myself, smacking my forehead. Nico let out a light laugh. He turned his attention back on the view.

"I'm assuming it's something about your past? Only something traumatic could cause a phobia as serious as yours."

"Uh, yeah." I admitted. "It is."

"Would you care to...?" He trailed off.

"You sure you want to know?" My eyebrows knit together in concern.

"I can take it, trust me. And I can keep a secret. You can trust me on that too."

I took in a deep breath of the salty, ocean air. I exhaled, letting out a sigh. "It was when I was eight... My parents killed. I woke up in my bed from a nightmare. I sat up in my pitch black room and I heard screaming from my parents room. The lights were off, just like every other night, and I was too scared to go to my parents room. I heard more screaming, banging, and thuds, so I hid in my closet. I don't know how long I sat there... Not being able to see anything." My gazed bored into the horizon, making myself continue the story. "There was more banging and screaming and I just sat there terrified, crying and trembling. Eventually it stopped, and I just sat there wide awake until noon the next day, when my closet door was opened by a cop, explaining to me that my mother and father had been brutally murdered that night."

It was silent. I looked up at Nico, who also glanced back. I immediately returned my attention to the ocean, not wanting to look him in the eye. "It was as if darkness itself murdered my parents. And ever since then, it's been haunting me, like a punishment for hiding away from it in my closet that night."

I risked another glance at Nico, who, thankfully, was now watching the sky as a few seabirds soared overhead. As they passed, he looked down at the rail, pushed up on it, and swung his legs over the side. He glanced at me and held out his hand, inviting me to sit. I climbed up and sat next to him.

"I can see why darkness seems so haunting to you."

"But... You're a direct ancestor of darkness itself. Doesn't it seem a little... I don't know, ridiculous...? Especially to you?"

Nico shook his head with an amused smile. "No. Not at all," he replied. "Remember, I was a kid once too- the kind that would be scared of what's under his bed. The kind to see shapes in the dark and think they're monsters. But there's a lot I've learned since then, being who I am."

"And what's that?"

"Well, the thing about darkness is... it's complex. It conceals. It hides. It yields the unknown and with that, it strikes fear. It robs us of the very crutch we so desperately rely on: sight. With an uncontrolling mindset, it can become your worst nightmares. It can be anything that your mind believes it is. Our imagination and darkness combined are what make the unknown so potentially terrifying. That's why you have to see past the black curtain that it cloaks everything in. You have to cling to the thought that there's nothing terrible underneath it. You have to see past the fact that you can't see anything at all, and that you don't need to. Imagine something better than what the darkness causes you to imagine. You just have to keep faith that it's a controllable situation, whether the light's on or not."

Before I replied, I stared a Nico for a second, taking all his words in. "I've never... Wow. I've never thought of it like that," I responded, amazed.

Nico nodded. "Darkness is simply a reflection of your imagination, like the Mist. Your fear of it can be controlled, but only as long as you control yourself."

I looked at Nico in admiration. "How did you manage to learn so much about something so... abstract?"

Nico's expression darkened. "Because that's all Tartarus is. With everything there, you have to control your mind and your fears or you'll go insane just as easily as you'll be killed."

I couldn't say anything else. I didn't even know what to say. Luckily, I didn't have to.

"It's getting late," Nico said. "We should be getting back to our cabins." We both hopped down from the rails with a thud on the wooden deck.

I turned Nico's words over in my mind. Nico explained how to fight darkness like he was explaining how to bake a cake. It didn't seem as easy as he let on. I don't see how I could ever overcome it... Was I strong enough?

Just before I turned to step through my cabin door, Nico turned to me.

"It isn't easy. It takes practice," Nico told me as if reading my mind. "But you'll get it."

I gave him a small smile. "Thank you." Not only was I grateful for his help for my fear, but I was also relieved that I could have someone to talk to about my past. 

I wrapped him in a hug, which took him by surprise, but he returned nonetheless. I pulled away. I noticed that a tinge of pink had spread across his cheeks, but disregarded it.

"If there's anything you need, just ask... Okay?"

"Mhmm," I nodded. I placed a hand on the door knob, opening it a little. I gve him ine last galnce over my shoulder. "Goodnight."

He sent a small smile. "Goodnight, Y/N."