The Chloe Chronicles: The Lost Goddess

Nico was never happy. That was really expected though, for a son of Hades. He was supposed to be introverted, dark, mysterious; but Nico never thought he could ever be..nice.
Ever since the second Giant War ended and the action was dying down, Nico planned on leaving forever, and never coming back. It's not like he was wanted! He only decided to stay because of a promise, a promise he was going to keep.
Nico had racked his mind for hours what he could have done differently, and his memories of the event tortured him.
He remembered he was walking alone, like normal, from his cabin. The morning fog loomed closely around him, concealing Nico partly from the world around him. Suddenly, the area around him got colder. The fog seemed to freeze and Nico sensed another presence. Not another human, a shade. He drew his sword and quickly turned around, pinning the shade against a tree.
The soul looked like she had been through Tartarus, literally. The toga the dead were given to wear was torn and burned in several places. Her pale, transparent face was covered in ash and her hair, what was left of it, was knotted in several places.
Nico was confused though. He seemed to recognize her. He loosed his grip and stepped back from the shade. Her eyes were sad as she stared up at him, where had he seen those eyes before?
"Who are you?" He asked. "Why were you sneaking up on me?"
The shade smiled at him and then reached out her hand and touched his cheek gently.
"My son.." She whispered softly in the voice of the shades.
Nico's eyes widened. He recognized the voice from his dreams. He also knew where he recognized those eyes, the mirror. The transparent woman smiled sadly and brushed back his hair, then began to examine more of his body.
"M-m-Mom?" Nico asked.
The shade nodded and Nico dropped his sword and feel to his knees. He hugged her transparent legs and she lifted up his head.
"You've grown so much!" Maria said. "You're looking more like your father everyday."
Nico stood back up and he brushed some of the ash off of her pale face.
"How did this happen to you? Father said that you went Elysium."
Maria bowed her head gravely and lead Nico over to a tree stump and sat him down.
"It was around the time of the ending of the Titan war. Word was sent to everyone in Elysium that Hades was considered a hero in aiding the other gods and that his son, was also being honored. I was so happy, and so proud of you! A couple months passed. It became around Christmas time and I was chatting with a couple of the other shades. When out of nowhere, she appeared."
Nico put his hand over his mothers and she raised it to her lips, kissing it softly.
"Who mother?"
Maria hesitated and then bowed her head. "Your stepmother, Persephone."
Nico clinched his fists and stood up, and looked at the sky. "You witch! You will pay for hurting my mother!!" The wind around them started getting hotter and the grass started to turn into thorns. A poisonous plant erupted from the ground 20 feet away from them, acid hissing from its roots.
Maria put her transparent hand on Nico's shoulder. "My son please! Don't do anything foolish! That was not the main reason I came here to speak with you."
Nico turned back to his mother and noticed she was fading, slowly. Her legs had already began to dissolve into the air. Persephone was the cause of it! The green gas wrapped around Maria's fragile figure, choking the only existence his mother could summon from the face of the earth.
"Mom! Don't go!" Nico yelled, over the blowing winds. Persephone's rage was quickly spreading. Flowers began sprouting faster, wrapping around his legs.
"Your father only allowed me a short amount of time. The reason I came here today was to tell you my last request!"
"What do you want me to do? What is your request?!" Nico shouted.
"Your cousin, Percy! He did the greatest thing anyone could have done for me and that was make sure you are safe! I want you to protect-"
The ground started to rumble and Nico was starting to get separated from her.
"Mother!"
The ground cracked open violently and Maria fell in.
"Protect the one in your dreams!" She yelled as she fell into the abyss.
Nico fell to the ground and reached for her, as if he could save her. He bowed his head, angry with himself. "You idiot!" Nico punched the ground and a skull popped up, smiling at him.
Nico sat in silence and laid back in the grass. Why did this have to happen to him? He could have saved her, but he was too weak to even try! Tears burned his eyes and Nico angrily wiped them away.
"Men don't cry." He muttered. His wet eyes drooped and he rubbed them with his fists. The last thing he needed was to be sleep deprived, but of course he was.
"You look tired." Nico looked up and saw Clovis, son of Hypnos. Clovis' hair was tousled like normal and his eyes had dark circles underneath them. He wore a shirt with a sleeping Polar Bear on it and plaid pajama pants with rubber ducky slippers.
Nico frowned and grumbled. He didn't like attention, especially when he was upset. "Aren't you supposed to be taking a nap?" He spat.
Clovis winced and looked away from Nico. "You really are a mean kind of guy..."
Nico shrugged. It wasn't surprising.
"I heard something about dreams..?"
Nico frowned again. "I don't need you involving yourself in my personal business Clovis." He turned and started walking away, not looking at him.
"Look I just want to help!" Clovis shouted. "I heard your mother's final wish. You aren't going to see what she wants you to if you walk away. Let me help you!"
Nico stopped and sighed angrily. He turned back facing Clovis. If anyone could help him, it would be the son of Hypnos. "Fine." Nico said. "You cannot tell anyone about what you saw, or so the gods help me, I will kill you."
Clovis gulped and nodded repeatedly.
"So, uh, this person you’re supposed to protect..have you seen anyone in your dreams?"
Nico glared at him, and took out a dagger. Clovis shrieked and started to cower behind a tree. Nico laughed and started to pick under his fingernails.
"Relax you little baby, I have some dirt under my nails. I'm not that cruel..unless you force me." Nico said.
"I guess I'll take that as a no. Wow..you are really hard to talk to."
"I'm not a people person.." Nico grumbled.
"Hehe, right...So, do you have any preference about what you want to dream about?"
Nico frowned, and put the dagger back in its sheath. He walked quietly over to where Clovis stood, and smiled.
"I don't know. Were you not here when my dead mother asked me to 'protect the one in my dreams'? Honestly, you think if someone invaded your privacy they would have caught on faster."
Clovis gulped again, glancing back and forth at Nico, and his sword. "You know, I think I know why you are so grouchy Nico."
Nico rolled his eyes and prayed to his father that this idiot would get to the point.
"Um..what have you been dreaming of lately?"
Nico sighed. "Well if you call dreaming of the fiery pits of hellish Tartarus a peaceful night's sleep, then I've been doing great!"
Clovis laughed nervously again and looked at the ground. "It seems to me that, you've been having nightmares Nico, and they've started to take a toll on your everyday life. If you ask me, they seem to be blocking the dreams your mother wants you to see."
Nico bowed his head, showing respect to his mother. He would do anything for her, even if it meant talking to Clovis. "What can you do?" He asked softly.
Clovis seemed to smile and he patted Nico on the back.
"Don't touch me."
"Sorry! Uh, you can say an incantation before you go to bed. My Dad will hear it and rid you of your nightmares for awhile."
Nico raised an eyebrow, impressed. He thought that Clovis would suggest taking a kooky medicine of some kind. "Alright. What do I have to say?"
Clovis looked at the ground and twisted his foot nervously. Nico growled and reached for his knife. "Okay! Calm down I'll tell you!"
Nico grinned. There was always something satisfying about scaring people. "You have to say...'I don't want to snore so dream, don't be a bore'."
"Are you serious? I have to say that?!"
"Well, unless you want to sacrifice something precious to the one you hate most, hint, hint, I suggest you choose this option."
Nico frowned and gave Clovis a hard glare. Clovis yelped with fear and cringed.
"Fine, I will speak your little dream spell. But if I even hear one rumor of this conversation ever happening, I hope you enjoy hell."
Nico stalked out of the clearing and headed towards the camp, leaving Clovis praying for his life.


Nico was sick of his dreams. He was willing to do anything that would take away his nightmares. So, that night, he put away all of his shame and knelt in front of his bed.
"I don't want to snore so dreams, don't be a bore."
Silence came through the room and Nico suddenly felt tired. He curled up under his comfortable black cotton blanket and fell asleep.
At first in his dreams, all he saw was darkness, which he didn't mind that much, but then it started to clear up and Nico saw a small room, with sun shining through the window. It was painted a pale blue and there was a small bookshelf filled with college textbooks, Van Helsing, poems, and Greek myths. There was a closet in the corner of the room and pencils and sketchbooks lay on the floor in a heap.
Nico's eyes seemed drawn to a light green object near the bed and his dream seemed to let him view the object closer. He bent down to get a better view when he recoiled in shock. It was a green ball cap, like one Bianca used to wear.
Nico swallowed his emotions once again and turned away from the hat. The memory was painful, like a stab to the heart.
Suddenly, another thing caught his eye. It was a piece of sketch paper, lying on top of a book, a pencil beside it. Nico moved over to the sketch and gasped.
The drawing on the paper was an exact portrait of him.
The artist was obviously very good, they had all the correct curves and expressions in Nico's face. Their picture showed him, gazing out as if he were supposed to be looking at his artist. A sharp bang in the background startled Nico, and he backed up against the wall.
The door of the room slammed open, almost breaking off the hinges. A man stood in the doorway, snorting like an angry bull. He had brown cropped hair, and warm hazel eyes. The man glared at the lump in the bed, as if it did something wrong. He marched over to the bed and pulled the covers off. He pulled the person ,who lay asleep in the bed, up by the hair and threw them to the floor.
"You!" He bellowed. "Oversleeping again when you have chores to do in the kitchen?!"
Nico glared at the man, as if through his dream he could actually do something to harm him. How dare he treat his son or daughter, that way! Nico peered over at the sobbing figure on the floor and he boiled with anger. The girl was obviously terrified of him.
Her blonde hair was wavy, but messy from sleeping. She was thin and had multiple scars on her arms, probably from being mistreated by this man.
The man threw pieces of her hair down on the floor and grabbed her by the chin forcefully. "Don't disobey your giagiá again!" He yelled and he stormed out of the room.
The girl looked up after he left and Nico got a full view of her face. Her skin had a natural glow to it, but she was quite pale. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail but a few strands hung in front of her eyes. The girl wiped snot from her face and slowly rose from the floor. Nico squinted. She looked so familiar, as if he had met her before.
Nico's mind wandered, and the dream faded away, leaving him awake in his bed, a few hours until breakfast.


Dreams like that didn't elude Nico. He kept dreaming of the girl, as if details of her life were important. Nico knew though, she was the one Maria spoke of.
One afternoon, Nico was so exhausted. He had started to do poorly in his training classes because of the lack of sleep he received. Nico had viewed a dream of the girl, who he learned was called Chloe, saving her cousin from a monster the night before. It seemed as if she would do anything for her family, even though they would leave her to rot in a dark cellar. Nico's eyes drooped and he cursed. He could barely stay awake, he was so tired.
Nico promised to himself that if he ever saw someone being treated like that, he would send their abusers to Tartarus still alive, mortal or immortal. So, Nico was dozing off, while sitting under the roof of his cabin. The shadows seemed to lull him to sleep.
The first thing he saw in his dream was Chloe, sitting in the kitchen on her knees, a couple tears dripping from her emerald green eyes.
Nico normally didn't feel...bad for people, but over the last few weeks, he could sympathize with her. (There, he admitted it!) She had no one who loved her that was alive, Nico only had Bianca until she gave her life for Percy and Thalia.
Chloe stood up after a few seconds, and walked over to the stove. Suddenly, a figure, tall and muscular emerged out of the shadows. Nico's eyes widened. The man, stood in front if her. He emitted a powerful aura, but he didn't look like any god he would recognize. The man wore a suit, like Zeus would wear, without the stripes. He had scars running all over his body as if he were a human puzzle and bright blue eyes that stared Chloe down.
"My dear, why the tears?" He sneered, and Nico's skin crawled.
Chloe gasped and turned around, holding a pan in her hand like a club. "Who are you?" She asked.
"Relax. I mean you no harm, unless I am enforced to inflict it." The strange man stepped forward and Nico growled in anger.
"Stay away from her!" He yelled. The man continued walking towards Chloe and she backed up against the hot stove, burning herself.
"Ow!"
The man just smiled and Nico clinched his fists. He didn't know who this guy was, and Nico was not fond of him.
"What time is it? I believe I have lost my watch." The man asked, stepping closer towards Chloe.
Nico growled. Is he some kind of psychopath? Chloe kept looking the strange man up and down, probably thinking the same.
"It's nineteen minutes after ten. Why are you in my house?"
Suddenly, the man frowned as if he was disappointed. Nico pulled his sword from its sheath. He could sense the danger. What was this guy going to do?
"Chloe get behind me." Nico said, and then he frowned. This is a dream, she can't hear you, she's not even-
"Oh dear. You won't do." Nico's blood chilled. He knew what was going to happen next. "She needs recruits who know more than you."
The stranger grabbed Chloe by the arm and she screamed, pulling away from him. Nico glared at him, and pulled out his sword.
"Get away from her or I swear I will cut you in half!"
Chloe ran out of the kitchen into the dining room, the man following close behind her, with a murderous look in his eyes.
Nico's glared at the door as he realized what was happening. Hypnos, the god of sleep, was showing him Chloe's death through a dream. This wasn't any better than Tartarus! Wasn't he supposed to protect her?
"Giagiá! Some creep is in the house!"
A few seconds later, the man brought Chloe, shrieking back into the kitchen, his hand over her mouth. As he dragged her past the counter, Chloe quickly grabbed a knife and stabbed him between the ribs. Nico gasped. The man stood back in shock and then smiled. The wound healed instantly.
"No!" Nico shouted.
It was too late. The man tackled her and the dream faded away, leaving Nico wide awake, in a cold sweat.

Notes