#does bianca actually have an official birthday? i dont think so

[happyk44]

If we assume that Bianca was 12 when she appeared in TTC then in TLT she and Percy would've been the same age. In my AU where Nico and Bianca follow Percy out of the casino and accompany the group to the Underworld where they realize, oh, shit, they're Hades' children, then Bianca and Percy have an equal shot at being the prophecy kid.

And that concept is so interesting because in this AU only the Underworld and the OG trio know this.

When the war comes to a head, everyone assumes Percy is the hero. No one is counting on the sudden appearance of a sixteen year old girl in skeletal armor, powerful beyond thought. It's head to head, but ultimately Bianca is the hero.

She's the one who pulls Luke's soul to the forefront, out of the way of Kronos's control and influence, she's the one who hands him the knife. And she's the one who rips their grandfather's soul from the flailing remnants of Luke's dying body and eviscerates it so thoroughly, he'll never return again.

Then she smiles at Percy, gentle despite the blood across her hands and face, and tells him that everyone has already crafted the narrative of him as the hero. No one's gonna believe them if they say it was her, so. She pats his shoulder and tells him he did a great job. Then she goes to sort out Annabeth's injuries while Percy flags the building a bright blue and goes to find Grover and Thalia.

"They should know it was you," he says, long after when everyone has retired back to camp and Nico is chattering at top speed with Hestia. "It was always going to be you."

She shrugs. "Think about it. My dad did a great service to the war by charging into the frontlines. But your dad gets praised for diverting his efforts. Arguably I'd say my dad had a bigger effect, but he's darkness and dreary so no one is ever going to put him into a positive light if they don't have to. If they knew it was me..." She shakes her head. "I wouldn't have been offered anything. Maybe a pedestal. Or something pointless. Not immortality." She gestures out to the field of newly claimed demigods running around. "Not this."

Percy scowls. "That's shit."

"That's life." She breathes shallowly. "Maybe it'll be different now. More accepting. Maybe it won't be. But that's why it had to be you."

He tilts his head back to stare at her. She's still shorter than him, her hair braided down her shoulder, newsboy cap on. She's a little more pale than when they'd first met, but brighter, happier.

"When's your birthday?" he asks after a moment, turning back to Nico who is now showing off his Mythomagic cards to Hestia and a lanky son of Hypnos.

She snorts. "Today, actually." Her eyes glitter like obsidian gemstones. "When's yours?"

He grins, a little cheeky. "Today." He catches her eyes in his. "Happy birthday, Bianca."

She cuffs him with her shoulder and turns back to her brother. "Happy birthday, Percy."