#oh bianca was never smiling when she was with nico

[i-spilled-my-soup]

doing close reading of the titans curse to study for a time travel au and augh. auguuuagh

[mediumgayitalian]

“Will, can I tell you something?”

“You can tell me anything.” He glances up from his clipboard, grinning wide and wry and sparkling. “Especially if it’s that you’ve got food.”

Nico knows his best friend, so he does have food; a pack of twizzlers the size of his face that he tosses, deliberately quickly, at his face, smiling to himself when he misses and dives down to grab it anyway. His clipboard clatters to the ground, pen bouncing after it, as he tears into it, inhaling at least ten twisty candies in half as many seconds.

“Gods, I love you,” he groans, mouth open like the disgusting mannerless loser he is.

Nico coughs. “Funny you should say.”

He’s spared from having to jump clear through the nearest window and landing right on his neck by the honestly uncomfortable noises Will continues to make — by the gods if he finds out it’s been another twenty three hours since William has eaten he is going to kill him and resurrect his skeleton for permanent manual labour — and instead worries himself with the first random task he sees unfinished. Do the kiddie Band-Aids actually need to be emptied from their boxes and sorted by size and vibe? No. But Will won’t stop him. And Nico needs, like, twenty minutes of recovery. So.

“What did you want to ask me, by the way?”

His mouth is still — somehow — full, so it sounds closer to whaa joo wanna asme. Nico, brave veteran that he is, feigns confusion.

“Hm?”

“Question,” Will swallows, an actual, audible gulp, gods, where have Nico’s standards gone, “that you had.” There’s the sound of joints cracking and a deep sigh, then quick footsteps, and then Will is in front of him, eyes squinted, mouth wide and crooked, leaning on the counter. He has been up before the sun and working the entire time, people pouring in and out like ants to an anthill, and Nico knows he has not rested, but energy still sparks all over his skin. He bounces, almost, from his frizzy ringlet curls to the balls of his feet, humming, twitching, moving.

“I.” Nico’s throat is dry, and his eyes move from the bandages, to Will, to the bandages. “Well.”

When Nico was a kid he would stutter over his words. He was a shit speaker. Bianca spoke four languages by the time she was six, and Nico could barely ever manage the one; he knew what he was trying to say, and he would say it, only somewhere along the way his brain sent the wrong sparks or maybe his tongue got twisted or maybe his mouth made the wrong shapes. Or he blended them all together, like ice sleet on helicopter blades, and everything left his mouth just fine but got smashed to bits in the air outside of him, never reaching his audience quite right. And then he was ten and everything he cared about was smashed to dust and he stopped caring about where the words got twisted and stopped relying on them at all, and stared, instead; glowered, let his face speak for him, even if they weren’t saying the same thing. It annoys everyone around him. It frustrated his mother and pisses off his father and annoys or frightens every other person around him, and everyone guesses, fills in the blanks, deciphers what he is going to say to make his presence just a little easier to bear.

But Will waits, rocking, as he always does, eyes flicking around the infirmary, a handwidth of space between them. Fingers, drumming on the curve of his thigh, too-big front teeth gnawing on his chapped bottom lip. Waiting. For the words, for the time, for the courage.

“I missed you today,” Nico blurts, and it isn’t what he meant to say, not by a long shot, but it’s an approximation and it will count. And Will is suddenly smiling, huge, too big for his face; beaming, brightly, beautifully. “I hate it when you work too long.”

“Yeah?”

Nico exhales, cheekbones ruddy. “Yeah.”

“That’s not a question, Neeks.”

“Oh, stuff it.”

Will laughs, then, and the room gets brighter, and Nico gets warmer, braver, and takes his hand. He walks even both out of the infirmary and Will goes willingly, even though there is work too be done, swinging their hands, and he talks, and talks and talks and talks, and then he waits, quietly, humming to himself, and Nico says nothing, although he thinks things, and Will acts like he has said them. And his palm is still rough and warm against his, and the sun is setting, and Will smells like artificial strawberry and lavender body wash, and Nico thinks, You can tell me anything, and he vows that he will. And he holds his hand, and squeezes it around his, and smiles, and waits, easily, contentedly.

[reythenerdypisces]

things that I overlooked in PJO the first time / small, funny things I noticed during my reread

Part 3: The Titan's Curse

The truth was I was kind of disappointed to hear that she liked her new school so much. It was the first time she'd gone to school in New York. I'd been hoping to see her more often.

I tried to concentrate on little things, like the crepe-paper streamers and the punch bowl - anything but that fact that Annabeth was taller than me, and my hands were sweaty and probably gross, and I kept stepping on her toes.

"The General?" I asked. Then I realised I'd said it in a French accent. "I mean... who's the General?" I want this part to be in the show

"Sweet! Let's go! [to CHB]" said Nico. this breaks my heart. he was so excited in this book

Tyson thought Annabeth was just about the coolest thing since peanut butter (and he seriously loved peanut butter).

"How would you kidnap an immortal goddess? Is that even possible?" "Well, yeah. I mean, it happened to Persephone." "But she was like, the goddess of flowers." Grover looked offended. "Springtime." you tell him grover

"That's some serious danger you're facing." Connor Stoll said. (I liked how he said you and not we.) I'm just imagining the rest of the campers not bothering to go on quests cause it's always the same few demigods and they don't care, they're just chilling safe at CHB while Percy and Annabeth do their things

The creature looked at me sadly. "Moooo!" But I couldn't understand his thoughts. I only speak horse. Percy Jackson speaks two languages: English and Horse

With a shiver, I realised that five hundred or a thousand years from now, Bianca di Angelo would look exactly the same as she did today. She might be having a conversation like this with some other half blood long after I was dead but Bianca would still look twelve years old. ouch

"It wants to kill us!" Thalia said. "Of course." Grover said. "It's wild!" "So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked.

"That's us," he said. "Those five nuts right there." "Which one is me?" I asked. "The little deformed one," Zoe suggested.

When she smiled at me, just for a moment she looked a little like Annabeth. I know everyone talks about this part but I can't help but bring it up again, they are so cute

"Woah, first of all, I never said anything about love. And second, what's up with tragic!" little does he know. also, Percy is so incredibly insightful in this book but he's also so jealous of Annabeth and Luke and so upset about the idea of her joining the hunters yet still can't figure out that he likes her

"Seven hundred feet tall," I said. "Built in the 1930s." "Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia said. Grover sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States." Zoe stared at us. "How do you know all that?" "Annabeth," I said. "She liked architecture." I cannot explain how much this little bit means to me.

The girl I'd just tried to slice in half yelped and dropped her Kleenex. "Oh my god." she shouted. "Do you always kill people when they blow their nose?" Rachel's here!!! I love her

Five minutes later, Zoe had me outfitted in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat. someone draw this and tag me. what an outfit

Suddenly it occurred to me: this had happened to her before. She had been cornered on Half-Blood Hill. She'd willingly given her life for her friends. But this time, she couldn't save us. How could I let that happen to her? he is the most empathetic, wholesome guy, I love Percy

"Can't this go any faster?" Thalia demanded. Zoe glared at her. "I cannot control traffic." You both sound like my mother." I said. "Shut up!" they said in unison. I kind of wish we got more Thalia and Zoe interactions... they would've made such a great enemies to lovers dynamic, if Zoe didn't die

"Get away from my daughter!" Dr Chase called down, and his machine gun burst to life, peppering the ground with bullet holes and startling the whole group of monsters into scattering. "Dad?" yelled Annabeth in disbelief.

Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about our strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.

"No," I said. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me." "Why are you saying that?" she cried. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?" It was the last thing I wanted, but I didn't say that. I knew I had to step up and claim it. "I can't let Nico be in any more danger." I said. might I remind you this boy is 13/14 and has the whole world on his shoulders (both literally at some point and figuratively)

I feel like these are just getting longer and longer but again, I will be back for part 4!

[wastingawayinmyroom]

"Nico?"

He almost cleaved the poor boy in two. The whole situation reminded him of the time he disturbed an older boy in the Lotus Casino, one who was so focused on his video game that, in surprise, hit Nico with the controller. He had thought Bianca would be mad at him, but the only one she lashed out at was that teenager.

He felt a pang of sadness at the thought of her. Not now, he thought. Not right after Will.

"Gods, Harley," he said, pulling him into a hug and ruffling his hair affectionately. "Don't sneak up on me like that. You'll end up like one of the practice dummies in the arena."

Harley giggled. Nico couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed like that.

"Why aren't you smiling?" He asked. Nico realized he'd been staring off into the distance like he was waiting for someone. "Didn't feel like it."

It was Harley's turn to make a face. "You can't not feel like smiling. That's not possible." He squirmed out of Nico's arms. "Something happened, right? So tell me."

His brain went through a thousand responses, from denial to avoiding the question to shadow traveling to Italy to start a new life. "It's..."

William Andrew Solace broke up with him. The person he went to literal Tartarus with, the one who knew all his secrets, the one... the one.

His one and only.

His mouth settled on an answer. "It's complicated."

...

An hour later, after skirting the topic of blonde hair and freckles and sun-kissed skin, he was at the door to Sally Jackson's apartment.

"Oh, Nico!" She said when the door opened. "I haven't seen you in so long! Come in!"

He smiled, just so she wouldn’t he worried. “Thanks, ma'am. Is Percy around? I just wanted to talk.”

Her face brightened even more at the mention of her son. “He’s out running some errands, but he should be back in a couple minutes. In the meantime, how about you try…”

He felt bad for zoning out, but he couldn’t focus the moment he saw the framed pictures of Percy on the table. There was one on his graduation day, one with a car (Paul’s Prius, he assumed), and one with the two of them. Percy and Nico.

Percy would never think of him the way Nico thought of Percy. To Percy, Nico was just a little brother, someone to look out for and eat ice cream with.

To Nico? There weren’t words to describe it. He didn’t need words, anyway, since it was completely hopeless.

Besides, he’d only been without Will for a month and a half. Maybe this was just him longing for someone to hold, someone to know, or maybe just someone.

The door flew open, the sounds of laughter and conversation filling the apartment.

“Nico!” Percy said, uneven smile on his face. “Dude, I haven’t seen you in forever! What’s up?”

He smiled, for real this time. “Nothing much. You?”

…

Three hours after that, after some talking and crying and wondering where things went wrong, they were at the beach. Specifically, the one at Camp Half-Blood.

He'd never really been a fan of beaches, since he couldn't swim, and sitting by the water wasn't any fun. He'd rather teach a bunch of little kids sword fighting than sit still for more than a couple minutes. But Percy promised that he'd show Nico some new surfing moves, and when Percy asked something, Nico could never say no.

So there he was, sitting under an umbrella on a checkered blanket, watching the son of Poseidon ride the waves like it was nobody's business.

Percy was only wearing blue swim trunks and his necklace. Nico couldn't even recall a time where Percy hadn't been wearing some sort of blue, no matter how small. Nico also couldn't explain why he loved it so much.

It was the little things about Percy that made Nico so fond of him. The Camp Half-Blood necklace, the obsession with all things blue, that uneven, troublemaker’s smile… gods, what was he thinking? Loving Perseus Jackson was a mistake. He’d already learned that, hadn’t he?

“Nico? Are you ok?”

He turned to find himself staring right at Percy’s abs.

“Yeah.” He could feel his face getting hot. Gods, he was such an idiot. Especially when it came to Jackson.

Percy chuckled. “You’ve literally been in the shade this entire time, and you’ve still got a sunburn.”

Nico touched his face. A sunburn? “Must be all that time in the Underworld.”

Percy laughed, and Nico committed the sound to memory. “Seriously, man, you need to wear sunscreen. You look like a tomato.”

“Hey!” Nico flicked his arm playfully, and they both collapsed into a pile of giggles.

…

Six years later, they were in New Rome, walking and talking and reminiscing in some garden Nico couldn’t remember the name of.

Six years after Percy saw Nico’s blush and thought it was a sunburn, he proposed to Nico.

And a year after that, the same story was told at the wedding.

…

@neo-kid-funk ITS DONE!!!!!!!!

[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."

[sawyer-is-not-my-name]

Requested: Nico di Angelo x GN!Reader

Request: Nico di Angelo x GN!Reader. How they get to know each other. After Nico realizes his feelings he goes to one of the readers siblings to ask for advice on getting to know them in a romantic way. and him “talking” Bianca about the reader

Nico couldn’t help but get lost in your voice, he was trying to listen but your voice seemed to put him in a trance. Or the way you’d curse in greek whenever something went wrong or you mad, he just got lost in everything you do.

“Are you even listening?” He shook himself out of the trance, “ Yeah of course I am.” You rolled your eyes at him muttering a ‘mhm’ not believing he was. He repeated back to you what you had been talking to him about, smiling at you. You couldn’t help but blush, you really didn’t think he was listening but he was, and a lot more closely than you thought he would.

Nico found himself avoiding you for a couple of days unable to face you after realizing his feelings for you. It was odd, he wasn’t used to this feeling. How was he supposed to go about this type of thing, should he hide it, try to pursue it. He wasn’t sure of what he was supposed to do.

What if you didn’t feel the same, what if you thought he was weird for feeling that way. What if you didn’t want anything to do with him after he told you. So many possibilities were whirring through his mind.

He found himself going to one of you half-siblings trying to figure out if they had any clue what he should do. “Well I’m certain they feel the same way” one of your sisters told him, “But how do you know?” he asked. “It’s simple, they look at you like you could do no wrong, like you’re the only thing that matters, they would gush about you for hours and hours if we let them. Gods, don’t even get me started on the fact they blush when you talk to them. Nico trust me on this, they like you.” He couldn’t help but smile at the fact you liked him too.

“How do you think I should go about telling them?” your sister thought for a moment before responding, “Drop some hints in conversation, casual flirting, compliments, maybe suggest taking them on a date, just don’t overthink it.” He was about to ask a question about what certain things were, when your sister excused herself, leaving to go by her friends.

He let what your sister sink in, before finally deciding on what to do. Praying to the gods that she was right and wasn’t deciding to mess with him.

He found you sitting by the lake, deciding to join you. “Hey stranger, haven’t seen you in a bit. Thought you got bored of me or something.” you laughed lightly making it seem like a joke not wanting him to hear the truth behind what you said. “Nope could never get bored of you” you smiled at him striking up a conversation. Neither one of you aware of the way time was passing, you couldn’t help but notice the confidence that seemed to radiate from him.

The way he was complimenting you, making you laugh, all of it seemed out of a dream the kind of affections you’ve been dreaming of receiving from him. You’re cheeks seemed to heat up as he dropped the nickname ‘angel.’ Everything seemed perfect you just couldn’t tell if he was flirting or if he was just being friendly, until he finally asked you on a date.

You couldn’t help the smile on your face from growing as you said ‘yes.’ He told you when before you heard one of your best friends Leo call after you to tell you to come to dinner. You stood up offering Nico a hand, helping him up. Walking side by side to the dining hall.

After dinner, Nico found himself in his cabin, talking allowed catching his sister up on his life. “I wish you were here to meet them, Bianca they’re so sweet, and they have the best sense of humor. Oh gods, they make me laugh all the time. I didn’t realize feeling like this was something i could actually have, but gods does it feel amazing.” He spent the next two hours just catching her up, before falling asleep with a smile on his face.

[loserscanwritetoo]

Starman

Chapter 1

If you would’ve asked Nico where he saw himself in the future 5 years ago, he most likely would have answered anywhere but where he was right now. He probably would've told you that he’d be in his senior year of high school, that Bianca would be off to college, or maybe working in their mothers store. He would probably secretly hope that his dad would come back. But alas, none of that came true. 

Instead here he was. An orphan with a dead sister and a deadbeat dad who had only ever been in his life when he was a kid. He hadn’t even come to Bianca or Marias funeral, and when the state asked if Nico had any living relatives, he hadn’t even thought of his dad. Well, maybe a little bit, but that was no one's business but his own. 

So he had been shipped off to live with his half sister, who he had never even met, and didn't even know existed. They shared a father, but that seemed to be the only thing they had in common. 

Hazel Levesque was 15, and apparently their dad had abandoned her and her mom the same way he had abandoned the di Angelos. Her mom seemed to be a bit of a nutcase. She insisted Nico call her mom (weird) and he was forbidden to ask anything about his father (weirder). Needless to say Nico hadn't really found his place with the Levesque’s. 

Hazel spent most days in school, and the others out with her boyfriend Frank. Frank did not seem to like Nico at all, and therefore the feeling became mutual. 

The accident happened in February. In the middle of the school year. Nico had been so busy with the grieving, funerals, and the move to America and the Levesque’s that he’d missed the rest of his junior year, and now he was going to have to retake it at Hazels school. 

Hazel’s mom, Marie, had insisted that he retake his junior year, much to Nicos dismay. He was going to drop out, and as an almost 18 year old he refused, and claimed she had no right to determine what he was going to do, thank you very much. Turns out he was wrong.

Marie had dropped off Hazel and Nico at New Orleans Dam High School. The name was a mouthful, and some genius student seemed to have realized that, and had spray painted over New Orleans, and added an N to Dam, leaving only Damn High School. Nico chuckled at that and earned himself an angry glare from Marie. Whatever. It wasn't like he cared about what she thought. (She had absolutely hated him from the moment he’d moved in. Something about a 17 year old smoking had pissed her off, and she had never gotten over it.)

They made their way to the front office to get Nico squared away. He felt like everyone glared at him, and the lady at the desk handed him his schedule without even glancing at him. Great! This was going to be an awesome day!

Hazel rushed off the second Marie left. Probably to hang out with Frank or Rey- whatever her name was, or any of her other friends, so Nico was left alone.

The bell rang, signaling for everyone to get to their classrooms, and as Nico looked down at his schedule he sighed. How the fuck was he supposed to know where classroom EG956 was. 

The corridors quickly emptied, and Nico was left to wander around the four storied school for ten minutes before he gave up, and made his way out to the bleachers to fish out a cigarette from the pack in his jeans. He only had four left, and made a mental note to get more from the corner store Marie had made him get a job at. Maria di Angelo would never make him do anything. She cared about him, and didn’t give a shit if he smoked. 

“Se lo faccio da solo non ho il diritto di fermarti", she'd always said with a sly grin. If I do it myself I have no right to stop you. Nico smiled at the memory as he lit his cigarette. Man, he missed her so much. Bianca however had cared that he smoked. She insisted that he was going to face a premature death. Oh the irony.

He didn’t know how long he’d been out there for, dreaming of his past life. It felt like 70 years ago, but it had only been a few months. Somewhere far away a bell rang, signaling that class was over. He was startled back to reality by a soft voice.

He looked up from where he was sitting to see a blond dude, wearing an orange shirt under a green flannel. He wore a concerned expression, and the brightest blue eyes Nico had ever seen. He looked like a ray of sun, and Nico was sure that if he came any closer he would get burned. The boy radiated warmth.

SunBoy, as Nico resorted to calling him in his mind, raised an eyebrow at him and Nico realized that he’d completely missed what he had said. He was going to say something stupid like ´huh`, but before he could embarrass himself the other boy repeated himself.

“You’re not allowed to smoke on school grounds, you know.”

“You gonna tattle on me?” Nico retorted. Damn him and his lack of impulse control. SunBoy looked startled, as if no one had ever talked to him like that before. Maybe they hadn't. Maybe people were afraid of getting burned.

“N-no,” SunBoy answered before regaining control of his voice “I’m just saying, if a teacher, or god forbid one of the football players, catch you, you're dead.” He dropped his clearly faked strong guy demeanor and gave Nico a warm smile. “And I don't feel like patching you up.” 

He held out his hand. “I’m Will. Will Solace. Are you new? I don't think I’ve seen you around, and I know most people here.”

Nico realized he was supposed to shake the blonde's hand, and did so, albeit reluctantly.

“Nico.” He replied. He wasn’t sure what else to say. He wasn’t used to anybody but his family paying attention to him, so he just said the first thing that popped into his mind.

“Do you know where classroom EG956 is? I was supposed to have class there but I couldn't find it.” Will’s smile got impossibly bigger.

“I get it. You’re alone at a new school and don’t know anybody, so you can't ask anyone about where to go” Nico hesitated for a second before answering

“I’m here with my half sister, Hazel, but she left me the second we got here.” 

“Hazel Levesque?! She’s a year under me, we’ve talked a few times, and she seems really nice, tough shell though.” He laughed, and Nico gave him a small smile back. Will quickly continued, “Where’s your next class? I’ll show you the way, I know this school inside and out”

And so Nico made his first friend in America. Once they had compared schedules to see if they had any classes together (chemistry, Thursdays and Fridays), Will walked him to his classroom and promised to wait for him in the cafeteria afterwards. 

Nico was excited at the prospect of having a new friend. Back home in Italy, Bianca had really been his only friend. Something about the autistic-mythomagic obsessed-loser had not attracted many friends, and Nico was fine with that, because he could tell Bianca everything. Maybe Will could be that kind of friend. 

His history lesson flashed by as the teacher told the students what they were going to do this year. Apparently the first project was Greek mythology, something Nico already knew heaps about.

As the bell rang, Nico grabbed his letterman bag and flight jacket, and headed out the door. After a few minutes of navigating he made it to the cafeteria, where he found Will sitting next to two boys that must be brothers, a blond dude, and a shorter guy, who was sitting on the table and gesturing wildly with his hands. Will noticed Nico from across the room and gladly waved him over. 

“Nico! Hi! These are the guys, that’s Travis and Connor,” he gestured at the two boys who looked identical. They must be brothers, right? 

“That's Luke” the blond guy gave him a wave

“And that's Leo, guys, this is Nico!” The boy who had been sitting on the table, Leo,  jumped down and quickly embraced Nico, who froze. He was NOT used to strangers hugging him. Thankfully Leo noticed his awkwardness and let go, joining the other boys at the table.

“Sorry man,” he said “I’m a hugger, I should’ve asked before, but Solace has been rambling on about you since we got here and I feel like we’re already pals.” Nico smiled at him and sat down.

“Don’t worry about it.” He looked around the room.

It was full of students, but it didn’t take long before his gaze caught Hazels. She raised an eyebrow at him, but quickly joined in that conversation at her table. 

Nico quickly fell into chatter with the boys, and he even found himself laughing out loud at something Travis said once or twice. Maybe this was going to be okay, he thought to himself, maybe he could make do here.

Marie had picked up Hazel and Nico after school, and after an awkward dinner Nico found himself in what he was finally starting to consider his room. His phone buzzed with a text from Hazel, who in the six months he’d lived here, had only texted him twice.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ 𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

Hazel

i saw you hanging out with luke

hes bad news

Nico

So now you care?

Hazel

oh dont be like that

youre my brother

Nico

Half brother

Hazel

so what? im not allowed to care?

Nico

Not when you've ignored me since I got here

Hazel

im not used to siblings. sorry

Nico

Okay

Hazel

its just

hes not been the nicest to one of my friends

Nico

Okay

Hazel

no really nico, be careful

he really hurt annabeth

Nico

I really don’t feel like getting into your friends boy drama

Hazel

do you have to be like that?

just

sit with us tomorrow

Nico

Alright. I’ll give it a try

Hazel

yay! ill tell the guys!

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ 𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

Nico put down his phone and sighed. He couldn't wrap his head around why Hazel had switched on him so quickly. Tomorrow was going to be a mess.

[bey0nd-1he-stars]

You owe me at least three days of rest in the infirmary - Solangelo

Masterlists

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Pairing: Nico di Angelo x Will Solace

Wanings: nightmares, insomnia, crying, implications of death (Bianca)

Word count: 890

Summary: The three says in the infirmary with some change.

 SIX | NICO

- You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away -

The sleep had taken him back once again, but this time for just a few hours. When he sat up the blankets fell off him and landed in a pile in his lap. Nico rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around in the room. It was still a strange feeling to be there in the infirmary to get treated but with Will as doctor... Maybe it wasn't so bad after all. He shook his head at himself, he'd know the guys properly for a barley a week. Two days being on the battlefield, the two days coming after that Nico was holding the funeral ceremonies since all the half bloods insisted on dying heroically, and the two days after that he'd been stuck here, in the infirmary, sleeping most of the time. Nico had never had an easy time sleeping, he grew up with insomnia and after going through Tartarus alone, things didn't get better. After that he couldn't even close his eyes without seeing the terrible things he'd seen down there. Nico had never talked to anyone about it. He didn't want to, either. The only one who'd understand would be Percy and Annabeth and they were scarred enough so Nico really didn't want to bring it up.

The sound of scratching a pencil against paper made him step up from the bed he'd been borrowing the last two days. Will sat in his chair with his back turned towards Nico, his head down, concentration on something. He sang lowly and when Nico got closer he heard that it was lyrics from 'Your are my sunshine'. He smiled, Will had admitted that he wasn't much of a singer. At all. But to Nico, it was soothing and comforting, the sound of his voice reminding him that Will was still around, he hadn't left. When Nico was so close to Will that he could see over his shoulder and what he was doing, he realized that Will hadn't even noticed him yet. He smirked at the thought but let his gaze travel down to the paper. A pencil in Will's right hand created something Nico couldn't believe. He didn't see the whole picture, Will was leaning over half of it but it was just like the green hat she used to wear and her blank, dark curls.

All of a sudden, Will turned around in his chair, knocking Nico off his feet. He stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet. A warm hand gripped Nico's in the last second, stopping him from falling over towards the floor. A shock of electricity went through his spine. He smiled a soft smile as he gained his balance once again. Will's hand was still in his, but for once, Nico didn't care. Actually, he enjoyed it a bit. The soft, warm hand in his made him, once again, remember that the son of Apollo still hadn't left him. 

"Oh gods, sorry Nico! I didn't mean to push you, I didn't even know you were there at all," Will said hastily. He shook his head and let go of Will's hand.

"It's fine, really. What are you-" he stopped when he saw the whole picture. Will had turned around to face him and at the same time he left the journal uncovered. There, covering the page, was a picture drawn by Will. A perfect picture of Bianca. It was just like he remembered her. With the green hat that casted a shadow over her brown eyes and the freckles that were splashed over her nose and cheeks. The brown shirt and a long skirt that flew in the wind. He couldn't take his eyes from the drawing, Will had done it with every single detail right. 

"It’s so-  It looks just like her," he said softly and smiled a little at the picture but tears started pooling in his eyes. Will's answer made him tear his eyes from the drawing and meet Will's blue gaze with wide eyes. 

"You can have it, if you want to," he spoke softly and Nico could't believe him. But something in him didn't feel right. Will had spent hours on this drawing, it was his. His glory to take and his to look at for admiration. Not Nico's. 

"I don't know Will. It's yours and you spent your time on it and-" Nico did come further into his protests before Will had ripped the page out of the journal. He gave it to Nico and that was enough to make Nico's tears fall over and roll down his cheeks. 

"Thank you Will, really. Thank you," he said as he whipped away the tears. Nico placed the paper on the desk behind Will again, not wanting it to get damaged. Then he carefully wrapped his arms around Will in a hug. He felt the son of Apollo stiffen under his touch but soon he wrapped his arms around Nico's waist, hugging him back. Nico relaxed at the warmth Will spread and the comfort. The smell of sunshine filled his senses again and made Nico realize that he was still wearing Will's clothes. But at that moment he didn't care. He just felt like he belonged for the first time in many years. He belonged at Camp Half-Blood for the first time ever. And he definitely didn't mind.

[ladyblueberrymuffin]

In Which Percy and Nico Actually Talk About Their Feelings

I found him in the woods, by a big dark oak, readying his gear for capture the flag. He actually smiled when he saw me. That was new.

“Just like the good old days, huh, Percy?”

“Only this time we're playing on opposite teams.”

His grin turned impish.

“What do you think I was referring to?”

I laughed, and he laughed when I laughed. Has it really been so long? It feels like yesterday he was that hyperactive kid with the stars in his eyes. I didn't realize how much I missed seeing him like that—happy. Genuinely happy.

Maybe that's why I've been avoiding him all this time.

Laughter died in my throat, and he noticed.

“What's wrong?”

“Listen, I just wanted to say...” I rubbed the back of my neck. I was never that good at talking about feelings. “I'm sorry, Nico. For... not being there. I guess I wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility.” I sighed, feeling like something was pressing on my chest. “I've never had to... look after someone. I mean, I've had Tyson, but that's different. And now, with Estelle—“

He put his hand on my shoulder, stopping my rambling in it's tracks.

“Percy, it's fine.” He smiled. “Like, actually fine. You did look after me. Without you I'd never realize Minos was playing me. When Bianca died, you were the only person who comforted me. You rescued me out of Tartarus.” He looked me in the eyes, tilting his head, like he couldn't believe how stupid I was being. “Dude, you invited me to your birthday.”

I still couldn't shake the guilt off.

“That whole thing the arai showed you... I'm sorry for thinking that.”

His smile disappeared. “It's fine. I know I was an annoying kid.”

“Dude, I was an annoying kid! You weren't even half as obnoxious as I was when I was your age.”

Nico narrowed his eyes, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“I don't believe that.”

“My teachers hated me.”

“I know. Alecto complains about you a lot.”

Of course she does.

“This one time,” I whispered to him, like I was sharing some forbidden knowledge, “she sent me to the chalkboard, and she was getting so frustrated I couldn't solve the problem, she went 'Now, honey, that equation is so simple an idiot could solve it'.”

Nico nodded.

“And you turned to look her straight in the eyes and said, 'Then why won't you?'.”

My eyes went wide.

“She told you that?!”

“Hello, prince of the Underworld? There are no secrets I don't know about.”

I rolled my eyes. I suppose if any demigod deserved a boost to his self-esteem, it was Nico. Even if it made him a little smug.

“Look, point is, if you ever need to talk, I'm here, alright?”

He beamed at me, and his eyes looked shinier than before.

“I know.”

I smiled.

“Good.”

“There is actually something I wanted to tell you for a long time,” he said, his face turning serious.

I felt my body tensing up. If he was about to tell me he stumbled into yet another evil plot, I was making a formal complaint to the Fates.

“Shoot,” I said, feeling a little nervous.

“You're a son of Poseidon, right?”

I looked at him.

“Uhm... yeah, you know that, why?”

His eyes sparked mischievously.

“So... can you surf really well or not?”

“Oh my gods!”

“I'm curious!” He laughed, running off to his team. “By the way, we're gonna destroy you, straight boy!”

“Don't count on it, you little gremlin!” I yelled after him, my cheeks hurting from the huge smile on my face.

This is a fragment of a bigger fic I'm writing. It retells the story of Heroes of Olympus if some time traveler went back in time and stomped on a bunch of butterflies.

By which I mean some divergence points are wild. Piper had a Disney Channel show. And Leo has an even more tragic backstory.

I'm currently covering the events of The Lost Hero, but people liked my posts about Percy and Nico, so here's a sneek peek of stuff that I might never get to cover. This would take place after Nico's confession, which would also happen differently than in the book.

You can read it here.

[ace-writer-lani]

Since I'll be updating The Children of Spring and Destruction a bit late, here's a snippet of Chapter Three:

As it turned out, it was Apollo who was giving them a ride to camp. And it also turned out that he was much cooler than his Mythomagic counterpart.

The Hunters had already packed up their campsite by the time he arrived in a flash of light so bright that it would have blinded Nico if his sister hadn’t reached out to cover his eyes with her hand. When it eventually dimmed, Apollo stepped out of his shiny red car with a wave, a beaming smile, and a terrible poem that flowed from his mouth in awkward syllables.

The poetry, unfortunately, was the only thing that wasn’t cool about him. Which Nico felt didn’t really make sense considering poetry was supposed to be under his domain. But everyone had to have some sort of flaw, even gods.

“How are we all going to fit in that?” Bianca asked, eyeing the car warily.

Much to the relief of everyone else (mainly Artemis and her Hunters), Apollo paused in the middle of another haiku and turned around. He assessed his vehicle with a frown, probably only realizing it couldn’t fit more than five people. “Huh. Forgot about that.” Then he reached into the pocket of his jeans to pull out a small remote. “I usually prefer this mode because of the vibes-”

“Please never say that again, brother,” Artemis sighed, rubbing her temples.

“-but since I’m so generous and accommodating, this will have to do,” he said and pressed a button. This time in a less incinerating glow, the car transformed into a huge van. Every inch of it was colored in a shimmery shade of gold, from the windshield wipers to the headlights. Even the tires had a coat of metallic glitter and Nico had to blink a few times for his eyes to fully adjust to it. “Alright everyone, hop in.”

The inside of the van was just as big as the outside when Nico stepped inside behind Bianca. The Hunters had already claimed the back few rows and seeing them made his sister hesitate. There was an odd expression that flitted over her face for a few seconds before it disappeared and instead, her attention zeroed in on something else.

“Where are the seat belts?”

“The what?” asked Apollo after calling out a last goodbye to Artemis and closing the doors shut. “Oh, those. In my opinion, they’re just kinda tacky. Ruins the vibes I mentioned before. So there are none.”

Nico almost jumped when his sister immediately snapped an arm across his torso at the words, as if she could substitute as a makeshift seat belt. She mumbled something about safety precautions while Apollo revved up the engine. Once the van purred with life, he stood up and smiled.

“Anyone want to drive?”

Nico shot his hand up into the air. “Me!”

Apollo laughed, reaching over to ruffle his hair. “Nope. Sorry, too young.”

“But I’ve driven a motorcycle before!”

Bianca rolled her eyes. She pressed her arm more firmly against him. “You mean you crashed a motorcycle before.”

“Nobody was hurt.”

“You ran over five people.”

“…nobody was killed.”

There had just been a few broken fingers and a mild concussion. Nothing serious. And it also wasn’t entirely him who was at fault for those injuries because there had been clear signs signaling the edges of the racetrack. Those idiots had just been too drunk and too stupid to realize that.

But it was futile to try arguing against Bianca (because even if she was wrong, she was always right) and in the end, Apollo chose Thalia to be the one to drive, despite her stuttering protests. He motioned for her to get in the driver’s seat with a grin. When she did, he began to steadily guide her through the controls and the steps to get the van to take off.

With a few rumbles and shudders, they had somehow managed to eventually launch into the air, shakily ascending until they were so high that Westover Hall became nothing but a tiny fuzzy dot in the distance. Nico wanted to press his face to the window of the glass and truly admire the streaks of colors that painted the sky in brilliant oranges and purples but instead, he gripped Bianca’s sleeve tightly because Thalia was a terrible driver.

He had never flown before. Lecto had strictly told him and Bianca that they were forbidden from riding any planes. Why? She had never explained (because when did she ever?), but he definitely would have listened to her if he knew this was what it felt like.

They were constantly either jerking to the side or lurching forward. Someone screamed at one point while beside him, Bianca had a hand over her mouth. She was barely keeping herself from keeling over and Nico really wished she wasn’t sitting so close because he did not want to be the person she possibly threw up on.

Suddenly the van was yanked back. There was another yelp and Apollo was abruptly knocked off his feet. He was probably regretting his choice not to have seat belts now.

“Pull up!” shouted Percy.

“Lord Apollo, please take back the wheel,” pleaded Grover.

“Oh my gods, we’re all going to die,” cried one of the Hunters.

“Everybody, chill, chill, chill,” said Apollo. “Look.” He pointed. “That’s where Long Island is. Dead ahead. All you need to do is slow down a little and we’ll have the perfect landing.”

Through the front window, the image of a beach came into view. It was bordering the edge of a snow-covered forest and the crystal waves of the sea. It looked beautiful. However, it also looked like they were approaching it way too fast. If they didn’t stop now, they would all end up getting either smushed or broken to pieces.

“You should…probably start braking now,” Apollo wisely advised.

But Thalia only muttered to herself under her breath as she stared blankly ahead.

When Apollo realized she probably hadn’t heard him, he yelled. “Brake!”

The van was then pitched forward in a violent jolt. More screams, mainly from Grover. There were a handful of curses from the Hunters. Nico shut his eyes closed as Bianca’s arms wrapped tightly around him, covering his head as they landed straight into the water with a massive splash.

When they finally floated to the surface, surrounded by bubbling steam and burnt canoes that were halfway melted, Nico made a face.

“I should have driven.”

(Full chapter will probably be posted on my ao3 tomorrow night)

[mediumgayitalian]

Hiiiiii

Okay so I am absolutely obsessed with your writing .

Every day I check Tumblr to see if you've uploaded anything

When they move in together how do you think they will spilt the chores ?

And do you think their aesthetic would change as they grow older ?

Thank youuu

Love youuu

OH i love this. okay.

when they move in together, how do you think they will split the chores?

they do not.

they are in an interesting situation: nico has never had to do chores in his life. as a kid, he was the son of Literal Hades and an aristocrat, he for sure had people doing that shit for him. in the lotus, they presumably had room service. he may have had to do a few chores at the military school, but a) they weren't there for long and b) as an older sister with a younger brother, bianca was doing that shit for him. she ordered him to make his bed, he did a horrible job, she huffed and did it herself because it's more of a pain in the ass to make your brother do it again than it is to do it yourself. bianca i get you. after that he was homeless, so there was obviously no cleaning there, and then he lived in his father's palace. he has never so much as done a load of laundry except maybe hastily with a public washroom sink and a bar of soap. he barely knows what a mop is.

will, on the other hand, has been in charge of both a cabin and a literal infirmary since he was 13 years old. on top of that, if i am not mistaken (i'm so sorry i still havent read toa and tsats im getting there i swear), he grew up on a farm. his ass knows how chores work, in fact i would bet money that he gets a little obsessive when it comes to cleaning. he is acutely aware of how many germs are on every single surface ever. he cleans and he does it a lot.

this could go really badly, because habit would indicate that will would be doing all of the housework and nico none, which is Bad For Relationships.

however:

nico really likes will.

will is a massive hypocrite who overworks himself. he also is a bit of a control freak.

nico is also very, very observant.

i think, in the beginning of their friendship, even, nico noticed that will, like bianca, would let the onus of cleaning and tidying fall to him because 'no one else does it right', and also, maybe, it's just easier not to fight people about it. i think this would bother him. i think he would, in his inability to, like, be normal, impulsively challenge will to a cleaning contest.

and. like. will is a competitive person, okay. maybe not about things he knows he can't win, but when he knows he's good at something? he is not letting that shit slide. look at how fast he was to dunk on octavian, how prickly he got when nico doubted his ability to outrun the romans. if nico, who will knows damn well has done like four chores in his life, tries to challenge will, mr. antiseptic is my closest friend solace, to a cleaning contest?

he is going to sweep the floor with him.

pun absolutely intended.

from there things kind of spiral. at first it's a dorky ass learning curve, because nico loses every cleaning competition so so badly and quit fucking laughing, solace, you dickead, the windows are not that streaked and also watch me spray you in the goddamn eyes, huh, how do you like that and it's just kind of...fun. for the first time in a long time cleaning up doesn't make will quietly bitter.

plus, as an added bonus, nico helping will clean up makes it less invisible when he does it. now people are starting to notice that, no, the infirmary does not magically clean and organise itself, someone does that. and maybe a few more people pitch in to help. and maybe will realises, and maybe he smiles gratefully at nico when, for the first time in years, he has two entire days off, back to back, in the summer, for the first time in years. and maybe nico thinks he is going to collapse into dust because gods will has a nice smile. not that he cares or notices or anything.

do they need to keep having competitive chores forever?

no.

but does it make both of them kind of shyly pleased and happy to remember how they started? to remember how much their friendship means to them, first and foremost, and not just their relationship?

yes.

(also, by the gods, nico is going to beat will at laundry one day. he is. as soon as he learns to fold without creasing the whole stupid shirt it's over.)

how do you think their aesthetic would change as they get older?

not much tbh.

will is pretty happy in his cargo shorts, which, mood. and nico is very committed to his Prince of Darkness look.

they are gonna have to get used to like...regular weather when they leave camp tho. i think will might begrudgingly have to get used to pants. he hates jeans with a fiery passion and any kind of slacks, but he will accept track pants.

he is also into shirts with horrible horrible puns on them. especially medical puns. he and nico frequently fight over who gets to buy shirts with bone puns on them, because they both find it funny. their closet (lol) is quickly morphing into one monster.

will complains about wearing shoes every single time he has to wear something that isn't flip-flops (again, understandable). he likes buying off-brand white converse and customizing them, though, so those are acceptable.

he refuses to wear boots under literally any circumstances. there could be three feet of snow on the ground and dumbass will be wearing chucks.

while their t-shirt situation is pretty similar, nico literally doesn't wear pants that aren't jeans. sometimes he sleeps in jeans. (not to make will's eye twitch, noooo, of course not, sometimes he just Reasonably Forgets or is Reasonably Too Lazy to get changed)

nico does also, on occasion, wear button ups, sleeves folded to just above the elbow.

will likes these very much.

especially the green one.

the green one is Very Very nice.

as for hair, nico grows his out to shoulder length so he can tie it back. he doesnt keep it much longer than that, because too long and he looks like bianca -- he always looks like her, and he never forgets that, but its important to him to remember her while still being able to think of himself as a separate person. he cuts it when it goes past his shoulders.

wills hair is literally untamable. it grows where it pleases. he hasnt had a haircut since he was six years old and somehow his hair doesnt grow down to his waist. he has no idea how long it actually is. they tried to measure it once but it changed every two minutes. the literal only time it resembles anything close to maintained is when he wears it in two french braid pigtails :) nico likes to buy him elastics with little charms on them. he wears them to suit his mood, he has a whole collection.

[moonlightswritingandstuff]

it's gonna hurt like hell, but we're gonna be well (i'll give you my best shot)

It's been five years since Bianca has seen Rachel is person. She just got on a plane all the way to California to see Rachel on some mysterious impulse. But Bianca's never been able to forget Rachel's smile, so maybe she can get something out of this.

read on ao3!

"Bianca?" is the first thing Rachel says when she opens the door to her wife.

"Rachel. It's been a while."

"It's been years. Why are you here?"

"I... just had to leave."

"You came across the country. And why me?"

"I don't know, okay?"

"Did you do any planning?"

"Uh, sort of. But-"

"Just stay with me," Rachel says, and rolls her eyes. "I have a spare room."

"Thanks."

"Besides, it's two am in the morning. What's that for you, five am? Just go to sleep."

"See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, I guess."

«»

“So. Why are you here?”

Bianca takes a sip of her coffee. It’s perfect, despite the incredible specificities that she likes. “You made my coffee perfect.”

“I’m not in the habit of disappointing guests. But onto the point. Why are you here?”

“I got tired.”

“Of what?”

“I don’t know. Everything. Being Nico and Hazel’s perfect sister. Doing everything for them.”

Choosing them over you, she doesn’t say.

“You’ve been doing it for years. What changed?”

“I don’t know," Bianca says. "Maybe it's Nico wanting children and wanting me to be the perfect aunt for them. Maybe it's that... I don't know."

Rachel nods, and there’s something different in her eyes. Softer, maybe. With an ache, Bianca realizes that’s a pale imitation of how Rachel used to look at her.

Maybe this won’t be so bad.

“You can stay here,” Rachel says. “We’re still legally married, after all.”

“Thanks.”

Rachel nods, her close-clipped and brightly painted nails drumming on the table in a manner that would’ve been so familiar to Bianca years ago but is now as distant as what five years and a million little mistakes could’ve created.

“What’re you doing now?” Bianca asks suddenly. It’s odd, but Bianca finds that she really does want to know what’s going on.

“Not much,” Rachel says. “My art’s gotten big, I guess. I get a decent amount of museums wanting to display my work in modern art galleries. I have a few pieces loaned out to the Tate Modern. My father’s company is now mine and I’ve been trying to get it to turn around and be… better. It’s not actually that hard to be eco-friendly. I’ve been using my influence to try to make it better.”

Bianca smiles.

“And you?” Rachel finishes, almost lamely, like she doesn’t know what else to say.

“Music’s still making me some money, but lawyering is still my main profession. I’ve been helping abuse victims — working with Percy.”

“How’s he doing?”

“Good. Got married, well, eloped. Didn’t want a huge wedding. Or one at all. His social work is doing well, too.”

“Oh, I never took Annabeth as someone who didn’t want a wedding.”

“He didn’t marry Annabeth.”

“Oh, really? I always thought it would be her.”

“Me, too. Up until the moment they broke up, four years ago.”

“So, who’s he married to?”

“One of Drew’s coworkers when she was doing the solo at the Phillharmonic Orchestra a few years back. Plays the cello. She’s a lot like Annabeth in some ways and a lot unlike her in others.”

“I’m glad he’s happy. What about Drew?”

“She’s the only person who knew I was leaving. She’s doing great.”

“Being called one of the best violinists in the world, hey?”

“Yeah. I’m proud. And what’s going on with you?”

Rachel sips at her tea. “Mostly what I said. Katie and Travis are living their happily-ever-after. Two kids, now.”

“That’s nice for them.”

“What’s going on with you, anyway?”

“Not much. I haven’t cheated or anything.”

Rachel snorts. “I’d hardly count dating someone now as cheating, but I suppose I haven’t ‘cheated’.”

“I suppose it isn’t. We’re separated in all but name, anyway.”

“Yeah.”

The apartment smells of lavender, and Bianca doesn’t say that she still wonders what went wrong with them. Maybe it was the distance. Maybe they weren’t, aren’t, the type of couple to make it out.

Maybe, just like her, Rachel still can’t bear the idea of divorcing each other. Even after all this time. Even after all this distance.

Bianca’s never been able to forget the way Rachel smiles, after all.

«»

Bianca’s got work — she’s never been one to not plan, and there’s, unfortunately, always someone who needs to escape a terrible situation. She starts on her new case and the paperwork piles up once more. It’s not altogether terrible, and in fact, Bianca enjoys it. She’s helping people.

Rachel’s penthouse has an excellent view of the sea, and in summer, it’s as close to idyllic as it could get.

Plenty of inspiration for Rachel’s painting.

It’s just, Bianca used to be the one Rachel would sketch and paint. She remembers coming across a sketchbook of Rachel’s full of just Bianca herself, pages made entirely of pencil and nothing else of Bianca’s profile and front in loving detail.

But Bianca remembers that she used to write music about Rachel, music in which she described Rachel’s eyes and their multitudes and everything, music in which she told Rachel she’d love her no matter what — even if they had no words, Bianca likes to think they conveyed the sense of it all.

And they both know how that ended.

But what’s done is done. No use in changing what’s already happened.

“Let’s go out,” Rachel says. “You’re in California. I thought the purpose was to leave it all behind.”

“Yes, but…”

Rachel rolls her eyes. “Still haven’t left the workaholic tendencies?”

“No. Work’s important.”

Rachel smiles. “It won’t kill you to get out once in a while. C’mon, let’s go.”

Bianca lets Rachel drag her outside, to some botanical, well-kept garden. It's an aching reminder of the dates they used to have, but slightly skewed. Rachel brings her sketchbook, just like always, and makes thumbnails of various flowers and displays – the lavender, the gladiolus, a butterfly Rachel stops to draw because she thinks its blue colour is lovely, and it is, especially detailed through Rachel’s coloured pencils.

"Do you still obsess over plants as much as you used to?" Rachel asks, a reminder of how well Rachel used to know Bianca. Plants weren't something Bianca talked to just anyone about.

"Yes."

"Tell me about them."

"Those are tiger lilies," Bianca says, pointing. "USDA hardiness zones three to nine, perennial. They symbolize, depending on who you ask, mercy, compassion, wealth, prosperity, courage, or pride. Originating in Asia, they bloom in late summer to early fall."

"And those ones?" Rachel asks, pointing to roses of all things.

"Those are roses. I'd suppose you know about them already."

"Tell me about them anyway."

"Usually perennial, can live in most conditions. Usually mean love, especially red roses, and yellow roses represent friendship. Briar roses and some hybrids can have aromatic scents."

And so they go through the botanical garden, Rachel sketches more, and Bianca tells her about the plants. It's so achingly familiar that Bianca gets déjà vu.

"Do you want to get food at some point?"

"It's nearing five," Bianca says. "Sure, why not."

They get takeout. It's good, and it reminds Bianca of what she used to have, back when she and Rachel were first married and lived in California. Lived where Bianca's now staying.

Bianca never should've left. But she'll admit it. She was never not going to leave.

It's been years since Bianca was a child, a decade and a half. She can admit things she couldn't earlier. And one of those is that Bianca regrets leaving Rachel for Nico and Hazel. Bianca has always prioritized her younger siblings over anything else, and it's not recent, the bitter taste that leaves in her mouth.

But Bianca's here now. With Rachel.

Maybe she should stop hiding. But it's Rachel. But there's Nico. And Hazel. And everything else she can’t say and can’t name.

«»

That night, Bianca gets a call from Nico.

"Drew told me that you up and left for California."

"I did. Did you just notice? It's been a few days since I left."

"We don't talk that often, Bianca."

He's lying. Bianca and Nico talk every other day. He's just not used to Bianca doing something this impulsive. He's just not used to Bianca doing something for herself. And he doesn't even realize it.

He never has, she notes, with no shortage of bitterness.

"I suppose not."

"Why did you leave?" Nico's voice is angry, but it's a little grainy through the phone, and if Bianca tries hard enough, she can pretend that it isn’t Nico saying this. That it isn’t her little brother.

"I don't know."

"And Rachel? You haven't talked in years!"

"We talked five minutes ago."

"Bianca-"

"Hold it, Nico."

She hangs up. Puts her phone aside. She can't deal with this right now.

Nico calls again. The apartment's quiet, Rachel's out for a late-night painting class she teaches. The phone rings, a fake sounding noise that reverberates across the empty apartment. Nico's contact reads 'baby brother' because it pisses Nico off and Bianca is so, so tired.

Hazel will call soon, as soon as Nico gives up getting her to listen to him. Hazel will call because Nico will tell her to. Hazel will call because she's concerned about Bianca.

Drew is too, Bianca knows. But Drew knows Bianca, better than Bianca knows herself. Drew only smiled and told Bianca to go for it when Bianca told her she was leaving.

Drew knows exactly how Bianca feels about Rachel.

Bianca could really go for a chat with her.

But on cue, the minute Nico's calls stop coming, Hazel's start.

Bianca puts her phone on silent, puts it in her bag, and continues working on her case. She's getting the case declared self-defence if she dies trying.

Bianca's good at this. She always has been. She's suffered through too much research and too much deliberation to not be.

But just as Bianca starts the get back into her work, the door opens, and Rachel comes in, singing.

It's an old song, certainly. One Bianca remembers Rachel loving.

Rachel's always had a pretty voice. Bianca's always been an alto, dipping into contralto, but Rachel has a high soprano. Bianca would be lying to say she didn't miss it all the time.

Bianca would be lying to say she didn't miss Rachel all the time.

Suddenly, Rachel's singing is brought to an abrupt stop.

"Oh, I forgot you're here," Rachel says sheepishly.

"It's fine," Bianca says. “You’re not used to me here.”

“I suppose not.”

Rachel hums, taking her hair out of the band that barely kept it together anyways.

Bianca goes back to her work, and a few minutes later, Rachel places the most perfect cup of tea on Bianca’s desk, just the way she likes it. Mint tea with a generous amount of lavender honey.

Well, Bianca hasn’t drunk her tea with lavender honey since… since she felt actually married to Rachel.

“Thanks for the tea,” Bianca says. “It’s perfect.”

Bianca can hear the smile in Rachel’s voice. “I know.”

«»

The next day, Bianca goes shopping. She figures she should get something for Rachel. After all, she has to put up with Bianca.

She first stops at a candle store. Rachel loves candles, Bianca remembers distantly — she used to get Rachel candleholders. Floral scented, lavender. Her favourites. Well, the years must have changed things, but Bianca still loves her lavender honey, and her coffee that precise way.

And then she goes to a florist.

Rachel’s favourite flowers are carnations, heliotrope, and forget-me-nots. Bianca decides to go with pink carnations, purple heliotrope, and blue forget-me-nots, along with white yarrow. She hopes it’ll make Rachel happy. She always likes flowers. As a last minute decision, Bianca adds lavender to the bunch.

"Got someone you're thinking of?" the florist asks, her almost luminous green eyes (that distantly remind Bianca of Rachel) lighting up and a smirk decorating her face.

"Sort of," Bianca replies, looking down at her name plate. Lou Ellen, it reads.

So she walks back to the apartment, putting in the code, up to the top floor. With her family's money, Rachel easily affords the penthouse.

It's odd. This is so familiar. Bianca used to do this same thing every day.

And now she lives in New York, across the country.

Bianca loves New York more than she ever loved California. But she can't say that she misses New York.

Rachel fits better in California then when they were in university in New York, she thinks, with a sudden pang. They left for California for a reason.

But the elevator dings and Bianca arrives at the top floor, walking to their door and opening it. Rachel's cooking something, the smell weighing down the air. The scene is so unbearably domestic, just like how they used to be.

Rachel turns when Bianca arrives, cooking momentarily forgotten. "Oh! Flowers? And candles?"

"Kind of like a thanks-for-putting-up-with-me gift," Bianca explains.

Rachel smiles. "I love them. But you didn't have to get it for me. I wouldn't... not put up with you."

Bianca smiles back, and she goes to the cabinet to get a vase worthy of them. The kitchen is still organized the way that it used to be, five years ago. The déjà vu grows more poignant.

"I'm almost done dinner," Rachel says. "It's chicken. Mostly easy."

"Thanks," Bianca says, because she feels like she has to. "It's fine. Chicken’s great."

And it stirs up a memory. Second date, Bianca got sick, so Rachel came over to her terrible student living and made chicken, of all things. Maria, Bianca’s mother, hated chicken, for whatever reason, so it was the first time Bianca really had chicken.

Until that day with Rachel.

Bianca will admit, she doesn’t like chicken all that much.

But Rachel’s already hosting, and Bianca doesn’t really want to protest.

“Dinner is ready,” Rachel says, softly, as if she’s afraid of disturbing Bianca.

“Thanks," Bianca replies, putting her things away, all the paper back in its folders and into her four-inch binder.

When Rachel serves the food, dinner turns into a quiet affair. It's not awkward — thank the sea and stars — but it is silent. The sunset streams through the windows, and Rachel is still so beautiful in the golden light.

Gold suits her.

Gold suits Rachel, unlike Bianca, whose complexion has always left more for silver than for gold. Gold suits Rachel the way that green does.

Bianca's reminded of their wedding dresses. Bianca wore all black and silver, Rachel in white and gold. It was a little pointless, a little fanciful, but it made great pictures and greater happiness.

But that is far behind her now. That's far behind both of them.

The fresh flowers Bianca got Rachel are on the table, as beautiful as they will ever be. The almond-like scent of heliotrope is faint, the clove-like carnations likewise, but the lavender is pungent compared to them, and not only for the flowers, but also from the fact that Rachel burns the candle Bianca got her that afternoon.

It's in an old candleholder, and it is almost familiar. Well, it is, it's just that Bianca hasn't seen it since... five years ago. But Bianca, in the deep recesses of her memory, remembers it. It was a one-year anniversary gift, painted cream and accented with lavender flowers. Bianca supposes Rachel decided to match them.

But it's so eerily similar to how things used to be. Bianca is sitting and eating in a meal strangely reminiscent of the ones that they used to have before she left.

Bianca could write a piece about this. She can already picture a string quartet — soft violin and soothing cello and viola to balance it all out. Or a piano trio, with a piano and a violin and a cello.

She looks up at Rachel, only to see Rachel looking at her.

"Do I have something on my face?" Bianca asks, because, in all honesty, Bianca cannot think of another reason.

"Oh, no," Rachel says, and looks away. "It's nothing."

«»

The next day, Bianca calls Drew. Drew's voice is grainy through the phone, but by every god to have ever existed, Bianca misses her.

"So. How's Rachel?"

"She's good."

"There's more to the story, I'm sure."

"You know me so well."

"Of course I do, hon. We've been friends for how many years?"

"Too many."

"You sell me short. Anyway, what is going on? Nico and Hazel are in panic mode because you're responding to precisely none of their calls."

"I don't want to."

"Good for you — honestly. Put yourself first for once. Not your career, and definitely not your siblings."

“I can’t just… not take care of them.”

“Sure you can. They’re adults. You can rekindle your relationship with your wife.”

“She’s not really my…”

“Anyone can see you wish she really was,” Drew replies. “Besides, everyone’s fine. Go get your marital bliss or whatever.”

Bianca blushes. “Drew. Tanaka.”

“Bianca. Di. Angelo.”

“I don't... She doesn't..."

"Sure she doesn't. If you can't do everything again, just be friends. Trust me. It'll be better."

"Thanks, Drew."

"And call Hazel. She's better about this than Nico is, you know."

"Fine."

"I have to go — practice is in thirty minutes, and I still need to get there."

"See you."

"Cya. Hope you get it sorted out."

"Thanks."

The phone clicks off. Drew's busy, she always has been. She travels for her soloing work – everyone wants the best violinist in the world – and Bianca and her catch up when they can. Drew’s home base is New York, but Bianca hopes that, if she is to stay in California, that Drew can get a position here for a while.

Bianca pauses. Thinks about Drew's advice. She's usually right about these things – relationships come so easy to her. But Drew hasn't seen Rachel in years, either. But she has seen Hazel recently.

Bianca knows Hazel should be free around now. She picks up the phone, and dials Hazel's number.

Hazel picks up on the second rung. "Bianca? Oh my, we were so worried. Nico and I, that is. This is so unlike you."

"Hi, Hazel. Everything's fine. I'm just..."

"You miss Rachel."

"Yeah." Bianca doesn't have the energy — or the will — to tell Hazel the truth.

"Nico says hi, so does Lavinia. We miss you, but if it makes you happier, stay in California. I'm just... surprised that you would do this."

"I didn't expect it of myself either."

Bianca can hear Hazel's smile on her voice. "The most unexpected is sometimes the best. That being said, nothing much has changed, if anything truly ever changes."

"When have you gotten philosophical on me?"

"Since getting the philosophy degree, obviously."

"Going for the doctorate?"

"Obviously. Lavinia makes enough money that I don't have to worry about it — and from what we have from Father, it's fine. Plus, I could be a professor!”

"That's good. I'll... probably be back soon."

"We miss you."

"I miss all of you, too."

"Have fun down in California, Bianca. I'll see you whenever you come back."

"I'll see you then, too."

The phone clicks off, and Bianca sighs. She hates that she doesn't know what to say to Hazel. She hates that she doesn't know what to say to Rachel. She hates that Drew was right.

Drew's voice rings in her head as it says, "I'm always right."

Bianca snorts to herself. She'd counter with that one time in university when Drew bombed a test, but Drew's not here, and Bianca just has the silent apartment to herself.

One of Rachel's sketchbooks lies on the kitchen table. Bianca recognizes it — it's the one that Rachel brought when they went to the botanical garden.

Bianca, on some odd whim, opens it. She knows she shouldn’t – artists’ work should be their own. But she can’t help herself.

The first page is lovingly detailed drawings of lavender, beautiful and as realistic, and different flowers decorate the pages after it, until one page gives Bianca a pause.

It's herself. It's Bianca, in rendered radiance. The drawing of herself has a small smile on her face as she looks down. Her bangs hang over her face and her hair is in a ponytail. It's achingly real, and Bianca sees herself in it.

Is this how Rachel sees her? She doesn't know, but Bianca feels like she's intruding on a private moment.

She closes the sketchbook, but its drawing bothers her for the rest of the day, for some inexplicable reason that Bianca cannot name.

«»

Bianca makes breakfast the next day. She's not the best cook in the world, but at least she's better than Nico. And her father was never one to cook (and neither was her stepmother, come to think of it), so Bianca would cook, and then Hazel, who was always better than her.

Pancakes were always a family favourite, especially when their parents would go away, and it would just be Bianca, Nico, and Hazel.

Bianca remembers that Rachel also loves pancakes.

Or, she did. But Bianca's pretty sure everyone loves pancakes. So.

As Bianca makes the pancakes, she admires the apartment around her. Rachel's made a dedication to paint all of the walls, as it seems — she started when Bianca still lived with her. Back, a million years ago, when they still lived together. There's flowers along one wall, abstract shapes along another, some fabric pinned to create a beautiful mural of some kind of abstractness with some things that look oddly familiar to Bianca.

Everything here feels so Rachel that Bianca being there feels a violation of the space in itself.

But there are things that remind Bianca of herself, too. Things that Rachel hasn't bothered to get rid of in the years since Bianca's been gone.

The kitchen's still organized the exact same way. There's still a stupid smiley face made with Posca paint pens on one of the backing tiles, a heart with Bianca's signature curved tails, next to one of Rachel's little anatomically realistic hearts (because Rachel couldn't do anything halfway, and Bianca dared her as a joke).

The kitchen tiles were the first that they decided to do that on, and some of the paint has chipped. But Bianca's stupid little doodles that don't even look good sit right next to Rachel's masterpieces. They'd laugh and paint and cry all the same.

It used to be so easy. Bianca didn't care because it was Rachel and that meant everything and nothing all the same.

"Bianca?" Rachel asks groggily, from the door to her bedroom.

"I'm making pancakes."

"Thanks."

"Of course."

The pancakes are done soon enough. Time is no longer an issue to Bianca, for whatever reason. But with her case soon drawing to a close, Bianca's slightly afraid of having to go back to New York.

The realization that she doesn't want to go back to New York is an epiphany Bianca never thought would happen. The realization that she wants to stay with Rachel is even more of one.

But Bianca has a week. A week before she leaves and everything goes back to how it impossibly was before.

That weighs bitterly on her tongue, like the coating of forgotten pomegranate seeds, fermented as to invoke disgust.

"Bianca?" Rachel asks. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking."

"About what?"

Now Bianca just needs to come up with a convincing lie. "A hot dog is a sandwich."

"Oh, really? I think that categorizing things in categories like that is inherently ambiguous."

"It may be, but categorizing things helps bring peace of mind."

"Stuffing things into categories just makes the boxes too big."

Bianca admits that it's kind of nice to argue with Rachel again, about silly and meaningless things.

«»

The court case will take longer than Bianca expects, as is obvious from the get-go. Bianca has the evidence, though, but the prosecution is much more adamant than Bianca thought it'd be.

Never mind that. Bianca is not altogether terrible at this. She's definitely not the best, but she's good, and she's determined. Every case takes a lot out of her — her faith in humanity, for one — but in the end, it's always worth it.

Is anything ever not?

(Bianca knows seeing Rachel again is worth it. Bianca also, impossibly, knows leaving her was worth it, too.)

But she's at court for most of the day, going home (she shudders at how easily Rachel's apartment has become her home once more), cooking dinner (it's the least she can do), and talking to Rachel, sometimes long into the night.

And so her week goes.

The flowers Bianca bought wilt a little, their smell waning as Bianca's time in California draws to a close. Conversation comes easily now, and Bianca would be lying if she said it wasn't comfortable, if she said that leaving wouldn't hurt.

(Bianca won't admit it, but she's been falling love with Rachel all over again.)

But the week passes too fast, too quickly, and suddenly the case is done (and won) and Bianca is set to leave in a few days' time.

"You're leaving," Rachel states, as only she can, a day before Bianca leaves. The lavender candle is burning, and it smells like lavender throughout the apartment.

"I've got to go back to New York," Bianca says, willing herself not to cry. This isn't sad. Rachel will move on, just like she did before. Rachel hasn't been falling in love with Bianca all over again.

"What if," Rachel hesitates, and Bianca doesn't dare hope, "I don't want you to leave?"

"What?"

"Sorry, just ignore it," Rachel says, all in a hurry, like the words are a fire that catches too quickly.

"I'm not going to," Bianca replies, as if that could change anything. "I'll tell you a secret. I don't want to leave, either."

"Then don't."

"I won't."

That afternoon, Bianca cancels her flight and stays with Rachel.

«»

They don't talk about it. They don't talk about how Bianca decided to start another case, to stay. They don't talk about how Rachel didn't want her to leave. They talk around it, anything else, because Bianca isn't quite sure she's ready for that conversation and she doubts Rachel is either.

But Bianca knows they have to talk about it eventually.

She doesn't want to. Instead, she calls Drew.

"I'm not going back," Bianca says. "Rachel and I agree — I'm staying in California."

"No duh," Drew says. "That's great, though. Glad you're staying with Rachel — chase your own happiness."

"How do I tell Hazel and Nico?"

"Text message, or whatever. You've got to tell them, but it'll be fine. Let's focus on you and Rachel, though. Back together?"

"No."

Bianca can hear Drew's sigh through the phone, through the static. "Just admit it. You're in love with her, she's probably in love with you. She wanted you to stay."

"We haven't talked about it."

"Hon. You're never going to if you don't do it as soon as possible. You're going to be in the 'pining roommates' stage forever. And you’re married! I don't want to be hard on you, but please."

"I know," Bianca says, hoping Drew can hear her rolling her eyes all the way in New York. "What do you know of romance anyway?"

"My mother writes romance novels for a living. They're incredibly lucrative."

"That means nothing. You would rather drink glass than read one of her novels."

"Would you rather I get your auntie Hera on call?"

"No! That would be even worse!"

Drew laughs. "What I'm saying is, just give it a chance. If it doesn't work out, you come back to New York. Why keep waiting? You've been waiting for this for five years. You can't keep waiting because eventually Nico might have another accident, or Hazel might, or they both want you back, and you don't know how to not help you siblings constantly. Just do it for yourself."

"I didn't ask to be psychoanalyzed."

"I'm your best friend. It's my job."

Bianca sighs. "I'll talk to her."

"Good."

"How's your newest piece?"

"I hate Paganini," Drew announces. "I always have, I always will. They want me to do a show, with like one piano accompaniment, at Carnegie Hall. I would rather kill myself."

"You're not called the best violinist in the world for nothing, you know."

"Yeah, but I've been doing his Variations on God Save the Queen for three days now and I want to resurrect and kill him."

"And just how good are you so far?"

"I've started memorizing it," Drew mutters, as if ashamed.

"Exactly. You're insane."

"So was Paganini."

Bianca pauses, hoping Drew can hear her raised eyebrow in the pause.

"Shut up," Drew says. "Anyway, go call Nico or Hazel or text them or whatever."

"Drew."

"Bianca."

"Fine."

"Goodbye!" Drew calls, before hanging up, "Remember to tell your siblings!"

The phone clicks off, and Bianca is left in the apartment, the smell of lavender seeping into the air.

She sighs. Drew's right, as seems to be all too often recently, and she calls Hazel.

It takes three rings of hollow sound for Hazel to pick up.

"Hey, Bianca," Hazel says. "You're at the airport?"

"Actually," Bianca wills herself not to cry, "I'm staying in California."

"With Rachel?"

"With Rachel."

"That's good. See you at Christmastime, or sometime soon?"

"When I can."

"I'll tell Nico," Hazel says suddenly. "Don't worry about it."

"Thanks."

"Of course. Have fun with Rachel."

"I will."

Hazel hangs up. It's odd — it was a short call, but there was so much there. Hazel doesn't sound mad, but then again, she has always been good at concealing her emotions.

Bianca knows Nico's going to be upset. But she'll stay anyways. Suddenly, a country away, Bianca doesn’t care about Nico’s emotions as much as she cares about Rachel’s presence. Which is odd because she wants to start over with Rachel.

But Bianca also knows, in the back of her mind, that that may never happen. But Bianca has always been one to want to be given life in all its pain and beauty.

«»

Bianca buys flowers for Rachel again, as the other ones go to waste. Blue cumins, blue hyacinths, white baby's breath, white daisies, and purple lavender. She can't help but hope that Rachel will like it.

Rachel wants you to stay, the annoying voice in Bianca's head that sounds suspiciously like Drew whispers. She'll be delighted in anything you get her.

Bianca ignores that voice, and stresses anyway.

Because she's bringing these flowers as a reminder of what they need to talk about. She's bringing these flowers to hopefully soften the blow that Bianca still loves Rachel.

So she goes back to the apartment with flowers, in a bouquet. Jane Austen put it best when she said I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever, and so on. Especially, I have loved none but you.

But Bianca is no writer, no artist. Unlike Rachel, Bianca has never been able to draw inspiration from the world, and turn it to silvery honey on paper. Music has always been easier. Bianca doesn't even write lyrics. It's all violet and flute and piano and whatever else catches her fancy — things Drew and her siblings Valentina and Mitchell can play, but that no one can sing.

Maybe when this is all over, Bianca can write a piece for it. Maybe a piano trio. Or a string quartet. Something about Rachel and her. That sounds about right — it can end in heartbreak or romance, depending on how Rachel response, Bianca supposes.

But never mind that.

She arrives at the apartment a little after when she means to. Bianca got the flowers just before dinner, and Rachel and her decided to go out that day, anyway.

Her palms are sweaty, it's like a first date, but slightly to the left. Rachel's as beautiful as ever, a little nervous, though, her hand fiddling with her dress. Bianca's still able to read Rachel well after all these years, but she still wonders why Rachel's nervous at all.

They get Chinese food, the kind that's really, really good, but only because Rachel knows where to go. She takes Bianca to a place that is almost achingly familiar, and the old Chinese lady behind the counter smiles at Rachel and Bianca. Her name's... Eleanor, some recess of Bianca's mind reminds her.

"You're back," she says, nodding at Bianca.

"I am," Bianca says, smiling back.

The food's great, and conversation ends up filling the air between Rachel and Bianca. They're still putting off the big conversation to come.

Never mind that. The food's great.

"I was thinking that maybe you'd like to help paint the new walls?" Rachel asks. "I'd like you to."

"I am altogether terrible at art, but I'd love to help."

Rachel smiles. "Also. Do you want to have dinner with Katie and Travis at some point? Their two kids will be there, but I think that you need to be re-introduced."

"Of course."

They're putting it off. Rachel knows. Bianca knows. Maybe it's because they don't want to have that conversation and all it entails. Maybe it's because Rachel doesn't want to break Bianca's heart again. But whatever it is, Bianca feels even worse by the time that they leave the restaurant and head back.

Or, well, they don't. Instead, Rachel takes Bianca to an oceanside boardwalk. It's late, and there are no stars, but the city lights are a good enough substitute. It smells like lavender.

"We, uh, need to talk about something," Rachel says.

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

The stagnancy hangs in the air. Unlike before, Bianca decides to do something about it.

"I'm still in love with you," she says, all out in a rush, like the words are spilling from the sky in fat rain droplets that come one after the other.

"Thank any and every god," Rachel breathes.

"Sorry?"

"I was about to say the same thing."

Bianca grins, and suddenly she can't stop laughing.

"Why did this take so long?"

"I don't know."

"I never should have left."

"Well, you can remedy that now."

"Really?"

"Just kiss me."

And so Bianca does. It's not perfect, but it's been years, and so it's as perfect as it could be.

«»

Bianca doesn’t stop smiling, even as she wakes up.

She slept late, and Rachel's already gone, an early commitment for her art. Just so she doesn't worry, there's a little note in Rachel's curvy handwriting on the bedside table. Hope it wasn't too jarring waking up. I'll be back around eleven for lunch! — Rachel (P.S. we probably still need to have a conversation, but I don't think the direction it goes will be a surprise.), it reads.

Bianca smiles at it, and the clock reads 9:36. She has an hour and a half before Rachel comes back, and she can't stop smiling.

Bianca doesn't usually eat breakfast, just a cup of coffee, and she decides to call Drew.

"Bianca?" Drew says, over the phone. "What's up?"

"Rachel and I talked," Bianca replies, trying to keep the childish giddiness out of her voice.

"Oh, great. How was it?"

"Great! We still need to have a bigger conversation about what we're doing now, but..."

Bianca can hear Drew smiling. "Great. I told you it'd happen."

"You were right."

"I'm always right, hon."

"Remember that time you lost two truths and a lie, badly?"

"Shut up. Congrats, though. Want me to tell your siblings?"

"No, that would be terrible. I'll tell them, I promise."

"Good. I'm having lunch with Valentina very soon, though, so I have to go, but you're telling me all the details later."

"Talk to you later."

"Absolutely."

The phone clicks off, and Bianca smiles. Maybe that's what Drew and her relationship will be reduced to now — short calls made to update each other on small things. Bianca can live with that. Bianca can live with a lot of things.

But it's around twelve thirty in New York right now — Drew has always liked late lunches — and Hazel and Nico are both bound to be busy, so Bianca holds off calling them.

It's odd. It's almost like a cycle. Bianca was born in Italy, but she soon came to New York, and then California for her law degree. Then she married Rachel and stayed here, until Nico's accident, in which she went back to New York.

And now she's in California. The two cities that could tell Bianca's life story are Los Angeles and New York City, in equal and opposite measures.

But Bianca wouldn't trade her life for anything, now.

And she needs to call Nico. Because he's her little brother, and no matter how upset she gets with him, and no matter how upset he gets with her, Nico is Bianca's only full sibling. That's not to say she isn't close with Hazel, but there are some things that Nico understands that Hazel cannot — like emigrating from Italy. Like the memories of their mother that Bianca finds comforting.

Bianca thinks Maria would've liked Rachel. She always has.

«»

Rachel comes home with flowers. Bianca’s favourite, lavender, and flowerless southernwood and blue salvia and baby’s breath to tie it all together.

“Figured I should get you flowers, too,” she says, smiling almost sheepishly, if Bianca tilts her head slightly and lets herself believe it.

Bianca takes the flowers and puts them into a vase. “I thought I was supposed to be the one to bring flowers.”

“Hey now, I can’t offer you that advantage. I also need to flaunt my wonderful taste in flowers.”

“Naturally,” Bianca replies. “Alternate weeks?”

“Alternate weeks,” Rachel agrees, then pauses. Bianca lets her take her time. “Speaking of, we’re… doing this?”

“Trying again?”

“Yeah.”

“We are,” Bianca says. “Or, I hope we are.”

“We are.”

“Promise I won’t leave again.”

“You better not.”

Bianca laughs, Rachel joining her, and she can smell the lavender.

[heroes-of-olympus-next-gen]

Day 4: Family meeting

Will entered the front door of his house to the sound of many people talking all at once. He left his stuff by the entrance and walked to their home office, where all the noise was coming from. The door was wide open and arguing was evident.

“Will, you’re late.” Reyna exclaimed mid-argument with Rachel who was sitting next to her. Hazel was sitting on a chair next to Nico who looked like he needed someone to back him up.

“Hello to you, too, Reyna. What am I late for?” He asked as after his 12 hour shift at the hospital, he just wanted to shower and sleep and not put up with riddles and puzzles.

“Didn’t you tell him?” Rachel questioned his husband this time. In the meantime, Will sat down as he found the whole situation very amusing although tiring.

“I kind of have forgotten you would all show up here.” Nico said. Then, he turned to Hazel. “I knew you were coming; I never forget you.”

Rachel and Reyna both glared at him before they continued talking. “We’re here to decide what to get Bee, Ryder and Jasmine for Christmas.” Rachel explained.

Will immediately felt touched that their friends were so close to their kids, but at the same time he was sure they had to come all this way for gifts. “You shouldn’t have. You don’t have to get them anything or stress too much about it.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you for the past thirty minutes.” Nico came to his side. He liked the fact that they were always on the same side when it came to raising their children.

“We didn’t come to ask for you permission. I know you have three letters addressed to Santa and I am going to make sure that they get every single on them.” Hazel said nonchalantly. Will smiled as Hazel seemed the most harmless out of the three, but still she was the one who could get her way.

“Don’t smile like that.” Nico whispered to him as he was sure he was going to agree with their friends.

“I give up. I’ll bring the letters.” He said.

“They are right here.” Rachel raised them from the desk. Of course they had already brought the letters. “Should we start?”

“Sure.” Nico said, giving up himself.

“Bianca wants-“

“Dibs on the Princess Castle.” Reyna said before Rachel finished he phrase.

“You don’t what it says.”

“Oh, please. I know my goddaughter.” She replied. “I’m buying it.”

“I think we should write everything down. Like who gets what and everything.” Hazel said and got up to get some paper.

“Hazel-“ Nico tried to talk but Rachel gave him the letters.

“We’re here to help you out. Tell us what you’re planning on buying them.”

“We bought the dolls Bianca wanted and the doll she chose for Jasmine, the dollhouse and the build-a-bear. My mum is getting her the guitar and Ryder’s car. Cecil is getting Ryder, the basketball hoop he wants, but we haven’t decided anything else.”

“Why did Cecil get to pick before us?” Rachel asked.

“Because he was with Ryder when he saw it.” Nico explained. “Let’s continue, Bianca’s painting kit.”

“That’s obvious.” Rachel said. “I can get the books I saw there too.”

“Ryder asked for Star Wars lego sets and I quote “Bianca’s Yoda.”

“Write me down.” Hazel proposed.

“There’s nothing else. That’s it. Again, you really don’t have to, but thank you.” Nico said.

“It’s not a big deal. I get a big pay check and I have nowhere to spend it. You’re doing me a favour. And obviously I’m buying more for them.” Reyna said smiling, but before anyone could insist she got up, “I’m going to pick up Bianca from her ballet lesson. Rachel are you joining me?”

“For sure. See you later.”

“You’re staying for dinner.” Nico stated as his sister got up as well. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll go find Frank at Percy and Annabeth’s. Reyna is not the only one meeting her godchildren while in New York.” Hazel said and smiled as she closed the door behind her.

“We’re so lucky to have them.” Will exclaimed.

“Couldn’t have done it without them.”

[happyk44]

Thinking about half-suicidal Percy who is still guilt-ridden about Bianca but can't do anything about it because he promised he'd keep Nico from being the prophecy kid so he has to live and then the war ends and Annabeth is alive, and Grover is alive, and his mom is alive, and Nico, dark angsty Nico who helped them win, is alive and it's all great and magical and then.

Then the adrenaline fades. Holding hands with Annabeth isn't enough. Goofing off with Grover isn't enough. Going home to his mom isn't enough. Nico stands out like sore thumb among the other campers, constantly clinging the shadows and struggling to fit in and Percy hopes another Underworld kid will get claimed soon, he wants him to have a friend, someone he can relate to.

He did have someone, his mind whispers in a voice that sounds suspiciously like Bianca's. He did and you lost her. You let her die, remember?

He does remember. He remembers all the time. Every time he sees a little girl guiding someone smaller and younger across camp to various activities. Remembers when Annabeth struggles to read a book aloud to her half-siblings.

He remembers.

And it chokes him.

Why is he alive? It wasn't supposed to be him. Bianca was the oldest, or, at least, she was supposed to be. She should've been the hero. Not Percy.

Guilt pools in him as loss does. There are memorial shrines up all across camp for everyone to pay their respects to the deceased and he sees every name etched in pretty white marble and accounts it to his pool of failures.

He goes home and it doesn't fix him, but he smiles and pretends as his mom fusses over him and he prepares for the new school year and it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.

(Dozens of kids will never see their mortal friends again, will never see hard to read markers on a bright white board, or hear the sound of a bell. Why does he get to? Why does he get to? Why does he get to?)

His mom has Paul. It'll be fine. They're both young. She can start over. It'll be fine.

It'll be fine, it'll be fine, it'll be fine.

(His mom asks about the scars on his arm and he lies through his teeth about a monster fight, trying not to look to the dagger he's hidden behind books he's never read.)

"Percy?"

Everything shatters. He stumbles but doesn't quite fall. Darkness pulls him up and away from the ledge, gripping tight until he's planted firmly by Nico's side. And even then it doesn't let go.

Nico isn't looking at him. Is staring plainly at his chest, looking past him and seeing something deep inside. Is it what's wrong with him? He doesn't know what's happening with his brain. Why everything is hitting him now.

Why he can't breathe.

It's like he's a fish out of water, drowning on dry land.

He just wants to it be over. For the fisherman to take the knife and gut him open, feed him to their family and throw the scraps out to the cats.

Nico tilts his face up to look at him. The moonlight shines bright on him. His pale skin seems to glow. It reminds Percy of Bianca, her ghostly glowing form.

You failed him, his mind whispers. You promised and you failed him.

"What's going on?" Nico asks like it isn't obvious. Like they always have conversations standing on the edge of rooftop of Percy's apartment building in the middle of the night.

"Not much," Percy says. The darkness clinging to him tickles his cheek. "What about you?"

"Oh, you know, just stopping a friend from committing suicide."

The silence holds heavy and thick between them.

Percy is the first to break it. "Please don't tell my mom." It's a broken whisper of a sentence, and he hates himself for it. All that Nico has done and he's still asking for more. Still asking when he couldn't even hold a simple promise.

Nico's eyes glitter. "I won't," he says softly.

He taps Percy's chest and a cold freeze shoots over him. It dissipates slowly. The late August, early September heat washes back over him, melting the small remnants of cold out. The night sky twinkles.

"Come on." Nico reaches for Percy's hand and holds it tight. The shadows sink into the ground, melting out across all the shadows around them. One strand stays. It wraps tight around their entwined hands, sealing them together. Nico tugs Percy's hand. "If you try to jump again, you'll just be pulling me down with you."

Percy stares at him.

Then follows quietly back towards the door.

[halothenthehorns]

Chapter 12: I GO SNOWBOARDING WITH A PIG

Nico's hands were shaking as he took the book, his stomach burned so bad he didn't know what was going to come up if he puked from stress right now. Last time he'd had this thing Percy had nearly killed them all again, which wasn't strictly his fault. Anybody could have gotten the chapter over Annabeth in this circle, but he was still being a naïve child on some level thinking it wouldn't come around again. Just like Bianca wanted, and the more he tried to let go of his anger about her the less he knew how to feel. How was it every time he got this stupid book it was worse than the last-

A warm brush against his shoulder chased away the cold dread. He didn't think much of it as he exhaled in relief to see the blurry words finally come into focus. He read the new, strange as usual chapter title with a hysterical sounding laugh of relief. Bianca hadn't been killed by a pig, he still had a little more time...and no escape plan in sight...

It was Thalia who went ghastly pale and leaned back in her seat. Percy had called her out right after this incident. They would know, and the teasing would never end.

"Question," Jason asked politely, "does the pig snowboard on two feet or all fours?"

"No, the real question is, is Percy better or worse than the swine?" Alex snickered.

"I've never been snowboarding," Magnus said, it was always something he heard snooty rich people talking about like the snow in Boston wasn't good enough for them. "Is a pig the judge we should be using skill level, or Percy?"

"Can't be to much worse than a skateboard?" But Percy sounded no more convinced this was something he shouldn't be concerned about as he looked from the book to Thalia with one of those uneasy feelings again. Whatever her problems with Apollo's bus seemed to have been a one time thing, but she'd been under a near constant state of distress same as him between Annabeth, Luke, and him. Gods he wished he could do anything to give her a break.

Nico was still licking his lips and hesitating to start, Will was making some joke about Miss Piggy nobody seemed to get but was keeping attention. Percy asked as quietly as he could to her, "want to take a break?" Wondering if she'd said no last time because he'd put her on the spot.

"No," she said again, but she breathed just a smidge easier as she grinned at him again for the offer. "Just, just want to get through this." Percy took every jab about his genius-dumbass with a smile. Percy had never said another word about her fear, he'd even gone out of his way to help her avoid it later, but she didn't have the same hope about the others. Jason would laugh himself stupid when she told him the truth and claim there was no way possible they were related when he heard this. Magnus, for as much as he looked like his cousin, would tell her that made no sense given her parentage. Alex's nose might fall off she'd start laughing so hard. And oh Gods, Will and Nico were going to go tell everybody at Camp, she'd never be able to show her face there again. She didn't really know Rachel that well, but the mortal Oracle would probably think it just as weird a demigod even had a flaw.

Jason was threatening to wrap the book in bacon though if they didn't all get on with it. Nico looked no more pleased than her to turn to the words, so hopefully he'd read quickly and just get it over with.

We'd arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley,

"Did seeing those make you homesick?" Percy smirked at Thalia.

"Do you want a fish shoved up your nose?" She asked back pleasantly.

casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.

Even with my lion-skin coat, I was freezing by the time we got to Main Street, which was about half a mile from the train tracks. As we walked, I told Grover about my conversation with Apollo the night before—how he'd told me to seek out Nereus in San Francisco.

Grover looked uneasy. "That's good, I guess. But we've got to get there first."

I tried not to get too depressed about our chances. I didn't want to send Grover into a panic, but I knew we had another huge deadline looming, aside from saving Artemis in time for her council of the gods. The General had said Annabeth would only be kept alive until the winter solstice. That was Friday, only four days away. And he'd said something about a sacrifice. I didn't like the sound of that at all.

"Do multiple motivations help get you there faster?" Magnus asked uneasily. He'd settle for some woodland magic from Grover or Apollo breaking the laws of dimension again to get there already.

"Unified goal," Thalia nodded.

We stopped in the middle of town. You could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.

"Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" said Grover.

"Yes," Zoe said. "Coffee is good."

"How old is coffee?" Rachel asked in surprise. "I'm just imagining her calling our version that we drown in sugar and creamer weak."

"I have no idea," Thalia admitted, "15th century or something? She drank it black." The Hunters still offered a moment of silence to her and all their fallen sisters every full moon over a steaming hot cup.

Percy would swear his ear twitched over something. Zoe speaking in her gruff way again, even something they could all agree on, coffee was good. It was just so different from the way she'd spoken in his dream. That must be why Thalia's words rung strangely in his head.

"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."

Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about you two go get us some food. Percy, Bianca, and I will check in the grocery store.

Percy arched a curious brow about that for reasons unknown to him. Something about her had been clicking in the back of his mind like an annoying pen, and Nico making strange tongue tied faces every time she was didn't help at all to figure out why he still swore he vaguely recognized them. They'd yet had a chance to continue their peculiar conversation from the train where apparently she found subways popping up.

There was no obvious link except Bianca was who Thalia would soon be, but he hoped she shared with them what other line he was trying to draw.

Maybe they can give us directions."

We agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable coming with us, but she did.

Nico tried not to let himself puzzle at that. He felt like he never knew his sister well enough to understand anything about her. Did the uncomfortableness come from Percy, and she already hated males? Was it Thalia, and Zoe's dislike of her rubbed off already? She hadn't much to do on this quest so far except help them escape the helicopter. It's not like he had any way of guessing if she was missing him at all.

Inside the store, we found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing,

"So the pig is going to have to work for it, got it," Alex snorted.

the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each,

"The highlight of the town I'm sure," Jason said with a cheerful smile for this small town economy.

and there was no easy way in or out of town unless you had your own car.

Percy was rubbing his forehead in exhaustion, but he knew he'd never get any decent sleep so long as Annabeth was in danger. "This is one of those towns I can't imagine growing up in, it's so isolated and creepy."

"New York Pride Cap aside, I am with Percy," Thalia sighed. She felt like a serial killer or a monster could make that town vanish in five minutes.

"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars."

The clerk looked so lonely, I bought a rubber rat.

Which caused multiple laughs around Percy who grinned indulgently.

"I hope your mother never gives you pocket change, you'd go broke walking around Central Park," Rachel chuckled.

"No, no, we encourage this behavior," Alex nodded. "I will make all the rubber rats you like Percy!"

"If I wake up with a rat in my bed tomorrow Alex, you'll find it in your nightmares," Percy promised.

Then we headed back outside and stood on the porch.

"Wonderful," Thalia grumped. "I'm going to walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion."

"But the clerk said—"

"I know," she told me. "I'm checking anyway."

I let her go. I knew how it felt to be restless. All half-bloods had attention deficit problems because of our inborn battlefield reflexes. We couldn't stand just waiting around.

Also, I had a feeling Thalia was still upset over our conversation last night about Luke.

"Look at Percy getting a gold star," Thalia gave him a friendly enough smile now and he grinned back in relief. He hoped her good mood with him again didn't stem from him getting turned into a pig.

Bianca and I stood together awkwardly. I mean... I was never very comfortable talking one-on-one with girls anyway, and I'd never been alone with Bianca before. I wasn't sure what to say, especially now that she was a Hunter and everything.

"Nice rat," she said at last.

"Now there's a compliment you just don't get to hear very often," Magnus chuckled.

I set it on the porch railing. Maybe it would attract more business for the store.

"Pretty sure that's the opposite of how that works," Will told him in concern. "Is it a New York staple to see rats and want to go there?"

"It was a very cute rubber rat," Percy said with a straight face. "Great attention to detail."

"So... how do you like being a Hunter so far?" I asked.

The question felt strange coming off of Nico's lips. He'd never gotten the chance to ask her that. He hesitated reading the next sentence because his mind was floundering if he'd get a different answer than she'd give Percy. Which was the lie and truth?

She pursed her lips. "You're not still mad at me for joining, are you?"

"Nah. Long as, you know... you're happy."

"I'm not sure 'happy' is the right word, with Lady Artemis gone. But being a Hunter is definitely cool. I feel calmer somehow. Everything seems to have slowed down around me. I guess that's the immortality."

Jason ruffled uneasily as Nico swallowed. That didn't feel like a great answer to him either, watching Thalia nod in agreement. Diana was a just goddess and cared about her followers, but Bianca hadn't known her long enough to be more than told this, let along grasp it herself. Something in him struggled with her blind faith, and yet sympathized with it.

I stared at her, trying to see the difference. She did seem more confident than before, more at peace. She didn't hide her face under a green cap anymore. She kept her hair tied back, and she looked me right in the eyes when she spoke. With a shiver, I realized that five hundred or a thousand years from now, Bianca di Angelo would look exactly the same as she did today. She might be having a conversation like this with some other half-blood long after I was dead, but Bianca would still look twelve years old.

Thalia had wrestled with this aspect, her salvation and disconnection. Annabeth would forever age past her, happy with Percy while she'd gotten her own family in the Hunters. Now Jason would too. She did not regret her choice, she knew if she'd even been told Jason were still out there before Artemis had accepted her vow she would have gone through with it and taken her place to heart that day on the Solstice. She would not be the child of the prophecy.

But what if she'd known the moment she fell out of the tree? Any time she was on the run? Would she have been able to make the same choice as Bianca and hope Jason would still be fine without her, the potential child of the Prophecy himself just to save herself from that choice? It was a question that had no answer, but she longed more every passage to speak to a Hunter sister she'd never properly gotten to know. Bianca was truly a girl who could have understood so much of her life like no other.

"Nico didn't understand my decision," Bianca murmured. She looked at me like she wanted assurance it was okay.

Nico somehow went even more flummoxed at that. Should he want Percy to be angry on his behalf again, or defend Bianca's choice too like he was trying to come to terms with now. He was starting to get such a splitting headache the words were blurring right off the page.

"Nico?" A soft, gentle voice said right beside him. It wasn't Bianca's, but it had the same soothing way about it he hadn't heard in a very long time now. He wasn't even sure if some of those memories were fake or real. "Did you want a break?"

Will watched in concern as Nico dragged his eyes to look at him. Will wished he could just say Nico could read this to himself, but that wouldn't be fair to Percy, this was his memory, they were just visiting. This was so personal to both of them. If he could just get a spare moment where everybody broke off he could ask if Nico and Percy wanted to read this part by themselves, Will would find a way to make that happen.

Nico very much wanted to say yes. He wanted another fruitless search about this place to try and get out again. He wanted to bury this book six feet deep before he had to hear what had happened to his sister in explicit detail, but he wanted to stop sitting around waiting on tenterhooks for that pain to drop more.

Then the pity would come, and maybe Percy would try to talk to him. Percy honestly didn't know if Annabeth was alive right now, it would be the most grounded conversation they'd ever have.

"No," Nico answered quickly, trying to clear his throat and not show how tired of this he was.

Nico still didn't seem to notice how the darkness got a little more depth around him every time he said his sisters name, a black hole slowly but steadily opening in the wall.

"He'll be all right," I said. "Camp Half-Blood takes in a lot of young kids. They did that for Annabeth."

Nico's scoff was painful to his own ears. Now even Percy was drawing lines between him and Annabeth, as if he could ever be anything like that golden girl.

Bianca nodded. "I hope we find her. Annabeth, I mean. She's lucky to have a friend like you."

"Lot of good it did her."

Nico couldn't stop himself glancing up at Percy, a cautious hopeful feeling they could talk about this too. Their guilt. It wouldn't erase it, but Percy had been carrying that on him this whole time and understand Nico's own grief he hadn't been there in the one moment where it mattered most.

Percy was looking right through him, as usual, even while holding the book. Nico was even quite proud of himself now looking back that hadn't been bothering him yet, always fidgeting with his pen and watching Thalia while only glancing at the book. The purple spine. Not him. He tried to take comfort in that, surely if Bianca's death was coming any time soon Percy would have some lingering memory to keep an eye on him?

"Don't blame yourself Percy. You risked your life to save my brother and me. I mean, that was seriously brave. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have felt okay about leaving Nico at the camp. I figured if there were people like you there, Nico would be fine.

Nico's laugh was a little more harsh than he'd mean it to be, and the joke was only funny to him. Was he fine? Objectively not, roaming the world and contemplating going into Tartarus to find a goal in life. The fact that she'd factored this at all though was a kindness he hadn't expected. Better than just not caring at all.

It was a strange thing to laugh at to anyone else, who as usual just seemed to think Nico odd.

Except Will, who was probably growing to nosy levels of curiosity wanting to ask. Crap, he needed a medical text book to keep him distracted, he was starting to become a little obsessed wondering at every single reaction of his.

You're a good guy."

The compliment took me by surprise. "Even though I knocked you down in capture the flag?"

She laughed. "Okay. Except for that, you're a good guy."

"Seconded," Rachel laughed, and he tried to kill her when they first met.

"Eh," Thalia smirked, "you're not the worst boy I've met." Her smirk grew as she put an eerie, Zoe like accent on use of the word boy.

"Why thank you," he told them both with a surprised smile, he wasn't used to getting so many compliments. "I hope I hold to that standard."

A couple hundred yards away, Grover and Zoe came out of the coffee shop loaded down with pastry bags and drinks. I kind of didn't want them to come back yet. It was weird, but I realized I liked talking to Bianca. She wasn't so bad. A lot easier to hang out with than Zoe Nightshade, anyway.

Nico let out a spluttered noise that might have been a laugh if he'd stop trying to smother it. Oh the irony, Percy couldn't stand him, but his sister was okay!

Percy watched him now, in concern what that noise was, while Will bit his lip to hide a smile. He didn't add that to his list of times he'd heard Nico laugh though, it held to much self deprecation in it.

"So what's the story with you and Nico?" I asked her. "Where did you go to school before Westover?"

Nico decided he'd rather eat this book page by page than keep reading, his hands were now visibly trembling in frustration of how she was about to answer that. The false memories, the cloudy haze of feelings that had lingered in shadowed faces he couldn't remember but knew were there. Nightmares that had started that first night at camp and chased him to this day. He knew his mothers face now, her voice, but his dreams kept forgetting.

"Sorry Nico," Percy's voice still stunned him through the heart, but it was more of a jolt than a whole band number when he looked around.

"You were curious," he said, trying his hardest to keep the defensiveness out of his voice. "If Bianca's okay answering, so am I."

Will was waiting for it now and felt the icy chill blast through the room, as everybody else shivered and looked at Percy but he still saw Nico's shadow flutter. Percy, Bianca, Will tugged nervously on his ear and started to get a concrete theory about Nico he was beginning to suspect the guy himself had never confronted.

She frowned. "I think it was a boarding school in D.C. It seems like so long ago."

"It always does," Magnus agreed with a wince. It scared him how the mundane of shuffling around town looking for something to sustain him all blurred together, he'd go days without remembering his mothers voice before it was punched into his ear by any innocent person on the street saying the randomest things.

"You never lived with your parents? I mean, your mortal parent?"

"We were told our parents were dead. There was a bank trust for us. A lot of money, I think. A lawyer would come by once in a while to check on us. Then Nico and I had to leave that school."

"Why?"

She knit her eyebrows. "We had to go somewhere. I remember it was important. We traveled a long way. And we stayed in this hotel for a few weeks.

Nico's voice quivered, just a slight pitch up and down that could pass as him catching his breath. It only confirmed something Will had guessed at when Percy traveled through Vegas, and his plans to burn down that place only solidified.

And then... I don't know. One day a different lawyer came to get us out. He said it was time for us to leave. He drove us back east, through D.C. Then up into Maine. And we started going to Westover."

It was a strange story.

"Understatement," Rachel promised, but her tone was all open curiosity to hear more. She'd been following Chiron around near constantly while at Camp asking him to start transcribing all stories of who passed through. She was whittling him down bribe by bribe on upgrades via Dare Enterprise. Those new saddle bags should arrive by the time they got back and she was sure he'd say yes this time.

Then again, Bianca and Nico were half-bloods. Nothing would be normal for them.

"So you've been raising Nico pretty much all your life?" I asked. "Just the two of you?"

She nodded. "That's why I wanted to join the Hunters so bad. I mean, I know it's selfish, but I wanted my own life and friends. I love Nico—don't get me wrong—I just needed to find out what it would be like not to be a big sister twenty-four hours a day."

She'd never said that to him. She'd go on and on about what things he should and shouldn't be watching, eating, which kids at school he should talk to. He'd never asked her to do all that, all she would have had to do was say she wanted some space!

"Breathe Nico," a quiet voice said beside him.

He did out of shock, the breath shuddering out of him as his ears popped. He'd almost forgotten where he was. He'd been so lost he'd been convinced for a moment his sister was back and actually explaining herself to him. A rush of gratitude had him smile at Will for just a moment before just as quickly looking away. He wished he were alone for this, but his presence didn't feel intruding. He was just used to being alone.

I thought about last summer, the way I'd felt when I found out I had a Cyclops for a baby brother. I could relate to what Bianca was saying.

Percy had been ashamed of Tyson until he lost him. Nico really hoped it hadn't taken his sister her last breath to decide she should still want something to do with him.

"Not like that Nico," Percy's voice made him jump. He looked around in surprise what he'd done to get his full attention, and felt his stomach plummet to see the apology on his lips. He didn't want to imagine the look that had been on his face to earn that again.

"I know," Nico brushed off. "All siblings are different, whatever." Percy hadn't abandoned Tyson at camp when he could have. Maybe that was finally it, she was ashamed of him. She'd always called his game dumb and lame. 'Look at me now Bianca, all grown up,' he mentally scoffed for her.

"Zoe seems to trust you," I said. "What were you guys talking about, anyway— something dangerous about the quest?"

"When?"

"Yesterday morning on the pavilion," I said, before I could stop myself. "Something about the General."

"I'm with Alex on this very important point," Thalia snorted. "You have no filter. Who admits to ease dropping?"

"Worth it if she answers?" Percy said without thinking.

"If I ever catch you ease dropping on me I'll pin your feet to the floor," she promised.

"Seconded," Alex needlessly added, but her name had been invoked in the conversation, which was enough of an excuse for her.

Her face darkened. "How did you... The invisibility hat. Were you eavesdropping?"

"No! I mean, not really. I just—"

I was saved from trying to explain when Zoe and Grover arrived with the drinks and pastries. Hot chocolate for Bianca and me. Coffee for them. I got a blueberry muffin, and it was so good I could almost ignore the outraged look Bianca was giving me.

That caused some mild spluttering laughter from them to Percy's chagrin, especially when Rachel asked, "still enjoy talking to her now?"

"I'll get back to you on that," Percy said without much regret.

"We should do the tracking spell," Zoe said. "Grover, do you have any acorns left?"

"Are they special acorns from a sacred grove watered with the tears of unicorns?" Magnus asked in a resigned tone.

"You say that like it's not going to be done by a satyr," Thalia shrugged in answer. "Even half-bloods can't fully wrap their minds around how woodland magic works."

Jason always looked just as confused as Magnus whenever they were mentioned, and Thalia deeply wondered at that. Where exactly had he been where monsters and gods didn't phase him but the good creatures that assisted their camp didn't strike his past?

"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to—"

He froze.

I was about to ask what was wrong, when a warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had gotten lost in the middle of winter. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else—almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning.

"Is the God of pigs going to show up and give you a ride next?" Alex asked eagerly. This sounded like some serious mojo going on, and the warning hadn't been mentioned as good or bad.

Zoe gasped. "Grover, thy cup."

Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away—a flock of tiny doves. My rubber rat squeaked. It scampered off the railing and into the trees—real fur, real whiskers.

Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. We gathered around him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering.

"Hey!" Thalia said, running up from the street. "I just... What's wrong with Grover?"

"I don't know," I said. "He collapsed."

"Uuuuuhhhh," Grover groaned.

"Well, get him up!" Thalia said. She had her spear in her hand. She looked behind her as if she were being followed. "We have to get out of here."

Percy didn't need to ask, his hands were already in motion to grab Grover before his mind caught up with his body and his best friend wasn't at his feet.

Thalia was smiling and gave him a friendly nudge. "At least that lack of thinking comes in handy when we need it."

"Here to help," he chuckled.

We made it to the edge of the town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared.

"I'm curious what they plan to do with you if they'd killed you," Alex admitted. "They don't feed you to a pig to hide the evidence do they?"

"I didn't stop to ask," Percy told, and he was holding to that now by refusing to let himself wonder what the hell Alex meant by that.

They stepped from the trees on either side of the road. Instead of gray camouflage, they were now wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniforms, but they had the same transparent gray skin and yellow eyes.

They drew their handguns. I'll admit I used to think it would be kind of cool to learn how to shoot a gun, but I changed my mind as soon as the skeleton warriors pointed theirs at me.

For the first time in these horrible about to die situations, Percy took a moment to thank whoever cared to listen to his prayer his mother wasn't here. She wouldn't have been any happier about monsters nearly killing him every other chapter, but there was something so, modern about a gun being pointed at him. A childhood fear he'd never experienced but had seen plenty of stories about. A weapon he'd always thought of in the hands of cops and mortals first instead of zombies, that now made his mothers troubled blue eyes come clearly to mind.

Thalia tapped her bracelet. Aegis spiraled to life on her arm, but the warriors didn't flinch. Their glowing yellow eyes bored right into me.

"That was terrifying," Will whispered, and it wasn't a joke. He meant every word. Any creature that didn't flinch from that made him wish for an endless amount of Greek fire.

I drew Riptide, though I wasn't sure what good it would do against guns.

Zoe and Bianca drew their bows, but Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her.

"If I wasn't so worried about him I'd smack him myself," Percy groaned his best friend wouldn't stop the gawking now.

"Back up," Thalia said.

We started to—but then I heard a rustling of branches. Two more skeletons appeared on the road behind us. We were surrounded.

Jason let out a string of swears that didn't need translation. "They're intelligent!"

"Percy makes good plans and we don't call him intelligent," Thalia sighed.

"Can we mock me after we're done almost dying?" Percy asked without any hope.

Which Rachel aptly delivered. "That's never."

I wondered where the other skeletons were. I'd seen a dozen at the Smithsonian. Then one of the warriors raised a cell phone to his mouth and spoke into it.

Except he wasn't speaking. He made a clattering, clicking sound, like dry teeth on bone.

Nico felt Percy's eyes on him again. The intensity, the way the water moved around them again as he tried to connect a dot.

He just didn't care right now as he wondered again about his sister. Had she understood what they said and been freaked out? It took a bit of practice to understand perfectly, but if she'd gotten even an inkling of an idea she was the only one, what could he even hope for anymore? That she was freaked out at these crazy powers and anything associated with them, like him? That she'd used it to try and help save Percy?

Suddenly I understood what was going on. The skeletons had split up to look for us. These skeletons were now calling their brethren. Soon we'd have a full party on our hands.

"It's near," Grover moaned.

"It's here," I said.

"No," he insisted. "The gift. The gift from the Wild."

"A wild, pig?" Alex asked in confusion. It really was nice to see everyone as confused about this as Percy for once, even Thalia who still wasn't really sure how Pan had come to the conclusion he had sending that beast.

I didn't know what he was talking about, but I was worried about his condition. He was in no shape to walk, much less fight.

"Goaty-back ride," Will said with a straight face. "Leave no man behind."

"I don't intend to," Percy agreed confidently, something he and Zoe actually had in common.

"We'll have to go one-on-one," Thalia said. "Four of them. Four of us. Maybe they'll ignore Grover that way."

"Agreed," said Zoe.

Percy and Thalia fist bumped. Percy was even about to make the ardent comment to tell her to thank Zoe for him for a moment before his stomach curdled. The silver circlet on his friends head so like Zoe's held his tongue. It didn't seem likely when Thalia had joined Zoe had just casually stepped down from her position, so it might be a sore subject.

"The Wild!" Grover moaned.

"Better than moaning about food again," Magnus said in concern how often this poor guy was left on the verge of passing out.

A warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees, but I kept my eyes on the skeletons. I remembered the General gloating over Annabeth's fate. I remembered the way Luke had betrayed her.

And I charged.

"Well those zombies are dead," Jason said casually.

"I'd almost feel bad for them if they weren't hell bent on killing you guys," Alex nodded with a still curious pucker to her lips. "Do they have souls? Like how sentient are these killing machines? Should I feel bad?"

"No," Thalia answered darkly before Nico could impulsively answer. The level threat in her voice against the skeletons made their worry go up another notch, that they hadn't even seen the beginning of how bad these murderous attempts would go.

The first skeleton fired. Time slowed down. I won't say I could see the bullet, but I could feel its path, the same way I felt water currents in the ocean. I deflected it off the edge of my blade and kept charging.

Nico choked on his words by the end, still shamefully etching that into his mind with the usual rise and fall of awe and then disgust at himself. He knew he didn't have a chance and he still couldn't help panting over every single thing Percy did like a child.

"That was seriously badass Percy," Will told him in the same kind of adoration. "Please tell me you saved that bullet and carved your name into it, there's space in your cabin to frame it."

"I will not be doing autographs at this time," Percy said with one of those cheeky grins that made the whole campfire burn bright white with laughter and reach to the stars. Nico usually backed away as fast as possible from the crowds reverence of him, convinced someone would spot his otherness in his false chuckle, but he couldn't do that in here.

"Well at the very least promise to have this in your next reenactment," Will insisted.

"What reenactment?" Percy asked, his confidence clearly slipping. "Please tell me you're joking about those Will!"

Thalia swiftly cut in as the snickers subsided, "if Chiron hears of any of you even thinking of bringing a gun to camp to try he'll pin a tail on all of you."

"Not a real gun," Will looked offended at the assumption while Nico harshly cleared his throat to try and keep going. At least the blush had left his face.

The skeleton drew a baton and I sliced off his arms at the elbows. Then I swung Riptide through his waist and cut him in half.

"Gruesome," Jason said complimentary. He didn't even know if he had any sword fighting capabilities, but he really wanted to test that theory on a mock battle with Percy to find out.

His bones unknit and clattered to the asphalt in a heap. Almost immediately, they began to move, reassembling themselves. The second skeleton clattered his teeth at me and tried to fire, but I knocked his gun into the snow.

I thought I was doing pretty well, until the other two skeletons shot me in the back.

"Percy!" Thalia screamed.

Thalia's heart still skipped a beat. She still heard the cry ripped from her throat as every emotion fractured through her to fast. Her guilt, she'd wanted him gone, but not like this. She hadn't been fast enough. Her horror, there would be so much blood, she'd have to find a way to wrap his body in a shroud fast. Her pleading words to Annabeth all as useless as the next to try and explain what had happened and maybe Annabeth would cry all night on her shoulder this time, or blame her-

I landed facedown in the street. Then I realized something... I wasn't dead. The impact of the bullets had been dull, like a push from behind, but they hadn't hurt me.

The Nemean Lion's fur! My coat was bulletproof.

Thalia charged the second skeleton.

She'd been in motion before she'd even realized that was him sitting up, not even dazed as he spat out snow and looked on in surprise at that goofy brown duster. Only vengeance had been in her heart to fell this one threat, do this one thing and dismantle that skeleton every bone at a time for daring to make her think the worst, lose another friend again. By the time she'd realized he didn't have a scratch on him she was to busy trying to calm her racing heart he wasn't a new skeleton warrior himself as they were being chased up a hill by a pig, and he'd in turn saved her own life. It's just how they were.

Zoe and Bianca started firing arrows at the third and fourth. Grover stood there and held his hands out to the trees, looking like he wanted to hug them.

"Wouldn't be the first time, but even an Aphrodite kid wouldn't stop in the middle of a fight to flirt," Rachel shook her head in unease where this was going.

There was a crashing sound in the forest to our left, like a bulldozer. Maybe the skeletons' reinforcements were arriving. I got to my feet and ducked a police baton. The skeleton I'd cut in half was already fully re-formed, coming after me.

There was no way to stop them. Zoe and Bianca fired at their heads point-blank, but the arrows just whistled straight through their empty skulls. One lunged at Bianca, and I thought she was a goner, but she whipped out her hunting knife and stabbed the warrior in the chest.

The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge.

Percy shivered slightly at the look that had been on her face. Just for a brief moment as her reflexes went in for a killing blow. Something in the grim set of her mouth that made a hazy vision of a dark throne room try blossoming to mind.

Alex's eyes instantly gleamed with want, even Magnus and Jason looked equally impressed as they were confused.

"Where do I get one of those?" Alex demanded.

"Why did you not lead with those?" Jason asked.

Thalia kept her hunting knife sheathed and her smile flippant as she laughed off, "it would ruin our brand to start with the short range weapon," while Percy was once again looking as close to seasick as he could get studying Nico. He had the book so close to his face it looked like he was trying to implant the words into his nose.

"How did you do that?" Zoe asked.

Their confusion overruled their interest though as they realized Zoe, and maybe even Thalia didn't know how Bianca had done that. Which certainly made that, strange. Even by these books standards.

"I don't know," Bianca said nervously. "Lucky stab?"

"Well, do it again!"

Bianca tried, but the remaining three skeletons were wary of her now. They pressed us back, keeping us at baton's length.

"Plan?" I said as we retreated.

Nobody answered. The trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking.

"A gift," Grover muttered.

And then, with a mighty roar, the largest pig I'd ever seen came crashing into the road.

"Well that's one way to keep attention off a skeleton for a moment," Magnus muttered.

It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry.

"I would be too if I walked in on this mess in my backyard," Jason frowned.

"Excuse me while I faint for a moment," Magnus shuddered head to toe. His mom had told him about wild pigs and how vicious they were. The normal ones.

"REEEEEEEEET!" it squealed, and raked the three skeletons aside with its tusks. The force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere.

"I always wanted to sing the bone song, I bet these guys would make great background noise," Will said while still batting his eyes at the abrupt change.

Then the pig turned on us.

Thalia raised her spear, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it.'"

The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge.

"I think the boar agrees," Alex mock whispered.

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoe said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we can kill it."

"Zoe still keeping up with the positive note," Nico sighed.

"It's a gift," Grover said. "A blessing from the Wild!"

The boar said "REEEEEEET!" and swung its tusk. Zoe and Bianca dived out of the way. I had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain on the Boar Tusk Express.

"Yeah, I feel blessed!" I said. "Scatter!"

"Why is this par for the course of every gift I get?" Percy demanded. "Every single thing a god has given me has nearly killed me!"

"Ares's backpack, the wind thermos, now this guy," Jason agreed as he ticked off on his fingers, and for once Percy didn't even roll his eyes as he gestured at him in thanks for proving his point. "Everything except from Neptune, and I'm kind of withholding judgment on the fountain to see if he wants anything from you."

"Thanks," Percy sighed, almost wishing somebody had argued with him.

"Tyson was a gift from your dad too, kind of," Will reminded, "and he never tried to kill you."

"Okay, with the major exception from my dad," Percy reluctantly amended.

We ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused.

"It wants to kill us!" Thalia said.

"Of course," Grover said. "It's wild!"

"My favorite thing is Grover being offended at you guys," Alex admitted.

"Then we will never disappoint at least you," Thalia sighed.

"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked.

It seemed a fair question to me, but the pig was offended and charged her.

"The boar clearly doesn't agree with you," Nico told Alex with a very put off scowl. Percy felt bad for the guy, it couldn't be fun for him to sit over there and hear in detail all the times his sister had almost died while he'd barely been able to help her, let alone keep his promise on her being safe.

She was faster than I'd realized. She rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast.

It lashed out with its tusks and pulverized the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign.

"I bet it cost their whole town budget to fix that," Rachel said with one of those strange looks in her eyes that meant a charity drive was going to be formed soon. Percy found the look endearing for the split second he noticed, but he was to amped up to even think to ask.

I racked my brain, trying to remember the myth of the boar. I was pretty sure Hercules had fought this thing once, but I couldn't remember how he'd beaten it. I had a vague memory of the boar plowing down several Greek cities before Hercules managed to subdue it. I hoped Cloudcroft was insured against giant wild boar attacks.

"They probably are against bears," Nico offered, he'd wound up in one to many insurance offices for his liking to know small towns usually went big on wild animals that were often mistaken for monsters anyways.

"Probably not against you guys though, so lets lead it away from town," Rachel unhelpfully reminded.

"Keep moving!" Zoe yelled. She and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. But Thalia and I won the prize for bad luck.

"Typical," they said together in the exact same tone.

When the boar turned on us, Thalia made the mistake of raising Aegis in defense. The sight of the Medusa head made the boar squeal in outrage. Maybe it looked too much like one of his relatives. The boar charged us.

"Would Grover eat an animal that tried to kill you? I'm thinking bacon and ham sandwiches the rest of the trip," Alex said with pretty high confidence they were going to use this things weight against it and trick this boar.

"I doubt it," Percy shrugged, while beside him Thalia was slowly but steadily turning the color of that snow. Percy shifted uneasily towards her in fear that thing had nearly killed her, he very much doubted her dad would bless the same miracle twice, or that the pine trees would miraculously try to save her.

We only managed to keep ahead of it because we ran uphill, and we could dodge in and out of trees while the boar had to plow through them.

"Eh," Alex looked like she vaguely approved of their plan at least.

"He hasn't used The Phrase yet," Magnus said with mild hope, "hopefully this is the extent of defeating the monster for once."

"It worked on Echidna," she agreed halfheartedly.

On the other side of the hill, I found an old stretch of train tracks, half buried in the snow.

"This way.'" I grabbed Thalia's arm and we ran along the rails while the boar roared behind us, slipping and sliding as it tried to navigate the steep hillside. Its hooves just were not made for this, thank the gods.

Ahead of us, I saw a covered tunnel. Past that, an old trestle bridge spanning a gorge. I had a crazy idea.

"Yes!" Alex cheered, clearly the only one excited.

"Nope, there it is," Magnus face palmed.

"I was starting to get worried you were going to stay on the bunny course," Rachel laughed. Gods forbid they got away from this to easily.

Percy gave a sarcastic laugh for them while Thalia was taking painful sounding breaths, he'd swear he could hear her lungs pop as she went deathly still, like the more words that poured out of Nico's mouth were sucking the life out of her.

"Follow me!"

Thalia slowed down—I didn't have time to ask why—but I pulled her along and she reluctantly followed. Behind us, a ten-ton pig tank was knocking down pine trees and crushing boulders under its hooves as it chased us.

Thalia and I ran into the tunnel and came out on the other side.

"No!" Thalia screamed.

She'd turned as white as ice. We were at the edge of the bridge. Below, the mountain dropped away into a snow-filled gorge about seventy feet below.

"Oh crap!" Jason yelped, though only Thalia had noticed he'd gone weirdly quiet this last page.

Her eyes were glassy, she looked very much like she actually wanted to never see the light of day again her lip was trembling so much, as if on the verge of screaming at them or just in general.

Nico couldn't believe what he was seeing for a moment, looking from the book back to her with the same confounded expression as if somebody had told him to sing on the spot. Thalia, daughter of Zeus, looked scared. He didn't know if he was supposed to keep going, if his assumption had been wrong and Bianca had somehow died at the bottom of this gorge.

Percy got up with a resilient look on his face, pen in his less dominant hand but still for all the world looking ready to stab someone to take the book away for whatever it was doing to her.

"Don't," she gasped what could have been her last breath, but she wouldn't chicken out of this. The veritable list of reasons why she should sprawled out before her; Jason would know how pathetic she was, she'd never hear the end of the laughing, but dammit she was doing this for Percy and Nico. They were stuck here and she wasn't going to pretend she alone shouldn't have to bear her worst moments.

Percy wavered but ultimately sat back down beside her. The room was the kind of deathly quiet that never proceeded anything good as they all found themselves holding their breath to find out what horrors awaited at the bottom.

The boar was right behind us.

"Come on!" I said. "It'll hold our weight, probably."

"I can't!" Thalia yelled. Her eyes were wild with fear.

The boar smashed into the covered tunnel, tearing through at full speed.

"Now!" I yelled at Thalia.

She looked down and swallowed. I swear she was turning green.

Thalia had her boots planted very firmly on the ground in here, her blue eyes were a fog of the room as she tried to convince her heart not to pound out of her chest, not to let that feeling take over her now. The sense of nothingness beneath, that she'd fall forever as the world spun sickeningly around her making everything seem wrong side up so she didn't know which way was down.

Luke wasn't here to grab her hand and ground her to that tree they'd climbed up in a panic to escape some evil mole looking creatures. The first time she'd ever been so high up and saw how thinly they were connected to the world by only a hop away from the earth.

Percy slung his arm over her shoulder. The pressure and weight of him again like he was about to push her over that cliff so they could slide to safety was an annoying reminder, but her flinch wasn't for him. It was seeing this room settle again, and be grateful it was Poseidon who had kidnapped them. Her father would probably dangle her over Olympus laughing until she got over it if he heard this.

The white noise in her ears faded somewhat as her friend stayed close beside her and Nico finished pausing for breath before finishing.

I didn't have time to process why. The boar was charging through the tunnel, straight toward us. Plan B.

"Gods forbid you ever get to plan C," Magnus said. Most of Percy's crazy ideas worked on the first try, mass chaos might ensue if he even got close to D.

"You're assuming he ever makes plans," Alex corrected.

I tackled Thalia and sent us both sideways off the edge of the bridge, into the side of the mountain. We slid on Aegis like a snow-board, over rocks and mud and snow, racing downhill. The boar was less fortunate; it couldn't turn that fast, so all ten tons of the monster charged out onto the tiny trestle, which buckled under its weight. The boar free-fell into the gorge with a mighty squeal and landed in a snowdrift with a huge POOOOOF!

Thalia and I skidded to a stop.

"So, did the pig win the race?" Will asked lightly.

"Nobody ever said what the prize was," Nico shrugged as he looked away from the last page. His sister hadn't been squashed under that boar, everybody was alive, he could spare a smile. "Shouldn't the fun they had be the prize?"

Will's whole body glowed when he laughed like that. "That's camp lesson 101, you sound like head councilor material."

Nico rolled his eyes and turned back away, but nobody could miss his little smirk.

Thalia was still rubbing her chest and watching them suspiciously to finish the rest of this disaster. Glad it was all fun and games to them, for now. She alone knew the next catastrophic thing to happen on this quest, and it wasn't her senseless fear.

We were both breathing hard. I was cut up and bleeding.

Thalia had pine needles in her hair. Next to us, the wild boar was squealing and struggling.

All I could see was the bristly tip of its back. It was wedged completely in the snow like Styrofoam packing. It didn't seem to be hurt, but it wasn't going anywhere, either.

"Your concern is touching," Rachel told him sincerely. "I'm sure Grover will be thrilled."

Percy didn't answer as he kept his eyes on Thalia, his mouth twitching as he studied his friend.

I looked at Thalia. "You're afraid of heights."

Nico snapped his mouth shut like he'd said a dirty word and looked around with a wild apology. "Sorry! I didn't mean to say, I should have, sorry!" He'd been the one to tell her she didn't have to reveal personal stuff and here he was, blurting it out.

Thalia kept her eyes on the ceiling and said in an eerie resemblance to Artemis's smooth, candid way of speaking, "I made the decision I don't care who knows."

"The bus!" Alex realized. "Oh honey," she said it with a strange maternal accent Magnus could never have imagined coming from her, but seemed to suite her.

"I commend you for dealing with that like you have been," Magnus agreed, he knew he never acted so calm whenever a wolf was even mentioned.

Jason was still watching her like he was waiting for her to deny it. Percy had that same stupid look on his face like he had at the time, the adrenaline coming down, his mouth spewing words while he brushed off their nearest death experience with that wild smile.

She brushed her hands violently through her hair like she still expected to feel pine needles tickling down her neck, her skin felt on needles waiting for the surprise to wear off and the laughter to kick in. It didn't dislodge Percy's arm, and he didn't pull away. "Can we move on?" She demanded.

Now that we were safely down the mountain, her eyes had their usual angry look.

"Don't be stupid."

"That explains why you freaked out on Apollo's bus. Why you didn't want to talk about it."

She took a deep breath. Then she brushed the pine needles out of her hair. "If you tell anyone, I swear—"

"Sorry," Percy said with his own uneasy look around. "I, um-"

"Trust me, you didn't ask your dad to do, this to you," she gestured at all of him. His past being reveled through a book, his impulsive mouth. The entire group looking at the pair of them waiting for a fight to start. "Can't be mad at you for this Perce."

Percy stared at her with those eerie green eyes and seemed to realize something she hadn't meant to spoil, his arm did slide away as he swallowed. She'd been with the Hunters for some time after these events. She was older, not as angry, more at peace with her own life.

He turned back to the book, and she silently cursed. The one time she hadn't threatened to beat him to a pulp, and this is what it got her.

"No, no," I said. "That's cool. It's just... the daughter of Zeus, the Lord of the Sky, afraid of heights?"

"I don't see what that has to do with it," Jason said candidly. "Are Ceres's children not supposed to be afraid of venomous snakes just because those are sacred to her? Are Pluto's children not suppose to fear being buried alive because he masters the riches in the earth?"

"It's ironic," Percy insisted, but also relented, "but it's not like I didn't squeal for my life when that shark nudged up to me my first time in the ocean, still scared the piss out of me."

"Fear's aren't rational, no matter who your parents are," Rachel agreed with a shrug.

Thalia was tempted to take her boots off and make sure somebody hadn't swapped her feet around she felt so wrong footed. She'd known her best friend in here wouldn't dwell on it, but the other's not even hinting at a chuckle made one escape past her lips. Maybe she'd been spending to much time around her Hunters, expecting the worst from all these boys.

Her eyes lingered on Jason as she bit her lip with guilt. That was one excuse she could cross of delaying telling him. She was looking forward to the next book least of all, hearing Percy's first hand account of what he found in that golden sarcophagus. Maybe she could try talking the others into reading one of those other books to try and get a hint of Jason's backstory after all.

She was about to knock me into the snow when, above us, Grover's voice called, "Helloooooo?"

"Down here!" I shouted.

A few minutes later, Zoe, Bianca, and Grover joined us. We stood watching the wild boar struggle in the snow.

"Didn't even consider putting the poor animal out of its misery?" Alex asked in what she clearly thought was an impression of Grover. "Just going to sit and watch it suffer?"

"It was going to come out," Percy promised, "and Grover summoned the thing! If he was going to want it dead, he'd say so."

"A blessing of the Wild," Grover said, though he now looked agitated.

"There it is!" Alex cackled. "Everybody on the same page now!"

"Guess the wow factor wears off when he's not half-passed out and it nearly kills them all," Magnus agreed.

"I agree," Zoe said. "We must use it."

"Hold up," Thalia said irritably. She still looked like she'd just lost a fight with a Christmas tree.

"It was the perfect look on you," Percy said innocently, "you could dress up every year for Halloween like that and everybody would get the joke! A few ornaments, a star on your head you could light up yourself- ouch!"

Sparks were still flying from her finger as she raised it threateningly again. Percy had the good sense to shut his mouth though.

"Explain to me why you're so sure this pig is a blessing."

Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?"

"No," Will admitted. "Why does he?"

"The pig's bragging about it?" Percy answered blankly.

"He knows every myth associated with animals," Thalia said only a smidge more confidently.

"Fun," I said. "Like... pig cowboys."

"Oink, oink," Magnus snickered.

"We're going to get through the whole farm if this book keeps up," Alex agreed proudly.

Grover nodded. "We need to get aboard. I wish... I wish I had more time to look around. But it's gone now."

"What's gone?"

Grover didn't seem to hear me. He walked over to the boar and jumped onto its back.

"Now you know he's in a bad mood," Will winced, "I've never heard him ignoring you."

"He gets pretty focused," Percy agreed, a forlorn smile showing he wasn't hurt in the slightest. Grover had come on this quest to find some sort of sign for a blessing of the Wild, and Percy got the hint much faster this time that's what his best friend must have felt.

Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there'd be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it.

Magnus raised his hand with a blank face. "What possible other uses does that spell have? How often do you need to levitate fruit for this to be a thing? Is it just an apple? Can he levitate anything like that?"

"None of us have grown hooves yet," Percy reminded. "I will gladly introduce you when we get out of here so you can ask him yourself."

"Automatic steering," Thalia murmured. "Great."

She trudged over and jumped on behind Grover, which still left plenty of room for the rest of us.

Zoe and Bianca walked toward the boar.

"Wait a second," I said. "Do you two know what Grover is talking about—this wild blessing?"

"Of course," Zoe said. "Did you not feel it in the wind? It was so strong... I never thought I would sense that presence again."

"What presence?"

She stared at me like I was an idiot.

"Missing Annabeth slightly less yet?" Thalia snorted.

Okay, so Percy had gotten it a few minutes earlier than last time, but he was still proud of himself enough he just gave her a light shove.

"The Lord of the Wild, of course. Just for a moment, in the arrival of the boar, I felt the presence of Pan."

"Chapter's over," Nico said, his voice so tense it almost didn't sound like English for a second. Then he did trail off into mutters of another language only Thalia clued into was Italian. She watched Will ignorantly reach for the book with his own little surprised stare with a lump in her throat as her eyes flinched from Percy and back to the only child of Hades.

To warn him would tip off her friend, but to say nothing would leave the poor kid blindsided. He knew his sister hadn't come back, but she felt obligated not to make him think it wasn't near.

There was just no way possible Nico could hide that reaction from Percy, he wouldn't not notice.

To say nothing to Nico felt like the easy way out, her hands wouldn't be free of blame when she could have done something.

The weight of her roll in here settled on her back as she told Will to wait a moment before he could start, trying to gauge the pressure this prison could take. Who was her greater priority?

Her best friend who couldn't know, or the kid who had lost to much?

PJOPJOPJO

You guys have no idea how much I'm looking forward to this chapter in the upcoming show. Like, all evidence to the contrary, and the rest of it is terrible and only chugs along to this exact spot and gets dropped, I will be front and center watching these scenes play out with bated breath because it is everything I love. Percy and Bianca's talk, Thalia screaming Percy's name in fear if she just witnessed him die, Bianca's badass Hades power getting their first hint, snowboarding on Aegis, the pig going poooof into the snow, Thalia covered in pine needles while Percy smiles like a dope and promises he won't tell her secret, Percy understanding Thalia's every move, these two being such a damn good team! I will have every detail and background Easter egg of this etched into my memory and replay it so many times (part two) the show will have no choice but to continue if I'm the last one standing.

Which I doubt, but is not the point right now.

[readingismypurpose]

Nico was tired. The seven had dragged him to yet another ball only to ditch him by the spiked nectar.

They had tried. He got it. But like every other ball, their eyes flickered over to him as their smiles became a little more strained until they left him.

Hazel had stayed with him the longest, but Frank with a quiet apology always turned up and brought her back to the rest of the seven.

He understood their hesitance, saw how everyone avoided him. He tried to pretend his heart didn’t ache.

This time, when it was Jason beside him and he caught him staring at Thalia, longing to be with his sister, that he was the one who chose to leave.

He quietly made his way over to the corner of the room. The shadows wrapped around him in an embrace as he stood there. He watched as they were happy, happy without him.

He doesn’t know how long he watched as he stood there waiting for someone to remember him, but they never did.

The darkness enveloped him in something like a hug as his vision went blurry. Wait, blurry?

Oh, he was crying.

Wait, that wasn’t a shadow hugging him, he looked up through puffy red-rimmed eyes to see his father, Hades.

Oh no, that means that he probably saw him crying and he is going to be embarrassed becauseIamcryingattheparty———

“Nico, breathe it’s ok, come on, in and out.” Hades’s voice broke through his anxious haze.

When he could finally breathe again, he looked up to see his dad trying to smile reassuringly at him. Nico burst into laughter. Dad —— Oh my gods, he had called Hades Dad (in his head, at least)—— looked at him amused before laughing as well.

After they stopped laughing, Hades snapped his fingers and a small couch appeared in the corner. Speaking of which, Nico refused to look at the party, he would die of embarrassment if anyone was looking at them.

A small poke on his shoulder had him look back up at his father who was looking at him like he finally seen him.

“Let me guess, you were dragged here and then they left you by yourself and so because everyone was avoiding you, you went to a dark corner to be out of their way and they didn’t even notice.” Hades spoke calmly, as if every word didn’t tear into Nico because that was the truth.

“How did you know?”, Nico whispered, too tired to pretend anymore.

Hades looked him straight in the eye and said in a voice that speaks of millennia of that awful feeling Nico had felt, “Because that’s how I always end up here.”

“Why—“

“Why do I still come? Why do I still try?” Hades threaded his fingers through Nico’s hair as Nico moved to lean on Hades, “I come because I love them because for one moment I feel a part of this family. I try for much of the same reasons. Also, I apologize, Nico.”

“You don’t have to—— wait, why?” Nico asked furrowing his brow in confusion about what would make his father apologize.

“ Nico, I am one of the most hated gods of Olympus, despite Hestia and I ‘s attempts, and by proxy all of those feelings towards myself are also given to you, the child of mine that is most like myself” His voice was tinged in despair and knowing.

“What about Hazel?” He asked, dreading what his father would say.

“She has no grudges and even with them, her time in the underworld has taught her to let them go. She is no longer an outcast and she knows how she belongs.”

”Oh.”Nico didn’t know what to say really and it didn’t seem Hades did either.

Nico looked up at the party to try to find something to say only to snort. Zeus had spilled wine on himself while flirting with a random nymph and Hera had seen the entire thing.

He pointed it out to Hades only for Hades to grin and point out Hermes who had gotten his flying shoelaces tied.

After that they spent the rest of the ball gossiping and pointing out amusing occurrences at the ball.

“Did you see Dionysus—-“

“Blackmail”

“Oh, look at Demeter, she’s covered in cereal!”

“Karma.”

“Did you know that the real reason we wear…”

By the time that the party was over, Nico had laughed more than he had since Bianca ‘s Death. He smiled at Hades and said, “Same thing next ball?”

“Sure, now go, I have a reputation to maintain.” Hades huffed while trying to hide a smile. Nico still saw it as he shadow traveled away, but what he missed was Persephone’s big grin at seeing the two interact.

Head empty just Hades and Nico attending an Olympus ball whatsoever and they know the others don’t like them, so they just find a quiet corner far away from the stage to chat and snack.

When Persephone finally comes picking her head in, the father and son would always be either laughing, relaxing, chugging wine or flicking olives at each other - completely at ease in their own world, separated from the Olympians.