Bianca di Angelo is dying.
She lies flat on her back, blood pooling around her. Her hair is covered in it. Her body aches, and darkness dances at the corners of her vision.
"Just a few more seconds," she tells herself. Every moment is another battle warred against the black and the pain and the broken, burned hunk of flesh that is her body.
She thinks of Nico more than she does anyone else. She wants to hold him, to run her fingers through his hair one more time. Just one more hug, one more smile, one more whispered "I love you."
She won't get any of those things, but Percy will tell him for her. Percy will tell him that she loved him so much and that she didn't want to leave him. Percy will take care of him, and he will become a great hero. A better one than her.
And with that last, comforting thought, Bianca allows herself to sink into the black.
Bianca di Angelo is seven years old, laughing with her little brother, playing some game that requires them both to run in wild circles. They are currently inside the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Bianca does not like this place, but she understands that the lawyer who brought them here didn't want them to leave, and she doesn't like making adults angry. So she obeys.
It doesn't take long for Nico to tire of the game. He wants to go play the newer, more exciting games downstairs, outside of their shared rooms. Bianca tries to find other ways to entertain him, but it's getting harder. So instead, she gathers him in her arms, kissing his forehead.
"I love you so much," she whispers into his dark curls. He needs a haircut, she notices.
He wraps his arms around her in the innocent manner of complete trust. "You'll always be here, right? "
It is an easy question to answer. Bianca will always be there for Nico. Still, he doesn't look satisfied.
"And you'll never leave? "
This one is slightly more difficult. Bianca will always be there, but does that mean she always has to be near him?
Quickly, she pushes all doubts away. They are a set. A pair. Nothing without the other.
"Of course, " she tells him.
Bianca di Angelo is twelve years old when they are brought to the new school. As relieved as she is to be free of the Lotus Hotel and Casino, she is a bit scared at the prospect of being around so many kids her age. There were a few at the Lotus Hotel and Casino, but she hadn't really talked to any of them.
She is given her room number, and when she opens the door, her first sight is a pretty blonde girl stretched out on one of the two beds.
"Just so you know," the girl says, " I didn't want you here. "
Bianca isn't really sure how to respond, so she doesn't. Instead, she starts toward the other bed and sets her things down before starting to unpack. The other girl ignores her.
Later, after everyone, (including the blonde girl, whose name is Marlene) is asleep, Bianca hears a knock on the door. She gets up to open it, and there is Nico. He was shown to his room as well, and they saw one another at dinner. He was goofing around with the other boys and told her he was fine.
"Bianca?" His eyes are wide with fear. " I can't sleep. "
She lets him sleep in her bed, just the way they used to at the hotel.
And when she wakes up the next morning, Marlene is standing over her.
"Wow. You're an even bigger loser than I thought."
For the rest of her time there, all the girls call her "Mommy". They leave baby powder sprinkled on her things and strap diapers to her clothes.
Bianca makes sure Nico never knows.
Bianca is fourteen when she receives the offer to join the hunt.
She is so shocked and so scared and yet so surprised that this brave, talented, intelligent group of girls want her to join them. No one has ever noticed her before, except as Nico's sister.
And if she is honest, she wants to do something in her life besides be Nico's sister.
So after confirming that Nico will be safe and happy and educated, she says yes.
Bianca explains to him over and over again why she wants to join the hunt. It doesn't make him understand.
Bianca holds Nico tighter than she ever has before when she leaves. She knows she might not see him again.
But this is her chance to do something good. To help save the world. To discover, for the first time, who she is when she is not Nico's sister. Is she brave enough?
Bianca plans to find out.
The monument was small, but something about it drew people. An aura of love. Sacrifice. Courage most of all.
In loving memory
Bianca di Angelo
Beloved Sister, Friend, and Hero
"And by this we know that angels walk the earth."