Hello!
Dying moment of Bianca Di Angelo. Probably one of the most awesome Hunters ever.
This is my tribute to her, because she really shouldn't have died. Blame Rick Riordan...
Wait, don't. He might not publish Mark of Athena.
I recommend Son of Neptune (2nd book of Heroes of Olympus) it was AWESOME.
By the way, side note to Queen Slug (formerly Annie Bell Johnson): return my copy of The Lost Hero already!
Much love,
ThaliaMalfoy
"Distract it," Percy told me, eyeing Talos. "I'll just have to time it right."
I clenched my jaw. "No, I'll go."
"You can't," Percy insisted. "You're new at this! You'll die."
But I wasn't going to change my mind. "It's my fault the monster came after us. It's my responsibility. Here," I said, handing him the statue of Hades. The one Nico always complained that he couldn't find in any store. I hesitated at the thought of Nico. I wouldn't see him again.
But this situation was my doing. I swallowed and told Percy, "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him…" I swallowed again. "Tell him I'm sorry."
I locked eyes with Percy. He was a good guy. He would take care of my brother. I trusted him, which was also the reason that I let myself join the Hunters. It's okay to die as long as Nico wasn't alone. It's okay as long as Nico had people like Percy.
I ran towards the Talos prototype, ignoring Percy's shouts behind me.
"What are you doing?" Zoe shouted.
I was trying to get under Talos' huge foot by balancing on the metal scraps he was standing on, but it was useless. They kept on shifting and swaying.
"Get it to raise it's foot!" I yelled at anyone who'd listen.
I didn't know what the others were doing anymore. I was too busy trying not to fall off the metal hill I managed to get on.
Suddenly, Percy was beside me, stabbing the giant robot's bronze toes. His sword managed to make a deep gash in the metal.
Talos looked down at him and raised his foot to crush him. Percy turned and ran away. I saw my chance.
The giant was huge, but slow. While Percy ran away, I estimated where the foot would land and scrambled there. The foot with the circular FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY door landed on me.
The door broke on me. I tried to go up the robot as fast as I can, which was hard, because Talos seemed to be moving and everything inside him was shaking.
After what seemed to be a few thousand feet up, I finally found something that looked like controls. Levers.
I pushed and pulled everything, not knowing what I was doing. But from the shaking and the groans of the metals that surrounded me, I was doing it correctly. I pulled two random levers at the same time and there was a bang somewhere above me. Talos was hitting himself. I laughed aloud with glee at my success.
I pulled something else, but as soon as my hand pulled it out, I knew I did something wrong. The whole body of Talos shuddered; wires and metal pieces fell on me. I pulled another lever and Talos hit himself again. More metals fell on me, and a piece fell on my head. I blinked and tried to focus, feeling dazed.
Then, I felt the sensation of falling. I tried to hold on, but the fall was too fast. I cried out as my body crushed against sharp wires, bent metal, and some other things inside Talos. I started shuddering. Blue sparks of electricity went up towards me from Talos' legs. I was being electrocuted. And so was the giant. Pain…
I looked up, my eyes blurry. I saw a big shape hurling towards me. I closed my eyes.
After what seemed like an eternity later, I opened my eyes and I was outside Talos.
Percy, Thalia, Zoe and Grover were searching through the wreck that was the Talos prototype. They were shouting my name.
"I'm here!" I called out. But they didn't seem to hear me.
"Hey, Percy! Thalia! I'm right here!" I called again.
"They can't hear you, child," a voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw a man. He had black hair and he looked familiar. First, he sort of resembled Nico, but he also looked like that small statue of Hades.
"Who are you? Why can't my friends hear me?" I asked him.
"I am Hades, child, the Lord of the Dead and your godly parent," he replied with an unreadable expression. "Your fellow demigods cannot hear you because they cannot see or hear the dead outside of the Underworld."
"Dead?" I looked at my hands. I could see myself, but my skin was flickering; sometimes solid, sometimes transparent. Hades was right. I was a ghost.
"I came to assist you to the Underworld," he said. "I brought a shade that might help ease your discomfort."
"You're a god," I said. "Aren't you supposed to not help your children?"
"I am permitted to be with my children once they die," he said. "Though I did not expect you to die so early. I might have a word with that accursed Hephaestus about his trash."
"Will you claim Nico already?" I asked.
He shook his head. "There is a destiny planned for your brother. He will eventually find out who his father is."
I vaguely remembered that when I was alive, I had a lot of questions for when my godly parent claimed me: a few sad, a few furious. But now that I was face-to-face with my father, I didn't feel sad and angry anymore. I guess that's what dying did to you. You don't care much about human stuff anymore.
"Where's the shade that will come with me?"
Hades glanced behind him. "She is here. She will appear to you after I leave. Good bye, Bianca. Perhaps we will see each other again." With those last words, he disappeared.
I blinked and there was a woman in front of me. She was very pretty, with beautifully arranged black hair and a warm smile. Her skin was completely transparent to me.
"Bianca," her voice sounded like an echo, inviting and strange.
"Mother?" For some reason, I knew who she was.
She nodded. "I've waited so long, my daughter. At last, we can be together." She extended her hand towards me.
I started to reach for it, but then I remember my friends. I turned around, and saw them. Zoe was crying, and Grover was sniffling beside her. Percy looked stunned. Thalia, on the other hand, looked angry.
"Bianca," my mother called.
"Will my friends be okay?" I asked without looking at her.
"You will see them again," she whispered. "And you will also see your brother once more. The Fates destined it."
That didn't really answer my question, but the promise satisfied me.
"I am ready," I said, taking her hand.
She smiled, and a soft glow bathed us. We slowly lowered towards the ground. We passed through the soil and metal unharmed. Not once did my mother's eyes leave mine.
For the first time, I felt peaceful.