Disclaimer: I do not own the Titan's Curse, but I really wish I did. Great book.
Bianca carefully stepped over the smoking teapot. She had no idea why the teapot was smoking, but she didn't want to find out. She was thinking about that bow. Why did it have to be cursed? No matter; she already had a bow, and it was selfish of her to take something that would curse the group. It was definitely not worth it.
Bianca looked down at her stained shoes. Something caught her eye. Reaching down, she pushed aside the green hairbrush and gazed at the figurine lying in the sand. Suddenly, she realized what it was.
Crouched in the dust, miles away from her little brother, Bianca suddenly began to cry. Tear after tear rolled down her cheeks and landed on the knees of her jeans, but she didn't care. She reached down, brushed the sand off of the little Hades, and held it up into the light.
She'd promised she would take it for him if she ever found it. She'd promised him a long time ago, but when she joined the hunters, she'd basically broken that promise. She'd felt better as soon as she'd taken the pledge, but the look on Nico's face when he found she'd abandoned him was more than she could ignore.
She remembered it all. How she'd wondered if she'd made the right choice. How she'd justified her actions by re-promising to get him something special. How she'd carefully selected something he loved and studied the pictures and advertisements so she'd recognize it immediately. She remembered wondering if Nico knew she still loved him.
Bianca had always hated Mythomagic. She'd always hated taking him out to buy cool skull t-shirts like he wanted. She'd always hated taking care of her little brother, but now she had left him. She loved her brother. Deep down inside, she'd wanted to be rid of him and live her own life, but what she hadn't realized was that she needed him. Crouched here in the dust, she saw the god Janus scratched in the sand.
Bianca angrily scuffed out the markings with her shoe, then realized she had just scuffed out Nico's fourth favorite god. She'd never paid any attention to his game, but she'd learned a lot about Greek mythology from it. The faintest flicker of a smile crossed her face when she remembered playing with him. He'd always given her the least powerful gods to play with
Looking at the dirty plastic in her hands, Bianca realized that it wasn't just a silly little action figure that Nico would like. It wasn't just a curse that would probably kill her. It was her promise. She stood up, and stared defiantly into the sun. She imagined Janus, standing there grinning.
"One way leads to success, and one, to certain death." Bianca knew exactly what he would say.
"I've chosen my path Janus," she said defiantly. "I chose correctly."
Slipping the figurine into her pocket, she ran to catch up with the others. She knew it wasn't an option. She was willing to pay the price. Nico might never understand, but this was for him. She'd wrongfully abandoned him, and even though the dusty toy probably wasn't worth what she would pay, she knew she owed it to him. As the rusty creak of the robot sounded from behind her, she gave Nico one more promise.
"I will never abandon you again."
