February 28, 2011

Aali Al Harim, the son of the wealthy mathematician, Professor Adil Harim, was declared to be officially a missing person today. Harim was reportedly on vacation with his father in Libya-their native country- when Harim went missing. According to Professor Harim, his son claimed to be going out with friends the day of the twelfth of February. He never returned home. In journal entries found yesterday, it was believed the fifteen year old has run away. This journal had entries on how Harim wanted to "leave town, be on my own." and "I hate this place. I'm going to escape one of these days…" Two days before he went missing, the following was dated in the journal, "so long and goodbye. Nice knowing you."

Witnesses claim to have seen a boy that fits the description of Harim hanging around the entrance of the Libyan Desert. Some who live near the desert claim to have heard a shriek that may have been male later that night.

It's not clear whether or not Harim is alive or dead.

Harim was described as "loving, kind, and smart" by the ones who know him

Harim stands five foot eight. Fifteen years of age. Arabic complexion. Short cropped black hair and "his mother's lovely gray eyes".

Anyone with information is urged to report it. The reward being offered from Professor Harim stands at two hundred fifty thousand United States dollars.

"I know you feel uncomfortable in Persephone's Garden, believe me, it's not my cup of tea either, but really it's the only nice-ish place down here."

It was calm and quiet. The flames had receded, and before his eyes stood the twelve year old girl he knew.

"We're in Persephone's Garden?" He asks. "We're in the Underworld?" This place was so familiar. Why would the place of the dead be like that? Did he die like Zoë?

"Yep. Not for long though. You remembered who I was, therefore my father has agreed to release my spirit for a bit…" She trailed off.

"Huh?" He knew she was a child of Hades, but she's dead. Percy knew from a feeling he had within that once someone was dead they should remain in the place of the dead. And didn't Nico try to raise her from the dead before?

"You need me, Percy. If you want to keep the world from destruction, you're going to need me. Correction: you do need me. The dead know things that the living don't."

Percy didn't like how this sounded. World destruction? Not good. Him having to prevent it? Also not sounding too swell.

"We need Zoë too, I'm guessing."

Bianca nodded.

"So what are we doing?"

It felt like the room dropped about twenty degrees.

"I'm sorry," she said, and he could tell she was trying hard not to cry. This was worse. He did not want to hear this. "I just thought I should start with that, but Percy, tell me: how old am I?"

"Old," Percy said automatically. "Much older than me."

"Yes," Bianca answers. "Why was it bad for you, specifically when Nico and I were discovered?"

He had to think for a moment before replying. "You and Nico…were children of Hades…the Big Three. And Thalia… I-I was like you guys. And with you…you could have replaced me. Hades locked you in a hotel until I came along, and Nico…I was trapped in the Underworld…."

"Why did Hades put you there?" She stops him before he could potentially look any stupider.

He knew this answer. "So it could be Nico." He wasn't sure what "it" meant, but Hades wanted "it" to be Nico. He pauses before adding: "Even though Hades thought you were a better match, but…you were dead by then."

Bianca gives an approving smile. He found that ironic. Oh sure let's have you're brother do the job instead because: bummer you're dead!

"Backtrack for a minute," she tells him. "When technically, I am older than you, right?" He nods. "Why was I kept from getting older?"

He doesn't enjoy these questions anymore. He feels what they are building up to, and he does not like this. Not at all.

"To keep you safe. So you would never turn sixteen, and then decades later I turned sixteen. I-"

"Took the job the Fates assigned to me," she confirms.

Now Percy really wants the conversation to end. "We're not supposed to mess with our fate."

Sadly, she agrees with a gesture of her head. "Which is why Gaea is awakening now. My father and mother," Bianca says those words like their acidity level is a perfect one on the pH scale, "made bad choices, well the Big Three did, really, but because of them we're paying for it."

The sweet girl Percy had known as Bianca was gone. Nowhere in sight from her last remark. This, he believed, was a true child of Hades. And one that he did not want to get to know. She also reminded him of someone else who once cursed the gods…

"You get to save the world this time?" It felt colder in the Underworld now that he knew it was the Underworld. The anomalous feeling was not that this was the land of the dead. It was that this was where dead people belonged, and Percy felt right at home. Maybe it was because this wasn't the Roman camp because he knew he didn't belong there? Maybe it was because this was part of his past?

"Something like that," Bianca grumbles and fails to meet his eyes.

"At least you won't have to worry about dying this time," he tells her and smiles. But apparently humor is not his forte because she does not smile.

"No, Percy Jackson. This time I get to live, and it's only because you are going to die."

Or at least that's what she wanted to say but didn't.

Zoë was glad that Percy was not one to scream whilst in pain. Otherwise, every time he remembered something and got one of those pesky headaches, they'd be screwed.

She was, however, getting increasingly annoyed with these fainting spells.

Not knowing what else to do, she grabbed the bow and arrows he had brought her. They were all right, she supposed. Nothing like the fine quality of what she was use to with the hunters.

Thinking of the hunters made her nostalgic. There was no rule stating one could not join after coming back from the dead, or one not allowing you after you committed murder. Still, even at this point, many months before the threads wove themselves together, she knew that after this quest, she would not be allowed entry into the hunters. The only group she had come to know as family.

She considered Bianca her sister. They hadn't known each other for more than a week; still that oath tied the girls together in more ways than one. It brings you closer, and suddenly there is no longer any need to keep secrets. Bianca had known everything there was to know about Zoë before Bianca met her fate. Zoë knew a lot about the girl too. When she died, it was the worst pull one could inflict on her heartstrings. And believe Zoë, she's had some damn good damage with her heart.

Zoë thought she had made peace with the world at her death. She hated to admit, but she missed being dead. When you're dead in Elysian everything is just nicer. No more troubles or problems. No fretting what's going to happen to you because you're already dead.

Her being who she is, of course couldn't have been allowed eternal bliss. She forgot how long she had been dead. In fact, she forgot what happened when she was dead. She just knows it was a hell of a lot better than living.

Lots of people would probably be thrilled with a second chance at life. Who wouldn't want to be able to redo it all? That is why so many went for the option of rebirth. Well, that and they wanted to achieve Isles of the Blest status quo. However, Zoë had already achieved her second chance at life when she joined Lady Artemis. She, Zoë, was a fair person. You had to be when you lived with a dozen other girls for centuries. And as a fair person, she had believed she had had enough chances to repent for her mistakes. She did not need another lifetime to do good, but ultimately make more bad decisions to regret.

She still didn't know why she was brought back to life, and Bianca didn't offer any explanation at all. Zoë thinks Bianca knows why, but is also opting to keep that information secret. In Zoë's opinion, she finds that quite obnoxious.

Then again, that first post-death meeting with Bianca might have been one of the most vague conversations Zoë had ever had in her millennia on Earth. Okay, maybe "vague" wasn't the correct terminology. More to the point where she knew most of the details were not being discussed, and the true leader Zoë happened to be, was royally pissed off with that.

She enjoyed knowing the particulars of any mission: what the purpose was, where it would take place, how long it would take, what the outcome would be, what they would if something went wrong, how they could improvise, etc.

She could presume that indeed, she knew the main mission, and that's what mattered most, but still something discomforted her that Bianca was not offering all she had to offer. Which made her hard to trust, and seeing as they were once sisters, it unsettled Zoë greatly. Especially because this quest, as so to speak, involved death. And if the child of death was keeping secrets about the quest of death, Zoë knew that she could no longer have her full trust in Bianca.

That also left her to wonder where her trust status was at with Percy. At their first encounter she did not like him. She was also stereotyping him because he was male, which Artemis had told her not to do, which was also hypocritical of Artemis to say anyway. But he had long proved he was trustworthy by her death. Of course, now Jackson had no idea who he was. She would think he would trust anyone, but he didn't. He was wary of the Romans, which was a good sign.

The Romans. Zoë knew about them. Lady Artemis does not keep secrets like those. The hunters always noticed that Artemis changed when she entered the West. More violent, more impulsive, more male hating. The hunters were just not allowed to speak of their counterpart relatives to anyone.

And as Percy decided not to trust them, Zoë came to her mind he was a little more trustworthy than Bianca. It was also bad that he didn't trust them, though. The demigods themselves were perfectly fine. They were just brainwashed with that bitch of a wolf.

Lupa and Zoë were not friends. Another reason Zoë knew about the Romans: she was alive when the torch moved to Rome. She was older than Lupa. And to say things gently, they did not get along, and Lady Artemis never would allow Zoë the permission to shoot the friggin' canine.

Also another reason she could trust Percy more. She knew he had ill feelings towards the wolf.

With all this, Zoë was scaring herself. Trusting a boy more than her former sister in arms?

Bianca's shadiness was unnerving Zoë more, and why shouldn't she trust Percy anyway? In the end, he was only going to die. When Zoë thought about that part, it made her more cagey of Bianca. When Percy was to die, her soul would be released and she would be human/demigod again.

Little did Zoë know, but in four months she would come to hate Bianca di Angelo.

AN: Yeah, sorry for the long wait. Hopefully, I'll get another chapter on Monday, but my teachers like giving more and more projects closer and closer to midterms. Lovely, right?

Anyhow, THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING. Hearts for all.

To the anonymous reviewers:

Random: Thanks! I think you'll come to find that there'll be enough deaths for your satisfaction.

page: Thank you. And your welcome? haha

www. fanmortals. webs. com (remove the spaces). NOMINATE your favorites.

Reviews are golden. CC is the best. Flames are tolerated.

You know you love me,

Bia