A/N: Hey all. I'm having so much trouble with motivation for Titan's Curse. I keep thinking about how I want the rest of the series to play out. I have great plans for the rest of Prisoner of Azkaban, Battle of the Labyrinth, and Goblet of Fire, which will end the first book of the Daughters of Darkness series, but I can't deal with Titan's Curse for some reason. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
Clara POV
I was sitting there peacefully, listening to the radio and trying to figure out a word search. Honestly, why Tony had even decided to get me a word search book for my birthday was beyond me, with my dyslexia and all. But maybe that was the reason. Then, I happened to glance skyward.
"Zoё, we have to ditch the van! They've seen us!"
"The girl is right," Zoё muttered with distaste, looking up as well."
"Drive to that tunnel," Bianca said.
"We can't do that, it's a dead end!"
"Just trust me," Bianca pleaded.
Zoё turned the corner. "A Subway station," I mused. "That's brilliant, Bianca."
"Thanks….I just remembered it was here last year because it wasn't when I was a kid."
Her words fell on shocked silence. Finally, Percy said, "No station at all? Bianca, who's the president right now?"
She gave the right answer. I saw what Percy's concern was.
"Who before that?" I asked kindly.
"Um…." Bianca looked scared and confused. "Roosevelt? FDR, I mean?"
Thalia's eyes widened. "Bianca, that was about seventy years ago."
The Huntress gave a nervous laugh. "I'm not that old."
Bianca POV
We boarded train after train, and I was barely paying attention, even when Zoё and I got our own luxury car on a freight train that seemed to be from some god. I was too lost in thought. Could I somehow be seventy years old and not know it?
I am eleven years old. A lawyer pulls me and my brother out of school in DC. "It is no longer safe for you here," he says in the car. We drive west. Nico finds it fascinating but I find it nauseating. On the radio, I hear about war in Europe and Asia. The Germans and the Japanese are fighting with the French and the English. Days later, I hear that Japan bombed a military base in Hawaii. My country is now at war with Japan and Germany.
Eventually, we find ourself in Las Vegas. I've seen pictures of it in my books from school. The lawyer takes us to the Lotus Casino. "You will be safe here," the man promises, before driving off.
We stay at the hotel for two months. It is an incredibly fun place, and there's every game imaginable. We do inflatable sword fighting and pac-man and everything they have to offer. Everything is free. Everyone seems so happy to be there, but at the same time, there is a sense of wrongness.
Within a few days, I have a special request. There is a baby across the hall from me, and she doesn't have other family staying there. They ask me to take care of her. They tell me her name, but I've never been good with names, so I just call her my baby. A week later, she leaves with a man. "Please. I am her uncle. I didn't know she existed, or she wouldn't be here. Please, I must take her with me. Please." The guards are reluctant, but I want to let her go. I believe that the man is her uncle.
A few weeks later, Nico and I are playing inflatable checkers, and we notice three kids, a girl and two boys who look about our age. They look lost, and they don't stay very long. Only a week, I think. They leave quickly, and my suspicions start to rise. Do Nico and I really belong here?
Two weeks later, a different lawyer comes back. The war is over, he says. We will now go to a boarding school in Maine.
Zoё brought me out of my stupor. "We're here. This is as far as the train will take us."
We were in a town called Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Zoё went to find snacks, while Thalia checked around the shops to see if there was a way out. I wasn't exactly comfortable waiting with Clara and Percy, but I made the best of it.
Clara spoke first. I was still a little wary of her being a witch. "So, how do you like being a hunter?"
I felt nervous to say that I loved it. It didn't make me happy, exactly, because Lady Artemis was gone. I didn't want them to know how much I had wanted to leave Nico behind and have my own friends. I felt kind of weird about the whole situation.
"You're not still mad at me for joining?" I clarified.
"Nah," Percy said. "As long as you're happy."
"I'm not sure 'happy' is the right word with Lady Artemis gone. But I feel, somehow….calmer. Everything seems to have slowed down around me. I guess that's the immortality."
They studied me. I didn't know what they were trying to find, but it was interesting to watch them watch me. "Nico doesn't understand," I said after a while.
"He'll be okay," Clara told me. "Camp Half-Blood takes in a lot of young kids. They did that for my sisters, Ruby and Diamond. And Renee and I were only ten and eleven when we first came."
"Annabeth was only six," Percy added.
"I hope we find them. They're lucky to have friends like you." I meant it.
"A lot of good it did them," Percy complained.
Clara looked like she was going to cry. "She always had my back. She saved my life at least three times. And the one time we had a plan, I ditched her. And look at what happened!"
"Don't blame yourselves. You risked your lives to save Nico and me when you didn't even know us. That's seriously brave. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have felt okay leaving Nico at the camp. But I figured with people like you there, Nico would be fine. You two are good people."
I noticed Zoё and Thalia heading back. As always, they seemed to be arguing about something. Percy and Clara noticed them too.
"So, what's your story?" Clara asked. "You and Nico…."
I told them what I remembered, leaving out the part about the Lotus Casino and the three people. I was trying to figure it out. Percy had looked familiar to me. I wasn't completely sure, but I thought he might have been one of them.
"So you've been watching Nico your whole life?" Clara asked. "Wow."
"Yeah, that's why I wanted to be a Hunter. I know it sounds selfish, but I really did want to have my own friends and not have him influence my life too much."
"I understand," Clara told me sincerely. "Well, I mean, not really, but I have five brothers in my adoptive family, and I was always defined by my four older ones. And then people didn't think I was their sister because I was adopted and looked nothing like them. So yeah, I get it."
I nodded absently. Zoё had reached us, and Thalia wasn't so far behind. She handed us pastries and hot chocolate. And then I made the mistake of looking around.
"I smell them," a voice said through clacking teeth.
"You're a good tracker," said another.
I looked at the others, but they didn't seem to have heard. "Um, guys," I muttered. "We need to go."
The next few moments were a blur for me. Clara, Zoё, and I shot arrows in every direction, while Percy slashed Riptide. Thalia ran around with her spear. I knew the skeletons wouldn't die, but I guess everyone agreed that it was better to fight anyway.
Then, something happened. I managed to hit one of the skeletons in the stomach, and it dissolved in a pile of ashes. Percy looked at me strangely. "How did you do that?"
I was suddenly very uncomfortable. "Um….lucky shot, I guess?"
"Well, do it again," Percy said, but it appeared Clara had other plans. She had given up on her arrows and was flinging sunbeams at the skeletons, but she was looking in our direction.
She tossed one in the air, and I caught it. "Hop on!" She yelled, flinging another one in Thalia and Zoё's general direction. "Come to me."
She zoomed around on her own sunbeam, then reached out to grab mine. She quickly tied it in a knot, and then we sped to the others. I didn't have time to think about it. "Close your eyes, I can handle it!" Clara gasped. Percy and Thalia exchanged a look, but Clara was powering ahead.
"Clara, it's not a good idea, remember last summer-"
Clara gave Percy a glare that made me shiver. "I. Can. Handle. It."
I closed my eyes like she had suggested. I didn't really like the feeling of traveling on something this hot, fast, and bright.
We landed within a few minutes. This town was even worse than Cloudcroft, it had a taco shop that looked like it had been closed for at least ten years. There was a road, and not much else. In the distance, there was a giant junkyard.
A sports car pulled up, and I knew it was probably a god. There would be nobody else here. I felt intense anger at the man who stepped out, and I tried to identify who he was based on Nico's Mythomagic figurines and cards.
"Ares," Percy growled.
I raised my bow and saw the others doing the same with their weapons. "This is a friendly meeting." He snapped his fingers, and our weapons fell at our feet. I felt powerless in the face of Ares.
"Normally, I would be more than happy to take your head for a trophy. But I never behead in front of a lady, it would make me look bad."
"What lady?" Clara snapped, but she looked dazed.
"I doubt she wants to speak with the rest of you. Percy, come."
Thalia and I exchanged a glance, but right then, Clara swooned on top of Zoё. "Go. I'll be fine," Percy muttered.
I ran to Clara and Zoё. "What happened?"
"She just….collapsed."
"Overexerted herself," Thalia supplied. "I've seen it before. Well, sort of."
"What should we do?" I was really worried.
"Um…." She dug around in her bag. "I was recovering from being a tree last time. Gods, I wish Renee were here.
Zoё looked thoughtful. "Clara is a daughter of Apollo. They are the healers. We should check her backpack for a way to contact one of her sisters."
Thalia was actually smiling at Zoё, and it looked weird. "She'll have Will in her address book! He lives in Colorado!"
Zoё scowled. "If it must be a boy, then it must." She sauntered over to the pay phone and Thalia had no choice but to follow her, considering she had Clara's bag. I stayed with Clara, hoping I could keep her from falling in the snow.
Her eyes fluttered. "Hannah was real," she mumbled before passing out again.
I looked over at her. Was that supposed to mean anything?
I didn't know how they could get Clara's friend to come on such short notice, but Thalia and Zoё returned looking triumphant. "He told his stepdad it was an emergency. He's going to fly him out in his helicopter."
"Perfect." We sat at a small picnic table and waited. Percy came over a few minutes later, looking irate.
"I imagine we have a good five minutes before Ares blasts us somewhere," Percy said grimly.
"What did you do?" Zoё asked cautiously.
"He has a longstanding feud with Ares," Thalia explained. "Clara's unconscious, and we're waiting for Will. We called him, his stepdad's bringing him in a helicopter."
"I hope it's not black." He took off his coat. "I bet we're headed for the graveyard. Here, double her up with this. Did she say anything?"
"She said, 'Hannah was real' before passing out again."
"This isn't good. Not as bad as last time, but she hasn't ever mentioned Hannah. We should go." It was getting light again.
"Where?"
"The graveyard before Ares blasts us there. Aphrodite warned us not to take anything."
"We'll follow you, but I need someone to help me with Clara."
"I'll hold her," Thalia promised. "Just go."
I gave her to Thalia and ran forward with Percy and Zoё. Something stopped me in my tracks. "That's a Hunter's bow!"
"Don't touch it!" Zoё hissed. "This is the junkyard of the gods."
"Junk?" I looked out at a tiara. "Some of this looks like real gold."
"It is," Thalia said, panting from Clara's dead weight as she caught up to us. "Everything is here for a reason, it's all broken or dangerous or defunct."
I looked around. "We need to get out of here," Percy muttered, looking at Clara, and then at a metal statue of….toes.
"Who….?" There were so many ways I could have finished that, but I just let the word hang in the air. There was no explanation needed.
I glanced down and saw something even more surprising than the Hunter bow. The one Mythomagic piece Nico didn't have! I squinted at it, trying to figure it out. Then, I slipped it into my pocket and ran to catch up with the others. We had almost made it out, and there was a red helicopter scanning the sky. I knew it must be Clara's friend Will.
There was a crash, and the toes were moving. I held the Mythomagic figurine closer to me. "Scatter!" Zoё called.
We ran, Percy in my direction. "It's Talos," Thalia called, struggling under the weight of Clara's still-unconscious body.
"Who?"
"He's one of Hephaestus' creations, but he's much too small….maybe a model?"
"Something was taken," Zoё whisper-shouted. "Bianca, did you take that Hunter's bow.
I shook my head vehemently. I would make sure we all got out of here alive, including the little figurine. I absolutely had to give it to Nico. And Clara….she would likely die if we couldn't get her to Will and give her more ambrosia.
Everyone was fighting Talos, and someone was even shooting arrows from the red helicopter above us, but nothing seemed to work.
Percy stared at me, and I guess I had looked guilty or something. "Bianca, you took something."
I just blinked at him.
"That Hunter's bow."
"I already said I don't have it. And anyway, it's too late." I grabbed Percy's hand and pulled him directly out of the way of the robot's foot.
"Thanks. Too late? Bianca, whatever you took, throw it down!"
I didn't want to part with the figurine, but I knew we had no choice. I threw it down, and as I did I realized who the god was. Hades. He looked like Nico, just looking at it, and that's when I knew: I was a daughter of darkness, of the worst god imaginable. And I knew what I had to do.
"I need to find a way to get inside him!" I gasped to Percy
"That's insane! There's no way-"
"Help me," I pleaded. "And if I don't return, bring this to my brother for me."
"I should do it."
"No. I got us into this mess. I'll be the one to bring us out." I looked across the field. "Zoё, get it to raise its foot!"
Reluctantly, Percy helped me distract the robot. "Hey Junk Boy! Over here!"
The monster turned, about to crush Percy, and I jumped inside. I scrambled up the wires, going for the head or the arms; wherever the control mechanisms were. From as high as I was, I saw a golden body on the ground. Thalia had had to drop Clara in the fight, and Talos was headed right toward her.
I worked faster. I pulled a knob, and it jerked a leg. Another one; other leg. But I was losing control quickly. I curled the monster's hand into a fist and punched the metal in the face. I saw Percy cheering and Zoё running to help Thalia with Clara.
I hit myself in the face again, but I was having trouble. The monster would crash down on me soon, I realized. I was headed for the power lines, and there was nothing I could do. I had lost almost all control. I guess it was time to meet my father.
Omniscient POV
Zoё and Thalia carried Clara, Percy not far behind them. They ran to a clearing, and the red helicopter was following them. Zoё sat down on a fallen tree. "She's gone."
Percy grimaced. "Maybe…."
"She's gone, Percy Jackson! This was exactly how it was supposed to happen!"
"W-what?"
Clara sat bolt upright. "One shall be lost in the land without rain," she whispered.
Will Solace hopped out of the helicopter, running toward his sister. He was worried; if this was anything like the last time…could his older sister, his Miss Sunshine even finish her quest? Or would Will have to take her back to his place in Colorado?
"It's all my fault," Clara moaned, and Will felt queasy. He sprinted towards his sister, wishing he had her sunbeam powers.
A/N: Welcome to another episode of Celia-doesn't-know-what-she's-doing-land! I really just had to put this in Bianca's point of view because I was just bored of this part of Titan's Curse and I wanted to to a subtle time skip. I just want to get back to Hogwarts honestly, but I know I have to finish this since I've basically created the whole scene differently than it happened at all in the book. So I'm sorry if this chapter kind of sucked.
More Clara and actually interesting stuff where I sort of know what I'm doing to come, but I start school in two days, so I don't know how much more I can easily do.
~Celia
