Bianca had come to tolerate camp, but she was still relieved when summer ended and she didn't have to be here anymore. She had been counting down the days until she could leave, and was relieved when Luke finally showed up on the last day of camp.
Bianca had already packed up all of her and Nico's belongings, because she wanted to leave as soon as possible. She knew they couldn't leave right away. As soon as they were ready to go though Bianca was prepared.
"I guess I don't have to ask if you're considering staying at camp year round." Luke commented as he watched Bianca rearrange hers and Nico's bags. In the past, such as when they had first moved to America, they had kept their belongings in the same bags. Bianca would pack Nico's clothes in her bag, because he didn't know how to fold his clothes properly and he was always digging them out so he could get to his games and other personal belongings, only to try to shove everything sloppily back. He had wrinkled and lost a lot of his clothes because of this.
This time though, Bianca packed their belongings completely separately. She had an idea, a thought that had been going through her head these past few days, and if she followed through with it they would need their things to be kept separate.
Bianca had spent two weeks being told that Camp Half-Blood was a safe, fun place for demigods, but she still didn't feel completely comfortable here. Everything felt just a little bit off. Bianca had never felt like she completely fit in at schools, but she felt better there than she did here. Bianca thought that she wanted to take up Luke's offer to stay with him and go to school.
Nico, on the other hand, was starting to thrive at camp. He was a natural swordfighter, and he was ecstatic about the Greek mythology and culture in the camp. Nico had made more friends in two weeks than he had in nine years. He was happy here, and there were people here who wanted to keep him safe, not just keep others safe from him.
Bianca was sure that her brother would do well at camp. A few weeks ago she would have recognized that and decided to push away her own feelings about camp so they could both stay here. She wouldn't have even considered the possibility of leaving her brother anywhere, not when he was her responsibility. Now though things were different.
Percy, Travis, and Connor had all told her to think more about herself. They said that it was okay to be selfish sometimes. They encouraged her to not make sacrifices for her brother's sake, and Bianca thought that she finally agreed.
If she forced Nico to go to school with her, he could be miserable or even in danger. If she stayed at camp with him she would be the miserable one, and she might start to resent her brother because of it, even though it had been her choice.
Bianca didn't want to hate Nico. He was the most important person in her life, even if he did get on her nerves sometimes. She didn't want to lose him, and the best way she knew to prevent that from happening was to let him go.
Bianca sighed and put Nico's bag on their shared bed. Although, if her conversation with Nico went right, it would just be his bed.
"As great as camp is, it's not for me." Bianca said.
Luke hummed and sat on the bed. He gestured for her to join him. Bianca stayed right where she was. She didn't like to sit close to people, especially with the intention to talk about feelings. She could tolerate it if it was her mom, or her brother. She had made an exception for Percy, just because she'd been extremely vulnerable that night.
Luke didn't seem to mind that Bianca kept her distance. "Anything in particular you don't like about camp? I know that I prefered it during the off-season, when camp wasn't nearly as crowded and I could properly connect with everybody."
"It all just feels like a big game." Bianca said. "We're told that we need to learn how to protect ourselves, but it feels like everyone's more concerned about showing off." Bianca grimaced and crossed her arms. "Especially the guys."
A spark came to Luke's eyes. "Not a big fan of boys?"
Bianca shook her head. "Not as much as Nico." Her eyes widened slightly as she realized what she had just said. For a moment she had felt like she was talking to Percy, and she'd let her guard down. Fortunately, Luke didn't seem to notice the implication of what she had said. If he did, he didn't say anything about it.
"In that case, I might know of a great place for you." Luke said. His eyes took on an almost sad look. Something was bothering him. Bianca was curious about it, but she didn't ask. It was Luke's business. "They're called the Hunters of Artemis. They're stricter than camp is, and it's probably more dangerous, but only girls are allowed to join. They're a very tight knight group. I might have a brochure about it, but it would be back at the apartment."
Bianca frowned. She'd never heard of the Hunters of Artemis, but she was somewhat familiar with the goddess Artemis, patron of maidens and fairly against men in general. Perhaps this was a group to look into. "If it's just a girl thing why do you have a brochure?"
That sad look in his eyes got stronger. "An old friend of mine was thinking about joining. She refused the offer, but she died before we got to camp. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if she had joined the hunters."
"I-I'm sorry." Bianca said. Death was never fun to deal with, and it always left people wondering what they should have done differently.
"Eh, it's okay." Luke said. "It was years ago." Bianca knew that time didn't do a lot to make the pain any better. It just made it less raw. Luke's expression fell slightly. "Though if you join the hunters I reserve the right to not be the one to tell Nico."
Bianca felt a pang in his chest. "No, I'll talk to him." Bianca said. Just because she was trying to ease off on her responsibility over Nico didn't mean that she wanted to forget about him completely. He was still her brother. "I've actually been meaning to talk to him about staying at camp year-round. I think it'll do him some good."
Luke grimaced. "Well, if you're going to do that you should probably do it sooner rather than later. It's the last day of camp."
"I know, I know." Bianca sighed. "I'll go look for him."
"You won't have to search very far." Luke said. "I saw him in the arena with Percy. They're trying to find a sword that works for him."
A month ago just the thought of Nico even looking at a sword would have terrified her. Now though it was almost a comfort that he was trying to find a weapon that he could use easily. Her life had definitely changed for the weird these past few weeks.
Bianca followed Luke out of the cabin and towards the arena. Most of the campers were running around and packing things up at the last minute. Everybody was so busy that when they got to the arena it was actually empty save for the two boys.
"There are a lot of things that make swords unique." Percy said. "Weight, size, shape. It's going to be really hard to find a sword that feels just right for you, because everybody needs different things. Some people like heavier swords, some people like shorter ones. What we're going to want to do is find the shape that feels most right for you, and then we can go from there."
Nico nodded eagerly, taking in Percy's every word. Bianca rolled her eyes. She could tell that Percy was trying to sound more professional than he normally would. He knew that Nico looked up to him, and he seemed to be lapping it up.
Luke snorted. "And here I thought that I had gotten used to twelve-year olds acting like they know everything. It never stops being adorable."
Bianca crossed her arms. "That's not exactly the word I would use for it." Annoying was what came to her mind. Still, at least Nico was learning something, and Bianca couldn't exactly complain about that.
Nico frowned to himself as he picked up a sword that seemed to have a similar style to Percy's, though Bianca didn't know for sure. All these swords looked the same to her.
Nico swung the sword and frowned slightly. "I like the handle and curve, but it's too short."
"Well, you're a short kid." Bianca said. Nico jumped and turned towards her with alarm before he pouted.
"I'll get taller." Nico said.
"Not for a few years," Bianca said.
"Well, we can't just wait a few years to give him a sword." Percy pointed out. "Nico's right. He'll need a sword he can grow into."
Luke approached them and took the sword from Nico. He switched it from one hand to the other. "The kopis is a bit on the shorter side. If you like the style though, you might like the falcata. It's similar in many ways, but longer."
Nico brightened. "That sounds cool."
"I don't think the armory has any falcata swords to spare," Luke said. "But I'm sure that Beckendorf could figure something out. He can make a weapon just for you."
"Does it have to be made from the same stuff as these swords?" Nico nudged the blades with his foot. "I don't like the feel of them. They feel, well-" Nico trailed off and scrunched up his face as he tried to find the right word. "Dead. They're soulless."
Luke coughed and tried to cover a laugh. "You want a sword with more soul?"
"Yes...no…" Nico grimaced. "I don't know."
Luke sighed. "Alright, I'm not sure what you mean about soul in your sword, but if celestial bronze doesn't feel right for you, well, it's not the only option."
"It's not?" Percy frowned slightly.
"For most people it is." Luke said. "But I think there's another option for you, kid. It'll take some time to arrange though, so for now why don't you practice with a kopis?" Luke handed the sword back to Nico, who reluctantly accepted it. "You'll have plenty of time to get used to the sword."
Nico tilted his head. "What do you mean? I thought we were leaving camp." Luke gave Bianca a meaningful look and she took a deep breath. This was it.
"Nico," Bianca walked towards her brother. "I need to talk to you."
This wasn't fair. Nico didn't want to believe it. He hoped that this was one of the times where something seemed so obvious to him, but the person talking to him actually meant something completely different. Except that never happened with Bianca. She always meant exactly what she said. There was no misinterpreting this.
"You-you're leaving me?" Nico said weakly. He took a step back from Bianca, who was giving him an apologetic look. She looked sorry, but she was still abandoning him, so how sorry could she be?
"It's what's best for both of us." Bianca said. She reached towards Nico, who growled slightly and drew away from her. He knew he was acting like a little kid, but he didn't care. He didn't want his sister to leave him. Their dad had left. Their mom was gone. Bianca was the only person he had left.
"How is being alone what's best for me?" Nico asked.
Bianca sighed. "I know this doesn't seem fair, and you don't understand, but-"
"Stop talking like you're mom!" Nico shouted. He remembered their mom giving Bianca a very similar lecture when they left Italy, but this wasn't the same thing. At least when they'd come to America they'd had each other. Nico wouldn't have that if Bianca left him.
Bianca furrowed her brow. She was starting to get impatient. "Would you just listen to me? You know as much as I do that you'll like camp more than going to school."
Maybe she was right, as Nico had come to like camp, but that was just because he had friends here. Those friends were going to be leaving, same as Bianca. He'd be all alone.
"But why do you have to go to school?" Nico asked. "You can stay here at camp and-"
"I can't take care of you for the rest of my life!" Bianca shouted. Nico felt his insides freeze. She'd never used that tone for him. She saved that tone for people that she was really mad at, the people that she maybe didn't like so much. Bianca lost her patience with Nico frequently, but never quite like this.
Nico narrowed his eyes at his sister. He crossed his arms and tried to make himself look more intimidating, even though he knew he wouldn't do very good at it. "I never asked you to take care of me." All Nico had ever wanted from Bianca was for her to be his sister, his friend, but at times like this she acted like he was asking her to be a substitute mom or a babysitter.
"I'm your big sister. It's my job to take care of you." Bianca said. She'd said something incredibly similar to this before, and he'd always found comfort from it. He thought it was her way of saying that she'd never leave him, because they were family, and always would be. Now though it sounded like she had only kept an eye on him because she felt obligated to.
Nico didn't want to be anybody else's chore.
"Well, you're fired." Nico said. Bianca paled and looked like she'd just been hit.
"Nico," Bianca reached for him, but Nico pushed her away.
"No!" Nico screamed. He felt the ground shake a little, though it might have just been his own legs. "I don't want to be your burden."
"You're not." Bianca said desperately, but Nico didn't believe her. Everything she'd said told him otherwise. He wasn't going to listen to Bianca and give her another chance if she was just going to hate her even more than she already did.
"Just leave." Nico hugged his arms to his chest. Bianca didn't move, and Nico didn't know why. She wanted to go, he was telling her that was okay, so why was she still here?
Well, if Bianca wouldn't leave then Nico would instead. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and tried to push back the tears that really wanted to fall. He refused to cry. He knew how awkward Bianca got when she saw his tears.
She was so protective, and she hated not knowing how to protect him from his own feelings.
Nico turned and ran away from Bianca, ignoring the way that she was calling out to him. He didn't want to listen to her anymore. As much as he didn't want to be alone, he also didn't want to be around anybody right now. He hated when his feelings conflicted like this.
Nico didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to get away from his sister. Bianca didn't like to be around other people, so Nico instinctively ran somewhere that always had a lot of people when they'd been there, though it was empty now.
Nico ran to the amphitheater, which was abandoned. Even the firepit, which usually flared with a massive fire, was empty. Nico ran up the seats that doubled as stairs. Being careful was the last thing on his mind, so midway up he tripped over his own feet and scrapped his hands against the stone as he tried to catch himself.
Nico barely noticed the sting. He scrambled back to his feet and ran to the top of the seats. He then moved along the seats to find the one place in the amphitheater that had shade. Nico crouched in the shade and pulled his legs close to his chest. Only then did everything catch up to him.
Nico whimpered and buried his head in his legs. Now that he wasn't putting energy into running he felt too exhausted to hold back the tears anymore. He started crying, and once he started he couldn't stop. His head hurt. His chest hurt. His hands were stinging, and none of this was fair.
Nico just wanted to go home, and he didn't even know what that meant. Did he want to go back to Italy? Did he want his mom? Did he want to go running back to Bianca and let her protect him from the world? Did he want his dad who he had never met to show up and tell him that everything would be okay? Nico didn't even know. He just knew that whatever he wanted, it definitely wasn't this.