CHAPTER SUMMARY

Hades makes his big announcement with less-than-thrilling results.

BEGINNING NOTES

Word Count: 2975
Content Warning: None

I'm baaaaaack! I would reread the first chapter in case you forgot it, but if you don't want to, the only change that I made is Percy isn't Bianca's cousin. She knows him now because Sally is the di Angelo's private chef.

Formatting note: during the text conversations, not-bold is Bianca and bold is whoever she's talking to.

And all the characters are owned by Rick Riordan.

Credits at the end.

I should talk about Persephone.

So, like I said before, my family is super, super wealthy. We live in an affluent neighborhood with a bunch of other millionaires. I mentioned two of them already: Piper McLean, Jason's crush. Her parents are Tristan McLean, the famous actor-the the King of Sparta guy-and Aphrodite McLean, the model. Jason also lives nearby-his father's Jupiter Grace, the owner of Zeus Airlines.

Would you like to describe everyone on our street, B?

How many times do I have to tell you to shut up?

Persephone Levesque and her mother Demeter run Levesque Gardening Services. They're, you guessed it, gardeners, and they do our entire street. Demeter's a grouchy old lady-I never talk to her-but Persephone's awesome. She always waves to me on my way back from school, usually gives me fruit from her orchard at home. When I was younger, I babysat her adopted daughter Hazel while she was busy trimming hedges and whatnot. By the time of The Announcement™, Hazel was a freshman and would help with the gardening as well. They didn't look like they had much money, but they seemed happy anyway.

Papà didn't tell us when they started going out. He was always nice to her, don't get me wrong, and they would talk sometimes, but it was more of a friendly employer-employee relationship. It just never crossed my mind that he'd be with anyone but Mamma.

So, flash forward to last August. It's the last day of summer, a week after my eighteenth birthday. I'm heading into senior year and Nico, sixteen years old, is heading into junior year. I've spent the last two months juggling an internship with D.O.A.'s business sector, an online class in marketing, summer practices at the archery range, and keeping the plates spinning at home. Nico, meanwhile, is spending his days vandalizing property and smoking pot in his room.

It was around six o'clock. I was helping Sally make dinner when Thanatos Mors came into the room. He's the C.O.O. at D.O.A. Recording Studios.

"There you are, Bianca," he said.

I looked up from the vegetables I was chopping. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Bianca!" Sally scolded.

Thanatos smiled, amused. "I doubt she meant it like that. I was meeting with your father."

"He's home?" I asked. He never stayed home from work, ever, unless he was sick enough that I forced him to.

"He wants to speak to you and your brother immediately," Thanatos said. "He's in his office."

"Go on," Sally said. "I'll finish without you."

I made my way to Papà's office. It's a big room with wood panel walls, thick carpets, and a diamond chandelier on the ceiling. Papà's desk is on an elevated platform, so he literally looks down on anyone that walks in. He's like a king on a throne behind that desk. It's supposed to be intimidating, and it is... to anyone but me. Papà talks a big game, but he's harmless deep down.

"Where's Nico?" Papà asked.

"I thought he'd already be here," I said.

"When was the last time he listened to anything I say?" Papà muttered.

I sighed and said I'd call him.

I pulled up my favorites on my phone and hit THE GHOST KING. The phone rang three times before he answered it. "What do you need?" Nico asked, his voice gravelly for some unknown reason.

"You know exactly what I need," I chided him. "Get your butt down here right now."

I could hear Nico rustling on the other side of the phone. "I'm busy," he said.

"Whatever you're doing, it can wait," I told him.

"I don't want to fucking talk to him. Leave me alone," Nico snapped.

I covered my phone with my hand. "I'm going outside for a sec, okay?"

Papà waved me away. I went into the hall and shut the office door, then continued in a low voice, "Nico, the sooner you come downstairs, the sooner it'll be over."

"But if I don't come downstairs it's over now," he replied.

I grit my teeth, but I knew to keep my cool. "For me. Please. Or I'll tell Sally no dinner for you."

There was silence on the other end. I knew I got him. If there was one thing he loved, it was Sally's cooking.

She puts crack in her chicken I swear.

Honestly, that wouldn't surprise me.

I smiled triumphantly as I hit the end call button on my phone. I ran to the back stairs in time to meet Nico thundering his way down.

"You smell like smoke," I noticed. Nico shrugged. "I thought you said you quit?" He shrugged again. "Dad's gonna kill you."

"See if I care."

"Come here."

I pulled him into the guest bathroom and gave him some mouthwash. While he rinsed out his mouth, I sprayed some perfume to get rid of the smell of cigarettes. He coughed, dribbling some mouthwash down his chin. "That smells like ass," he said.

I threw him a towel to wipe his face. "Tough. I don't want an argument tonight, but this is the last time I'm covering for you. I'll buy you Nicorette if that's what it takes to wean you off, but no more smoking."

"You let me smoke pot," Nico huffed. "What's the difference?"

"Pot won't give you cancer," I answered. "Besides, I don't like pot either. Go change your clothes and meet me in Papà's office. If you're not down in two minutes, I'll drag you there myself."

"He's on his way," I announced when I walked back into the office.

Papà said, "Thank you, Bianca," and I swear he almost smiled.

Nico sulked in after a few minutes.

That's not how you use that word.

Well, that's the way you were walking. You stomped in with that pouty look on your face and dive-bombed onto the couch with your arms crossed. How else would you describe that?

...fine.

"I want to talk to you two," Papà began. His voice was cold in an authoritative sort of way. He usually sounded like that.

"I thought you wanted to sit here and stare at us," Nico muttered.

Papà's eyes flashed. I glanced at him with one word in my eyes: 'don't.'

Papà cleared his throat. "Thank you, Nico. As I was saying... you two know Persephone Levesque."

Nico snorted. "What, is she not chopping the hedges right? Is that what's so important?"

"Nico," I warned under my breath. He rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else to piss Papà off, which was all I could really expect.

"She won't be chopping our hedges anymore," Papà said. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Is he nervous? I thought.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. "Is she all right?"

He forced himself to smile. "She's all right. She's... she's better than all right. Bianca, Nico... I've asked her to marry me."

You could've heard a pin drop. Nico and I sat there and stared at him. Nico was pale; his mouth was hanging open. I doubt I looked much better.

"I know it's a shock," Papà continued, "but neither of us wanted to say anything to anyone until we were sure. We've... discussed things, and decided it's best to proceed in this way."

"Please tell me Demeter's not moving in with us," I blurted out.

Papà's lips curled into a small smile. "I wouldn't wish Demeter on anyone, even Jupiter and Poseidon."

I'll get to them later.

Oh, really? No long aside about a random detail? Who are you and what have you done to my sister?

I'm going to ignore that.

I did something between a nervous laugh and a gasp. Papà's smile faltered. "Persephone and Hazel are going to move in with us. Our marriage affects you children, and we both want you two and Hazel to be comfortable with it. We'll take things slow, make sure everything works out." He folded his hands on his desk. "Understand, this is your decision too. If Persephone can't get along with my children, she has no place in my home."

"I don't want another mother," Nico growled.

Papà started to shake slightly. "Nico, she isn't meant to replace your mother."

"Then why are you doing this?!" Nico shouted. "I can't believe you'd do this to Mamma!"

Papà's eyes flashed with anger. "Your mother-"

"No!" Nico screamed. "How dare you! How could you?! I can't even look at you!"

"Nico!"

"I HATE HER! AND I HATE YOU!" Nico shot up and ran out of the room, tears in his eyes.

Papà stood. "Nico!" he shouted.

I stood too, stoic. "I need to go."

I left without another word. I collapsed halfway up the stairs and burst into tears. I couldn't think, I couldn't move. I didn't know what to think or say or do. Things were never as good as when Mamma was alive, but in the years since the plane crash, we'd come to some kind of normal. I promised Mamma I'd bring the family together, and, while I hadn't, I'd tried, I'd worked so hard, and, at the very least, I'd held us all together. But how could we get past this?

I woke up in my bed to someone adjusting the pillows below my head.

"Papà?" I croaked.

"I came in to check on you, and you weren't in your bed," he said. "I found you asleep on the stairs."

"Why would you check on me?" I asked.

Papà took my hand. "I do it more than you think." He laughed to himself. "I shouldn't, I know, you aren't children anymore." His hand shook. I turned on the lamp and saw that he was crying. I hadn't seen him cry since I woke up from the coma.

I sat up. "Papà..." I whispered. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close. I pushed down the lump in my throat. Papà was never weak. I had to be strong for him.

"I still have nightmares," he admitted. "I see you and Nico in that plane, I hear the doctor tell me you'd died, I find out Nico-" he stopped himself, or maybe he just couldn't go on through his tears. "I need to see you sometimes, honey, I need to see you're still breathing."

"I'm here," I said, "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

"Do you know how afraid I am?" he asked. "Do you know how much I love you? I wish your mother never died, but she did, and I have to go on. But I can't go on without you." He pulled away, looked me in the eye, and cupped my cheek. "Bianca, you and Nico, your happiness, it means more to me than anything in this world. Persephone and I knew this might happen, and it's okay. I'll tell her in the morning things didn't work out."

He... he really said that?

Yeah, Nico, he really did. He was going to break up with her for us. I was so shocked I didn't know what to say. I grabbed him, and I pulled back into the hug. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" I asked. I hadn't done that since I was twelve.

"Of course," he said. He picked me up and carried me to his room. I fell asleep in his arms.

I woke up to his alarm blaring at six in the morning. I sat up and turned it off. Papà smiled apologetically. "Early meeting today. At your school, in fact; we're organizing a scholarship and I have a stake in it. How are you?"

"Better," I said. "And that's awesome of you. It's fine you woke me up, I have school today, remember? Jules-Albert would have to leave at 6:45 anyway for us to get in on time." Jules-Albert is our personal chauffeur.

Papà honest-to-god grinned at me. "Good. Which tie should I wear?"

I laughed and flung myself out of bed. I ran into his closet and picked out a suit and tie and laid it in the bathroom. I half-watched a rerun of The Wonder Years as he showered, scrolling through some texts on my phone. Thalia'd texted me last night, complaining about her boyfriend, Luke. They lived together in the slums. Luke was constantly in and out of jail for stealing things and keying cars. I'd said for years that she should dump the loser, but she always insisted things weren't as bad as they seemed. I texted her back:

DAT PINE TREE DOH

What did he do this time?

Some stupid graffiti.

They took him to the station over that?

There was profanity or some shit, I have no idea. You know the cops hate him anyway, they'd arrest him over a can of beer. I have to bail him out as soon as I get dressed.

Do you need to borrow cash?

Nah, I've got some in a jar marked "my idiot boyfriend." I'll see you at school.

I x-d out of the conversation and pulled up Nico's recent messages.

THE GHOST KING

Wake up, brother dearest.

Go to hell.

If you aren't downstairs in twenty I'm coming in with a bucket of cold water.

I hate my life.

Tell that to the starving orphans in Africa.

And now I feel like crap. Thanks for that!

My phone buzzed. It was Jason, sending me a picture of himself.

GOLDEN BOY

Do I look OK?

You look fine. What's the occasion?

Piper's in AP Lit with me. We're discussing Romeo and Juliet. Fucking Romeo and Juliet!

Good. Ask her out.

(...)

Ask her out, Jason. It's the most romantic play of all time.

It's about two idiot kids who know each other for like two days and multiple people die.

Good, that can be your pick-up line. "Hey, Pipes, do you want to do better than Romliet? Great, pick you up at six."

I gotta go.

Course you do.

SEAWEED BRAIN

Piper's in your first period, right?

Yeah.

Can you get, like, written proof that she likes Jason so he'll stop freaking out?

JASON LIKES PIPER?

HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THIS HE WAS AT HER HOUSE EVERY DAY THIS SUMMER

I WAS IN MONTAUK REMEMBER
OMG OMG OMG
FUCK FUCK FUCK
YES I WILL DO THAT
OMG THEY'RE GONNA BE SO CUTE

WISE GIRL

Annabeth, text your boyfriend, I think he's having a heart attack.

SEAWEED BRAIN

MY BRO HAS A CRUSH OMG
HOW DID NOBODY TELL ME THIS

BEAUTY QUEEN

Wanna walk to school together?

Sure, I'll meet you at the stop sign at 6:30.

Cool. Is Nico gonna come with us?

He'll probably take the limo.
If he even goes to school.

GOLDEN BOY

Piper and I are walking to school together. We'll be in the caf around 6:45. Think of something to say, OK?

You're my savior and I love you.

COMMANDER TOOL BELT

Jason and Piper are meeting up this morning. Find him before we get to school and by god give him some balls, please?

I thought it was my job to get golden boy laid?

Yeah, well, you're shit at it so I've gotta take over before Percy does.

Hey! It's not easy! Not everyone is as hot as me.

Just do it before Percy screws it up, okay? I love him but he's clueless.

You got it, chica.

SEAWEED BRAIN

BIANCA WHY ARE YOU NOT SAYING ANYTHING?
Fuck hold on Annabeth's texting me.

WISE GIRL

I'll take care of Seaweed Brain, you get ready for school.

Thank god, I think he's literally crying right now.

Out of happiness or because his brofriend's finally taken?

Probably both.

Grover's on his way to Percy's. He'll take care of it.

LORD OF THE WILD

Thank you for diffusing the Percy bomb.

I'm used to it. Just don't set him off next time.

IT WAS SO NOT MY FAULT

THE ORACLE

Why is Percy asking me for relationship advice?
Is something wrong with him and Annabeth?

Nah, he just found out about Jasiper and ships it hard.

I think he's going to try to set them up.

Oh dear lord no.

SEAWEED BRAIN

I'M TOTALLY GOING TO SET THEM UP
THIS IS GOING TO BE SO CUTE

LORD OF THE WILD

HURRY UP GROVER HE'S GOING CRAZY

Underwood to the rescue in T-minus five minutes. I'm almost there.

Papà emerged from the bathroom in the suit I'd picked out for him. "How do I look?" he asked.

"Your hair's still wet," I said.

He laughed. "It dries quickly."

I put my phone away. It was still buzzing with the current crisis, but I had other things to worry about. Namely, resuming my duties as Papà's P.A.. "Sally made that fruit salad you like for breakfast, and I packed a lunch for you for the office, it's sitting on the dining table."

Papà kissed me on the cheek. "Thank you, Bianca. Have a good day at school."

He had his hand on the doorknob before I got the courage to speak. "Papà?"

"Yes?"

"Does Persephone make you happy?"

"She does. Very much."

"Then- then I'm okay with it. And don't worry about Nico, he'll come around eventually."

Papà turned to face me. "I don't know about that, honey. It's like he's somewhere else. When I look at him, I think he hardly sees me."

"Help Persephone and Hazel move in," I insisted. "I'll take care of Nico." Papà nodded gratefully and walked out the door. I glanced back down at my phone, where my friends were still updating me on the Percy situation.

THE GHOST KING

I'm fucking downstairs where are you?

I smiled as I texted him back. "I'll fix it, Mamma, somehow," I said out loud. "I always do."

END NOTES

Promise I won't miss any other Saturdays... at least, for a while. Join me next week :)

This week's beta commentary:
STORY: Nico, meanwhile, is spending his days vandalizing property and smoking pot in his room.
LUNA: Thats a Big mood
LISSY: Nico is a talented graffiti artist and no one can tell me otherwise
LUNA: Agreed

Credits:
Author: Melody Rose ( .com)
Beta Readers: Jojo (Archive of Our Own bannedfrompencils), Luna Rain (Tumblr peppermintlove1)

Please comment so I know what you think! See you next week!

COMMENTS

AlchemyWriter

Cool, new story.

Thanks!

Fenikkusu94

Cant wait for more. this is an awesome start.

Thank you! I'll do my best not to dissapoint.

The Goode Ravenclaw

I love this so much already! I can't wait for the next chapter!

It's here! One each Saturday!