Sunday, Dec 4th, 2007-Westover Hall, Bar Harbor, Maine, United States of America.
POV: Bianca di Anglo, age: 12, chronological age: 67, Species Demigod
Bianca sits beside a shivering Nico and gently cards her fingers through his messy raven locks while silently casting a wandless warming charm over them both. It's one of the few charms she can do wandlessly and silently despite never having a need for it. Logically she knows Nico isn't affected by the cold. After all, just as she is immune to the cold, so is he, but Nico is shivering in fear and she wants to comfort him where she can.
"Parla con me? Per favore, mio passero." Bianca coos in their mother tongue of Italian meaning "Talk to me? Please, my little sparrow."
"You're leaving me," Nico replies despondently
"And you are leaving me as well," Bianca says pulling her baby brother into her arms. "You may not realize this, little sparrow, but mother and I… We were worried about you when you were much younger. You would hole yourself up in your room for hours on end and weep when you believed you were alone for company." here Bianca tightens her hold on her baby brother and presses a kiss to his dark raven hair. Her baby brother who is so so much older than her in spirit.
"The House-elves came to us distraught every night. They said you would howl and screech in pain and terror when you slept." Bianca says teary-eyed "Your magic would surround you in a dome of silencing charms and protective wards far more advanced than anything Mother had ever seen. Finally, Mother caved and called our Father." Here Binaca begins crying in earnest "You tried so hard to protect us, my little sparrow. But everyone needs an outlet for their fears. Father found you would write fascinating and horrific stories about Gods and demigods set many decades into the future. Even years from today. You had sketches and paintings each breathtaking but haunting imagery accompanying a page from your nightmares. They're not mere nightmares are they my little sparrow?"
"No." Nico chokes out. "If you have-If you have read my journal why did you agree to join the hunters?" Nico asks aghast.
"From the ending of your story, we could only gather that you meant for things to change, yes?" Bianca asks wiping her eyes.
"That's why we went back yes." Nico readily agrees. "But you still joined the hunters Bia." Nico sobs burying his face in her new white leather jacket.
"Father said that some things must remain the same, my little sparrow. You should know this if the recount of your conversation with the Norns and the Fates was told truthfully." Bianca says lifting Nico's head and wiping her baby brother's tears away. "Since learning of the Gods I have wanted to join Lady Artemis and her Hunters. I know how I died in your past, now I must only avoid that death and many others." Bianca says standing and pulling Nico up with her. "Know this my sparrow, we may fight and disagree but I will never willingly abandon you. Do you understand?"
"Yes. I love you Bia." Nico says teary-eyed and sniffling looking nothing like the 87 God in disguise she knows him to be. Her brother more resembles a sad puppy or kitten in his current form.
"I love you too Niccolò. Now come. I wish to meet this God who took the title of master of Death and stole my baby brother's heart from him." Bianca says leading the way to Lady Artemis.
"I'm not a baby anymore, Bianca!" Nico insists indignantly.
"Oh?" Binaca teases "Are you certain?"
"Yes!" Nico insists hotly "As you good and well know I'm-"
"Don't look," Lady Artemis is advising the demigod-boy, Percy Jackson, who first stole then broke Nico's heart in a future that will hopefully never come to pass. "Not until he parks."
'Parks? What-' Abruptly remembering who we are waiting on Bianca quickly moves to shield Nico with her body and closes her eyes. The light and warmth intensified until it feels as though her skin will melt off. Then suddenly the light dies out. In front of everyone is a red sports car so modern it is foreign. From her time at the Locust Hotel Bianca recognizes it as a convertible of some kind. The car is so physically hot the red metal glows and the knee-deep snow has melted around the car in a perfect circle. Thankfully no one was hurt but we are all now standing on damp green grass and Bianca can see both her and Nico's black military boots are wet. The driver, a tall dirty blond gets out, smiling playfully. He looks about seventeen or eighteen, reminding Bianca yet again that Gods can appear to be any age. He wears jeans, brown loafers, and a sleeveless white T-shirt.
"Wow," Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot."
"He's the sun god," Percy responded confused.
"That's not what I meant," Thalia said with an eye roll.
"Little sister!" Lord Apollo cheered smiling widely and rushing over to Lady Artemis. If his teeth were any whiter he could've blinded us without the sun car. "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!"
Lady Artemis sighed as Lord Apollo checked her over. "I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your little sister." she declared while shoving Lord Apollo off her.
"Hey, I was born first." Lord Apollo argues with a glare and a wicked gleam in his golden eyes.
"We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue-"
"So what's up?" he interrupted. "Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?"
Lady Artemis grit her teeth. "I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."
"Sure, sis!" Then he raised his hands in a stop everything gesture. "I feel a haiku coming on." The Hunters aside from Bianca collectively groaned. Apparently they've met Lord Apollo before. So far he is nothing like Bianca expected a God to be. Her father, King Hades, is far more regal, caring, and intimidating than Lord Apollo seems to be. Then Lord Apollo cleared his throat and held up one hand dramatically and her opinion of the God fell even lower.
"Green grass breaks through snow.
Artemis pleads for my help.
I am so cool."
He grinned at us, waiting for applause. "That last line was only four syllables," Lady Artemis deadpanned in the suffocating silence.
Lord Apollo frowned dramatically yet with a tint of real disappointment. "Was it?"
"Yes. What about 'I am so big-headed'?" Lady Artemis snarked causing Bianca to forcibly withhold a snicker at the familiar banter.
"No, no, that's six syllables. Hmm." Lord Apolo responds before starting to mutter to himself while Bianca began to her pray to her absent father for aid.
Bianca absentmindedly made a note of the growing shadows above them but paid them no mind choosing instead to focus on her fellow Hunter of Lady Artemis and superior Zoë Nightshade as she turned to face her and Nico. "Lord Apollo has been going through this haiku phase ever since he visited Japan. 'Tis not as bad as the time he visited Limerick. If I'd had to hear one more poem that started with, 'There once was a goddess from Sparta-'"
"I've got it!" Lord Apollo announced interrupting Zoë Nightshade. "I am so awesome. That's five syllables!" He bowed, looking very pleased with himself. Right at that moment a boy no older than Nico fell from the shadows gathered in the trees above them. Everyone froze and turned toward the intruder in shock, confusion and a small amount of fear. The boy has jet black hair, pale olive skin, and green heterochromia eyes. His left eye is neon green and his right is emerald green. He's dressed eerily similar to Nico in all black with the exception of his forest green shirt and the red buttons on his jacket.
"Ow!" the random necromancer-boy cried clutching his elbow which is bleeding gold blood. A three-headed hellhound followed through the shadowed doorway landing gracefully on all fours. Everyone remained frozen as the hellhound assessed them before moving on to nose the strange boy. "I'm okay Nero." The necromancer-boy assured his unusual familiar while ruffling the giant three-headed hellhound's fur. "I must have taken a wrong turn." the necromancer-boy then seemed to notice everyone gathered and staring at him in shock. "Oh, hello." he greeted hand still resting in his familiar's thick black fur.
"Hello." Lady Artemis greets looking to the boy confused and curious. "I am Lady Artemis, daughter of the God King Zeus of Olympus and the Titaness Lady Leto of Mount Othrys. Who are you? I have not seen you on Olympus yet you are very clearly the child of two Gods."
"Oh! That's likely because I was born a demigod despite my Godly parentage." The necromancer-boy says blushing embarrassed before gathering control over himself and standing only to give a respectful bow. "I'm The Master of Lady Death, Prince Hadrian Frey Pervrell, Son and Heir of Lady Hecate of Olympus and Prince Loki of Asgard. It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Lady Artemis." Bianca's eyes widen and she looks to Nico whos just smiling happily at the boy which is all the answer she needs to know that this is the boy that has her little brother smitten. It is so hard to make her little brother smile and this boy has done so with his presence alone.
Sunday, Dec 3, 2007-Westover Hall, Bar Harbor, Maine, United States of America.
POV: Nico di Anglo, age: 10, chronological age: 86, Species Demigod
Nico steadfast ignored Bianca's knowing look and forcefully kept the blush off his face. Adrian is dressed similar to him in a black leather jacket with fur lining paired with black jeans and black military boots. The only difference seems to be Adrain chose to wear a green shirt underneath whereas Nico has on a black shirt. Which given that Adrain took to stealing his clothes and throwing out his own before they even started dating it isn't all that surprising. At least this time around he won't have to buy a double wardrobe. Hopefully. Buying clothes that are meant to be for two people can be fun but it's mostly annoying.
"Oh, you're Hecate's firstborn?" Lord Apollo asks walking closer and giving the 10-year-old a once over while paying the giant hellhound puppy no mind. "Definitely look like her. Of course, she's a shapeshifter like your Dad so who knows who you look like more."
"I'm told I have my Dad's hair and my Mum's eyes," Adrain says lighting up and smiling proudly causing Nico's heart to fluctuate and his cheeks to light up despite his best efforts. "but Mum doesn't have heterochromia, Dad does. Mum's eyes are just neon green. I share my parent's natural hair color."
"Makes sense. Your birth had all of Olympus in an uproar a few years back. There was rioting and good old fashioned brawling." Lord Apollo says with a fond smile stopping to ruffle the hellhound's fur and Adrian's hair. "It was glorious."
"Yes, your Mom caused quite a scandal hiding her marriage for so long." Lady Artemis confirms with a sly smirk and a rare approving look in her eyes aimed at Adrain. "The foolish male Gods still don't understand how she could have consummated her marriage and had you without breaking her vows. It is amusing."
"Artemis here is one of your mom's best friends so she has been let in on the secret before any of us." Lord Apollo says throwing an arm over his sister's shoulders. "I hear you're currently helping my son Will earn his healer's license. You're practically family even if you weren't already. Where are you headed? I could give you a lift." Lord Apollo offers.
"Yes, a child like you shouldn't be traveling alone while injured." Lady Artemis confirms drawing Nico's attention back to Adrain's elbow which is still bleeding golden ichor.
"Oh, I woke up to an Iris message that said I have my first Quest! I was trying to shadow travel to camp half-blood on my own to hear about it. My parents gave me a portkey for traveling but I wanted to see if I could make it there myself even if only halfway." Hadrian explains before spotting Nico and blushing. "I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere," Adrain says his eyes lingering on Nico's matching flushed face.
"Well you have wicked timing," Apollo says clapping his hands together. "I was just about ready to give my sister's friends a lift down to camp-half-blood."
"These demigods will also need a ride," Lady Artemis says pointing to us while Hadrian gets up and begins dusting himself off. His new hellhound familiar tries to help but just gets him far more dirty causing Adrian to resort to a wandless cleaning charm. "Some of Chiron's campers." Lady Artemis explains with a dismissive wave to Percy and Thalia.
"No problem!" Lord Apollo said looking to Percy and his friend Thalia. "Let's see… Thalia, right? I've heard all about you."
Thalia blushed brighter than either Nico or Hadrian who were now standing side by side and staring at each other. "Hi, Lord Apollo."
"Zeus's girl, yes? Makes you my half-sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time-"
"Brother," Lady Artemis admonished while Hadrian smiled shyly at an assessing Bianca. "You should get going."
"Oh, right." Lord Apollo quickly agreed before looking at Percy, eyes narrowing. "Percy Jackson?" This seemed to catch Hadrain's attention and Bianca smiled and nodded to Nico with a wink causing his traitorous face to heat up again.
"Yeah. I mean… yes, sir." Lord Apollo studied Percy for a long minute, but he didn't say anything, causing everyone to look around awkwardly.
"Well!" Lord Apollo said at last. "We'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way- west. And if you miss it, you miss it." We all looked at the red convertible skeptical, it would seat two people max. There were at least twenty of us.
"Cool car," Nico said honestly impressed with the model.
"Thanks, kid," Lord Apollo said giving Nico a double-take before looking between him and Adrian with a frown.
"But how will we all fit?" Nico asked with a grin.
"Oh." Lord Apollo seemed to notice the problem for the first time. "Well, yeah. I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose…" He took out his car keys and clicked a button. Which made a 'Chirp, chirp.' sound and caused the car to glow brightly again. When the glare died down, the convertible had been replaced by a red bus. "Right, everybody in." Lord Apollo ordered mock authoritatively.
Sunday, Dec 4th, 2007-Westover Hall, Bar Harbor, Maine, United States of America.
POV: Bianca di Anglo, age: 12, chronological age: 67, Species Demigod
Zoë Nightshade ordered the Hunters to start loading forcing Bianca to leave her brother's side. She picked up her camping pack which was laying next to Zoë Nightshade. Zoë Nightshade is her superior and one of Lady Artemis's right-hand maidans in addition to being assigned to show her the ropes. "Here, sweetheart. Let me get that." Lord Apollo directed at Zoë who recoiled as her eyes flashed murderously.
"Brother," Lady Artemis chided threateningly. "You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do NOT call them sweetheart."
Lord Apollo quickly backed away and spread his hands. "Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to, anyway?"
"Hunting," Lady Artemis said evasively earning a light glare from Lord Apollo. "It's none of your business."
"I'll find out. I see all. Know all."
Lady Artemis snorted. "Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around!"
"No, no! I never mess around."
Lady Artemis rolled her eyes, then looked at us. "I will see you by winter solstice. Zoë, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do."
Zoë straightened. "Yes, my lady."
Lady Artemis knelt and touched the ground as if looking for tracks. When she rose, she looked troubled. "So much danger. The beast must be found." Then she sprinted toward the woods, her auburn hair flying behind her and… vanishing with her as she melted into the snow and shadows.
'Huh, so that's what it looks like from an outside perspective.' Bianca thought to herself with a frown. 'Weird.'
Lord Apollo turned and grinned, jangling the car keys on his finger. "So," he said. "Who wants to drive?" This was apparently the cue for The Hunters to pile into the van. We all crammed into the back so we can be as far away as possible from Apollo as possible. Bianca made sure to get a seat where she could see her little brother, his crush, that Percy Jackson boy and his friend Grover. Thankfully Nico didn't seem to mind. He immediately sat on the same bench as Hadrian in the front.
"Is this really the sun?" Nico asked as Thalia sits down and Apollo enters the bus.
"It sure is Kiddo."
"I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon Gods. Why is it sometimes them, and sometimes it's you and Artemis?" Nico asked confused
"Downsizing," Lord Apollo explained before elaborating. "The Romans started it. They couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car."
"But how does it work?" Nico asked. "I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas."
Lord Apollo chuckled and fondly ruffled Nico's hair. "That rumor probably got started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that's more interesting. They've got a lot riding on the sun… er, so to speak."
"It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything look, well, sunnier." Lord Apollo explains animatedly. "This chariot is built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It's as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it. Make sense?"
Bianca couldn't see Nico but she could tell he was thinking. Her baby brother has a bad habit of disappearing deep into thought when he's certain he's safe. Thankfully his crush, Hadrian Peverell, answered before the silence can get awkward. "Kinda. It's like a concept that eventually became a reality when enough people give it the right kind of power. Right?"
"Right." Lord Apollo confirms with a nod and a bright smile.
"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand.
"What's up?" Lord Apollo asks turning to face Grover.
"You asked if anyone wanted to, you know, drive the sun. Can I?"
"Mm, no," Lord Apollo said. "Too furry." He looked past Percy and focused on Thalia.
"Daughter of Zeus!" he exclaimed. "Lord of the sky. Perfect."
"Oh, no." Thalia shook her head. "No, thanks."
"C'mon," Apollo pleaded with puppy dog eyes before changing tactics. "How old are you?"
Thalia hesitated. "I don't know." Everyone looked to the girl in either confusion or pity at the odd statement.
Lord Apollo tapped his finger to his lips thoughtful while pacing the length of the bus. "You're fifteen, almost sixteen."
"How do you know that?" Thalia demands incredulous and disbelieving.
"Hey, I'm the god of prophecy. I know stuff." Lord Apollo defends indignant before calming down and declaring flippantly. "You'll turn sixteen in about a week."
"That's my birthday! December twenty-second." Thalia declares surprised.
"Which means you're old enough now to drive with a learner's permit!" Lord Apollo declares happily.
Thalia shifted on her feet nervously. "Uh-"
"I know what you're going to say," Apollo says nodding seriously. "You don't deserve an honor like driving the sun chariot."
"That's not what I was going to say." Thalia defends in an oddly high pitched voice.
"Don't sweat it! Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to the last kid I trained. You're Zeus's daughter. He's not going to blast you out of the sky." Lord Apollo laughed good-naturedly.
Bicaca was just considering grabbing Nico and Nico's crush and making a break for it Hunters of Artemis be damned when the doors to the bus locked. Thalia tried protesting valiantly, but Lord Apollo was absolutely not going to take "no" for an answer. He hit a button on the dashboard, and a sign popped up along the top of the windshield. Despite being in the back of the bus and the sign being backward it clearly said WARNING: STUDENT DRIVER. A not-so comforting warning for the sun to have even if someone could see it.
"Take it away!" Lord Apollo began to cheer to shaking and terrified Thalia. "You're gonna be a natural! Remember, speed equals heat," Apollo advised. "So, start slowly and make sure you've got good altitude before you really open her up." Thalia gripped the wheel so tight her white knuckles were visible from the back seats off the bus. Her reflection in the minor made her look like she was going to be sick.
"What's wrong?" Percy asked her.
"Nothing," she squeaked shakily. "N-nothing is wrong."
She pulled back on the wheel. It tilted, and the bus lurched upward so fast Bianca fell sideways and crashed against Zoë Nightshade. "Sorry." she quickly apologized trying to get off her new instructor. "I can't- I can't move. Gravity." Bianca tried to apologize again horribly embarrassed.
"This is not your fault Bianca di Angelo." Zoë Nightshade said shakily.
"Slower!" Apollo yelled sounding more like a referee than a driving instructor.
"Sorry!" Thalia screamed. "I've got it under control!"
"Oh, my Gods we're all going to die." Bianca's pretty sure Nico was trying to be quiet, but in the sudden dead silence of the bus, his voice was easily heard. Bianca narrowed her eyes seeing Nico pressed up against his crush but held herself back from saying something given the situation.
"And take the whole bloody planet with us." Hadrian agreed sagely.
Somehow Percy managed to move. The boy then decided to use this opportunity to stand up and poke his head OUT his open window. Following his lead, a few hunters looked out their closed windows as well only to turn pale. "Thalia, lighten up on the accelerator." Percy shakily ordered.
"I've got it, Percy," she said, gritting her teeth. But from the sound of the engine, she kept it floored.
"Loosen up," Percy tried again while pulling his window closed and sitting back down.
"I'm loose!" Thalia shouted back. She was so stiff she looked like she was made out of stone.
"We need to veer south for Long Island," Apollo said totally calm and carefree. "Hang a left."
Thalia jerked the wheel and again threw Bianca AND Zoë Nightshade into the seat across from them. "Hi, I'm Binaca di Angelo." Bianca greeted trying to make the most of her last few minutes alive.
"Phoebe." a fellow hunter of Lady Artemis greeted.
"The other left!" Lord Apollo helpfully yelled.
"Di Immortals," Phoebe whispered "I believe your brother was correct, Bianca. We will be dying in this death trap." Bianca made the mistake of looking out the window over Phebe's shoulder to see what had her so shaken. We were racing up past the clouds and into space. Bianca could physically feel all the color drain from her face. She gulped and closed her eyes as they passed the mesosphere and entered the thermosphere causing the windows of the bus to begin freezing over.
"Ah…" Apollo said Bianca got the feeling he was forcing himself to sound calm now. "A little lower, sweetheart. Cape Cod is freezing over."
In the dead silence of the bus, they all heard the sound of Thalia tilting the wheel. Bianca opened her eyes looked to the giant rearview mirror where Thalia's chalk-white face was visible. She didn't look to be breathing signifying something is definitely wrong aside from her terrible driving skills. The bus pitched down and everyone just unanimously gave in and began to scream, starting with Percy. Now we are heading straight toward the Atlantic Ocean at a thousand miles an hour, the New England coastline off to our right. And it is getting blistering hot in the bus. Lord Apollo has been thrown into the back wall, but he quickly started climbing up the rows of seats.
"Take the wheel!" Grover begged him in a shrill scream.
"No worries," Lord Apollo said finally sounding plenty worried. "She just has to learn to- WHOA!"
By now we could all see the problem. Down below us is a little snow-covered town. At least, it used to be snow-covered. As the sun chariot neared it the snow melted right off the trees, the roofs… and the lawns. The white steeple on a church turned brown and has started to smolder. Little plumes of smoke, like morbid birthday candles, are popping up all over the town. The trees and rooftops are catching fire. Bianca distantly recognized the sight from one of Nico's sketches titled 'The bus ride from Tartarus'. It is such a surreal memory she brushed it aside and focused on losing her grip from Zoë Nightshade's arm.
"You are not hurting me Bianca and your fear is rightly justified," Zoë said shakily her voice full instructor mode despite their situation. "I myself am terrified and fearing for our lives right now."
"Pull up!" Percy yelled over the sound of the sun chariot's roaring engine.
As though Thalia had some sense forcefully knocked into her thick skull she abruptly yanked back on the wheel. Bianca held onto the front of both her seat and Phoebe's with white knuckles still wishing this bus had seat belts for what little good it would do anyone. As we zoomed up, we could see through the tinted window that the fires in the town were being snuffed out by the sudden blast of cold.
"There!" Lord Apollo pointed. "Long Island, dead ahead. Let's slow down, dear. 'Dead' is only an expression."
Upfront Hadrian let out a manic laugh while Nico snorted in response. Binca couldn't find the nerve to even smile at the admittedly good joke. She is riding Lord Apollo's sun chariot which has been transfigured into a bus. The bus which is quite literally thundering toward the coastline of northern Long Island. We are rapidly approaching a breathtaking Greek-style camp assumably Camp Half-Blood up ahead. Hopefully, we survive to see it intact.
"I'm under control," Thalia muttered in the dead silent bus. "I'm under control."
"Brake," Lord Apollo ordered.
"I can do this." Thalia began to chant.
"BRAKE!" Lord Apollo shrieked sounding just about as terrified as any mortal too close to death. Thalia slammed her foot on the break and the sun chariot/bus pitched forward slamming into a canoe filled lake. Steam billowed up, as we began to sink. Thankfully the bus soon bobbed to the surface, along with a couple of capsized, half-melted canoes. "Well," said Apollo with a brave smile. "You were right, my dear. You had everything under control! Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?"
