Now I would like to point out that Bianca is a twelve year old girl who has issues- she's allowed to make stupid mistakes and has a right to be upset. Anyways, please do read and enjoy- and review! it means a lot to me it really really does.
Thankfully when Percy reached the terrace, someone- probably one of the Stolls- they might be evil little pranksters at times but they did have good hearts- had dragged in half a dozen blankets and a pillow to form a makeshift bed next to Annabeth- it wasn't the most comfortable thing Percy had ever slept on but it wasn't the worst either, and she settled down quickly, and it didn't take her long to drift off and- because Percy could rarely catch a break, she dreamed.
Percy felt her breath catch when she found herself in the lobby of an elegant hotel and she saw Nico and Bianca as little children, playing and chasing each other around marble columns.
They were both younger than Percy had ever seen either of them, other than in that painting Rachel had done.
A woman sat on a nearby sofa. She wore a black dress, gloves, and a black veiled hat like a star from an old 1940s movie. She had Bianca's smile and Nico's eyes.
Percy could remember her well enough, from the Underworld during the sword disaster.
On a chair next to her sat a familiar looking man a black pinstripe suit. With a shock, Percy realized it was Hades. He was leaning toward the woman, using his hands as he talked, like he was agitated- Like Nico did when he was worked up.
"Please, my dear," he said. "You must come to the Underworld. I don't care what Persephone thinks! I can keep you safe there."
"No, my love." She spoke with an Italian accent. "Raise our children in the land of the dead? I will not do this."
"Maria, listen to me. The war in Europe has turned the other gods against me. A prophecy has been made. My children are no longer safe. Poseidon and Zeus have forced me into an agreement. None of us are to have demigod children ever again."
"But you already have Nico and Bianca. Surely—"
"No! The prophecy warns of a child who turns sixteen. Zeus has decreed that the children I currently have must be turned over to Camp Half-Blood for proper training, but I know what he means. At best they'll be watched, imprisoned, turned against their father. Even more likely, he will not take a chance. He won't allow my demigod children to reach sixteen. He'll find a way to destroy them, and I won't risk that!"
"Certamente," Maria said. "We will stay together. Zeus is un imbecile." and okay, Percy let out a laugh at that, hand flying to cover her mouth as she did- Maria DiAngelo had guts she could tell that much.
She did feel sorry for Hades though, when he glanced nervously at the ceiling. "Maria, please. I told you, Zeus gave me a deadline of last week to turn over the children. His wrath will be horrible, and I cannot hide you forever. As long as you are with the children, you are in danger too."
Maria smiled, and again it was creepy how much she looked like her daughter. "You are a god, my love. You will protect us. But I will not take Nico and Bianca to the Underworld."
Hades wrung his hands. "Then, there is another option. I know a place in the desert where time stands still. I could send the children there, just for a while, for their own safety, and we could be together. I will build you a golden palace by the Styx."
Maria di Angelo laughed gently. "You are a kind man, my love. A generous man. The other gods should see you as I do, and they would not fear you so. But Nico and Bianca need their mother. Besides, they are only children. The gods wouldn't really hurt them."
"You don't know my family," Hades said darkly. "Please, Maria, I can't lose you."
She touched his lips with her fingers. "You will not lose me. Wait for me while I get my purse. Watch the children."
She kissed the lord of the dead and rose from the sofa. Hades watched her walk upstairs as if her every step away caused him pain.
A moment later, he tensed. The children stopped playing as if they sensed something too.
"No!" Hades said. But even his godly powers were too slow. He only had time to erect a wall of black energy around the children before the hotel exploded.
The force of the blast was so violent that Percy almost felt it.
When Percy's vision cleared she saw Hades kneeling in the ruins, holding the broken form of Maria di Angelo. Fires still burned all around him. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder rumbled.
Little Nico and Bianca stared at their mother uncomprehendingly. The Fury Alecto appeared behind them, hissing and flapping her leathery wings. The children didn't seem to notice her.
"Zeus!" Hades shook his fist at the sky. "I will crush you for this! I will bring her back!"
"My lord, you cannot," Alecto warned. "You of all immortals must respect the laws of death."
Hades glowed with rage. For a moment Percy thought he would show his true form and vaporize his own children, but at the last moment he seemed to regain control.
"Take them," he told Alecto, choking back a sob. "Wash their memories clean in the Lethe and bring them to the Lotus Hotel. Zeus will not harm them there."
"As you wish, my lord," Alecto said. "And the woman's body?
"Take her as well," he said bitterly. "Give her the ancient rites."
Alecto, the children, and Maria's body dissolved into shadows, leaving Hades alone in the ruins.
"I warned you," a new voice said.
Hades turned. A girl in a multicolored dress stood by the smoldering remains of the sofa. She had short black hair and sad eyes. She was no more than twelve. Percy didn't know her, but she looked strangely familiar.
"You dare come here?" Hades growled. "I should blast you to dust!"
"You cannot," the girl said. "The power of Delphi protects me."
And Percy felt shock rip through her as her mouth dropped open. This girl was the Oracle?
"You've killed the woman I loved!" Hades roared. "Your prophecy brought us to this.'" He loomed over the girl, but she didn't flinch.
"Zeus ordained the explosion to destroy the children," she said, "because you defied his will. I had nothing to do with it. And I did warn you to hide them sooner."
"I couldn't! Maria would not let me! Besides, they were innocent."
"Nevertheless, they are your children, which makes them dangerous. Even if you put them away in the Lotus Hotel, you only delay the problem. Nico and Bianca will never be able to rejoin the world lest they turn sixteen."
"Because of your so-called Great Prophecy. And you have forced me into an oath to have no other children. You have left me with nothing!"
"I foresee the future," the girl said. "I cannot change it."
Black fire lit the god's eyes, and Percy knew something bad was coming. She wanted to yell at the girl to hide or run. Her uncle rarely looked that angry- but he was hurting, hurting so very badly.
"Then, Oracle, hear the words of Hades," he growled. "Perhaps I cannot bring back Maria. Nor can I bring yon an early death. But your soul is still mortal, and I can curse you."
The girl's eyes widened. "You would not—"
"I swear," Hades said, "as long as my children remain outcasts, as long as I labor under the curse of your Great Prophecy, the Oracle of Delphi will never have another mortal host. You will never rest in peace. No other will take your place. Your body will wither and die, and still the Oracle's spirit will be locked inside you. You will speak your bitter prophecies until you crumble to nothing. The Oracle will die with you!"
Percy gasped in horror and realisation as the girl screamed.
She remembered Rachel's words. She knew Luke's mom had tried to become the Oracle. This was why her attempt had failed- and why any attempt would fail.
Sure Nico and Bianca weren't outcasts- they were loved members of camp now, but until the prophecy was over and the oath the Big three had made was dissolved the Oracle would be bound to the mummy- Percy shivered- and then the dream shifted and she saw Bianca, white faced staring blankly ahead of herself in Persephone's garden.
Nico was by her side, he looked almost as pale as Bianca as he caught her sister when her legs gave out. "Oh gods-" Bianca's voice shook, "He- Zeus killed her. He killed our mother- that's why father didn't want us to see-"
"Bianca-" Nico didn't sound any better than his sister, and he was blinking back tears, "You got what you wanted we have answers now-"
"No!" Bianca pulled away and whirled around to look at Nico, "Don't you dare ask me to go back up there don't you dare-"
"But Bianca-"
"Zeus killed her! He tried to kill us! We were kids we were innocent we did nothing to him and he murdered her and he tried to kill us and you want me to go up there and help save him-"
"Bianca-" Nico's expression became horrified, "I know you're upset-"
"I'm not upset I'm furious!" she spat the words like they were poison, "He can rot for all I care- All that for a prophecy that was never about us! Let's face it everyone knows that it's always been Percy- always has been, always will be, he killed her for nothing-"
"We're not fighting for Zeus!" Nico snapped, "I get that you're angry Bia, I do. I really do, Zeus is an asshole, nothing new there but in case you're forgetting our current situation it's not fucking about Zeus it's about stopping our batshit crazy grandfather-"
"No- no I'm not going up there-"
"Bianca please!" Nico's voice was pleading. "Please I get that you're angry but you need to leave here- dad's doesn't want to go up there and leave you down here-"
"Why is he even bothering-"
"Because he knows that they need us!" Nico growled, "But- you're not as skilled with your powers you don't have the control over the dead that I do and a lot of spirits shit down here are on Kronos' side and there is no way you can handle them! Dad knows that- you're wasting time refusing to go up they need us-"
"He can go up without me!"
"And leave you down here to get killed by Kronos' allies?" Nico demanded, "Fuck you Bianca- fuck you." he pushed her, sending her sprawling to the ground, "Fuck you so much. I get that you're angry- I get it. I really do- I'm angry too. Zeus can go fuck himself. But Zeus isn't the only one who suffers if we lose this fight! I have been working my ass off ever since I came down here helping dad fend off spirits attacking the palace while you've spent all this time trying to find out about mom!
And I get wanting answers and I get being hurt by the truth and you can be angry at Zeus all you want-" he was on his feet, glaring down at Bianca- who was staring up at him with wide eyes- and Percy could almost feel the temperature dropping- Bianca and Nico's breath was coming out as fog now. "But don't you fucking dare act as though you have a right to fuck everyone else over because of what he did-" and the ground beneath Nico's feet shook, "You're being so selfish Bianca!"
"Nico-" Bianca's expression was filled with fear and pain, "I don't- Nico please you-"
"No! No you're selfish Bianca! You always have been, except this time you're not just abandoning me, you're abandoning everyone!" and then he was whirling around and sprinting away- and Percy cried out at the same time as Bianca did.
"Nico wait!" Then Nico was dissolving into the shadows- and as he did Hades stepped out of shadows of his own- and his expression was almost disappointed.
"I understand your anger my daughter- I will never forgive Zeus for what he did to your mother. But I'm not proud of what I did to the Oracle in my anger- and Nico is right. We aren't doing this for Zeus but to stop my father. My children- their fatal flaw is often the grudges they hold. Nico seems to have overcome that flaw. I once thought you'd be the one I was most proud of- but now? I'm disappointed in you Bianca. I will not leave the Underworld with you here- I won't risk it. But know that your actions have consequences." and then he was gone too, and Bianca was sat in Persephone's garden alone- and Percy watched as she started to cry.
