Thank you so much for the response to my poll - there were a few I hadn't thought of, and a few I was surprised by! One of the most popular responses was one that I actually put in as an afterthought.

I had a plan for a particular point in the series, and I suddenly realised that, if this character was coming in, I needed them well in-place before that.

Since I've taken a month off, I've split this chapter in half, so the next book chapter will be in the next fic chapter. It's not that long, but you do get a chapter now, rather than however long it will take me to finish the next bit.

As Jason took the book, Thalia frowned, fidgeting in her seat.

"Relax," Annabeth murmured. "I checked – it's not this chapter."

"I know," Thalia said quietly. "It's not that; it's …" she broke off with a grimace, suddenly rising to her feet. "I'm really sorry," she said to the room at large. "Can we take five minutes? Something's calling me?"

"Something?" Artemis repeated.

"Something," Thalia agreed. "I don't know what or who it is, but it's important. I won't be long."

Without waiting for an answer, she left the throne room, following the odd tugging feeling towards the entrance to the palace.

There, she found a stern looking woman waiting for her, although even as she looked, it was impossible to tell what the woman looked like, how old she was, or even if she was human at all.

Her hair was tied up in a tight bun, held in place by two sticks that Thalia was certain were knitting needles.

"Thalia Grace," she said, with a voice that seemed to echo and yet whisper all at once. "I am Lachesis."

The name ran through every memory Thalia had before coming up blank, but she bowed regardless – it was always better to be safe than sorry. "My apologies, ma'am."

A smile quirked on Lachesis's face, making her seem much younger all at once. "The Fate of Life, child. I measure. My sister, Clotho, spins; Atropos cuts."

"Of course," Thalia said. "I'm sorry. Uh, no offence, ma'am, but I thought you appeared …"

"Older?" Lachesis finished. "We do, usually. It is rare we interact with mortals; when we do, we try to be a little less intimidating."

"Should I be flattered or afraid?" Thalia asked.

Lachesis smiled. "No need to worry, my dear. I called you here simply to act as a guide."

"A guide?" Thalia repeated, allowing herself to relax a little.

"Good luck," Lachesis said, beginning to fade from view.

The next time Thalia blinked, the Fate of Life had disappeared completely, leaving behind a young girl with long dark hair that half-covered her face, obscuring very familiar dark eyes.

Thalia's breath caught, now understanding why this new visitor had not simply been dropped off at the door to the throne room like everyone else. "Hi Bianca. I'm Thalia. Did Lady Lachesis explain what's going on?"

"Sort of," Bianca said, in a voice that surprised Thalia somewhat. She didn't remember Bianca – or Nico, for that matter – ever sounding Italian, and yet there was a definite lilt to her voice now.

Then again, this was almost certainly Bianca from 2006 – Luke was proof that the Fates could bring people from the afterlife, but Bianca had gained a kind of quiet confidence upon joining the Hunters – a confidence that this Bianca was not showing at all.

"Sort of?" Thalia repeated, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

"I'm a demigod, I'm on Olympus, something terrible could happen so the Fates have brought people back in time to fix it," Bianca listed. "But I don't know why I'm going to be any help."

"No one from your time does," Thalia said. "Ah, you do know what year it is, don't you?"

"2006 apparently," Bianca said. "She did tell me about the time passing. Nico is going to be alright, isn't he?"

"While you're here or in general?" Thalia asked.

"Both," Bianca sad.

"Well, he is here," Thalia said. "From my time. 2009, that is. I'm sure he'll be alright while you're here – he's in a hotel with unlimited games. He probably won't even notice you're gone."

"You don't know my brother," Bianca said with a sigh. "If I'm out of sight for more than five minutes, he comes looking for me."

Something inside Thalia's chest ached at the reminder.

Percy had talked to Nico more than she had before the quest, before Bianca had died.

No one had expected Nico to take Bianca's death well, of course, but how on earth had a boy never apart from his sister for more than a few minutes coped with losing her forever?

By himself, no less.

"He'll be alright," Thalia repeated. "I'm sure the Fates will return you to the time you left from, if not much later." She started to lead Bianca back towards the throne room, her mind racing.

She was sure that Persephone, at the very least, had realised that Bianca was dead, although Nico had never actually answered his stepmother's question when she asked after his sister.

But what was she going to do now?

"I think," she said slowly, "I'm going to pull Nico out first, before we go in."

"Why?" Bianca asked curiously.

"Because we haven't seen you for a while," Thalia answered, not untruthfully.

"And?" Bianca asked. "Why does that need a private reunion?"

Thalia hesitated. "Trust me." She reached the throne room door and turned to face her. "Please wait here."

Bianca nodded. "Okay."

"Thank you." Thalia slipped back inside and gave everyone a smile. "Sorry about that. One of the Fates dropped off another reader."

"Oh?" Hera asked. "Why not just leave them at the door?"

"They didn't know they were a demigod," Thalia answered – again, not untruthfully. "Wanted to make sure that someone looked after them. Nico, can I borrow you?"

"Because I'm the best at looking after people?" Nico asked incredulously.

Thalia sighed. "Once – just once – can you not need an explanation first and just trust me?"

"I do trust you," Nico said, getting to his feet. "I just doubt I'm the best person for this."

"Trust me; you're the best person for this," Thalia said, lowering her voice as he reached her. "The Fates brought Bianca from 2006."

Nico stopped dead, looking rather like she had punched him the stomach. "Does she know?"

"I can't tell her," Thalia reminded him. "I've told her that we haven't seen you in a while. Please try not to scare her."

"Who's going to scare anyone?" Nico muttered, his voice coming out rather higher than normal. "I'm fine."

"I hate that word," Thalia said, ushering him out the door. "It never means what I think it means."

True to her word, Bianca hadn't moved an inch. "Hi Nico. You don't look as old as I thought you would."

To his credit, Nico managed a passable smile. "Yeah, well, I've always looked younger than I am; it's a curse."

Thalia watched in astonishment as a kind of shadow passed over Bianca's face, making her look ten years older.

"I'm dead," she said softly, "aren't I?"

Nico opened his mouth, whether to hastily refute it or to confirm it, no one knew, because no words escaped him.

"We can't answer that question, Bianca," Thalia said gently. "The Fates won't let us."

"I am," Bianca said, with quiet certainty. "That's why you wanted to bring Nico out here first. That's why he's upset."

"I'm not upset," Nico said, but his voice wavered in just the wrong way.

Before Thalia could move, before she could even register that Bianca had moved, his sister had thrown her arms around him and he had just about crumpled in her embrace.

He clung to her in a way that Nico – who tended to shun physical affection from most people unless it was extenuating circumstances and they had clearly made their intentions clear – never clung to anyone.

Thalia looked away, studying the detail on the throne room door, pretending she couldn't hear Nico's shuddering breaths or Bianca's whispered comforts.

Not that she had to try hard – Bianca had reverted to Italian, which Thalia couldn't understand a word of anyway.

Just as she was worried that she would need to interrupt them, Nico pulled away, swiping a hand across his face. "This doesn't mean you're right."

"If you say so, tesoro," Bianca said, kissing his forehead. "You're alright, though?"

"I'm alright," Nico said, "but …"

"Then I'll be fine," Bianca said firmly. "Dead or not."

For a second, Thalia was startled.

After all, Bianca was only twelve-years-old.

Then again, she had been twelve when she died as well.

And if someone had told her that she was going to die, but that Luke and Annabeth would be alright …

Well, she'd made that decision, hadn't she?

"We still can't say anything," Thalia said. "But if you were right, it can still be fixed." She held out a hand to them. "We should go back in though."

"She's right," Nico said, wiping his eyes again.

Thalia smiled, digging through her pockets and managed to find a clean tissue. "Here."

"Thanks Thals," Nico muttered, wiping his face. "Better?"

Thalia surveyed him. "You'll do."

"Thank you for that vote of confidence," Nico said, sounding a little more like his old self.

Thalia laughed. "Come on." She pushed the throne room door again. "Sorry about that. This is Bianca di Angelo, Nico's older sister."

"Not so much older sister at the moment," Bianca said, a little more shyly now there was a roomful of people looking at her. "I haven't time-travelled."

"Well, come and sit with us anyway," Piper said with a smile. "Since Nico's the only person you really know."

It was a good idea, and Thalia was glad that Piper had suggested it so she didn't have to.

Persephone slipped a hand under her husband's as her step-daughter took a tentative seat. She had not forgotten Nico's reaction to the mention of his sister when he had first arrived.

If Bianca was, in fact, killed in the war, that meant that she would have to read about her own death.

Then again, maybe having her here when that happened would help Nico with reliving it – and at least the children from 2006 were exempt from the physical effects of the books.

"Does she know?" Luke murmured, just loud enough for Thalia to hear him.

Thalia didn't look at him, but gave a little affirmative hum.

"She's very calm," Luke said.

The corner of her mouth twitched with a slight smile. "He's okay."

"Does that change things?" Luke asked.

"It would for me," Thalia said.

Once the others had been briefly introduced to Bianca – although no one expected her to remember everyone's names – Jason picked up the book again.

"Are we ready then?"