Annabeth pov

I was dreading seeing Sally. Don't get me wrong, she's amazing, but I didn't want to tell her the news. I mean, who would want to tell someone that their only son died? At fourteen? I readied myself, wishing that all this was a dream, not for the first time. Bianca knocked. The door opened.

'Hi, ma'am. Are you Mrs Jackson?" I stared at Percy's mother for a few seconds. She was wearing her work outfit and had her hair loose on her shoulders. She looked the same as the last time I saw her. I realised even though it has hardly been a week or so since I last saw her so much had changed. The last time I saw her was at Westover Hall. Before Thorn. Before Luke. Before Percy.

'Yes, I'm Mrs Jackson, but please, call me Sally.' Then she saw me. 'Annabeth! Good to see you. Who's this?'

"This is Bianca Di Angelo."

"Nice to meet you, Bianca. Where's Percy?'

A lump assured in my throat tried to speak but I felt like my mouth had lava in it. A single tear dropped onto the floor. Sally looked at our expressions.

Her eyes widened.

'No, no, no. Not my son...'

A sound couldn't be heard across the apartment. I opened my eyes, to apologize, but when I glanced at her I broke.

Sally looked like her whole lot of work had crumbled. Her usually lively eyes were filled with tears She shook, every breath she breathed, it being long and painful. Her legs trembled. She fell onto my shoulder, sobbing into it while I sobbed back. We let out all of our pain and cried. What felt like centuries later, I felt a gentle push towards Sally's apartment, Bianca. She brought us to the couch and sat us down. There was a comforting smell of cookies. I looked at the table and saw blue cookies. The ones Percy always talked about. It just made me cry harder.

Bianca pov

As soon as Sally opened the door, I felt envious of Percy.

His mother looked so tuned and well, and so, well...motherly. He didn't have to care for anyone and wasn't under the pressure of being an older sibling. I was jealous. But he's dead, I reminded myself. And when she saw our faces...

She knew. kept remembering what I had taken from Percy.

I slowly guided both Sally and Annabeth to the couch closing the door on the way No one needs to see them like this just quietly sat open on the couch, wincing at their excruciatingly painful sobs.

Some tears fell from my cheeks. what have I done?

All my fault, all my of it. I tore him from his family. Me. Bianca Di Angelo. All my fault. That's the only thing I could think. And it pulled me into a flashback.

Maria di Angelo's death

I felt something. A bad feeling. A really bad feeling. Me and Nico were playing cards, not a care in the world. I was just about to win when I heard my mum and dad speaking in urgent voices. And then came the storm.

Our mother walked towards us, but before she could reach our father brought us near him, instead of where we were playing. There was a loud blast. Our father was holding my mother, shouting and cursing. I didn't understand what was happening. He spoke to the three people near him, and then they took us to a river.

I felt its power, and I was scared. I felt someone grip my hand. Nico. I smiled at him as the people beckoned us forward, towards the river. I took a deep breath and walked into it, dragging Nico along with me. I felt a weird sensation like something was taking over me.

And then I couldn't remember.

Where was I? Who was holding my hand? Why was I in a river? Who was I?

I couldn't think about much before I was pulled into the darkness.