Bianca did not like the sound of Chirons pronouncement. Not one bit. Oh she understood his thought process, it was all entirely logical. But it was very much not the sort of thing she needed to hear right now. "Uh, no. No no no. It's not an act of war-"

"What-" Chiron focused on her once more, his eyes narrowing very slightly, "What do you mean then miss-"

"Di Angelo. I'm Bianca Di Angelo." Bianca gave a slightly nervous smile, "Listen- is there somewhere we can talk privately, preferably inside. I feel like you guys owe me that much for helping protect your camp."

"She did raise the alarm." Thalia admitted, "And she held them off until I got everyone up the hill. She risked her life- if I hadn't been there no one would have heard and she'd have been killed trying to help us."

"She proved herself to be a worthy maiden." that came from circlet girl.

"Uh... thanks." Bianca gave a weak smile before focusing her gaze on Chiron, "Please. I know you're going to have questions and I have the answers to those questions." as she spoke she reached the pine tree and moved past it.

"I do have questions I admit." Chiron's eyes were narrowed, "You seemed very panicked when I mentioned the attack being an act of war. As if you know something that we don't-"

"Well to be fair I kinda do." Bianca gave an awkward smile and a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I came here because I had a dream the attack was coming-"

"A demigod dream?" Spikey haired girl looked curious. "Well that was lucky for us then. When did you have the dream?"

"Um-" Bianca considered the question. She hadn't been awake for that long after all, "I'm not sure. Maybe... two hours ago? It's hard to say."

"You got here remarkably quickly then." Chiron spoke slowly, "And you seem remarkably calm, all things considered. I presume you know what you are-"

"That I'm a demigod? Yeah." Bianca smiled proudly, "Yeah I do. I have done for a little while now."

"And yet you haven't come to camp." somehow despite the lack of an obvious question, the look Chiron was aiming at Bianca made it clear that he was, in fact, asking her a question. A fairly obvious one all things considered. Why hadn't she come to camp? After all most demigods came to camp as soon as they found out what they were. They didn't have much choice unless they wanted to be monster chow.

"I was happy where I was." Bianca shifted slightly uncomfortably at the gazes on her.

"And where was that?" That came from circlet girl, "If Thou does not wish to stay in the camp then there are other options. My lady Artemi-"

"Oh stop with the recruitment speeches Zoe." Spikey haired girl shot her a look filled with loathing. "No one wants to join your stupid hunters. Gods-"

"Thy should watch thou tongue Thalia Grace-"

"Girls." it wasn't a shout, but Chiron's voice had a certain amount of power in it. It certainly chided the bickering girls into shutting their mouths. "Now is not the time for your arguments." he focused on Bianca once again. "You came to aid us in our battle to protect the camp. For that I'm grateful but I must know more. Why did you say that this wasn't an act of war when it clearly was-"

"Because you're going to go to war against the wrong people if you're not careful." Bianca said quickly, "Listen- I know what it looked like okay? A bunch of Magicians attacking-"

"You knew what they were before I said as much didn't you?" Chiron's expression was filled with suspicion. Which honestly, in Bianca's opinion was really rude. They didn't even know who her dad was and already she was being treated with suspicion. Yeah she definitely wasn't telling them that little titbit just yet.

"Yes." She crossed her arms over her chest, "I probably know a damn sight more about the situation than you do Chiron, with all due respect. And this wasn't an attack from the House of Life. Those were rogue magicians who hate the House of Life and wanted to start a war by making it look like they attacked you. And someone's done the exact same thing to the Egyptians. They used Greek Fire and abducted the princess-" that made Chiron's eyes go wide with shock.

"Greek Fire... princess-" his eyes narrowed, "You know an awful lot about the situation."

"Of course I do." Bianca let out a frustrated noise, "I came from the Twenty-First Nome! I was at the school that was attacked with Greek fire of course I know an awful lot! Right now I'm stuck in the middle of it-"

"What in the Hades is the Twenty-First Nome?" Thalia asked, her nose scrunching up, "Chiron-" but Chiron had paled rather dramatically and his whole body had gone tense.

"But you are a demigod. You crossed the boundary with no need for an invitation-"

"Yes I am a demigod what does that matter?" Bianca's brows furrowed, "Why are you looking at me like-" She tensed at the feeling of a knife suddenly pressed to the back of her neck.

"Are thou a spy?" the hissed words came from Zoe. And it was Zoe's knife against her flesh. Oh gods.

"A spy- no of course not-"

"This could be some kind of trick." Chiron was staring at her, as if he didn't know what to do. "What would a Greek demigod be doing at one of the House of Life's Nomes?"

"What is a Nome?" Thalia snapped the words, "Can someone explain to me what exactly is going on here? Why is everyone looking at the new girl like she's an enemy-"

"Because she may be." Zoe spoke up, "A small attack, used to gain your camps confidence in their savior. A very old ruse-"

"Oh for-" Bianca groaned, "You can't be serious! I get that the attack looks bad from the outside but if the House really was attacking you they wouldn't send fifteen magicians to try and take down your entire camp that's pathetic. And those guys weren't even that good-"

"Where do your loyalties lie?" that came from Chiron.

And Bianca felt her stomach drop.

"My loyalties lie with the Kane family." she spoke slowly, "The ruling family of the House of Life." she got the feeling that if she tried to lie Chiron would be able to tell, which would only make her situation that much worse.

"The Kanes-" Chiron's brows furrow, "I don't- unless... perhaps but it's been so long. I can hardly recall the names of the most important families... the last... Iskander-" he shook his head. "I cannot just trust your word. Not like this we'll need to question you thoroughly girl. Before I can make any decision. And I will need to speak to Mr. D first as well."

"I am not your enemy-" but they weren't going to listen to a word she said- and suddenly Bianca wasn't sure she trusted them.

"I truly hope that you're telling the truth." Chiron's voice was firm, "But I'm sure you can understand our need to be careful. We're dealing with enough trouble as it is. I trust that you won't fight if we put you under guard until you can be questioned?"

Bianca's mouth dropped open in shock, her nose flaring as she tried to force down a wave of anger. So much for helping them. But- she still needed to reason with them. Sure she could get out of the situation by shadow travelling away, but that would out her parentage and get her dad in trouble, and it wouldn't help her case with convincing them not to declare war on the House of Life. The only thing that would help that was if she cooperated and convinced them of her story.

"How long until you question me? I don't want to have to wait too long. No offence but I want to get to the bottom of all this just as much as you do. My princess needs me." a reminder of the seriousness of the situation. It might speed things up.

"Your abducted princess, an abduction which we had nothing to do with-"

"I know you didn't, but there are a lot of people who are going to think you did. We all want answers Chiron. And the only way we'll get them and stop war is by working together. So I'll agree to wait, in a guarded room if you insist. But I hope for all our sakes you don't leave me waiting for too long."

...

Sally was a wreck as she paced the halls of Brooklyn House, desperately trying to decide what to do. Was it safe to take the twins to Egypt if she went to join Carter and Sadie to try and calm things? They didn't know enough to prove that it wasn't the Greeks who'd attacked the school but Greek Fire... that was damning and enough Magicians had at least heard of it and they'd be thinking the worst.

Carter and Sadie certainly had their work cut out for them trying to control this situation.

And her baby girl was missing, her sweet brave fierce little girl. Her firstborn baby- not her eldest but the one she'd first cradled in her arms. Who she'd suffered so much to protect before Julius had saved them both. Her baby was missing and there was nothing she could do about it. They had no clue where to even start- though hopefully Bianca might be able to find something out when she helped the Greeks-

"Sally!" the familiar voice startled Sally out of her thoughts and she whirled around, her eyes wide as they landed on a familiar leopard print clad woman.

"Bast! By the gods what are you doing here-"

"I have this." Bast held up a letter, a wide smile on her lips, "One of my little strays in Greece was given it and told to bring it to me."

"A letter-"

"Read it." Bast reached Sally, handing her the letter, and Sally opened it, a hand flying to her mouth to stifle the relieved sobs as she did, recognising the handwriting instantly.

To, Carter, Sadie, mom and everyone,

Please don't panic too much about me. I'm safe enough for now. I know you're probably freaking out and for all I know you think I'm dead but I'm not. I don't know what happened after I was knocked out other than that I was kidnapped. I hope Bianca got everyone out okay though.

Sorry I know this probably doesn't make much sense to you. It's a lot at the moment but I really am okay. I managed to escape from where I was being held with Artemis and Luke, shocking I know. He's helped me. I will come home soon I promise but I have things I have to do before I can. There's this whole prophecy thing. It's really complicated. But I need you to not do anything stupid yet. I know this looks like an attack on the House of Life by Greeks but it was Kronos behind it. And Alina Menshikov. She's his daughter. She hates me for the obvious reason and I have no doubt she wants to destroy us. We can't let her. So please please please keep the House of Life from declaring war. The last thing we need now is a fight against them.

There's so much more I wish I could write but I don't have much time and I'm struggling at the moment.

And I need to tell you something important, and it'll be hard for me to find the words. Even thinking about it makes me want to shut down but I can't right now. I'll let myself grieve later.

Desjardins came to the dance. He came to warn me because he'd discovered that it was Alina who cast that tracking spell like, two years ago. And he was there when Alina made her move. She drugged me and blocked my magic- I have it back now but there wasn't much I could do. He tried to help me escape, he tried to save me but she killed him. She killed him and then I blacked out. I don't know if you already know. I don't know if you found his body or not but if you have please make sure he goes home. Please make sure he gets treated with all the respect he deserves.

Love you,

Percy.

And Sally felt her legs giving out as the tears poured down her cheeks, Bast catching her before she hit the ground.

Her baby was alive. Her baby girl was alive and she was going to be okay. She was free from whoever had captured her.

But with the relief was grief. They knew the identity of the body now. Gods but he'd died trying to save her baby girl. Desjardins who had been a constant presence in their lives for so long now. Who had been a good friend to her during Percy's coma and her pregnancy.

"We-" her voice caught in her throat, "We'll- the body that was found needs to be cared for. And- I need to get the twins. We need to go to Egypt."