They'd ended up back at camp after that, with Apollo giving them a ride back on his sun… bus. Artemis had offered Bianca a place with her, which she'd rejected, due to both the prophecy and her reunification with Nico. It was more the latter factor that had influenced her decision.

At the end of the Capture the Flag Game, the Oracle made an unexpected appearance.

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains

Death shall prevail in the land without rain

The bane of Olympus shows the trail

Campers and Hunters combined prevail

The Titan's curse must one withstand

And one shall perish by a parent's hand

They'd ended up being sent on a quest, with both hunters and campers going together. Zoe Nightshade had chosen a hunter named Hazel, with Grover, Annabeth, and Bianca to accompany her.

They set off early in the morning, with Annabeth wanting to visit a place on the way there.

"So why are we here again?" Bianca asked, considering the blue door in front of them. They stood in front of a tall apartment complex in New York City.

"I've been meaning to visit this place for a while," Annabeth responded, not looking back as she walked into the lobby.

A young woman was at the front desk. She smiled politely upon seeing them. "Are you here to visit someone?"

Annabeth smiled at her. "Yeah. Is Mrs. Blofis home?"

The woman nodded. "She in fact is. Let me let her know that you're here, and you can go right up. You know the apartment number right?"

Annabeth nodded. "602."

The receptionist glanced at the rest of them behind her. "And will the rest of them be going up with you?"

"We will, yes," Bianca said before Annabeth could say otherwise.

She let them pass through after speaking to someone on the phone.

The group of them all filed onto the elevator, up to the sixth floor. The doors opened with a ding and they all stepped out into a hallway. Standing there, waiting for them, was a smiling woman.

"Sally!" Annabeth exclaimed, rushing out of the elevator into the arms of the woman.

"It's been so long, oh you're so tall!" Sally responded, putting a hand on top of Annabeth's head. She glanced at the group of them behind Annabeth, staring straight at their weapons and armor, and grew serious. "You're on a quest?"

"Are you a demigod?" Bianca blurted out. "You can see through the mist. And you know about quests."

Sally smiled kindly at them, with a tinge of sadness, pulling away from Annabeth. It… Bianca suddenly wished that she could remember her own mother. Just in that moment.

"No, no I'm not. I'm just a clear-sighted mortal, familiar with your world and mythology."

She looked over their entire group again. "Why don't you all come in?" she offered, opening the door.

Annabeth unhesitatingly followed her in, and the rest of them took their cue from her.

The apartment was the definition of homely, with warm colors, used furniture, and pictures scattered around on tables and shelves. While it was somewhat messy, it wasn't overly, with the perfect combination of cleanliness and being lived in.

Bianca gravitated towards a picture with three people in it. Younger versions of Annabeth, Mrs. Blofis, and… another boy. They were at the beach, with the ocean behind them.

"Who's this?" she asked, picking up the picture.

Mrs. Blofis crossed the room to where she was, and gently took the photo from Bianca. "My son, Percy."

"My best friend," Annabeth chimed in, upon seeing what they were looking at.

Bianca glanced toward the hallway as if expecting the boy in question to pop his head out of it at the mention of his name. "Is he… around? It's winter break, so he should be back from school, right?"

Bianca could see old traces of grief resurfacing in Mrs. Blofis. What had she been thinking? With how sad she had been, it was obvious what had happened to him. "Oh I wasn't thinki-"

"No, no. It's fine."

"Sally, what happened to him?" Annabeth cut in. "You never did tell me. I never got an answer from you about it."

Sally backed away to sit on a chair by the counter, looking down at the photo still in her hands. "His father took him."

"His father just took him?" Annabeth incredulously responded. "I'm sorry, but weren't you his only legal guardian? How is that even possible? And you just let him?"

"There was nothing I could do Annabeth," Mrs. Blofis sighed. "Percy's father. He's… powerful."

"He left," Annabeth flatly responded. "He left you and Percy on your own, without any help, what right did he have to take your son from you? You should have fought."

"There was nothing I could do, Annabeth," Mrs. Blofis repeated. "How was I meant to fight-"

"Against a god?" Bianca finished.

Silence.

"If he's a demigod, how come he never came to Camp?" Annabeth responded. "He should have been sent there, and even Chiron doesn't know who he is. I asked him when I got there."

"It would be best to not question the gods," Zoe cut in. She exchanged a glance with Hazel. "Although 'tis against the Ancient Laws for them to intervene too much in their children's lives, there have been… certain cases."

Zoe turned to Mrs. Blofis, saying, "Thy son may have been such a case."

Bianca watched as Mrs. Blofis studied Zoe, asking her the question, "How old are you really?"

Zoe smiled at Mrs. Blofis. "Old enough."

Something unknown seemed to pass between the two of them, with Mrs. Blofis nodding in satisfaction, and, was that relief?

Mrs. Blofis smiled. "Well then. You all must be hungry. Stay for lunch, but after that you must be on your way."

Bianca stared at the junkyard in front of them that seemed to go on endlessly.

"This place. We need to go across," Annabeth stated. "It's the only way. It would take way too long to go around it."

The group of them set off, toward the piles of metal and scrap.

Hazel stumbled when they neared one of the bigger piles, regaining her step with the help of Zoe.

"Are thou alright?" Zoe asked her. "This place. It must be overwhelming."

Bianca and Annabeth exchanged glances of confusion at the two Hunter's exchange.

Hazel gently waved Zoe away. "No, no. I'm fine. It's just a lot to take in. Give me a second." She seemed to take a second to stabilize herself, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. When she began to walk again toward the piles of scrap metal, she seemed much more steady on her feet.

"This is the Junkyard of the Gods," Zoe stated. "Don't touch anything."

"Junk?" Grover laughed as he trotted to one of the piles, picking up a piece of priceless jewelry. He took a bite out of it. "It's delicious!"

Annabeth snatched it away from him, throwing it back onto the pile. "Grover!"

Zoe glared at him. "And what did I just say?"

As they carefully picked their way through the piles of scrap metal, something caught Bianca's eyes. She knew that she shouldn't take anything… but Grover had and nothing had happened. So it should be fine, right?

Glancing at the rest of the group, she saw that they were all distracted, carefully trying not to trip with the uneven footing. She palmed the small figurine.

It was of Hades, their father. The only piece that Nico didn't have. She resolved to give it to him when they returned from the quest. Holding her breath as she took it, she released it when nothing happened.

They passed through the rest of the junkyard uneventfully, carefully skirting around the edge of a giant automaton's toes, reaching the edge of the junkyard. Just as they stepped foot out of it, something started to move.

Oh no.

Zoe turned to the rest of them furiously. "Who took something?" she demanded, staring at all of them, Bianca and Annabeth in particular.

"Zoe," Hazel stated, putting a hand on her shoulder, and glancing at Bianca. "What's done is done."

Hazel knew what she had done. But why hadn't she told Zoe about it?

"Talos," Zoe breathed, staring in horror at the giant metal statue in front of them.

"But that can't be the original!" Annabeth protested. "It's probably a knockoff, maybe a prototype?"

The metal statue drew its sword and began to take a step towards them.

"Scatter!" Annabeth ordered, pulling on her cap, and disappearing from sight. Easy for her to say.

They ran in different directions, with Bianca ending up with Hazel.

The Hunter turned towards her, holding out her hand.

"I-" stuttered Bianca said in an attempt to explain herself. She handed the figurine to Hazel reluctantly.

Hazel inspected it. "It's Hades. It's for Nico, isn't it?"

Bianca was surprised the Hunter even knew Nico's name. "Yeah. It's of our father. It's also the only figurine he doesn't have."

Hazel handed it back to her, turning towards the statue. "Our father loves us, no matter how you might feel about him, and no matter how he acts."

Bianca choked out, "Our father? You mean-"

The Hunter smiled knowingly at her. "You think you're the only daughter of Death out there?"

"Death shall prevail in the land without rain," Hazel quoted, raising her hands. "Why else do you think I came along?"

Talos stopped midstep, frozen in place. As Hazel made a fist that seemed to sap almost all of her strength, he crumpled into himself. With a thundering thud, Talos collapsed back into the piles of scrap, crushing everything beneath him.

Hazel swayed, and then fainted, with Bianca just barely catching her.

As she kept the other daughter of Hades upright, Zoe made her way over to them.

"She pushed herself too far. Here," the Hunter sighed, shaking her head, reaching to take Hazel from her.

"You never told me that she was my sister," Bianca stated, looking accusingly at her.

"Well, 'tis complicated," Zoe responded. "Hazel has had a hard life due to her parentage. And while she still is a daughter of Hades, she is a sister of Artemis before that. Joining the Hunt lets us leave our past lives behind." There was an air of finality in her voice. Bianca knew that even if she pushed, she would get nothing.

"Is Hazel okay?" Annabeth asked as she approached them. "What she did was incredible!"

Zoe nodded. "Let us get a bit farther away from this place, before setting up camp. Hazel needs rest. I think all of us do."