Bianca di Angelo & The Olympians

Percy Ain't No Shoplifter

Annabeth's POV

As I sat in the aisle seat of a bus to Los Angeles, there were a couple things running through my head.

-Who were the di Angelos parents? They had to be involved in the quest now, and Percy had told them the real reason so there definitely was going to be some backlash for that one.

- Was the bus gonna get blasted off the road by Zeus, again? (They had a streak to keep up, right?)

And...

-Why the hell did I just blindly swear to protect Nico at all costs?Not that I had anything against talkative Mythomagic fanatics, but it was more the fact that he could be some monster, for all they know. Against her better judgement, these suspicious demigods and/or worse (She had tested on Bianca, her dagger had been able to cut her.) were now sitting across the aisle from them, after explaining that it was a moving object and 'it won't blow up this time'.

I had peppered Bianca with questions for most of the ride, but I soon realised that she didn't really know anything, that their memories were just not there (Or they could be lying, which was why I was so suspicious.) Now I sat there, looking at her, wondering if she was going to pop out, grow fangs, and yell 'gotcha'!

On top of all this, Percy was talking about how 'we could be wrong', and I couldn't help but think that he was right. Even after he described his dream to me previously, I still wanted to believe that Hades was the god who had turned, because Hades is evil, because he's a monster who doesn't give a damn about things people can't contro-

"Are you okay?" Percy asked from beside me, and I realised that I must have been scowling a hole into Bianca's head.

I hesitated, "I'm fine." Percy didn't seem to notice the pause, or at least if he did, he didn't show 

it. "How far are we now?" I said to Grover, who was sitting in the row ahead of me.

The bus answered for him. "Arriving at Los Angeles" it said robotically, as the bus slowed. Everyone began to get up, Nico being shaken lightly by his sister; his head was on her lap in what surely must have been an uncomfortable position for the girl. He awoke quickly and shot his head up.

"DOA Recording Studios!" He said with wide eyes.

We all looked at him as if he had lost it. "Wait wait, just, let's get off the bus first." I said, knowing that something important was going on.

We scrambled off onto the platform, and sat at the benches. "What were you talking about back there, Nico?" Bianca asked.

"I had this dream... There was this man, I think he was a god." I urged him on. "And he said 'Your father awaits you, now is her time.'" That meant either me or Bianca, but the latter was more likely seeing as it was supposedly their father calling them. "Then.... he went on about some 'Great Prophecy' and how I must 'Outplay the sea'." I glanced at Percy warily, and tightened my grip on my dagger. 'Outplay the Sea was definitely referencing him or his father, Poseidon.' "But he said to meet him at DOA Recording Studios."

"Then we go there," Percy said, "It's not as if we have any better ideas." I had to agree there. So we decided to take off and found a map at a tourist stand, which I (Percy could never) stole.

There were some 'interesting' people looking at us, but for some reason they seemed to edge away from us whenever they got too close. Or, to be precise, they edged away from the siblings. It got me thinking, because they were obviously related on both sides. What god would be dedicated enough to come back a second time to a mortal? Most godly beings would fall in love for about 2 minutes, make a child, then leave the mortal behind heartbroken and a single parent.

On the other hand, why would this 'god' be so obsessed with The Great Prophecy? I had one theory, not an enjoyable one, but in all honesty it was probably the most likely scenario. 

"Bianca, hey!" I spoke ahead to her, "How old are you? Biologically, I mean." I said, trying to sound like I was just curious.

"Erm... 12. At least that's how old I was when we first got to Las Vegas."

Percy finally noticed the conversation, but didn't interrupt me, as he seemed to be watching some newscast through the windows of a shop, "When's your birthday?"

She paused for a moment "July...31!" I paled, because if my theory was right, it changed everything.

They, in theory, were born before the Great Prophecy was issued, and therefore, even if the Big Three swore to have no kids, they would have been alive. So if they were children of The Big Three, their subsequent father would want to hide them from the rest of their brothers, so they wiped the siblings' memories, and stuck them in a time trap. But wiping memories is something only one of the brothers had access to...

I pulled Percy and Grover out of hearing range, and said in a hushed voice, "Hades."

"What, where?"

I glared at Grover. "No, their father."

I waited for them to get it. "But that's impossible, right?" Percy asked slowly, still looking shaken from whatever he was watching.

"Not necessarily. They don't know anything about their past, because he threw them in the Lethe and stuck them in a hotel for 70 years. That was before they swore to not have kids." I left out the age bit, because Percy didn't need to know that much yet. "Only one god has access to the River Lethe. Hades."

Percy looked worriedly at the 12 and 10 year old hunched over the map. "So they're leading us to a trap?"

"Or their father just wants his kids. He undoubtedly was planning to pull them out eventually, it just happened sooner than expected." Grover states. He had a point, but they didn't know that there was more to it.

"When's your birthday, Percy?"

"Why-"

"Just tell me." I said urgently.

"August 18th, why?" Shit. Bianca's older than Percy. She's (if I was right) eligible for the prophecy. Shit shit shit. Hades wasn't a very friendly guy, per say. He certainly could revel against The Olympians. And now we just gave him a way to win on a silver platter. That was if she was even right, but why else would Nico conveniently get a dream to some location?

"Annabeth, is something wrong?" I jumped at Bianca's voice.

I calmed myself. "I'm alright. We were just talking about what our plan for meeting yo- Hades is." 

She nodded and moved back to the street, but I noticed that her gaze lingered on me for one moment. Was she really planning to kill me? I mean, she was a protective older sister, and didn't ever act suspiciously. Her brother I was more weary of, likely due to the fact that he seemed too, well, childish. It could be a monster who was manipulating the mist, but Nico just seemed all lighthearted overall. Not resentful.

I'm overthinking this, I thought, but it didn't make me feel better.