𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩

Chapter γ

Gamma - 3
∆

Bianca's Fate

  After seeing Dr. Thorn turn into a monster and plummet off the edge of a cliff with Annabeth, you'd think nothing else could shock Cyrus. But when this twelve-year-old girl told them she was the goddess Artemis, he said something real intelligent like, "Um… okay."

  That was nothing compared to Grover. He gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so… you're so… Wow!"

  "Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is gone!"

  "Whoa," Bianca di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out."

  Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of them in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "Who… who are you people?"

  Artemis's expression softened. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you! Who are your parents?"

  Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis.

  "Our parents are dead," Bianca said. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but…"

  She faltered. Cyrus guessed she could tell from their faces that they didn't believe her.

  "What?" she demanded. "I'm telling the truth."

  "You are a half-blood," Zoe Nightshade said. Her accent was hard to place. It sounded old-fashioned, like she was reading from a really old book. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."

  "An Olympian… athlete?"

  "No," Zoe said. "One of the gods."

  "Cool!" said Nico.

  "No!" Bianca's voice quavered. "This is not cool!"

  Nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom. "Does Zeus really have
lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—"

  "Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"

  As anxious as Cyrus felt about Annabeth, he couldn't help feeling sorry for the di Angelos. He remembered what it was like for me when he first learned he was a demigod. Except... When he learned, he had almost died, being crushed by a tentacle about a few thousand times bigger than him, so there wasn't much need of convincing that there was something wrong.

  (y/n) shoved the hunters away from him, scoffing up at them. Cyrus wasn't used to seeing him that agitated.

  The son of Persephone walked up to his gigantic dog and patted his side, the dog quickly retreating back into normal Golden Retriever size. He walked up to the di Angelos and folded his arms.

  "Six hundred is a bit low for Zeus, I'd say," he muttered.

  "What're his stats?" Nico excitedly asked.

  "Uh... I think there are more important things to ask at a time like this, love," (y/n) hummed.

  "Ask? There's nothing to ask! That is just not true," Bianca said.

  "Bianca, trust me, we've all been through that once before... Well, not all of us," he said, glaring back at Artemis and her hunters. "But I've been through it. I heard all this before, and I believed the same exact thing. It's not true. But you saw what happened here, that's not a lie. It's dangerous, yes, but... It's our lives."