Chapter Text
Bianca slept for four days straight after returning from her trial. Jason took the initiative of watching over her. The routine felt familiar in a way he hadn’t felt since he lost his memories. Sitting here, taking care of Bianca, it was soothing. He smiled at the thought.
Bianca groaned, but didn’t wake up, her eyes twitching rapidly under her eyelids. Jason took the cool rag in his hand and dabbed it along her forehead.
“Still nothing?” Jason turned to see Hazel standing in the archway.
He shook his head. “She’s still out. Her eyes are moving faster, though.”
“That’s good.” Hazel sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “She’ll wake up soon.”
“How do you know?” Jason asked.
Hazel stiffened. “Let’s just call it a hunch.”
Jason shifted, forcing Hazel to move her head. “Hazel, do you know something? You haven’t really talked about what happened during your trial. I don’t know, you just seem on edge.”
“I’m fine, Jason. It’s nothing.”
“Are you sure? I’ll listen if you need to—”
“Leave it, Jason. It’s between me and Bianca. I don’t need you all up in my business right now.”
That didn’t go well. Jason slumped in his seat as he watched Hazel storm out of the room. He took a moment to himself before leaning forward to brush a strand of hair away from Bianca’s face.
He didn’t get very far, startling when a hand reached up and grabbed him mid reach. “Don’t even think about it, Grace.”
Bianca’s left eye slowly opened, a wide grin moving across her face. Jason smiled back at her, but couldn’t help but feel that something was off.
“Hey,” Jason pulled his arm back. “You’re awake.”
“Nice observation, Sherlock.” Jason ignored the thought he had questioning how exactly Bianca knew that phrase, instead watching as she sat up, struggling slightly after going days with no use to her body. “I heard you and Hazel talking.”
“Do you know what’s going on?”
Bianca bit the inside of her cheek. “Yeah, I do. It’s nothing you need to worry about. Not right now, at least.”
“Are you sure—”
“Yes, Jason. I’ll go talk to her. Just…” she stood, turning to Jason and putting her hands in front of her in a ‘stop’ motion… “stay here, please.”
He nodded, watching the girl as she stepped into Hazel’s room and closed the door behind her. She must have slammed it too hard, Jason thought as he watched a few of his books clatter to the ground.
He didn’t have time to mope around. It was his turn to make dinner, after all. Leo and Hazel decided on stir fry, meaning that Jason had to be the one to cook it. He didn’t mind, not really. Cooking was a pleasant distraction to everything going on around them. It was fine as long as the stove wanted to work that day.
Leo joined him after a while, just as he was plating everything in four equal servings (although he gave Bianca an extra spoonful. She was going to need it if she wanted to keep her energy up).
“Hey, man,” Jason said as he placed one plate in front of Leo’s seat at the island. "You doing okay?"
Leo smiled around a giant bite of his food, not waiting for the girls to come eat. “I’m good, man. How’s Chica?”
“Awake.” Jason sat the now empty pan he was holding into the sink. “She’s talking to Hazel right now. I was just about to go get them.”
“Wait.” Leo swallowed his food, stopping Jason from leaving the kitchen. “Can I ask you something…weird?”
“You usually do.” Jason smiled, punching Leo lightly on the arm.
Leo hesitated for a moment, looking around as if to double check that they were alone. “You think Bianca’s pretty, right?”
Jason furrowed his eyebrows. “I mean…yeah? What’s going on?”
“What about Nico?”
Jason blinked before repeating the question. “What about Nico?”
“Do you think he’s pretty, too?”
Crossing his arms, Jason smirked. “Do you think Nico’s pretty, Leo?”
“No!” Leo blurted out before deflating in defeat. “Maybe…I don’t know. I’m so confused anymore about everything.”
Jason placed a hand on Leo’s shoulder, the other boy looking up at him through his lashes. “I don’t know what to tell you, dude. I’ve never really thought about it before. Nico is taken, though. You know that, right?”
Leo sighed. “Yeah, I do, Jason. That’s so helpful.”
“You know that you’re taken, too, dude?”
Leo glared at him. “Yes, Jason. I’m aware.”
Jason sat down next to Leo, watching the other boy stuff his face sadly. “Look, man. If you think you’re feeling a certain way about someone who isn’t your girlfriend. I think you need to talk to Calypso about it first. Maybe you’re just in your head. Let’s focus on getting out of here first.”
Leo and he smiled at each other before Leo began to scarf down his food. Jason left him to his own devices, walking towards Hazel’s bedroom door and knocking quietly.
Bianca was the one who opened the door. Her eyes were red and slightly puffy. “Have you been crying?” Jason asked.
She wiped at her eyes. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it. Did you need something?”
“Dinner’s ready. It’s stir fry.”
Hazel pumped her fist from behind her sister. “Yes, I’m starving.”
The three of them joined Leo at the kitchen island, Jason making sure to give the fuller plate to Bianca, who smiled at him. “Thanks, Jay.”
He nodded. “No problem.”
Hazel moaned as she took a bite of her food. “You, Jason Grace, are legendary. You could be a professional chef.”
Bianca giggled, nodding her head. “Hazel, do you remember when…” she trailed off, the kitchen going silent as everyone watched her shove a bite of food into her mouth.
“Remember what?” Hazel asked.
Bianca shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I just…forgot something.”
The two of them looked at each other for a moment. Jason nervously went back to his food. That was weird. The four of them finished their meal in silence. Bianca, surprisingly, finished first before hurriedly saying that she was still tired and wanted to get some rest.
Jason watched as Bianca slipped into her own bedroom. He wasn’t mad about it. It was her room, after all. It just…felt odd, not having her slip into his room after a long day. He would be fine. There wasn’t any time to mope around, Jason reminded himself. They still aren’t at Hades.
His thoughts were interrupted by Hazel pulling something from her pocket. “I have to tell you guys something.”
He and Leo turned to her, a small bit of food hanging from the latter’s mouth.
“During my trial, I found something.” She pushed what Jason could now see was a note towards Leo, who unfolded it and began reading. Moving from his spot, Jason stood behind Leo, allowing himself to read the note.
Hazel,
Please don’t be alarmed by this note. It must be shocking to receive something from yourself during quite the strange encounter. Let me explain:
After Bianca’s death at the junkyard on her first quest. Hades himself brought her to his palace to explain everything. She’s immortal and was supposed to return to her body. Because of her misplaced memories, Bianca had no idea about this. Together, she and Hades chose to keep Bianca in the underworld, if not for her own sake, then Nico’s. Both agreed that having ten-year-old Nico know about Bianca’s power would cause him to be reckless. Hades didn’t know if Nico possessed the power himself. It’s extremely rare for a child of Hades/Pluto to be immortal. Hades believes that Bianca must have been granted this gift by the Fates after a complication during her birth.
After a while of living in the underworld alongside her father. She desperately wanted to return to see Nico, even if it was just one last time. Hades refused, recalling her iris messages to Percy, which allowed him to spy on Nico’s attempts to bring her back. Desperate, Bianca went to Sisyphus, the only mortal known for evading death. He explained the Death Trials to her, mentioning using the pearls to grant a wish that not even the Fates could refuse. It got her thinking.
That’s when Bianca came to Asphodel to find me. She told me of her plan to create a safe-haven for young demigods who had died in battle. Hades approved of the idea, glad to get some of the surplus of demigods off of his hands. I was supposed to be the guinea pig. The test run. Bianca refused to put her sister in such danger. That’s where Michael Yew came into play. I remember times where Nico would talk of the one demigod who was never found after their death. He wasn’t found in the underworld or on earth. Bianca had grabbed him from Charon’s boat and taken him to the Demigod Approved Safe Haven (DASH).
Only a year into Bianca’s experiment did Hades intervene. I had to return to Asphodel with no memories of my time with Bianca or DASH. It was safer that way. Bianca pleaded that if I remembered, Nico would know where she was. Hades refused, Hera had messed with the Great Prophecy already, and if word got out to the other gods of his own meddling…Zeus wouldn’t be happy.
Bianca decided that if Hades wouldn’t mess with the prophecy, she would. Bianca had me bury this box in Asphodel before I lost my memories, hoping that once I had found and read it, it would bring the memories back. That’s right now for me. I’m sitting in Asphodel, next to the spot I sat in for years at a time, watching the people walk aimlessly until they turned into trees.
I hope this letter finds you well, Hazel. Tell Nico where she is, please. I would hate to see what Bianca would do if I wasn’t able to find this.
Much love,
Hazel
As soon as he finished the letter, Jason was hit by a vision, or a memory, he wasn’t sure. He stumbled, causing Leo and Hazel to call his name and reach out for him before everything went dark.
He and Bianca sat on a swing set together, slowly rocking as they talked.
“I’m sorry,” Jason heard himself say, “that Hazel never found your letter. That must have sucked, waiting for them.”
“It was.” Vision-Bianca sighed. “You’re here, though.”
The two of them laughed, reaching out to grab each other’s hands before getting up from the swings. They began walking, Jason noticing the dead grass left in the wake of Bianca’s footsteps.
“Is everything okay?”
Bianca turned to look at the grass. “Yeah, it’s fine. It’s just…there’s something that I need to do. I might have a way to see Nico and Hazel.”
“What is it?” Jason grabbed both of Bianca’s hands, running his thumbs across her knuckles.
“I’m going to need your help setting it up. You’re going to have to move to Elysium for a while. It’ll take me too long to explain DASH and my presence if we’re both here when they arrive.”
“Who’s they?” Jason didn’t get an answer before Bianca let go of his hands, stomping her foot against the ground. Jason’s eyes widened as he fell through the newly created crack in the ground.
His vision ended in a stereotypical fade to black. Coming back to himself, he was sitting on the couch, Hazel and Leo on either side of him.
“Woah,” Leo said, “are you good, man? You went dark over there for a second.”
“Bianca.” Jason whispered.
Hazel furrowed her brows. “She’s still asleep. What’s going on?”
He grabbed both of their arms. “Bianca is the one that brought us here. All of us.”