The first memory Bianca had was… nothing…
It was like she suddenly woke up right when someone passed right beside her and bumped into her without noticing.
And that, as if it broke something that had been holding her, suddenly left her empty.
Her gaze, all at once, like it had opened from a total void, looked around. Sounds of all kinds reached her ears, completely overwhelming her, making her feel dizzy. Making her almost fall to the ground.
"Miss, are you alright?" a voice said quickly while holding her so she wouldn't fall.
Bianca lifted her gaze, confused, and found a beautiful woman dressed in a waitress uniform, holding a tray with small snacks shaped like lotus flowers in one hand. And with the other, she was holding her, the one who had almost collapsed.
"I… I don't know," Bianca said, her face full of confusion. The only things she could remember right now were two things; her name, Bianca Di Angelo, and that she had to take care of her brother Nico Di Angelo. But everything else just seemed to have vanished.
"Oh, maybe you just need something to eat. Here, take this. It'll help," the woman said softly while placing the tray in front of Bianca, as the smell of the snacks, a sweet mix with a strong fragrance, instantly reached her nose, making her body seem to want, at all costs, to consume it.
But at the same time, a warning seemed to ring inside her head completely against it, like her mind and her body were clashing.
"N-no, thank you," she said, taking all her willpower. "I… I need to find my brother," she said while her gaze quickly seemed to scan the place.
Filled with unfamiliar faces, having fun in different kinds of games or strange machines.
The woman made a slight expression of surprise for a moment when she saw Bianca didn't take the snack, but it didn't seem to matter much to her. And seeing that Bianca could stand, she simply walked toward a nearby child and handed him the snacks, and the boy devoured them in a single breath, continuing to play like nothing else mattered.
Bianca, watching him, noticed that the boy's clothes were really strange, old. Though she didn't understand how old, because she couldn't even remember where she came from.
The dizziness still hit her hard, but she stayed on her feet, trying to find her brother. But every person she saw there did nothing but play, without taking their eyes off the screens, completely hypnotized.
Suddenly, in that sea of people who wouldn't look away, she saw a back moving calmly through the place. But it was strange, because she saw him and, the next second, he seemed to be farther away with every step.
It was a strange feeling, like he wasn't moving in the same time as everyone else.
She felt like the person who had bumped into her had been him, and that was what woke her up.
"I-it's… wait," Bianca said, feeling like the only help she would have to find her brother and try to understand what was happening was that person.
Besides, she could see the design on the back of his jacket, with the word "death" written on it. And more than feeling fear, for some reason, she felt even more like running after him.
Without hesitating, she ran after him. But right away she noticed that even running with all her strength, and seeing that the man was only walking calmly, she never really seemed to get any closer.
"Please… wait," Bianca shouted as she raised her hand to reach him, while watching him start to disappear into the sea of people and arcade machines.
"Please, I need help," Bianca shouted just as he vanished from her sight. Seeing the back she had been following disappear, she stopped, breathing with difficulty. Her hand, still raised, slowly began to fall, while her face turned scared, confused, not knowing what to do… lost.
But quickly she seemed to gather courage and got up to keep running in the same direction where she had seen the man disappear.
"Hello, dear, would you like something to eat or drink?" a waitress said quickly, appearing out of nowhere with a tray full of food and other things, including lotus-shaped snacks.
"No, thank you," Bianca said as she tried to take another step. But again, this time, a waiter stopped her, pushing a large cart of food.
"Are you sure, miss? They're really delicious," the waiter said with a kind smile.
"No," Bianca said, trying to move past him. But instantly she noticed that it seemed like every waiter, server, and maid was walking toward her with identical trays.
That made her feel trapped, and a tremor began to spread through her.
"No… I just want to go find my brother," she said quickly, looking in every direction, searching for something to help her. But all the people nearby kept their eyes glued to the screens. Even if someone died right next to them… maybe no one would notice.
"What is this place?" Bianca couldn't help but say when she noticed that.
At once, she heard a snap of fingers, and all the waiters who had been approaching her to offer food suddenly seemed to freeze. Or rather, they started moving so slowly it looked like they were frozen.
Bianca's eyes widened in surprise at that, and she turned around, finding someone standing right behind her, watching her closely, with interest.
"So this is where the other one was," the man said, staring at her.
Bianca was about to open her mouth, but before she could, she heard a sob that made her lower her gaze.
Hanging from the man's hand, who was holding him by the back of his jacket like he was just a bag, was a boy with his face covered in tears and fear, muttering between sobs, "My sister…," clutching a little metal soldier tightly in his hands, as if it were protecting him.
"Nico!" Bianca shouted as she recognized him.
The boy lifted his face, full of tears, and when he found his sister's face, his eyes widened instantly.
Bianca ran toward her brother and pulled him into her arms, hugging him tightly, while Nico hugged her even tighter. Ever since he woke up, he had been alone in an unknown place, not knowing anything. That, for an eight or nine-year-old like him, would obviously scare him more than normal.
Especially when he had been surrounded by a bunch of people trying to force him to eat.
Until that man suddenly appeared and grabbed him, taking him out of there.
"Mm… good, I found both brats. I guess I completed my part of the deal so the brat can enjoy his stupid little adventure," the man said for a moment, looking at Bianca and Nico, but then his gaze seemed to scan the place. Then he crouched slightly, touching the ground with his hands, as if he were sensing something.
"This should be a good spot," he said before standing up and, suddenly, using a language Nico and Bianca didn't understand, he started murmuring something softly.
Then, from the center of the ground, suddenly a massive rock began to rise, while strange runes appeared carved into it that neither of them recognized. But they were shocked that, with just a few words from that man, something literally came out of the ground.
"W-what is that?" Bianca couldn't help but ask as she saw the rock suddenly release a faint pulse, which seemed to pass through every person nearby.
"All-Maker Stones," the man said calmly as he walked around, pulling out what looked like glowing stones of a pale pink color, but shining with energy. Then the man began to create a large circle on the ground, placing one of those stones at certain points, while the circle lit up more and more and seemed to activate the stone in the center, which glowed intensely.
For a moment, in that frozen state the people were in, you could see how images seemed to appear above their heads, in fast motion. Their memories. That was the first thing Bianca thought when she saw it.
"You're… taking their memories?" she said, slightly on guard, thinking that this man might be the one who had stolen her own memories and her brother's.
"Huh?" the man said, like the question was stupid. "Mmm… looks like the children of those guys can all be just as dumb," the man said, looking closely at Bianca and Nico, as if comparing them to someone in his mind.
…
Bianca finished telling Percy how they had met Miraak, and Percy couldn't help but notice that it was indeed his master. And from what they said about the place and the food, it was obviously the Lotus Casino.
Back when his master was still mortal, you could say.
"I wasn't crying," Nico added, just in case, embarrassed by the story.
Bianca ignored him and continued:
"After that, he brought us straight here, saying he finished his deal. And he left us the bow and Nico's book so we could protect ourselves. And he told us to wait for someone who would help us finish what was left. Then a woman came and enrolled us in the school where Mr. Thorn was the principal… until Clarisse arrived," Bianca finished, connecting everything at the end.
"Yeah. When I showed up, Mr. Thorn realized right away that I was a demigod, so I had to get Bianca and Nico out of there. And we ended up being chased through several towns until this one," Clarisse added, now almost fully healed, though still sore.
"Then we showed up to save them, and we would've completely done it if we hadn't been interrupted," Percy said in a serious tone, before looking coldly at the hunters, and with that, back at Artemis. Returning to the starting point, and with his tone even colder than before, he remembered the question he had asked.
"So… how are you going to rescue Annabeth now?" he asked in a cold, dry tone.
The hunters looked like they wanted to attack Percy instantly because of the way he spoke to their goddess, especially Zoe Belladona, who felt pain all over her body and still felt the cold of death that had almost embraced her.
But Artemis raised her hand, stopping the hunters calmly, before looking at Percy with an equally cold expression. After all, she was a goddess. And no one dared speak to her like that, not twice.