"Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches."— William Goldman, The Princess Bride
Bianca had decided against joining the hunt when the offer had been made to her those few years ago. It was something that Percy often thought about when he came to stand alongside his current girlfriend. He never understood and she never went into much detail about why it had taken her as long as it had to decide, but the end result was something he was happy with.
Gods, he was with her so that should be proof enough, right?
Artemis may not think it was the right choice, but Percy was still pretty sure the Goddess held a grudge against him because of Bianca just like Zoe still did, but ah well. All of them were hunting some monster or beast elsewhere in the world, so they didn't matter half as much to him as Bianca currently did.
Soon, she'd be back from her current duties and they could spend the rest of the evening together. Until that time came, however, Percy would simply spend it in silence whilst thinking about their earlier days. He wasn't nearly as fond as Grover was about waiting patiently or relaxing, but he found that when those thoughts extended towards a specific girl… they were tolerable.
"He always talks about that stupid…" Bianca stopped speaking as she looked around, blinked and then rubbed at her eyes before turning her attention back to Percy, a sullen, defeated and still thoroughly shocked expression on her face. "I can't say stupid anymore, because it's not — I am."
"You're not stupid. I didn't think this existed until I saw it either," Percy said quickly, an encouraging smile on his face as he stayed in front of Bianca on their now-paused tour of Camp Half-Blood.
"I would bet you that next to nobody knows this place is real, much less all the people who play Mythomagic like Nico," Bianca joked half-heartedly, forced laughter coming from her for all of two seconds before she shook her head and motioned around them. "You brought us here because it's safe and all, after saving us, Percy. I know I've had time to see how real this all is, some of it's really cool too, but is this really where Nico and I should be?"
Percy nodded once, firmly. "Nico would love it here just as much as you would, I can promise you that. Anything either of you could ever want is here, you wouldn't have to do it all yourself and more than that, you can pick what you'd like to learn," Percy swung his arms to encompass the entirety of the camp. "I know the Hunters want you, but you'd really like it here. Nico wants you to stay but I know you probably want to do whatever you want to do… I guess just don't pick too fast?"
If Annabeth were with him right this moment, he knew she could've worded that so much better. What he really meant was that he didn't want Bianca to choose too quickly, especially if she wanted to join the Hunters. He knew he had a bias towards Camp Half-Blood, but it really was a lot freer. Nico, her brother, he'd be here too.
"Percy, I know you think I should stay for Nico but the Hunters are what I want to pick, they're who I should join," Bianca shook her head but still kept up a smile at him. "You're really nice and I won't forget that you risked yourself for Nico and me, but I need to do what I think is best. Nico would have all of you as friends still, even if I'm gone. I took this tour with you Percy just because I was hoping to ask you to keep an eye on him… you can do that, right?"
"I won't let anything happen to Nico," Percy said firmly as he looked sullenly off into the treeline.
Annabeth was gone, taken from him and he'd lost Bianca to the Hunters. He let down Annabeth and now he'd let down Nico. Gods, he couldn't do anything right recently. It was like he was cursed.
"Percy?" Bianca asked, her expression now slightly worried as she reached out to him, the back of her hand extended towards his forehead.
"I'm good, sorry," Percy responded, shaking his head as he grinned at Bianca, his attention refocused on a nearby path that ultimately led to where they ate. "Are you hungry? We could go get some food, there's usually always something available. Don't worry about the Hunters or anybody else either, most of them are out practising already."
Bianca looked at him weirdly before a small burst of laughter escaped her. "If everybody else is out working on archery or other skills, shouldn't we finish this tour and then do the same? I still have to talk to them about… about joining."
Percy shrugged. "We could be quick?"
Little did he know that his little disregard for spending time appropriately would ultimately help his day. It was in a crazily bizarre way too, far more so than he figured at the very least.
"You decided on what?" Percy asked, blinking as he felt his heart speeding up.
Bianca folded her arms and fixed him with a very Annabeth-like stare. It wasn't rude like Clarisse, it was more of a scolding look.
"You're just like Nico, neither of you ever hear what I say the first time I say it," Bianca said, wagging her finger at him before she straightened back up with that usual friendly smile on her face. "I decided to stay in Camp Half-Blood for the time being, but I told them I'd probably end up joining them in the Hunt, eventually. They said I'd have to be quick, that I couldn't take forever, but I wanted to be a bit freer, I guess?"
"What do you mean?" Percy asked as he finally scooched aside and handed a s'more he'd just made at the fire to her.
"I've been taking care of Nico as long as I can remember. I love him, he's my little brother, but I want to live my life, not his," Bianca motioned over to the Hunters who were seated all together and away from the main body of Camp Half-Blood goers. "They have so much scheduled in a day, from meals to other activities — it's not like here where we can snack when we'd like, lounge when we want. I want that freedom, but at the same time, I want to let Nico thrive on his own. He's older and he has friends here, I don't need to shadow him anymore."
"So you were going to join the Hunters just so that Nico could do well here and so you wouldn't have to babysit him?" Percy asked as he swallowed a bite of roasted marshmallow, the crunchy bit being savoured the most as he thought about Bianca and how she felt. "You don't have to do either anymore. It's like you said, he has friends here and Camp Half-Blood isn't as demanding. We have fun too, a lot of fun just like these s'mores nights."
"Quests too, everybody always talks to me about the quest that you went on last year. It was dangerous, they keep saying… you better not let Nico go on any of them. You can talk him out of doing something better than I can, now that he's here," Bianca said before she changed the topic drastically, her legs squished against his on the small log when she chose to sit down. "What else do they do here for fun now that I'll be giving it a try?"
At that moment in time, Percy had gone on to mention war games, pranking other cabins and even spending time in the River just thanks to his powers. All of the ways that he animatedly mentioned were relatively innocent in terms of their fun, they were ways that were free of danger and for the most part, drama.
She seemed excited at what he mentioned, but she remained focused on the thought of Quests; not for Nico's sake, for hers. He had been too ecstatic that Bianca had decided to stay for the time being to notice her interest in the dangerous journies. Especially as her revelation meant there was a chance he could get that temporary 'yes' to be a permanent arrangement. Nico would have his sister around if he needed her and Bianca could still do what she wanted, they both won.
At least for those next dozen or so hours, the last few that were free of all Quest-talk.
"Zoe didn't pick me, she wouldn't hear me out unless I visited her to join the Hunters," Bianca shot him a sour look before she narrowed her eyes, picking something up from his body language based on her next question. "You mentioned your Pegasus stable and other cool things about camp, the Hunters brought up immortality, right?"
Percy kicked at the dirt. "Yeah… you see that camp is cooler though, right? You've still stayed with us and you've seen that the Hunters only want to talk because they think you're joining them."
"I've already said I'm staying for a while Percy, but I told Zoe when I saw her that I'd want to give them a try for a bit. She said it didn't work like that, but I still want to see what they do, they seem really cool when they're not getting annoyed," Bianca shook her head and then pointed towards the backpack at his feet. "You've got me off-topic, not that it matters anymore. You're planning something, my brother gets the same look on his face when he's doing something he shouldn't be — what is it?"
"What makes you think I'm planning anything?" Percy countered innocently, a smile on his face that would normally have Annabeth smacking him up the back of his head.
"Oh please, you're not half as good at lying as you think you are, Percy. I bet, if I had to guess based on what everybody says about you and the bit that I've seen, you're getting ready to go after Grover, Zoe and the rest of them," Bianca said with a winning, confident look on her face before it lowered when her eyes followed something.
"Nico wanted to spend some time with you since it's been a few days… and you're right," Percy looked around after he said she was right, confirming that nobody was nearby. "I did plan on going out after them, I have to rescue Annabeth. Grover too, I have to make sure he stays safe."
Bianca poked at him, her thin finger pushing into his left cheek. "I knew it. You're not a very good liar," Bianca then shook her head at Nico over Percy's shoulder, her hands withdrawing to settle on her hips. "Can you talk to him again, please? I know he wants to meet up every once and a while, but Gods, he's still following after me all the time. I love him, Percy, I really do, but I just want a bit of time to myself… take me with you."
"What'd you say?" Percy asked, blinking in confusion at her sudden shift.
"Take me with you," Bianca said, her hands on her face as she peered at him through her fingers, her eyes periodically darting over his shoulder as she spoke to him. "Nico needs time without me near him if he's going to keep his friends and I need a break, plus you need a partner."
Percy rubbed at his chin and started to think about his plan — it wasn't a very good one to start, especially since he couldn't think about everything that he'd need since that was usually Annabeth's field — as well as how Bianca's presence would change it. "Are you sure? I know you said you didn't want Nico going near a quest since they're dangerous, you've heard the tales yourself, so do you really want to go on one?"
Bianca nodded once, resolute and firm yet somehow still holding onto that sweet smile of hers.
As soon as she did so, any chance Percy had at saying no was gone.
"Were those really zombies?" Bianca asked as she jogged along with Percy across the street, the others visible to them.
"You saw them, didn't you? They were real, as real as either of us. We need to get to the others before they do," Percy pointed ahead to where the group was; Zoe, Grover, Thalia and Lena. "Once we get over to them, you can't say how long we've been following after them. Zoe wouldn't be happy that you spent time alone with me — she's already not going to be entirely too happy seeing that we followed them."
"They owe you their lives, Percy. Those zombies, they're dangerous, isn't that what you said?" Bianca looked between two cars when she stopped speaking, then she pulled him along behind her as the two darted across the street, now only dozens of feet away from the others.
Percy grunted before he called out to the group of four, the side with which they were currently noticeably less occupied than the previous few blocks had been. "Grover, Zoe."
Instantly upon hearing his voice, Grover and Zoe turned around to face them, the latter already sliding into an aggressive posture while the former seemed very happy.
"Jackson."
"Hey, Percy!"
Zoe's mild greeting, one said with a scowl and near-hiss-like tone conveyed to Percy just how bothered she was by him. Grover, on the other hand, seemed as happy as he always did.
"We've got problems coming, they're close by now — let's get going," Percy rushed past them with Bianca still on his left side, hoping the others would see how serious he was and would follow suit. "Hurry, we have to be quick."
Zoe shot a look over to Thalia and Lena that showed she wasn't happy but would comply with his request. Grover instantly made after him without so much as a glance at the rest of his party.
"You were not chosen for this quest, Percy Jackson. No matter what's coming after us, you should not be here anymore than she should be," Zoe looked past him, her eyes focusing on Bianca long enough for a displeased look to flash across her face before those eyes of hers settled back to him. "We are in this… museum… now. Nobody else is near, so cease your running and tell us why you've come."
"Zombies are after you. These ones seem a lot stronger than the usual ones do, they're apparently impossible to destroy. We needed to do something when we found out about them," Percy nodded over to Thalia and the rest of the group before he looked back at Zoe, "They're only after the group of you. Somehow they know about the quest, the party… they knew stuff about Artemis and Annabeth too."
"What did they say about our lady? Is she alright? Is her location as the seer said?" Zoe bombarded him with questions as her inherent dislike of men was seemingly forgotten or forgiven, at least as long as the man knew about Artemis' whereabouts and status.
"They didn't really say too much about her condition or where she is, they just mentioned that she's currently being held by a group of their co-conspirators. Now really, Zoe, we need to hurry away from here and stop with all of the questions or those zombies will be on us soon. Very, very soon," Percy looked over to Bianca and indicated with his head the nearest exit, he did the same with Grover without a second thought being spared.
Zoe didn't like that he was trying to take Grover from her party, based on the look she sent him. She also didn't seem to enjoy his suggestions since the moment he made his presence known. Percy didn't care all that much about what Zoe thought, all he cared about was the safety of his friends as well as the party sent out to rescue one of them.
"Percy! Did you bring any cans with you, I've been hu—" Grover stopped and let loose a scream before it promptly cut off.
When Percy turned around and saw Grover tackled to the side by Thalia, a giant lion only a few feet from her, he realised his warning had been too late. Thus, he took out his weapon of choice, turned it into its sword form and readied himself for a fight, one in which Bianca's safety was paramount.
Bianca was fine. Grover was mostly fine. Thalia, Zoe and Lena were all well too. Not one person had gotten hurt by those zombies or the lion they'd killed, which was absolutely absurd. If anything, them coming out of the fight with a lion's coat that could take a great deal of damage had seen them gain quite a bit.
Percy wasn't stupid though, he knew that they had been extremely lucky in dealing with that lion and the zombies. It could have gone poorly, it probably would have if they hadn't gotten lucky with the lion before the zombies arrived. Annabeth, if she had been with them, everything would have been over in minutes without the need to run and sleep in a car hauling vehicle.
They were lucky they had snacks and giant, luxury vehicles to eat them in.
"I still can't believe you killed it, Percy! It was massive, those teeth were vicious-looking and Lena, she almost got her arm bitten off if it wasn't for you," Bianca poked him in the side of the neck when he didn't answer her almost immediately after she was finished. "You've been quiet since the fight earlier, is everything alright? I don't think the lion was real if that's what's bringing you down."
Percy snorted and shook his head, picking at some dry cereal. "It's not about that, I'm just worried about Annabeth, worried about Grover, worried about you. I'm worried about all of us, I guess," Percy stopped eating and looked directly at Bianca, his face marred with concentration and a vaguely frustrated expression. "You had your bow out and were firing at the lion, but it never went after you. Grover, the slingshot that he uses was kind of the same, but I was nervous that it would."
Bianca shrugged. "I could dodge it like you, Zoe and Thalia did. Grover's faster than me so he could probably do the same. You don't have to be worried about us, Percy, I wouldn't want to do that to you after feeling those same feelings for years."
He laughed when she pulled the cereal from his hands and continued when he noticed how real her bravery was. Initially, he had thought she was faking it or playing it up for his sake, but he didn't think of her like that any longer. Bianca was strong-willed, friendly and just as brave as anybody else he'd met since he joined Camp Half-Blood.
"I won't worry if you're that sure then," Percy said with a grin, plucking at a few bits of cereal that threatened to fall to the floor. "You landed a lot of those shots earlier, were you still practising at camp before we left?"
Bianca smiled widely and nodded. "I spent an hour every morning before you woke up at the range, lazy. Sometimes I learned from one of the Hunters, other times it was people from Apollo's Cabin or Athena's. I don't remember their names from Athena's cabin, but they weren't as good as the other two groups, just more careful about where they hit."
"I'm horrible with a bow, I don't think Annabeth was any good with them either… Gods, you've gotten good fast, haven't you?" Percy looked closer at Bianca then, like he was seeing her for the first time; it was all in good fun, but he definitely meant his last comment about her getting good quickly.
"Maybe I'm a daughter of Apollo, right? I don't think I could be a daughter of Artemis or Athena," Bianca brought a hand to her chin before she threw it away altogether, scoffing as she burrowed in closer to him. Next, she looked out of the window into the vast countryside as their ride went ever closer to their goal.
Percy held in his laughter at 'Daughter' of Artemis and ultimately mimicked her earlier action when it was clear that she was done talking; he shrugged. Whoever her godly parent was, he didn't have a clue. There wasn't any easy way to tell unless they claimed you as Poseidon had done to him, and based on Hermes' cabin still being packed full, it didn't seem like the gods planned on claiming all of their children anytime soon.
"You should sleep," Percy finally said, when he realised he had been gazing at Bianca for a few minutes as their ride went ever onwards and his mind continued racing around.
"If I should sleep, you should sleep too. Both of us were running around a lot today, but it wasn't me who fought a lion with a sword and then sent the zombies running in the opposite direction," Bianca flicked him in the shoulder and before he could do the same back to her, she eased into the back seat of the SUV they were on. "I'll take the second row if you want to recline in the driver's seat. I remember how easy you fall asleep back at Camp Half-Blood — you boys are all the same too, falling asleep at the dinner table once you've eaten a bunch."
Percy shook his head innocently, a hurt look tossed over his shoulder. He wasn't sure Bianca saw it thanks to the dimness of the vehicle, but if she did, he knew she'd recognise it as a joking look; he was far more handsome when he was serious.
"We can both sleep, Grover's in the car beside ours so we don't have to worry about them leaving without us. He wouldn't let Zoe do that, besides, she doesn't seem like she hates me as much as she used to for stealing you from her," Percy laughed and looked over his shoulder again, "I know I d— Bianca?"
He blinked a few times as he watched Bianca's chest rise and fall. She was fine, his mind immediately rationalised, but it didn't stop the quick burst of worry that'd come from within. Bianca had fallen asleep in the few seconds she'd been sprawled out in the back seat. She had put her backpack under her as if it were a pillow while using the seatbelts to stop herself from sliding by tying an impromptu brace.
Her safety was as impressive as her ability to fall asleep quickly.
She must have been a lot more tired than she said… I guess it makes sense too, this is her first quest. It wasn't like last year, with Annabeth and Grover doing all kinds of running around.
Percy shook his head and took off his jacket before he placed it on Bianca, ensuring that she was warm and comfortable. He wasn't sure what it was about her, but he constantly felt an urge in the back of his mind to check on her. If it wasn't to see and prove to himself that she was alright, it was to show that she still hadn't left for the Hunters.
Gods, he really needed to be a bit less crazy about her. Annabeth needed them, and Nico needed him to bring his sister back too. He couldn't do either task if he was too busy worrying about her while Zoe hung over his shoulder, tempting Bianca to join Artemis' hunters.
It felt like one hour was all that'd gone by for the past day or so. There was no way that so much could happen in said one hour, but Percy still couldn't comprehend everything as he'd seen it happen. Artemis had battled Zoe's father, Zoe had saved Artemis and died protecting her after already taking a wound for the rest of the party that would've proven itself fatal, Thalia had decided to join the Hunters, Annabeth was safe, He had held up the sky and Bianca had chosen to stay at Camp Half-Blood, injured as she was on his account.
He was lucky she was only injured too, that junkyard and the guardian it had should have killed her. Percy would have always blamed himself had that happened, and Nico would have been right to do the same, but Lena and he had barely managed to rescue Bianca before her rule-breaking got her killed. Saved as she was, Percy still couldn't help but think by that point of the quest that bringing her with him was stupid.
She was injured, the shock that very briefly passed through her body leaving lasting nerve damage, but she was alive.
"You're still just hanging around here by yourself?" Bianca's voice asked, reaching his ears with its usual sweetness.
Percy looked over to where it came from and saw the girl stepping towards him, her awkwardness and reservation finally completely gone. He was happy to see how relaxed she'd become, but when he saw her left arm twitch, his good feelings were ruined once more. That damage of hers was completely his fault — he should have explained the rules better or done something else differently to prevent her from picking up those action figures for Nico.
He hadn't been careful enough and she'd have those injuries for a long time.
"Stop being so sullen, Percy. I'm alive, your friend Annabeth is back and Zoe's resting," Bianca came over and sat beside him, pulling his hand into hers and closing it tightly to show that she had improved beyond what he had initially thought. "I know you didn't like her for trying to recruit me and I know she didn't like you for 'corrupting' me, but the two of you were more alike than either of you recognised. She was happy that you had her sword and proud that you took the sky from Artemis, I don't the others were joking when they said her smile at you was the first one she'd sent a boy for centuries."
Percy couldn't help but laugh at the craziness of that thought. Zoe hated boys possibly more than the rest of the Hunters and the fact that she smiled at him after all that they'd been through together, he would carry that memory for a long time. They may not have been friends, but the respect they felt towards one another by the time the end came about was real.
"Did you know that the Hunters couldn't date either? Nobody mentioned that, they just kept talking about immortality and hunting," Bianca shook her head and looked up into the sky, her eyes settling on an especially shiny star as her hand continued holding his with no sign that it would let go anytime soon.
Percy had felt a bit shy or embarrassed when she mentioned the dating, but he eventually shook his head. There wasn't any way somebody like her was interested in him. Not with Bianca as smart, nice and quick to learn as she was while he was still stubborn, in trouble for running off and dumb as he could be.
Seaweed brain for a reason.
Annabeth had called him that when he was resting, wounded and exhausted as he was. Bianca, on the other hand, was far less amused and far more annoyed with him. She felt that he was flirting with death and being 'too' brave when he took hold of the sky after trying to fight multiple beings that were supposed to be stronger than he was by a large margin. Bianca and Annabeth weren't entirely wrong that he could be overly reckless, he supposed, but in that same breath, somebody had to take all the dangerous tasks.
Percy was naturally lucky when it came to such things, as proven by his still being alive, so he figured it was better for him to do.
"Wait," Percy said, swallowing, shaking his head and shooting a grin over at Bianca. "You thought the Hunters could date and only found out now that we're back?"
Bianca punched him softly in the arm once, her eyes narrowing up at him. "Don't sound so high and mighty, Percy. You didn't say anything about the no-dating rule that they had. Zoe and the rest of the Hunters didn't exactly talk about those things either. If it wasn't hunting, fighting, talking about Artemis or recruitment, they weren't interested."
"I thought you said you spent a lot of time learning with Nico about the Gods, Goddesses and their specific rules?" Percy dodged left, laughing openly as Bianca's swipe at his ear missed and the girl started to wrestle with him as a result.
"Always playing around and being brave and dumb," Bianca huffed, poking at his shoulder when she failed to make him budge from the log. "You're lucky you're as nice as you are, or else it'd be really easy to stay mad at you, Percy."
He grinned at her and finally slung an arm around Bianca's shoulders, the act far more friendly than romantic as he momentarily forgot about her earlier comment regarding dating. "Shouldn't that be you're lucky that I'm this nice?" Percy pouted his eyes at her in the same way that he did with Annabeth, making Bianca laugh for a few seconds before her cheeks went red and she looked away.
Percy was curious, thinking that he'd messed up somehow, but he wasn't given the chance to ask.
"Remember how I asked about dating?" Bianca asked, her eyes back on the stars above them.
"Yeah. If I would've known I should mention that to have you stay, I would've," Percy said quickly as he started to pull his arm back to his side.
He didn't finish that motion before one of Bianca's held it in place as her face turned towards him again with that shy, nervous and conflicted mixture that he first saw when they met one another now back
"Can we date?"
Percy blinked at those words that came from her, and when he eventually choked out a yes that was said with far more confidence than he felt, he got the tightest hug of his life.
In hindsight, he should have answered; Gods, yes.
AN-
Percianca.
Still confused about which ship to do next.
Enjoyyyyy