Chapter Text
Bang bang bang!
Heavy thumps rattled the door, but Bianca didn’t care. It was the middle of the night, the entirety of camp was sounds asleep, and she was surely causing a disturbance great enough for all of the local harpies to come zipping by- but Bianca didn’t care.
She was hysterical, sobbing through the bite of her own lips. The cool air nipped at her tear-stricken cheeks, pecked at the exposed skin beneath her thin pajamas.
“Drew!” She cried, nearly tearing her own vocal cords through. “Drew–”
The door whirled open, displaying a frazzled-looking Drew. Eyes wide, brows furrowed, and hair caught in a neat, overnight braid- Drew looked about as terrified and dazed as Bianca felt.
“Bianca!” Drew whisper-shouted, immediately stepping forward and shutting her cabin door closed. “What–”
“I need to talk to you!” Bianca choked, fighting another hearty sob. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry - I just- nothing’s happened yet, so I–”
Bianca rubbed at her sternum- the very spot she’d been clutching at ever since she woke, fist as tight and coiled as iron.
“I never told you because it seemed pointless to bring this up and I never wanted you to hate me and–”
“Woah!” Drew held her hands up, moving them in a placating manner. “Slow down. Breathe. What–”
“I’m worried! I’m worried about Nico!” It came out as a screech, her voice shaky and still so littered with sobs. “There’s been this voice in- in my head. It’s been with me for months- remember the shopping trip we took to Times Square? That- The shadow that chased us all the way to camp? That was it. It started with that shadow- that thing–”
And somewhere in between it all, Bianca had fallen to her knees. She was so beside herself, distraught like she’s never, ever been before- nauseous, scared, clogged with snot and tears– Bianca could hardly tell the difference between up and down anymore.
But then- Drew was there, her warmth encasing Bianca like a newborn swaddled in blankets. Like a mother fussing over her child…
Like a friend, worried for another.
Bianca registered nothing over the next few minutes. The only sounds, feelings, were those of her own heaving sobs as they broke through the peaceful night. She could barely process coming to a stand, taking step after step, moving with indefinite care…
Until finally, before she even knew it, Bianca was back in the confines of her own Cabin Thirteen.
They settled- she settled, with a blanket wrapped over her shoulders and fingers brushing her bangs away. Drew was there, but she didn’t look nearly as settled as she made sure Bianca was.
But once everything slowed down, and once Bianca was able to breathe through her own nose,
“You’re really scaring me.” Drew spoke, firm, yet just above a whisper. When Bianca looked, glassy eyes stared right back at her. “Tell me what’s going on, please?”
Sincerity, was all Bianca could make of her tone.
“It’s- I- It’s…” Bianca rubbed at her chest, sniffling as her lips trembled. “This awful, awful feeling–”
And so, Bianca explained:
It started that very early morning, way before Bianca had risen from sleep. A rather uneventful night- there were no dreams, just this vague feeling of unease and gentle whispers that woke alongside her.
And because this was a sort of norm for her, Bianca thought little of it. She was still determined, quite naively so, to keep this new bit of her life to herself.
Except- these things. These feelings were growing to be too much at times. Bianca was growing antsy, but not antsy enough to open her mouth and say something.
But that night, it persisted. Bianca had tried to quell those very vague feelings and simply go to sleep, but they grew and grew until whispers tickled her ears and dread pooled in her gut.
Which is when, suddenly, it all took a sharp nose dive.
It all stopped. Her ears rung clear, her stomach was no longer tied up in knots- but rather, this new feeling took hold. Almost… Almost like despair.
Her heart- something deep within her chest had dropped.
That’s when Bianca had shot straight up, in an awful panic with no idea what to do except clutch at her chest and cry about the one thing that popped into her mind at that moment.
Nico.
“I can’t articulate it- I just can’t,” Bianca stressed, her heart in her throat. “Nico- he’s in trouble. I need to help him. I need to be there for him–”
To which Bianca abruptly stood, making her way to her chest.
She scrummaged around, shoveled things aside- but finally, she found a satchel that had seen very little use throughout her time at Camp Half-Blood.
“Hey, wait–”
But it was too late. Bianca had already moved to her dresser.
“I need to go.”
“Bianca.” Drew called her name, choked with the deepest of worry. “They don’t leave for another week. Are you sure–”
“I have to.”
“You don’t even know where he is!”
“I’ll find him!”
“At least wait until it’s morning–”
“You don’t get it!”
“And you’re not thinking!”
Bianca stopped in her tracks, facing Drew with a- what she hoped was- pleading look. “Drew, something is terribly wrong. I will never forgive myself if something happened to Nico. If I didn’t even try.”
“Look–” Drew raised a hand to her temple, brows knitting together in a show of worry. “Why don’t you sit down and explain it to me from the top.”
“Drew–”
“You said these things- voices, or whatever- came to you way back when we got chased out of the city? What were they saying?”
And just as Bianca was about to turn away and continue with her packing, her eyes caught sight of her father’s shrine.
Could she… Would she be able to…
Maybe he would have the slightest of clue what to do- that is, if she could find him at all.
But how would she get there? Nico was the one with the shadow travel. She’d only done it once, out of pure adrenaline…
And there was that one time she’d opened up a hole straight to her father’s palace, but despite her muddled brain, Bianca did not want to chance such a giant exit…
Shadow travel was the best option. One thing was for sure- Bianca had to leave as soon as possible.
Oh, how desperately she wished she’d practiced her shadow travel throughout the months.
“It was more like a feeling.” Bianca finally settled on, slowly moving towards her father’s shrine. Despite the clear words she sometimes heard, they… were too somber to share with Drew. “I had my suspicions, but now I know they were referring to Nico.”
She had a few things in the palace, did she not? Her and Nico had a room, and while they didn’t make it a weekly thing, they’d sometimes go for a visit. It had been a while, but Bianca was sure she stowed away some necessities in her bedroom.
From the corner of her eye, Bianca could feel Drew’s eyes lingering on her.
Then, to her father’s shrine.
“And what did you feel?” Drew leaned forward, very obviously careful in her words.
Bianca appreciated it, but the hollowness in her chest was too much to bear. She’d calmed down some, but…
Still, it had to be done.
With one quick glance to the nearest shadow, and another final look at Drew… Bianca made her choice.
“I have to go.”
“Wait–”
And with that, Bianca stepped into the shadows and willed herself away.