Originally published September 5th, 2015

Title: The Rebirth of Bianca di Angelo

Genre: Fanfiction--The Camp Half-Blood Chronicles

The first thing Kyra saw when she woke up was dead people. Okay, not literally, but waking up to a bunch of tombstones in your face wasn't exactly the sunny morning Kyra was expecting. Kyra got up and scraped the dirt off her clothes before she examined her surroundings. All she saw was a bunch of tombstones and never ending woods beyond that. Great. Kyra was stuck in the middle of nowhere in a cemetery. At night. During a full moon. Kyra couldn't even remember how she got there in the first place. In fact, she couldn't remember much of anything at all. Outwardly groaning, Kyra stomped out of the cemetery before she got possessed by a ghost or something else creepy like that.

Kyra wandered around aimlessly in the woods for about half an hour before she saw smoke rising from the trees a little ways ahead. Victory screeching on the inside, Kyra sprinted towards the smoke, not caring to even think about the fact that it might forest fire. She just wanted to find a way out of those woods.

~

Nico wished he had his usual nightmares. Instead he had something even worse--flashbacks. Apparently flashbacks is one of Hades's divine powers because both he and Hazel have them quite often. But at least Hazel's flashbacks were a series of random things, Nico's were only about one thing: Bianca.

The flashbacks began a few weeks after the war with Gaea ended. Nico would be laying alone in his cabin when all of a sudden, he would have a flashback. The flashbacks were just various things like he and Bianca playing a game of Mythomagic, the two of them working on homework together, and probably one of the most disappointing moment of his life when Bianca joined the Hunters of Artemis. But on this particular night, he had a different flashback.

Everything happened in third person. Nico was standing right in front of Bianca, but she couldn't see him. She was kneeling down besides the river Lethe, and it seemed liked she was having an inner conflict with herself, for she kept putting her hand near the water, then pulling it back. Nico reached out her her, to offer her comfort, but his hand went right through her.

He wanted to hold back his tears, but he couldn't. Everything about her looked exactly how he remembered it, the way her dark hair flowed underneath her hat, the little sprinkle of freckles across her nose. Everything about her was just so real, and the fact that she was truly gone was real too. Nico knew what was going to happen next. Bianca would dip her hand in the river and forget that he ever existed.

Bianca was attempting to dip her hand in the river for the fifth time when an apparition of a familiar girl appeared in front of her.

"Bianca, my dear, you don't have to do this." The girl's brown hair flowed in non-existent wind, which intrigued Nico.

Bianca looked up at the girl, with tears in her eyes. "But I must, my lady, I can't live with the guilt of what I've done to Nico." She looked down to her reflection in the river. A tear dropped from her face, distorting her reflection. "Nico's alone, and it's all my fault."

The girl floated over to Bianca and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault, you didn't know what would happen. Besides, if it was anyone's fault it was mine. You weren't ready, yet I made you go."

Nico realized this was Lady Artemis Bianca was talking to. But how did she get here?

Bianca turned away, "It's my fault for joining."

"Temptation is a strong and evil force, very few can turn down the opportunity of immortality." Lady Artemis stood back up. "But I am here for a reason. I have a proposal for you." Bianca looked up at the young maiden goddess, urging her to continue. Lady Artemis handed Bianca a card who began to read it, but at the angle Nico was at he couldn't read it. "I had an arrangement with Hades, but it's your choice if you want to go through with it." Bianca gave Artemis a small nod, and Artemis made a piece of paper and pen appear in front of Bianca.

"Lovely! By signing this you are agreeing to the arrangement and any risks involved with it," Lady Artemis informed.

Nico had no idea what was in the contract, but he couldn't help but yell, "Bianca, don't do it!"

It was no use, Bianca's eyes scanned over the contract before signing, and in a ball of silver light the contract disappeared. "Well, after you, my dear." Bianca gave Artemis a look of worry before dipping her hand in the river. Nico cringed as he watched Bianca's eyes lose focus and collapse. It was like watching her die, she was leaving him for the third time. Nico fell to the ground on his knees and screamed, but no one could hear him. Bianca's body began to be sucked away into the sky by silver light. Artemis gave a satisfied smile before fading away. Nico gave rude gestures to the area Artemis was recently standing in, what was there to be satisfied about? His sister just left for good, and Artemis was smiling like her child just won the science fair! He stopped screaming, screaming didn't help the fact Bianca was gone. He lied down on the cold ground, and closed his eyes. It was all over.

~

It was getting darker. Kyra pressed through the woods, her black hair trailing behind her. The woods were thickening, but she was getting closer to the fire. As she was running, Kyra scraped her arm against a juniper tree branch, leaving a streak of blood along her arm. Droplets of blood fell upon the silver dress she was wearing, but the didn't mind her. What did bother her was the fact she was wearing a dress in a forest. She didn't even have shoes on! Who goes into the forest with a dress and no shoes? Kyra wished she could remember why she would do something so stupid.

Kyra soon arrived at the source of smoke: a small campfire giving warmth to a young girl in a brown hooded cloak. The girl's eyes were warm and welcoming, and she offered a spot on the log she was sitting on for Kyra to sit. Kyra quickly walked over to the log and sat down next to the girl.

The girl turned over to Kyra and said, "Hello Kyra, I am Hestia." Kyra's heart stopped, how did she know her name, and did Kyra know her? Could she possibly tell her where she was and how to get home?

"Do you know who I am? Do you know how I can leave the forest?" Kyra asked, leaning in closer to the fire.

Hestia gave her a sad smile, "I am sorry Kyra, but I cannot answer your first question. But I can answer your second one." Kyra turned toward Hestia, revealing the scratch on her arm. "Oh my, how'd you get that scratch?"

Kyra looked down at her arm. "What, this? Oh, I got this from a juniper tree. It's not that big of a deal though." Hestia put her hand into her cloak and pulled out what appeared to be a tiny lemon square. Kyra took it into her hand and stared at Hestia in confusion. "Thanks, but how is lemon cake going to help?"

"It's not lemon cake," Hestia began. "It's ambrosia, food of the Olympians." Kyra stared at her while she slowly ate her ambrosia. The texture of the ambrosia was not what she expected it to be. Instead of being soft and spongy like the ambrosia felt like in her hand, it was crunchy and hard. She could taste fried dough and powdered sugar too. The ambrosia somehow tasted familiar, it tasted like home. It reassured her, and it comforted her too. Plus, somehow it made the stinging in her arm go away too. After Kyra finished the ambrosia, she thought over what Hestia just said.

"Olympians? Like the athletes in the Olympics?" Kyra didn't know why the Olympians would eat the ambrosia, maybe it helped with their homesickness or something.

Hestia chuckled, "No, not like the athletes. Like the Greek gods."

If Kyra still had ambrosia in her mouth, she would've spit it all over Hestia. "What?"

"Greek gods, they're real, and you are a daughter of one." Kyra stopped breathing for a second. This girl was totally wacko. "Of course I don't know who your godly parent is, but surely you'll be claimed soon. You look about twelve to me. Tell me, when is your birthday?"

Kyra rose an eyebrow in confusion, "I don't remember."

"That might be a problem," Hestia giggled. "No matter, you'll be claimed when the time comes. The more important matter is leaving this forest."

Kyra stood up, "Yes, please, lead the way."

The two girls left the campfire and ventured into the dark woods. The cool early autumn tickled at Kyra's bare legs and arms, giving her goosebumps. The trees were becoming thinner, and finally the two young girls came to a clearing. There was a circle of tents surround a dead fire. Hestia lead Kyra to the biggest of the tents, and opened the flap. She peeked her head inside. "Lady Artemis, she's here."

A girl with auburn hair turned around, "Come in, with have important matters to discuss."

 Oh, two previews in one day! I'm on a roll! So, how'd you like it? This was actually one of those stories I found in my Google Docs collecting dust, so I decided to clean it off, add a bit more, and post it here! So now some questions... Who's Kyra? What happened to her? What's up with Nico's flashbacks? What are these important matters Artemis wants to discuss with Kyra and Hestia? And why the Hades is Kyra in the forest barefoot with only a dress in autumn? All these questions will be answered in The Rebirth of Bianca di Angelo. 

Stay perky,

With Love, Pacific Green Sea Turtles, and Fluffy Pies,

~Chilea, daughter of Demeter and legacy of Apollo.❀ ☼