Bianca di Angelo & The Olympians

Voldemort Would Appreciate It

Bianca POV

"Here!" My brother shouted from beside me. We had arrived at a building labeled with golden lettering; 'DOA Recording Studios'. There were people milling around it, but they seemed almost translucent.

"Ghosts?" I mumbled under my breath. Where had I come up with that idea? It made sense, but it shouldn't have just come to me, right?

"You were right." Percy said quietly behind me to Annabeth. I obviously wasn't supposed to hear, and kept quiet. Percy said, (Louder this time) "This is the Underworld." Grover glanced miserably at Nico, and I shot a deadly glare at him, hopefully sending the message do not touch him, I will kill you. It seemed to work.

"My father?" Nico asked in a daze

"Hades." I said, knowing I was right. "Lord of The Underworld." The original trio stared at me, and I could see fear in their eyes. After all (from what I had gathered from Percy) I was the child of their 'enemy'. "Look..."

"I trust her." Percy said out of nowhere, "She didn't know who she was, and besides-" he looked pointedly at Annabeth, as she was glaring at him, "'Used to contain their parents' rage'? It's obviously referring to them helping us. Defending us against You Know Who."

Annabeth snorted, "As much as Voldemort would appreciate the sentiment, I think that these, these... people are going to lead us straight into a trap." I had to admire her stubbornness.

Of course, she was against me, but she wasn't trying to kill me, and I didn't want that to happen to Nico or I. "We're not your enemies, there must be a way we can prove it?" I asked urgently.

"Swear it. On the River Styx." Annabeth said, almost as an afterthought.

I hesitated, "What is that?"

"Do it. You said you weren't our enemy? Then it shouldn't matter." She looked at me expectantly.

I paused and thought about it. She could be cursing me into oblivion now, but I saw no better options. "I swear on The River Styx... " I glanced at her to check if I was doing it right, and she waved me on, "...that me and Nico had no previous knowledge of your or our true identities, or your goals on this quest. And that we will help you to the best of our abilities on this quest." A thunder commenced in the sky, louder than the rest (It had been stormy since they left Vegas) and Annabeth seemed slightly impressed.

"Okay." She said with a clear finality. "Your his kids right? So just walk in."

I took a deep breath, and Nico took my hand and squeezed. He knew that I got really nervous with lots of attention sometimes. "Your plan is to just walk in?" Grover asked hysterically, "What if your father doesn't like us being with you?"

"Don't think negative." I sent Percy a grateful look. I glanced to the sky; the thunder was following bouts of lightning, and rain poured on us. What a great way to die, I thought, before approaching the doors.

As soon as they entered, they were greeted with ghosts cowering away from the Di Angelos. They looked almost fearful, and I could guess why; we were basically the Prince and Princess of this place, and we could probably order them to do whatever we wanted them to.

They began to murmur around us, but we continued up to the front desk where a man in an Italian suit stood quickly. He bore a name-tag; Charon.

"Mr. and Ms. Di Angelo!" he said in a panicky voice, "I did not expect to see you here on this- er... very wonderful evening!" he glanced behind me. "Why are they with you?"

"They're our guests, of course." He looked at me, sceptical. "They guided us here. Without them, we'd be as good as dead!" I shot the deadliest glare I could muster at Charon. "Would you not want our glorious saviours to journey with us to see our father?"

He cracked under my sight. "Oh, okay, fine! Just let me gather my things here..." He scrambled towards the elevator. If I hadn't known better, I'd say his butt was on fire, but alas, his Italian dress pants were unharmed. He escorted ghosts out of the elevator to make room for us.

"How long are the dead going to stay in the lobby?" Nico wondered out loud.

Charon thought for a moment. "They will eventually come." he said to my brother consolingly.

Everyone clamoured in, and we began our descent. "Do you see that?" I asked Percy, because Charon's clothing was turning into a dark cloak, and the elevator was becoming a boat and was sailing across an inky river. "The River Styx." I said, mostly to myself, because I had no reason to know what it was, yet I did. It was almost an odd feeling, as if this whole world was just on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't just know it.

Nope, I thought bitterly, it was just a big secret and I wasn't in on it.

"I'm getting seasick..." Grover mumbled.

The same could be said for Annabeth, she looked as if being on a boat in The Underworld was her worst nightmare. I rested my hand on her back, and she flinched away. "I'm not going to hurt you." I said quietly "I just was making sure you're alright."

"I'm fine, no thanks to you." she spat at me, gesturing to me and Nico.

"Don't bring him into your little grudge against me for some reason. He didn't do anything wrong-"

"He's a child of Ha- You know who! You both are!" She whispered angrily, as Percy was too busy consoling Grover to notice the discussion.

"And that's our fault? You can't hate me for something I can't control!" She paused, looking at me shocked.

After a moment, she glanced worriedly at me, as if she was about to apologise. Then she lightly grabbed my wrist, her thumb over my pulse.

She was making sure there was someone else alive, I thought. I froze for a moment, then slowly eased myself into that position, though I couldn't prevent a slight blush from coating my cheeks. (My skin is pale okay? I was inside for 70 years straight).

We approached the shore, coated in black sand. "Here goes nothing." Percy said.

"I would wish you luck," Charon paused as a howl rang out, "But there is none for you three."