All's Fair In Love And War

The Hunt

I lined up with the contestants still standing, ignoring the glare that I received from Annabeth. 

"Welcome to another elimination round of 'Love and War!' Tonight there's been a little change of plans." Venus spoke to the camera.

I could sense the other contestants glancing at each other, but I kept my eyes fixed on the band. The others looked confused, except for Thalia, Jason and Nico. As I watched, Jason leaned over to the others and began to speak quietly. He must have been explaining because there were flashes of anger and betrayal, then the rest of the group's expressions became set in resignment.

"We have here in our studio tonight a young woman by the name of Zoë Nightshade. She has been talking to some of the contestants and bachelorettes to see if they would consider joining the Hunt."

It clicked. Thalia had known what was going on. She had been spoken to...had she accepted?

"She convinced two of them." Cupid spoke.

Thalia stood up. I heard movement to my left and a familiar black braid passed me. 

Bianca.

"Thalia Grace and Bianca di Angelo will be joining the Hunt. Miss Nightshade, if you will come over here."

A tanned girl with volcanic black eyes and dark hair that had a silver circlet placed on it stepped forward. She shook hands with the two girls, then turned to Venus. 

"Usually I would not search on one of thy ridiculous love shows, but we're low on recruits. I will be leaving with these two as soon as possible."

I saw a flash of irritation in Venus' eyes at the 'ridiculous love show' comment, but I ignored it. Why hadn't she come to talk to me? Did someone tell her to leave me be?

"Because of this new development," Cupid addressed the camera and through it, the immortals watching, "We will not be having an elimination this week. Bianca has already chosen to leave we do not need to speed this up as the suspense is the best part. We will be interviewing some of the contestants for their reactions to that, stay tuned." 

The crew went to break and Cupid called a few contestants up. I was not in the list.

The band was off to the side talking in hushed whispers.

"We'll figure it out." Jason finally said. "I'm going to say goodbye to Thalia."

Nico followed him as they walked away to speak to their siblings. I followed them, wanting to wish the two luck.

When I reached the siblings, Nico and Bianca were holding each other hard, tears dripping down their faces. I knew that Bianca would not change her mind, but she could still feel the pain that it was causing. Jason and Thalia each took off a small bracelet from their wrists. Jason tied his around Thalia's wrist and she did the same to him.

"You better bring that back to me." The dark haired girl threatened, tears glittering in her bright eyes.

"The same goes for you." Jason said. "I'm going to miss you, sis."

Thalia smiled and hugged him, then noticed me. 

"Do me a favor, Reyna. Keep these idiots in line." 

She hugged me, which was a surprise.

"I will." I promised with a small smile.

Bianca hugged me next, whispering in my ear, "Make sure Nico doesn't do anything stupid. And make sure he knows that he'll be accepted when he makes his choice."

"I will." I whispered back.

"Alright, Lady Artemis is waiting. Let's go." Zoë shot Jason and Nico small glares before leading off the two girls.

"What are you guys going to do now?" I asked. "You don't have a bass guitarist."

"Can you play?" Jason asked immediately.

"Not a chance." I laughed. 

"We'll find someone." The son of Jupiter shrugged.

I turned to ask Nico's opinion on what they were going to do, but stopped when I saw his expression.

It was obvious he was hurting from his sister's choice, but the gears in his brain were moving at a mile a minute. 

"You look like you've got an idea." I commented.

"I might. I'll look into it, but until then, let's do something. I want to get my mind off of this."

"How old is Bianca?" I asked quietly.

"She's the same age as me." He muttered. "My twin sister."

I winced. It had to hurt to be left like that by someone so close.

"Why don't we go find a game to play. Like a board game or something." Jason suggested.

"You know how to play Myth-o-magic?" I asked. I knew that some of the guys played it, and I'd dabbled.

"Do I?" Nico's eyes lit up. "Be prepared to get your butt kicked."

[A/N plot twist!]