BLACK RAVEN [ piper mcLean ]

A Trip Upward

ALISON HAD NEVER been more shocked. She knew this girl from somewhere, this was Nico's sister, the one he had talked to in the Labyrinth. She was the daughter of Hades, so why was Bianca here with Alison?

"Are you my new jail cell pal?"

Bianca chuckled, her laugh almost like music to Ali's ears, sending a sense of hope throughout the air.

"Not quite," awnsered the Huntress. "It must be pretty lonely here, always being dragged back down to the depths of hell."

"At least it's not Tatures."

"Not yet."

Ali's head perked up. "What do you mean by that?"

A nervous expression overcame Bianca's face. She hesitated, looking around nervously as if something were to jump out at them. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

Ussually whenever someone were to say don't worry about it, it was almost a gatenteed excuse that you should be worrying about it. But Alison had enough to deal with, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

"So how come your really here anyway?"

"I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"For looking out for my brother," continued Bianca. "He's not as strong as he may seem, he needs all the help he can get. Your the first person in a long while to look out for him as much as I do."

For the first time in a long while, a rush of warmth ran down Ali's spine. "Nico was lucky to have you as a sister."

"Yes, he was." Bianca looked down at the floor, a sad smile across her lips. "But your a lot like me in a way. And I feel as though Nico sees that aswell. He needs someone like you in his life, almost as much as he needs air to breathe."

Alison took this into consideration. She did care for the boy, and it wasn't just because Hades had originally asked her to look out for him. Nico reminded her of her younger brother in some ways. There had been no ways to help her own brother escape death. So maybe that was why she felt the desperate desire to help Nico as best she could.

"I miss it." Ali spoke softly.

"You miss Nico?" Tried Bianca.

"I miss Nico, I miss camp, I miss my brother, my parents, the life I once lived, I miss it all."

It wasn't the burning in her arm anymore that seemed go bother Alison. It was the desperate desire to grasp onto the life she had once lived. But it was all taken from her within just a few moments. There was nothing Ali could ever do to get it back. Slowly, she too could feel herself fadding from existence.

"It dosent have to be gone forever-"

"How?" Ali cut her off. "I'm dead, aren't I? Hades will never allow me out of this hell-hole for as long as I shall remain until I vanish into dust. How do you ever expect me to keep holding onto that life I once had?"

Silence seemed to echo around the caven, a dark and eerie feeling spreading out from amoungst the shadows. Bianca started inching closer and closer towards Ali. She reached out and gently held Alison's hand in her own, her face inches from the daughter of Demeter's. Bianca was so close to her that Alison was scared she might try to kiss her.

Unfortunately for Alison, Bianca didn't. "Let me show you."

Bianca didn't give Ali any chance to question it. Bianca tugged harshly on her arm, pulling her down with her. A swooping sensation started in her stomach, almost as if she had just fallen 200metres into the earth.

Despite the roaring pain in her arm, it was like magic. In a blink of an eye, Bianca Di Angelo and Alison Knight were now standing in some sort of room the size of a gymnasium with old marble columns holding up the roof. 

Alison felt even more transparent in this situation, and she wondered for if maybe she actually was.

"What is this-"

Bianca cut her off, gesturing to the scene in front of them. "Just listen. I'll explain later."

Alison felt as if there were a number of things people needed to explain to her.

A demigod collapsed on the floor. “You people are crazy.” He pulled off his helmet. His face gleamed with sweat.

Alison stifled a gasp. She recognised him, he was Ethan Nakamura, an undetermined kid from Hermes cabin. It seemed as if Ali wasn't the only one to recognise him, for moments later Annabeth Chase let out the same observation.

“What—what happened to your eye?” Asked Annabeth.

Ethan looked away, and Ali got the feeling that was one subject he would not discuss.

“You must be the half-blood from my dream,” Percy Jackson said. “The one Luke’s people cornered. It wasn’t Nico after all.”

“Who’s Nico?”

"Never mind,” Annabeth said quickly. “Why were you trying to join up with the wrong side?”

Ethan sneered. “There’s no right side. The gods never cared about us. Why shouldn’t I—”

“Sign up with an army that makes you fight to the death for entertainment?” Annabeth said. “Gee, I wonder.”

Ethan struggled to his feet. “I’m not going to argue with you. Thanks for the help, but I’m out of here.”

“We’re going after Daedalus,” Percy said. “Come with us. Once we get through, you’d be welcome back at camp.”

“You really are crazy if you think Daedalus will help you.”

He has to,” Annabeth said. “We’ll make him listen.”

Ethan snorted. “Yeah, well. Good luck with that.”

Percy grabbed his arm. “You’re just going to head off alone into the maze? That’s suicide.”

He looked at Percy with barely controlled anger. His eye patch was frayed around the edges and the black cloth was faded, like he’d been wearing it a long, long time. “You shouldn’t have spared me, Jackson. Mercy has no place in this war.”

Then he ran off into the darkness, disappearing into the shadows.

The tugging sensation roared through Alison's arm yet again, and just like that she was back in the caven, almost as if she never left. Except this time, she was alone.

Bianca was nowhere in sight, and this made Ali wonder if Bianca had ever really been there in the first place.

A million questions were running through her mind, but it was all interupted by the sound of a much older woman's voice coming from the shadows.

Stepping out of the shadows, a pleasant-looking mature woman emerged. She was brunette, with a veil over her head;  though her face still visible. The older woman was beautiful, and when she spoke her voice was quite angelic and mystifying. "I hope your little trip upworld was pleasant, but now it's time we talk about what's really important.

Alison didn't have a clue what was going on, but she was sure of one thing. And she was determind to get awnsers. "It's pleasant to see you again, mother."

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