I rushed over to Tommy, fear making my stomach churn uncomfortably. "Bianca?" Thalia called.

"Tommy?" I slapped his cheek gently. He focused his eyes on me, and I noticed that...well he didn't look like he was dying.

"I swear," I hissed, my voice shaking, "that if this is a joke. I will personally kill you." I spoke slowly and clearly.

Tommy grimaced. "Well, I didn't want to die tonight..."

"THOMAS FRICKING MACE!" I screeched, giving Tommy a good slap in the face. Tommy groaned. "Holy Hades, you slap hard."

Thalia, who was watching the two of them, stuffed her fist into her mouth as she laughed. "You know...you'd make a fabulous hunter, Bianca." She said. "Just like you namesake."

I barely heard this part, and I figured I wasn't supposed to.

I didn't know much about the first Bianca. I knew that she died very young, heroically, sacrificing her life for four other people.

Tommy got to his feet and shook the blood off of his fingers. There was a thin slice in his shirt, revealing a small cut on his chest, which was dripping blood.

"Let's get going." Thalia ordered, turning on her heel and marched away, not waiting for either of them to follow. "Confident, isn't she?" Tommy whispered, falling into step beside Bianca as she trailed after Thalia.

"Er...yeah," I agreed hastily, speeding up my pace to catch up with Thalia.

We walked in silence for a while. "Where are you taking us?" I asked Thalia eventually. For some reason, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind.

Thalia glanced at me. "I'm taking you to get your weapons, and then we'll be out of here."

"Back to Camp Half-Blood?" Tommy questioned. Thalia pursed her lips, as if she was disgusted by the fact that a boy was talking to her. "We'll see about that."

I narrowed my eyes, not very happy about that answer. "What's that supposed to mean? I want to get out of here and go home." I told her.

Thalia sighed. "I think you have the quality to become a Hunter of Artemis." She said quietly. "So we'll be checking that out."

I scrunched up my face, not sure if the life of a Hunter would appeal to me. Tommy, too, was looking slightly distraught, though I wasn't sure why. Of course, we were...kind of friends? But we weren't super close, or anything like that.

Stop worrying yourself! I scolded. Of course he doesn't like you, he's just going to miss annoying me all the time.

"Do you know where our weapons are?" I asked, thinking of our swords. Thalia nodded. "They're not even guarded, actually, so it should be pretty easy to get them out."

"Oh that's good," Tommy muttered. "Are you sure, though? I'd prefer not to get slaughtered today."

Thalia's lip curled. She seemed completely revolted by Tommy, and frankly, I couldn't blame her.

"Do you not trust the instincts of a Hunter?" She questioned scornfully. Tommy held up his hands in a don't-kill-me gesture. "You can never be too careful."

Thalia narrowed her eyes. "If you insist..."

We fell silent for the third time. The sound of our footsteps on the sidewalk was oddly loud, and I was uncomfortable with it. What if a monster heard us?

But nothing moved. I kept my eyes on the bushes, worried about what might happen if I didn't.

Suddenly, I felt a searing pain in my neck. I gasped and found myself in the middle of a battle, standing next to a girl with soft black hair. "Asha!" I gasped.

She was bleeding freely from many wounds, and her leg was bent at an awkward angle. She was slashing fiercely at the monsters around her, but then a bird with metal-tipped feathers shot one into her throat. She gasped and slumped against the wall.

A boy came out of nowhere and started slicing the monsters down, screaming: "DON'T TOUCH ASHA! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ASHA!"

Soon, Asha and the boy were surrounded by a pile of dust. The boy, who I realized was Jack, knelt beside my sister. Tears fell from his eyes and dripped onto Asha's cheek.

Another boy, whom I did not recognize, got down beside Jack. He had brown eyes and short dark hair. "Do you think we can move her?" He asked.

"BIANCA!?" A voice screaming my name jerked me away from the scene. I found myself on the ground, Thalia and Tommy leaning anxiously over me.

"Bianca, are you alright?" Thalia asked.

I sat up, the pain in my neck completely gone. I was shocked, and I couldn't seem to find my voice to tell them that everything was fine. "Bianca?"

"What happened!?" Tommy screamed, shaking me. I opened my mouth to reply, then closed it. I still couldn't seem to make a sound. I had just seen my sister bleeding to death, and I had absolutely no idea what was happening. It couldn't be fake, neither demigods nor second generations ever have dreams that are fake. This was real.

Asha was dying.

I buried my face in my hands, shaking violently. I couldn't loose my twin sister, I just couldn't.

"BIANCA YOU NEED TO TALK!" Thalia yelled. She sounded terrified. I lifted my head. My dampened hands received a blast of air, making them cold.

"Asha...Asha's..." I stammered, still not sure if I could say it aloud. It would only make it more real. I didn't want it to be true. Of course I didn't.

Tommy laid a cautious hand on my shoulder. I was still shaking, and fresh tears were slipping out of my eyes. I didn't push him away, or yell at him to get off. No matter how much Tommy annoyed me, I knew it was important that we had him beside us, whether we liked him or not. We were in this together. We wanted to get home.

I took a deep breath. "Asha is dying." I said determinedly. "We need to get out of here." I jumped to my feet. "Let's get out weapons." I told Thalia.

But Thalia wasn't looking at me. She was looking over my shoulder.

I turned around and let out a little squeak. Tommy stood protectively beside me, facing up to the beast.

"Your weapons, little demigods?" The monster asked, her eyes glowing.

"Who are you?" Tommy yelled defiantly.

The monster grinned. "My name is Echidna, mother of all monsters, and it's time for me to make life Hades for you."