Bianca knows who her father is. She knows that he is the God of the Underworld, Lord of Hell. She is twelve and she lives a nightmare inside of her head. She does not tell anyone who he is.

Her duty is to protect her brother. Protect Nico, always. Protect him from the past and the present. And also from their father, who she remembers, who she talks to in her head. She loves him, and she always will — how can she not, he is her father — but he is not a good being. Bianca knows that the minute Nico succumbs to his role as Prince of the Underworld she will have lost the game only she is playing. Bianca is a demigod. She does not like to lose.

So she hides inside the Lotus Casino, knowing time is trickling away, letting it rush past her. I am Bianca Di Angelo, daughter of Maria Di Angelo and Lord Hades, Princess of the Underworld. Time cannot defeat me.

She pretends to be oblivious to the satyr she knows is in their new school, protecting her and her brother — and she says she knows nothing when a raven-haired son of the sea god (he is her cousin, her family) comes to rescue her with a daughter of the sky (and more family for her, more of her broken family). But she does know what happens when she joins the Hunt, and the knows what she is leaving behind when she says goodbye to Nico. She is betraying her promise to protect him, she knows, in the traditional sense. By leaving him with strangers. But in actuality she is saving him.

Bianca Di Angelo is a daughter of Lord Hades. Her father is not bound by the rules of the twelve Olympians — she is not either, and Nico will not be. They are in a different league of their own. And that means that destiny is their own.

The Princess of the Underworld can sense death before it arrives. Her father can do the same, though he is not allowed to tell. So Bianca knows her Fate, and she joins the Hunters knowing that when she dies in the near future it will be for a cause. For her family. For her brother, even if he does not know it.

Nico is not told the truth of her whereabouts. Bianca does not apply for rebirth. She lives inside the walls of her father's palace, inside of her birthright. Whenever Nico comes she hides from him. One day, when he grows into himself, when he understands true power — being born of the strongest non-Olympian god, not being restrained by rules — he will meet her again. She is protecting him from himself. She failed in protecting him from their father, she will succeed with these restrictions.

Lord Hades, King, Dad — whatever she calls him — is not a moral being but he is a family man. His family left him so he will not leave his family. Even Persephone, his wife, understands this. The goddess of springtime, ironically, starts getting along with her step-daughter after a while. And then they are almost a true family, and they are almost a loving one. Except for the fact that her mother is dead and that her brother thinks she is as well. One day he will come here and he will understand. One day when these wars he is the hero of end. One day he will come back to me.

Years pass — two, three, four? And then her father comes to her chambers, the day she would have turned seventeen, and tells her that Nico is here. That it is time, now, to say the truth.

I am Bianca Di Angelo, daughter of Maria Di Angelo and Lord Hades, Princess of the Underworld. Truth cannot defeat me.

Nico is fifteen. He is older than she is, in this current form, and she looks at him and gasps in horror more than love. Her brother, the boy she swore to protect with her life — that she has protected with her life — is a leader now. She can tell by the aura of darkness radiating around him and the blood reflected in his black eyes. Can she apologize? It is too late for that. She does not think that she can love this boy, this Nico, who is truly a Prince of the Underworld (a Ghost King), who she can see has killed hundreds. So when she sees him again she does not hug him, does not kiss him, does not say that she loves him.

She looks at Lord Hades and asks, "What have you done to your son?"

a/n: 'taking you there' references bianca unintentionally taking nico to his fate.

written for capture the flag at querencia. i am the daughter of mars that got shoved into the pluto team. my prompt was 'hades' and my word count was 729. thanks to ghost (willyoushutup) for betaing. i'm sleepy. bye bye.

-dee