"Thalia," Artemis looked straight at me, her stormy eyes boring into my own. "Daughter of Zeus. Will you join the Hunt?"
And just like that, all heads in the room turned to face me, their faces wearing mirror looks of confusion.
"I will." My voice rang through the room, loud and clear.
"My daughter, consider well-" Zeus half-rose from his throne, as if he wanted to approach me, but I turned away before he had the chance. As if I'd thought about him when I made my choice.
I opened my mouth to tell them I'd decided. But then my eyes fell on Annabeth.
Her face was turned away from me, but I could see her shoulders shaking. And just like that, I was back in the dark alleyway facing a terrified seven-year old who wanted nothing more than to belong. To have a family.
And we'd given her that, Luke and I. We'd taken care of her, protected her. But what more, we'd promised we'd never do what everyone else in Annabeth's life had already done. Abandon her.
But Luke had left her, betrayed her. With a jolt, I realized I was on the verge of doing the same thing. Could she face that? And could I?
No.
The realization hit me like a punch. I couldn't do that to her. Not after everything that had happened. Not to escape a stupid prophecy, not for anything. If I owed anything to anyone, it was to her.
"No," I spoke quickly, scared my voice would break. "No, I've-I've changed my mind. I don't want to become a Hunter."
A thousand questions arose around me, but I focused on the only person in the whole room-hell, the whole world-that still mattered to me.
And though Annabeth tried to hide it, her eyes were full of relief.
"Thalia?"
Turning around, I found myself face to face with Apollo. My cheeks reddened which seriously wasn't my fault. That guy-god-was hot. And not just because he was the sun god. But something was wrong. Usually, his sunburnt face sported a smile so radiant it could have probably have given electricity to a small city. For a year. Seeing him not smile was like seeing a sign of the apocalypse.
And now that grin was nowhere to be seen.
"You made the wrong choice."
"Excuse me, what?" I stared at him.
"You heard me," There was contempt in his voice, something I'd never heard before. "You need to join my sister."
"I'm sorry, but I don't owe you anything. I can do what the hell I want."
"But you can't!" He reached forward and grabbed my shoulders, and there was a desperate, almost maniacal, glint. "I've seen visions, terrible visions. A world drenched in blood, ruled by Kronos and his band of Titans."
"But I'm gonna stop that, the prophecy-"
"The prophecy wasn't meant for you! You'll bring this world into ruins, I've seen it, I've seen it all-"
"Stop it!" I found myself screaming, pushing him away as spikes of fear shot through my body. "Just stop it, I get a choice, right? Well, I'll guess I'll just choose the path which does not lead to blood and destruction. Happy?"
Apollo gave a harsh laugh. "You really don't understand, do you? You really can't see what's staring you right in the face. You need to step back, Thalia. You need to let somebody else be the-"
"The hero? Is that what you're gonna say? Well, news flash. I've never been the hero, and I don't plan on starting now. But what I do plan on is stopping Kronos. Making him pay."
"Too bent on revenge, too hot-headed," Apollo sighed. "I can already picture your fall."
For a second I wanted to agree, wanted to submit myself, admit I couldn't do it. But in all my life, I'd never once stood down before a challenge. "Yeah, well you know what? You can fuck off."