It's not good being a demigod these days. Trust me.
"Then perhaps only you can open it, because nobody else was supporting the Greek gods."
Normally, it's only insanity
"You lie."
"I didn't do anything! It fell from the sky!" Rachel defended herself.
"This bottle contains immortal liquid. You will not turn sixteen unless you wish it to be."
"Did you forget I could read minds?"
But… now we've just lost a war.
"Thalia, come on! It's too late! Let's go!"
"We lost."
"I should have known."
"You're not going to die. You're going to be captured... by a certain somebody."
"Who- oh." Thalia covered her mouth. "That's worse."
"Yeah, him. The mission will fail, and Jason, Nico, Lacy will escape and kill fifty enemy demigods and monsters. Jason will destroy like, half the amount of weapons. Meanwhile, you will be captured by Luke and… um, you don't want know. " Rachel rubbed her eyes wearily.
"I don't think I do," Thalia muttered, her heart sinking. "I bet whatever you saw was way over PG 13."
"Ugh, gross, sister," Jason said, crossing his arms in disgust.
Thalia's eyes widened. "Not that kind, Jason."
Somebody snickered.
We're not sure if there's any hope left
"Some half-bloods are still living."
"He's barely alive."
"Is there any hope for the world?"
"If there's going to be a rebellion, we should start from there."
"Okay!" Travis yelled. "Katie, Miranda, Pollux, get Scylla; Lou, Chris, Connor, Clovis and I will take on Procrustes; Hephaestus cabin- to Talos! Go with the flow!"
Ten seconds later
"NOOO! WAIT! I TAKE THAT BACK! DON'T GO WITH THE FLOW!" Travis screamed as Procrustes grabbed his neck and yanked.
But the ways we go to surviving are extreme
"May we take your car, please?"
"Does anyone know how to drive a car?"
"We just walk right into the enemy's lair and say "Hey, can we please look through your stuff because we want to find a weapon that can raise the dead?". It's easy, simple and foolproof," Lacy answered.
There will be humor
"You okay?"
"No."
"How do you feel, daughter of Zeus?" Luke asked her.
"Like punching you in face," she spat.
"Dear Father, if you don't strike Luke with a lightning bolt RIGHT NOW then I will personally come up to Mount Othrys to kick your skinny little butt. From: Your daughter."
That was an empty threat, and Luke seemed amused by it. "What are you going to do to hurt me?"
"Punch you in the face then throw you off this building," she said bitterly. "What else?"
Death
"Do you see any demigods alive?"
"No."
"If you give me the keys, Jason can be resurrected."
Tears
Thalia buried her face in her hands, refusing to let anyone see her shed tears.
"Luke, please, don't do this," she said, her voice cracking.
"Just don't hurt him, please," she yelled, tears now streaming down her face, gushing in rivers. "Don't hurt him."
I'm not sure about this, but maybe even romance.
Suddenly, the son of Hermes was curling Thalia's longish black hair on his finger casually. "Luke, you might want to stop sucking face with Thalia and come here."
Thalia's eyes widened and she spat out a stream of swear words at Ethan that would have made Artemis proud.
"This is so, totally gross, but I think that there's something between you and Luke."
Thalia's eyes flew open. "WHAT?"
"This is the key to your prophecy. Don't ever fall in love with him, Hunter of Artemis. If you do, you'll be mortal again, and you'll turn sixteen."
Thalia's heart sank. "You will tell me if I did, right?"
Piper looked away from the daughter of Zeus. "Of course I'll tell you." Then, the girl walked away.
Five seconds later, she returned. "Thalia?"
"Yeah?"
"You're mortal."
Luke starts to invade my dreams
"Hello, Thalia."
"I'm dreaming."
And acquires a new weapon to use against me
"His last name is Grace."
"You're lying."
"Give me Pandora's Box," Luke said quietly. "Summon it."
"Why?"
"Because then I'll make Jason do it."
Tell Luke to kill me and make it quick.
Now, the decision I'll make will change our lives… forever.
Rachel caressed the lid gently. "I can see Elpis inside the box. The Spirit… it's so fragile…"
"I kidnapped you for a reason, you know that, daughter of Zeus?"
She didn't respond.
"I need you to summon Pandora's Box."
Thalia's head jerked up. "What? How did you-"
"I told you I would be tracking you. Where is Pandora's Box?" Luke flicked Thalia's silver bracelet in the air. Her eyes followed his every movement.
Thalia didn't blink. "What do you have to force me into it?"
"Summon it," Luke ordered, an icy cold finger tracing the shape of her lips.
"I can't do it," she whispered. "I just- I just can't, Luke. You need to understand this," she said, breathing deeply.
Thalia shook her head, tears dripping onto the table. Her hands reached out to touch the lid of the Box. Thalia felt the power she welded. If she opened the Box, she'll die. If she didn't open the Box, she'll die. It was just the way she preferred: Painfully or quickly.
"Thalia…" Jason choked out, and his sister's face snapped up to him. "No."
Ethan struck him in the face and injected another needle into his bleeding arm, and Jason cried out in pain.
Thalia took a deep breath and hesitated, knowing that the sentence that she will say next will change her life.
But I'm alone. And Luke tortures me every day, using unusual procedures
The girl tried to speak, but she failed. That was when she noticed that her hands were bounded to a wooden chair, and a cloth sprayed with perfume was covering her mouth. The scent was overpowering, and it made Thalia slightly dizzy. She tried to take the cloth off by rubbing it on her shoulder, but Luke walked towards her and slid it off, his fingers brushing her face casually. The girl gasped for air.
"It's good to see you again," Luke said, his hand still on her cheek. "I told you. You should have joined me."
Thalia shook her head, still taking deep breaths.
"Peace offering?"
"You call that a… a peace offering?"
"We'll see how you think later, okay?" he murmured, placing a cold finger on her lips. Thalia wanted to punch him in the stomach, or better, in the face, but she was frozen by the hard, metal cuffs or something else much more complicated.
Thalia stared at Luke furiously. "You'll pay for this."
Luke touched her face. "I won't. And you know it."
Right now, I'm actually beginning to consider that I might be changing from good
"Are you alright?" Thalia asked, picking up the whimpering ball of demigod and setting her down in the corner of the room. "I'll call the medic, okay? What's your name?"
The little girl clutched her ribs. "Lacy, daughter of Aphrodite," she choked out. "Ten years old."
That explains it, Thalia thought. "Hang in there. I'll get an Apollo camper."
"I- I think my ribs are cracked," Lacy said softly. "Could you- could you get Piper over-?"
Thalia nodded, shooting a worried glance at the girl. "Okay."
Thalia looked at him with a hard gaze. "You are putting the weakest and the strongest together in a group to battle Ethan Nakamura and Luke Castellan. Lacy is ten years old. Do you think she deserves death before her life even truly started?"
To bad
"Yes," Thalia agreed. "So that monsters can creep up to you and slit your throat."
"No," Thalia said, gritting her teeth. "I want you to say that you tortured them until they begged for mercy."
Thalia blasted another building down with her lightning impatiently. "Luke, it's done. Can I go to lunch?" she demanded.
