The Hunters truly fascinate me. Like, they act like badass queens but they're dorks. I mean, they are slaying and all, but seriously. I had to assist in giving Thalia the Heimlich maneuver when she nearly choked on thirty-six marshmallows because she wouldn't back down from the Chubby Bunny challenge against Dani.
But aside from that, they don't seem all bad. Neither do the Amazons. They're actually pretty cool.
The Hunters helped me perfect my archery because apparently I hold my bow wrong. The Amazons give me sword fighting lessons, the first I've had since Nico died. And they're friends with each other. It's a life I could get used to.
Or, at least I thought I could.
"Hey, Maxwell!" Thalia called. "Heard you're leaving tomorrow!"
I pursed my lips. "Yeah. Sucks, right?"
"For you." Thalia laughed. "You've been here, like, three days and barely got an hour's worth of sleep."
I snorted. "Sleep is for the week, Grace."
"You only lose sleep because you stay up listening to music. You look awful." she retorted.
I winced. I didn't want to remember what happened last night with Hazel and Will. Remember was such a strange word. To recall memories of the past, to relive what had once happened… who would wish to do that?
I rubbed my eyes and half expected them to come away smudged with blood and cinders. My eyes were red and underneath them ashes took the place of bags, so thick and dark you would have thought I smeared the coarse powder on them.
Thalia noticed my expression and winced as well. "Sorry. Have you cleared things up with your friends yet?"
"No." I spat. "And why should I?"
Thalis sighed. "Because they're your friends. I mean, I'm all for some first class stubbornness, but this can't go on, Maxwell. They're all you have now."
"Not you too, Thalia." I muttered, kicking at the floor. "Not you too."
She didn't seem to know what to say. Then she said hoarsely, "Oh, I almost forgot." She cleared her throat. "London Maxwell. Come with me. Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee." Then she smiled kind of sadly like she understood an inside joke and led me to the Hunters' room.
Artemis was sitting cross legged on the floor, whittling something. Sharp splinters of wood were flying everywhere. I deflected one with the back of my hand before it impaled my eye and sat across from Thalia, who had taken a seat on Artemis' right.
"London Maxwell. I take it you're wondering why I've asked you here?" Artemis asked, setting down what looked like a bow.
"Please, enlighten me." I picked a splinter out of my hand.
"You are a formidable soldier, and in your time here your skills have been honed greatly. It would be a great benefit to you if you were to consider joining the Hunt."
I blinked. "What?"
Thalia sighed. "The Hunt, Maxwell. Become a Hunter of Artemis. Lady Artemis likes to keep tabs on all possible future Hunters, and you've been one of those people since you were a kid! I'd say think about it, at least. It really is worth it."
I hesitated. "I really don't know. What's the catch? I mean, there's gotta be a catch. Either that or, no offense, being a Hunter isn't all that."
"I think you know the immortality thing, until you fall in battle, at least. But that really rarely happens." Thalia explained. "Once you commit to the oath, you are immediately stronger, faster, and more accurate than your average demigod, nymph, or mortal. Most of us carry collapsible tents about the size of a pack of gum. They expand into a full sized silver tent. You also get silver bows, arrows, and two hunting knives, which appear whenever you need them. You could keep your sword, though, if you wanted to." She glanced at the weapon hanging from my belt.
I chewed the inside of my cheek. Did I want to do this? I was only twelve, after all.
"Don't the Hunters have to forswear romantic love?" I asked.
"Well, yes." Artemis admitted. "In some special cases, as in with Emmie and Jo, you can depart from the Hunters with your honour if you have served your oath well."
"Aren't I too young to be a Hunter?"
"Twelve or thirteen is the average age of all my Hunters. And you are quite skilled with your weapons." Artemis nocked an arrow in her freshly whittled bow and took aim.
"Personally, I don't know any Hunters who hate being Hunters. When I was first offered the oath, I didn't take it because of… well, Luke." Her voice wavered momentarily, but then she coughed and continued. "And look where that got me. Honestly? I don't regret for one moment becoming a Hunter."
"So, London Maxwell. What will it be?" Artemis looked at the arrow embedded in the wall with satisfaction.
"I really don't know. I'm still a kid. What if I want to grow up and start a family? Or maybe get a girlfriend or a boyfriend in a few years?" Honestly, I was just making excuses at this point. Any reason not to tempt me to leave my friends, as angry with them as I was. I was afraid I'd take the offer and leave everything behind.
"You need not worry about that, daughter of Aphrodite. You are what they call… er, what is it again? Thalia?" She gestured loosely.
"I'ma give it to you straight, Maxwell. You're aro and ace."
"I'm what now?" I choked. "Aro and ace?"
"Pretty much. No getting it on or falling in love, basically." Thalia shrugged. "Think about it; have you ever been really attracted to boys or girls? Have you ever looked at someone and thought, dam, they look fine?"
I thought it over. I remembered my conversation with Piper in the infirmary. I'm not interested in boys. Or girls, for that matter, I had said. And slowly, very slowly, I shook my head.
"Well, now you know." Artemis stretched her arms. "And now your decision."
It was a seriously good offer. Maybe I would accept it… I would be immortal, basically superhuman! I exhaled deeply, ready to say the word.
Aphrodite's locket suddenly burned white hot on my chest and a flash of white light blinded me.
"Yeah," Percy was admitting defeatedly to a young boy. "I have to find Annabeth. I have to help, even if they don't want me to."
"I won't tell on you," he said. "But you have to promise to keep my sister safe." He looked so familiar, that black hair and those big eyes.
"I… that's a big thing to promise, Nico, on a trip like this. Besides, she's got Zoe, Grover, and Thalia—" Nico? My gods, Nico… I had heard of Nico when he was younger. I just hadn't expected him to be so… different.
"Promise," he insisted.
"I'll do my best. I promise that." Was all Percy said.
"Get going, then!" he said. "Good luck!"
The scene changed.
I was in a junkyard and a girl with long black hair, dressed in a silver coat and jeans and Percy Jackson were crouched behind a broken chariot. There was screaming and metallic clangs, and the aura of death hung about.
"You took something. That bow." Percy was saying.
"No!" she said, but her voice was quivering.
"Give it back!" Percy said. "Throw it down!"
"I… I didn't take the bow! Besides, it's too late."
"What did you take?" Percy demanded, just as there was a massive creaking noise and a dark shadow fell.
Percy shouted, "MOVE!" and he and the girl ran for their lives. In the distance, someone shouted and a bolt of electricity jolted a huge metal robot.
"Come on!" Percy told the girl, but she stayed frozen. From her pocket, she brought out a small metal figurine.
"It… it was for Nico. It was the only statue he didn't have." The girl barely whispered. Nico? I thought bizarrely. How did she know him? Who was this girl?
"How can you think of Mythomagic at a time like this?" Percy asked. There were tears in her eyes. "Throw it down," he suggested. "Maybe the giant will leave us alone."
She dropped it reluctantly, but nothing happened. Percy stared off into the distance for a moment as more lightning flashed and the giant temporarily fell. "Crazy-idea time," he said.
The girl looked at him with desperation as he told her his plan about a maintenance hatch.
"There may be a way to control the thing. Switches or something. I'm going to get inside."
"How? You'll have to stand under its foot! You'll be crushed!"
"Distract it," Percy said with finality. "I'll just have to time it right."
The girl clenched her jaw. "No. I'll go."
"You can't. You're new at this! You'll die."
"It's my fault the monster came after us," she said. "It's my responsibility. Here." She picked up the little god statue and pressed it into his hand. "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him… tell him I'm sorry." Why would she want to tell Nico she was sorry?
"Bianca, no!" But she wasn't waiting for me. She charged at the monster's left foot.
Bianca? Oh my gods… Bianca di Angelo… Nico's sister. I was about to watch her die.
I stared, entranced as she managed to climb into the monster's foot and watched with horror as it crashed into the power lines. Tears rolled down my face when they could not find her.
The scene shifted once more.
"She wanted you to have this." Percy brought out the little god figurine Bianca had found in the junkyard. Nico held it in his palm and stared at it.
"You promised you would protect her," Nico said. His words were bitter and cold and his eyes were icing over, filling with malice and spite.
Nico," I said. "I tried. But Bianca gave herself up to save the rest of us. I told her not to. But she—"
"You promised!" He glared, his eyes rimmed with red. He closed his small fist around the god statue.
"I shouldn't have trusted you." His voice broke. "You lied to me. My nightmares were right!"
"Wait. What nightmares?" He flung the god statue to the ground. It clattered across the icy marble.
"I hate you!"
"She might be alive," Percy said desperately. "I don't know for sure—"
"She's dead." He closed his eyes. His whole body trembled with rage. "I should've known it earlier. She's in the Fields of Asphodel, standing before the judges right now, being evaluated. I can feel it."
The grounds broke and out erupted skeleton soldiers. Percy took a step back.
"You're trying to kill me!" Nico screamed. "You brought these… these things?"
"No! I mean, yes, they followed me, but no! Nico, run. They can't be destroyed."
"I don't trust you!"
The first skeleton charged. Percy knocked aside its blade, but the other three kept coming. He sliced one in half, but immediately it began to knit back together. He knocked another's head off but it just kept fighting. "Run, Nico!" Percy yelled. "Get help!"
"No!" He pressed his hands to his ears.
"No!" Nico shouted louder. "Go away!"
The ground rumbled. The skeletons froze and Percy rolled out of the way just as a crack
opened at the feet of the four warriors. The ground ripped apart like a snapping mouth.
Flames erupted from the fissure, and the earth swallowed the skeletons in one loud
CRUNCH!
Silence.
In the place where the skeletons had stood, a twenty-foot-long scar wove across the marble
floor of the pavilion. Otherwise there was no sign of the warriors.
Awestruck, he looked to Nico. "How did you—"
"Go away!" he yelled. "I hate you! I wish you were dead!"
Nico ran down the steps, heading toward the woods.
Percy started to follow but slipped and fell to the icy steps. When he got up, he looked to the floor.
He picked up the god statue Bianca had retrieved from the junkyard for Nico. The only statue
he didn't have, she'd said. A last gift from his sister. It was the god Hades.
Again, everything warped and I wanted to scream for it to stop. That didn't happen, of course.
"I'm so sorry," Percy said.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Percy. I made my own choice. I don't regret it."
"Bianca!" Nico stumbled forward like he was just coming out of a daze. She turned toward her brother. Her expression was sad.
"Hello, Nico. You've gotten so tall."
"Why didn't you answer me sooner?" he cried. "I've been trying for months!"
"I was hoping you would give up."
"Give up?" He sounded heartbroken. "How can you say that? I'm trying to save you!"
"You can't, Nico. Don't do this. Percy is right."
"No! He let you die! He's not your friend." Bianca stretched out a hand as if to touch her brother's face, but she was made of mist. Her hand evaporated as it got close to living skin.
"You must listen to me," she said. "Holding a grudge is dangerous for a child of Hades. It is our fatal flaw. You have to forgive. You have to promise me this."
"I can't. Never." His face was livid and tears were welling up in his eyes and I felt my heart cracking.
"Percy has been worried about you, Nico. He can help. I let him see what you were up to, hoping he would find you."
"So it was you," I said. "You sent those Iris-messages." Bianca nodded.
"Why are you helping him and not me?" Nico screamed. "It's not fair!"
"You are close to the truth now," Bianca told him. "It's not Percy you're mad at, Nico. It's me."
"No."
"You're mad because I left you to become a Hunter of Artemis. You're mad because I died and left you alone. I'm sorry for that, Nico. I truly am. But you must overcome the anger. And stop blaming Percy for my choices. It will be your doom."
"She's right," Annabeth broke in. "Kronos is rising, Nico. He'll twist anyone he can to his cause."
"I don't care about Kronos," Nico said. "I just want my sister back." I was a new version of his sister, wasn't I. He wanted his sister and had found me, who had killed him. Me, who was going to abandon my friends to be free. Me, who was so unbelievably selfish.
"You can't have that, Nico," Bianca told him gently.
"I'm the son of Hades! I can." No, no you can't, Nico. You can't.
"Don't try," she said. "If you love me, don't…" Her voice trailed off.
Spirits had started to gather around them again, and they seemed agitated. Their shadows shifted. Their voices whispered, Danger!
"Tartarus stirs," Bianca said. "Your power draws the attention of Kronos. The dead must return to the Underworld. It is not safe for us to remain."
"Wait," Nico said. "Please—"
"Goodbye, Nico," Bianca said. "I love you. Remember what I said."
This time I did scream as my surroundings rippled.
Hazel and Frank were sitting in artificial light, Nico looming over them. He didn't seem to notice Frank, but he locked eyes with Hazel.
"You're different," he said. "A child of Pluto. You remember your past."
"Yes," Hazel said. "And you're alive." Nico studied her warily.
"I'm Nico di Angelo," he said. "I came looking for my sister. Death has gone missing, so I thought…I thought I could bring her back and no one would notice."
"Back to life?" Hazel asked. "Is that possible?"
"It should have been." Nico sighed. "But she's gone. She chose to be reborn into a new life. I'm too late." Bianca di Angelo was reborn. She became me and I became her. But was I not Bianca di Angelo? Or was I my own person and she her own as well? The thoughts made me hysterical. Nico lost his sister to me, me of all people.
"I'm sorry."
He held out his hand. "You're my sister too. You deserve another chance. Come with me.
My surroundings flashed and I dropped to the ground. I'm going to go lose my mind here, I thought wildly. The thought ripped a maniacal giggle from me.
Nico was bleeding out on the ground in the forest. Will had his hands pressed to his abdomen, face contorted in concentration. I was kneeling next to hi, begging him to hold on, but to no avail. He was gone and suddenly a pink light was cast around me and I found myself in pink robes and jewels or all sorts. I was claimed, but I didn't care.
"Wake up!" I screeched, tears rolling down my face. "Wake up! Will, heal him, please! Bring him back! You have to bring him back!"
Will's face was pale and beads of sweat were trickling down his neck. His aura was dimming slowly. Suddenly, with a forced exhale, he dropped back.
"He's gone, London. I'm sorry. He's gone. The wound- I couldn't- I'm so sorry." Then he collapsed into quiet sobs.
Hazel was sitting, tear tracks fresh on her face, body racking with the force of her crying, brushing the hair out of his eyes and muttering something about him needing a haircut.
Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Reyna, Leo, Piper, and Calypso came running over.
"Guys!" Jason shouted, in a panic. "We heard- oh…" His voice became small as he saw Nico.
Percy mumbled something about yet another di Angelo he failed to protect, and, on the verge of tears, sat down on the grass next to Hazel.
"My gods…" Reyna breathed. Her voice wobbled and her lips trembled. She pressed them together in a thin, firm line and leaned over. Gently, very gently, she put a finger on each of his eyelids and closed them.
Then she looked up. "What happened?" Her voice was hard and tears were threatening to spill over. "Who did this?"
Will wiped his eyes. "A hellhound, Reyna. There was a hellhound and- well…"
"It was me!" I suddenly burst out. "I ran away! He needed to save me from the monster! It's my fault he's dead!"
He's dead he's dead he's dead he's dead he's dead he's dead… the words played over and over in my head. He was dead, he was dead, he was dead. And it was all my fault.
"London, whatever happened, it was not your fault, you hear me? It wasn't." Piper said softly.
"It was!" I shouted. "If I didn't run away, he'd still be alive!"
"It was not your fault. If the blame was to be pinned on anyone, it should be pinned on me." Will said firmly, standing up. "Come on. We have a shroud to prepare for-" his voice broke a little. "For the son of Hades."
As everyone was walking away, Jason and Reyna carrying Nico, Piper pulled me aside.
"Look, I know now isn't really the right time, but you got claimed."
"So what if I did?" I spat.
Piper sighed. "Aphrodite claimed you, and that means you'll stay in the Aphrodite cabin from now on."
"I don't want to!"
"London… if you're a daughter of Aphrodite, I'm your half-sister. It's mandatory for you to stay there now. It isn't a choice."
I stayed silent, staring at the ground and trying to drown in the depths of my beating heart.
Piper sighed and offered me her hand. When I didn't take it, she knelt down.
"Come on." she said. "We have a funeral to go to and you have to get settled in."
I didn't reply but followed her. I closed my eyes and saw the colour that had become a permanent presence on my body after the funeral, whether I wore it out of mourning or stubbornness I did not know.
How long would I be stuck in this loop? For all eternity, some dark part of me said.
Hazel and I sat in the room given to us by Emmie and Jo. Will was there too. He had his own room but liked sitting with us, for some strange reason. I was lounging on one of the beds, headphones on and music blasting. I was listening to The Kids Aren't Alright by Fall Out Boy.
Hazel glanced over. "Whatcha listening to?"
"Fall Out Boy." I responded.
"You know, Nico loved that band. I don't know why; it was so loud!" She paused, smiling at me. "He's rubbed off on you." she said teasingly.
I didn't answer. A pang went off in my stomach, enveloping my insides in a blanket of dull sorrow.
"He actually liked all the music you listen to, come to think of it." Will added absentmindedly.
"And?" I pressed my lips together. The music suddenly seemed too loud, pounding into my skull.
"And all I'm saying is that you two are so similar. Black clothing, messy hair, Mythomagic, emo music, stubborn as fuck-" Hazel rolled her eyes at Will.
I closed my eyes and I saw him. I had kept a photo of him in my bunk, a photo of the two of us. I had packed it for the trip and I saw the outline so clearly in my mind. It was a simple one, just of me hugging him one day not long before he had died, my sword still in hand. He had looked so at ease, and I had felt happier than I could ever remember.
But maybe I didn't want to remember. Maybe remembering how it was led up to how it happened, and how it happened led to how it is. And I didn't like how it is, I didn't accept how it is. I didn't want it to be the way it is.
My eyes snapped open. Will and Hazel were conversing about Nico.
"It's been so long, I've seen him only once or twice in the Underworld. He says so hidden, Dad doesn't let me see him because he respects Nico's wishes of solitude. He misses you, you know that, right London?" Hazel suddenly asked me.
I ground my teeth and seethed.
"I hope when he comes back he can forgive me. Gods, I don't even know what got into me tha day. I was just so angry and… and… I just wanted to scream. Even though he did nothing wrong…" Will trailed off.
"He'll forgive you." Hazel assured him. "I can't wait to hug him. He always smelled like pomegranates for some bizarre reason. Then I'll take him to get a fucking haircut, for the love of the gods."
Will snorted and their eyes turned to me.
"Well?" I said, kind of snappishly. "Am I supposed to say something?"
"Well, we just assumed-" I cut Will off with an angry shout.
"What did you expect me to want to say? I remember that his favorite Mythomagic card was the Ghost King card, his very own card that he never stopped fangirling over? That he never did redecorate the Hades cabin? That he never washed that fucking leather jacket of his, even though it desperately needed one?" My throat was closing up and the balloon in my chest filled with lead, burying my heart in my sorrows like his ashes were buried in the ground. I kept on going.
"You want me to say that he'd summon tiny skeleton creatures for the kids with depression to cheer them up? That he loved helping out in the infirmary, even though he complained so fucking much about it?" Will made a choking noise and something thudded against my ribcage.
This isn't right, this isn't right, this isn't right. Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking.
I kept talking. "That he had it so damn bad for Will but refused to admit it? That Hazel was one of his top priorities? That he called me his favorite small human? WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?" I screamed suddenly.
Rage. My bones were made of rage. Pure, raw rage and it was so coiled up, so restless, so tired of being stored away for another rainy day. Rage. Every fiber of my being was rage. I was on fire, exhilarated with the screaming and the pent up anger and the power that came with it and gods, oh, gods, it felt so good to feed those flames.
"What's wrong with you?" Will asked in a small voice, smaller than I'd ever heard.
"You want us to forget him because you can't handle his death? Let me tell you something, London Maxwell, death is a part of life. Life is short and death is eternal. That is something every child of the Underworld knows. Nico knew it too. He wasn't spitting nails about leaving and neither should you!" Hazel seemed to have snapped just like me.
All the better!
"Maybe I do want to forget him!" I was standing up now. I could feel my nails digging into the flesh of my palm. "Maybe I don't want to have to deal with every little detail he left behind, and how they would still mean something when put together if the person who made them mean something in the first place was still here! Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I don't remember because I would go fucking psycho if I did?"
My hands found the thing closest to me, which happened to be my headphones. Without thinking, I drew my arm back and hurled them at the wall. An awful cracking noise, then dead silence.
"London-" Will reached for me but I shoved his hand away.
I was hurting people, and it felt good. I was hurting people and I was a bad person. I was hurting people but gods, I needed this. I needed it.
I stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind me so hard the hinges shook. I went to the only place I could think of; the Hunters' room. I knocked on the door and Dani opened it. She took one look at me and grabbed my arm, pulling me inside. It was then I realized how exhausted I was. I stumbled over to a bare corner of the room and the last thing I saw was a blanket being thrown over me.
My eyes snapped open and my nails immediately went to my neck where the locket still lay. I scrabbled at the chain, trying to tear it off. I was still in the Hunters' room, and a very freaked out Artemis was sitting. Thalia was not there.
"What ails you, half-blood?" she demanded. Her features were unsettled.
"Get it off! Get it off!" I screeched. The chain dug into the palm of my hand, severing the flesh as I attempted to grasp and pull it.
Artemis opened her mouth to respond as the door flew open and Thalia came sprinting in, dragging a disorientated Will behind her. I tugged the chain one final time. It snapped with a sharp CRACK that chilled me to the bones.
"What's going on in here?" he yelled, brandishing his medical bag like a homing beacon. "Thalia literally dragged me here! I heard the screaming from halfway across the Waystation!"
I clutched Aphrodite's locket in my hand. I could feel it's surface pressing into my palm, no doubt leaving an imprint. I stared at the now broken chain protruding from the gap in my fist.
But you have to promise to keep my sister safe.
If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him I'm sorry.
You promised!
I don't care about Kronos. I just want my sister back.
You're my sister, too. You deserve another chance.
Wake up! Will, heal him, please! Bring him back! You have to bring him back!
WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?
Little soldier…
My muscles seized up and I flung it at the wall with the force of an onager.
"Kill it with fire!" I scrambled back several feet, backing up against a wall.
"What happened?" Will demanded, eyes scanning the room. "I haven't seen her this delirious since… I can't even remember when!"
"Lady Artemis was giving her the offer of taking the oath of the Hunters." Thalia supplied. "Then she blacked out and started screaming and grabbing at her necklace."
"What does that locket have to do with anything?" Will was digging through his bag. "Wasn't it a gift from her mother?"
I looked up at him with wild, crazed eyes. "He was dead by the cur birthed by the night, Will! And the warrior of bronze, it crushed her, it crushed her because she wanted to save them, she wanted to save them because she didn't want them to pay for her mistake. And she was sorry, she wanted him to know that much but he never accepted it. He tried to get her back but he couldn't, he couldn't because the dead had to stay where they were and he realized he had to accept that. And then when Death was chained and he had his chance, he couldn't because she was gone and she had become me, me of all people, Will, and so he took his sister of Roman blood. And then-" I threw my head back and let loose a crazy, maniacal shriek. "- he found me in the ruins of another life and do you know what, Will, do you know?"
"And then he died, Will, he's gone and I want to remember him but I can't, I can't because if I do it might break me more than seeing that did."
But I was broken, wasn't I? This was what being completely gone felt like, this was what it meant for your mind to be torn apart from insanity. And maybe it was okay to be torn apart from insanity and everything that kept you anchored snapped like a brittle twig. But what were the chances of being put back together?
I was broken. I was everything he had begged me not to be. I was him, I was him and there couldn't have been a sadder irony than that at this very moment.
And suddenly my face was wet and my wrists were throbbing and everything was shaking. But the hollowness in my chest was fading for the first time in days as Thalia ran back in with someone else- how did I not notice she had left?- and golden eyes and a face painted clear as crystal with panic dropped it's gaze to me. Arms wrapped around me and something soft dried my cheeks and soft murmurs clouded my thoughts with peace.
"I don't want to forget him. I'm sorry I ever said I did, I don't want to, Hazel, Will, I don't want to. Please, don't let me forget him. Please, promise me." I begged over and over through tears as thick as molasses.
And when they promised, I could breathe easier and my hands stopped shaking because I realized I was no longer war. Thee raging burning like I was made of liquid fire dissipating like water into steam. No, I was love, I was peace, I was beauty and I was reminded that even fire, the angriest of nature's substances, had to succumb to the gentle pureness that was water. That when fire died, it was so much lighter and freer than its previous form.
When I was no longer shaking and my shoulders were relaxed- how long had they been so stiff?- Aphrodite's locket was to be put away.
I stared at the white doves as Hazel slipped the locket into her pocket.
It will grant you power in a time of helplessness and aid you when a decision must be made, Aphrodite had said. When a decision must be made…
"Wait!" I blurted. "Give it back." I stretched out my hand. Hazel looked at me hesitantly.
"We have reason to believe it's cursed, London." she said sadly. "You can't just have it back. It granted you a series of several powerful flashbacks that weren't even yours."
"I want it back." I insisted, still holding out my hand. When Hazel made no move to give it back, I got up and walked over to her.
"Don't you see?" I asked with a twinge of bittersweetness to my voice. "Aphrodite told me it would grant me power in a time of helplessness and aid me when a decision must be made."
"And what does that have to do with anything?" Will darted over and pressed a flask of nectar into my hands. "That stupid locket is cursed. I don't know what Aphrodite was thinking. It's not meant to do anything but cause grief."
"But it did do something." I said quietly. "It will aid you when a decision must be made. And-" I looked at Thalia and Artemis, who were no doubt still waiting for their answer. "I think I made my decision."
"And what would that be, half-blood?" Artemis arches an eyebrow.
I took a deep breath. "Thank you for your offer, but… I can't be a Hunter. As much as I would love to, I can't. I have a quest to complete and friends that need me. I have a son of Hades to bring back." I paused, looking her in the eye. "I think that was the mistake my past manifestation made. Bianca. She chose what she wanted for herself over what was needed and right. I'm not giving myself the chance to repeat history. I'm sorry."
Artemis looked at me for a good, long time. "I cannot say I understand you, London Maxwell, but I respect your decision. If you ever change your mind in the future, you are welcome amongst our ranks."
"Thank you." I did a spasming sort of bow towards her and shook Thalia's hand. Will briefly looked like he was having a 'me-to-me' battle in his head, then took the locket from Hazel and carefully passed it to me. I stuck it in my jeans and grabbed Hazel's hand in my right, Will's in my left, and left the room, Aphrodite's locket in peeking out of my pocket.
And that night, after recollecting everything I could remember about Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades, Mythomagic dork extreme, I mulled over the prophecy given to me. A responsibility I was entrusted with.
A tempting proposal to live wild and free,
And all the celibate sisters need is loyalty.
Not my loyalty. Not today. I'm wild and I'm free even without their immortality. And so what if I'm aro and ace? That doesn't define me, not at all. I don't need anyone to be freer than a breeze on a blustery day.
Twenty one pages, guys.
Twenty
One
Pages.
That could be a new band- but that's not the point. I'm trying to update as much as possible and I know the past few chapters have been emotional. Very emotional. I'll try to make the others lighthearted-er… but I have Rick Riordan Level plans for the final five or so chapters.
*cue evil cackle and lightning crackling* (thanks, Jason)
Happy reading, all!