Chapter 11 – Naomi

We sat in the corner furthest from the door. I perched cross legged on a pile of crash mats while Luke settled himself on a gym bench. He hesitated, taking a deep breath before talking. His tone was serious, almost diplomatic as though he wanted to keep this as impersonal as possible.

'Your birthday is on the 14th, eight days from now.' I nodded, picking at a hole in the crash mat beneath me. 'That doesn't leave us much time.'

I looked up and saw him frowning at the floor. 'Much time for what? What do we actually need to do before then?'

'I… don't really know.' I raised my eyebrow at him and he sighed. 'Kronos hasn't told me everything. He just said to tell you the bit I do know. He says that there is a process that you need to go through before your birthday.'

'A process?' I asked cautiously.

His face looked pained as though he knew more than he was saying. 'You have to go to… a river and bathe there.' A small smile tugged at the edge of his mouth when he saw my expression. 'It's the only way for you to… make the choice.'

My head span slightly. 'You… you know what my choice will be?'

'Kronos is going to arrange it, so you will be given this choice on your birthday. Therefore, when you make it, it will mean the end of the gods. We can't tell you though,' he said just as the question was formed in my head, 'he says that if you know beforehand then you will basically make the choice before your birthday.' I nodded, my head still spinning a little.

'What do I have to do now?' I asked after a moment.

Luke stood. 'You have to talk to Kronos. Follow me.'

I jumped down from the crash mats and followed him from the room, along the many corridors to Kronos' room. Luke opened the door and motioned me through but did not enter himself. I walked through the door and heard it softly close behind me. I approached the golden box and sunk to my knees in front of it.

'Daughter of the sea, your birthday and your choice are nearly upon you. I presume that Luke has told you of the process you must undertake?'

'He told me of it, but not what it was exactly.'

'Yes, I imagine talking about it is still a little… painful for him. He did not cope with it particularly well. I hope you, however, will cope better. You will then have one of the most important jobs in my army. You shall be my stepping stone to the destruction of the gods and my long-awaited rise to power. We are currently just a few kilometers from the Manhattan shore. Luke will go ashore with you and show you the place, but you must then go in alone.' I simply nodded; glad at least that he had said Luke and not Felicity or another one of the crew. 'You must go now. I shall speak to Luke and he shall tell you more.' I stood, bowed once more and backed out of the room.

Luke was standing a little way down the corridor, leaning against the wall. He straightened when I appeared, a question burning on his face, although I could see that he was fighting to kill his curiosity. Even though I'd only known him for a few weeks, I could read his face so easily now, as though I'd known him all my life. 'He said he wants to see you. To tell you more so you can tell me.'

'He wants to see me?' He sounded slightly cautious but nodded. 'I'll meet you in the training room in a bit, ok?' I nodded and headed past him, half running as soon as I was around the corner. I sank onto the crash mats in the training room again and buried my head in my hands.

Kronos' words reverberated in my head and however hard I tried to push them aside, they pulled at me, forcing themselves into the forefront of my mind and dancing there with the memory of my 13th birthday. You will be my stepping stone to the destruction of the gods. I scrunched my eyes tighter as my last conversation with my dad twirled in my mind. I see a great future for you Naomi. This can't have been what he meant. How could my dad possibly have foreseen this, even if he was one of the gods? I dug my fingers into my forehead. No one could have possibly foreseen this. It was far, far too crazy for that.