Chapter 25: Proposal

Today was the day. I was gonna do it. I got permission from Chiron to leave camp, and I was back within the hour. I ran over to Thalia, with her new sword behind my back, and a little extra in my pocket. We had Sword Fighting 101 together, and I absolutely destroyed the dummies Percy put in front of me. I was stoked for today. Before class, I hid her sword in the bushes, and kept the little extra in my pocket.

During lunch, when absolutely everyone was gathered for lunch, I walked over to my dad first, and told him to keep Aphrodite in line. I walked over to Zeus and asked him for his blessing. Yeah, I was going to propose to Thalia. The sky was still dark and a little cold, but I couldn't feel more nervous and hot.

After lunch was over, I walked over to Thalia, and held on to her sword, and presented it to her. "Happy birthday Thalia." I said. I unsheathed the sword, and in perfect calligraphy. it said, Thalia, I love you.

"I love you too Jason." She said. "Thank you." She took the sword and examined the writing.

I got down on one knee, and said, "Look on the other side." I pulled out a little velvet box, and waited for her to look on the other side. She did, and in the same calligraphy, it said Thalia Grace, will you marry me? I opened the box, and inside of it was a ring, the most beautiful I could find. It was a platinum band with a large emerald in the middle, and on either side there was a blue topaz stone, and a diamond, 24 karats, in that order.

"Yes, YES! A thousand times yes!" Thalia screamed with excitement. Everyone started to clap and cheer. Thalia tackled me with such force, I thought she would break me. Then she crashed her lips to mine. It was the best day of my life.

You're thinking, Hey! They aren't 18! right? Well, you see, when you are a demigod, it gets pushed back a year. Most don't live to be 18, so you can propose when you are 17, and get married at 17 as well. It was a rule made in the early seventies when the gods realized that most demigods don't live past 17.

Thalia had to be pulled off of me by Percy so I could breathe. Percy and Tyler each reached out their hand so I could stand. I took their hands, and I pulled myself up off of the ground.

"Congratulations man." Percy said.

"Thank you." I said. I was still rubbing my ribcage. Thalia wasn't as light as she looked. I would guess around 130 pounds at the time. The thing was, it was all muscle.

Nico walked up to us and pulled me aside. "What is it?" I asked him.

"Sorry to ruin your moment," Nico said, almost disgusted. "But the battle with Nyx and the Titans is coming. There's only one way to do it."

This perked up my attention. "I'm listening." A way to defeat Nyx, the Titans on her side, and save my friends? I was not going to pass this up.

"It's dangerous." He warned me.

"Danger is my middle name." I said, even though it is really Alexander.

"Liar." Nico said with a smile.

"Really? I thought it was." I said with sarcastic confusion.

"It involves bearing the curse of Achilles."

"The say what?" I asked. I never heard of it before.

"The curse of Achilles. It involves you bathing in the River Styx."

"I heard doing that will burn you to ashes."

"It may or may not. When we go down there, you need to focus on your mortal point. The part of your body that will remain vulnerable."

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"The gods forbid anyone to be completely invincible." Nico explained. "But, do be warned. Only three have survived this."

"Who were they?"

"Achilles, Luke Castellan, and..."

"Me." Percy said as he walked up to us, hand in hand with Annabeth.

"Does it hurt?" I asked. I've never been a real sucker for pain, but pain to achieve invulnerability? Seems kind of contradictory.

"It hurts a lot. But once it's done, it is worth it." Percy squeezed Annabeth's hand as he said that. Cute. I thought. They're lucky to have each other.

"I guess I can't pass it up." I said, a little depressed. "I got a world to save."

"You are not the only hero of the prophecy, remember?" Annabeth stated. "There is also a hero that is only named as 'light' in the prophecy."

"True. But I am the only one who has been confirmed." I said, maybe a little arrogantly.

"That is true." Nico said. "We should get going, though."

"Where do we start?" I asked, a little disappointed I didn't ask before.

"We need your mother's blessing," Nico replied as we began to walk. I stopped dead in my tracks. "What's wrong?"

"I can't. My mother hates me."

"I'll go with you two. Maybe a little extra leverage would help," Hades said as he walked up to us.

"Thanks dad." Both Nico and I said at once.

"Let us go. We waste time." Hades said, and when I thought about it, he was telling the truth.

Here we go again, I thought.