Chapter II
I walked through the strange camp, horse trailers outfitted with everything the wild centaur heart desired, from TVs to fridges stood in wild arrangements, I couldn't help but wonder how they had moved them here, I doubted centaurs could drive cars, if they even knew how to. Not too far away I spotted Percy and his friends talking with the centaur who I assumed was Chiron, Percy saw me and waved towards me so I started walking in his direction.
"Hey Percy, how's the leg?" I asked as I got close seeing the centaur wrapping a bandage around it.
"I'm fine, it's not that bad anymore, thanks for getting me by the way." He replied and I nodded.
"Ah, don't mention it," I said waving him off. "I gave you a promise didn't I, brother."
"Wait what do you mean by brother?" Annabeth interrupted. "And who are you anyways?"
I sighed and pulled off my helmet and turned to the blonde.
"I guess I should introduce myself, my name's Theseus, I am Percy's long-lost twin brother and till a few minutes ago the intended destroyer of Olympus." She frowned at that and turned to my brother.
"You know him?"
"Uh, I guess I do, he barged into my cabin when we first were on the ship and we had a talk." He answered her.
"And you didn't think to mention that till now?"
He sheepishly shrugged and she shook her head, before she looked back at me.
"I am Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." She introduced herself proudly and I offered my hand, she looked at me inquisitively but cautiously accepted.
"I assume you are Chiron, sir?" I asked the Centaur who looked worried but turned to me and answered.
"Yes, my boy. We have a lot to talk about as it seems, but all in due time. For now you should just get back to camp, though I believe the gods might want to speak with you soon as well, son of Poseidon."
I swallowed and as if to confirm my worries, it thundered above, I had a feeling Zeus wasn't happy about Poseidon having another son and for that matter one that could have been very dangerous to Olympus. But that was hopefully a worry for another day if he didn't smite me with lightning today.
"So what now?" Percy asked the immortal centaur. "We just let Luke sail away? He's got Kronos aboard that ship. Or parts of him, anyway."
"Percy, Luke has already well over a hundred demigods on that ship, not to mention the Dracanea, Hellhounds and what not, the only thing we would get if we attacked right now, is killed." I said as I turned to him.
Chiron nodded. "I'm afraid, that your brother is right, today has been somewhat of a draw, we didn't have the numbers to take that ship and Luke was not organized enough to pursue us. Nobody won."
"But we got the Fleece!" Annabeth stated. "Clarisse is on her way back to camp with it right now... and Kronos lost a chance to control the prophecy." She added as she looked at me.
"You are right my dear and you are all true heroes," He said. "You should be all right now, Percy." He thanked him as he stood up.
"You must return to Camp Half-Blood, the centaurs will carry you."
"You're coming, too?" Percy asked hopefully.
"Oh yes, Percy. I'll be relieved to get home." He confirmed. "My brethren here simply do not appreciate Dean Martin's music. Besides, I must have some words with Mr. D. There's the rest of the summer to plan. So much training to do. And I want to see... I'm curious about the Fleece."
"Luke said he would have let us have the Fleece after he's done with it." Percy mentioned worried. "Maybe he was lying?" He offered as the centaur furrowed his brow.
I shook my head. "No that was no lie, or at least it was an incredibly elaborate one, Luke mentioned it while planning, while we still were on... better terms."
"Whether it is true or not, we have little choice besides using it." He said with a sigh. "Thalia's pine will die without it..."
A loud splashing sound drew our attention as a centaur crashed into the lake. The young Cyclops who accompanied Percy stood there, one of the centaurs' paintball guns in his hands. The centaur resurfaced with a whooping cry, clearly unbothered by the large splatter of blue paint on his horse body.
"Annabeth," Chiron said, "perhaps you and Grover should go supervise Tyson and my cousins before they, ah, teach each other too many bad habits?"
I doubted the Cyclops would be the one to teach any bad habits in such a company, but Annabeth just nodded, clearly Chiron wanted to speak with us alone.
"Sure, Chiron," The daughter of Athena said "Come on, goat boy."
Despite his audible protests she dragged the satyr with her towards Tyson, leaving us alone with Chiron who still had a worried expression on his face.
"Percy, I had a talk with Annabeth on the way here. A talk about the prophecy." He said before turning to me. "I assume you know about the prophecy?"
"I do, I was spared no details, at least as far as I'm aware." I replied and he nodded understandingly before looking back at Percy.
"It wasn't her fault," Percy justified. "I made her tell me."
"I suppose I could not expect to keep it secret forever, you would have found out anyways someday."
"So am I the one in the prophecy?" Percy asked nervously.
"I wish I knew, Percy. It could be either of you or none, you are both not sixteen yet, we'll only truly know then," Chiron stated. "for now we can only prepare and train you two as best as we can. We will have to leave the rest to the fates."
"So that's what it meant." Percy said and I exchanged a curious look with Chiron.
"What are you talking about?" I asked Percy.
"Last summer, before I came to camp, I saw the Fates. I saw them snap a string and thought I was going to die right then and there. But I didn't, I think it's much worse, it's got something to do with the prophecy. The death they foretold, it will happen when I, or I guess one of us, turns sixteen." My look of curiosity had by now turned into one of worry and I shook my head.
"Percy, it is dangerous to try and predict prophecies, just as much as to try and prevent them. We don't even know if it is one of us, who of us it would be or who will die."
Chiron seemed nervous, his tail anxiously moving. "Theseus is right Percy, we don't know who the prophecy is about, it could be either of you, or none, or someone else entirely."
"Kronos is rising. He's going to destroy Mount Olympus!" Percy stated.
"He will try." Chiron agreed "And Western Civilization along with it, if we don't stop him. But we will stop him, you will not be alone in this fight."
It was clear that the centaur was trying to encourage Percy, but I had my doubts. A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze I thought, remembering the end of the prophecy. All would fight this war, but in the end it would come still down to one choice and someone would have to make that choice. It truly was a dooming prospect, the fate of the West resting in one's hands, any choice could be the one and you would never know which it is. I didn't know if I truly was prepared to bear such a burden, nor was I sure if Percy was, but I had no say in whether I would carry it. If the fates willed it, I might live to turn sixteen, but there was not much I could do about it.
I continued to listen to Chiron telling Percy about mortals and heroes, smiling sadly as the centaur talked about the eternal struggle, it truly seemed hopeless. Humanity could win as many times as it wanted, but the monsters would just keep coming back, at some point it would be overwhelmed. Just as the gods would someday be replaced by a new generation of immortals, alas such was the nature of eternity.
Their conversation was finished by now and Percy stood next to me, looking deeply unsettled after Chiron had told him about his connection to Kronos. I was surprised that Percy hadn't been aware, but due to the sensitive nature of their exchange I decided not to mention it.
The summer sun had faded by now and slowly night set in. Chiron quickly got the centaurs together and within minutes we were on our way again. The centaurs raced along the east coast and we zoomed past cities and towns. After about forty minutes we passed Savannah at least according to a road sign, within another forty minutes after that we had made it past Norfolk and had started crossing Chesapeake bay. It took just about three hours for us to arrive at Long Island as the centaurs seemed to get faster and faster the longer they travelled.
While I still had a lot of worries about their safety, I couldn't help but be amazed at their speed. I also felt rather happy that they were as chaotic and unruly as they were, a well organized militarized centaur army would be incredibly terrifying being able to cross the US in at most hours and appear everywhere.
When we arrived and crested Half-Blood Hill I saw Camp for the first time and I also saw how bad the state of it's borders truly was. The big pine tree was withering, it's needles yellow and starting to fall out. From what I've heard Percy had sent Clarrise ahead, I roughly remembered hearing the name before in strategy meeting and while studying my supposed foe, know the enemy and know yourself had been one of the most important lessons in my training.
I didn't know much about the counselor of the Ares cabin, but she was recognizable enough as such by her burly stature as she carried the fleece towards the hill. Following behind her was a stream of campers, a good two hundred campers of all ages were walking up towards the hill.
I observed the camp itself, I knew it's rough layout and easily discern the so-called big house and the twelve cabins in their U-shape around the big bonfire in their middle. Other buildings were scattered throughout the valley, the forge, clearly marked by the thick black smoke streaming out, the arena which was obviously discernible by the fact that it was massive compared to the other buildings. The ruins of one building were still standing in a blackened pile of wooden beams and broken stone.
Between the buildings and all trough out the valley traces of battle could be seen, broken trees, smashed statues and burn marks on grass. The Camp really seemed to be in bad shape and the approaching campers looked tired and battered.
"Camp really has seen better days, huh?" I muttered to myself.
"Yeah, there have been near constant monster attacks since the border started failing." Percy said.
I nodded, it really seemed like Camp Half-Blood wouldn't have lasted much longer this way.
As the campers gathered around the tree though and Clarrise stepped forward, the campers seemed to gather new hope and the mood lit up. The daughter of Ares draped the Golden Fleece over one of the pines' lower branches and near instantly the tree looked stronger, new life filled it's yellow needles that now turned green. At the sight of this the campers broke into wild cheers and I gave a small smile myself, this was a new beginning for me.
Soon the campers turned away and with what I assumed were the Ares kids carrying Clarisse, started moving down the hill and towards the big amphitheater in the centre of the camp, Percy and Annabeth went to follow them, but Percy turned to look at me, was he waiting for me? I looked at Chiron and Dionysus who remained, as well as the small unhappy first guard shift standing at the tree. I glanced at Chiron, there was a lot for me to talk about and I preferred to get as much of it as I could out of the way today.
I shook my head at Percy and he seemed to want to protest but just nodded and turned back to follow the campers. I looked at the happy demigods going towards the amphitheater, I had gotten surprisingly little attention, well as little attention as a unknown demigod, fully dressed in armor who had just arrived with Chiron could get. There were a few looks of course, a few whispers, but nothing that bothered me or that I hadn't expected.
I walked towards Dionysus and Chiron who were talking in hushed tones.
"Lord Dionysus." I greeted the immortal with a bow, caution appeared to be well advised, doubly so in consideration of my name and heritage.
The immortal turned to me and his eyes narrowed, suddenly he seemed a lot more dangerous and much less like a depressed alcoholic. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Theseus Jackson," He said, his voice spiteful, I knew immortals were petty, but come on, it's almost been three thousand years by now, not to mention that he was just my namesake.
"Sir, you wanted to talk to me?" I asked Chiron who looked thoughtful.
"Yes my boy, there is a lot to discuss," He replied. "but not here, if you'd follow me please."
And with that the centaur started trotting towards the Big House and I went to follow. As soon as we had gained some distance to the god of wine, I spoke.
"I take him knowing and using my actual name is not a good sign?" I asked, I had heard about the god's habit of using wrong names, Chiron smiled somewhat.
"It is not, but he hasn't threatened to incarcerate you yet, so that's an improvement." He replied and I raised my brow.
"It is not the first time a demigod that was named after Theseus came here since Dionysus has been serving as director." He explained.
"You are the third one by now, though also the one that resembles him the most, so I'd still be careful."
I nodded, I actually liked my name, admittedly enough the original Theseus was far from a ideal hero, but the name was still fitting. Just like me he had been raised by another man than his father, though I hoped I would meet a less tragic end, or at least lead a less tragic life if I couldn't avoid the other.
I had to admit I was a bit shocked when Chiron's form suddenly shifted and his horse-body became hidden as he now sat in a wheelchair, but I kept my composure and didn't question the logistics of that. The centaur didn't make notice of it as he rolled into the house and I went after him.
Chiron turned and entered a room to his right, it looked like it was an office, but one in need of a dusting.
"Seems like Tantalus wasn't too busy administering." I remarked with a look at a small pile of paper and the centaur sighed.
"Indeed, a lot of paperwork for me to take care of, but all in due time." He said and gestured for me to take a seat as he rolled to the other side of the desk.
I sat down in the armchair and was surprised how comfortable it was, or maybe I was just tired.
"So, I think it's best if we just start by you telling me how you came to be on the Princess Andromeda?" He asked and I thought for a moment.
"I don't know too much about how the Titans actually got me, I assume they took me somehow. They never have been truthful about that, I've not been given answers I believed." I said and the centaur nodded.
"I was raised by Oceanus for the largest part of my life, training and learning to become the child of the prophecy." I said, consciously avoiding the word hero. "I don't know how I was kept hidden from my father in his own domain, I assume some powerful magic at work but I don't know for sure." The centaur frowned at that, but gestured to me to keep talking.
"When I was ten I was sent to the surface. I spent some time living with powerful mortal allies of the Titans, visiting school, I guess I was supposed to learn how to get along with mortals and how the mortal world worked, though my preparations still continued throughout."
"When I was twelve, I joined Luke on the Princess Andromeda and was entrusted with leadership roles, that was also the time I learned about the prophecy." I finished my explanation.
"I see, how come you have changed your mind, if you don't mind the question" He asked and I considered the question for a moment.
"I had my doubts for a long time now, I felt like I was being used, just a tool nothing more. I had just accepted it so far, it was what I had been raised to be, a weapon. I had no love for the Olympians and the Titans' army was more or less the closest thing to a home I had, so what was I supposed to do? Of course I had my doubts about destroying the west and their new golden age but still..." I paused for a moment.
"A few days ago, when Percy had first left for his quest, I met him. I had been told not to, but I wouldn't let such a chance slip away." I continued.
"We talked, it wasn't a long conversation, but it made me think about what I was truly doing. I had been getting more and more angry at the Titans after that as I started piecing together my past and realized what they had taken from me. But the actual decision to betray them was rather spontaneous, I was sure Luke would kill him in that fight." My fists clenched as I thought back at it. "I couldn't let him do it... so now I'm here."
Chiron looked on with concern. "This will definitely cause a ruckus on Olympus, hopefully your father can reason with them... I think this will suffice for now, we will discuss further details in the coming days. I am sure you are tired, normally we would have to wait for you to be claimed, but it seems your father is still waiting for some reason, though I am sure he won't mind you staying in cabin three."
I just nodded thankfully, I really was tired and needed some sleep. I said my goodbyes and left the room, stepping into the hallway. Today had been an eventful day, a lot had changed, hopefully for the better, though I guess that would still have to be seen. I breathed in deeply as I stepped out into the crisp night air, I leaned on the railing of the porch as I watched the campfire. It was late by now and the celebrations of the return of Clarisse were coming to an end. Last cheers could be heard but slowly the campers started leaving for their cabins.
I kept on looking for a few more minutes, I wanted to go to sleep, sure, but even less did I want to draw any attention now. But luckily it didn't take long before the rest of the campers left and it became quiet in the valley.
I walked down into the valley, heading straight for the Poseidon cabin. It had gotten dark by now, the only sources of light being the moon and the campfire burning in the middle of camp. As I moved along the cabins I noticed someone was still sitting at the campfire. My curiosity getting the better of my tiredness I approached. A girl was sitting at the fire, she looked about eight? Perhaps nine, but by no means a average age for a camper and not an age at which one should still be up.
"Hello nephew." She greeted me without looking up from the flames. Judging from the instant recognition, her strange appearance and location as well as the fact she had just called my nephew I figured who I was talking to.
"Lady Hestia." I greeted the goddess and she gestured me to sit down at the fire and I did. Instantly a wave of comfort and warm washed over me as I settled on to the ground.
"You seem troubled." She remarked and I sighed.
"Are you saying that I shouldn't be, from what Chiron told me Zeus isn't exactly happy." I said and saw her smile.
"Well you aren't wrong, but I'm sure my dearest little brother will calm down with time, but there's something beyond that isn't there."
I remained silent for a moment, before speaking again.
"I am unsure, I just don't feel myself belonging here," I admitted. "my brother is a hero, but me? It took him nearly getting killed for me to even get myself to finally act."
"You left behind everything you knew to save a brother you just met, that takes a lot of bravery doesn't it." Hestia encouraged, I gave a small smile myself, though really I didn't feel much better about myself.
"I don't know, what says that I have the strength to keep on fighting?" I said doubtfully.
"You are not alone, Theseus, you have your brother and I'm sure you will have others soon as well." She told me with a twinkle in her fiery, warm eyes. "You don't have to carry every burden alone, if you just let others take them."
I nodded and rose up, feeling a bit better, I was unsure if I truly felt better or if it was just the goddess' calming presence, but I was still thankful for the bit of calm.
"Thank you lady Hestia for this talk, I'll try my best to keep to your words."
"Of course, nephew, if you need to talk, I'll always be here at the hearth, even when I'm not tending to it." She said and I nodded again and went to leave for the cabin.
When I entered the lights were already out and Percy was sleeping in one of the beds and the cyclops, Tyson, was also snoring in one near him. I quietly walked over to one of the bunk beds in a corner. I was about to crash down into it, but realized I was still wearing my armor, my helmet hanging from my belt. I looked around and found a trunk laying beneath the bed and slid it out as silently as I could. I began fiddling with the straps of my cuirass before slowly moving on to the vambraces and graves, taking off my armor and putting it down in the chest.
Finally I took off my boots and sank down into the bed and within the blink of an eye I had slipped into the realm of Morpheus.
I woke up later than my usual time before sunrise, it had to be at least six by now. I realized I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday having slept in them, not that I had anything to change into. Percy and Tyson were still asleep, though that gave me time to be alone, time to put my thoughts in order.
After a few minutes of getting ready, I stepped out of the cabin with a clear goal and intention. I was walking towards the beach to do something I hadn't done before, pray to my father.
I quickly arrived at my goal and had to admit the long Island Sound was beautiful from the hidden valley, the sun's light scattering on it, giving the water an orange hue. I knelt down in the sand and started praying. I wasn't even sure what I was going for but I mostly just said what came to my mind, I wasn't even sure if I was talking to my father or to myself as I talked about what happened these last few days. Still being close to the sea felt good and coming to terms with my father felt even better, as if a huge weight just left my shoulders.
After what perhaps was an hour I got back up, I felt much more steadfast now, though there was something I felt, it could have been ambition. But judging by the growling of my stomach it seemed like it was hunger, I hadn't eating anything since noon yesterday. It should be time for breakfast soon, so I went back to the cabin.
Percy had woken up by now, though he was still lying in bed, Tyson wasn't in sight.
"Rise and shine, Perce." I called to him and he groaned.
"Morning, Theseus." He grumbled, but to my surprise got up quickly, looking at me and I raised my brow.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" I asked and he shook his head.
"It's strange, I've gotten two new brothers in the last two weeks," He paused before joking. "if dad keeps this pace up, we'll be the largest cabin by the end of year."
I chuckled. "Well I can assure you I don't have anymore siblings that I know of, so we should be good for now."
"Sorry about your shield by the way." He remarked as he got up but I waved him off.
"Never liked it much anyways, besides the look on Luke's face was absolutely worth it." I said with a grin and again he looked at me strangely.
"It's weird, just suddenly having someone that looks like you so much. Might I ask you to never cut your hair, it could be near as bad as with the Stolls otherwise." He said grinning. "But on the plus side, I know why I believed you when you told me you were my twin, you have mum's eyes."
"What is she like?" I asked, judging from Percy's tone he was fond of her.
"Mom's just great in every way, you're going to love her, I am sure of it." He paused for a moment. "Now that I think about it, I really have to call her. She'll definitely want to meet you after I tell her, just after she scolds me for disappearing on her without a word."
"I take she knows you are a demigod and all that?"
"Oh yeah, she knows everything, she's clear-sighted, but I think Dad would have told her either way, he really loved her, even offered to take her under the sea, but she refused." Percy explained and I had to admit it was surprised, I guess it took quite the woman to get the lord of the sea to break his oath, but taking her under the sea? From what I had heard my father's relations were much more... temporary usually.
I was about to continue asking about her when a conch shell blew.
"Breakfast?" I asked and Percy nodded as he hurriedly started to dress.
Breakfast wasn't too spectacular till we got up to sacrifice for the gods. I still found it strange that we sacrificed actual food, considering the ancient Greeks would mostly sacrifice animal's fat along with bones and such, after all Prometheus had tricked Zeus for this in the first place before stealing fire, I guess things had changed.
I was standing behind Percy, thinking about who I should sacrifice to, of course my father, perhaps Hestia? She had been rather encouraging yesterday, perhaps Zeus? Though that was too grovelling for my taste, so I rejected that idea. When Percy finished I stepped forward.
"Poseidon and Hestia" I muttered and second later everyone turned to me, I wondered for a moment if I had made a mistake, but then I realized they were looking up. I whistled as I saw the large green trident glowing in the skies above me. It seemed my father had a flair for dramatics, or maybe he just didn't want to interrupt the victorious return yesterday.
The camp knelt around me and with little surprise in his voice Chiron announced.
"Hail Theseus Jackson, son of the Earthshaker."
I returned to the table with the sound of chattering and whispers surrounding me, before I could sit down I was enveloped in a crushing hug by Tyson.
"Daddy has sent me another brother." He proclaimed happily and I looked desperately to Percy, who just chuckled.
After what felt like an eternity of rib-crushing hug, he let me down and I patted him on the shoulder.
"Happy to meet you too, brother." I said with a grin as I sat down.
The rest of the meal was uneventful, Chiron announced that the chariot races would continue, though I wasn't even aware there were any chariot races. I talked with Percy about many things, intrigued by the blue food and happily listening to the story behind it, it felt good just to talk with someone who just saw you as family.
Percy had offered to form a team with me for the chariot races, but I declined, not only did I feel like he really wanted to work with Annabeth, I was also far too busy the next few days. I spent hours with Chiron, going through every bit of strategic knowledge I had about the Titan's forces. Between that and worriedly looking at the sky searching for lightning bolts, I spent my time training, mostly with Percy as he was trying to get in best form for the races.
I got to know Camp better and learned a few things. For one I had always thought of myself as a good swordsman, but Percy was extraordinary, when I won against him it was mostly because I simply had more experience or because of some cheap trick. But Percy really had a lot of potential to be a legendary swordsman, if only he spent more time training.
The day the chariot races came I watched happily, content with my place on the bleachers as I looked on and dodged the occasional misaimed or dodged javelin and avoided crashing chariots. Honestly it seemed just as dangerous as being down there. I thought about the letter from Poseidon Percy had told me about this morning, "Brace yourself" was all it said, after hearing that decided that my father definitely had a theatrical side and just wanted to be as dramatic as possible from time to time and it wasn't about not interrupting, not that I could blame him, I'd do the same as a god.
I was among the cheering crowd of campers as Percy and Annabeth won, my decision to leave them to it paid off just by the shocked look on Percy's reddened face as Annabeth pecked him on the cheek. I joined the group of Athena campers as the carried them to the platform under jubilant cheers.
Percy had been gleaming happily the rest of the day as we went through our schedule, he didn't even groan as we walked towards archery class unlike the last two days and Percy was a horrible archer, the only time he could hit the inner rings of a target, was when he was aiming at an entirely different one, I wouldn't claim to be a great archer but I could hit my target if I wanted to at least. I doubted he could hit a target, especially a moving one, even if his life depended on it.
Though archery class wasn't the interesting part of that afternoon, after telling Percy that he had managed to avoid legal troubles with his school, which I decided not to ask the reason for, Chiron handed Percy a phone and told him to call his... well I guess our mom. Percy looked really apologetic as I heard him get scolded and promise not to scare her again. Soon he turned to me while still talking.
"Hey, mom, I have to ask you something, I know this may sound crazy but I didn't have a twin did I?" Percy asked.
"No, why do you ask, dear?" I heard her answer in a tone of concern.
"Well, I think it might be better if he talked to you himself." Percy said and held out the phone to me.
I realized just how awkward the situation was as I took it, how did you tell someone, especially the woman who birthed you that you are her long-lost son.
"Hey Mother, I know this sounds crazy as Percy already said, but my name is Theseus, I'm Percy's twin , I know it's hard to believe, but I swear it on the river Styx." I said and thunder boomed overhead.
I had decided to go for the bluntest approach possible, no point beating around the bush. While effective it seemed to be rather shocking, judging by the minute of silence from her.
"Mom, are you ok?" I asked.
"Oh I'm fine dear, it's just... it's all coming back to me, it's as if they had been locked away somehow." She paused for a moment before softly asking. "How did we lose you?"
"I'm not sure." I admitted. "I assumed I was taken by some lackey of the Titans shortly after birth. I was raised by Oceanus after that, that wasn't too bad, I was actually treated pretty good, so don't worry too much about." I continued trying to calm possible worries.
"That doesn't make it any better, how come your father didn't find you?" She asked slightly irritated.
"Again I can't really say," I admitted again. "I assume some powerful magic at work, but now that I think about he probably was looking for me, I was never truly left unsupervised when I could have left Oceanus palace or gotten too close to the sea in an unprotected place."
"I could come visit, if Chiron's ok with that?" I proposed and looked to the centaur who nodded.
"No, no, just like I told your brother, stay and train, I really want to see you, but I can wait a few more weeks till you and your brother come home." She paused. "You are coming home aren't you?"
That was a difficult question, I really wanted to meet my mother and stay with my brother, but on the other hand it was irresponsible, we were in a war, the fate of the world might rest on my shoulder, could I really afford to do anything but train.
"I don't know if I really can, I mean I saw how far the Titans are with war preparations, this is no small conflict, we'll have a proper war on our hands soon enough, besides it's dangerous two big three kids in one place for so long will attract a lot of unwanted attention."
"But I'll send you an Iris message soon to tell you my decision and talk, I'll have to think about it." I said appeasingly, she clearly wasn't happy about this either.
"Hmmm, alright, but don't you dare disappear on me again, I've lost you once and that's one time too many." She told me with a definite tone.
"I'll try my best not to get kidnapped by any immortals again, goodbye mom, we'll talk again soon."
"Goodbye, I'll be waiting."
I sighed as I handed the phone back to Chiron, that felt like the hardest conversation I've ever had, I was happy to finally have talked to my mother, even if it was brief, I still was feeling anxious.
The next few days were no less eventful, but most importantly Thalia Grace had returned from the dead, even if that was perhaps a bit inaccurate, considering she was transformed into a tree, not actually dead, not that it made a big difference. That worried me a lot, Kronos had clearly planned this, had he truly seen me betraying him coming from that long ago, or perhaps it was Luke and not him that wanted this, he had always talked fondly of her, very fondly as a matter of fact.
I sincerely hoped it was the latter, because if Kronos had predicted my actions I couldn't trust that I wasn't working for him unintentionally. Nevertheless Thalia coming back brought a important change, neither Percy nor me were the oldest possible children of the prophecy any longer. I wasn't sure if I was happy about that, I still don't know Thalia well enough to say that, but it convinced me of a choice in regard to my time after the summer.
I had decided that I would spend the time till the winter holidays with Percy and mom for now and would reconsider after that, though probably go to Camp for the rest of the school year. But that like so much else was still to be seen, I really had chosen an uncertain path, had I not?
AN: And here it is, the second chapter, a lot of dialogue and bridging, but it's neccassary and at least 90% original words or so, so that's something. This wasn't that fun to write, hopefully it was to read. Expect the next chapter this weekend or next week around wednesday.
Thanks for reading, please review