Interlude [Thalia's perspective]

There was a hidden library within Chase Manor. It belonged in an isolated bilateral dimension that only the Goddess of wisdom could enter and leave on a wimp. No one else was allowed access unless they were accompanying her.

This was the first time she was summoned to her library.

Grand wouldn't even begin to describe this place. The vastness was unfathomable for any Half-Blood to process, much less a regular person.

The library was very similar looking to ones in fancy royal castles. Accented with a Victorian-style design with wrapped around walkways on different floors, the place act like a museum of the sort. There were a bunch of worn-out wooden glass displays of artifacts from history, artistic and cultural creation of the past, and many more interesting objects laid out across the 10,000 square feet deep hall.

It was insane, and she knew only one other person who would geek out and spend the rest of her life here content with no regret.

Dozens of warm yellow lamps were the only source of light in the place, all except for the faint silver glow of the moon. The library was at least three stories tall, but no one would have thought that if they looked at the stacks of bookcases lined up in a tight and organized fashion. Not only were they huge and complete with all of humankind's knowledge, but they also extend far beyond the ceiling and kept rising above.

Somehow, the night starry sky mural painting was bounded by some high-leveled reflective magic, the slight rippling of waves as books traveled up and down the barrier told her as much. Sliding ladders decorated the shelves on the bottom floor despite the automated system for book retrieval.

"You can come up, Thalia."

Lady Athena sensed her presence and calmly said from all the way on the top floor. Her suspense of disbelief when her voice didn't break was remedied by the fact that she was a Goddess.

On her right, Thalia spotted a classy and aesthetic birdcage elevator with rustic casted iron bars. The old-style was particularly nostalgic even though she had never seen it, much less used one before.

As Thalia climbed into the spacious chassis, she found a metal knob that could be pushed or pulled in three positions. The handle currently sat at a forward position over the half-circle. It indicated the first floor. She had to get to the top floor so she pulled the surprisingly heavy knob in an arch and forced it all the way back. It made a loud thud when it strike, and the mechanical elevator began to rumble into life.

"Sheesh, are they always so heavy?"

Unlike most demigods, her strength was thought to be limitless because she shared genes with the most powerful Olympian in the pantheon. If a situation required for it, she could easily punch straight through a boulder without much preparation.

Which made her struggle now all the more interesting….

A few hours ago before she got summoned, Thalia was chatting with Annabeth in Percy's room when he finally woke up. After five long days, the son of Poseidon finally opened his eyes and the first one to meet him was a pair of teary grey eyes waiting for him.

Thalia clasped her left arm and sighed. It made no sense why she kept repeating that scene over and over again in her head. Truly, she was glad that Annabeth was able to reunite with Percy, but somewhere else, someplace foreign, there was a void of emptiness that cling to her and refused to let go.

BUZZZZ! YOU'VE ARRIVED AT YOUR DESTINATION.

The elevator eased to a stop with a heavy rattling.

Thalia promptly reached for the metal bars and pulled the safety gate aside.

There were bookshelves on this floor as well. Acting as a barrier with the elevator, Thalia circled around a tall perch with a bronze owl statue and further into Athena's real study. When she enter around a corner, Thalia gasped at the worldly and sophisticated interior.

Instead of a stairwell that hugged the second and third floors of the great library, the fourth was completely inaccessible without the elevator. With an open view of the hall below, this place was ten times larger than the one back in Chase manor.

Leaning over a skillfully carved limestone window, Athena sat on the tilted sill with a glass of red wine between her fingers.

"Lady Athena," Thalia put her palm to her chest and bow slightly, as was the formal greeting when you are in the presence of Olympians.

"Stop it." She sighed, "You are not on Olympus. There is no reason for you to do that anymore, especially not with me."

Thalia straight up and tried to smile, "Sorry, old habits die hard, I guess."

"Hmm…." Athena smiled back and gazed out the open window. The rainbow-colored stained glass made her divine stature even more mesmerizing to look at. Truly, she was one of the many Goddesses to be revered, unlike the others Thalia had to 'pleasure' to meet before.

"So, what's up? You've never summoned me here before? Did something important happen?"

Her choice to speak casually was met with a brilliant smile from Athena. Instead of replying, she swirled the glass in her hands and made the liquid spin in a vortex.

"Thalia… Do you remember the first time we met?"

"Huh? Why do you ask? Is something wrong?"

Athena flashed her a small smile, silently asking her to continue.

"Umm…" Thalia began, but the memory of that day was as clear as it had been yesterday.

Despite a particularly stormy season, an abrupt hurricane touched down around the entire stretch of route 476 with no warning on the news whatsoever. A freakish tornado as vast as the eye could see also rip through the area, tearing everything apart.

Carrying everything she could fit in her backpack, she left all her belongings and the truck on the road and ran deep into the forest to find shelter. At first, she was just aimlessly wandering, hoping that someone would help them. With sheer luck, her prayers were answered and she managed to find a small cave carved into the hill.

As they settled inside the tiny and cramp space, she spent what felt like days hiding away inside until the storm passed.

"I don't really remember what happened afterward, but when I woke up, the storm was finally clear. It was cold, and we were so hungry, the thought that maybe my truck was still there and I could try and scavenge what was left made us wander back to the highway."

Thalia continued.

"Then a pack of wolves just as hungry as we were surrounded and bare their fangs at us. At that point, I knew I was done for. I already knew everything in my truck was swept up by the tornado. I barely had enough in my backpack to start over. I was going to give up and sacrifice myself so my twin brother could continue to live."

She bit her lip.

"But then a woman as radiant and blinding as a Goddess came before me and scared all the wolves away. She took my hand, offered me a chance to have a new life, a life free from lies and deceit, a life where I could understand my gifts and used them for good, to fight against injustice in this world, and most importantly, she gave me a purpose to strive toward."

Thalia looked up at the Goddess and smiled weakly, "To this day, I still don't know how to thank her for everything she did."

Athena took a small sip and looked away from the window. She smiled and paced toward her desk, the wine glass gracefully placed on the table without a sound.

"You don't have to thank me, Thalia. I saved you and your brother because I need you."

"That's not how we see it, Lady Athena." Thalia took no time to reply, "To Jason… To me… We are both forever in your debt, that's why we will always dedicate ourselves to helping your goal."

Athena sighed. A hopeless smile moved across her lips and she shook her head as if she couldn't believe her unwavering determination.

"Even if you didn't save me and Jason, I still admire what you are trying to do, and I'll do everything in my power to help achieve that goal regardless. That's my belief."

Athena gave up with another hopeless sigh, then she chuckled amusedly.

"You two are the only ones stupid enough to follow me for so long." Her small laughs were replaced with grateful smiles, "Truly, you and Jason have been too kind to me. I don't even know how to repay your gratitude after all these years." Sadly, her beautiful features turned solemn, "Do you think the others feel the same way?"

"….?!"

Thalia gulped and didn't know how to answer her.

Lady Athena didn't seem to be looking for an answer anyway as she turned away and from the topic altogether. With elegant steps, Athena went around her desk, the yellow lamp illumined her divine figure in her silk white dress, she brushed a finger over her spinning globe, then softly leaned against the finely finished mahogany wood and faced her.

"So, why did you ask all that?" Thalia was genuinely curious.

Carefully watching the troubled look on her face, Athena looked away and threw her head back. She gazed aimlessly at the stars moving across the backdrop on the ceiling and sighed heavily through her lips.

"You've been there for me since Annabeth was born sixteen years ago. Through it all, I have requested a lot of dangerous missions for you to undertake."

"Yes… but it wasn't nothing I couldn't handle." Thalia answered honestly, "Plus, there were so many people who helped me grow. They are all still here, fighting for the same thing I want, the same thing you wish for the world."

Thalia hoped her delayed response would help, but Athena could tell what she was trying to do. A modest smile went over her lips.

"Thanks, Thalia. I know you are right, it's just…"

Worriedness overtook her mysterious grey eyes and captured all of her attention, "What I am about to ask of you now, it's an entirely different task from before. This isn't something I could assign to you without letting you know all the risk."

"Wait? You were able to find out who it is?!"

Thalia figured out what Lady Athena was trying to say. Her excitement wouldn't even describe her reaction. This was their first real clue who might have taken the mantle of Kronos's uprising, the face of such evil and the devastation that would follow, not unless they put a stop to it.

"Yes. Ethan revealed the name of the Half-Blood who Kronos had chosen to be the host for his physical reincarnation."

"What?! This is great news!"

Athena kept quiet.

"Who? Who is he? Where is he now?"

Despite her eagerness, the Goddess of wisdom's pensive reaction and tight lip brought Thalia's excitement all the way down, and soon a new feeling swept through her core.

"You can't be serious…."

She nodded, "I am sorry, Thalia."

The blood in her veins froze solid. Her skin went as cold as ice. The never-ending pit of emptiness she felt earlier swallowed her heart.

Athena sighed and stated matter of fact, "It was an oversight on my part. For some reason, I wasn't able to pick up that he was a Half-Blood, his Olympian lineage was never apparent to me before. Even now, I can't sense who his Godly parent was. It's only through some digging did I found out his real father was Hermes."

Hermes? The God of messenger?

"His mother had an affair, but she wasn't aware that Hermes was an Olympian God. She's been raising a Half-Blood under the guise that he was a regular mortal, the illegitimate son of Castellan's only heir."

Shocked, this wasn't what Thalia was expecting. Instead of a rogue Half-Blood they've been keeping tabs on, it turned out the face of Kronos's invasion would be none other than the boy who stole everything from her, the boy who hid his true nature until the very end, the boy who hurt the person closest to her, the lowlife scoundrel who almost had his way if he wasn't stopped.

Recollections of two years ago flashed in her mind… She felt absolutely disgusted.

Thalia bit her lips, "But why are you telling me this?"

Athena responded with a kind smile that only served to squeeze her heart with a tight grasp, "I know you have a history with him, just as much as Annabeth did. Neither was good, but…"

Athena paused, then continued.

"I understand it's not easy to forget about your first love, even if…"

Thalia cut her off entirely, "I accept your request!"

Her reply didn't shock the Goddess, and Athena didn't push it any further, "Are you sure?"

"He means nothing to me." Thalia answered so quickly her words just flowed naturally, "If he had willing give himself up for Kronos's bidding, he's our number one enemy and must be eradicated until not a shred of him remains in this world."

Thalia meant every word she said, but…

To be honest, she really hated herself. Given what they know now, the answer should be obvious and it shouldn't end with a but. Yet, her split-second innate hesitation bothered her so much that the illogical conflict only grew from there.

The Goddess took only than a minute to study her and she spoke softly, "Thalia…"

Thalia shook her head, "Really! He's dead to me! Anyone who would do something like that, especially to my little sister, deserved to be thrown in the depths of Tartarus for eternity. It doesn't matter whether he's a Half-Blood or not. It doesn't matter if… I won't let him near Annabeth again."

Despite everything she said, Athena seemed unsure of what to make of it, or rather, maybe she was hoping for another outcome. However, Thalia had already made her choice. She'll never abandon Annabeth, even if her life was on the line.

"You are precious to me, Thalia." Athena admitted her real intention, "Just as much as Annabeth, and I don't want you to bear all the burden. He's getting more and more powerful every second, and this is not something you can handle all by yourself, even if you do possess Zeus's power."

Thalia looked right back at Athena with newfound determination, a grin moved across her lips, "I am not alone, Athena."

There were feelings of deep consternation behind those pale and stormy eyes. It was as if Athena couldn't decide whether to trust her and throw her to the wolves, or make arrangements and keep all of them safe behind the walls.

"I can do this, Lady Athena." Thalia resolved firmly, "Even if he did come at me, I am not the same as I was before. I won't go down without a fight, and either would anyone who helped. We are all in this fight together, even Annabeth and Percy."

Seconds after she spoke from deep in her heart, a hug envelop her. Thalia's eyes shot open, and she found herself within a Goddess's arms.

"L-Lady Athena?!"

She didn't let go, "Thank you, Thalia. Even if you weren't my daughter, I'll always think of you as one of my own. I swear, I won't let anything happen to you."

Thalia was shocked, but the warmth of a Goddess made the tenseness ease. Even though she had never done this before, Thalia patted Athena's back as if their roles had completely reversed. Despite her Godly status, even someone as powerful as her would have vulnerabilities and showing her weakness like this made Thalia happy. Athena trusted her.

It took a moment, but eventually, Athena pulled away and fixed herself.

"Thalia?"

"Yes, my lady?"

Athena paused, "I don't want you to tell Annabeth about Luke."

Thalia paused and blinked wide.

"I don't want Annabeth to know about Luke's true nature. Knowing her, that knowledge would likely cause more problems if Annabeth decided to act and Percy follow after her."

Thalia wasn't sure that was a good idea. To know who your enemy is, the better one could prepare. Yet, Athena was asking her to withhold that crucial information.

"Are you sure? If Annabeth knows, then…"

"Then she's going to act impulsively without a clear head. I don't want her to do anything like that, not until she's ready."

Thalia finally understood. Athena wanted to protect her daughter no matter the cost, and keeping Luke's identity hidden will give them time to properly prepare her, even if it would result in…

"I understand."