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Hello folks, X21 here, been busy this last 10 days due to a festival (Navratri, all my Indian folks would know) So, I wasn't able to write much. But I have gotten some of my writing speed back, and you would surely see another update by me on next Sunday.
Until then, enjoy this chapter. Share your comments and vote, as they make me happy. (I don't get paid fuckers, at least let me get some happiness from writing.)
Third Person Pov
"How..." Annabeth asked as tears started falling from her eyes, hands flying up to cover her gaping mouth. She couldn't believe what was happening. Thalia was in front of her, alive.
The joy of seeing her old friend subsided by the fraud of her heart. Her rational brain running and calculating through every possibility. Was this another trickery of the fates? Morpheus knew she had dreamt of reuniting with her old friend hundreds of times.
However, the Lord of fate himself was sitting right in front of her talking with Thalia.
It was like an accolade had been granted to Annabeth, for what? She didn't know, nor wanted to know. Thousands of emotions passed through her mind as she watched Thalia examine her surroundings. Still wearing the same black Gothic clothes as the day she had died, Thalia looked a little older.
Had she been alive for all this time inside the tree? Stuck inside a piece of wood as the world around her moved on and continued? Like one of Zeus' bolts, those questions charred Annabeth's heart for her sister's situation. Sister! Thalia was more of her family than anyone she had known before Perseus. She cared for her, more so than Luke ever did. She was the sister Annabeth always wanted.
As the morning dawned and Apollo started rising over the horizon, gaiety rose on Annabeth's inside, too. Her feet moving on their own as a swift melody of glee and happiness sung inside her chest.
Perseus turned to look at her and smiled; that alone was enough to warm her heart, but the sight of recognition settling on Thalia's eyes was the icing on the cake.
"Annie?" Thalia whispered, her voice hoarse, croaking like a dusty pipeline as she spoke for the first time. Yet, her expression relayed everything she wanted to. The last time Thalia had seen Annabeth, she was just 7, running around and throwing orders. Now, though, in front of her stood a grown, tall and seemingly more powerful 15-year-old. Nevertheless, she could recognize the little girl she had raised for a while.
Annabeth had tried to hide away her emotions for years; it was what people expected from her. Everyone always expected the children of Athena to be emotionless and purely strategic; they couldn't' have been farther from the truth. They might have been born from the most strategic and dispassionate goddess, but they were also half-mortal. They had emotions, they just didn't know how to deal with it.
Even in her perfectly well composed heart, Annabeth felt overwhelmed, and almost fell on her knee; however, before her knee could even touch the ground, Perseus was in front of her. Carrying her in the most assiduous way possible, he took her closer to Thalia.
As soon as they were in proximity to each other, Annabeth leapt at Thalia and tackled her to the ground. Her sobs came muffled as she cried against her sister's chest.
Thalia laughed, even as she herself couldn't stop her own volley of tears. The thundering and lightening had stopped up in the sky, but the rumbling of wild and miserable thoughts still kept thundering inside her. For now, she wrapped her arms around Annabeth and tried to soothe her, "Easy there kiddo, you're ruining my favorite shirt."
Annabeth smiled and sat back and observed her friend for a while; her eyes had dulled a little. Those electric blue eyes of hers used to hold more power and authority once, but now they were dimmer than before. Being stuck inside a tree for years had taken something from her and Annabeth would do whatever was possible to get it back.
However, that was the worry for the future. Right now, she would rejoice at the arrival of her sister. The missing part of her heart finally was found again. Her joy knew no bounds right now, and it all had happened because of a certain lost god.
She stood and turned to face Perseus, looking up at his taller figure; it was hard to ignore the thumping of her heart. He had given her something that was far more valuable than anything she could've asked for. Even though they had only been dating for 20 days and knew each other for just more than a month, Annabeth could hear the melody of love her heart was humming.
Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, Annabeth pulled his head down; ignoring his widened eyes, she pressed her lips against his. The feel of their skin against each other always surprised them both; they could feel the shiver run down their bodies, urging them to take it a little further. In other situations, they would, but right now they had a guest with them.
As their kiss parted, Annabeth pushed her forehead against his. "Thank you," she whispered to him, unknowingly making him growl a little as he felt her warm breath on his face. Not trusting himself to say anything at the moment, Perseus stayed silent and enjoyed the show of Annabeth's affection and her soothing presence.
Both of them took a step back from each other when they heard Thalia coughing loudly to get their attention. Faces flushed, they turned to look at her, embarrassed.
"What's this?" Thalia moved her fingers from Perseus to Annabeth, her eyebrows raised in question. Her face remained unreadable as she stared at them both.
Annabeth looked down, still blushing heavily. For a second she had forgotten that Thalia was still here. Her feelings for Perseus were too strong to not follow it through whenever she felt like kissing him.
"Annabeth and I are together," Perseus answered nonchalantly as he looked at Thalia, his hands coming up to fold themselves in front of his chest.
Thalia stayed silent for a while and had some sort of a staring contest with Perseus. Both of them looking at each other's eyes, not blinking or backing down, making Annabeth worried that either of them would explode if they kept it up.
Thankfully, Thalia sighed and moved her gaze away from Perseus, "Don't hurt her," was the only thing she said. She had known that Gods didn't care about their flings or dalliances firsthand after seeing her mother suffer for years. Yet, something about Perseus seemed different.
Perseus smiled and snaked his hand across Annabeth's waist and pulled her against him. "I wouldn't dare," he replied. The sheer adoration and love in his voice seemed to have calmed Thalia's qualm as she nodded at him.
Seeing that they were silent now Annabeth raised a question aimed at Perseus, "How did you do it?"
Perseus smirked and motioned to look towards the pine tree that had the Golden Fleece wrapped around it. "During our quest when I learned about Thalia here, I went to visit my little brother in the underworld, to confront him about going after his own niece." Thalia winced slightly as she remembered the hell hounds and the furies that were after her.
Perseus observed her worriedly and when he realized that she was fine, he continued. "The Lord of Dead was ashamed of his actions against Thalia, he realized that a child should not be punished for their parent's action. I asked if he had put Thalia's soul at Elysium and he shared to me that Thalia's soul had never reached underworld."
Annabeth took a deep breath, so her worst fears were confirmed. Thalia was alive inside that piece of wood for years. She listened as Perseus kept saying, "I knew in an instant that Thalia's soul was stuck inside the tree, and if I could figure it out, my father, the Titan Lord would get this information soon too, that was if he didn't know it already."
"Thalia is the most likely child of prophecy right now, there is no doubt in my mind that my father would've tried to get her out of the tree and would've tried persuading her to his side, so I got to it before. The Golden Fleece is a powerful artifact, it can bring someone on the brink of death back to life, and that's exactly what happened."
Annabeth nodded, showing her support for his plan. While, Thalia had a different reaction, "So, you brought me back to life so your father wouldn't get to me, so I don't fight for him." Perseus nodded, a little confused not knowing where she was going with this. Seeing as he remained silent Thalia continued, "And now you would expect me to fight for you? How does that make you any different from your father?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, the sky rumbled loudly. Thunder and lightning followed suit. The very earth beneath their feet started shaking perennially, and the sea raged and raised high tides. The shadows all around them swirled to form a blackhole of death and misery.
It seems that the children of Kronos were all listening, and they didn't like what had been spoken against their elder sibling.
Thalia stepped back in shock and covered her mouth to stifle a gasp, realizing her mistake all too late. It was one thing to talk in hushed whispers in the confidence of friends; but to openly insult a deathless god was sacrilegious. Gods were immortals, they didn't play by mortal rules. Their will was to be followed unopposed; sacrifices and offerings had to be made in their image. To insult a god to his face was suicidal at best, as gods don't take disrespect kindly.
The daughter of Zeus was aware that in her anger she had done what none others would ever have the audacity to do. She knew that at the basis of all, she was, to rather put it simply; she was fucked. This god, whom she never knew about before, had gone out of his way to get her out of that accursed piece of wood, and she spoke against him.
Annabeth's mood did a complete 180 and she turned towards her old friend and gave her a glare worthy of Athena. However, Thalia didn't see it; her eyes were trained at Perseus, and Annabeth followed suit.
Perseus heaved a sigh of tiredness and leaned against a tree putting his entire weight against it. He was in the form of a 17-year-old, but you could see it in his eyes that he was old. The golden orbs of his had shimmed drastically and lost their shades. Annabeth's heart ached to see her boyfriend like that. He looked old and tired.
"You mistake my intentions niece," Perseus lifted his eyes to look at her. "I have not freed you from your tree to have you fight for me."
Shock was written clearly over Thalia's face, as well as Annabeth's. "Then?" Thalia asked, if not for getting her to their side of war, what was Perseus' intention?
A small frown made its way appear on the god's face as he noticed Annabeth's frown. Ignoring that, he focused on Thalia's question and answered. "I did it in the hopes of atoning for my family's sins." He closed his eyes like a great toll was being taken out of his soul to speak about his family negatively. "You must understand Thalia that as immortals we are preeminent. I myself have watched Prometheus breathe fire into the mortals. I have watched as humans evolved to what they are now."
"Yet, a snap of a god's finger could turn everything to husk and leave the mortals running for their life. Their weapons, their armies, it would all me naught against a god. Being an immortal is a sacred privilege, but it also comes with a terrible price. You lose your morals as the millennia passes, and it's hard to remain true."
"My family has never been perfect; in their rage they often do stupid things." The sky thundered again, though this time it sounded like the lord of the sky was whining, making Perseus chuckle. "However, I have always tried to keep their ways just, though it seems that in my absence they have grown more reckless and vengeful."
"The reason I got you out of the tree was to fix the mistake of my brother. Your life was wrongfully taken from you by a son of Rhea, so it was only fair that a son of Rhea should return it to you." Perseus moved again and stood on the side of Annabeth, wrapping his arm over her waist and planting a chaste kiss at her head, "And I had a selfish reason too." He looked at Annabeth with fond eyes and spoke, "I wanted to give my girlfriend a good birthday surprise."
Thalia stayed silent and thought about his words carefully, while Annabeth jumped to give him a kiss. After a few moments Thalia spoke softly, "So, I am not expected to fight for you?"
Perseus gave her a cocky, lopsided grin that had blood rushing to her face, "Olympus has fought many enemies before my dear. With or without you, we will prevail once again. Just don't join my father's side or I will have to kill you." He said the last part chuckling, but Thalia got the sense that he wasn't joking.
The lord of time took a deep breath and spoke again, "If you do not want to fight in the upcoming war, then I Perseus, the God of fate, time, destruction, grant you the freedom from the prophecy that is to come. By my will you can live out the rest of your days without the burden that you bear right now."
Thalia gasped as immediately images of her future passed in front of her eyes. She could see herself growing old, having a family, marrying someone, having children, but there was nothing heroic about that. It was a mundane life, something every demigod strive for. While on the other hand she could see herself fighting hordes of monsters and immortals. Blood filled trails, death, and destruction in her wake. It was an image of pure carnage. However, something deep inside of her begged to not make any decisions on a rush. That even through the carnage a fruit of contentment could grow.
"Perseus," she called out to him, and when his eyes locked with hers, she was surprised that there was nothing in them; no anger or disappointment. To him there was no worry or regret about what he was offering her. "Can I think about my answer and get back at you later?"
As the god nodded Thalia sighed and relaxed, her knees buckled and she dropped down to her knees. Being in her own body after years was taking a toll on her, and she grew tire fast. Thankfully, Annabeth moved fast and was helping her friend to her foot, "I should take her to get some rest," she suggested, and took Thalia with her.
Perseus stayed silent and watched as the demigoddess vanished down the half-blood hill, his mind pondering over the situation he had in hand. Soon the war will come knocking on their doorsteps, and everyone will be plunged into an endless massacre.
Not only his father, but along with him the earth mother was also rising. It was going to take every bit of strength the gods had in their veins to survive. The mortal world would be plunged into chaos and bloodshed. Every being living will feel the aftermath of the gruesome war that is yet to come.
As the minutes turned into hours, Perseus stood still in the same place. Even in his silent and unfocused state he could sense the arrival of another immortal behind him, and soon the scent of hearth and scorching coal clogged his senses. Turning around, he found the face of his favorite sibling, Hestia, the goddess of hearth and family.
"Care to share what's going inside your head?" The goddess asked smiling as she stood next to her brother. The entire council was watching when the daughter of Zeus woke from her slumber. All of them, herself included, were rather worried about the upcoming war and how Perseus had given Thalia an out-of-the-war. It had caused a little harrow at the council but she had done her best to admonish her fellow council members to not question Perseus' decision.
She knew that her elder brother always had a good reason behind his every move, and unlike her other siblings he tended to not make any rash decisions.
"I am wondering how did we come to this? We have not only one enemy but two rising. The Titan Lord and Earth Mother are uniting against us, but the most disturbing matter in our hands is that our children have no faith in us." Frowning he continued, "To be compared with our father is the vilest of insults I have ever heard aimed towards me. But still, I cannot blame the children. They don't know us and are afraid of us. This will all have to be changed after the end of this war."
Hestia sighed and nodded; she had always seen and heard what the demigods thought of them. Instead of loving or having faith in their parents, the children feared them. Always heading into dangerous situation to please their parents.
She had tried to make her family see reason, but it never bore any fruit. Maybe, now their elder brother could beat some sense into them.
Leaning her head against his chest and smiling contently as his hand dropped down to caress her head, she asked, "Anything else?"
"It took a toll on our family the last time father and grandmother had rose against us. You have seen it through your own eyes, those two are not an enemy we can just scoff at and ignore. I am afraid of what it will cost us to survive this time. How many will have to suffer the consequence of what is to come?" There was a certain vulnerability in the Lord of the Fates voice that Hestia wasn't accustomed to.
"Do you think that we should ask others for help?" Hestia wondered, "You have yourself stayed with Chaos and the other Primordial for centuries. Surely, they must be willing to help you?" It was a shot at the dark, but it was the only thing that would come at her mind for right now.
"I cannot do that my dear, having the Titan Lord and a first generation Primordial unite against us is catastrophic in itself, even divided they are a force to reckoned with, and united they are almost unbeatable. But if I were to ask for help from another Primordial, and Chaos forbid they agreed to help. The mortal world would not survive a divine war of such scale. A Primordial going against another Primordial in an open declaration of war is against the law of Chaos."
"I may not be bound by any ancient laws, but even I have to respect and follow the laws of Chaos." Perseus replied dismissively and continued firmly, "Let us not worry about that right now little sister, Olympus has survived great wars before, and we will do it again."
With that said, both him and Hestia vanished in a bright flash of light.
Line-Break
"That is not possible," Thalia whispered, shaking her head and denying the possibility of it being true. Tears had started forming in her eyes and she looked ready to cry out loud.
Annabeth had just told her about Luke betraying her, and siding with the Titans. She recalled the encounter she had with him a few weeks back where he had fought with Perseus. She told him how Luke had planned to kill her.
"Thalia…" She tried, but Thalia wasn't having it.
The daughter of Zeus stood up abruptly and moved her palm over her face to wipe away the tears. "I have to go," she announced, and left immediately.
She couldn't believe what Annabeth had just told her; she refused to believe it, but she could hear the genuine pain in her voice when she recalled the events. Deep inside her she could tell that it was true. Luke had never tried to hide his dislike of gods, but to actually join the Titans was unthinkable.
How could he have done it? Just before she had sacrificed herself all those years ago, she had made him promise to her that he would always look after Annabeth. But to hear now that he did the opposite of that, that he tried to kill Annabeth. Thalia wished that she hadn't been released from the tree at all. The pain of being stuck inside the tree was lesser than to hear that their family had been torn while she was gone.
Leaving Annabeth inside the Zeus cabin, she walked towards the lake at camp, to find some solace in the calm nature around her. However, when in the sight of the lake she could see a figure silently sitting at the shore of the lake. Making her way towards him, she found out that it was none other than the God of fate.
"Perseus…" She called out to him silently.
The god turned and gave her one of the most endearing and beautiful smiles she had ever seen. "Join me?" He asked politely.
The daughter of Zeus thought about it; all she wanted to do right now was to be alone; yet something about this particular god's aura was comforting. So, she walked forward and sat next to him.
"Is what Annabeth told me true?" Thalia asked, knowing perfectly well what the answer was going to be.
"I am afraid it is," Perseus smiled sadly at her, "The man you once knew is gone, in his image now only stands a husk, a silhouette of what he was."
This time she couldn't stop her tears and started crying, "Can't you do anything about it?"
He shook his head, "I can't. The only thing I can do for him is grant him a swift death the next time I see him."
Her head whipped at his side fast and lightning literally flashed through her eyes, "You're going to kill him?" She asked, a hint of danger in her voice. Luke was her family; she didn't like hearing him talk so casually about murdering her family.
Perseus sighed, like this was the reaction he had expected, "Do you know anything about my father, except from what the books tell you?" He asked genuinely, his eyes still lingering over the small fishes that were swimming in the lake.
Thalia shook her head and he continued, "My father is the most venomous person you will ever meet or hear about. He's a leech that latches onto your darkest thoughts and sucks every good thing, every fiber of moral from your soul. If you are weak enough to sway to his side, his voice will be more melodious than Sirens' singing, but the words that leave his mouth are wicked, foul, vile and corrupting. He might be the Titan of Time, but the deadliest thing about him is his cruelty and silver tongue."
As the words continued to flow outside Perseus' mouth, more and more dread filled Thalia's heart. Tears flowing down her face continuously and her heart hammering against her chest.
"But to be swayed so easily to my father's side, you must have the slightest of corruption in your heart already. Luke was long gone before my father started whispering in his ears. Even to an immortal it would take years to completely deject the Titan King's false promises, but to a mortal like Luke. There is no coming back."
"He already had darkness in him and now that darkness is controlled by the Titan King. He has tried to kill Annabeth one time already, and I wouldn't give him another chance at it. So yes Thalia, the next time I see him, I will kill him." Perseus firmly stated, his voice was filled with authority.
Both of them stayed silent after that, as much as Thalia wanted to argue against him, and defend Luke. She couldn't. She knew perfectly well that if it came to a choice between saving Annabeth or saving Luke, she would choose Annabeth without question.
"I am afraid of what is to come," Thalia whispered, not knowing what the god would do. To an immortal being such as him, fear might not be something he had ever felt, but that was all she could feel currently. She waited for him to laugh, or make fun of how a daughter of Zeus was afraid. But what he said came up to her as surprise.
"Me too," Her shocked filled eyes found his and she could see him rolling his eyes. "I may be powerful and immortal, but even I am afraid of what is going to happen next. Dark days are ahead of us Thalia. Olympus will have to go through trials like never before, the very existence of us is at stake. I am afraid for my family."
She stayed silent after that, both of them just enjoying the calm and each other's presence. After a while Thalia's eyes started closing and she leaned her head against his shoulder and drifted to the realm of Morpheus.
Line-Break
It had been a month since Thalia was freed, and the choice given to her by Perseus to get out of the prophecy. However, she still hadn't given him her answer yet. So, as the days passed and she got more and more used to being inside the camp and other people. She started training, sometimes, Perseus would swing by to train the others, and he would try to teach her control over powers, too. While most of the time, he just wanted to take his girlfriend out on a date.
Today seemed no different than the others. Annabeth and Thalia were sparring against each other, when the Lord of Fate decided to swoop in between the arena and startled them.
"PERCY…" Annabeth shouted, "How many times have I said it to not startle me like that?" Despite her yelling, she made her way towards him and pulled him in for a kiss.
Perseus gave her a lopsided grin, "Sorry," he sheepishly replied, but he wasn't really sorry. "I came here for an important task. Sorry for the short announcement, but pack your bags, we are going on a road trip."
Annabeth and Thalia immediately perked up; any chance to get out of camp was a golden chance. They weren't going to deny it. "Where are we going?" Thalia asked excitedly, it was her first time going into the mortal world after she had come out of the tree.
Perseus' smiled, and that smile could've melted diamonds, like it made both the demigoddesses' hearts melt. "I heard Maine is good this time of year."
