Chapter 33: Why Does it Feel Like We're Saying Goodbye?

Severance Arc I

They walked back in silence.

The barricades loomed ahead, the demigods on watch shifting when they spotted them approaching. A little ways from the others, Annabeth and Nico broke away from the crowd, moving quickly to meet them.

Thalia barely had time to process before Annabeth was in front of her. "What happened?" she demanded. Her gaze darted between them, sharp and searching. "Who was it?"

Thalia exhaled through her nose. "Prometheus."

Annabeth's expression flickered. A split-second of surprise, then calculation. "Prometheus." Her lips pressed together. "Titan of forethought. Gave fire to mortals. Sided with them once. And I guess now he's here."

"Advising Kronos," Percy muttered. "Not serving. That's how he phrased it."

Nico frowned, looking between them. "And what did he want?"

Thalia hesitated, but there was no point in skirting around it. "The bracelet."

Annabeth's eyes snapped to Thalia's wrist. Her brows furrowed. "Did he say why?" she asked.

Thalia tightened her grip around the bracelet. "He said it's not a gift—it's a leash," she muttered. "Something tying me to my fate. He thinks if I give it up, I can walk away from all of this." And if I do… he promised that he would spare all of us."

Annabeth frowned, her mind already working through it. "None of that makes sense," she said. "If it was just about fate, why would they care? Kronos has never been afraid of destiny—he's always twisted it in his favor. Why would they suddenly want to free you from it?"

Thalia exhaled. "He asked what it's actually done for me. If it's ever helped me, or if it's only bound me to something I can't escape." She hesitated, then added, "He knew about the visions. That I saw on the Princess Andromeda. He said I've already seen the truth, that I know what it's going to cost me."

Annabeth's expression darkened. "The cost." She folded her arms, her gaze sharpening. "Did he say what that was?"

Thalia hesitated, her fingers brushing over the bracelet. "No," she admitted. "But he didn't have to." Her throat felt tight. "I think… I think he meant Percy."

Annabeth inhaled sharply. Beside her, Nico shifted, glancing at Percy. He didn't say anything, but Thalia could feel the weight of his stare.

Annabeth exhaled slowly, her gaze distant for a second before she refocused. "Okay," she said, her tone measured. "So Kronos's side knows about the cost. Maybe they think if you let go of the bracelet, you won't have to pay it. That it is some kind of leash, keeping you tied to something you don't want."

She bit her lip, thinking. "Or—" She shook her head. "No, that doesn't add up. Why would they care if it saved you from the cost?

She hesitated, her expression flickering between uncertainty and suspicion.

"What?" Percy asked.

Annabeth rubbed her temple. "I don't know," she admitted. "I was thinking—maybe it's not about you at all. Maybe it's about Kronos." She looked at Thalia again. "Did he say why he wanted it gone?"

Thalia shook her head. "Only that I'd be free without it."

Annabeth exhaled sharply. "That's what's bothering me. Titans don't make deals to help us, Thalia. Maybe… Maybe it's not a leash. Maybe it's a weapon."

. "A weapon," she repeated, her voice quieter. She looked at Annabeth. "That's not what you said before."

Annabeth hesitated.

Thalia exhaled through her nose. "Before the Andromeda, you thought this was about Luke. That the Fates tied this to me because I had to make a choice about him. And now it's not about that? Now it's about them?"

Annabeth's jaw tightened. "I thought it was about Luke," she admitted. "And maybe it still is. But we didn't have all the pieces then." She glanced down at the bracelet. "We still don't."

Thalia sighed, shaking her head. "Then what is it, Annabeth?" she asked, her voice steady, but edged with quiet frustration. "Because everyone seems to think they know, but no one actually does." She looked down at the bracelet. "It's supposed to be a choice. It's supposed to be a leash. Now it's suddenly something that Kronos is afraid of?" She let out a breath, her grip tightening slightly. "I don't get it."

Thalia exhaled, more controlled now. "If it's so dangerous, if it really could stop him, then why hasn't it done anything?" Her voice wasn't accusing, just… tired. She was tired of not knowing.

Annabeth met her gaze. "Maybe that's why they're afraid of it."

Thalia frowned.

Annabeth's mind was working fast again, pieces shifting into place. "Because we don't know what it does," she said carefully. "And neither does he."

The words sank in and Thalia's chest tightened.

Annabeth inhaled, her tone more certain now. "Kronos has been playing this war like a game of chess—every move planned, every piece exactly where he needs it. But this?" She motioned to the bracelet. "This is something he didn't plan for. He doesn't know what it's supposed to do. And that makes it dangerous."

Thalia swallowed, her mind turning over everything Prometheus had said.

Annabeth pressed on. "Maybe it was about Luke. Maybe it is tied to fate. But the one thing we know for sure? The Titans wouldn't be trying to get rid of it if they didn't think it could hurt them." She hesitated, then added, "Or stop them."

Nico's expression was unreadable as he shifted his stance. "How long do you have?"

Thalia's fingers twitched at her sides. "An hour."

"So?" Percy asked. "Are you going to give it up?"

Thalia didn't answer right away. The obvious response was no, and part of her was ready to say it, to snap it out with all the certainty she should have. She had barely gotten the bracelet back. The Fates had given it to her for a reason. She knew that. She felt that, in the weight of it against her skin. And after everything—after being separated from it, after realizing just how much it mattered—she wasn't about to hand it over to a Titan.

But the longer she stood there, the more she thought about it, the less certain she became. Because what if Prometheus was right? What if keeping the bracelet wasn't just tying her to fate, but tying everyone to it? What if holding onto it meant letting this war play out exactly how the Fates had designed it—letting everything spiral toward the outcome she had already seen, the one that had been clawing at the back of her mind since the Andromeda? Olympus in ruins. The battlefield littered with the bodies of demigods who had fought to the bitter end. The people she cared about—Percy, Annabeth, the younger campers who never even had a choice in any of this—gone, because she had refused to give up something she didn't even understand.

The thought made her stomach turn.

The Fates had given her this bracelet, but they had never explained why. Every answer she'd gotten had only led to more questions. A key to your fate. A thread binding you to something greater. A choice. But what if the choice wasn't about using it? What if the real choice—the one she was supposed to make—was letting it go?

Her grip tightened, her thumb running over the worn, fraying thread.

She had wanted a choice. She had spent her whole life railing against the idea that her fate had been decided for her. But now that she had one, now that the weight of it sat in her hands, pressing against her ribs like something solid, something real—she didn't know what to do with it.

Thalia exhaled, slow and unsteady. The weight of the conversation pressed down on her, and suddenly, standing here—listening to everyone, feeling their eyes on her—was too much. "I just—" She shook her head, fingers flexing at her sides. "I need a moment."

She turned before anyone could argue, walking quickly, like if she didn't move now, she'd start sinking under the weight of it all. She barely made it a few steps before Percy called out.

"Thalia—" His voice wasn't loud, but it held something tight, something careful. She felt him reach for her arm, a light touch, not stopping her, just there. She pulled away—not sharply, just enough. He didn't try again.

She reached the elevator, pressing the button harder than necessary, her breath coming quicker now, sharper. She didn't know why—she wasn't panicking, not exactly. But the pressure building in her chest was too much, too fast, like something was clawing its way out of her ribs.

The moment the doors slid shut, sealing her off from everything, something inside her snapped.

She tore the bracelet off.

Her breath hitched as she gripped it in both hands, fingers digging into the woven thread. She didn't think—just pulled, yanking hard trying to pull it apart, as if she could physically tear herself away from the weight pressing down on her. The fibers bit into her skin, resisting, holding stubbornly in place.

For a second, she thought she felt it strain, like it could give way.

But it didn't.

Whatever moment of weakness she thought she had felt—it was gone. The bracelet held, as if it had never threatened to break at all.

A sharp breath tore from her, something between frustration and exhaustion. She clenched it in her fists, staring down at the woven threads, her chest rising and falling in uneven breaths. It felt fragile. It looked fragile. But it wasn't.

At least… not from her hands.

Slowly, she slipped it back over her wrist, her fingers lingering over it.

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open.

Thalia stepped off the elevator and into the golden-lit streets of Olympus. She walked forward slowly, her boots scuffing against the polished stone.

Her fingers brushed against her wrist, tracing the worn thread of the bracelet

You could stop this. You could walk away.

Prometheus's voice still whispered in her head, winding around her thoughts like a trap. She exhaled, staring out over the city. It looked so pristine, so perfect in its silence, but she had seen what was coming. She had felt it in the visions, the nightmares clawing at the edges of her mind. The fires licking at the broken pillars. The palace caving in on itself. The war tearing through Olympus like a storm no one could stop.

She had some time to think about what she would choose. But the weight of it already sat heavy on her chest, like it was waiting to crush her the moment she let her guard down.

Footsteps echoed behind her.

Thalia turned, her body tensing automatically.

Nico was walking toward her, hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable. He didn't say anything right away, just stopped a few feet away, watching her like he was measuring something—her mood, her reaction, maybe even her willingness to listen.

Her grip tightened over the bracelet. "You've been looking at this," she said, lifting her wrist slightly. "I've seen you. More than once."

Nico exhaled. "Yeah."

Thalia narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

He hesitated, shifting his weight, but his gaze never left hers. "Because I know something about it," he said finally. "Something you don't."

A cold feeling curled in her stomach. She didn't like that answer. Not from Nico.

She crossed her arms. "And when were you planning on telling me?"

"Right now," Nico said. "When it all makes sense."

"You know what the bracelet does?" Thalia asked.

Nico shook his head, "No. But I know why Kronos wants it. "I saw Luke. In the Underworld."

Thalia's breath caught, but she didn't let it show. "What? When?"

"When Kronos was taking over Luke," Nico explained. "The only reason I even knew he was there was because—technically—he shouldn't have been. Luke was alive, but he was also… dying. Or half-dead. Stuck between both. That never happens in the Underworld. I felt his presence immediately and found him."

Nico exhaled. "Luke knew what was happening to him. He told me Kronos was inside him, taking over piece by piece. He could feel him—his thoughts, his emotions. Everything. And then… his eyes turned gold."

"That was when he started fading," Nico said. "Like something was pulling him away. But before he disappeared, he got one last thing from Kronos." He glanced at her wrist. "Fear."

Thalia's pulse pounded. "Fear?"

Nico nodded. "Luke felt it the moment Kronos saw your bracelet. He didn't know exactly what it was, but it unsettled him. Made him wary. Kronos doesn't understand how it works—only that it can work. That it can be activated." His voice darkened. "And he doesn't want to find out what happens when it is."

Thalia frowned, remembering the way Kronos had looked at it on the Andromeda—how his sneer hadn't quite reached his eyes.

"He wants you to give it up," Nico continued, "because he doesn't want to risk you using it. He doesn't know what it does, but he knows it can change something. Undo something." He shook his head. "And that scares him."

Thalia exhaled, her fingers flexing around the bracelet. "Great," she muttered. "So he's afraid of it. And what does that actually do for me?"

Nico didn't answer immediately.

She let out a tired breath, shaking her head. "I barely lasted five seconds against him. The last time we fought, he didn't even try. He let me swing at him like it was nothing. So what does it matter if he's afraid of this? I can't beat him. Maybe—" Her throat felt tight. "Maybe Prometheus was right. Maybe it's better if I just—"

She couldn't say it.

Nico's expression darkened. "That was the last thing Luke said."

Thalia hesitated. "What?"

Nico's gaze was distant, his voice quieter now. "Before he disappeared. He told me how it worked—how Kronos was able to take over completely." He exhaled. "Luke bathed in the River Styx. He made himself invulnerable. That's how he could hold Kronos's power without being destroyed."

Thalia clenched her jaw. "Then how are we supposed to beat him?"

"I asked Luke that," Nico admitted. "He said he has a weak spot. One place where if he gets hit, it's game over."

"Where is it?" Thalia asked.

Nico's fingers curled into fists. "He tried to tell me." His voice was steady, but there was something underneath it—something unsettled. "His voice—he sounded like it hurt to say. Like he was forcing the words out." He shook his head. "And then he was gone. I left the Underworld to find you right after. That's when I found you by camp."

Thalia swallowed hard. A dull ached settled in her chest as the weight of what happened to Luke settled over her. Maybe it shouldn't have surprised her. After everything Kronos had done to him, after he literally took control of Luke. Maybe this was always how it was going to end. But it still hurt. More than she could understand.

Thalia took a slow breath, steadying herself. "So you're saying that if I hit his weak spot… I can stop him." She said it carefully, testing the weight of the words, like she wasn't sure if she believed them yet. "I could actually—" She exhaled, shaking her head slightly. "End this. Once and for all?"

Nico nodded. "Yeah. One hit, and it's over. He's invulnerable everywhere else, but if you land that blow—he's done. We can win this, Thalia. Don't give them the bracelet. They're afraid of it."

Before Thalia could say anything else, the elevator dinged behind them.

She turned as the doors slid open, and Percy stepped out. His gaze landed on her instantly, his expression unreadable, but his eyes—his eyes always gave him away. He had been wanting to see her, to talk to her.

Nico noticed him too and exhaled. "I'll let you two talk," he muttered, stepping back toward the elevator. He didn't say anything else—just cast one last glance at Thalia before disappearing inside. The doors shut behind him, leaving just the two of them.

Percy didn't speak right away. He just studied her, like he was trying to figure out where her head was before he said anything. "What are you going to do?" he asked finally.

Thalia exhaled, looking down at her wrist. Her fingers brushed over the bracelet, the familiar worn threads pressing into her skin. "Last night," she started, voice quieter now, "I told you I was afraid."

Percy frowned slightly. "I know Thal—"

"I told you I was afraid to lose you," she cut in, glancing up at him. "And I still am. It just always comes back to this." She lifted her wrist slightly. "The bracelet."

Percy's gaze flickered to it, then back to her face. "You think it's going to take me away from you." It wasn't a question.

Thalia swallowed, nodding. "I don't know how. I don't know why. But I feel it. And I hate that I feel it, because now—" She exhaled sharply, gripping the bracelet tighter. "Now I know that Kronos doesn't want me to have it."

Percy frowned. "What do you mean?"

Thalia hesitated, then told him everything. What Nico had said. How Luke had felt Kronos's fear when he saw the bracelet. How he was afraid of it activating. How they still didn't know what it did—but the Titans knew it was dangerous. And how Kronos had a weak spot.

Percy stiffened slightly at that. "A weak spot?"

Thalia nodded. "Luke bathed in the River Styx. It's what made him invulnerable—what let him hold Kronos in the first place. But there's one place on his body that's still mortal. If we hit it, it's over."

Percy was quiet for a long moment, absorbing everything. Finally, he shook his head, exhaling. "So we can win."

Thalia nodded. "But that's what's tearing me apart." Her voice was raw now, stripped down to everything she had been holding in. "Because I don't know which way this ends. I don't know if we win and everything's okay, or if… If this takes you away from me."

Percy stepped closer, his expression softer now, but still serious. "Thalia…"

She let out a bitter exhale. "I don't know what's worse. Giving this up and losing our only shot at stopping him—or keeping it and losing you."

Percy was quiet for a long moment, his eyes on her, searching, steady. Then he spoke, his voice calm but firm.

"Thalia, this isn't about me. It never was." He shook his head slightly, his expression unreadable. "I know you're scared. I know you think this bracelet is going to take me away from you. But you're looking at this all wrong. This isn't about one of us. It's about all of us."

He took a step closer. "We have a chance to stop Kronos. A real chance. But if you give that up—if you hand over the one thing the Titans actually fear—what happens then? Do you really think Prometheus is telling the truth? That they'll just let us all walk away? That they'll march to Olympus and spare everyone just because you gave them what they wanted? That's not how this works. That's not how they work. You know that."

Percy's voice stayed calm, but there was something stronger underneath it now, something unshakable. "They want you to be afraid. That's why Prometheus made the offer. Because they know you care. Because they know you're thinking about what you might lose. And they want that to be the thing that stops you."

He held her gaze, unwavering. "You have to stop running."

He let the words settle, his voice quieter now but no less certain. "This whole time you've been afraid of your fate. Fighting it. Denying it. But you've never been outside of it, Thalia. You are fate. You're the daughter of the prophecy. The one who was supposed to turn sixteen. The one who was always meant to stand at the center of this. And now you finally have the chance to finish it."

Percy exhaled, his voice steady, certain. "This isn't about what you might lose. It's about what you do with what you have. And no matter what happens—no matter what fate tries to throw at us—I'll be right there with you. I'm not leaving. I won't let you lose me. You'd have to fight me first."

Thalia took it all in—every word, every truth, every impossible weight Percy had just shouldered with her. Slowly, she nodded, a small, vulnerable motion, not a surrender—but an , without thinking, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.

Percy didn't hesitate. He pulled her close, holding onto her like he could keep her steady just by being there. She pressed her face into his shoulder, breathing him in, letting the warmth of him chase away the cold, even if just for a moment.

"You're right," she murmured, her voice quiet but certain. "You're right."

His arms tightened slightly, like he knew how hard it was for her to say that. Like he knew this wasn't just about the battle, or the prophecy, or even the bracelet. It was about her finally choosing to face what had always been waiting for her.

She pulled back just enough to look at him, to really look at him. And then she kissed him. Percy kissed her back, like he was grounding them both, like he was saying, I'm here. I'm not leaving.

When they finally pulled apart, Percy rested his forehead against hers, his fingers still curled around her waist, like he couldn't stand to let go just yet. "I'm not going anywhere," he murmured.

Thalia closed her eyes for half a second. But then she whispered, "Then why does it feel like we're saying goodbye?"

Percy stiffened slightly. "We're not—"

"Like in the Labyrinth," she said, opening her eyes. "When I told you to go. When I kissed you because I didn't know if I'd ever see you again." Her voice barely wavered, but the weight behind it was everything. "It feels like that. Like something's coming. Like—" She shook her head, gripping his jacket.

Percy was silent for a moment, his gaze locked onto hers, steady and unshaken. Then he exhaled, lifting a hand to her face, brushing his thumb gently against her cheek. "We're not saying goodbye," he said quietly, his voice filled with certainty, with promise.

Slowly, Thalia exhaled, her grip loosening slightly. She looked at Percy. "We have to find his weak spot."

Percy nodded. "We will."

Her fingers brushed over the bracelet one last time before she lowered her arm. "I'm keeping it," she said, and this time, there was no hesitation. "I don't care what Prometheus says. I'm not giving it up."

A small smile tugged at the corner of Percy's lips, not because any of this was funny, but because he had never expected anything else. "Good. Then let's go give that Titan a piece of our minds."