Demigod of Prophecy

When I thought of the children of the gods, I have to admit I thought they would look kinda badass. My brother was not. Thalia and I finally made our way back into New York City and met him at Goode High School, where he was a freshman. He had just walked out of the building when he spotted Thalia and smiled.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” he asked her.

“I’ve been sent by Artemis with a quest of sorts for you.”

“What is it? Is something wrong?”

“Percy, this is Selene Adams. Selene Adams, this is Percy Jackson. Percy, Luke and his army tried to kidnap Selene from her military school graduation yesterday. By the time we got there, she’d pretty much trashed the place defending herself, but she’s in danger. Artemis wants us to take her to her mother, and guard her until you leave for Half-Blood Hill. Before you leave, she’s hoping that Selene will decide what path she will follow. Will she go with you? Or will she come back with me?”

“She’s like us?”

“Really like us.”

“The oath?”

“Yep.”

“Can you guys explain to me what you’re talking to me about? My head is still reeling from everything that’s happened since yesterday,” I broke in.

“Not out here. Let’s go back to my place. Paul will be out in a minute, he’ll drive us.”

“Who’s Paul?” I asked.

“My mother’s boyfriend, Paul Blofis. He’s an English teacher here, got me in even though I had already been kicked out of like one school every year,” said Percy.

Just then a man walked out of the school and right over to Percy.

“Who are your friends, Percy?” he asked.

“Paul, this is Thalia and Selene. Thalia is a friend of mine and Selene is her cousin. She’s looking after her for the week. They’re gonna come back to the apartment with me, do you mind dropping all of us?”

“No, come on.”

We got into the Prius and drove to the apartment. The doorman said hello as he let us in and we went up to the apartment. As soon as we walked in Percy dropped his backpack, left my duffle by the door, and pointed us toward his bedroom.

“Paul, when my mom comes home, tell her I have Thalia here with me?”

“She didn’t know she was coming?”

“I didn’t know. Please tell her? She won’t mind, don’t worry.”

Percy met us in his bedroom. We were sitting on his bed and he sat on the floor against his dresser.

“Can someone explain things now?”

“Before we do, Selene, can you tell me and Percy what you know?”

I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to talk about the last few months, but if I wanted them to trust me, I needed to trust them.

“I was sent to that school upstate after I got kicked out of my prep school here in the city for setting the library on fire. I couldn’t tell anyone what happened, but I was in the library with three girls. My principal called them the Stygian sisters.”

“Stygian sisters?” asked Percy.

“Yeah, why?”

“That’s the name of a kind of metal in the Underworld.”

“That’s why it sounded familiar!”

“What do you mean?” Thalia asked.

“When I saw them, it seemed like something was off about them, but I couldn’t place it. I thought the answer was staring me in the face and I wasn’t seeing it. That was it.”

“How does it connect?” asked Percy.

“They said they were the Furies, sent by Hades to bring me to him for judgment.”

“How did you get away from them?” asked Thalia.

“You can’t drown them,” said Percy.

“I didn’t drown them.”

“Then what happened?” he asked.

“I set two of them on fire and the leader flew away, leaving me trapped?” I said questioningly, afraid of what these two obviously very powerful demigods would do if they thought I was dangerous to them.

Percy and Thalia just stared at me for a minute. Neither knew what to say. I guess I understood. If I was really Percy’s sister, it must not be normal for a child of Poseidon to have an affinity for fire.

“How did you do that?” Percy finally asked.

“I don’t know, but I’ve been able to call fire to me since. It wasn’t until yesterday that my mom told me that I have water to fight with, too. I didn’t know what that meant until I was with Thalia and Artemis.”

“Why didn’t you tell us that yesterday?” Thalia asked.

“I was kinda freaked out.”

“Fine. So what happened before we got there?”

“Yesterday was graduation. The entire eighth grade platoon was out on that field with commanding officers, the commandant, the other faculty members, and the families. When the ceremony was almost over, those guys showed up. The teachers told the students to return to their dorms and the families to go to the mess hall. They were gonna try to handle them.”

“But you stayed.”

“I stayed. I saw the blonde kid and he looked me right in my eyes. A chill went down my spine and he told his people to come after me. I convinced my favorite teacher to take the staff inside and my mom to leave me for their protection and faced them. I lost control and set the stage on fire, but the bigger fires were intentional. I ran into the woods and that’s when all of you showed up.”

“That’s everything?” Thalia asked.

“Yes. Now can the two of you explain what you were talking about outside the school?”

“There was an oath made by Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades after World War II not to have any more demigod children. After the way their children tore the world apart with that war, they realized their children are too powerful. So, the three of us should never have been born. Zeus is Thalia’s father. Poseidon is apparently both of our father. But Hades is the only one who hasn’t broken the oath. When he found out about both Thalia and me he tried to kill us. Almost succeeded with Thalia. Zeus took pity on her and turned her into a pine tree, which protected Half-Blood Hill until a year ago, when we unknowingly brought her back when we saved her tree.”

“The Furies did say Hades sent them. But what about the army?”

“How old are you, Selene?” asked Thalia.

“I’ll be fourteen on August ninth.”

They just looked at each other.

“There’s a prophecy about a child of the big three. Whichever of us turns sixteen will have the power to save or destroy Olympus. As of right now, the prophecy is about Percy. I’m eternally fifteen. Nico, Hades’ son was born before both of us, but stopped aging when he was ten and just started again. He’s only eleven. If Luke and Kronos’ army found a way to get Percy out of the way, the Great Prophecy would fall on your shoulders.”

“What?”

“You would have to choose to save the world or destroy it,” Percy said, looking sympathetic.

“I need to see my mother.”

“After my mother gets home.”

Notes