A Dark Cloud Over the Future Ch 13

Chapter 13: A Look at the Past and Future
Nico and Thalia walked up the old steps of the house. Small plush toys of monsters from mythology lined the sidewalk and walkways leading up to the front door. They look like they had been left out in the rain for years and the colors of the toys were faded. Thalia was so distracted by the toys and the bad shape of the yard that she didn’t notice Nico had knocked on the doors of the house until May Castellan swung the door open.

“Luke,” she yelled excitingly, making Thalia almost jump out of her skin. May gave Nico a big hug, much to Nico’s protest and then she turned her attention back to Thalia. “And you brought your friend back.”

Nico wasn’t sure what she meant by that. She did think he was Luke after all so maybe she thought Thalia was someone else or maybe Luke had stopped here once with her, possibly the reason why this house scared her so much.

“Come inside, come inside. I made Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with cookies,” she said as she waved them inside.

They followed her into the house and they were surprised by what they saw. Stacks of sandwiches were all over the house with trays and trays of cookies piled up on top of the oven. Nico began to see why Thalia hated this place and wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. They followed her into the kitchen and they all sat around the table.

“Mrs. Castellan,” Nico said. “We need to ask you a few things.”

“What do you need dear? You know I would do anything for my son,” she smiled and just looked at Nico. Nico smiled back a bit awkwardly.

“When was the last time Luke visited?” Nico said, hoping that she could remember when he real son came back and not some random person, like the mailman.

“The last time you were here was about half a year ago. You said you were going to go swim in a river and needed my blessing. Of course I gave it to you, swimming isn’t that dangerous,” she said. “And look, you’re back and you brought back your girlfriend.”

Thalia and Nico both blushed at this before, as if on instinct shouted back. “She/He isn’t my boy/girl friend.”

May seemed to laugh at this. All of a sudden the buzzer on the oven went off and another tray of burnt cookies came out of the oven. Nico bumped Thalia’s arm and gave her a sign that they needed to sneak out while they had the chance. Thalia nodded in agreement and they quietly rose from the table. However, they stopped in their tracks when a green light began to reflect off the wall way was standing at.

“My child,” she said in a quiet tone before she turned around. Her eyes began to glow green and smoke seemed to form around her. “Not his fate!”

She grabbed Thalia’s shoulders and started to shake her while repeating something about her son’s fate. Thalia looked into her eyes and let out a high pitched scream. Nico pushed her back and she fell back into one of the chairs. Thalia and Nico ran for the front door as they heard May continue to scream about her son.

“Ok,” Nico said after the two had stopped running and were now a few blocks away standing on the edge of a wooded area. “That was scary.”

“Yay,” Thalia said as she took in another breath. “Come on, we should rest over there.”

She pointed into the trees and they walked for awhile until they hit a clearing far enough away from the houses in the area so they wouldn’t be noticed. They set up a fire using some tools Thalia grabbed out of her bag. Thalia looked up at the full moon as Nico poked at the fire with his stick.

“Sorry about that,” he finally spoke. “I had learned where she lived awhile ago but I had no idea she would be like that.” Thalia lowered her head away from the moon before looking at Nico poking the fire. The trip to May’s house had made her realize how different Nico was from the way Luke used to be. Luke, even when they met all those years ago was so full of rage and anger, but she was too young to see it. Then after meeting him on Mount Othrys, she saw how far he had fallen and it hurt her so much that she joined the Hunters. Nico on the other hand was always calm and would always think about the other campers before himself. Maybe it was because he knew what it meant to be alone, being a child of Hades.

“It’s alright,” she said as she got a bit closer to Nico. He looked up for a second, but just then the moon seemed to glow a bit brighter and a small child appeared between them.

“Hello Thalia,” the young girl said. Thalia looked into her silver eyes and went straight to her feet and bowed in respect.

“Who’s this?” Nico asked as he looked at the young girl.

“Bow stupid,” Thalia yelled as she grabbed Nico’s arm and forced him into a bowing position.

“Hello Lady Artemis,” Thalia said with respect as the small child bowed back to her.

“I haven’t much time,” Artemis began. “The gods are fighting Typhon and I was only able to send a small portion of my power to tell you a message…alone.”

Nico go the hint as she looked at him and he snuck off into the shadows as the moved around him.

“Things do not look good for the gods,” she began.

“But Nico has a plan that will help us win,” Thalia said back. Artemis raised an eyebrow at her response and Thalia looked away from her.

“You trust that boy, don’t you?” Artemis asked her. Thalia blushed a bit at her questioning, but nodded her head in agreement. “You know you don’t have a future with him. All my maidens are sworn to remain maidens forever. Are you alright with this?”

Thalia wanted to say yes, but her words stuck in her throat. She felt ashamed at herself and Artemis had a smile come to her face.

“If you truly want to see if you have a future with this boy, I will not stop you. He has a dangerous plan in store for you and I know you will be able to do it, but not as you are now,” Artemis began. “You cannot be a Hunter if you plan to continue on your mission. Are you alright with this?”

“Thalia looked at Artemis with shock at her words, but if what she said was true, being a Hunter would not allow her to continue with Nico’s plan, or maybe she meant being a Hunter would not all her to continue with Nico. She didn’t know.

“I understand,” Thalia said and lowered her head. The child placed two fingers to Thalia’s forehead and there was a small flash of silver light. All at once Thalia felt as if her own clock had begun ticking again.

“You are no longer my Hunter, but I still see you as my maiden and I will protect you. You may keep my weapons as a reminder that I am always watching out for you,” Artemis said before she faded away, the small part of her returned to the battle with Typhon.

“Nico, you can come back,” Thalia yelled and he came around from a dark patch of trees. He looked at her for a second and knew that something was different, but he didn’t know what.

“So,” Thalia said. “What is your plan?”

Darkcloud1111 ~Fastest Hero Alive  23:46, September 5, 2011 (UTC)