The Son of Hermes (a Percy Jackson fanfic)

Chapter 7 : I win an unwanted opportunity to please the gods.

I couldn't see Thalia's face and for once, I was glad I didn't see her expression. I had a feeling that she wanted to murder me. She had reached the ground safely but I guess that the fact that I had pushed her down a cliff was a good reason to want me dead.

"Untie the rope from around you!"I yelled, hoping that Thalia could hear me.

She must have understood because the next instant ,her end of the rope came flying towards me. She really was a good pitcher if she had managed to throw the rope this high. I tied the rope around myself. Just as I was about to jump, I saw a scroll lying at mouth of the cave. I was sure that it hadn't been there earlier. I picked it up and stuffed it into my bag. I could think about it when I got down.

Then I leapt off the cliff. I know this sounds impossible and crazy and wierd that I could jump and survive but it isn't as bad as it sounds. I felt like I was flying and though, towards the end of the fall, I felt a bad jerk in my stomach where the rope was tied, the overall experience was good.

My happiness over coming down the cliff in such a good way faded as soon as I saw Thalia. She ran towards me,wrestled me to the ground and began punching me hard.

Now, you'd think that being punched by a girl younger than you is no big deal but when Thalia landed a blow, it hurt very badly. I had a feeling that tomorrow morning, my nose, cheeks, eye, stomach and arms would be black and blue. Along with hitting me, Thalia was calling me endearing names such as 'idiot','moron','filthy cheat','corpse breath worm' and she topped of the whole effect with 'Kill you!'. I really hate it when she uses her hands to illustrate how angry she is.

Finally she stopped punching me and said,"You Idiot! You pushed me off a freaking cliff! Are you out of your mind!"

"Um...Sorry," I said. Excellent choice of words,huh?

"Sorry doesn't cut it! I could have died!"

"How else would you have come down? I doubt you can fly like an eagle!" I said, in a feeble attempt to lighten the mood.

"Run while you can, Luke,"she growled,"Because, if you don't, I'm going to KILL YOU!"

"Uh...Thalia?"

"What?"she demanded.

"You can kill me or scare me away later but at the moment, I'd really appreciate it if you could leave my neck because I'm not exactly in a comfortable position right now."

It was the truth. The rocks I was lying on were not like cushions. My back was aching and Thalia's hands were on my throat, trying to suffocate me. It took her a while to understand what I was saying but when she finally realised that she was almost killing me she burst our laughing. She got up from the ground and extended her hand to help me up. Girls are just wierd. No other word can describe them.

"You should get your head checked ,you know that?" I said,"One moment, you wrestle me to the ground and strangle me half to death. The next moment, you get up, start laughing, and help me get up, like nothing happened."

"Be grateful that I've decided to let you let you live," she said, still smiling,"Don't make me change my mind."

"Yeah right," I grumbled.

Note to self: Do not make this girl angry unless you want a shortcut to your grave.

"So, what do we do now?"she asked, looking around.

I opened my bag and took out the scroll.

"Thalia, I found this lying at the opening of the cave. Wanna check it out?"

She eyed the scroll suspiciously.

"Are you sure that thing isn't a trap?"she asked.

"We'll find that out only when we open it."

"Okaaay, but I'm not opening it. You do that job,"she said.

"Why?"I asked, not sure what she meant.

"See the ribbon that's tying it?"she said,"It has ancient Greek alphabets on it. It says,'The slayer of the dragon is who this belongs to.' I'm kind of sure that if someone else apart from you tries to open it, the person will die, explode or worse, be sent to live with Hades in the underworld as his personal servant ."

I shuddered to think of spending my life in the underworld.

"We killed the dragon together. How're you sure it refers to me?"

"You were the one who stabbed it with the spear. It doesn't matter if I helped. You are officially the rightful killer of that monster."

"Fine, but why do we have to open it? Can't we simply ignore it?"

"I don't know. But if it's from the Gods, then you have to open it. The Gods get really angry if there messages are ignored."

I wasn't sure about it but I figured that my best choice was to obey Thalia.

Grudgingly I untied the ribbon. The scroll opened up. Inside it was a message that I did not expect. I thought that the letter would be in ancient handwriting, difficult to decipher and super mysterious. I couldn't be more wrong.

As soon as the ribbon fell, the scroll began to float. It smoothed up itself and came close enough for me to read. On it, in big fancy letters was written :

CONGRATULATIONS!

To the lucky hero who received this,

You have been given an opportunity to please the gods!

By slaying the dragon, you have proven yourself worthy to be given a quest!

Your instructions are as follows-

a) Choose which God you want to do a quest for. Your options are Aphrodite, Dionysus, Zeus, Hera or Apollo.

b) Try not to die on your quest.

c) Choose a companion.

d) Return before 22nd April.

e) Do not ignore this message(or you will be blasted off from the planet).

You are requested to reply within 24 hours after reading this. To reply, say, 'choise made'. Our agents will contact you immediately after you reply.

Good luck.

From,

Messenger Goddess, Iris.

After reading this, I glanced at Thalia. She was staring at me.

"What, in Zeus's name, is that?"I asked.

"It means that you have a choice to make,"she answered, in a slow voice.

This can't be good.

X----------X ----------X

Hi there!

How do you like the story so far? If you think it's good, please Vote/ Comment/ Fan. Or, if you're feeling generous, do all three. A random question-

Which god do you think they should do a quest for?

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