Sign of the Times

Thalia being the sister I never had <3

We arrived in some little snowy town with a population of about five. There was not one person on the streets and only like three shops open. The newest thing in sight was a falling apart sign that read WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT NEW MEXICO. 

The air was cold and thin, making it ten times harder to function like a normal human being. Only Bianca and Zoe were not shivering. I crossed my arms to hold in as much heat as possible with little success. 

Grover and Percy were standing in the back, whispering and looking up at Zoe and me making me a bit nervous about what conversation he had with Apollo. Apollo better not have told Percy about my prophecy. If I have to deal with Percy and his 'must-save' attitude, I might just kill myself before the prophecy can. 

Zoe and Bianca were walking up front. Their strides were confident and seemingly not even fazed by the cold at all. Maybe being a hunter wouldn't be so bad. 

Thalia and I were walking in the middle of the two groups in silence, both too consumed in the prophecies that are coming to be really soon.  

As we got further down the road, Thalia kept sneaking glances at me. I finally got fed up with the weird stares and just blatantly asked, "What's up with the looks. Do I have like blood on my face or something?"

"No, well, actually you do, but that's not why I was staring," she confessed. "It's about Apollo visiting yesterday. I overheard you talking with Chiron before we left . . . "

"What about it?"

"I know about your prophecy," she said bluntly, causing me to freeze ( . . . pun . . . ). "I overheard Apollo and Chiron talking about some prophecy weeks ago. I kind of connected the dots over the last few days."

I stay silent, wondering how to approach this situation. Do I deny? No, it's too late, too much hesitation for that. Do I just pretend it's a different prophecy to make things not as bad? Fuck, what's the point? Thalia gets war. She sacrificed herself for Annabeth and Luke, she'll understand.

"Yeah, I'm gonna die." I laughed. Poor response to the situation? Maybe. But Thalia cracked a smile as well. 

"So, me turning 18 is signing your death certificate?" A frown replaced the smirk on her face.

"Eh, it's not so much you turning 18. It might happen before, after, at some point. I don't know the specifics of the prophecy, all I know is the general gist: I die, the war ends." I hesitate before saying the next part. "You're not going to try and stop me, are you?"

She grabs my arm and links our elbows, grasping my hand. "This is your decision. I don't really want you to die for a few reasons. One being how much of a pain in the ass sad Percy would be. Another about how sad I would be if you died. And another being that you're 16. But you are also in charge of your own fate, so my wants and desires are not to be taken into consideration."

This is going much better than I planned. "Can you, er, keep this to yourself? I am trying to keep this shit under wraps so no one gets a savior complex and risks fucking up this whole thing."

"Of course. This isn't my secret to tell, but I would be careful, because I think that some people are catching on." She nods her head towards Percy who was looking at the back of my head when I turned around. 

"You don't think Apollo told him, do you?" 

She shook her head. "Nah, Percy isn't one to keep that to himself. He would go up to you right after Apollo finished his business and would be all like 'you can't do that!'" Her voice did a poor imitation of Percy's. 

"And I would be like 'watch me!'" I laugh at that, but Thalia doesn't join in. 

"You know Percy wouldn't take that for an answer, right?" 

I furrow my brows at her in confusion. "Well it's not like he can really do anything but take that for an answer."

"Oh, you don't know Percy then. He would, will do anything to keep the people he cares about safe. Hell, he snuck all the way down the coast and was ready to go and take on an army of skeleton warriors alone to help us and Annabeth. And on top of that, you should have seen his expression when you said that you would go to the general alone. I couldn't tell if he was going to murder you or lock you away just for the idea."

"Well, I am flattered to be part of the Percy-Posse, but he's got to get over this. We are in a war and people are going to die. That's just the way things go."

Thalia squeezed my hand tight. "Well, maybe it is good to have someone like Percy to keep you attached to life a bit. Not too eager to meet your dad, you know?"

"Apollo said something very similar."

"Then maybe the gods aren't always wrong. If I am agreeing with them, then they are spitting some truth. I am always right!" We laughed for a bit before falling silent again, only broken by Thalia pulling me close. "What was up with you and Nick?" she asked, a silly smile on her face. 

"The kid from camp?" she nodded. "Oh, he was just a bit confused who I was, where I came from, blah, blah, blah. He seemed nice though. He didn't seem as uptight as some of the other Athena kids."

"Like Annie?" I take a second then nod. I love Annabeth to death, but gods know she is a bit uptight. But hey, it keeps us alive most of the time. "Yeah, he is pretty nice. I don't think Percy liked him though."

"Well, good thing Percy and I aren't the same person! He doesn't have to like him for me to think he is a nice dude." Thalia shook her head. "Do you and Annabeth like him?"

"Annabeth thinks he is an idiot sometimes, but I think he is fun. He isn't as tedious with his actions. He wings it much more than a lot of the other kids at camp which keeps things fun." 

"Whatchya talking about?" Percy asks, walking up besides me with Grover on the other.

"Nick," Thalia replies and Percy rolls his eyes. 

"Athena kid, right?" he asks and I nod. 

"Seems nice. Right, Percy?" Thalia elbows me in the side. Why is she so concerned about what Percy thinks of him?

"Eh. I've met nicer people."

"Like you?" Percy rolls his eyes again. "Percy, why don't you like Nick?" Thalia asked with a teasing tone. 

"Alright, that's it." Percy dodged around us and took off after Thalia who was laughing like a maniac. I don't get the inside joke there, but the whole chase is rather amusing. 

"What's that about?" I ask Grover who was just shaking his head at the whole situation. 

"Oh, you know. Percy has a, er, little, uh, BAHHHH!" Grover belches and I just drop the topic. Having this conversation with Grover is just going to give me a headache.