"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Thalia yelled, apparently unable to stop her anger from exploding out any longer.
Annabeth, Thalia, and I were alone in the sword fighting arena. Annabeth had lead us over here for some three on three battling, but Thalia lost it before we could start.
"Thalia," Annabeth nudged her.
"IF YOU HAD LET ME GET THAT FLAG WE WOULD'VE WON!"
"IF YOU HAD LET ME GET IT WE WOULD'VE WON!" I shrieked back at her. The stress of losing Nico, Thalia showing up and pranking me, and losing capture the flag to my sister was getting to me. When things got to me I would lose my temper.
"WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE?!" Thalia shouted.
"I COULD ASK YOU THE SAME!" I roared, my hands clenched into fists.
Thalia's fingers crackled with electricity and thunder boomed in the sky. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, the silver band in her hair showing she was Artemis's lieutenant Hunter was askew in her spiky hair. "I swear to the gods I will electrocute you," She hissed.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" I glowered.
"Thalia," Annabeth rested a hand on Thalia's shoulder. The daughter of Zeus shook off my sister's touch.
"That's it," I said and turned sharply on my heel. "I'm done." With that, I stormed off toward the Athena cabin with the blood rushing through my veins and the rumble of thunder behind me.
That night I lay in bed, trying to think of a way to get into Tartarus without dying in the process, when a damp Annabeth and Thalia walked into the cabin. I rolled over on my side and pretended to be asleep.
"I still don't see why she's so touchy." I knew Thalia was talking about me, so I listened, of course.
"Here's the problem," Annabeth sighed and began to brush out her long blond curls. A bolt of lightening lit up the darkening sky. "Is that you?"
"Nope, maybe someone made my dad mad. That's easy to do," Thalia replied. "Anyway, you were saying?"
"Well, recently she helped defeat the titan Krios in the Underworld." Annabeth began.
"How did she get there in the first place?" Thalia asked.
"You remember those two demigods we brought back here? Bianca and Nico Di Angelo? Well, Paris...fell for Nico. Then Paris found out her dad had small cell lung cancer, and she left the camp's border so she could visit him. Nico found out and he took off after her. I don't know what all happened other than they killed Krios. Then...Nico...he fell into...into Tartarus." Annabeth finished in a whisper. "That happened two days ago. Nobody is sure if Nico's still...he's still alive. His father, Hades, doesn't think he's alive. I..."
I waited patiently, alertly for Annabeth's opinion, something she was determined to keep from me. I remembered I was "asleep" so I tried to even out my excited breathing.
"I'm not sure, to be honest. Nico is very strong. He's withstood a lot in his life. But Tartarus? That's a different matter." Annabeth shuddered.
"How's Paris's dad?" She actually said my name is stead of calling me "her".
"He..." I tried to muffle her next words by snuggling deep into the covers, but I heard what she had to say as clearly as a bell. "He's dead. That's how they ended up in Hades, they were trying to save her dad. Hades apparently said no, then Krios attacked. Please don't ask her about it. She's really...sensitive about it."
"Paris? Sensitive? Is it possible to use those two words together in a correct sentence?" Thalia griped.
"She's been through a lot in the last week. Just leave her be for now. Also, don't dump water on her anymore. That's just what she needed to wake up to." Annabeth could be so protective. Sometimes it bugged me. But at the time, it made me smile.
Of course, my dad had consumed as much of my thoughts as Nico had, but I couldn't same he was there more than Nico. Was I selfish that way? I felt guilty. Surely I should mourn my dad more, right? Well, here it comes, I thought and closed my eyes.
"Oww! Daddy!" A five year old girl with short cropped wavy brown hair cried. "The bike falled on me!"
"Shh, Pair bear, it's okay," My dad reached over me and picked up the fallen bike.
"No it's not!" The girl shouted crossing her arms over her small chest. "I don't wanna bike anymore," The child shook her head, sending her wavy chin-length hair flying.
"Paris, something you need to learn is determination," My dad lifted me into his lap.
"What's deternimation?" The tiny Paris Hale asked.
"Determination is when you stay with something, no matter how hard it is. For example, I'd determined to get you up and riding that before we get something for dinner, okay? Can you tell me something you've done that takes determination?" My dad was always quizzing me, getting things like vocabulary words, math equations, and history time lines to stick in my brain. He knew even back then that my mother was Athena. He was preparing me for the future.
"Can you help me get back on the bike? That will be my deternimation for now," I smiled.
I soon lost my train of thought and began to worry about Nico again. Would I die if I tried to go down into Tartarus? I didn't know. All I knew was that I had to try. What if we used a rope or something? Annabeth could lower me...
"ANNABETH!" I yelled and sat up so quickly my head spun. I glanced at my watch which I'd hung from the bed post like I did every night. 2:46 A.M.
I jumped up and grabbed Annabeth's arm. "Get up!" I hissed, eyeing my cabin mates cautiously.
"Wh-what?" Annabeth yawned widely.
"I think I have a way to save Nico!" I gasped.
"You do?! Oh my gods! C'mon! Tell me!" Annabeth stumbled from her bed and together we darted to the picnic tables to discuss the strategy.
"The first thing we need is a quest." I explained.
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A/N
Hey! Okay, Narwahls, there! Chapter 5!!!
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The Unicorn Lover
