Falling - Percy Jackson At Hogwarts Two

A Choice

Percy

"What do you mean everything?" I said at a whisper, confused at her statement. Everything could mean a range of different things.

"I'll tell you, but not here. To many mortals," she explained without giving me any information.

"Then we might as well complete this project," I replied, still curious of the situation.

Thalia pushed away a strand of hair covering her face and nodded.

"A con, everyone will steal," I said straight away.

"A positive, no one will be starved," Thalia stated and wrote it down.

The minutes ticked by surprisingly fast for someone who was ADHD, I guess it was because I had Thalia around. The bell rang and the class abandoned their seats, desperate to leave the claustrophobic classroom and be out in the open air.

Thalia led me around to a corner of the school where no one was there.

"Now, tell me. What is going one?" I demanded.

"Well...you remember how at the end of the titan war Prometheus was nowhere to be seen?"

"Yes," I replied, recollecting the memories.

"Well since then Artemis and the hunt have been looking for him whenever we could and finally we found a lead. We heard two vampires saying that Prometheus's swap went as planned and no one suspected anything. We tried to get more information out of the two, but they refused and we ended up killing them. Artemis then became even more determined to find him,"

"Did you?" I questioned.

"We followed the gorgons who seemed to be heading towards some sort of meeting place with someone. They were talking to Kronos,"

"He survived?" I spoke in thought.

"Do you remember fighting him?" She asked.

I pondered for a moment, "no...I didn't see him in the battle."

"He must have fled when things looked bad. Anyway, that wasn't the strange thing. Someone else was there..."she said trailing off as if wanting the suspense. Typical Thalia, just like her father, a drama queen.

"Who?" I asked, trying to avoid rolling my eyes.

"Professor Snape," she replied.

"What was he doing there with the bad guys?"

"Bad guys? Seriously Percy, you have the vocabulary of a four year old."

"No I don't. You do," I said as a comeback.

"That statement just proved my point. Anyway, the 'bad guys' were asking him questions like if anyone noticed something. Eventually Artemis decided to see what was going on at Hogwarts and sent me on a stealth mission...the things I saw...Percy, they were inhuman," Thalia paused her words to take a breath, "There were getting older students to practice the Cruciatus Curse on the 1st years. Snape as the headmaster, allowing and encouraging all of it to be happening."

"But...he was a good guy...right?" I stumbled, trying to understand.

"Unfortunately they found me before I managed to get enough information, I had to run out of the school as if I were being chased by monsters. There is something terribly wrong going on," she replied.

"You want me to help...don't you?" my voice sounding hollow, as if it had no meaning left in it.

"I'm sorry Percy, we need you. We...I can't do this on my own," Thalia sad with sympathy.

"You will have to," I replied without a second thought.

"But-"

"No!" I yelled interrupting her, "too many people have died because of me! Died as a way to break me down. Well guess what? I'm broken...I'm done," I exclaimed. My heart started to beat rapidly, my hands beginning to shake.

"Annabeth...it wasn't your fault. She died protecting the ones she loved," Thalia tried to reason.

"Maybe...but my parents are," my voice coarse.

"So?" she replied, carelessness surprising me, "sure, they died as a message to you. But that's just two people. Image how many others are going to die because you cowered out of the fight. If you don't help, hundreds more will die. Millions even if it is a part of the enemies plan. With your help we can stop them. Without it...we all may as well be preparing for a slaughter."

"Your right...but I can't bear to see any more people getting hurt because of me," I spoke.

"Loyalty is your fatal flaw, don't make it everyone's fate to die from your loyalty," Thalia turned around and walked away. Halting for only a moment, "Meet me at the Empire State Building at 4:30 if you wish to come...I'll only be waiting for a short time before the hunt moves on."

Thalia disappears from my view and I slouch against the brick wall behind me. I wish Annabeth was here to guide me through this. A particular song started to repeat inside my head. Should I stay or should I go?