Death's Reason

Chapter 6

"I got the flag, Thalia!" Percy shook the said flag in her face. "I saw a chance and I took it!"

"I was at their base!" Thalia yelled. "But the flag was gone. If you hadn't butted in, we would have won."

Nico facepalmed. Those two really knew how to get each other worked up. What had happened that original day? When had the fighting stopped...?

Realization dawned on him, and he could feel his face grow as pale as a corpse. The Oracle. She was coming.

"Nico? What is it?" Chiron asked.

Nico shook his head. He couldn't say. He couldn't warn them. All he could do was watch Percy and Thalia battle it out and hope to damned hope that that prophesy hadn't changed.

Sure enough, the group went silent. Nico looked up to see the mummy approaching them.

"This is impossible," Chiron whispered. "It...she has never left the attic. Never."

The mummy shifted closer. Nico's eyes met hers, and before she got to the middle of the clearing like last time, her mouth opened and that raspy voice spoke.

But it wasn't what she had said the first time.

Fate sends the Protector of Souls,

The Lord of Time is on patrol.

Son of Hades, walk through time.

Son of Hades, hide your crimes.

Beware of this, the Fates decree:

Let them die, don't let them see,

What once was, will never be,

Fate changes and Fate you will see

Has always been foretold to thee.

Their eyes were still linked. Nico wanted to fucking melt into his boots. He could feel the shadows climb up his legs.

The Oracle continued to shuffle onwards. The demigods already looked like they wanted to piss their pants, but she wasn't done with them. No, she stopped in the middle, told the prophecy Nico would never forget, the prophesy that his sister was to die.

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent's hand.

The Oracle linked their eyes again before falling onto a rock, becoming still again as if she was just another corpse. But she wasn't just another corpse, she never would be. Not after fucking up his mind like that.

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Nico sat beside Chiron as the counsel of cabin leaders gathered. He still couldn't swallow right. He felt like everything was already too fucked up to fix. They were going to find out they were going to find out they were going to find out...

"This is no time to talk," Zoe stated. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

Nico took a drink from his water bottle and tried to force the liquid down his throat. The end times the end times...

"And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West!" Bianca spoke up. Her voice made Nico jump. Half of him had forgotten that she was still alive, and then that made him feel even worse. "You heard the prophesy. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get five hunters and go."