This Dark Night ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase¹

―xiv. hades... isn't the world's worst stepfather?

AFTER THAT BOMB WAS DROPPED, Chiron sent Percy off to join Annabeth and Grover in chaperoning Tyson and his new crazy centaur friends, leaving Naomi and Chiron alone for the moment.

"I hear you met your mother," Chiron said.

Naomi nodded softly. "On the Sea of Monsters."

"Smart," he mused. "Few gods would go there to try to punish her."

"Why do they want to punish her?" Naomi asked. "Because she had a half-blood out of wedlock?"

Chiron's smile was tight. "No, it isn't that. It's the... circumstances surrounding your birth that concern them. And your fate."

"What circumstances?" Naomi asked. "What fate?"

Chiron sighed. "I cannot reveal it all, Naomi. I'm truly sorry for that. But I can tell you that... on the day you were born, the Fates visited your parents personally."

Naomi stared at her mentor for a moment, letting that sink in. Quietly, she said, "I'm guessing the Fates don't make house-calls a lot?"

"Very rarely," Chiron agreed.

Naomi swallowed hard. "My... Persephone—she said she tried to shield me from my fate. What... what's going to happen to me?"

Chiron's expression was mournful, as if he were eulogizing instead of simply talking. "I cannot tell you," he murmured. "I swore not to, as did the rest of the Council. But... I will do what I can to ensure you are strong enough to face what you must."

"Does my prophecy have something to do with why Kronos is so insistent on me joining him?" Naomi asked. "Luke said I couldn't be replaced. Is... does my prophecy have something to do Kronos?"

"Not your prophecy," Chiron told her. "I cannot speak of the Great Prophecy directly, either, but I can say... you have a role in it, too."

"You sound so sure," she said. "You didn't sound that sure when you talked about Percy's part in it."

"Most of the prophecy is cryptic, but the line that concerns you... I fear it can only mean you," Chiron told her. "The Fates confirmed it, the day you were born, within the prophecy they gave you. It is why the gods seek to punish Lady Persephone, and to eliminate you."

"Eliminate me?" Naomi almost squeaked.

Chiron nodded grimly. "Most of the Olympian Council would rather see you dead now than risk you potentially bringing them down." 

Naomi glanced nervously toward the sky. "Then why... why am I still alive?" 

"The Council took a vote at the Winter Solstice meeting, after your claiming," Chiron informed her. "They voted seven to six to let you live." 

Naomi blinked. "They voted on whether I lived or died... and this is the first I'm hearing about it?" 

"A hard thing to bring up in conversation," Chiron said with a sheepish smile. 

Naomi did the math in her head. "Thirteen votes... I thought there were only twelve Olympians?" 

"Hades had a vote as well," Chiron told her, "since it was the Winter Solstice meeting." 

"Let me guess," Naomi muttered, "he voted to kill me?" 

"On the contrary," Chiron said. "He was one of the first to vote against killing you." 

Naomi stared at the centaur for a moment, trying to wrap her head around that. "Hades... Hades voted for me to live? Isn't he supposed to hate me?"