Annabeth Chase, dead or alive (BACK AGAIN!!! BUT SLOW UPDATES!)

Chapter 21

Thalia's POV

It was time.

The time had arrived for Artemis's trial.

Us huntresses crowded into the Throne Room, awaiting in anger for the trial to begin. Despite being the lieutenant, I stayed in the back and blended in. Mimi came up to me and grabbed for my hand. Tears were running down her face. I held her hand and softly whispered "Don't worry, it'll be alright. Artemis was always Zeus's favorite child. He won't do anything extreme."

"But... But Annabeth?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

I could feel my heart squeeze. "Annabeth will be fine," I smiled grimly. "She's the strongest fighter I know."

Mimi opened her mouth to speak again when suddenly Dad felt like we had chatted enough.

"Silence hunters!" he bellowed. "Watch as your goddess comes to face her fate, for betrayal to the gods themselves!"

Hera was the only one who cheered, but Ares gave a good and hearty clap.

Athena and Poseidon wouldn't look at anyone as the doors to the Throne Room opened and in came... was that really Artemis?

She was still in her 9-year old form, making how she was being treated seem even more worse. I had only seen her look so worried and worn-down one time before, and that was when the titan Atlas had captured her and made her hold up the weight of the sky. She looked that bad. But her eyes twinkled with a bit of mischief and the same confidence it always had.

Half of the hunters near me gasped. The other half burst out crying, including Mimi, who grabbed on to my hand so hard it brought tears to my eyes. Or maybe it was the sight of Artemis that did that. I wasn't so sure.

"What did you do to her?" Mimi cried out, causing out similar cries to be heard. Dad boomed a laugh, and I could feel something inside of me harden.

Artemis spun around. "Girls," her tone warned them. "Keep quiet."

"Listen to Artemis!" Zeus barked. "She is wiser then all of you." He cleared his throat. "We will begin the trial."

Athena mentioned in a quavering voice "Artemis will need a defense lawyer for it to be a fair trial."

That was my cue. I let Mimi's arm drop to her side as I sprinted in front of all the hunters, who made a pathway for me. "Father, I take the role of the defense lawyer to help show that Lady Artemis is innocent!" My voice echoed through out the Throne Room and Dad looked shocked.

"Thalia..." he mumbled, but Poseidon stood up and exclaimed "What a wonderful choice that the lieutenant is the lawyer for her goddess! Yes, let us proceed, proceed." He shot me a glance so full of emotions I almost fell down from them all but one overpowered the other ones. It was the one of urgency and confidence. 'You can do this,' it seemed to say.

So with no further ado, I began. I needed them to see the true side of it before their minds are already convinced of Artemis's not-real guilt.

"It began one night when I and the huntresses were in Maine," I began. "Artemis was not present, because she was at a meeting at Olympus. We saw a sleeping human on the ground who I immediatly recognized as Annabeth. We woke her up and she started to cry.  She begged me to become a huntress, but I did not want her to become one. Finally she told me Percy was dead."

I took a deep breath of air, and reminded myself that this would not harm Annabeth and that Artemis would be safe.

"After she told me that, I let her become a huntress because of the rules that declare that no one is not allowed to join the hunters if she is female and innocent, which Annabeth qualified as. She-" Now this was where the lies began to protect Artemis and Annabeth. "Annabeth did  not tell us why, but she asked to keep her identity secret from Artemis. We assumed it had to do something with Percy and we did not question it, due to my orders. We hid her identity and Artemis came back to us not telling us anything and not knowing that it was Annabeth. We told her we found a new recruit, and she let Annabeth take the pledge. We hid it from her well, but she began suspecting. One day, she approached me and I admitted it. The second I said it, she kicked Annabeth out and we haven't seen her to this day. So Artemis isn't guilty."

The room was silent. Finally, Athena stood up and announced "I vote for Artemis's innocence."

All but Ares, Hera and Dad also stood up and did the same. "That's an overwhelming vote overall, brother," Poseidon said after being the last to cast his vote.

"Fine, Artemis can be innocent, but I need someone to punish so nothing like this could ever happen again," Dad's eyes looked a bit crazy as he looked around for someone to punish.

His eyes settled on Mimi.

'No,' I think to myself. Stepping forward, I declare "I take full responsibility to the housing of Annabeth Chase and am ready for the punishments given to me."

Dad almost fell out of his throne. "Thalia!" he exclaimed, but Athena cut in "It is the idea that makes the most sense." She looked sad as she said those words. "I will vote for that outcome, because it is true that Artemis did not do anything, while this young demigod did."

"I agree!" yelled Ares, making everyone stare at him. "What?"

Soon, everyone except Hera and Dad agreed. "Fine," he snapped. "Follow me daughter, for your punishments await."

He opened a hole in the ground and beckoned for me to jump into it.

I looked down and felt dizzy, we were so high off the ground. "I hate heights," I mummbled, before jumping into the hole.

The last thing I saw was Mimi's star-shocked face before I disappeared into darkness.

CLIFFIE!

Next chapter I will do Annabeth's POV, Percy's POV, and a surprise POV.

~Bethy