Me the Tree

I wasn't always like this. I was a girl, once. I think I was anyway. I became a tree when I… I died. How did I die? I think I died fighting to protect… someone. I'm not sure who. Or maybe I've always been a tree. The only thing I remember is standing. This is all I remember.

No, I remember feeling pain. Yes, I must have been killed. Then somehow I became a tree. I sound like an idiot. A person doesn't become a tree when they die. No, I must have been a tree forever.

Every once and a while, I hear voices. I don't know what they say. They aren't loud enough.

One day, or hour, or second, or maybe one year, someone says something that I can hear.

"Hey, Thalia," The familiar girl's voice says. "We all really miss you. Well, Luke and I do. No one else got to meet you, but they will. You're going to come back and practice with me. Okay?" She groaned "Who am I kidding? You can't hear me."

Thalia. Was that my name? Who was this girl? Who was Luke?

'Come back,' I wanted to yell.

Of course, I couldn't speak. Thalia. That must be me. I was human once.

My name is Thalia. I have a friend named Luke. I am also friends with that little girl. I died and became a tree. Well, that was a start.

The next voice I could hear was a boy's voice. Perhaps this was Luke.

"Hi, Thalia," He said. "Annabeth said she came to talk to you, so I thought I'd give it a try."

Annabeth must be the little girl.

"I miss you, Thalia." He said. "I…I... I love you. Okay? So come back to us. Please. You wouldn't be dead if you weren't a daughter of Zeus. That's the reason. It's his fault not yours."

I am Thalia, Daughter of Zeus. I am loved by Luke. I am friends with Annabeth. I died and became a tree because of my father.

I closed my eyes, suddenly tired. Well, I didn't have eyes, but… I fell into a dreamless sleep.

Suddenly, I was jerked awake. Something had just run into me. Crashed is more like it. I heard voices yelling. Nothing close enough to be made out.

How long had I been asleep? Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years even. Had I been asleep for long? How long was long?

I am Thalia, I reminded myself. Thalia, Daughter of Zeus. Or I was. I am a tree. I just woke up from a long sleep. I had decided, I must have slept for a long time.

All went silent for a few minutes. Well, I think it was a few minutes. I heard voices again.

They weren't loud enough to hear the words, but one of the voices was unmistakably Annabeth. The other two were boy's voices. They faded off after a few seconds.

I waited for what felt like ten minutes before I heard another voice. It was Luke.

"Thalia," He said. "I promise that I will avenge you. I will destroy them. I'm sorry that you've been like this."

For days, I stood in silence. Well, it might've been ten minutes or seven years, but it felt like a few days.

"Thalia," It was Luke again. "If you can hear me, I am sorry, but I hope that you will be fine. After all this is to avenge you."

I felt something stab into me, and pain spread all over my body. Poison. I wasn't sure how I knew, but it was poison.

I am Thalia, Daughter of Zeus. I was just poisoned by the boy who loved me.

I feel weak and sick. I am dying. Time seems to slow down. I stand dying for days or weeks or months.

Suddenly, I feel a warmth. It spreads through me and the effects of the poison leave. I start to heal.

I feel stronger than ever. I feel as if I could simply open my eyes and be human again. As if I am human again.

My eyes open up. How is that possible? I don't have eyes. I hear voices that I cannot quite make out, but they get louder.

"Who…" I said.

"I'm Percy," The boy standing over me said. "You're safe now."

Suddenly I see myself dying at this very spot.

"Strangest dream," I said.

"It's okay," Percy said.

"Dying."

"No," He told me. "You're okay. What's your name?"

What's my name, again?

"I am Thalia," I tell him. "Daughter of Zeus."