I
The fighting goes on, on and on and on and on. He thrusts and she parries, back and forth.
She doesn't realize what he's trying to do till it's much too late.
Suddenly they hear the chime of the bell tower, and somewhere inside of her Thalia counts each toll.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve . . .
Oh no.
He smirks, that evil smirk of his which hasn't changed one bit.
"Happy sixteenth birthday, Thalia Grace."
II
A half-blood of the eldest dogs (because that's what they are)
Fall reach sixteen against all odds (till the ground)
And see the world in lessened sleep (who rests when there are worlds to take over?)
The hero's soul, cursed blade shall tear (not reap, torn things can be repaired)
A lingering choice shall end his days (will he ever forget?)
Olympus to serve or raze (either way, they'll win)
III
"Choose."
He trips.
She trips.
They fall.
In more ways than one.
IV
It's just her goddamned lack of luck which causes her to end up pinned down under him when they touch the ground unharmed by the power flowing around them.
The corner of his mouth twitches. "You done yet?"
The tone of his voice doesn't match the sword ready to cut through her neck, nor the look on his face. He looks powerful — standing above her like he owns everything around him. It's confidence, she realizes. He's a strange son of Hermes. Usually, they prefer to do everything from behind the scenes; but he's the outlier who goes up on the stage and screams.
Almost like he can hear what she's thinking, his grip tightens and she gasps. There is no blood arising from the gap in her skin, but she can feel the dams wanting to break. "Are you really going to hold onto them for this long?"
Her breathes almost stop as his mouth stops millimeters away from her ear and whispers. "You don't get it, do you? I just want you. You and you and you until the whole world breaks apart with the knife we'll hold together. It can all stop, you know. All you have to do is tell me yes. Stay with me, and this war and all these deaths can just end."
She can't see the top of the mountain, but she knows that up there Zoë Nightshade is lying broken and Percy Jackson is falling apart from the weight of the sky and that Annabeth is lying exhausted between them.
"Annabeth?" she manages to croak.
"Let her choose her loyalties."
She looks up at his eyes.
V
"Yes."
(if he's going to drown the world she isn't going down with the rest of her ship; they're the Titanic but she's already seen the glacier with it's icy veneer)
VI
He smiles and pulls her to her lips to his bruisingly before pulling away and grinning even more.
"Don't worry."
Ice. "This won't hurt a bit."
VII
It all turns black.
VIII
"Have you really changed?"
When she wakes up he's right in front of her. She's lying on a couch, in a dark dark dark room and all she can really see is his grey face, ashen with the lack of light.
"Did I say anything about changing?"
"Yes."
He mock thinks. "Oh, yes I did. But it was you who has to change."
"What do you want from me?" he's a monster. Where's the boy she fought monsters with? The one who used to laugh with her? The one who used to make mistakes?
He bends in. "That boy is gone. Now, I'm here. Now, do you want to get out and do your job?"
"And what's that?"
"Be my human anchor," he says. For a minute, she can almost see the old Luke again in his eyes. "please."
IX
Being a human anchor apparently means always being with him. Thalia has stayed at his side every hour of the day, whether through strategy meetings or in buildings, watching him as he destroys both mortal and mythological places with weapons made of half-steel half-Celestial Bronze.
Both monsters and people look at her strangely. It isn't as if she's wearing something odd — all that she's wearing is a sweatshirt and and pair of torn jeans (they're her old clothes, the ones from the run. She still fits into them and for some reason he had kept them). It isn't as if she's the only girl either. She really doesn't know what all the whispers are until she hears two telekhines talking behind a pillar. "What's the master doing with a lady?"
She listens a bit more into some other conversations and starts to realize that's what she is now — the lady, the girl-in-charge.
For some reason, she kind of likes it.
X
When she comes across him he's sitting in a damp dark room in front of a fountain and she can just barely hear the end of an Iris Message.
"I want Jackson locked away. And then we'll kill him"
She's surprisingly calm and raises an eyebrow. He turns to look at her coolly.
"What do you think?" it's a genuine question — he wants to know what she thinks.
So she sighs. "I never really liked him anyways. But one thing — I want to talk to him. Before you kill him."
"Deal."
XI
-
Olympus to preserve or raze
(they're gonna plow the earth till there's nothing left but them)
This is a seriously messed up fic. Like, seriously. Updates weekly, hopefully. Maybe
Basically — what would have happened if Thalia had chosen to join Luke at the end of the Titan's Curse? I know this is a freaky layout and everything. Sorry. So . . . yeah.
The things in the summary will all happen eventually. Happy Thaluke reading (BTW, this was all based off Tomione fics from HP. They're inspirational. And dark :))
-WGG