you gotta show the world that something good can work (let's make this happen girl)
"Don't you want to just grow up as quickly as possible sometimes?" Annabeth looks up, peering through the lush pine needles covering the branches of what was once Thalia's tree.
The girl herself scoffs and pulls off a silver athletic sweater. "Hunter of Artemis, remember? I think it's hardwired into my brain to never, ever want that. What brought this on anyways?"
Annabeth shrugs and plays with a pendant hanging from a silver chain. Thalia doesn't remember Annabeth owning it a few months ago when she dropped by camp for a visit. It's in the shape of coral from the depths of the ocean and Thalia catches Annabeth's hidden question. The far-reaching consequences of her decision never hit until the quiet moments when she's still the same and her friends are older, wiser, growing up. She watches Annabeth, the grey of her eyes hardened by the horror of Tartarus, dream larger than Thalia ever dared to, ever hoped to.
"Percy put in an application to one of the city colleges last weekend," Annabeth reveals. "He said that you can't apply for a position at the FDNY until you're 21, so he figures going to school doesn't hurt." The blonde turns to her immortal friend. "Sorry, you probably don't care about the intricacies of college, huh? How're the Hunters?"
"Fine," answers Thalia in the short. "Just trying to rally up numbers I guess. Not too many monsters have cropped up since your trip to Rome. Some of the girls are getting restless I think. I should have Nico get his dad to just release a couple harmless hellhounds or something to keep them active."
Annabeth snorts, "So beating the other Cabins in Capture the Flag isn't enough? You guys blew through Ares' and Apollo's best defenses last night. Clarisse was pissed, she complained for hours to anyone who would listen."
Thalia grins proudly but deflects the praise, "So where's Kelp Head on this fine winter day?"
"In the city, he has a water polo tournament on Saturday so he couldn't get away for the long weekend."
"Sucks for him. I was looking forward to a little friendly competition. Anyways, do you know Pratt's answer yet?"
Annabeth ducks her head again at the comment, playing with her necklace and worrying her lip between her teeth before pulling out her cell phone and handing it to Thalia. The screen is small and the print even smaller, wrecking havoc on Thalia's dyslexia, but the few words she's able to decipher – congratulations and we are pleased to offer and accepted class of 2018 – give her the happy answer she's looking for.
"Oh my gods, Annabeth, this is amazing!" Thalia's beaming with excitement and Annabeth's bright smile finally spills over her entire face. The two are giggling and laughing under the protection of Camp Half-Blood and to Thalia it finally feels like everything is falling into place after the mess of their adolescence.
Annabeth steals back her phone, most likely to answer the text waiting for her from Percy, and starts chattering, "Yeah, I know. I called my dad a few days ago and Percy's mom made a cake." She's blushing and Thalia's never been more proud of her best friend. "Even Athena said a few words when I stopped by Olympus yesterday. I just can't believe this is happening, you know, I never thought I'd get to go to college when we were on the run, tired and hungry and fending off monsters at every turn. And I guess after Percy showed up, it seemed like we would never make it past high school. But, now it's here and –"
Thalia cuts her off, finally understanding the question that started the whole conversation. "You don't want it disappear."
Annabeth nods sullenly, deflating like a balloon, "I guess it just seems too good to be true for monsters to leave us alone so that we can get degrees and be normal for a little bit. It's stupid but, it's like if we can make it to adulthood we'll be fine, me and Percy. I've read some stuff, all the accounts that I found seem to imply that when demigods make it past like twenty-five or thirty they're fine. Like, the attacks just level off. It's like the prize for dealing with all the shit that the gods can throw at you is a quiet adulthood. And, I guess when I'm laying in bed late at night I just wonder what that would be like."
Thalia doesn't quite know how to respond, she's in a unique position of never growing older than her day from sixteen. She'll never graduate high school or join a sorority. She'll never have to put together a resume for a job interview. She won't get married or have children. Instead, she'll be a child forever, enjoying innocence and carefree times. Annabeth doesn't have that luxury. The life ahead of her is full of hard decisions and learning from mistakes. However, she also gets to enjoy the events that people wait a whole lifetime for. She'll get to marry the person she loves and hopefully get a job doing something she wants to. She'll become a mom and experience all the joys and difficulties that come with.
They made their choices. Percy, too. All three of them were handed the chance for the same thing – immortality – and only Thalia took it. She jumped at it as if it was a lifeboat and she was moments from drowning. Annabeth and Percy, however, turned down the want that haunts most people's darkest desires and now Thalia watches from the sidelines as two of the people closest to her mature into strangers.
The bell for dinner echoes throughout Camp and pulls Thalia from her stupor, "You guys will be fine. I'm sure if any more big, bad prophecies come knocking, the last thing they want to do is deal with you and Jackson. That's like asking for their immediate and painful death."
Annabeth laughs and a shadow leaves her gaze, "I guess you're right. I'm sure Percy and I can deal with something as simple as college. Anyways, haven't you ever thought about what would have happened if you didn't become a hunter? You'd be in college already! Maybe at like NYU or Northwestern in Chicago or, oh! Remember that night we spent near Georgetown University. You and Luke both thought that would've been the coolest place to be."
"I dunno," says Thalia. "Maybe I would've headed west. Checked out Berkeley or UCLA or something. But, I like the Hunters. I think immortality suits me."
"Oh come on Thal, it's me," pleads Annabeth as they start down the hill and towards the dining hall. "What was the one thing you gave up?"
Her friend's face is all knowing, filled with wisdom far beyond what her mother gifted her with. Thalia doesn't respond, just gives a sarcastic quip and wonders aloud what's for dinner. She doesn't admit that what she gave up, gave up on her a long, long time ago.
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