A/N: This is a Thalico Fanfic. :{D Takes place somewhere recently after the Giant War. BTW, this is my first fanfic so please no flames, but constructive criticism is more than welcome! And thanks to my good friend Baritonegirl for being my beta!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO…. All the credit goes to Rick Riordan!
Chapter 1: Thalia POV
"You're not a hunter anymore." The words still echoed in my brain as I stared at Lady Artemis.
"What do you mean, I'm not a hunter anymore? Why not?"
"You died." Those were the words I had been dreading to hear, though I had known they were true. "That son of Hades, however, saved you." More words that were simply a formality to hear. I knew that Nico had saved me before I had crossed the Styx.
"Can I join again, Lady Artemis?" I expected a warm welcome back, but received nothing but a cold glare.
"No, Thalia, you may not. It is by your father's words that I am sworn to never accept you as one of my maidens again, nor will he allow you to join the Amazons. He loves you greatly, my dear. He would like to see you immortal only in the highest ranks. He would like to make you an Olympian someday, my dear. Until then, he wants you to live your life as normal as possible, so that when the day comes, you will have experienced life as it truly is. Your father wishes you great wisdom, young lady, wisdom only to be surpassed by Lady Athena herself."
I sat there in shock, knowing that Lady Artemis would not allow me to return to the hunt I had grown to love so much. My father wanted me to be immortal. I was free.
I walked out of the Artemis cabin at camp laden with my bags that had been stored away since the day I had joined the hunt. Many of the campers stared at me, but who wouldn't? I was a hunter, excuse me, former hunter of Artemis who had recently died and come back to life, not to mention a child of Zeus, who was walking all alone with her arms full of bags. Just great.
Annabeth walked up to me. She wore a slight frown, as if she could sense what had just happened. She grabbed half of my bags and started walking beside me.
"Hey, Thals. Are you okay?" I could tell she knew I wasn't, but it felt nice of her to consider asking.
"Nope, but that's life for you. Will you help me unpack?" I asked, even though I knew she would say yes.
"Of course!" Yep. "You know, if you want, we could always get your two favorite cousins to come help, and maybe your brother?"
I smiled, "Definitely. I guess I'll get to see everyone I missed so much more often." I opened my cabin door and dropped my bags in front of my bed, signaling for Annabeth to do the same. "You go find your Kelp Head, and I'll find Jason and Death Breath." We both laughed at the nicknames we had assigned all those years ago. "Oh, and rule for my cabin: no more than 10 minutes of sucking face per day." I said with a serious, or at least as serious as I could muster at the moment, look remembering Annabeth and Percy at their reunion last summer. She blushed a little then muttered something under her breath as she went to find Percy.
I took off in the opposite direction in search of Nico and Jason.
Jason had been staying at Camp Half-Blood since the war ended about three weeks ago. The two camps had merged after the battle in Rome to secure both camps from the oncoming enemies. Each camper had the rights to stay at whichever camp they wanted, or could choose to alternate during seasons. Jason would have returned to Camp Jupiter when the war ended, had it not been for his newly kindled relationship with Piper (Yes, I am a Jasper fan :D), which Dad and I both completely approve of, and the fact that I was in a very weak state, having just returned from the dead. When I regained my health, he finally listened to me and started spending more time with his girlfriend. This was useful when I needed him because I always knew exactly where he was.
There he was, sitting with Piper on Zeus's fist. They were talking and laughing together, just like always. I slowly walked up to them, being pretty quiet so as not to interrupt their little moment. Piper, however, looked over and saw me, and nudged Jason in the gut. She said something, and then pushed him towards me, rolling her eyes in the process.
"Hey Thals, what's up?" He said, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Just wondering if you wanted to help me unpack. Piper can come too if that increases your chances of coming." I replied, jabbing him in the chest and chuckling slightly.
"Haha very funny. Who else is joining our unpacking party?" He motioned for Piper to join us.
"Well, Annabeth is dragging Percy along, and I was going to ask Nico, then you and Piper." I said counting everyone off on my fingers. Piper came up and snuggled into Jason's side.
"Four kids of the Big Three and two really powerful, extremely smart women all in the same room? Are you sure that's a good idea?" He said, true concern etched into his face. Piper and I both laughed, and he just looked more serious.
"Jason, it'll be fine." Piper said with a smile as she looked into his eyes. "And did I hear this correctly?" She asked, turning to me. "Nico is going to come?" Her eyebrows were raised, which was strange, almost like she knew something I didn't. I raised my eyebrows back at her, and it was Jason's turn to laugh.
"Okay girls, why don't we get back to Thalia's cabin and start unpacking, huh?" Jason said, still chuckling.
"Fine." We both mumbled as the three of us walked back to my cabin.
Thanks for reading! Like I said before, this is my first fanfic, so please feel free to give any tips or suggestions for writing in general, or for this story! :{D