New campers always asked about the tree. And for some reason, Thalia always insisted she be the one to tell the story. For those few minutes, she could be by his side again, before the story inevitably ended, and she had to relive that dreadful night. The night she lost Percy Jackson. Those final moments still haunted her nightmares, never letting her get over her guilt. Sometimes, she could move on for a little while, when she threw herself into her training, when she spent time with Luke and Annabeth. Then someone would ask about the tree, and all the old memories would come flooding back. When it was just the four of them, on the run, learning to survive on their own, building a bond that would last a lifetime.

She would start at the beginning, the first time she met Percy. She and Luke had just picked up Annabeth about a week ago, and now they were in some desolate, darkened corner of a city, moving with the shadows, doing whatever they could to avoid them. Luke took point with his sword, he was the oldest, at 12 years old, and he'd been doing this the longest. Thalia was opposite his side, clutching a spear, she was 10, and could handle herself in a fight. And right in between them was Annabeth, only 7, wielding the bronze dagger Luke had given her. Thalia and Luke still had to protect her, but she was learning fast.

Luke had heard the noise first, someone or something was approaching. A moment later, there he stood, in the entrance of a shadowy alley, a boy who looked about Thalia's age, with messy raven black hair and sea-green eyes. He'd tried to look resolute, but Thalia could tell by the shaking hands that held the rusty knife and the desperate look in his eyes that he was truly terrified. At first she thought, maybe he was just a homeless kid stealing to survive. Then he'd started rambling about monsters, and while most would have dismissed this, Thalia knew better, because she'd seen them, Luke and Annabeth had seen them. And if the monsters were coming after him too, he might not last the night, let alone any longer. Thalia has been the one to ask his name.

"Percy," the boy replied shakily.

Then she'd been the one to invite him to join their group. Luke was hesitant at first, he wasn't sure adding another to the group was a good idea. Percy had been hesistant too. But finally, with some help from Annabeth, who Luke could not say no to (and apparently neither could Percy), he became the fourth member of the team that night.

She would then recount some of their adventures together over the next few months. For starters, Percy needed a better weapon, and really they were all due for an upgrade, so at some point they'd raided a museum of ancient warfare and made out with a small cache of bronze weapons (Luke had always told Thalia and Annabeth that these were the most effective against the monsters for some reason). Luke got a traditional long sword, Thalia traded her old spear for a more powerful looking one, and also found a bow and arrows. Percy couldn't seem to find a sword that fit his fighting style, but finally settled on an ordinary short sword. Annabeth, for her part, was perfectly content with the dagger Luke had given her.

There was no time to train, they fought on instinct alone, learning each other's strengths and weaknesses, learning to depend on each other to stay alive. Thalia noticed that Percy, while incredibly raw obviously, did seem to have a bit of a natural talent for sword fighting. Clearly he was an asset to the team, despite her initial doubts about his skinny, undersized frame.

He was an even greater asset on the rare occasions they weren't fighting for their lives. He would talk history with Annabeth, mostly Greek and Roman mythology, whixh usually ended with Annabeth laughing and calling him a big dummy. He even got Luke to come around eventually, the sarcasm, wit, and lame puns were infectious. Then there was Thalía. She liked to think that of all of them, she had been the closest to Percy. Sure they argued a lot, but they always made up quickly. They were the same age, and shared many other similar traits and interests. And when Thalia was in trouble, she knew she could count on Percy to have her back, and vice versa.

Percy didn't talk about his life before they'd found him on the streets very often. The most he would say was that it hadn't been pleasant; he'd never known his real father, his step-father had been awful, and he was always getting in trouble at school. Thalia sympathized with him, and did Luke and Annabeth. They'd all been through similar childhoods. That's was just one more thing that brought them closer together.

Then came the day everything changed. They'd just gotten up that morning, and were preparing to move on from their latest hideout, when they heard a noise coming from outside. Cautiously, with their weapons ready, they leapt out, prepared for a fight. Instead what they saw was one terrified kid who looked about the same age as Thalia and Percy. He looked normal at first, until Thalia looked down and realized his feet were actually goat hooves. The boy said his name was Grover, and that he was a satyr, which surprised them, but after running from and fighting monsters for months, it wasn't so hard to believe anymore. Grover said they needed to follow him, that there was a camp in Long Island where kids like them would be safe.

"What do you mean, kids like us?" Percy had asked.

"I mean- look, I can't say it, it's dangerous. The more you know, the stronger your scent becomes. The point is you'll be safe there." Grover fumbled.

"We're doing just fine on our own," Luke had countered.

But finally Percy did manage to convince him, they couldn't last forever out here, and Grover seemed to know what he was talking about.

Now they had a goal, and Grover had them moving at a frantic pace. Unfortunately, his earlier fears seemed to have been confirmed, for now there were more monsters, and more powerful ones at that. There was less time for breaks, less time for everything. They got sidetracked again and again, and there was no more room for error.

No matter how many times Thalia told the story, it always had the same ending. She always had to relive that night. They'd caught a bus to Long Island, Grover had assured them they would make it in time. Then he'd noticed the three old ladies sitting in the back.

"Oh no, it can't be." he'd whispered to himself. "Anything but them."

Thalia had heard. "What is it?"

"We need to get off this bus, right now," he answered quickly.

Luke had rushed to the front and pulled the emergency brake, which caused the bus to careen out of control and flip over. Somehow they managed to crawl out of there alive, but now they had no ride, they would have to finish the journey on foot.

The sun had long since faded over the horizon, and as they approached the hill, even Grover's assurances couldn't conceal the fact that the monsters were gaining, and gaining fast. About a quarter of the way up, Thalia made a mistake that should have cost her her life. She looked back, and at that very moment, her foot snagged on something, and she fell hard to the ground. She raised her spear, determined to destroy as many as she could before they killed her.

Then Percy was in front of her, whirling and slashing, and there was Luke, expertly dicing up everything within range. And even Annabeth was hacking and stabbing, using her small size to her advantage. They'd all risked certain death to come back for her.

For a second, it seemed liked they were pushing back the tide, then Grover's scream had brought them back to reality. More monsters were coming. Hellhounds, dracanae, the old ladies, who now wielded vicious looking black whips. They started running again, the monsters now right on their heels.

About halfway up, Percy had pulled up alongside Luke and Grover and had a quick word with them. Thalia couldn't make it out over the screeching and howling behind her. Thalia analyzed the situation, she was the closest to the monsters, everyone else was ahead of her, closer to the top of the hill. If she could hold them off for a few seconds, they would make it. True, she would die, but at least she would know her friends were safe.

Then Percy was alongside her again. She'd told him her plan, he just shook his head.

"That's a no-go, Thal, there's only room for one on dramatic sacrifice this team, and I've already volunteered."

"Don't be an idiot!" She'd screamed at him. What she really wanted to say was "Don't you dare leave me."

He'd smiled that witty smile of his. "It's what I'm best at, right?"

Then Luke's arms were around her, pulling her away. She flailed and kicked and screamed, but his grip was viselike. Somewhere ahead, Annabeth was screaming too. Percy turned back to face the horde. He'd made a lot of improvement in his fighting style, but even he couldn't hold them off forever.

They'd reached the top of the hill, Annabeth and Grover were behind them and presumably inside the camp. Thalia watched Percy, mesmerized. Even in her dreams, these final momemts would always seem to play in slow motion. He cut one of the old ladies in half, then another struck his leg with her whip, causing him to lose his balance and fall. A hellhound tried to pounce on him, he slashed it to dust and rolled away...where even more monsters were waiting. He blocked a whip, and his sword went flying out of his hands. This was it.

Then came the moment Thalia would never forget. She'd finally managed to break free from Luke, and started to run back towards Percy, when it happened. A large, glowing blue trident suddenly materialized over his body. Then a great wave of water from seemingly thin air crashed down on top of him and the horde of monsters. And where just seconds ago, there'd been a raging battlefield, a wounded boy, and an army of beasts, there now stood just one solitary pine tree. Thalia had cried desperately as Luke finally led her into the camp. Percy Jackson was gone.