They were always running and Luke was tired of it.
They kept running, the four of them. Grover, their guide, nervously scuttling in front; him and Annabeth dashing in the middle, both with one hand on their weapons, blond hair hanging low in their faces; Thalia, on at the end, her back to them, monstrous shield held high, defending them from an enemy endlessly on their tail. Each of them constantly looking back: Thalia to make sure they were alright and three of them to make sure the army wasn't right there. Also to check on Thalia, well Luke did at least. They were an odd group of too young and not old enough (especially to have faced the things they've seen, the horrors they ran from). They all wore days old clothing but you could barely tell with the heavy shadows from pregnant clouds that let no light through.
There was a quiet storm that raged around the group. He could smell it; Ozone that weighed too heavy in his mouth, too sharp in his nose. All of it's acridness caused by the fate of one girl. The world seemed to be holding its breath, waiting-warily waiting for the shoe to drop. The four were attempting a climb that on any other day would have been a nice hike, a serene break from the rest of the world. A nice grassy knoll. That night, the hill was insurmountable.
Luke's clothes were stiff and starched from sweat, irritating him lightly as he ran. He could only reminiscence on the days when this-now too small- hoodie was soft, the cloth embodiment of a warm hug after a bad day. Remembering home was always going to be bittersweet. There were the days when he came home to fresh-baked cookies and there were days when he came home to screams. The days when his own destiny simply tugged him down further, trying to drown him in some grim future. The one that his mother literally spilled from her mouth. The one that haunted his childhood in all ways possible. Luke always hated fate.
No matter what happens, no matter what he dreamed, tonight could not be her end. This destiny would not be the end of her.
A small thud drew his attention off the looming future. They stopped. The three eldest held their breath.
"Thalia… my ankle… something's wrong," Annabeth's subdued young voice stated.
"Crap," Thalia said in an undertone. "Luke can you carry her?"
"Yeah but it'll slow me down."
A screech echoed through the valley, chorused by dozens of growls. The most untimely roll call to ever happen. (He hated, hated, hated fate.)
"Go! I'll hold them off!" An order leapt from her mouth. Thalia had always been to good, to giving, but this order…
Damn it Thals.
"Luke, take Annabeth and Grover and run!"
"Thalia, I am not leaving you-"
"You. Don't. Have. A. Choice! Grover, the camp is just over the peak, right?"
"Thalia, I don't…"
Her scowl was almost as scary as the horrors on their tail.
"...Yes," his meek reply almost lost in the rising winds.
"Then go! You want to protect Annabeth don't you?" A low blow. "Then Luke Castellan you better get your ass up that hill."
"Thals," Annabeth asked in a quiet voice," you'll make it won't you"
Thalia bent down look her right in the eyes," Of course."
The little girl nodded, her blonde curls falling into her face.
Thalia sent Luke one last pleading look. Take care of her. She turned around leaving no room for more complaints.
Luke, ignoring everything in his head, mind heart, took Annabeth's small hand and started running. If he could do nothing else, then he would save this little girl. Their little girl. And then they ran.
Thalia looked down on the approaching army of monster. At the front leading the nightmare was the three Furies, leathery batwings outspread, fangs that would have given a dentist an aneurysm, glowing red eyes. Behind them like some sick parade were dozens of hell hounds. She took a deep breath and then hefted her spear.
"I'm not going down without a fight."
And then chaos ensued.
Each of the three Furies leapt at her from every angle. Thalia was barely able to lift her shield in time as she swatted the two monsters to her right.
"You can't win," the middle most one shrieked -Thalia assumed she was the leader as she was the ugliest. "Your fate is only the fault of your father."
Lightning flashed triggering a shower of rain to fall-too heavily- on their heads. Luke urged the others for word, each step closer to safety. There was a large figure standing at the bottom of the hill. It was large, and appeared more like a man on a horse. When they finally reached him (too much time later), all three were panting so hard that to Luke's own ears it drowned out the storm above. The figure silhouette was revealed to be a centaur with a grim look on his face.
"Chiron-I-we-uh-,"Grover stuttered breathlessly. "She wouldn't-"
"It's fine, my boy. There was only so much we could do."
Thunder shook throughout the entire valley echoing the very bomb that dropped inside Luke's brain.
"What do you mean?,"Annabeth questioned. Her small features held too much accusation. "Thalia's going to make it, right?"
She was too young for this, yet she had seen far too much of this world's cruelty. But even so, Luke couldn't stop himself from internally screaming the same thing. Why did that make it sound like that was it? They were still standing weren't they. They could fight. He would fight.
"I'm sorry to say it's in Fates' hands now. The River Styx demands atonement."
One of the stupid bats had ripped her shield from her, chucking it somewhere behind them. Thalia tried to summon another bolt of lightning. Instead of blasting the witch in the face, it landed somewhere in the mob of hell hounds, lighting up her surroundings (revealing the hopelessness). A mistake, not enough to be her last, but she couldn't do this forever. All the fighting tired her out and the lightning was an even bigger drain on her dwindling supply of energy-adrenaline lasted only so long. Luckily, even if not accurate, each blast was damn effective.
Fatigue settled over her.
A Fury jumped for her again, this time ripping through the bottom of her pant leg and her flesh. The pain was unbearable, like acid slowly ripping apart her flesh and it filled her mind with itself.
A scream spilled forth from her lips without her consent.
It was the scream that cemented his decision.
And without caring about his exhaustion or about anything, especially fate, Luke ran. Nevermind mind Grover failing to grab him or Chiron's warning shout. Annabeth's cry of his name lost in the wind behind him.
Adrenaline coursed through his blood-cursed godly blood, he had made what had felt like lifetimes in only seconds.
(But at times like this seconds are their own small lifetimes, each one bringing ever more life, or ever more death.)
"THALIA!" A distraction. A little more treasured time.
Luke took out his sword and swung it with everything she was worth (everything he had) at the demons hounds. The weight of his world in each swing, he appeared as only a bronze arc destruction in the ever so darkening night. A hero in the gloom. Within a few moments all of the remaining hell hounds had been decimated.
Meanwhile, Thalia had managed to somehow kill one of the Furies while writhing in pain on the ground. She was always the strong one. Unfortunately, the other two had gotten another swipe at her: There was now blood spilling from her arm as well. There seemed to be too much of the sanguine liquid. He had to save her.
"Hey bat bitch!" It was a stupid insult he knew but anything to distract them. Luckily enough both Furies responded.
"This is not your place," they hissed as one. "This is the girl's fate. She must die."
Thalia looked at him then, her mind getting sluggish. (How much longer could she last?) and shook her head. Why her eyes screamed.
It was the most dangerous moment for their eyes to meet. And yet, like the sun's gravitational pull on the earth, his eyes were drawn to hers. And he was frozen.
And then their fragile bubble of a world popped with her shout:
"Get my shield!"
The Furies turned back to her. He began his frenzied scramble of looking for a shield in half-light. He raced to place where he supposed it went. There could be no helping these moments where he helplessly wandered a dull thud when his foot hit the bronze disc. A desperate grab for it and then he ran afresh.
In the meanwhile, Thalia had summoned another bolt of lightning and pressing her wasted body to the extremes. The devils went to take another shot at her. Speeding faster than light, the Furies dove right at her.
Luke tore forward and lunged. She had to make it.
A shriek.
And then…