Broken

July 23rd, 2000

I feel my heart thump, hatred at Hermes flowing through my veins. If he hadn't left my mother…I forced the thought to end. He did leave. The truth is, the prophecies that she would speak terrified me to death. They still do. But I'm all alone now. I couldn't stand to listen to her pained voice anymore. So I left.

I hear a voice in the forest. It's muffled, but I can make out the word, "half-blood". That's me. I pull out my sword, preparing to fight, when I feel a sharp pain near my left shoulder-blade. "Ouch!" I yelp. The person on the other end of the spear glares at me, but then she sees that I am not a monster; the expression on her face softens. "Oh," She whispers. "I'm sorry." "Hey," I reply, "It's alright." I wince. "But can you help me out?" She walks into the light of her flashlight, and I finally catch a glimpse of her.

The girl is gorgeous. She has big, stormy, blue eyes, and a bridge of freckles across her little nose. Her jet-black hair is cut short and gelled into spikes, and she wears heavy black makeup and an outfit that looks either punk or goth, but on her it looks amazing. "Uh-" I stutter at first. "I-I'm Luke Castellan. I'm fourteen, and I'm a half-blood. I left home because my dad-Hermes-left me and my mom, and she is, well, mentally ill now. It's entirely his fault. If he hadn't let her become an oracle… "Tears sprang to my eyes, so I stopped talking. "Hey," the girl whispered, "It's gonna be alright." I would never have said this to anyone else, but I feel like I can really trust her. She nods, like she truly understands. "I'm Thalia Grace. I'm twelve, and I'm a half-blood, too. My dad is Zeus, and he left me, too. But my mother-"Her eyes shone with hatred and fury-"She is horrible. I had a brother. I didn't trust her with him. Yesterday, my mother took us to Disney World, and she told me to go get her purse from the car. I didn't want to leave Jason with her-that was my brother-but she made me. When I got back, she said he was lost. I didn't believe her. I still think she did something to her. She wouldn't confess. So, I left." Tears shone in her eyes. "I miss Jason." "Hey," I whispered, putting my arm over her shoulders, "He's still alive, I bet. We're gonna find him one day, I promise." "Really?" She whispered. I nodded. And I truly believed it.

July 30th, 2000

A week later, I bring up what is really on my mind. "Hey, Thalia," I whispered, "The gods did this to us. What if we got rid of them?" I shook out my sandy, jaw-length hair. "You mean-you think we could?" Thalia looked at me in awe. "Wow, Luke." I blushed. "Well, you know, I would do it for you…" She gave me a peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Luke. I would, for you, too. Other than Jason, I feel like you're the first person I can really trust."

August 30th, 2000

Another month of hiding from monsters passes, and Thalia and I are in Pennsylvania, I think, when we run across the girls in silver. I can immediately tell that they hate me, though I am not sure why. Their leader is a girl who looks about a year younger than Thalia, and she smiles at her. "Hello, Daughter of Zeus," She says. "Or, should I say sister? I am Lady Artemis, Goddess of the hunt." I suddenly feel angry, being in the presence of a god. "Seize your fury, Son of Hermes. What your father has done to you has nothing to do with myself." A girl wearing a braided silver crown in her hair steps forward and begins to speak.

"My Lady," the girl begins, "I have talked with thy hunters, and every girl has agreed that having a man in our presence is not preferable." "Soon, Zoe," Artemis promised, "But I must speak with his companion." Artemis slowly turned to Thalia. "Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, sister, perhaps you could come speak with Zoe and myself in the tent?" Thalia nodded obediently, and she followed the two girls to a silver tent in the depth of the forest. One of the hunters turned to look at me. While all of the others were glaring at me as though I was too utterly repulsive to even be in the same country as them, this one gave me a pained smile.

"Be warned, Demigod, that your actions can cause much trouble for yourself. You have this one now, and you may lose her to the hunt, but if not, stay with her." I gave her a confused look. "What do you mean that I will 'lose Thalia to the hunt'?" She shook her head, as though I was a hopeless cause. "You see," the girl began, "Artemis allows any girl of any blood to join her hunt. Once they do, they are immortal-unless they enter combat, which is quite rare, or if they join the company of a man. If your companion joins the hunt of Artemis, she cannot be with you." She started leaving, when I called back to her. "Hey!" She turned back to me. "Thanks," I told her. "What is your name?" She looked at me. "I am Hestia, Child, goddess of the hearth. I'm only with the hunters for now, for I needed to feed the hunters." She must have seen that I hadn't eaten in days, because she said simply, "There is food leftover. Let me prepare a plate for you."

Hestia soon got me a plate piled high with potatoes, buttered corn, roast beef, and other family-style dishes. I eat every last bit of it, and I start to get seconds, when Thalia exits the tent. She is sending daggers through her eyes at the girl called Zoe, and when she sees me, her face pales. "Be warned, Thalia Grace," Zoe spits out, hatred in her eyes. "You will regret this decision one day, for your companion is but a man, and he is bound to betray you." "Quit it, Zoe," Thalia snaps. "You may have had your troubles"-I notice Zoe grow pale-"But I can trust him!" She stomps off with a simple "Come on, Luke", forcing me to follow.

September 3, 2000

Several days later, Thalia tells me something important. "You know, Luke," she whispers, "There is a place for kids like us. Demigods. A place where we can be safe, where we are in training. It's a camp, but we could be there full-year. It's called Camp Half-blood." The very thought of this fills my heart with excitement. A safe place, where I would be loved and cared about? I lace my fingers through Thalia's. We had just outrun the furies early that day, because they were trying to kill Thalia, under Hades' orders. "Wow," I whisper. "I'm in. Where is it?" "New York," she tells me. I hear a rumbling noise from behind a dumpster, and I pull out my sword, when I hear a kid's voice call out, "No more monsters! Go away!" I look at Thalia. The kid is about seven years old and she has huge, gray eyes, and knotty, honey-blonde hair that is clumped together with leaves and specks of dirt. "Thalia," I whisper, "Put your shield up. You're scaring her." Thalia's shield is molded with the head of Medusa. Thalia does what I says and she turns to the girl. "Hey, it's alright," she coos. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia, and this is Luke." The girl tells us her name is Annabeth, and we talk a bit more to the demigod. "You're part of our family now," I tell her. Annabeth grins.

November 4th, 2000

I'm scared. I'm not sure where we are now, but we met a satyr named Grover a week ago, and he's going to take us to Thalia's camp. But I think that he took a wrong turn, because we are outside of a weird cavern right now, and it smells like blood.

December 14th, 2000

The monsters are after us. The cavern was the home of a Cyclopes. We almost died. Annabeth saved us all. I'm trying not to hold it against Grover, but we now have seventeen different monsters after us (mainly after Thalia), and I don't want to lose my family. We are almost at the camp…

January 2nd, 2001

I see it! The furies are right behind us but we are almost. There. So. Close.

Later that day

They got Thalia! NO! She's dying! Please, Thalia, don't die. No, no…

January 5th, 2001

She died. Well, mostly. Zeus turned her into a pine tree at the last moment. She did not even make it to Elysium. She's stuck in an eternal sleep. I'm hugging Annabeth right now, and neither of us can stop crying.

April 3rd, 2003

Hermes gave me a quest! I'm excited!

April 4th, 2003

The quest is so stupid. All I have to do is retrieve a boring, stupid, golden apple for the gods.

May 6th, 2003

I failed the quest. All I have is this stupid scar. It hurts. Forget the gods.

December 22nd, 2005

Last night, at the Winter Solstice, I stole Zeus' lightning bolt for Kronos. I'm proud of myself. The gods will get what they deserve. But I'm nervous…

June 28th, 2006

There's a new boy at camp, and I just summoned a hellhound. The plan is working…

June 20th, 2007

My plan worked! I spoiled Thalia's tree with poison. It's not out of disrespect for Thalia-it's because of Zeus. He didn't protect her.

August 19th, 2007

Ugh! I didn't get the Golden Fleece! Percy Jackson gave it to Clarisse! CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?

August 20th, 2007

Kronos had a genius plan. Thalia is alive again! I haven't spoken with her yet, but if we get her on our side, the prophecy might just come true…

December 15th, 2008

Augh! Kronos had me hold up the world in Atlas' place, and it was so painful. Luckily, Annabeth took the burden from me. I knew that I could always get her to do what I wanted…

December 21st, 2008

Thalia is a trader! She's on the gods' side! After all we've been through! Oh, no, the butt of her sword-!

February 21st, 2009

I'm terrified! Kronos wants me to give him my body. I have no other choice but to talk to Annabeth. I'm right outside her house. We can run away together. Just like old times.

February 22, 2009

No, she rejected me. She's in love with stupid Percy. I need her. Kronos is going to take over…

June 15th, 2009

HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP!

July 30th, 2010

Must…Save…Annabeth…I…Love…Her…

Later that day

I'm…Dying…It…Was…The…Only…Way…To…Save…Her…