This story is set after Blood of Olympus, and a very short while before The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle.

Cover art isn't mine, nor is the Percy Jackson series.

This is just a short one-shot, with plenty of Percy and Thalia friendship (I hope).

Camp Half-Blood was a sunny place. The sun was high in the sky, and children were around the camp doing their own thing. Well, they were half children. They were demigods - or half-bloods, take your pick - children of minor and major Greek gods and mortals. There were about 20 cabins at camp, with hundreds of half-bloods during the summer. Apollo kids were playing sports and archery, Dionysus's son Pollux was making the strawberry plants grow. Teenagers sword-duelled in the arena, and others climbed the lava-spewing, boulder-smashing climbing wall - not for the faint-hearted.

Thalia Grace approached Half-Blood Hill, and looked around. There was Peleus, the dragon, and the Athena Parthenos - Thalia knew the tale of the seven demigod heroes of the Great Prophecy had journeyed to Rome during their quest to defeat Gaia and the giants to retrieve it, then a Roman praetor named Reyna Ramirez-Arellano returned it to the Greeks in the hope to stop a civil war and to heal the gods. Thalia remembered the Hunters she lost, and she had heard that one of the Seven had died during the battle. To her left, her pine tree. Being twelve, she remembered being turned into a pine tree by her father, Zeus, after being chased by a Cyclops, then becoming a human again with the help of the Golden Fleece.

Then she took a pledge to Artemis to become a Hunter, then becoming a lieutenant after the previous one had died. She remembered Zoe saying, "Stars," as Artemis blessed her and made a constellation in her honour.

But that was the past. She was a loyal lieutenant of Artemis, a Hunter of the moon goddess. She touched the bark of her pine tree then crossed the borders of Camp Half-Blood, hoping to see her friends. The summer sun warmed Thalia as she headed for the Big House.

"Hey, Chiron, are Percy and Annabeth here?"

Chiron, in all his half-horse half-man centaur glory, compacted his lower white stallion half into a wheelchair, and smiled. "Well, Annabeth isn't here for a while, but Percy's in Cabin Three, I think, last I saw him. Well, I better be off now. There's a new half-blood today, and I suspect that he's a child of Ares. Arm wrestled the councillors easy, and I think he's nine years their junior." Chiron grimaced, said, "It's been nice to see you here, Thalia, I've missed you," then wheeled his way out of the room, leaving Thalia alone.

She tossed a Snausage to Seymour the leopard, then headed for Cabin Three.

When she reached the Poseidon Cabin, she knocked on the door, then she saw Percy Jackson.

It had been a long time since Thalia had seen the son of the sea god. He still looked the same in appearance, except he was taller, and a few other things. He'd grown since that quest for Artemis, Thalia thought. Even more since the war with Kronos. He wore his orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt under a jacket that read AHS Swim Team and his bead necklace. His messy black hair and his sea-green eyes resembled his godly parent. In his hand, he held his sword, Riptide, in ballpoint form. He looked surprised, eyebrows raised when he noticed Thalia.

"Boys," she laughed. "Never prepared."

"Hey, Thalia," said Percy. "I don't miss you, if you're asking." But he was grinning.

"That's okay, because I don't miss you either," Thalia grinned back. Or... I'll assume that's your new way of saying hello."

"You didn't bring your Hunters here, which is kinda good, because the best way of saying hello for them is not shooting us," grinned Percy.

"Where's Annabeth, Seaweed Brain?" asked Thalia.

"Huh? Oh - up in Boston for a family emergency. Why are you here? And I'm very sure you didn't come all the way here just to say that you don't miss me," added Percy.

"Well, I wanted to be a good little half-blood and visit my little camp..."

They both sat down in front of the Poseidon Cabin.

"Really?" Percy looked at the Hunter, as if he wasn't convinced (he wasn't). "How 'bout your mistress?"

"They're somewhere over the rainbow," explained Thalia. "I mean, literally over a rainbow, sorting a few problems."

"Life of a Hunter sounds adventurous," said Percy. "I wonder if there's such thing as a male version of them...?"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," Thalia punched him.

"Ow! Why would you do that? You never make things easy, just like Annabeth. Were you her tutor?"

Thalia laughed.

"So... what's been happening after the war with Gaia?"

"Nothing much, I guess," admitted Percy. "Annabeth and I are studying for New Rome University, even though I have to pass my SAT and the DSTOMP."

"What on earth does DSTOMP mean?"

"No idea, I guess," he shrugged indifferently.

"How about the other demigods, you know... the ones who sailed with you apart from Annabeth and you?"

"Well, Frank and Hazel are at Camp Jupiter, doing Roman stuff. Frank's praetor with Reyna now."

Thalia thought of Camp Jupiter. She had never visited it, but she knew her brother Jason had stayed there. She remembered her mother crying, saying that Hera had claimed him, and brought him to the wolves. But now she had reunited with Jason, and they saw each other once in a while. She was happy she could be with her long-lost brother once again. She thought of Reyna - she remembered her - and hoped she was doing good back at Roman land.

"Your brother and his girlfriend, Piper-"

"Wait, that Aphrodite girl... my brother's girlfriend?!"

Percy smirked. "Yeah. And Leo..." he frowned. "Leo died fighting Gaia. Jason and Piper are convinced he's alive, but really, I don't know. According to Chiron, they were searching everywhere until he told them to go back to school. They're staying with Piper's dad, along with other people."

Thalia remembered the first time she'd met Leo - she was very sure he was trying to flirt with her - and Hunters didn't flirt. But she didn't imagine him dead. She hoped that her brother would find him alive.

"So... well, Camp Half-Blood is different a bit, isn't it?"

Percy nodded. "Twenty cabins now, and Nico's staying, that's good. I'd just recently found out-" The son of Poseidon stopped himself.

"What?" Thalia raised her eyebrows.

"Nothing. Well... it's nice seeing you back here, Pinecone Face."

Thalia smirked at the nickname. "We won't be throwing lightning bolts or splashing ourselves in water, won't we now?"

"Oh, Hades, no."

Thalia smiled, remembering the past memories she had with Percy. "You're seventeen, right? You met me when you were thirteen. I'm not aging, 'cause I'm a Hunter and all with Lady Artemis -" she proudly touched the tiara on her head - "but it's been four years since I met you. Remember?"

Percy grinned. "Yeah. You woke up from a tree, with the help of the Golden Fleece."

"I was turned into a tree, Seaweed Brain."

"Then we met Bianca and Nico," Percy recalled, "then Annabeth and Artemis went missing, and we had to find them. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, one shall be lost in the land without rain, the bane of Olympus shows the trail, Campers and Hunters combined prevail, the Titan's Curse must one withstand, and one shall perish by a parent's hand."

"You know the whole prophecy? After all these years?"

"Hey, you may call me Seaweed Brain, but I still have a good memory tucked under all that kelp."

"And then... I took Artemis's pledge and I became a Hunter. Then we fought Kronos... Luke." She didn't cry for boys anymore, but the thought about Luke made her a little sad. "Then you went missing, then the new prophecy came in and you fought -"

"Queen Dirt Face," Percy finished. "Yup, just a normal day in the life of a demigod."

There was silence. Finally, Thalia said, "Guess what, Seaweed Brain? I've got the rest of the day to hang out with you - you know, as a friend. So, what do we do now?"

Percy smirked. He pointed. "Climbing wall. First up wins."

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