A/N: This is my first time to write something like this. I may make a lot of mistakes, so if you see any, please point that out. After reading, please don't forget to leave me some reviews. I appreciate it.
Italics = thoughts.
She pulled her coat tighter around herself as she tried to keep warm, which is impossible considering that she was in a small alley with only a shattered coat. She had spent all of the money she took with her. She was hungry, cold and lonely. But most of all, desperate. What do I do now? No, she thought, what can I do know?
She could come back.
That thought alone made her shudder.
She could act as a beggar and asked for some money.
No, her pride wouldn't allow that.
In the end, she decided to sleep and think about it tomorrow morning, assuming she wasn't dead by then. Lying on the ground, she closed her eyes. Before falling asleep, she sent a silent prayer. For some help. For someone.
Next morning, she woke up to see a sandy haired and blue eyed boy smiling down at her. He gave out his hand.
"Hey, I'm Luke. What's your name?"
She didn't answer. She just looked at his hand blankly, trying to guess his motive. No normal boy would offer help to a now homeless girl. She didn't know if it were due to her desperation or not, but she took his hand and pulled herself up from the cold hard ground.
What's the harm?
"Thalia." Said she as she shook his hand.
Everything is gonna be alright.
"Maybe let her come with us is not a good idea." Luke suddenly spoke up, glancing the sleeping little girl.
"We cannot provide her any needs. No food, no warmth, no shelter." Luke continued "Heck, we don't even have it for ourselves."
"So? What can we do? Give her back to her family? We have promised her we won't. And we can't just leave her alone, either. It's too dangerous." Thalia responded and her voice tightened up.
"Going with us doesn't make it any less dangerous! In case you haven't notice, we attract monsters!" Luke had come to the point of yelling now.
"You mean I attract monsters." Thalia said, averting her eyes to the ground.
Luke was taken aback.
"N-No, you know I didn't mean it that way…"
"It's exactly what you mean." Thalia said quietly and turned her back to Luke.
Luke grabbed her elbow and turned her back to face him.
"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just…..worried. That we won't be able to take care of her, to protect her." Luke said softly.
Thalia took his face in her hands and looked at him in the eyes. Their gaze lingered for a moment.
"I know you're worried. But we are her family now. We will protect her." She leaned in and they shared a brief kiss. "Everything is gonna be alright."
Luke bit his bottom lip.
"Yeah, maybe you're right."
The sun rose beyond the horizon. They were only about one day travel to this camp Grover kept talking about.
"I have an…..uneasy feeling about this." Luke whispered quietly so as not to wake Annabeth up. "This may not end well."
Thalia knew. She could also feel it. Something, something's wrong. However, before she could say anything, a cute little voice stopped her.
"We don't have to go there if you guys don't want to."
She considered the little gird's words. She remembered how excited the little girl had been, how her eyes had shone when she heard that they would be going to this camp. She bit the inside of her cheek.
Finally, she said:
"If what Grover has told us is true, it is safer there." She sent Luke an eye signal. It's time.
Luke nodded then silently put out the fire and went to wake the satyr up.
"B-But Luke said…"
"Luke's intuition is not always right, Annabeth." But rarely wrong.
She kissed the little girl's forehead gently.
"Everything is gonna be alright. Come on, let's move out."
Later that day, the same little girl was found screaming and crying in front of an enormous pine tree.
The sky was clear and the atmosphere was quiet, even peaceful. However, there was a storm of confusion and emotions inside Thalia's head.
What's the meaning of this?
She had just woken up after being a tree for seven years to hear that Luke had betrayed. Betrayed the gods. Betrayed everybody, including her.
She didn't understand. She didn't know how to feel. She didn't know how to react to that. She was lost.
The sudden sound of knocking cut off her flow of thoughts.
"Thalia, may I come in?" It was Annabeth.
"Come in."
The blonde walked in and sat down next to Thalia on the bed, back against the wall.
After a while, she said.
"I'm sorry."
"There's nothing for you to apologize for, Annabeth."
"Yes, yes there is! I have been with him the whole time! A-And I didn't even r-realize that….that he was…" replacing her voice was the uncontrollable sobbing.
Thalia didn't even flinch at Annabeth's outburst. Somehow, she knew it was going to happen.
"It was not your fault. If Luke wants to hide something, not even I can find out about it." Thalia said calmly.
Annabeth's sobbing echoed through the almost empty cabin.
"H-How are you so – so calm about all this?"
"…I'm not. Believe me, I'm not." She said, looking at the daughter of Athena directly in the eyes.
She pulled the crying Annabeth into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head.
"Everything is gonna be alright."
A silent tear fell.
She was sitting in a van, crying her heart out. Well, who could blame her?
Luke betrayed. Annabeth was taken. The goddess Artemis herself was in danger. And she was human again not so long ago. She had tried her best to keep her composure. But she was losing it little by little.
So here she was, crying after lashing all her frustration on Percy.
She relaxed and closed her eyes, trying to sleep.
"Everything is gonna be alright."
Luke never let me down.
Nervous. Anxious. Agitated. That was exactly how Thalia felt standing outside Artemis cabin while the goddess explained to the Hunters about what had happened.
Of course she would feel like that. She was new. But a lieutenant. Try putting yourself in those Hunters' shoes.
Imagine waiting for the leader to come back, and then found out that she had passed away and a new kid was going to replace her. And that kid even disrespected them before.
Damn. They would hate her.
Thalia jumped in surprise when a hand touched her shoulder. It was Artemis. Apparently, she was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice Lady Artemis there.
"It's time." The goddess said with a reassuring smile.
Thalia swallowed her saliva.
Everything is gonna be alright.
She walked in, creating no sound at all when she reached where Annabeth was lying. She was extremely pale, and there was cold sweat on her forehead. Seeing her best friend - her little sister like this pained her. She put one hand on the girl's forehead.
"T – Thalia?"
"Yeah, it's me." She said in a gentle, soothing voice.
Annabeth's lips curved up in a relieved kind of manner. Her breathe heavied.
"Rest. Everything is gonna be alright."
The war was over. Sure, the destruction could still be seen. But new days would come. And these new days would definitely be brighter.
Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, lieutenant to Artemis, looked up at the clear sky, her father's domain. She couldn't help but smiled.
"See? Everything is alright."
A/N: I know, the ending is not really good. I tried to fix it, but this is the best I can do.