AN: I wrote this in a rush for someone and I decided to post it as well. Also, I'm currently working on the third chapter of the World Hopping Pirate series and forgive me if it's really late but school is keeping me busy. This is also unedited/unbeta-ed. Hope you enjoy~
Disc. Not my characters. Rick Riordan owns all characters mentioned below and the events that happened were only taken from my head.
Helpless. That's what Thalia was. In the middle of the war, she was helpless. No one to help her, no one to contribute. Helpless and useless. "I survived all those battles and I get defeated by a stupid chunk of rock!" Thalia growled as she watched Percy, Annabeth and Grover run towards the palace.
Thalia wanted to help in the battle. Desperately. But at the same time, she was thankful that she had saved Annabeth and Percy from being crushed by the boulder and being trapped under the damn rock. Why? She simply couldn't fight Luke. She had spent so much time with him, too much in fact, that she couldn't imagine going against him.
While everyone was fighting for their life, Thalia was struggling for her leg. She tried to do anything to lift the boulder but every time she would try, she would feel the pain in her leg. She did not know what was worse: just sitting there as she watches people get hurt or the excruciating pain that was on her leg.
She looked at towards the direction where Percy, Annabeth and Grover ran off to and strange enough, she could see what was happening inside the palace. Perhaps no one cared about closing the doors at a time like this.
Thalia squinted as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Percy talking to Kronos, who has the body of Luke. And then Annabeth. There was something about Annabeth's stance that made her want to know what was happening. You see, it was very hard for Thalia to guess – it's like watching a complicated show on a mute television. But despite this, she knew that Annabeth was feeling wrong, that Annabeth had something in mind, that she still believed in Luke. How can she not? How can they not? They were a family. Luke, Annabeth and her. And there was no denying that.
Thalia watched the scenery from afar, ignoring the pain on her leg but still trying to budge the damn rock off her. It was getting more complicated, more emotional. Struggling, screaming, attacking. Thalia kept her eyes glued to Percy, Annabeth and Luke. From what she had seen, Thalia figured that perhaps Annabeth tried to wake Luke in his consciousness – which worked since there was a change in Luke's action. Maybe Annabeth can bring the old Luke back, maybe things will get better, maybe. Just maybe. But at that moment, Annabeth looked at Percy and shouted something. There was hesitation in him though – the way he looked at his blade and then stared back at Annabeth. But Luke, the real Luke, was starting to change; he was starting to glow. Now both Annabeth and Luke were screaming at Percy and then Percy did it. He gave the knife to Luke. At this point, Thalia felt scared, confused even. But she knew what the plan was. She knew what was going to happen. She knew. And tears started to form in her eyes, she struggled more and more until the cyclops had seen her pain and removed the boulder off her. However she remained there, the pain on her leg now gone, but the pain on her heart, dominant. She shook her head, tears now streaming down her face. "No, Luke, no. Don't do it. There are other ways, no." But her words can't be heard. After all, she was far from them and she was too helpless to do something.
She was right. Luke stabbed himself. He sacrificed himself for the sake of everyone. Thalia could not take it anymore. She gathered all her strength, tears still visible on her face, blood still dripping on her leg. She had to go there. She had to go to him.
And so Thalia dragged herself up and started walking as fast as she could. If she had to crawl, she would. She just had to be there. The moment she arrived, Percy, Annabeth and Grover were flocking around him. She hasn't stopped crying – not because of her leg, but because she still couldn't bring herself to accept the things that just happened. Call her selfish if you must but Luke was the first person ever to make her feel happy again after her brother had disappeared.
She wasn't sure as to how Percy knew she was there but he did, and he stepped a little to the side so that she could see Luke who was nearly dying. Thalia quickly went to his side, gently bringing his body close towards her so that his head would be on her lap. She couldn't say anything but their eyes were locked on to one another until he finally spoke. "Hey… you're back. " Thalia still didn't know what to say and instead cried more. She didn't care anymore about who was around them. More people had gone closer – The Stoll brothers, Clarisse, the other hunters, even Artemis was there.
More feeling rushed through her when she felt his frail hand on her cheek. His thumb trying to wipe her tears away. But it was no use. She can't stop herself from crying. Not when she can see him in this state. "Don't cry…" He struggled with his words, the pain slowly enveloping his body; only a short amount of time before he leaves her for good. " I—love you…" And with these words, a wavering smile appeared on her face. She took one good look on Artemis, conveying a message through her eyes. And Artemis got the message. She gave Thalia her approval and Thalia knew what had to be done. Her eyes drifted back to Luke and slowly, she leaned in closer to him and kissed him. Her first and last kiss; His kiss of death. "I love you too, Luke." Perhaps Luke was not expecting her to do that, but he smiled. He showed her his most genuine smile since Kronos took over him. And with that smile, Luke's hand went slack.
Ever since the boulder dropped on her, all she could think of was how helpless she was. But then there was Luke, who has been helpless even before. He wanted to stop Kronos but he was too powerful. He had no friends to help him, everybody called him a traitor. He was the helpless one. But in the end, he was able to save everyone. He was the helpless hero.