Blood ran down Luke's arms, legs and face. Every inch of his body ached and exhaustion pulled painfully at every one of his muscles. In his left hand, he clutched the only remnant of his quest, a claw from the monster itself. His other hand was held to his face, bloodied now by the wound the dragon had inflicted upon it.

Every step he took pained him, every breath was an effort but Luke kept moving. The way he'd been keeping himself moving since the day he'd shut the door on his house in Connecticut. Each step, however small, took him further away from the demons of his past. Ladon, his mother, Thalia's death… they all stalked Luke's mind, reminding him, torturing him of everything he had failed to do or be. He wasn't enough for his mother to stay sane. He couldn't save Thalia. Now he couldn't defeat a dragon. He had failed a quest that some other hero had already been and conquered.

Where was the glory in that?

Luke spat out a bit of blood as he inched his way down the winding road that encircled Mount Tamalpais. He could see San Francisco emerging from the fog now. But Luke had little delusion left in him. This was monster central and he was bleeding out, all alone. He should have had two quest mates, as per camp tradition. But none had volunteered and Luke had insisted on going alone. Now it was unlikely he would ever make it back and all he could think of was how he'd managed to let another person he cared for down.

He could see Annabeth clearly now, already so grown up after only a few years at camp. She'd hugged Luke goodbye and he could still feel the weight of her pressed against him, the warmth of her forehead as he'd kissed it goodbye. He remembered assuring her that he'd see her again. There was half the US between him and Annabeth now and more than a few monsters within that space. He would have to be very lucky to make it that far and Luke did not count himself lucky. He had already lost so much.

Three years ago

"It's about half a mile away," Grover Underwood panted as he led the three panting demigods forward.

They had been running for what felt like days and the sky was growing darker as clouds folded together, menacing in their darkening gray. A low rumble echoed through the heavens and the first drops of rain began to fall. The sprinkling of drops quickly slipped into a furious downpour, soaking the four of them through within minutes. Their feet slid into the quickly softening mud and the smell of damp bark intensified. Above them, the trees weren't so close together to offer much of a canopy. A cold wind blew through the group, bringing out shivers and shaking breaths. The cold stung bitterly at their faces as they hurried onward.

"Once we get to the cave we'll be safe!" Grover called back. His hooves slid in the patches of mud but he sprang forward, dodging the worst patches of it.

"Not if those things catch us up!" Luke roared as he dragged Annabeth along with him. Her blonde hair was stuck to her face and she was crying and whimpering. In the distance they were followed by snarling and roars of creatures which had been pursuing them since about two hours ago.

"They won't!" Grover cried out desperately. "Once we get to the cave, we'll have the advantage!"

"They're gaining on us!" Thalia yelled from the back of the group. "We're not going to get there in time!"

Several spikes flew through the air and landed in the mud between Thalia and Luke and Annabeth. The daughter of Zeus stopped and turned around, the others stopping as well. Grover went several shades whiter when he saw the spikes.

"That's a manticore! Shit!" He yelled.

"Gee, you think?" Thalia yelled back at him over the rolling thunder that was now taking over the sky. Flashes of lightning were crossing the heavens. Thalia looked up and then back at the group. "Go!" she told them.

"No!" Luke's face was almost as thunderous as the clouds. "We're not leaving you behind."

"I'll catch you up," Thalia yelled back at him. "Leave these monsters to me and Dad." She nodded to the heavens and a grin played around her mouth. Luke shook his head.

"You're not taking them on alone," he countered.

Thalia nodded to Annabeth. "And don't you dare leave Annabeth without protection, Luke." She was completely soaked by now. Her leather jacket and grey t-shirt clung to her. Her boots were spattered with so much mud that they looked brown now. The wind was blowing some of her choppy hair out of her face. Behind her, the sounds of monsters was getting closer. "There's no time. I'll meet you at the cave once I've fried these bastards."

Luke still looked angry and reluctant. "There are too many of them, Thalia. I'm not leaving you here to die."

"Have a little faith!" she told him, pushing her hair back. "Water conducts electricity. They won't know what's hit them. I'll see you later."

Grover grabbed Annabeth's other hand. "Come on, we've got to go. It's the only plan we've got." He looked at Luke. "If anyone can zap their asses, Thalia can. Come on!"

Annabeth looked up at Luke. "Luke, my legs hurt."

That did the trick. Luke looked down at Annabeth and lifted her into his arms. He looked back at Thalia. "You better come after us," he told her.

She smiled and the image blurred in the pouring rain. "I'll see you later. Now go!" she yelled and she ran back towards the monsters.

Luke held Annabeth close to him and reluctantly began running after Grover.

The world was spinning and tilting and blurring in and out of focus by the time Luke reached the bottom of Mount Tam.

So much of his strength had bled out of him from his wounds. He stumbled forward and then his balance was gone. He hit the ground and it knocked the wind out of everything. Darkness flickered in front of his eyes and then all he could see was ground and fast, passing colours that sounded like cars. Was this where it ended for him? On the side of the road in San Francisco? Luke thought to himself between all the layers of pain that rolled over him.

He groaned and propped himself up on his elbows. He wondered that none of the mortals could see him out of the window. But maybe they didn't care. Or the Mist was just too strong around here. No one wanted to see someone bleeding to death on the side of the road. So they didn't.

Luke had never known pain like it in his life and that was saying something after the day he lost Thalia.

Hours later, the sky had cleared in time for darkness to fall. Stars twinkled above and the moon was out in its fullest form. The forest was illuminated by its pale, beautiful light. The sound of the monsters had died hours ago and the woods were quiet. Everything seemed tranquil but Luke knew better.

Sitting at the edge of the cave that Grover had mentioned, Luke had been searching the forest path for the return of Thalia. No human or monster had crossed the path once. The sounds of their enemies had been loud and fierce and then lightning had struck. Luke had seen it when he had glanced back. Thalia won. He had been sure of it. He'd even dared himself to accept that her plan had been a good one. Waited for her to come back to them laughing and gloating about her success. But there was no sign of her.

"Something's wrong," he told Grover who was awake and fiddling nervously with his pan pipes. "Thalia should have been back by now." He added more insistently.

"Maybe she got lost," Grover said in a worried tone.

Luke's eyes gleamed with annoyance. "You told us to follow the path straight. What's complicated about that?" he began to get up. "I'm going to look for her."

"Luke no," Grover stared up at him. "You need to stay here with Annabeth. We'll look for Thalia in the morning." He insisted.

Luke shook his head. "I already left her once today. I'm not going to waste any more time. Something's wrong."

"I'm going too," Annabeth said from the other side of Grover. She was sitting up, rubbing at her eyes.

"No you're not, kiddo," Luke said walking over to her and kneeling down. "You're going to stay here with Grover while I look for Thalia. Grover will keep you safe, won't you, Grover?" he asked and there was a hard edge to his voice. Grover looked suitably nervous but then determination coloured his face.

"Of course," he said. "I still think you'll be better off in daylight."

"Thalia could be dead by then," Luke growled. "You're not going to talk me out of this. I'm going back. If I'm not back by morning," he continued in a much lower voice so that Annabeth couldn't hear, "leave without me."

"Luke-" Grover began to argue but the teenage boy grabbed the centaur's arm.

"Promise me. Swear on the Styx," he demanded. "Swear that you'll protect her with your life."

Grover stiffened. "Of course I will. I swear it on the Styx," he said. "But I also said I'd protect you."

"Annabeth is more important. Besides hopefully I'll find Thalia and we'll catch you up. Long Island, you said?"

"Yeah," Grover said, sounding defeated. "Follow the Sound once you get there. You'll find camp."

"Okay," Luke said. He grabbed a small blade he'd picked up on his travels and looked at Grover. "I'll see you." He grabbed a handful of supplies, shoved them into his pockets and descended the hill in which the cave was built.

The ground was annoyingly mushy after the earlier downpour. Luke slid more than he walked and he had to catch himself on tree branches more times than he could count. The minutes passed by and he followed the path they'd rushed along to get here. Half a mile, Grover had said. It wouldn't take Luke long to get there and then he'd find Thalia. Countless scenarios ran around his head as to what had happened to her. Few of them were pleasant and the ones that were were quite far fetched. Unease began to nest in Luke's chest. He could feel it burrowing into his insides. Nasty voices tormented his thoughts with what he might find. Bits of Thalia spread about or her body intact but lifeless.

Finally he reached the patch of trees and bushes where Thalia had parted ways from them. Luke remembered the fallen log between two trees. There were no signs of blood so far. He could see sliding tracks in the mud going haywire, like someone had been in a fight. There was still a faint crispiness in the air. The lightning, Luke thought. He continued onward, searching the trees and the spaces between them for signs of his friend.

Where are you?

The sliding tracks continued going backwards, the way the monsters had gone. Had they dragged Thalia off that way? Had she muddled her sense of direction and gotten lost? Luke followed the tracks further and further back, past the landmarks they'd passed earlier in the day. The half broken tree, the small collection of boulders, the small stream. No signs of Thalia met his eyes. It was dark and he was wishing that he'd brought a torch or something. But, he reminded himself, Grover and Annabeth needed everything they could get. So he carried on, the best he could.

Half an hour later, he stepped on something that was distinctly not mud or grass. He lost his balance and his hands grabbed out for the nearest tree branch. He took hold but the branch bent very low, causing Luke to dip backwards into kind of a limbo arc, only saved from breaking his spine by the branch showing a little resistance. Luke used the branch to right himself, stepping off whatever it was and back onto sloshy mud again. He looked down at the thing he'd stepped on.

His heart leaped into his mouth and scrambled to the back of his throat. His stomach flipped over so many times that he thought he was going to be sick.

Thalia's jacket lay soaked in the mud. In some of the moonlight that was peeking through the branches, Luke could see that it was badly torn. There were other markings but it was too dark to see if it was mud or worse, blood. But the size of the slashes did not fill Luke with confidence. He clutched the jacket tighter in his fingers. "Thalia, no." He looked up and around the area. Maybe she was injured, nearby. His feet carried him without his mind thinking about it. He searched behind each tree and rummaged through the bushes but there was no sign of Thalia or any more pieces of her clothing.

Luke sat down on a tree trunk, mind drifting off into a state of shock. Was Thalia dead?

Luke groaned, coughing up some blood on the grass. He lifted his head. His vision was getting blurrier and it was hurting to breathe more and more now. Dying was slow and he hated that. He hated being so helpless. It reminded him of being a kid, at home with his mother, not being able to do a damn thing about her crazy visions. He couldn't do anything except leave back then and that had been hard enough.

At least he'd found Thalia and Annabeth eventually. But what good had that really done Thalia? All it had done was paint a greater target on all of their backs and Thalia had paid the price. Luke's greatest regret was not staying with her. If he had then maybe she would still be alive.

Grover and Annabeth found Luke the next morning.

Luke looked up at the daylight as they approached. When had morning arrived? He couldn't remember the changing of dark to light. All he could see was Thalia's jacket. Now, in daylight, he could see everything in the clearing and his stomach churned. Blood was streaked across several tree trunks, droplets clung to the surrounding bushes. In the mud there were tracks that moved in a messy zig zag pattern that seemed to bounce between various trees before, further up, the tracks disappeared.

Luke's heart thrashed in his chest. Thalia had been dragged bleeding.

He stood up and began to follow the tracks, his grip tightening on the jacket. His footsteps quickened as he ran. His gaze jumped about, taking in small glimpses of blood on the nearby bushes. He slipped and almost fell a couple of times but he didn't slow down. In his head he could see her, his Thalia being dragged off, fighting all the way, her blood spattering as she lashed out at her attackers. Anger swirled within him, pushing him onward, giving him renewed energy. He would not count her out. No. He wouldn't let this be what had happened to her. It was unacceptable. It was not impossible. Thalia had given her word. She always kept her word.

Reaching the point at which the tracks stopped, Luke stumbled against the nearest tree as he looked around. There were no more signs of blood, no more tracks to indicate a direction. The woods were quiet except the occasional song of some birds and some distant rustling of rabbits or some other woodland creature. There were no roars of monsters or any signs of human approach. There were no signs at all that Thalia had gotten away nor would there be any signs that the manticore had been defeated. No signs at all. Luke thought of all the blood he'd seen along the way and the haphazard tracks that had led him here where they stopped. They had stopped for a reason.

Luke felt himself go taut, uncertainty weighed heavily over him and disbelief flooded his mind. This couldn't be it. This couldn't be what happened. This couldn't be the end. Yet what other option was there? Thalia had lost so much blood. There were no more tracks. There was only so long she could have had the energy to fight for. Monsters ate demigods, sometimes leaving no trace of them. No body, nothing. Nothing to signify that the person had been here, had ever even existed.

Luke pushed himself away from the nearest tree and retched, holding Thalia's jacket away from him as he did. Tears burst from his eyes, flinging themselves down his cheeks as the retching turned into violent sobs. Grief thundered through his chest, punching holes in his heart and his lungs. She was gone. His Thalia was dead. Finally the monsters had won. He had lost her. The first good thing to come into his life since leaving home, the first real friend he'd had. The first real family he'd ever had. She had been taken from home, just like he'd lost the chance of a normal life with his mother thanks to the gods. Thalia had been taken from him as if the gods were saying that he had it too good. What was next? Would he lose Annabeth too? Would he fail her just like he failed Thalia?

Raindrops began to fall, quickly and then heavier and heavier within a minute. Pouring all over him and soaking his clothes. Above him, real thunder blasted through the gathering clouds, egging the rain on. At the same time the storm was just so painfully Thalia that Luke couldn't bear it. He remembered the way thunder would roll when Thalia got into the heat of battle, the way electricity would crackle around her, the way she would sometimes summon it into her spear. How mighty she looked surrounded by lightning. It was agonizing to remember and Luke grabbed onto a nearby tree to hold himself up. He gasped for breath as the thunder continued to roll above him. It was as though Zeus was grieving for his daughter and that thought unearthed a powerful wave of rage within Luke.

"No!" he shouted at the heavens. "You don't get to grieve! You don't get to be sorry. You did nothing for her!" he shouted at the heavens. "You hear me? NOTHING! She was nothing for you! You didn't save her from anything! You were a useless, pathetic father!" Luke roared. "You didn't love her. I did! I loved her! Not you! Don't you pretend!"

Luke stumbled through the squelching mud, falling against the side of another tree. In front of his eyes, he could see her, see his Thalia standing tall, soaked in the rain. Her electric blue eyes turned to him, brightening with that challenging grin she always gave him when she was going to propose a race or a contest. She did that a lot, trying to keep them fit and entertained and alive. Well, she couldn't do that for herself anymore, could she? Luke's insides tightened even more and his sobs became choked. This stupid world just liked to take anything that made him happy away, didn't it? Why? What had he done that was so wrong? What was he, Hitler in a past life or something?

Clinging to the side of a tree, Luke allowed his grief to flow out of him with the rain that kept on and the wind that wrapped around him and then disappeared, like Thalia. Exhaustion weighed on him and his muscles sagged, his body sliding down the tree until he was crouching in the mud. Time passed but he was not aware of it, only that the rain eventually stopped and a kind of brightness illuminated the woods where he''d stopped. It wasn't until he heard footsteps squelching near him that he realised he'd been followed.

"Luke?" Annabeth's little voice cut through him. The teenager looked up into the wide grey eyes of the younger girl. She stood with her hands and knees caked in mud. Grover stood behind her. His eyes were sad and he was looking around the area. By his expression, Luke knew he'd seen the blood spatters. He wondered if Annabeth had noticed them. Of course she had. This bright little thing was wiser than every little kid Luke had ever met. She probably understood more than he wanted her to.

I have to tell her, he realised as horror gnawed at his insides. He would have to tell her that Thalia wasn't coming back.

"Thalia's dead isn't she?" Annabeth asked quietly.

Luke felt like his insides were being ripped apart. Of course she had come to that conclusion. Of course she realised the scope of what had happened. That was just Annabeth. He nodded once. "Yeah, she is." His throat burned with the words. He felt like he was giving up on her by saying them but what other fate could have befallen her. There was no way she wouldn't have come back to them if she could and she wasn't here. "She's gone," he added.

Annabeth moved next to him and crouched down. Thick tears began to form in her eyes. "Okay then," she murmured as they began to fall. She let out a quiet sob and Luke pulled her into his arms. She was warm and soft and trembling and Luke had never felt a greater sense of need to keep her safe than he did then. She was still a child. She still had to be taken to the safe place, to camp. It was the only thing left that he could do at this point.

A few minutes passed before he looked up at Grover. "We need to get her to camp."

Two weeks. That was how long it took to reach the safety of the camp borders.

It was pretty insulting how close Thalia had been to being safe forever.

They were taken into the safety of camp. They cleaned themselves off and joined the other campers for dinner. The Hermes cabin took them in so they could rest. Annabeth slept heavily that night, curled up against Luke but Luke's dreams were painful and suffocating to the point that, several times, he woke up with Thalia's face in front of his eyes.

Several days later, he and Annabeth walked to the largest pine tree at the top of Half Blood Hill. Alone, they buried Thalia's jacket there. It was a cloudy day with rain imminent. Not that it would fall on Camp Half Blood, so they had been told. But the rest of the world would feel it. Luke gazed up at the stormy, gathered clouds, eyes stinging.

"We'll call it Thalia's Tree," Annabeth interrupted his thoughts as she took his hand, grey eyes full of sorrow. "So she'll be here with us, won't she?"

"She's always here with us," Luke murmured. He looked down at Annabeth. "We have to remember everything we learned from her all right?"

Annabeth nodded solemnly. "Like how she found the best places to make camp."

"Yeah," Luke whispered as he moved his arm around Annabeth. "Like that."

"And the best swear words to use when monsters have you cornered."

Luke's mouth crept into a small smile. "Yeah, that too," he added. Those were images he would never forget; Thalia stood in front of various monsters, swearing at them and giving them curses that would make the goddess Hestia blush. He felt a stab of pain in his chest as he remembered how proud he'd been every time his friend had said them.

But now he was the one feeling like he'd been cursed.

Luke coughed again.

A small spatter of blood landed on the grass in front of him. Breathing was still difficult and exhaustion had taken hold of his body well and truly now. He couldn't move. His energy was spent. His grip on Ladon's claw disappeared and the son of Hermes closed his eyes. This was it. He couldn't fight it any more. He couldn't move. A monster was going to find him eventually and when it did he would be the easiest prey it had probably had in a while.

But at least he would see her again. Years had passed but he could still see Thalia's face behind his eyes. She was giving him that beautiful grin of hers, her blue eyes sparkling. He could imagine her laughing and taking his hand, telling him to follow her and he would see something good. But then Luke blinked and he was back where he was, lying by the side of the road and alone.

He passed out sometime after that thought.

He opened his eyes and his whole body was moving. Luke looked upwards and he squinted his eyes as the harsh light of the sun beamed down on him from out of the clouds. He could no longer feel grass under himself but rather a smooth fabric material, like a large blanket. The fabric made a rustling noise as it pulled Luke along. Luke looked down at himself and realised that his upper torso was being held somewhere between the seated and lying position. Fabric was wrapped around his lower half, stitched together up to his chest like a half open cocoon. He watched as the city of San Francisco moved further away. Grassland was around him, sloping up into some hills. He turned his head slowly, looking up.

There wasn't much to see of the person dragging him along other than a black leather jacket and a black hood. They didn't slow their pace as the ground sloped even higher. The ground became bumpier and Luke stifled any noises that rose in his throat. He reached for a weapon, anything that might help him but his hands only closed around the claw and his eyelids began to lower as another wave of tiredness overcame him.

Luke woke up feeling a lot better and no longer moving.

This time he realised he was lying on a bed, he could feel some kind of mattress beneath him. Not the best but it was an improvement on the ground and the fabric cocoon. The fabric was draped over him instead and he was lying underneath a window. From what he could tell, the sky outside was dark now and there were stars twinkling down on him.

He began to sit up and was surprised to find that some of his earlier aches were gone. His body still felt tender and achy but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been. He looked down at himself. He was no longer bleeding. He reached up to his face and his hand came away clean. Someone had healed him and cleaned him up, at least somewhat.

Turning his attention to the rest of the room, Luke saw the remains of a derelict building around him covered in thick layers of dust and dirt. The window was fairly dusty apart from one clean circle that had been wiped fairly recently, that had allowed Luke to see outside clearly enough. The roof had a few holes in it through which Luke could see some of the starlit sky. The rest of the room consisted of a wardrobe with both doors shredded off, a smashed mirror and an overturned chest of drawers. Another door, half off its hinges led into an unlit corridor. There were markings and scratches on the walls.

Luke pulled back the blanket covering him and climbed out of bed. He ached but it was manageable. Avoiding the broken glass on the floor, he looked around for his weapon. It wasn't immediately visible at first but then Luke glimpsed the hilt of his sword under the bed. Once he'd retrieved that and the claw of Ladon next to his bed, he slowly crept out of the room. It was a short corridor with two other doors coming off from it. Opposite him, one of the open doors led into a tiny bathroom. The second was open. It was another bedroom, very dismantled and in much the same shape as the one he'd woken up in.

Continuing onward, he emerged from the corridor into the rest of the house - well it was more like a bungalow. On one side of the room was a dingy area nearest one door that consisted of moth eaten sofas and a half devoured rug with dark red stains on it. On the other was a smashed up kitchen area with crumpled and smashed up appliances. In the middle of that was a small wooden table with two chairs.

Luke's eyes moved to the figure sat in one of the chairs. He recognised the black leather jacket and the black hoodie beneath it. Only this time he could see the figure from the front. His heart very nearly stopped when he saw who it was. The figure's face lifted further up to look at him and Luke was startled by electric blue eyes and her punk cut dark hair.

"Thalia?"