Children of the Big Three

Thalia lay in the infirmary looking up at the painfully bland ceiling. She had been staring at it for the past hour. She had woken up on a hill with a blond haired familiar looking girl and a sea green eyed boy next to her. She couldn't remember the boys name but he seemed ok. She had passed out again afterwards and woke up here with the girl feeding her ambrosia.

'Hey Thals.' the girl said.

'Do I know you? Where am I?' Thalia had asked, slightly panicking.

'Calm down. You're at Camp Half-Blood. No monsters can get through the wards. You're completely safe.' The girl paused. 'It's me Thals, Annabeth.'

'You can't be Annabeth! She's seven!' Thalia protested.

'Your father turned you into a tree to protect you. You've been stuck in there for almost 6 years.' Annabeth said.

Thalia slumped back. As much as she didn't want to believe it, the girl looked exactly what she had imagined Annabeth looking like when she was older.

'Who was that other guy next to me? Where's Luke?' Thalia asked.

Annabeth's gaze hardened. 'He's not here. The boy was Percy. He's...you know what we'll explain at the war council.'

'There's a war council? What for?' Thalia asked.

'You've been gone a long time. Things have changed. I'll let Chiron and Mr.D know you're awake.' Annabeth left the ambrosia and practically sprinted out. She saw her talking with Peter, no Percy. He glanced her way and met her eyes. He had lovely sea green eyes. She knew who Chiron and Mr.D were; Grover had explained it to them.

Six years. She had been out of commission for that long. It was unimaginable, but here was the evidence, right in front of her. Annabeth was around her age, maybe a little bit younger. She was all grown up. That meant Luke was around 20. She had had a crush on him, but now he was almost 5 years older. The world had continued on without her. Where was Luke? That was the question. Shouldn't he have been kneeling next to her in place of Percy?

Chiron entered. He was a centaur. Thalia wasn't entirely surprised but still.

'Hello my dear. Are you feeling alright? Can you walk?' he asked gently.

'Well look who it is. My dear father's bratty kid.' a man spoke. He was chubby and looked really, really awful.

'Who are you?' she retorted.

His eyes blazed. 'I wouldn't test me child. I am Mr.D and you will treat me with respect.' he turned and left.

Mr. D. Grover had told us that he was Dionysus, god of wine. My half brother. May the gods help me.

'He is merely upset that he has been forced here. Do not worry. Come, there's a council going on.' Chiron said. He led me outside.

Here was one of the most marvellous places I'd ever seen. There was a lake, a wood, pegasi! There was an assortment of cabins as well. He led me to another room where a dozen teens were standing around a ping pong table. They all turned to me. Percy was there along with Annabeth.

'These are the cabin counsellors. Introductions are in order.' Chiron said.

'Connor and Travis Stoll. Sons of Hermes.' Two boys chorused. They looked like twins, maybe they were.

'Pollux and Castor. Twin sons of Dionysus.' two other boys said.

'Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite.'

'Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares.'

'Lee Fletcher, son of Apollo.'

Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus.'

'Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter.'

'Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena.' She looked at me with piercing gray eyes.

'Those haven't changed, but they're more mistrustful, less innocent.' Thalia thought.

Percy looked up. Thalia examined him more closely. He was slim, with long shaggy black haired covering his sea green eyes. He looked at her with a sympathetic gaze. 'Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon.'

Poseidon. Her uncle. That made Percy her cousin. She shrugged, but inside she was happy. Maybe he would understand how it felt to be so powerful, and unable to control some of it.

'Well, we are her to discuss the prophecy.' Chiron announced. Everyone shifted uncomfortably. Annabeth looked at Thalia before shifting her gaze to Percy then to Chiron.

'Thalia what do you know of the great prophecy?' Chiron asked her.

'Not much.' she responded.

'Well, years ago, when the second world war began, a prophecy was made that said a child of the Big Three would make a choice that would either save or destroy Olympus. So they made a pact not to have anymore demigod children. A pact that was broken twice. Once by Poseidon and once by Zeus.' Chiron said.

Thalia stared. The fate of the world rested on her shoulders. No wonder everyone was wary of her, she could destroy them all. Then she looked at Percy. He looked slightly distraught. She looked around and saw that most people were looking at Percy, not her. She realized that Percy was experiencing the same thing as her. As a son of Poseidon, he could be the one in the prophecy as well.

'Thalia, do you know why you have returned?' Chiron asked.

'No.' she responded. She was still quite baffled.

'Well, your tree was poisoned. To save it we needed the Golden Fleece. Clarisse, Percy, Annabeth and Grover retrieved it and healed you. In so doing you were healed as well, so you returned.' Chiron said. Thalia looked up and saw that Percy and Annabeth were giving her small smiles. She tried to smile back.

Then some words registered to her. Someone had poisoned her. 'Who was it?' she asked anger in her voice. Whoever tried to would regret it.

Everyone immediately look away, anger in there faces. Especially Percy, Annabeth and the Stoll's.

Annabeth looked at her. 'It was Luke.' Thalia felt the whole world collapse around her. 'He betrayed camp and joined the Titans. The year before he stole the Masterbolt and tried to kill Percy. He also tried to kill us when we were on the quest. He's a traitor Thalia, he's not Luke anymore.'

She couldn't believe it. Luke her friend had poisoned her. Not only that, he had tried to kill Annabeth and Percy. She didn't know him very well, but he and Annabeth were friends apparently, and she suspected they had crushes on each other. Annabeth was all grown up.

The rest of the meeting, Thalia tuned out. She couldn't stop thinking about Luke. She went back to her cabin, ignoring Annabeth and Grover. Grover was the one who had changed the least.

When she went into her cabin she stared up at the everchanging ceiling. She started to cry. She didn't cry very often but know she did. Cried for Luke, cried out her feelings. The world had continued without her and she was completly out of place.

After awhile she was still crying. Her pillow was soaked. She heard a knock at the door.

'Go away!' she screamed.

The mystery person knocked again. Grumbling she went and opened the door. It was Percy. He stood there uncomfortably. It was dark outside, probably the middle of the night.

'Are you okay?' he asked.

'No, now go away!' she yelled.

'Not until you tell me what's wrong. I heard you crying so-' She cut him off.

'Did anyone else here me?' she asked viscously.

'Probably not.' he continued completely unaware of her glare. 'See I was out swimming and when I was coming back, I heard it. The other cabins are to far away anyway. The Poseidon Cabin is the closest.'

'Come in.' she said.

He came in and looked around. Then he turned and sat on the cold marble floor. 'I'm sorry about Luke.'

'What do you know about it? What do you know about any of my problems?' she shouted at him.

He seemed startled but he remained calm, though there was a hint of anger in his eyes. 'Because, Luke was my friend too. I may not have known him as well as you, but he was kind to me. Him being a traitor hit harder than most. And the prophecy! We're both children of the Big Three. We both could destroy the world by accident! I do know some of your problems!' he said back. His voice had risen by the end of his sentence.

'I...I'm sorry okay. But, I don't know what to do. I've been out of commission for years. To be thrust back suddenly, where everything has changed is...is!' Thalia stuttered.

Percy put his arm around her. 'I may not know how that feels, but I can understand the rest. Staying in a cabin alone is nerve-wracking. Being separated from the other campers like some rare disease is annoying. Don't let all the rumours and the insults get to you. It's not worth it. I'm your cousin. You're the closest thing I've ever had to a sister, and you're part of my family now.'

Thalia was touched. 'I...I'

'It's fine. The prophecy will come true when we're sixteen. We still have a few more years. Let's enjoy it while we can.' Percy said. He smiled.

'Thanks. You made me feel a lot better.' Thalia said.

He smiled a crooked grin. 'You're welcome. I'd better get out of here, it was nice having this talk but I really need to sleep. Bye.' He left.

'Bye.' Thalia murmured after the door shut.

She lay back in bed thinking about what he had said. Sure, Luke had betrayed her, and it still hurt to think about, but Annabeth was still here, along with Grover. Now she had Percy as well. The prophecy was intimidating but as Percy said, it was still awhile before it would come true. They had a lot in common as she started to fall asleep. They were both Children of the Big Three.