A/N: I might have suddenly been overtaken by Thaluke feels. Oops. I hope you like it! Please let me know what you think!
I don't own anything Percy Jackson
Luke walked up the hill reluctantly with his eyes on the ground as he tried not to remember what had happened here only days ago. Nobody at Camp understood what he was feeling or the betrayal that was tearing his heart apart. How could the gods do this? How could Zeus do this to his only daughter?
The growing anger inside of him dissipated as the sound of someone sniffing and hiccupping reached his ears. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to hide all his pain, sorrow, and anger.
Laying under the new pine tree that guarded Camp Half-Blood's borders was a young girl with curly blonde hair and wet cheeks covered in red blotches. Luke didn't know how long Annabeth had been under the tree, but he could tell she wore herself out crying again. The young daughter of Athena was the only one who would be able to understand Luke had she not been young enough to still trust the gods.
"Thalia," the little girl whispered in her sleep as Luke watched with unshed tears hiding behind is eyes.
Finally looking at the pine tree for the first time since that dreadful night, Luke felt his heart clench and the tears spill over. "I'm sorry," he whispered even though he knew that would never be enough. Without a second glance he picked up his adopted little sister and carried her back to their new home.
"You should've seen her," Luke spoke like a proud father as he leaned against the trunk of Thalia's tree, "She disarmed that Ares kid before they even knew what was coming!"
He remembered Annabeth's little duel earlier in the arena. The Daughter of Athena refused to use anything other than the knife he had given her and even that was a little big for her. But she practiced diligently and was getting better by the day.
A lazy sigh escaped his lips as he tilted his head up to look at the branches shading him from the warm summer sun. "Annabeth really likes it here, it's a perfect home for her." He paused as if waiting for the tree to reply before continuing, "I've been thinking about Hal a lot- about how he made me promise to learn from his mistakes. I won't be like him, Thalia, I won't be pushed around by the gods anymore."
Birds chirped around him and in the distance he could hear the fighting of training demigods below him. The camp was a peaceful place and it was such a lie. Nothing was peaceful for demigods.
Luke jogged up to the Thalia's tree early one morning. He settled himself into the same spot he took every day when he visited. "Today's my seventeenth birthday," he laughed, "I feel so old."
The sun began to peek over the horizon, casting pink and purple hues across the sky as it rose slowly. "Apollo's right on time," Luke murmured leaning into the tree. "My father gave me a quest," his voice wavered slightly, betraying his happiness, "I'm going to leave soon to steal a golden apple. Don't worry, I remember you telling me how you always wanted to see one. You'll be the first one to see it when I get back."
A yawn threatened to break his jaw as Luke realized not sleeping the entire night before hadn't been one of his best ideas. "You don't think this is pointless since Hercules already did it, do you?" The whisper barely carried on the wind as Luke closed his eyes, "I hope Hermes gives me a real quest after this. You know me, I never did like copying people."
The son of Hermes' eye was still bandaged as he laid on the grass near Thalia's tree. "I failed," he spoke up to the sky, his eyes not focused on anything at all. Luke was silent for a long time, unsure what else there was to say. Those two words covered everything.
His fingers rubbed the edge of the bandage, "Why don't they ever give us a chance to do anything good for ourselves?" his words were laced with anger, "The gods hate us, Thalia. They don't care, I thought it might be different here but it's not. We're just pawns at their disposal."
The branches of the tree twisted slightly in the small breeze sweeping through the valley. "I won't be their pawn anymore," Luke's words seemed to echo before he stood up and brushed the dirt off himself. He looked up at the monument of his dead friend. "I'll get revenge for you, I promise."
"I wish you could hear his plans," Luke stood, leaning against the trunk of Thalia's tree, his hands stuffed in his pockets. The scar on the right side of his face looked menacing in the dying light as Apollo's work day ended. "I'm going to listen to him," he confided as he remembered the piercing gold eyes of his dreams.
Kronos had been visiting him ever since he failed his quest. His own father never bothered to come and see him and the camp treated him with so much pity that he wanted to strangle the next person who looked away, afraid to be caught staring at his scar.
"They don't deserve their power," Luke continued, "The gods have done nothing but make everyone's lives miserable. I'm not going to let them do that forever." His jaw clenched as the memories of their time on the run filled his head. They had been alone with nobody to help them, barely surviving each new monster they met. The gods never cared for them and he hated them for abandoning them all. There wasn't a single camper that had seen their parents once and the majority had never seen their godly parent at all. It wasn't right.
"I'm going to change this world, Thalia."
Luke had been sitting against her tree all night without saying a word. He seemed lost in thoughts as he played with the small silver bracelet with a scythe charm dangling from it. After much consideration, he decided that Silena would be the best fit for a spy- he'd seen how she looked at Beckendorf. Love was just too easy to manipulate.
"Everything is going to change," he whispered, "The age of the gods is coming to an end." Luke leaned his head against the trunk as he took a deep breath. He had stolen the master bolt and the helm yesterday. It had been a close call after Ares found him with them, but Kronos always had a plan. Ares, the idiot he was, only wants war and if there is one thing that Kronos can promise its war.
The plan was going perfectly, he would never get over the fact that a son of Poseidon turned up right when Luke needed him. Percy Jackson was the scapegoat. A humorless chuckle rumbled in Luke's chest. Knowing the gods, they would kill Jackson long before he could become a threat to Kronos.
A small part of Luke was hoping that Percy Jackson would join Kronos' side. He'd seen how the boy and Annabeth interacted and he knew that killing Jackson would break Annabeth's heart. Luke couldn't do that, he'd promised that they were family. He couldn't blatantly hurt his family, no matter if they were on his side of the war or not.
Scratching noises came from high in Thalia's tree as a knife cut into her trunk. Luke kept all his attention on his work as he maneuvered his blade into carving his crude looking letters.
L.C. + T.G.
He knew it was sappy and not his style at all, but he felt the need to do it. He felt like he had to do it. His head rested against the tree, "I'm leaving soon," Luke closed his eyes as he wished for the millionth time the girl he loved was still alive. He wanted her to be there with him, telling him that this was the right thing to do, fighting next to him, and even shocking him with lightning every time he messed up. He'd do anything for Thalia, even tearing down Olympus to get revenge.
Luke ignored the pain in his heart as he injected elder python venom into Thalia's tree. It didn't matter, he kept telling himself, it wasn't like this was actually the daughter of Zeus. She had died years ago. He wasn't killing her. He was absolutely not betraying her. Luke was making a better world for her.
As soon as the venom was injected, Luke walked away, taking one last look at the tree and wondering if this was the last time he would see it. He would keep his promise whether the tree was there or not, and in his mind the promise for Thalia's revenge weighed heavier than the promise of family for Annabeth.
It wasn't his fault that he thought that way. Annabeth had a family now, she didn't need him. She had the camp and Chiron and even that annoying son of Poseidon. Annabeth could be happy without Luke, but Thalia could never get revenge for herself.
It had been one year since the end of the second titan war. One year since Luke gave up his life to kill Kronos.
Thalia closed her eyes and leaned against the pine tree that she used to inhabit. Annabeth had told her once that she'd seen Luke come and talk to her every day. Thalia wanted nothing more than to have memories of those times, she wanted to know his reasoning and how he came to the conclusion that betraying her and Annabeth would be the best option.
He had changed so much since her transformation that she barely recognized him. He was as handsome as ever but he was so bitter and filled with hate. Well, Luke had always been bitter, it came with being a runaway, but he had always put his family first and did everything to protect them.
For a long time Thalia wondered if Luke simply didn't see her as family anymore and that broke her heart. Luke had been her first love, she'd turned down being a huntress to stay with him. Now he would be her only love since she'd sworn off all other men in order to be immortal and travel with Lady Artemis. She didn't care about that though. Luke would always be the only guy she ever gave her heart to.
"I found my brother, Jason," She spoke quietly and felt a little stupid. If she did what Luke had done for years before, would she feel closer to him again? Would it feel like they were together once more?
"Get this, he's Roman," She laughed a little at the strangeness of the situation. "He's on his first quest since he got here." Thalia didn't go on about the quest. She was nervous for her brother and wanted to fight at his side more than anything else in the world. She refused to let another family member die.
"Annabeth isn't doing well," Thalia's voice sobered as she thought of the daughter of Athena, "Percy disappeared two weeks ago and nobody has a clue where to find him. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind next time I see him," sparks crackled around her, "I'll never forgive him for hurting Annabeth." Her voice caught in her throat.
Luke had hurt Annabeth.
A part of Thalia hated Luke for doing that, for breaking the promise, and she would never forgive him for it. Yet, at the same time, Thalia knew that Luke had been on a downward spiral for a long time. She should've been there, she could've helped him stay straight. If she hadn't been a tree, she might've been able to save him.
Apollo's chariot started to pass over the horizon, leaving a darkening sky in his wake. Thalia began climbing the tree to watch the sunset from a better position. It was then that she saw the small scrawl that had been carved into the tree trunk.
L.C. + T.G.
It was obviously a couple years old, and had been hidden so nobody else would find it. Tears poured from Thalia's eyes as she ran her hand over the letters. He still loved her. She was still his family. All those years ago they promised each other to always be a family, and he had kept it in his own 'Luke' way.
Slowly, the daughter of Zeus pulled an arrow from her quiver and began to scratch her own feelings into the bark.
L.C. + T.G.
I PROMISE