I let the memories flood over me, the ones Kronos had been trying to suppress. I wouldn't let him steal my last moments of glory. These was mine.
It was over. I was over. We were over. Thalia-my beautiful, spunky Thals- was gone. Oh, we could have-would have- had it so great. But the Fates handed us different paths. She was gone, forever lost in the world of immortality and Artemis' Hunt. As for me, I could see the end. The end of mine and Thalia's love, the end of life. Actually, it had ended a long time ago. Right when I had taken the oath for Kronos. It had stopped right there, everything I had hope for, dreamed for, wanted and yearned for. I became nothing more than a zombie, my pain numbing me and turning me into a cruel, heartless. . . thing. I saw all the hurt in Thalia's eyes when she looked at me. I could see Annabeth's hurt too, although not as strong. It was Thalia's pain that cut me like a thousand knives. The hurt I could see reflected in her blue eyes.
The reason I joined Kronos was because of my hatred for the gods. I had never had a home, unless you counted my early life with my half crazy mom, the rejected Oracle of Delphi. Thalia and Annabeth had truly been my home, but I was too young and stupid to realize. I was angry at the fact that the gods hadn't helped us, that my baby Annabeth was forced to grow up and have a messed up childhood, and that Thalia was forever scarred by her emotional wreck of a life. But mostly I was mad at Zeus for turning Thalia into a tree. All those years with her I missed.
I always climbed up into the branches of her tree, letting myself become lost, trying to find her. Her branches supported me, a nice change, since I was the one who had held her up. I talked out loud to her tree while sitting in the shade of her form. I always wondered if she could hear me in her sleep state. Maybe she couldn't understand, but fragments of my words slipped into her dreams. It was a comforting feeling, knowing Thalia's spirit was in that homely tree.
And that's what filled my mind before I died. Thalia. I had blocked her from my thoughts while with Kronos, but now everything flooded out, my mind having a moment of control. I tried to stop myself from hurting Percy and Annabeth, but I was no longer in command. Kronos had full power.
NO! I shouted in my mind. I would stop him. I owed it Annabeth, to camp, to Chiron, to Grover, to Percy, to the gods. But mostly I owed it to Thalia.
I conjured her image in my head. Her radiant smile, her electric blue eyes, her lithe body. The I-told-you-so expression that I saw so often when she was right. Here was Thalia, in a carefree moment, a laughing moment. I had tried not to think of her when I was around Kronos. I didn't want to taint my memories of the past with snippets of the ugly future. The innocent memories of Thalia and Annabeth, of better days.
NO!
I would stop him, even if it meant I would live forever in the Fields of Punishment. I couldn't let this go on any longer. I struggled with Kronos, our two souls fighting for dominance against the other. I felt like I was being ripped in two, a beautiful feeling so painful I almost exploded. And then I saw my window of opportunity. I pushed Kronos' soul behind mine, feeling for the first-and longest-time of absolute control.
"Annabeth," I tried to croak. I wanted to tell her how sorry I was. How much I loved her as a sister. And I wanted to tell Percy to take care of her for me. I knew he would. He always would. He would be the person I failed to be, for both Thalia and Annabeth.
I felt Kronos rising. Felt him as his soul tried to take over mine, the white hot flames of his power engulfing me. I had only a short time left before my soul was gone for good and he ruled my body. I must not give up. I must succeed.
I saw Annabeth's dagger laying on the floor. The very dagger I had given her so that she could protect herself from monsters. I was the monster she need protection from now. The monster that must be defeated. Only true hero could fight with a knife, I had told her. Watch me Annabeth. Watch me Thalia. Watch me be the true hero.
I had to do this. Thalia and I would never be together, soul mates as we were. Come find me, I said to her in my mind. I'll be waiting.
I watched as my scarred hand raised the dagger above my ruined body. At the exact moment it reached the top of its height, I small ray of sunlight hit it, making the celestial bronze flash like Thalia's smile.
My last thought was of Thalia. Goodbye, my love, I whispered, the image of her blue eyes piercing my mind right before the dagger pierced my heart.
Thalia
He was gone. I knew it. I could feel it. My heart filled with pain as my legs collapsed and I fell to the ground. Somewhere, in my mind that had gone completely blank with shock, a tiny word slipped through the cracks.
Goodbye.
A/N: Just my perception of Luke's final moments. Tell me if you liked it, loved it, or hated it. Flames welcomed as usage for roasting marshmallows.