(Revised)
Because I don't think enough people focus on Thalia. So, here's her fight. Her fight for life; her fight for friends; her fight for love.
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Thalia gripped her thigh, fleeing from the dirt road. Grime hugged her face. A stake of thorns had driven itself through her heart, jagged cuts and rips. So much disappointment; it wasn't fair to place the burden on a girl so young. She picked up speed at the sound of monsters gaining behind her. Her mind flickered to her mother.
She used to come home late every night with her breath burning of a whiskey scent. She'd throw herself down in her arm chair, toss her head back and groan as loud as she possibly could. Thalia had learned to respond to that, no matter the time. She'd come out carrying a damp, warm cloth and hold it out for her mother to take; and the snarky comments followed.
"Look at your ma," she'd laugh. "All hyped up on Mountain Dew, baby girl. Mountain Dew." She'd press the cloth down on her forehead and watch her daughter shift uncomfortably. "Get to bed, little missy."
Her young naïve self still stood, watching the woman she was technically raising. "Mommy, you said you'd be home early. I wanted a story—"
Her mother stood up. "Baby girl, we all live with disappointments. I was expecting my boyfriend to be here by now; he ain't. And I was expecting to be rich; we ain't. And I definitely didn't want a daughter; look where we are now." She yanked open the fridge. "Where's my beer?"
Zeus knew how to pick his women.
Rage burned inside the tears in her heart and she foraged ahead. A ventus lunged out from behind the trees, a swirling humanoid vortex with lightning sparking from its eye sockets. It casted a streak of thunder and grinned. As the dust faded, Thalia smacked her lips. The inside of her mouth tasted like burnt plastic.
The ventus glared at her and lunged as she pulled out her spear and ran him through. He screeched and disintegrated over her. She had to admit—it felt good to kill a monster. All past frustrations transferred into the creature and she left them in the golden flakes, running up the hill.
Two blondes caught up to her and a half-human, half-goat creature pulled up on her side. "Almost there!" He cried gleefully, forgetting the monster army lurking behind them at the moment. They didn't matter; safety was only twenty feet away.
Annabeth, the youngest of the group, glanced behind her and surged toward the hillside. She fidgeted with her knife as she crossed the border, and Thalia relaxed a little on the inside. In secret, Thalia worried about her and how she would survive on the streets. She'd given her the extra food, if there was any at all, and allowed her another blanket on the cold nights. Seeing Annabeth in Camp Half-Blood's property made her heart light.
Good, she thought. One less thing on my plate.
Grover, the satyr, took up the tail of the group, trying to unsure the demigods would make it to safety, but it didn't honestly make Thalia feel any better. He whipped out his reed pipes and put them to his lips blowing out an unrecognizable tune. Thalia clamped her hands on her ears and stopped for a moment to cringe. The good thing about the horrible noises was that a wall of weeds was growing and monsters were whimpering; the bad thing was that Thalia was practically paralyzed. If Grover stopped, they'd be in the same position as before, but she couldn't keep the horrible sounds out of her head.
"We have to fight!" she hollered over the noise. The words made her knees weak.
Fighting.
She had been fighting for months. She had been slashing and killing monsters for too long. She was tired of raising a sword over her head; she was sick of forcing her spear through the creatures. She was annoyed with the whole idea of fighting anymore.
Grover kept playing, Luke forcing himself up the hill, fighting the shrill sound. He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up with him but it was like moving through molasses; the spell affected them too. Grover's face started turning a bright red as he ran out of breath. The pipes dropped to his side and he started trotting up to the remaining stragglers.
He urged them forward and they climbed the hill, when the sound of twigs snapping stopped Thalia. The weeded wall was cracking and a big black paw shoved through a small whole. The hell hound stuck its nose threw the barrier and snapped around, trying to break it down. Luke took off running up the hill with Grover on his tail.
Thalia glanced at her friends and back at the monsters breaking through the wall. She could escape easily. She knew that. Thalia started running to catch up to Grover and Luke; the closer they got, the more Thalia could feel monsters seeping through. She rushed a little more, getting excited. They were going to make it.
The joy didn't last long, though, as Grover's hoof got snagged under an uprooted tree. He tumbled to the floor, his furry ankle twisted at an awkward angle. He bleated and grabbed at the wound. Luke stopped running directly outside the magic borders and, without a thought, sprinted back towards Grover. Luke told Annabeth to stay where she was and he tried to pick up Grover, supporting him by leaning all of the satyr's weight on his shoulder.
Grover's leg buckled and he dragged Luke down with him. Thalia watched the scene unfold and she thought about all the times she had failed to keep her friends safe. She had brought them into danger countless times. She was torn between running selfishly and fighting. She would've been ashamed to admit that the decision was hard for her to choose.
I could die, she thought.
With a moment's hesitation, she rolled her eyes and brought out her shield, Aegis, with the engraved face of Medusa taming her enemies. Some backed away and others snarled viciously. She charged the crowd gathering and side-stepped a lunging hellhound. Her spear tore through it.
Some pursuers took the hint and disappeared into the forest, leaving her with around twenty-eight foes. A giant ran at her, swinging a mighty club. She rolled to the side as it touched down where she had just been. She dug her spear into his side and ice began to spread across his body, starting at the wound.
"Uh-oh," it whimpered and shattered over the battle.
She slashed and hacked and dodged without even thinking, her instincts kicking in. With every move, she got angrier, thinking of faces she'd seen all her life. Her mother; the boy candy that had walked through the door randomly. Her mother shot her a look that told her to hightail it out of the room because they had to talk in private. Her teacher telling her that she was failing; kids that had teased her.
She fought until there was nothing left but the gold remnants of a monster. Her hair was tainted with the essence, but she didn't care. She turned back as Luke dragged Grover over the hill. Luke smiled at her wearily and waved, giving her a thumbs-up. She nodded, exhausted and retracted her shield.
She trudged up the hill and paused at the very top, studying the glorious camp. Greek cabins formed a semicircle; basketball hoops, flower beds, fountains, and fire pits filled the courtyard. A big blue house with white trimming watched the territory peacefully. A lake gleamed off in the distance with campers canoeing. A training range was filled with equipment and a dome building let out noises of metal slicing through water. Shlick!
Luke grabbed her arm with an odd expression. "Thalia?"
She forced a smile and pain coursed up her side. She brushed her fingers over the source and brought them to her eyes; thick metallic bloodstained her fingertips. She pulled up the side of her shirt and, for the first time, she felt the blood running down her hip in abundance. She dropped to her knees, the pain intensifying. The gash had a sick green tint around it.
"Poison," Annabeth whispered, hugging Luke's arm. He cupped his hands over his mouth, pulling away from Annabeth, and running towards the big house.
"We need a healer!"
Thalia's vision blurred together and she dropped to the ground. Dirt and dust crowded on her lips, grass tickling her nose as she gripped her side. She blinked, long and hard, not crying. She was accepting it.
She noticed that the more she accepted everything that had happened, the more the pain subsided and hid itself away in the ground. Annabeth kneeled beside her trying to talk to her, but her voice was distant and faraway.
A brilliant white light above them had caught her attention. Maybe it was the sun through the trees, or maybe it was something more. Who was she to make that decision? She relaxed and felt a warm, strong hand graze her cheek. She recognized it as a male's—one she had never met in person.
As the world faded, a gentle voice whispered to her:
"Rest."
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Wow, that was a crappy story. Sorry.
If you're interested in a sneak peak at the new series (The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero) go to www . camp half blood . com without spacing. Password is newhero.
If that doesn't work… spoiler…
Percy's the lost hero. I bet you're excited.