My first fanfiction since Nano. It's a really random idea but...

Disclaimer; I don't own PJO.

1. Alone

She was running, panting as she dared to look at the foe pursuing her. It snapped at her, and she cringed. Gross.

She just had to keep running.

Letting her body on auto pilot, she just tried to put one foot in front of the next, turning at random curbs as her heart beat rhythmically.

She used to hate running away. Running was giving up, in her book, running was quitting. And she wasn't a quitter.

When did she start running away from life?

Somewhere, she must have taken a wrong turn, as she winded up cornered in the dark alley. She took deep breaths, not even caring that the air tasted weird in her lungs, polluted and gross. She just wanted something to breath.

Running away didn't go as good as she hoped.

The monster closed in on her, hissing as it took another step forward. She drew her spear, but there is no hope in her heart, as she tried to shield herself.

It was so close, so close that she knew that she was dead. All she'd done is run and run, and life finally has caught up on her. She exhaled, and winced when it came out as a sigh.

She lowered her spear, and the monster seemed excited that she has finally given in. It came closer, smiling at her with its horrible teeth pointing at her menacingly. She winced at the sight of the blood stained teeth, but stayed there proudly. She wasn't a quitter.

She inhaled deeply, taking a step forward, trying to meet its eye. It was all over. She could finally have a break. A smiled danced on her lips, one of relaxation.

She closed her eyes as she waited for death to grab her away, for death to end it all.

It never happened.

A sound of a blade cutting through the air rang in her ears, as the snarling of the monster was gone.

She slowly opened her eyes; hesitate to see who killed the monster.

An older boy, by about two years, with a sword in his right hand, was staring at her curiously. His eyes widened when he noticed that she was awake, and took a step forward eagerly. Her eyes narrowed in response.

She had him pinned to the wall that she had been cornered, in less than a second. The two of them were both breathing heavily, but she didn't care.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, trying to break free of her grip on his shoulder. She realized that his eyes were blue, like her's, as he glared at her. "I saved your life!"

"But I didn't ask for you to, did I?" She growled. "Now, what do you want?"

He looked at her, confused. "I don't want anything. So can you let me go?"

She let go of his shoulder, satisfied that the guy didn't want anything. She'd heard rumors; of stalkers, of murderers, of robbers. Not like they scared her or anything.

"Good." Sidestepping around him, she tried to walk away, never looking back. She didn't want companions. She didn't want friends.

And she definitely didn't want this guy around, breathing her precious air.

"Wait." He grasped her wrist, and she fought to break free of his hard grip. A snarl escaped between her teeth as she glared at the guy, who ignored her.

"You're a half blood, right?" His voice was excited in a way, like he had finally found something he was looking for. Blue eyes stared at her, curious and eager. "The monsters wouldn't try to kill you if you weren't. Right?"

He looked at her for reassurance, his eyes gleaming like the stars were reflected in them. But that was impossible; it was a cloudy night.

A long moment went by, as the boy looked at the girl hopefully. She angrily turned her head in the opposite direction.

"Yeah." She muttered quietly, like she was talking to herself. "And your point is?"

His face broke out in a grin and his hand dropped her wrist. She hesitated, to run, but he had positioned himself so that he was blocking her way.

"I'm Luke." He stuck out his hand, but she didn't even try to take it. "You?

She stared at the wall on her left; it was full of spray painted graffiti, but anything was better than the boy's face in front of her.

"Why should I tell you?" She demanded, but flinched when her voice quivered. He seemed confused, like she was speaking in a different language.

"I need to know what to call you, if we're going to be friends." He smiled. "Right?"

She turned; her eyes crackling with anger as she glared at him. "I." She said through gritted teeth. "Don't want friends. I don't need friends. So just leave me alone, stalker!"

She tried to charge pass him, but he spread his arms wide apart.

"But you're alone, right?" He asked hesitantly. "It's easier to fight monsters in numbers, don't ya think?"

Drat. He was right. She knew that he was serious, because she'd seen all those monsters roaming the cities everywhere, looking for her. She lowered her gaze.

"Thalia." She whispered, and he looked up, surprised at the sound of her soft voice. Her voice wasn't usually so quiet. "My name is Thalia."

He smiled, and she noticed for the first time how enchanting his smile was, which was wrong, because she hated any kind of male, and she barely knew the guy, for gods' sakes.

"Well, Thalia." He stuck out his wrist in a friendly gesture, and she grasped it back without hesitation. The skin felt weird against her palm, but she didn't care. "Let's go."

xXx

"Thalia?" She heard him say softly across the small fire. She kept her eyes cold, trying to go to sleep.

"Mmm?" She murmured, not even bothering opening her eyes. The past few weeks had gone by awkwardly, with not many conversations between them, and she was trying to remember what had made her follow him in the first place. But she couldn't say no to those blue eyes.

Which was weird, because she wasn't affected by guys.

So she kept her eyes closed when she could.

"Are we friends?" He blurted out, and then a silent pause covered the little clearing as she thought and he blushed.

Finally, she couldn't stand the silence, because she wasn't a shy type of girl. "I don't know." She muttered almost under her breath. She hated admitting, and somehow, he knew that the most. "I've never had friends before."

"I don't think we're friends." He said quietly, his voice hoarse as he stared at the flames. And she was watching all this between her eyelashes.

"You don't, don't you?" She tried to make her voice sound sarcastic, like Thalia the rebel, but her voice threatened to waver, and she winced.

His face broke in to a grin as he winked at her. "I think we're best friends."

Her eyes flashed open, and he laughed at her. Best friends. The words were like a foreign language to her; never heard, never said. She hesitated, because she knew that people lied all the time. She couldn't trust anyone in life.

But the way his eyes shined blue like the sky, the way he smiled at her… she couldn't tell herself that he was lying.

Which was weird because she hated guys.

"Best friends?" The words felt weird on her tongue as she stared at him, confused.

He came closer, walking around the fire, to the place on the little log next to her.

The fire was dim and the bottom of the log was covered in moth, because she'd flipped it over when they came here. Nothing was around there but the trees and the night sky with the little stars shining everywhere.

"Forever." He whispered, and held her hand in his. "Promise."

xXx

2. Promise

Everything was going fine in his opinion, until the order came. He tried to sabotage the quest. He tried to poison Poseidon spawn. And he tried to send two of his friends to death.

Oh, life was very pleasant before the order came. Not.

But it was amazing that the order could ruin it even more. Oh, he'd always loved torturing himself.

Poison that damn pine tree at Half-Blood hill.

The words rang in his head, words that would haunt him to his death.

"You mean Thalia." He replied subconsciously. Her smile when he could make her laugh. The way her eyes would shine when she looked up at the light blue sky.

That Thalia.

Yeah, yeah, her. Zeus spawn. You'll find the tools somewhere on your way. Just go.

He froze in his place. Because poisoning your best friend didn't come in the job description.

Do you have a problem, Castellan?

His master's voice rang and almost immediately after, he heard a voice in his head; a memory.

xXx

Just go, Luke! Come on! I promise, I swear, to make it out alive.

A smile danced on her lips in the memory as she yelled at him. Her short black hair blew viciously around her face as she slashed her spear everywhere.

I'll be fine.

xXx

She was his best friend, yes she was.

But she broke her promise, even though he hadn't broken his.

And she was gone now; she was only a memory.

She didn't matter anymore.

"No." He replied. "I will go."

xXx

He sneered at the view of the hill; the Big House, the damn Big house was dark and extinguished of all light.

He didn't believe that he was back.

And why, why, did he have to bring a bunch of jerks with him?

"Master Luke?" Matt, one of the most obnoxious people alive, tapped his shoulder. "What's with the hesitating? I'll do it for you."

He reached out for the syringe in his hand greedily, like he knew that Lord Kronos would be pleased with him.

"No." He snarled, slapping the pale hand reaching toward him. "Lord Kronos has ordered me to do it."

He kneeled down, holding the needle level to the trunk of the huge pine tree. His hand shook like crazy, but he tried to shush it down.

"Are you sure Master Luke?" It sounded as if the boy was taunting him, and he gritted his teeth.

No one taunted Luke Castellan.

He shoved the needle forcefully down in to the tree, watching it with blank eyes.

xXx

3. Forever

Her spear hit his sword hard, and she heard the snarl escape through his lips. Her spear had a mind of its own; slashing at his mercilessly as she tried to calm down.

She had to kill him.

Her eyes flashed at him, and he looked at her with look of…. Desperation? She stared at him.

He never looked desperate.

"Thals." His voice was quiet, but she could hear it over all the other noises, over the other voices. "Remember? You never liked your father. You never wanted to fight for the gods. I know,"

His blue eyes looked at her longingly, freezing, before she slashed at his chest. He dodged, and kept talking.

"I know." He repeated. "That you never wanted to be the child of the prophecy, the one who chooses the Olympians' fate. But Thalia."

She almost froze in her place with shock; his eyes stared at her with the same kind of eager look that he looked at her, so long ago.

It was only a few years ago. But that moment, it felt like a millennia.

"It's the perfect chance to let your father know how much you suffered. It's time for you to be the boss. Please Thals."

His eyes pierced hers, and she felt like stabbing him in the gut.

"Liar." She whispered quietly. "You. Are. Such. A. Liar!"

She screamed out the last word and saw him flinch in surprise. Because he was nothing, compared to everyone fighting around her.

He was worth absolutely nothing.

"Thalia." His voice was quiet, shocked and fearful as he stared at her horrified, five feet away from her. "I'll have to kill you. Don't make me kill you."

She raised her arms wide, raising an eyebrow.

"Then do it."

xXx

The pebble that she kicked landed on the pavement hard, flying in to the bushes. She quickly found another and started kicking it down the street.

Hate. Your. Fucking. Guts.

The words spun around her head, like on a merry-go-round.

Fucking. Guts.

It hit her hard on the face, echoing.

She kicked the pebble hard away from her, trying to distract herself away from the words.

She flinched at what she saw, her eyes wide as she stared at the cloudless, blue sky.

The exact same color of his eyes.

Her eyes stung with something, but it wasn't tears, because she was over him. She was a Hunter. She didn't care about guys, much less him.

Then why was something warm running down her cheeks.

It's okay to cry, Thals.

His words echoed in his head, a never ending echo that she couldn't stop.

She fell to her knees, her arms shaking by her side, as the mortals bypassed her confused.

Forever. Promise.

"I hate you Luke." She whispered hoarsely. "I hate your fucking guts."

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