So, this idea has been floating around in my head for some time now. This is my first story on this account.
Enjoy :)
"'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away"
— Broken by Seether
The worst thing about Thalia Grace was also probably the best thing—she was stubborn. When Olympus fell, she was the only demigod who refused to lose hope.
Everyone lost someone in the war. Clarisse lost Silena, Connor lost Travis, and Thalia…well she lost a lot of people.
Luke, Annabeth, Percy, and over half of her hunters were gone.
She put on a brave face for the rest of the rebel survivors, she led missions and exterminated monsters, she did everything in her power to avenge the deaths of her friends—but it wasn't enough.
She still felt like there was a wound in her chest that no ambrosia could heal. Every time someone would mention Kronos's name, anger bubbled up inside of her as her friends' deaths replayed in her mind.
To survive, Thalia had to lock her pain and guilt away in the furthest recesses of her mind. When she didn't…it felt like she was going to snap. Never had she felt so fragile, so…broken.
It was only today, August 18, which she allowed herself to grieve. Every year she would find a place where she could be alone to pity herself.
Thalia sat under her pine tree on Half-Blood Hill staring at the stars. This is the place where it all started. When her "death" all those years ago drove Luke to evil—
She pulled away from those thoughts. Instead, she stared at the Huntress constellation and touched the silver circlet that rested atop her head.
I've failed Zoë. Please…tell me what I have to do. Thalia offered up her silent prayer wishing somehow that her dead friend could hear her.
After minutes of silence, Thalia let out a grim laugh. "It's foolish of me to think that you'd be able to help me Zoë. You're dead, and now I'm stuck leading a group of defeated half-bloods to fight for a lost cause." she muttered to herself.
She glanced back up at the sky. "I'm not you Zoë," she whispered. "I can't do this."
"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity," a familiar voice called out from behind Thalia.
In less than a heartbeat she had him pinned to the ground, her hunting knife dangerously close to his face.
"Nico," she growled as she helped her cousin up. "You know that you shouldn't sneak up on me."
He just smiled. "You know I don't like to play by the rules." He looked the same as always as he was granted eternal youthfulness like the rest of the rebels, but like the rest of the survivors he his eyes told stories of pain and loss.
In the last moments before Olympus fell, the gods combined their powers to strengthen the barriers of what used to be Camp Half-Blood.
Camp had been transformed into the rebels' base, otherwise known as the Sanctuary. Whoever fought for the Olympian cause would stop aging and would only be able to be killed in battle. They were sort of like the Hunters in that way.
"So why are you out here?" Nico asked her.
"I wanted to be alone. What's your reason?" she asked stiffly.
"Thinking," he stated. "It's been a long three years, hasn't it?" That's one way to put it, Thalia thought. It was now 2012.
"I can't believe they're gone," she whispered almost to herself.
She saw pain flash across Nico's face. "I try to not think about them and push the memories away, but I can't," his voice broke. "Every time I close my eyes I see their faces. Bianca, Annabeth, Percy—I can't stop it."
Thalia knew how her cousin felt. Each one of the rebels had their own pain to deal with. The only thing that she could do that made living a little easier was to share the burden with others. She let Nico hug her.
Thalia Grace was always the independent one. She liked to lead, and she liked to rely on herself. Even though she'd never admit it to anyone else, she needed her friends, and they needed her. It was the only way that they would be able to make it though the day.
Thalia once again felt anger bubble up inside of her as she held on to her sobbing cousin. I will not stop fighting, she silently promised herself. Until I breathe my last, I will not give up. I will rally our forces and take down the Titans. This war is not over! Because even though we weren't able to save the Earth, I'm going to damn well make sure that we avenge it.
Well there you have it :)
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