Thanks to all those who've read so far! Reviews are greatly appreciated. :)
True love burns the brightest, but the brightest flames leave the deepest scars. - Anon.
I didn't go see Rachel Dare for a prophecy. The girl scared me to death. Looking at her I couldn't help, but think about May Castellan, Luke's mother. I had only met her once and the meeting was scarred upon my brain. For all I knew May still thought Luke was alive. Sometimes I wished I lived in such peaceful oblivious insanity as she did. I thought maybe one day that I'd visit her. She may not have been capable to have been a good mother to Luke, but she did love him. I can't say that about my own mother. She had loved the alcohol more than she had me.
The good thing about being the daughter of sky god was you flew first class to your desired destination and didn't run the risk of getting blasted out of the sky.....like Percy. I had gotten a seat close to the aisle thank the gods. I don't know if I could take actually having a window seat. Heights put me on edge to say the least.
The lady seat next to me had her head buried into the latest issue of Cosmopolitan.I couldn't help, but wrinkle my nose at this high priced was wearing a soft pink floor length gown with a slit up the side that exposed a pair of perfect tan legs. Her feet were clad with what I think are Jimmy Choos, but don''t ask me because all I really know are boots. "Thalia Grace," she said as I sat down in my seat. My temper flared. I hated it when people called me by my mother's last name.
"Yes?" I replied as calmly as I could muster. I was practically shaking with anger and had to grip the arm rest for support. The lady put down her issue of Cosmo to reveal that she was none other than Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Aphrodite was gorgeous to the point words didn't even do her beauty justice. I couldn't help, but gape at her, wondering why she was here. "Aphrodite?"
"Who else? Hopefully you don't know someone who is more beautiful than myself." Conceited much? I was instantly glad that she wasn't privy to my thoughts.
"Why are you here?" I kept my tone civil and conversational, despite the fact I was perplexed by the whole situation. My brow furrowed coming up with multiple reasons as to why I had gained an audience with the goddess of love.
"I've come to let you know that you have my favor on this quest." Aphrodite let out a giggle, as if my question was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.
"Why?" I felt very stupid asking all these questions, but I was really lost. I mean, c'mon, Aphrodite helping a Hunter of Artemis on a quest? This was about as crazy as Zeus, Poseidon and Hades sitting around a camp singing Kumbaya.
"Oh please, you're not that dense. You and Luke are the best tragic romance I've seen in years. Shakespeare himself couldn't even have wrote a better story than this. Hephaestus is even doing a special about you two on Hephaestus T.V." Aphrodite's perfect pouty lip curled up in disgust when she mentioned Hephaestus, but other than that she acted excited. "Believe me if I had had it my way you and Luke would have been the most successful demigod couple ever, but the Fates tend to ruin everything." She sighed and I took it the Fates thwarted her perfect plans alot.
I'd never thought of my life as a grand tragic love story, but when I looked back on it I suppose it was. We both fit the parts to a T. Luke in the role of the beautiful doomed hero and me in the role of the girl who couldn't save him.
"Luke, you have to go with Grover and Annabeth, it's your only choice." I looked back at him, knowing what would happen to the both of us if he didn't go across the boundary line. "If you don't go we'll both die. Annabeth needs you Luke." I felt the tears seeping from my eyes and streaming down my cheeks.
"I'm not leaving you, Thalia. I promised you I wouldn't leave you," Luke said his voice filled with a passionate stubbornness. His feet where firmly planted in a stance that screamed, 'I'm not going.'
"I'll be fine," I lied. I would have said anything to have got him to go over that line. I would have said anything to have kept him safe and alive. "I love you, Luke. Please just do this one thing for me." A conflicted expression flitted across Luke's features and he nodded one quick curt nod.
"You better come back to me," his voice was low and gruff sounding.
"I will. Don't worry about that. I'll come back one way or another." At that point I didn't know how true that statement was. He planted a rough kiss on my lips and ran to where Annabeth and Grover where standing across the line.
I had to force myself back into the here and now. "You're fate was entwined with Luke's before you two where even born. So romantic isn't it? He was your Adonis. I think I'm going to cry." Aphrodite wiped at her eyes a little and I had to refrain from laughing. Aphrodite was just so over dramatic. "Well, I should be on my way. Hephaestus gets all bent out of shape if I'm gone for a long time." She rolled her eyes when she mentioned her husband which she blatantly despised. I adverted my eyes so Aphrodite could take her true form and leave me be.
I sat there for a great deal after our conversation thinking about Luke. About how he was there when I died and I wasn't there when he did.
"Thalia!" I heard a panicked scream break through the silence. My vision blurred and I felt blood seeping from a wound in my chest. I tried to move, but that only brought on more pain. My breaths where becoming laboured and I figured I only had minutes left. This was the end, I'd let Luke down. I heard the steady beats of horse hooves followed by some human foot steps. I groaned, the pain seemed to be getting worse and worse. There where so many monsters that had been on me I didn' know which one struck what would be my fatal blow. I felt someone gently raise my head up into their lap and begin to brush my short black hair out of my face. Whoever it was, was crying. They let out pained sobs and shook so hard it reverberated through my body causing the pain to become near unbearable. I knew who this person was, but I didn't want to think about who it was. "Thalia come back to me," Luke said. He sounded so broken and pitiful.
"Luke," I rasped. The effort it took to speak caused me to start coughing raucously, bringing up blood.
"Shhhh.... You're going to fine, just fine." I felt Luke's tears splash against my face mingling with my own. He planted a soft kiss on my forehead and continued to sob. I knew the exact moment my heart stopped beating, because I was engulfed in a blackness unlike any other.
They say you can hear for a few minutes after your death. I'll tell you that is most assuredly true. "She's gone, Luke." Came the voice of an older man. The voice sounded wise and kind, like the voice of a most beloved mentor.
"She can't be gone. She can't this is Thalia we're talking about," Luke sobbed, shaking my body trying to rouse a response out of my lifeless corpse. I heard the unmistakable sniffle of Annabeth. "Get Annabeth out of here. Better yet, why don't you all just leave us alone."
"Luke, I'm not sure if that's the best...." Luke cut off the older man.
"Just leave us alone," Luke screamed. I'd never heard him sound so angry before. "I just want to be with her for a few more minutes. Please, Chiron, that's all I'm asking."
"Very well then. Grover take Annabeth and get her situated. It's been a hard day for all of us." I heard them head back to camp leaving Luke holding my dead body.
"Thalia, I'm sorry. I promise, I'll find a way to bring you back to me. I love you. I never knew what it meant to have a family before you."
I felt someone shake my shoulder breaking my train of thought. It was a lovely blonde stewardess. "Are you okay, sweetie? Do you need me to get you anything?" Up until then, I hadn't realized I was crying.
