"Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness." How to Save a Life; The Fray.
One in a Million Stories; How to Save a Life.
In the Style of Thalia Grace.
Really, it wasn't her fault, they told Thalia time in time again (They being Percy, Annabeth and Grover, of course).
But, you see, it was.
Thalia blamed herself for Luke Castellan's death, for his evil.
"No! Go away!" Luke turned over. In the light of the moon, his face was lit up in the most handsome way.
"Luke?" Thalia asked. Her voice held a small amount of uncertainty.
"No... no. Thalia... Annabeth... din't. Help." His voice echoed a sadness.
"Luke wake up!" Thalia shook her friend, over and over until finally the boy started awake.
"Thalia?"
"What was your nightmare?" Thalia asked. She snuggled next to Luke. Annabeth snored lightly from somewhere in front of them.
"That's not important. Thank you for waking me up. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You'd probably be some evil villian." Thalia had meant it as a joke, but Luke's face got chalky and white.
"Probably," he managed weakly. "Most likely."
Normally Thalia would've pryed. She would have made Luke tell her what the Hades was going on.
But for some reason, she didn't.
And to her, that had been her mistake.
This memory-and similar ones-always replay in her mind. This was what made Thalia blame herself for Luke's death.
Where did I go wrong? She'd ask herself, day and night, and night and day.
Everyday for thousands of millions of years, Thalia would wonder. I lost my best friend.
She had sort-of needed Luke for survival. Her own survival had ended when she'd found out he had left.
Left her.
Left Annabeth.
Left his mother.
And it had almost killed Thalia to fight against Luke, to shoot at him, to punch him, but it had had to be done.
She had to have seen it for herself.
And when she did, oh, when she did, Thalia almost didn't want to anymore.
"Don't do this Luke," Thalia had said. Her heart sort-of hammered in her chest because, gods, she was scared.
And that kind-of scared her even more because, for once in her miserable life (and it was true, her life WAS miserable), she was scared of the one person who'd managed to protect her.
And wouldn't you be scared if that person tried to kill you?
"Oh, but Thalia," Luke had said. His eyes gleamed against hers. Not Luke's, but Kronos's.
"Luke! I'm here Luke!" Thalia's emotion washed into her voice, and for a second or two, he was there.
Brown eyes.
Fond expression.
Strong, protective arms.
But just as quickly it was gone, and in that moment, Thalia's whole world seemed to crumble.
Of course the world was much older now, and Thalia was, two.
But she missed him, Luke.
Where did I go wrong? Everyday, the same question, over and over. I would've stayed up all night if I'd known. If I'd known my best friend was in trouble. I wished I'd know. I could have saved a life.
But these thoughts were ordinary, to her. She felt she could have stopped Luke's madness.
His suicide.
And to be honest, to include the stark truth, she could have.
But the Fates are cruel.
"And I would have stayed up
with you all night,
Had I known how to save a life."
