I know nobody really cares BUT I finally finished additional mathematics so now I feel motivated to post hope you enjoy! (Just had to say that sorry haha)
THALIA
Days passed in a blur until finally the dreaded day was looming. The day of Annabeth's funeral. Camp Half-Blood was more crowded than she'd ever seen it, veterans flooding in to pay their respects to the revered Heroine of Olympus, and – miracle of miracles – Sally Jackson and Annabeth's mortal family had also been let in. Most of the gods were also present, which shocked Thalia to the core; in usual circumstances, the gods really didn't give two shits if yet another mortal died. They were, after all, mortal. Dying was what they did. They were like ants to the immortal deities. However, by some miracle – maybe they felt that because Annabeth had helped save them twice, they ought to at least show some respect, or because Athena had forced them to (Thalia was betting on the latter) – more than half of the Olympians showed up. Athena, obviously; Poseidon; Artemis; and many minor gods that Thalia didn't even know the names of. Or maybe it was because Annabeth had designed their temples (which most gods loved more than their spouses – not that that was a hard feat to accomplish -), being the Architect of Olympus and all.
Marina exited the bathroom, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy. She was wearing a beautiful black dress, courtesy of Aphrodite herself. Without a word, Thalia enveloped her in a crushing hug, the embrace conveying more than words could ever say. She didn't even care that her dress was getting wet as Marina sobbed into her.
Thalia didn't really remember the funeral. She recalled snippets – many of the campers giving emphatic speeches about how wonderful Annabeth was, how she'd saved their lives, the whispers of where's Percy, Marina's horrible blank look as she stared at Annabeth's body being covered in the slate grey shroud covered with depictions of her and Percy's various adventures, with an image of an owl holding a sea-green trident in the middle. It was laced with greens and blues along with the grey, symbolizing her relationship with Percy, and that nothing could break it apart, not even in death.
When the shroud was set on fire, Thalia glanced beside her at her cousin, but she was gone. Thalia didn't blame her. She was already in so much pain; she couldn't even imagine what it must be like for Marina. She wandered through the rest of the day in a daze, going through the motions robotically but a world apart. She eventually stumbled upon the remainder of the Seven in a huddle among the sand dunes, tearfully regaling each other with tales about Annabeth. Not even about the heroic acts she performed; just the little things. The time she pushed Percy off the Argo II when he teased her; the time she and Percy fell asleep in the stables; the time she taught Frank how to use Chinese handcuffs. They were all laughing amidst tears, and Hazel's and Piper's arms were securely around Marina. They looked like a family, and for a moment, Thalia could picture Annabeth leaning against Marina's chest, contributing her own witty remarks; but then she was gone, and Thalia was left gazing at these six people who'd been through so much, who'd lost so much, but who were so strong and got through it all with one another. This was what family was. And with that thought, Thalia retreated, leaving them to their grief and letting them mend together.
Soon after, the Hunt departed from Camp Half-Blood, their ranks increased minimally with the addition of Arianna, a daughter of Demeter, and Natalie, a daughter of Hecate. Marina had withdrawn into herself when she heard the news that they were leaving, and Thalia knew it must be hard for her to leave behind her second home, but also a burden lifted from her shoulders. She'd asked Artemis for permission to visit her mortal parents, and had elicited promises to come back to either Camp Half-Blood or Jupiter once a month. The rest of the Seven, now Six, had been sad to see her go, with many tearful farewells, but they had promised monthly reunions whenever Marina came back.
Thalia, on the other hand, had left camp with mixed feelings. Chiefly among them: the daughter of Bellona, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano. She'd somehow grown closer to the girl during their stay, as they were often left out – not intentionally, of course – of the tight-knit group of the Seven, and had been drawn together. After Reyna had divulged the fact that Venus had come to her and told her that no demigod would heal her heart, Thalia had comforted her, and asked if she'd like to join the Hunt. Surprisingly, Reyna hadn't declined, nor had she accepted. She'd explained that she still upheld a duty to New Rome as a praetor, and couldn't leave, especially not after a war and with a co-praetor as experienced as Frank, but since she'd been made partially immortal as well, she'd said: "Not now … but maybe in the future." Thalia was trying not to get her hopes up, but Reyna would make an excellent recruit. Strong, brave, resourceful, she was a force to be reckoned with. Especially when Thalia had witnessed her ferociousness firsthand when an Aphrodite boy had tried flirting with her. Reyna had had him on his back in two seconds flat – Thalia hadn't even seen her move, she'd been that fast. Yes, the daughter of Bellona truly was formidable. Thalia hoped fervently that she'd never get on the bad side of her. Lately, she kept getting these weird feelings whenever she was around Reyna. She couldn't decipher what they were, but they left her with a warm feeling, one that confounded her. She brushed them off, thinking nothing of them, but a strange feeling stirred in her gut as she departed from Camp Half-Blood without a backwards glance.
She could feel excitement and anticipation thrum in the air as they set off, finally on the move once more. All throughout their stay, the girls had been restless, wanting to be doing something, and they were finally getting their wish. She could literally see them all vibrating with energy, excited at the thought of getting to kick some monster butt. She, too, could feel the alluring call of the Hunt, and it made her blood sing. By the looks of it, Marina felt it too; she looked as if the weight of the world had been lifted out of her shoulders (and she'd been there, too), and she'd unconsciously adopted a predatory stance.
For maybe the first time in Thalia's brief tenure as Lieutenant, Artemis accompanied them on their hunt. She wasn't sure if this was normal or not – after all, for as long as she'd been Lieutenant, they'd been at war, so maybe circumstances had warranted different measures – so she didn't speak up, even though she desperately wanted to. Artemis had announced that they were going cross-country to hunt down the remainder of Gaea and Kronos's armies, which elicited a cheer from the girls, thirsting with revenge for their fallen sisters. Marina, in particular, had a malicious gleam in her eye. For Annabeth, her expression seemed to say. Thalia agreed.
The first sign of trouble appeared just after they'd left New York, making good time. The sun was blazing, and they were getting some much needed respite under the shade of some trees. Marina had wandered off to the creek they'd spotted earlier, and Artemis had sent some of their new recruits ahead to scout out a possible camping site.
Suddenly, a brutal roar split the air, as well as petrified screams. Thalia shot up faster than her brain could register, and was on her feet in a split second, spear at the ready in her hand. Artemis, being a goddess, was already a few paces ahead of her, darting towards the sounds like a silver streak. Thalia followed suit, along with the other Hunters, who'd drawn their bows, arrows nocked at the ready. They burst into the clearing to find Arianna and Natalie trading blows with a couple of empousai accompanied by several dracaenae. Thalia cursed under her breath before leaping at the closest monster to her, an empousa too focused on the two girls to notice her. The monster didn't know what hit her; one second she was creeping forward, the next, Thalia's spear sliced clean through her body and she disintegrated into gold dust. Thalia didn't even pause; her spear, carried on by its momentum, cleaved through the body of the empousa behind her before she even had time to blink. She was distantly aware of monsters bursting into gold dust around her as her sisters' arrows found their marks as she slashed and struck, carving a path of destruction. Her spear crackled menacingly with electricity and Aegis cut a terrifying image, making most monsters flinch, which gave her the second she needed to kill them.
Marina materialized by her side, taking Thalia by surprise. Where did she come from? the ADHD part of her mind mused as she whirled on a dracaena that had managed to sneak up behind her. They fought fluidly together, each almost seeming to know what the other would do next. Thalia relished in the feeling of fighting together, of that unbreakable bond between them. She was greatly puzzled, though, by the way the monsters seemed as if they were wading through quicksand; it was as if … time was slowing down. But that was impossible, wasn't it? Kronos was dead. Yet the thought still lingered in Thalia's mind, unnerving her, until it was quickly dispelled as she focused on the battle.
She turned, expecting her spear to meet the resistance of another monster's body, but instead finding that the clearing was coated in a thick layer of monster dust, looking almost like grains of sand. Her spear cleaved through thin air and she barely managed to stop it, almost toppling over in the process. She heard a stifled laugh and glared daggers at Marina, who was snickering at her predicament. She swung her spear at her cousin, who barely blocked it with Riptide, and the two of them engaged in a playful spar. Thalia reveled in their camaraderie, feeling her spirits lifting; she hadn't felt this cheerful in … well, a long time, to be sure.
