Homecoming
Chapter 10 – Reflections
It was the quiet moments that Annabeth and Percy so desperately longed for. Snapshots within their lives that they could hold onto when the fates or gods, or whatever universally ordained mandate chose to crash upon them. It was impossible to even categorize how exhausted the two demigods had become within their day to day routine, as though expecting the small moments of shared isolation they so cherished to be aggressively ripped from them.
Who could truly fault the building paranoia and anxiety? If their lives had shown them anything, it was that when they were at their happiest, the gods would inevitably find some way to screw their lives up.
The latest issue of course, was not so much their immortal family interference but rather the return of so many nightmares they wanted to put behind them. Traveling to Camp Half-Blood and celebrating the passage of leadership of so many campers who had survived the two greatest wars in the last hundred years should have been cause for celebration, and yet, it seemed to drive home just how fortunate they were.
The life expectancy of a demigod had been reached by many of them, and that only added to further anxieties, because...how many of their friends would still be alive in a year, or two years? They had all beaten the odds for so long, it was not beyond the realm of probability that they would all soon follow. Selena, Charlie, Lee, Michael...Jason, the names paraded across their psyches like some sick death march. How long would it be before Travis, or Conner, or Clarisse, or Katie would join those names? How long before Percy's or Annabeth's names were added to that roster?
It was a fear that could not be ignored.
But even beyond that, having revisited the horrors of Tartarus for the insistent badgering of the younger demigods in attendance of Camp Half-Blood only brought the nightmares back to the surface. For the past three days, Percy's night terrors had returned with full vengeance, robbing him of sleep and again ripping away ever fragment of peace and security he had spent the last six months trying to rebuild.
Thank gods for Annabeth, for she had been his rock. But that only added to Percy's sense of guilt, because it was taking so much of a toll on her to keep him from slipping back into the memories that would not vacate their minds. It wasn't fair to her, and he so desperately wanted to rip those memories for their minds, shred them to pieces like they've done to his and Annabeth's sanity, yet, he didn't even know how to coordinate his own thoughts to keep from drowning him in the pain, how could he hope to do that for Annabeth?
And thus, this was but one more thing he blamed himself for.
It was only at this point, months after their escape from Tartarus that Percy and Annabeth understood the trappings of the pit. A vicious spiral of never-ending grief that would lead from memory to memory, grief and guilt to only more fears and pain. It was as though they were trapped in the labyrinth all over again, yet this time, there was no clear-sighted mortal to guide them out, no plans and strategy, no route that they could navigate that would guide from the maze of their own prison. All they could do was cling to each other and hope that they were enough to buoy each other when the torrent of those nightmares struck.
In truth, the entire situation felt as though they were again trapped in the Cocytus all over again. Sinking into the bitter cold despair the only fed upon their doubts and fears, yet despite their best efforts, they could not seem to find the shore with which to drag themselves from the depths.
So it was, that they had spent every moment with each other. After their return from camp, they no longer lingered within their bedroom, but began taking walks through the neighborhood in an effort to find reason to live apart from just each other. Certainly, Sally and Paul had done their best to support the pair, yet no matter how much they tried to crest the ravine of fears, they seemed to keep slipping, losing their footing and sliding back where they had started.
It was so frustrating, this feeling of powerlessness, that Percy and Annabeth began losing hope they would ever climb out of the horrors, as if this were their new normal. Thus, their journey through the neighborhood, expanding their sphere of their own sense of comfort, was encouraged by Sally more than she would like to admit. It was theorized that, understanding all the lives they had saved with their sacrifices, while it may not justify the pain they suffered, would encourage them to appreciate how much they have done for the world.
Sally understood this at least, praying to any god who would listen that Percy and Annabeth would find some foundation for which to rebuild their sense of belonging to the world. Was all the pain and suffering worth it? Absolutely not, and neither Sally nor the pair of demigods would admit to it, but it was necessary. It was proven every day when Annabeth would read to Estelle, or Percy would play peek-a-boo with his baby sister. Had they not done what they had...the world would have ended, and Estelle would never have been.
For Sally, it was a hope that they would understand, building on the knowledge of Estelle, the single life that was intimately tied within their own lives, represented a single point of a million such lives that existed because of them. Perhaps, and this was partly naive of Sally, but she had no other ideas to help Percy and Annabeth, that the good that they had accomplished would outweigh and eventually overcome the bad that they had experienced.
Rather than simply watching those around them, wishing they had lives as blindly simple as the mortals that passed unknowingly through their lives, they would begin to appreciate that those very same mortals were alive, because Percy and Annabeth had the courage and selflessness to do what was needed to save them. Even if the mortals would never know or appreciate the heroes they were, Percy and Annabeth could at least known they had protected and saved so many souls.
That was Sally's ardent wish. Above all else, she wanted to help Percy and Annabeth understand that the pain and suffering of their past meant something. She would never say it was worth it, she had seen too many times the shattered spirit of her son that reflected from his eyes, or the pain of Annabeth as she attempted to rationalize her place in a world she no longer felt connected to. The night terrors, panic attacks, sometimes even, moments in which one or the other would stare into the empty nothingness as if seeing what no one else had witnessed. No, these pains were not something Sally nor Paul would ever dismiss or treat as mere inconveniences. But there was hope that her two heroes could find some semblance of understanding that life still mattered, and it had meaning.
So it was that Percy and Annabeth would take their walks through the neighborhood. They would talk to Mrs. Jefferson at the corner lot who would often regale them of stories of her husband who was a cross-country truck driver that would send her daily pictures of locations he had visited. Or Tina Fields, a college student at NYU studying education while also caring for her father who was battling cancer. Despite the fearful diagnosis, his doctors were confident they had caught the disease in time, and his prognosis was extremely positive. Still, being only a couple years older than the two demigods, she would inadvertently tell them her problems whenever they would see her, for which she would always invite them for coffee and cake as way of apology, to which they've taken her up on the offer twice already.
To learn their stories, their histories, the identities of the people living within their cul de sac was deeply cathartic. It was a moment in which they could pause the pressures of their own lives and share the accomplishments, struggles and hopes of others. This experience was so deeply gratifying beyond the drama and gossip of high school and the struggles of camp. When they were attending Goode High School, there was never any deep, meaningful conversation, usually just shallow discussions about plans for the next weekend, who was dating who and how unprepared their classmates were for the upcoming exams.
Within the borders of Camp Half-Blood, things were not much different. The demigods treated Percy and Annabeth as celebrates, as though they were the living embodiment of the gods themselves. Neither of them wished to discuss their past exploits for fear of dredging up those haunting memories, as was evident when last they returned, and what brought on this newest bout of nightmares. The demigods of camp so often talked at them, not to them, and that was disheartening, because it drew into question if any of the half-bloods at camp had ever been their friends.
They certainly trained together, trusted each other enough to watch each others backs through the many fights and two wars forced upon them, but they were away from camp, they never actually hung out. They would battle and train in the arena, challenged each other in capture the flag, play pranks on one another to ease the stress and tension of their lives, but they would never just meet up to have dinner, or play video games, or just IM each other to just talk. It was almost an unspoken rule that to socialize outside of camp was some taboo, as if sharing details about their lives outside of camp was a reminder of everything that burdened their existence as demigods.
The true irony of this situation was that Percy and Annabeth were equally guilty of this forced distancing from their peers, but for wholly different reasons. As was evident when they had returned to camp for the retirement ceremony of many of the senior councilors. No one knew how to approach them, to talk to them, and those who did wanted only a recount of the journeys they had taken.
This realization, that they were unable to relate to mortal teenagers their own age, and that the relationships they cultivated among their demigod peers would likely not continue left the pair feeling deeply isolated, and alone.
That was what made their small excursions into the neighborhood was so significant. Real mortals, with real life issues, both successes and failures, and grounded the pair into an understanding of life's value. This by no means lessened the nightmares, but it did, if only incrementally, allow them to share in the hopes of others. It did not lessen the feelings of being used and abused based on their demigod heritage, but it did bring a new light to all they've accomplished.
And so it was, as they returned from one of their short endeavors into the neighborhood, they saw her sitting on the deck chair, as though waiting for the pair. Her spiky black hair and snow-colored cameo garbs alerted the pair of exactly who was waiting for them.
"Thalia?" Annabeth stated, rushing forward and enfolding the smaller demigod into a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Yeah," Percy said, offering a lopsided grin that did not fully reach his eyes, an expression that the immortal huntress recognized immediately as she lowered her eyes. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable inside?"
Shrugging in response, the daughter of Zeus moved to lean against the railing as she crossed her arms. "Sally offered, but, it's nice out here. Indian winter and all that, why bundle inside when it's like 60 degrees out here. Besides, didn't want to make things awkward."
Percy and Annabeth offered looks of confusion to each other before turning back to Thalia. "Are you okay Thalia?" the daughter of Athena asked, stepping forward to her long time friend and savior.
"You're asking me that?" Thalia furrowed her brow as she shook her head. "I'm here to check on the two of you. Heard about camp, wanted to know if you guys were really okay."
"I don't know," Annabeth said after a pause, her attention turned back to Percy who seemed to be staring at the huntress as if working out the solution to a riddle that he wasn't even aware what the question was. "We're...working on it. Some days are better than others, but, gods Thalia, it's been months and I don't know…"
Picking up on the hesitation of his fiancee, Percy stepped forward and threaded his fingers between hers, holding her hand in a show of support. "Like Annabeth said, some days are better than others. But, it's like having the sky dropped on us all over again, and some days we're not sure how we're going to get out from under it."
"Who told you about camp?" Annabeth asked as she leaned to rest her head on Percy's shoulder.
"Grover," she replied simply, her eyes taking a distant reflection of recent memories. "Apparently he got into it pretty bad with Chiron over you two coming back to camp. Said he tried to warn Chiron, but he just wasn't aware how severe your trauma was.
"For the record, Chiron is pretty broken up about it, and before you both go falling on your swords over it, don't feel guilty," she said, effectively recognizing the expressions that were forming on the pair of demigods before her. "In all honesty Chiron should have known better. I really just think he missed the two of you. Besides, it's not your fault, no one asked you to take a swan dive into Tartarus, these things happened when the gods are involved," Thalia paused as thunder erupted over the skies, giving her only the opportunity to shrug her shoulders as she looked at the sky and shouted "Get pissy all you want, doesn't make it any less true!"
"So, you were just checking on us?" Annabeth asked, and though the words were delivered with a touch of humor, there was a bite in the tone, as though the offer of a 'welfare check' wasn't something she appreciated. By this time, Annabeth had moved herself to stand sideways against Percy, one hand at the small of his back the other over his chest, while the latter draped one arm around her shoulders and the over hand resting at her hip. It was a position that the pair seemed to fit perfectly into, but their positioning and they way they held each other also marked a possessiveness between them, that the world had attempted to tear them apart too many times, and they wanted everyone to know that it would never happen again.
At observing the pair, Thalia arched an eyebrow and frowned in thought. She had known how deeply Annabeth and Percy cared for, protected and supported each other, but she had never seen this level of dependence and need shared between the pair. She had known Tartarus had changed them, but it was only in this moment she knew how much.
Shrugging her shoulders in response to Annabeth's inquiry, Thalia offered a hopeful smirk. "I...I don't know, guess I just wanted to talk to you guys. I..." Thalia paused as she placed her right hand over her left forearm, an action that did not go unnoticed by Annabeth. This was her tell, an act that Thalia only did when deeply troubled. In that moment, Thalia's eyes seemed overly bright as she began nervously chewing on her bottom lip.
"Thalia, what's wrong?" Annabeth narrowed her eyes, not in frustration or anger, but in her analytical scrutiny of the immortal teenager before her.
"It...it's stupid. I was, I don't know, hoping I could get some answers from you two, but...I think I was wrong to come here."
"Hey, talk to us Thalia," Percy said, his own brow furrowing in concern of the huntress.
Thalia turned her head, as if ashamed of the emotions she was struggling to hold at bay. "I don't know what I was thinking, you two have enough problems to deal with without me adding to them, but I was hoping...I don't know, how do you deal with all this...loss?"
"Is this about Jason?" Percy asked, his eyes searching the daughter of Zeus before turning his attention to his fiancee.
A darkly humorless laugh slipped past Thalia's lips as she shook her head in frustration. "Oh, it's Jason, and Phoebe, and Mara, and Caitlin and dozens of others I've led to their deaths. I...I just don't know. I wish I could have asked Zoe about this, but of the 40 hunters I brought to the Battle of Manhattan, I walked away with seven. Then, I lost nearly two-thirds of my hunters against Orion. Am I just a bad leader, or are we just disposable paper dolls that get tossed aside like garbage. Phoebe was over 2,000 years old, had more experience than any demigod alive, and she got ambushed and killed, and none of her accomplishments matter.
"I don't even know why I'm telling you all this, you've got your own problems to deal with, but gods dammit I'm so tired of burying friends. And that just hit me all the harder, realizing as I look at the two of you, that I'll eventually bury you two also, that I'm going to lose everybody I ever care about. I just...can't handle losing so many people.
"Jason's another matter all together," Thalia whispered, her eyes no longer able to restrain the tears that burned their path across the contour of her face. "I don't even know how I'm supposed to feel about him. I mourned him when I was seven, thought he was dead and put it behind me long before I learned he was simply stolen by Hera and thrown into that Roman camp. He was a brother, a complete stranger to me, and he was killed before I ever got to know who he was," Thalia turned her watery gaze to the two demigods before her, her jaw tightening from the tension as she leaned against the railing. "How am I supposed to feel?"
As one, Annabeth and Percy moved to gather the immortal demigod in their arms, holding her and supporting the suffering huntress. It seemed such a strange twist of fate, that for so long Percy and Annabeth had worked desperately to support each other, that only now, supporting Thalia, did the pain of Tartarus seem less significant in their lives. In this moment, their only concern was their dear friend who needed them, and who they needed in turn.
After so many minutes of Thalia allowing herself to just mourn all the lives she has seen ended in the service of Artemis, she slowly untangled herself from the group embrace and angrily swiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry, gods I'm a mess. I meant to come and see how you two were doing, and...I just couldn't keep it in any longer. I'm so sorry guys, you don't need to deal with my issues on top of everything you're going through."
"Thalia, stop," Annabeth said, leading the huntress over to the patio furniture and forcing her to sit at the table. The silence that followed however was awkward, as if no one knew how to proceed.
Staring at the table for several minutes, the silver-garbed huntress turned her eyes to Percy. "Nine moves huh?"
"What," her voice seemed to pull him out of his own thoughts as he turned his attention to Thalia.
"When I was at camp, a lot of the younger campers were talking about how Clarisse had beaten you in nine moves. Don't get me wrong, she's good, but if she was lucky enough to win against you, no way in hell would she do in that quick."
At being confronted with his poor performance, the son of Poseidon slouched his shoulders as he slumped heavily onto his arms. "I-I just don't have it in me anymore to fight. I've used up everything I've got Thalia. Two wars, Tartarus, all the quests, running errands for the gods...I just...I don't..."
"What about you?" Thalia asked, turning her attention to Annabeth and saving Percy from stumbling over the words to explain how his will to fight has been shattered. "You just refused to even fight."
"The same," the daughter of Athena said, shrugging her shoulders in response. "Arachne scarred me, Tartarus broke me. I don't want to do this anymore."
Nodding her head as if she understood exactly what the pair had meant, Thalia lowered her eyes and breathed deeply the crisp winter air. "Artemis has put me on a mandatory leave of absence," she replied as though the matter was of little concern. "About a week ago, I led the hunters on a trail of some escaped pit scorpions. How the Hades they ever escaped the pit I'll never know, but...I froze. I've never not killed a monster, and yet, I froze. I couldn't let the arrow fly. If not for Reyna, I'd be dead."
Folding her arms on the table and laying her head against them, she continued. "So, Artemis told me I've got a month to get my shit together, figure out where I want to be. Do I want to keep being a huntress, or give it up and live my life like every other demigod out there. Being a daughter of Zeus, the monsters would always find me.
"I really don't know what to do," Thalia said, her words falling silent as she sat and stared at the table top. Annabeth had reached out and gripped her hand, while Percy extended his own hand to rest upon her shoulder. For several minutes they simply sat in silence; Percy and Annabeth, who had saved the world many times over, and lost their place in it. And now, Thalia had joined their numbers, the discarded, the forgotten...the damned.
"So, do you have any idea what you're planning to do Thalia?" the blonde demigod asked her sister figure as she held her gaze on the ageless daughter of Zeus.
"No," she said miserably, sitting up form her position and fixing her sapphire eyes on the pair. "gods this is not what I wanted to talk about. I'm so sorry to drop this bomb on you guys, you've got enough on your plate without me adding to it.
"You know, let's….let's talk about something else, something happy," she continued as she pointed to the rings on Percy's and Annabeth's ring fingers. "So, when were you planning on telling me you two were engaged?"
Chuckling slightly, both at Thalia's attempt to distract herself and the pair of her own mental struggles, and the memory of the event that was a proposal but not really, Percy offered a small smirk to her. "Didn't really think it was necessary, I mean, the rings are kind of a dead giveaway."
"Besides," Annabeth chimed in, her eyes filled with concern for Thalia despite the redirection of the conversation. "You went to camp, I'm sure plenty of demigods there were telling you all about our meltdown, and probably told you about the rings then."
Thalia shrugged as though confirming everything Annabeth had just said. "Yeah, yeah, the Aphrodite cabin wouldn't shut up about it, said they were the most beautiful rings for the perfect couple...you know how they are. So, let me see them."
Smiling almost self-consciously, the pair lifted their left hands and set them on the table, allowing Thalia to examine the stunning pieces of jewelry. "So, very nice kelp head, how much did it cost you to get these made?"
"A lot less than you'd expect," he smiled, his attention turning fully to Annabeth. "I found the gemstones at various oceans around the world while we were sailing to Greece. You'd be surprised how much sunken treasure is down there. Hazel provided me with the Imperial Gold, Leo gave me some left over Celestial bronze, and Tyson made them exactly how I asked. The real work came from designing the rings and getting the blessings...but," he said, his smile widening as Annabeth laced her fingers with his. "We're worth it."
"Yeah, I guess you are," Thalia smiled softly as she refocused on the pair who stared longingly into each others eyes. Beginning to feel like a third wheel, the daughter of Zeus felt a twinge of jealousy, not that she had ever considered Percy anything more than a friend, but that she felt their relationship would be the foundation to support their life together, and help eliminate the terrors of their pasts. For just this fleeting moment, Thalia wished she had such a relationship, or at least someone to support her through her own struggles.
She had felt like this since her awakening, that she was pulled out her life and everything she knew was different. Annabeth, the young girl she had looked after was now as old as she was, and her role as her protector was replaced by Percy. To top it all off, Luke, the one she had considered to be 'the one', had become so angry and bitter over his place in the world, that he had sought to tear it all down, the gods, civilization, all of it, just to vent his hatred. It was an irony that Thalia could not escape. The world passed her by while she remained immobile, ageless in the form of a tree while the everything around her changed. And here she was, an immortal huntress, who would live forever while everyone she knew aged and change and would pass to memory. Yet she would linger in the world forever. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, and perhaps that was the root of so much of her current difficulties.
Still, she looked to the two demigods lost in their own bubble of happiness and felt, at the very least, content that they had each other. But it reminded her of one more regret of her life. Even without the hunt, Luke was her happy ending, and the fates proved how impractical all that was.
"Anyway, I did want to come by and give the two of you your Christmas gifts. Sorry they're a little late," she shrugged as she reached into her travel bag and withdrew a pair of presents, one long and thin, the other significantly shorter. Neither was wrapped.
Handing the long package to Percy she waited a moment as the lifted the lid, revealing a beautifully crafted gladius of Imperial Gold. He gripped the cool handle and felt the surge of power emanating from the weapon. His eyes, immediately recognizing the weapon, studied the blade in practiced observation. "Is this…?"
"Yeah," Thalia said, her voice husky as though the words struggled to slip past her tightening throat. "That's Jason's sword."
"Thalia, I..."
"No," the ageless huntress interrupted, her eyes shimmering as she tightened her jaw to fight back the emotions that swelled within her. "You take take that, and you put in the museum they're building in New Rome, or you put it in your own trophy room, or you use it...I don't care. But I can't carry that anymore. The memories are too heavy..."
Annabeth rested her hand on Percy's forearm as he turned his attention from Thalia to the blade she had entrusted him with. A sad, nostalgic smile tugged at his features as he ran his finger over the flat of the weapon. "Every legendary sword needs a name," he said quietly, his eyes fixed on the blade while continuing to run his finger over the weapon. "I'm going to call it, 'Grace'."
Thalia stared at him as though she had been hit between the eyes. For but a moment, she allowed the teasing, ironic smirk to pull at the corner of her lips before shaking her head. "Grace...really? Our last name? And you honestly want to name a weapon something that signifies elegance and charm?"
For several minutes, Percy stared purposefully at the weapon, his own eyes fighting the flood that threatened to overtake them. Nodding simply as he returned his attention to Thalia, he responded, "I can't think of any better tribute to him."
He had barely gotten the words out before the sob ripped its way from his throat and he buried his face in his hands. Annabeth immediately enfolded him in her arms, soothingly rubbing her hand up and down his back in an effort to comfort him while her own tears flowed freely from the gesture. She took a moment to turn her attention to Thalia, who was fighting her own emotions, before waving her over. Reluctantly, but with obvious gratitude, she moved and joined the embrace, the three heroes who had done so much for the world, suffered so much, had done so much, separately and together, held each other and released their pain.
It was startling to understand, that while Percy and Annabeth had been struggling so hard to get out from under their months of nightmare and panic attacks, they had never collectively mourned this deeply. The pain was too great, and it terrified them to face it. And yet, Thalia, in her own tragic life, gave them an outlet, if even just minutely, and even just a small part of the expanse of their suffering, a way to purge the pain they suffered.
They had lost track of how long they stayed that way, all three of them, together, weeping, mourning their lives, their pasts, and the uncertain future that was as equally terrifying as anything they had ever experienced. When they had finally begun to calm down, to bring their emotions back under control, neither seemed to want to disentangle themselves from each other. There was comfort here, a sense of closeness in their suffering that they had not expected to experience.
Yet, as if reading each other, they all pulled away at once, wiping their eyes and sniffling under the attempt to bring their emotions once more under control. "Gods I needed that," Thalia said, offer a brief gasp of a laugh that danced in the air.
"I think we all did," Annabeth replied, returning her own seat, yet still resting her hand on Percy's arm, waiting until he turned and offered a watery smile to her. It was only then that they realized the three mugs of hot chocolate sitting on the table. At some point, during their breakdown, Sally had slipped out onto the patio, and placed the still steaming mugs for them. How they all loved that woman.
Thalia smiled sadly, perhaps envious of never knowing that kind of maternal dedication, as she took her mug and sipped the liquid comfort that had been offered. When she was finished, she smiled, if not a little sadly, as she pushed Annabeth's gift across the table for the young woman to open.
"This isn't going to make me break down is it?" she asked cautiously as she took the present and held it for a moment as Thalia only shrugged one shoulder, as if not knowing how she would respond. With a cautious smile, Annabeth lifted the lid to reveal a simple hammer resting against the blue cray paper. To any casual observer, the present would have appeared as a throwaway gift, yet Annabeth opened her mouth in stunned realization of what she was given.
Percy recognized the tool as well. He saw it in Hestia's vision, showing a young, blonde girl, huddled in an alley, crying and terrified, and holding a simple hammer to defend herself. The same hammer that now rested in the simple shoe box.
"You kept it?" Annabeth asked, her eyes staring at the woman who as close to her as a sister.
"Yeah," Thalia said, a twinge of memory echoing within her words. "Took a while to find it actually. I had given it to Luke, well, it was in my backpack before I went to hold off the monsters that tried to eat us. I don't know if he ever understood why I decided to keep it, but I trusted him not to get rid of it. Though, it was lost in the Hermes cabin for a while. I had Conner and Travis look for it. They were going to charge me to give it back, but I told them it was for you, and they handed it over, no questions asked.
"But, I wanted to give it back to you," Thalia said, a wistful smile pulling at her lips. "Wanted to remind you where you started, and how far you've come."
"I still can't believe you kept this."
"Yeah, well, maybe I'm getting sentimental in my old age," Thalia offered as way of a joke. While she was, chronologically 23 years old, far from being 'old' in the standard vernacular, she was practically ancient by normal demigod standards.
She took the opportunity to drain her hot chocolate and stand up, offering a small smile to the two demigods who were, for lack of a better term, her only family. As she moved to collect her travel back, she offered a slight wave before she began walking from the porch. "I really should be going, lots to do, lots to think about...where I want to go, you know, what I want."
Annabeth and Percy stared at each other, a silent conversation that seemed garnered more from facial cues than any needed words as the two stood up as on and turned to face the departing huntress. "Hey Thalia, you know, you don't have to go. You can stay here, give you a bit of a safe place while you think about what you want to do..."
While Annabeth's words were hopeful, the black-haired young woman merely shook her head. "I got my own shit to work out. I appreciate it, I really do, but I don't want to put any more emotional issues on the two of you, or Sally."
"At least stay for dinner," Percy added, a smile playing on his features as he stared his dear friend. "we're having cheeseburgers."
Turning her body sideways, as though fighting as to whether to stay or leave, a slight smile at the ploy breathed into life. "French Fries?"
Shaking his head as his smile widened, Percy responded with a simple, "Onion Rings."
Dropping her head as a laugh escaped her lips, she looked back at the pair. "Twist my arm why don't you," said, turning to walk towards the house, stopping only when she came to stand before the couple. "Thank you," she said, reaching up and pulling them both into a one-armed hung.
If only for the moment, there a sense of peace between the three of them. And maybe, just for that moment, it would be enough.
==0==
A/N: This one took longer to write than I intended. Thalia will not be a regular in the story though, but I may write a spin off focusing on her. I liked the idea that she is much deeper than the novels showed, and she's lost a hell of a lot too. May not have gone to Tartarus, but she's lost nearly every huntress she's led, that's got to take a toll.
Anyway, how this was a good entry to this story, funny how it was only intended to be three chapters, and now here I am, chapter 10. But, as always, if you're kind enough to read and like the story, please be kind enough to review, favorite, follow, whatever. Thank you for reading.