8 November, 2007

The darkness and the silence was nothing new to me. I was used to it.

Sneaking around was also nothing new to me. I thrived at it. After all, it was my job as a son of Hermes.

But what was new to me was the frantic beating of my heart as I stepped into Camp Half-Blood for the first time since I had. . . done the thing that I really shouldn't have.

That day had been the worst. I still can't believe I did that. It was the worst thing I could have done, the only thing that had given me hope was Percy's ability to butt into everything and save everyone. Luckily, Percy had proven me right and brought Thalia back even after I poisoned her tree.

Luckily.

It's been forever since I've written a diary entry. I haven't since. . . Kronos. It reminded me of Halcyon too much and how he was right about me. Thalia hadn't believed him, she always consoled me saying that he was a crazy old man, who, though brave, always had a chance of being wrong.

Look where that got her.

I hadn't been able to stop thinking about her (I'm still not, by the way) and that was why I decided to go see her.

No, you didn't misread that, I actually went to see her earlier this evening. It wasn't an easy task, sneaking out of the palace on Mount Tam (- or Othrys, now) but I managed it.

I knew my way around camp better than almost everyone there, even Annabeth who never had the courage to go exploring every inch of camp, and the woods, after nightfall. In the four years before I was made head counselor of the Hermes cabin, I had gained knowledge about practically all the secrets of Camp Half-Blood. Today, I put it to good use.

And with my winged shoes (the magic of which I had the Empousai alter to work as normal flying shoes instead of dragging you to Tartarus) the task was made a lot easier. The shoes had appeared by my bedside today morning, somehow, and I decided that I might as well use it for my little adventure tonight.

I left discreetly at sunset, without capturing any unwanted attention, fluttering slightly above the ground, so my footsteps wouldn't be heard in the echoing halls of the castle.

After a few bus rides and a little fake money via the mist, I was standing on the mortal side of Half Blood Hill, heart pounding in my ears.

I knew that if I set foot on the ground, the harpies would eat me alive. And, not unlike my nightly wanderings at camp, I rose a few feet above the ground before entering, not alerting Peleus or the harpies with the unnecessary sound of my footfalls.

I wasn't sure whether Thalia even knew about the secret ledge above the Zeus cabin. I wondered what would happen if she saw me. I didn't know what to expect, if that happened but, fluttering onto the flat part of the dome, I decided that I wasn't going to back down after coming so far despite what my rapidly beating heart was telling me.

My descent into the cabin was fairly quiet and as soon as I landed, the giant Zeus statue caught my eye. I shuddered at the god's stern glare, wishing that it would turn around and give me some privacy to stare at his daughter.

I stood beside her bed, watching the back of her head with my face scrunched up. She mumbled something incoherent and my shoulders tensed.

"No. He couldn't have. . . He'd never. . ."

Thalia shifted in her position and I saw her face. She seemed restless, despite the fact that she was asleep.

I stepped closer and pressed a short kiss to her forehead and whispered, "It's alright, Thals, I got you."

A hand grabbed my neck and pushed my head sideways into the bed roughly. The cold metal of a blade was pressed against my throat. I looked up and saw Thalia heaving, blue eyes wide in alarm.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, pressing the blade in deeper.

". . . Just wanted to see you." I replied, slightly. Thalia's eyes glistened in the moonlight.

"Tell me the truth." Her eyes were narrowed and her voice was as hard as her grip on the dagger.

"Honest to the gods."

She took a ragged breath and looked me in the eye.

"Why?"

"Do I need a reason to see you?"

Thalia scoffed. Her reply was cold. "At this point? Yes."

Tears stung my eyes. "I missed you. I. . . couldn't stop thinking about you."

She glared at me before throwing her weapon across the room and collapsing on the bed.

"So. . . You always sleep with a dagger under you're pillow?"

"Don't." She warned.

"Thals-" I flinched as she sat bolt upright and glared at me. Shifting closer and putting a hand on her cheek, I tried again, "Thalia. . ."

Her gaze faltered.

"Luke." She breathed, shoulders tense.

That gave me the courage to join our lips. Not even a few seconds later, she pushed me away muttering, "No, you can't - no. . ."

I sought her gaze.

"Just leave." She said, staring at her feet.

"I love you, Thalia, so much. . . I -"

"No, don't! I loved you too, and that's why it hurt as much as it did when I heard that you left us - me. You left me, Luke, when you knew I would never have wanted you to do this." She shouted.

"I wanted to do you justice." I said through my teeth. "You wouldn't have even been alive if I had never poisoned your tree."

Thalia froze. "You... you what?"

My heart started racing again.

"I didn't think you would stoop so low." She whispered, expression pained.

"But. . . I - I knew that Percy would - he would get the fleece. I - it was all part of the plan-"

"Kronos' plan, you mean?" She pursed her lips. "Get out."

"Thal -"

"Get. Out." She said, twisting his arm and pinning me to a pillar. "If you don't leave right now, there's no telling what I may do to you."

"I'll go - I'll leave you alone." I choked out.

"Good." I thought I heard her voice crack but didn't dare to look back as I scrambled back up the rungs and headed back to the palace. I'm not sure how many tears I shed on my way back but. . . that was what happened today and the only reason I'm writing this is because I need to get it out of my system, tell someone. Unfortunately there is no one I can tell so. . . yeah, I did this. I guess I'll now go cry myself to sleep at crack of dawn in the hopes that I'll tire myself out, somehow.

Luke.

A/N : So, I just wanted to apologize for the terrible writing. I have never written in 1st person before, so this was a bit confusing. I'm pretty sure I used 'He' in the place of 'I' a lot of times in this and... yeah, I guess that's it. Thanks for reading!

Yours Truly

ReynaLovegood2 :)