Annabeth

"You'll be able to see him in an hour." The doctor said, smiling warily at Penny. I could see why, her face was flushed pink and her hands were shaking violently.

I took a deep breath and leaned on the wall. He's okay. Percy's okay. My heart was beating faster than ever as I felt my eyes swell up with tears of relief. I didn't realize how tense I was until I felt the muscles in my shoulder relax. The boys had given each other a quick group hug and Penny hopped over to me and squeezed my hands to the point where they turned purple.

"He's okay." I grinned, my smile unnaturally wide. It was starting to hurt my face but gods I didn't care. She nodded and went over to her father. Piper came up to me and asked, "You okay Chase?"

I hastily brushed the tears away from my face "You have no idea." She pulled me into a tight hug and I just stayed there for awhile. Everything was going to be okay. Percy would heal, we'd all go home and live happily ever after just like the fairy tales. But then the back of my mind spoke 'Oh no darling, you still have your mother's letter and a dead Luke Castallen on your hands.'

I froze and felt a cold feeling down my spine. Luke. The cheerful, handsome barista that everyone came to know and love. And poor, poor Thalia. I glanced over at Jason who's eyes seemed to be far away. I felt his eyes move towards me and I looked away.

"Go home, love." I heard Penny's father say. He kissed the top of her head and swept his eyes over us. It amazed me at how bright and pure green they were. "All of you. Take a quick nap. I'm sure Perseus wouldn't want to see his friends weary and tired." We all nodded and turned to each other as Mr. Jackson walked away.

"He's right though, we all look like corpses." Piper said, looping her arm in mine. Jason looked away. "You guys go ahead. I'll go see my sister." Piper frowned "Do you want us to come with you?" He shook his head and we all stood there in silence for a moment. I knew who we were all thinking about.

"Alright. I'll order us some food." she nodded, breaking the silence. We all turned to follow her and right as we were about to leave the corridor I stopped and turned around. Jason was still standing there, looking lost.

"Go." Piper said, making me jump. She was suddenly standing in front of me. "I don't really know what to say to him, he keeps pushing me away." I nodded and jogged up to him.

"Hey." He turned around, his eyes slightly tinged red. I felt wary of invading his privacy but he gave me a small smile. "Hi."

"Mind if I tag along?" I asked. His eyes travelled to nowhere in particular. "Well, don't have much of a choice if Piper made you huh?"

I bit my tongue "We're all worried about you. And Thalia."

"Hm." he muttered, staring at the bustle of nurses and doctors walking around "Let's go." I followed him, keeping myself a step back. The feeling of euphoria that erupted inside of me a minute ago was suddenly washed away with the thought of Thalia Grace and Luke Castallen. I felt bad for feeling happy that Percy was alive, I couldn't imagine what Jason felt.

"What do I even tell her," Jason mused "How do I tell her that Percy survived and Luke didn't?"

I kept silent. I didn't know. I hated not knowing. "She loved him. didn't she?" I wanted to bang my head against the wall. Of course she did, I saw her face when Luke had been shot. I heard her cries. Jason bit his lip.

"She did. Still does. He was the only constant in her life, from what I could understand." He replied shortly. I didn't know how Jason felt about that. Maybe he felt guilty, along with a tinge of jealousy. We reached her hospital room and opened the door. A petite young nurse with dark hair and dark brown eyes sat next to her, pressing a moist towel over Thalia Grace's forehead. The nurse's eyes were tinged red and seemed tired. Thalia however, looked like a corpse. Her pale skin was even paler and her eyes were bloodshot, water and puffy. She didn't even seem to be breathing.

"Oh looky," she croaked, a dry chuckle leaving her lips "My dear little brother and the lucky princess."

I bit my tongue again. Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have come. Of course she'd resent me. Jason was probably thinking the same thing, judging by the uneasy glance he gave me. Or maybe he was just silently apologizing. He looked over to the frail nurse.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She can hear you." Thalia muttered. Ignoring her, the nurse replied "She-She's resting." I was taken aback-she had a strong French accent. Maybe she was appointed by Percy's father. Thalia held up the middle finger to us, which Jason ignored. He turned to her uneaten bowls of food.

"You need to eat you know." he said flatly. "You look sick."

"Like you care."

"Weren't you about to run away?" Jason asked hotly "Anyways, that's not the point right now. I do care, you're my older sister."

"There's only one person who truly cared for me," she muttered "And he's dead." Her eyes filled up with startling tears so she pinched her nose bridge and closed her eyes.

"How do you even know him?" Jason asked quietly, sitting at the edge of her bed. I was grateful to Jason for asking the very question that had been floating in my head for sometime. Thalia sniffled.

"He was-could you wait outside Marinette?" she turned to the nurse who jumped and nodded, quickly leaving. Thalia turned back to us "He was in the gang too," she said in a low voice "His dad...was one of the mob bosses."

"Wait, what?" I was startled. I did not expect that "Does that mean he knew Percy's dad?" Jason looked started as he turned to his sister for confirmation. She nodded.

"He didn't have a good relationship with him," she continued, looking down at her fingers "It took some time and planning but we managed to escape. His dad tracked us down, it's a cult. They can find anyone at anytime. His dad probably knows that he's dead and he's going to come for me next."

"Don't talk like that," Jason said harshly "We-there are doctors around-"

Thalia laughed with no emotion "Jason, this is a fucking cult. They will take down anyone and not do anything. Law enforcement is nothing. You saw how they were on the street that day of the shooting."

"They were trying to take down Luke," I said, connecting the dots "They knew that he was about to run."

Jason turned to me, his face pale. Thalia leaned back against her pillows "See? She's smart."

"Thalia, that means that they'll be after you too. They probably know that you're here." I said, rubbing my temple "You need to get better and be discharged as soon as possible."

She turned her blazing eyes back to me. She probably made her way well around the cult, she knew how to take people down with a simple look "And I thought you were smart. If I get discharged, I can't come back home. I'll have to be on the run and I doubt that I'll be back this time." she finished bitterly, like the ending to a broken, ruined love story.

"So that's why he was planning on making a run for it, his dad found him. And you were going to "go with him." Jason stated. Thalia didn't look sorry.

"It would have happened one way or another. I'm sorry that I wasn't in your life Jason, but I can never be. Penny may be connected to this, but she was never directly involved. She can sit at home and make cookies and sandwiches without a care in the world. I can't do that. Cults are scary things Jason, it's more than just a group of weirdos pushing a religion or belief on you. You literally have to sell your soul to whatever the purpose is." Her eyes were wet again "You have to let me go, and I should too."

"But-"

"Jason." I interrupted. I stared at Thalia. We were nothing alike, except for the fact that we had both run away from home at times. Thalia was a danger. Wherever she is, people would always come after. She had to be on the run at all times. "Thalia's right."

"It's easy for you to say, she isn't your sister!" he argued. He took his sister's hands "Don't run. We can hide you."

"Where?" Thalia asked, tilting her head and giving him a hollow smile. "I-I don't know!" Jason cried in frustration. "But-"

"I'm sorry." Marinette came back in the room, looking solemn "But unfortunately, visiting time for Thalia Grace is over. She must rest."

"Just five more minutes, please-" Jason begged, but Thalia squeezed him hand.

"I need to rest Jason. Please." she asked quietly. I could tell that Jason was torn in half and I didn't know how to make him feel better. Finally he settled for a tight hug. To my surprise, she held out her arms to me as well. When I got close, she whispered, "Please keep him safe. And tell Penny I said thanks for everything." I pulled back and nodded, close to tears myself. We walked out, Jason in front of me. I turned and took one last look at Thalia Grace before closing the door. We both knew that this was probably the last time we'd see her.

oOoOoOo

It had started to rain outside. Everyone on the busy streets were either putting their jackets up to their heads or running for cover. Cars honked at the busy traffic. Jason was the only one standing in the rain quietly. I just stood next to him awkwardly, wondering whether I should call us a cab.

"All my life," Jason said softly "My dad always drilled it in me; the world is divided into two types of people, good and bad. If you were bad, law would deal with them. If you were good, stay that way. That's how life works."

I imagined a strong, busy business man lecturing a younger version of Jason. The thought saddened me. He didn't have his sister for his entire life and now she was gone again.

"What made you realize that that was not the case?" I asked. He waved at a cab.

"The day Percy told us about his past. Let's go home." He answered solemnly. Just then his phone started ringing. He glanced at it and smiled a bit before picking it up "What's up McLean?"

"Jason," I heard her say in an agitated voice. My skin started crawling. What had gone wrong now? Jason felt it too-he gave me a scared look. "Piper? What happened?"

"Are you still at the hospital?"

"We just left, Pipes what's going on? Who's hurt?" he said, glancing around as if worried that someone was watching us. He waved the angry looking cab driver away.

"I just got a call from the doctor. It's Percy, he's awake."