AN: sorry it it feels rlly blocky...reviews are always appreciated, enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights go to Rick Riordan
Her dream had started out fine. Relatively traumatising, but other than that, just fine.
She was in a park. One she recognised. It was the one her mom had taken her to when she was ten, up north, towards the wine country. She scanned her surroundings, gaze landing on a cute family of three getting out of their car. With no one else around, she walked closer, hoping to see why she was here.
The more details she made out as she got closer, the bigger and tighter the knot in her stomach grew. A beautiful blonde woman was smoothing out a picnic blanket on the grass as her two children played around. Thalia inhaled sharply. She knew that woman.
Switching her focus to the two kids, she watched the older girl, around ten years old, playing with her younger brother, a little toddler, walking around with the girl's help. It would've been hard to tell they were siblings; the girl had dark, black hair, whereas the boy had bright blonde hair, gleaming in the sun.
Thalia continued to stare at the trio, wide eyed, as they carried on, not acknowledging her presence. Maybe they didn't see her. Mouth set in a thin line, she walked towards the mother, eyes narrowed in suspicion, watching as she continued fretting over the blanket, wringing her hands. The woman's eyes were wide as they scanned the park, alternating between eyeing the children and back to looking around.
Kneeling down directly in front of the woman, Thalia glared. She knew what was going to happen. Looking right through her as if she wasn't there, the woman did another sweep, before walking towards the children. Thalia trailed behind, dread growing. She finally made out the faces of the two kids, confirming her suspicions.
They looked up at the arrival of their mother, both staring at her with the electric blue eyes of their father. The little boy's face broke into a grin, the little scar on his lip twitching and stretching. It was still fairly red and bumpy, not yet fully healed. Giggling away, he reached up his arms, hands opening and closing.
"Up, up!" He squealed as his mother picked him up, grunting slightly with the effort. Her daughter stood to the side, arms crossed, mouth set in a thin line, regarding them skeptically. Turning to face the frowning girl, the woman pasted what she thought was a smile, more of a grimace on her face.
"Thalia, can you go grab the picnic basket? It's in the trunk," she added, nodding towards the parking lot where their car was.
"Please?" She asked again when the girl made no move, staring at her, distrust written clearly all over her face. Huffing, she reluctantly trudged towards the car, leaving the woman with her brother.
"No, no, no, no!" Older Thalia yelled after her younger self. Don't leave them alone. She turned back to see what her mother had done with her brother, but they had disappeared. Whirling around, she scanned the park. They were nowhere to be seen. She frantically looked for her dream double, but she was gone too.
"No…" she breathed. She had to find out what her mom did. What had happened. She had to. A woman's laughter echoed as the world started spinning, faster and faster. She squeezed her eyes shut, dizzy from the vertigo. The laughter grew louder and louder until it sounded like roaring and her eyes flew open, just in time to see the dragon charging towards Percy.
She yelled his name, before everything twisted, and suddenly she was in his place. Looking around wildly, desperately searching for a way out, the knot in her gut coiled tighter when she realised. She was trapped. The dragon opened its jaws, unleashing a torrent of fire. Screaming as she burned alive, it hit her.
This was how Percy had died. Terrified and in pain, separated from his friends. The world turned black as the fire consumed her. Jolting up, the phantom burns from the dream still seared across her skin, still blazing. Looking around with crazed eyes, she realized they were in a cave, and there were two figures; one next to her, the other sitting in front of her. Turning to the person next to her, she stared into their eyes.
Sea green eyes.
The person in front of her seemed to be speaking, but she couldn't hear them; couldn't understand. She only knew one person with eyes that colour and he was dead. Then they spoke.
"Thalia? What's wrong?" That voice. It was Percy's voice.
But he was dead. Which meant she was still dreaming. She needed to calm down, maybe speak to his ghost. Apologise. They had promised to look out for each other, watch each other's backs. And now he was dead. Finally, she turned to him, ready to face him. His hand felt real and solid enough in her grip.
"You died, Percy. You died, and left me just like he did." Luke and Percy exchanged confused looks before turning back to Thalia.
"What do you mean I died? Who left you?" She shook her head, still not breaking eye contact with him, refusing to look away. She had to let him know how sorry she was.
"You died. I watched the dragon burn you," the words seemed to be harder to get out, pushing against the lump in her throat. He let go of her hands, brushing against her cheek, wiping the tears away.
"Thalia, I'm alive. See?" Before she could react, he had taken out his knife, and ran the blade along his forearm, leaving behind a trail of crimson blood. Motionless, she stared as the blood slowly trickled down his arm before dripping to the floor. She heard Luke cursing, reprimanding Percy for being 'reckless' and 'stupid' as he grabbed his bag, rummaging around for the first aid kit and ambrosia.
Slowly lifting her hands up, she gently cupped her hands around Percy's face, not touching, as if he would disappear if she did. Replacing the knife in his sheath, he lifted his hand to cover hers, pressing her palm to his cheek.
"I'm here, Thals," he stared at her, and finally, she breathed a sigh of relief, pulling him into a hug. They stayed that way for a few minutes, until Luke came back over, stern faced, armed with bandages and ambrosia. Smiling sheepishly, Percy untangled himself from Thalia, before standing up.
"Guys, I have to show you something really cool," he grinned, bouncing on his feet and gesturing for Thalia to get up.
"Percy, you can show us later, let me fix up your arm first. You're bleeding!" Luke was having none of it. Thalia slowly stood up, steadying herself against the wall, before she started following the two boys, Luke still demanding Percy to 'stay right there young man'. Percy just snickered as he continued to back towards the cave entrance, his excitement almost tangible.
Reaching the mouth of the cave, they stopped, staring up at the dark clouds, the rain sheeting down like a watery curtain over the entrance. This storm wasn't going away any time soon. Luke glanced at Thalia, a little in awe.
She had caused this. Who knew what else she was capable of.
"Okay, now check this out," Percy was grinning from ear to ear, looking immensely proud of himself. Turning around, he stuck his arm out into the rain, even as Luke protested, waving his bandages indignantly. Percy just stood there, letting his arm soak in the rain, whilst the two teenagers looked on incredulously.
Thalia shifted as Luke coughed into his fist. Was something supposed to happen?
"Wait for it," he crooned, holding up a finger like in the cartoons. Then with a flourish, he drew his hand back inside, presenting it to them with a proud "ta da!". They stared at his arm; rather, they stared at the cut, watching as it shrunk, the skin healing over, leaving a thin red line, awe growing as that too, grew lighter and lighter before simply fading away.
"Okay, I'm done, let's go back now!" Pushing between them, he strolled back towards the fire before sitting down, all the while wearing an absolute shit eating grin. Thalia stared at him, looked at Luke, then turned back to Percy. Luke had already seen Percy using his powers, but he was still dumbstruck.
When they were finally all seated together near the campfire again, they looked at Percy expectantly. Shrugging, he recounted how he had woken up at the bottom of the lake, telling them about the fish, and how he discovered he could heal in water. They gave him their full attention as he described his burns and concussion before they healed, how he had figured out how to control the water, and managed to get back up to the clearing, looking at him in a new light. His expression darkened as he recalled his panic when he couldn't find them, the firelight creating shadows that made his face seem a lot older and scarier than six.
When Luke asked how he knew to come into the cave, and how the dragon wasn't dead, Percy looked down, refusing to meet their eyes. Taking that as a sign that he had finished, Luke told them how Thalia had collapsed after striking down the dragon. He explained how he had killed the dragon, before bringing Thalia and the rest of the things into the cave, gesturing to the small pile of wild fruits. These, and the remaining food in his pack was all the food they had left, and they would need to find more soon, or go hungry.
Percy wasn't avoiding their gazes anymore, but he wasn't really speaking either, just staring into the fire with a sombre expression. The silence was interjected with the occasional snap of wood in the fire, until Thalia finally spoke up.
"Luke, when we first bumped into you, didn't you say you were here for something?" Startled, he looked up at her, admiring the way the flames reflected in her eyes. His expression soured as he registered her question and he looked away, instead staring at the pouring rain.
"Luke?" She prompted, reaching out to touch his arm. He muttered something, still facing away from the both of them, and this time even Percy looked up, meeting Thalia's eyes with his own questioning gaze. Sighing, Luke turned back towards them, resigned.
"I had a dream. From my dad," he muttered, not meeting their eyes. They waited, content to let him speak on his own.
"He told me to go to a cave in South Carolina. He said I would be able to replace my sword if I went in."
"Sword?"
"I had a Celestial bronze sword, but it got melted by acid a few months ago, long story. I've been using this golf club ever since, also long story," he explained, gesturing towards the golf club to the side. Their eyes widened in realisation. Percy had wondered why he was carrying a golf club, of all things.
"I came up here three days ago. It was the same cave in my dream, but the first time I went in, there was nothing. I went in later that night and could hear snoring, but I didn't know it was a dragon. I just thought it was some wild animal or something," he shrugged.
"The second day, yesterday, I bumped into you two, and the rest you guys know."
"So you've only been here like a day longer than us?"
"Yup." He replied, popping the p. He shifted in his spot, considering something before he asked.
"Do you guys want to come with me?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I still want to look and see if there's actually a sword. This golf club isn't that effective against monsters, I'm only still alive out of sheer luck," he said the last part somewhat bitterly. Percy and Thalia locked eyes, having a silent conversation. Percy shrugged, Thalia rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, we'll be sticking together from now, so might as well," she announced, standing up again before walking over to the small pile of berries, inspecting the fruits. She grabbed a handful, popping them all into her mouth in one go, turning back to face the two boys.
"What're you guys waiting for? Let's go!" They looked at each other and grinned, Luke offering Percy a hand up. Bending down, Thalia took the torches out of their bags and passed them over, switching her own on. Together, they headed off into the blackness of the cave, the fire still crackling at their backs.