Chapter 10: Hydrogen Bomb

Thalia

Was it irrational?

Perhaps...

Did she make a mistake?

She certainly hoped not…

Was it eating away at her from the deepest part of her heart?

Thalia could only curse in frustration.

This wasn't what she wanted to happen, but now that it did, all she could do was escape, to leave her friends behind and secure their escape route.

Thalia hated this. She wasn't one to run away. She was a warrior and a fighter. She should be the first one standing against the Minotaur. Instead, she let them face fate on their own.

"Damn it!"

Zap!

A thunderous boom suddenly blasted a tree in the maze garden as it spontaneously exploded and caught fire. It was her true godly power being displayed.

But with a strange turn of events, the destroyed tree began to repair itself, growing rapidly until branches and leaves returned, seconds later, the tree was back to its original form, hiding itself from the outside world.

"I don't have time for this…"

Flying with a blinding speed of Mach 5, Thalia snapped from above the burning mansion back to their original landing site in the blink of an eye. She did catch a glimpse of the collapsed lawn field churning stacks of smoke in the air, but this wasn't time to dally around.

While whiplash didn't affect her, it was a different case with the brunette girl held in her arms, Drew's eyes suddenly widen and her cheeks ballooned and puffed out.

Thalia ignored her and snap toward the ground. She landed on her feet and toss Drew somewhere on beside her. The girl immediately unbound the tape over her mouth and hurl.

Thalia shook her head and activated her bracelet.

"Owlfred? Where are you? We need extraction at Rachel's mansion. See if you can find my location and land the helicopter at the pier. Hurried!"

A familiar voice reached her ear, "Thalia?! Oh thank goodness, I lost communication when you entered the mansion. I couldn't get to you no matter how—"

"Doesn't matter right now! Listen, Annabeth and Percy are trapped in an underground lab with everyone. I don't have time to explain, but I need you to come and landed as soon as possible. This will be a hot exfil, so be ready to temporal gate back to the estate when our tails are being followed."

"Okay-okay. I got it, Lady Thalia. ETA ten minutes out."

"Get here under five, Owlfred."

"That's impossible…" Owlfred sighed, "But if I overload the engine circuit and re-route the thrusters, I might."

"Just do it, Owlfred! I don't want to stand here while everyone is in danger."

Another sigh, "Roger that. ETA five minutes out."

As neon-blue echoes faded from her bracelet, now it was just the simple phantom storage gadget every single Half-Blood carried with them, it left her with an interesting thought though, one that she couldn't help but felt slight guilt over.

Why, Lady Athena? Why didn't the rest of the other—

It was the first spark of doubt that had entered her mind since Athena saved her and her brother from being eaten by hungry wolves baring their fangs. Thalia didn't like this feeling. She wanted to fly back down to the lab, defeat the Minotaur and save everyone.

But was it just an excuse from the unfamiliar thoughts in her head?

She couldn't do such reckless things anyway.

After all, she made good on her promise to get the helicopter on the pier. Otherwise, she would have truly broken Annabeth's trust. She needed to have faith in her, to believe in her ability to survive and save everyone.

It was Annabeth's first life or death battle, one that no one else could save her from, but there was no other way. She had to trust her. She had to—

"So, why didn't you tell her?"

A pitiful voice mocking her came from the side, it was the daughter of Aphrodite. Despite her almost passing out on the ground, the girl tried to be as blithe as possible. Thalia felt disgusted.

"Tell her what?"

Her sneer grew.

"About Luke of course! Why did you all keep it a secret from her?"

Her nose twitched. Clearly, this girl knew more than what she's been led on. Thalia quickly understood what she was doing and tried not to let it get the better of her restraint, but…

"I wonder why… Poor little thing, not only is she dealing with the trauma of almost being raped, but now the people closest to her are lying right to her face."

Drew's smirk unsettled her.

"I wonder how Annabeth is feeling right now…"

There was no need to ask. Thalia knew the answer to her question already.

"You are wrong. Annabeth isn't some weak-minded girl. She can handle the truth."

"Ah… I wonder about that,"

Thalia's heart tumbled as the unfamiliar thoughts in her head grew louder.

"I mean, if that's the case, there is no need to keep it a secret, right?"

Words that froze her solid, something sharp pierced her heart with a truth she wasn't ready to accept. It took all but one sentence from her enemy to stop deluding herself.

"Besides, you didn't see what she almost did after I told her about Luke." Drew spared no thought of holding back despite her situation, "Even though Percy's surrounded, she rushed me alone, put a knife to my throat and demanded I tell her everything, sooo scary…"

She smirked like that of a cunning devil, "If Percy didn't stop her blade, I wonder how everything would have turned out?"

Thalia didn't want to listen to this nonsense anymore, especially coming from Drew. It couldn't possibly be true anyway. There was no way Annabeth could lose control of herself like that.

Annabeth was—

"But that's what I hated about you guys." Drew shrugged and her voice filled with disgust, "You are always quick to protect the people closest to you, and I can't stand how repulsive it is."

"I could say the same thing about you…"

"Tsk-tsk… That's where you are wrong. We are totally different. I don't care about anyone but myself and what I can get from it, you see?"

Deciding this conversation was nothing but useless, there was no point in it continuing. Instead, she should be focused on the horizon while thinking of ways to save her friends.

Is there really nothing I can do?

"Still, I wonder what would happen if she met him now…"

Her venom-spitting words ignited fire from the pit of her stomach, a thunderstorm to be unleashed regardless of what she said next.

"Because I know Luke would love to finish what he started two years ago."

Thalia's fist clenched.

"Besides, I thought you have a history with him too, even before Annabeth's—"

Whack!

Drew stumbled backward as a scuff red mark landed a few centimeters from her right eye.

"Don't talk like you know everything, Drew." Thalia gritted her teeth, "You don't know the struggle Annabeth went through to get past it. You don't know anything about us. You are just a pitiful girl who is mixed up on the wrong side, and trust me, I won't let you off easy. We are going to make you tell us everything before throwing you into the exile dimension."

Pulling by her shirt collar, Thalia had just about enough and tossed her back down on the floor, "So look forward to your long and probably eternal stay there."

"..."

The silence that followed wasn't pleasant, it seemed Drew had some ulterior motive behind her strangely emotionless gaze. She didn't look afraid nor happy about spending the rest of her day in the exile dimension. It worried Thalia.

Thud…

Drew landed on her back roughly. Thalia ignored her pained groans and tape her mouth shut again.

That would teach you to mouth off against me…

Then, loud whirring sounds came from the west as a single dot blinked repeatedly in the night sky across the river.

"Lady Thalia, I am on the horizon. Can you see me?"

Owlfred was still a distance away, but with the turbo engine he'd modified on the spot, it was only a matter of seconds before landing.

"The LZ is clear, Owlfred."

"Roger that, beginning descent."

As the helicopter closed in, a downwash picked up speed and pushed everything away. Thalia stood firmly amidst powerful wind that could have slashed her cheek with ease, but because Owlfred was their pilot, the helicopter landed flawlessly with no complication whatsoever.

"Landing successful," Owlfred said over her bracelet, "But where is everyone?"

The rotor blades soon slowed down enough to be boarded. Thalia rushed toward the starboard doors while holding Drew hostage behind her. She threw her in and cuffed her against the metal bars on the side, just out of sight from the main cabin.

"It's hard to explain now. Just keep everything on standby and be ready to extract us back to the estate." Thalia said, "I'm going back to help Annabeth."

Owlfred materialized, "Wait, then what about her?"

"Keep an eye on her. She won't be going far." Thalia gestured, "Don't worry, I'll get everyone back…"

r-rumble…

Before Thalia could step off the cabin, a small earthquake rocked the earth and tilted their landing gear sideways. Owlfred immediately blinked back to take control of the cockpit. They lifted off slightly to adjust for a small shockwave that would have knocked them over if not for Owlfred's quick thinking.

"What was that?" Thalia asked as they hovered steadily a few feet off the air.

"I sense huge seismic activities underneath us. It's seemed to be coming from below the garden."

Thalia's heart sank.

Right below the maze garden was Walter's lab, the place where all her friends were trapped in a death battle with the Minotaur and his minions. Whatever just caused that quake and shockwave couldn't have been….

"Owlfred, stay here! I am going!"

"Wait! Thalia!"

There was no time to talk as Thalia jumped from the helicopter mid-air and flew back to the garden entrance. Passing by the ruins of what was once the lawn, Thalia paused when something interesting caught her eyes. The now collapsed pile of rubbles began to tremble, and a violent quake shook mountains of rocks atop one another. Deep beneath, something was about to burst amidst strangle electrical discharges snapping away in the air.

"What the…"

Before she could figure out what was going on, a bright yellow energy wave blasted outward right in front of her face!

"Shit!"

It was an explosion so violent in scale that even Thalia's ability to control her flight was not enough, the blast threw her tumbling backward in the air. Even the deadliest volcanic eruption in history couldn't have made such an intense aftershock.

"T— Lia… Thali— a…are you o-kay?" Owlfred's transmission turned static.

Blown back, Thalia only managed to stay upright when the air particles around her were steady enough to manipulate, but by that point, the explosion had already sent her a few hundred feet away, now hovering above the river.

"What the hell…."

Awestruck and terrified all at the same moment, Thalia couldn't believe her eyes because an all-too-infamous cloud of smoke and dust formed from the base of a newly created crater.

"Th-halia…" Owlfred responded with utter bewilderment.

Whatever happened in the underground lab, it couldn't be… there was no way that…

But deep down, Thalia suspected the worse. The familiar cloud wasn't a figment of her imagination, it was clearly an atomic explosion blasting outward toward the skies that easily reach beyond the stratosphere. Most likely, a nuclear bomb.

"Annabeth!"

Perturb by the frightening images in her mind, Thalia didn't bother to care about the risk of radiation poisoning as she speeded toward the center of the explosion. There was absolutely nothing of how it used to be. The collapsed lawn was gone, the maze garden was gone, the mansion was only partly intact, everything about Rachel's mansion was replaced by a huge crater that led itself to a half-destroy laboratory. Everything was in ruins.

"Annabeth! Where are you?"

Thalia rushed inside with a slight glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe…

Everything about her surroundings was only a fog of grey smoke. Even the presence of danger; the overwhelming threat that was the legendary Minotaur himself, nothing remained and had long passed after the denotation that caused this horrific display of devastation.

"Annabeth?! Please! Answer me!"

Then she heard coughs, a series of coughs from at least two people.

Oh my goodness…

The pressure squeezing her heart eased. The sound of someone coughing was a relief on its own. Thalia rushed to the voices.

"Annabeth? Is that you?"

More coughs echoed in the middle of an ash fog filled with dust.

"Damn it! Annabeth? Where are you?"

No one answered her, but the coughs were getting louder and reverberating in different directions.

"Is everyone okay?!"

A hand suddenly grabbed her. Thalia almost squealed and looked around to a pair of green eyes and a body smeared in a grey cloak.

"Heh… That was crazy…" He smirked.

Thalia almost screamed a second time.

"Oh my God, Percy!"

Not only did the son of Poseidon survive, Percy managed not to get hurt at all as he collapsed on his knees but was otherwise alive and well, "W-What the hell happened?"

A dry chuckle left his throat, "You should ask Annabeth that, Thals."

"Can you stand?"

"I'll be fine." Percy waved her off, "Just go and help everyone else. They are over there."

Pointing behind him, Thalia now heard huddles of whimpers and more coughing from that area.

"But…"

Percy let go of her arms and breathe heavily with both hands on the floor.

"I'll be fine, Thals." Percy reassured again with a somewhat exhausted smile, "Go and help the younger Half-Bloods and get them to the helicopter. Jason is there with them. I'll find Annabeth, Piper, and Illya."

Thalia didn't want to leave without knowing what happened to her best friends, but her priority first should be making sure that her brother and everyone were safe and accounted for.

"Be careful, Percy."

Percy went off deeper into the smokes despite stumbling quite a bit, "I'll find them so don't worry. We'll be back before you know it."

Leaving her trust in Percy, Thalia headed toward the other direction where everyone's voices were growing louder. It's already a miracle that they managed to survive the blast of an atomic bomb, but after witnessing the abrupt destruction it left behind, Thalia knew for certain now that it wasn't part of Walter's meticulous plan at all, meaning…

"Is everyone okay?"

"Cough… Is that you, Thalia?"

"Yeah, it's me!"

Finally, the smoke fog cleared up for her to see the group huddled together in the corner. Luckily, it seemed Katie was able to protect them with a barrier shield at the moment of the blast. No one was seriously hurt.

"Thank goodness that's over…" Connor breathed a sigh of relief and plop down.

"At least the Minotaur is back in the underworld for the time being." Travis sighed equally long with his twin brother.

Deep exhales left everyone, including Rachel who looked around the newly destroy ruins with slack jaw amazement, but also with alarm the likes of which she probably hadn't seen before, "So is this typical for Half-Bloods?"

"Eh… Most of the time?" Katie replied with an abashed smile, "Well, most of the time anyway if Annabeth didn't try to set off a nuclear explosion."

I knew it!

Thalia was certainly going to have words when Annabeth showed herself, but for now…

"Can you guys stand? Our escape is back up on the pier. Owlfred is waiting for us."

Like a flock of ducklings, the younger ones nodded and waited for instruction. Meanwhile, Thalia told Travis and Connor to keep watch at the back, Katie to take care of everyone in the middle, and Rachel to help her with Jason. Everyone kept order as they exited the half-crumbling lab, out to the middle of the crater as they climbed out the shallow end.

Predictably, everyone was unnerved.

"Remind me not to ever get on Annabeth's bad side…"

Travis mimicked his twin brother, "Word, bro."

Once they were at the surface, a rapid gust of wind met them. Further down, Owlfred kept the engines running while waiting for her exactly as she asked.

"There, we are heading out on the helicopter. Let's go."

Everyone followed.

"Thalia! Oh my God, what happened? Where is Lady Athena?" Owlfred spoke through her bracelet once she neared their escape vehicle, then with Rachel's help, she opened the doors.

Thalia struggled to lift her wrist while carrying her brother, "I'll explain once we are safely back in the estate, Owlfred."

Thalia brought Jason inside the cabin and laid him on a seat in the back. One by one, the twins and Katie helped the frightened young Half-Bloods into the helicopter. Even with seventeen more passengers on board, there was more than enough room for everyone. The only concern was Owlfred's ability to handle flight with so much weight, a factor that would surely slow down their extraction.

Owlfred materialized and looked at the new guests, "This is… unexpected."

"Make sure they stay safe here." Thalia gestured for everyone to sit still, "I am going to find them and come back as quickly as possible."

"Actually, you might not need to…"

Thalia followed Katie's voice and looked back puzzled.

"Hey! We need help here!"

A figure emerged from the smoke followed by two smaller figures behind huddled together. They climbed out of the crater with bodies cloak in grey ash, any resembling features were hidden behind a thick veil. Luckily, they were all alive and…

Wait… why are there only three of them? Where is—

"No…"

Thalia immediately rushed out. Held in the arms of the boy laid a flail and motionless girl, her left arm hung loose before him as he cradled her to safety.

"Percy!"

The son of Poseidon collapsed on his knees once he made it out of the crater.

"I am sorry, Thals…"

Percy was completely exhausted but still held the wounded girl close, "It's Piper… She's hurt."

Thalia went down on her knees too and brushed Piper's hair aside. There was no response as she wiped a smear of ashes from her face. In any way she looked, Piper was barely clinging to life. The usually lively girl was now gasping with a weak voice, her strained expressions and the painful gashes around her body were no doubt the result of the explosion. Even worse, a huge splinter of wood pierced her abdomen. It was stuck deep, a wound that wouldn't be easy to fix.

"H-How…?"

"I am sorry…" Annabeth spoke while being held up by Illya, "I tried to protect her, but instead, she protected me…"

Thalia had never felt so helpless since those days when she was homeless with Jason. What happened to Piper wasn't anyone's fault, but Thalia froze regardless. Seeing her best friends in such a gravely wounded state and barely kept alive, Thalia wanted someone to blame, someone to be the bad guy…

"Why didn't—"

Then Percy snapped her back before she have a chance to say something ugly.

"It doesn't matter right now." Percy said as he struggled valiantly to stand, "We should head out now while we still have the chance. We can heal everyone once we are safe. Help me with Piper, Thals."

But Thalia froze.

"Thalia! Please…"

"R-Right…"

Taking Piper in her arms, Thalia rushed back with them trailing behind her.

"Oh my God! Piper is…" Rachel gasped.

No one was able to muster up words as Thalia carried Piper towards the back. Everyone could only look on with sympathy from the depths of their own helplessness.

Then without hesitation…

"Let me tend to her wounds." Katie jumped straight up and rushed to her side.

"Thanks," Thalia whispered softly.

You'll be fine, Pipes… You have to be…

"Give her some space beside Jason." Thalia gestured for Rachel to move as she placed Piper next to the equally wounded Jason, "Owlfred, prepare ignition to take off now."

"Roger that."

It didn't take long before Percy, Annabeth, and Illya boarded the helicopter too. They settled down beside everyone in the main cabin and a collective breath of relief escaped them.

"Alright, everyone is accounted for. Let's go, Owlfred."

Heavy whirling from the helicopter's rotor blades grew increasingly frequent, though the sound muffled completely when Owlfred sealed the doors shut.

There was a moment of weightlessness as they lifted off from the ground. Despite the extra weight, it seemed Owlfred could still manage as they gained altitude and speed toward the only place they were ever safe.

Their extraction was now completed.

Everyone plopped back into their seat and visibly relaxed.

"A…Are we safe?" One of the younger ones asked.

"Yeah, we are safe…" Thalia sighed. Her tiredness was showing, but she went to comfort the boy with a head pad anyway.

"We are heading to a place where you won't get hurt anymore."

Skepticism found its way into his expression, but Thalia couldn't blame him, this might be the first time someone had taken care of him and offered him a safe place to live.

It was the rough life almost all Half-Bloods had experienced at some point in their lives. There were a few lucky ones like this boy and everyone here, but a lot weren't.

Thalia smiled at him and felt a renewed determination.

"Stay here and take care of your friends. We'll be back before we know it."

He nodded.

Walking away as she went to check on Piper and Jason, Thalia found Katie hard at work healing their smaller wounds. Of course, no amount of healing magic was going to get either of them better, their wounds were too severe. Katie did her best though, enough to stop their pained groans for now.

"She'll live, Thalia. They both will."

Thalia blushed when the daughter of Demeter read her thoughts, "Thanks, Katie. I own you one."

"I'll hold you to that." She flashed a smile.

Moving away from the back of the cabin, Thalia tried to check with Rachel and the twins. They were exhausted though, more so for the auburn hair girl because she was out cold against Connor's shoulder.

"Take care of her, will you?"

"We got this, Thalia." Connor put a thumb up with a shameless smile, "I wouldn't want to waste the opportunity when a cute girl is using me as her pillow, right bro?"

Thalia rolled her eyes as Travis coughed awkwardly at his brother, "Like I keep telling you, think before saying something like that, okay?"

"What? Come on, you've gotta admit that Rachel is kinda cute, right?"

"You know I have a girlfriend, right?"

"I know."

Thalia hurried away as the twins began to have a somewhat heated and pointless argument. At the very least, they were energetic enough to still fight, so…

Anyway, there was only one more group to check up on, the group that Thalia had the most questions for, not lest to sink her teeth in a certain girl with a blonde ponytail for the utter craziness that followed from their fight with the Minotaur.

"Hey,"

Percy, Annabeth, and Illya turned to face her with new worried looks that manage to give them away for fear of being in trouble. After all, they blew a hole in Rachel's mansion and also Brooklyn.

"Uhh… Hi Thalia,"

While it had only been a short ten minutes, Owlfred somehow managed to get them across Queens without any complication, now the vestige of the destroyed Brooklyn pier and the mansion burning on fire became nothing more than an afterimage.

Not for Thalia though…

Blue eyes burrowed into a pair of cloudy grey ones, Annabeth nervously pursed her lips, "Thalia… I-"

Plop!

"Wh-wha…"

A tight hug pushed the words out of Annabeth's mouth, Thalia just couldn't handle the feelings in her heart anymore. Keeping the princess in her sight, the girl she was supposed to protect with her life no matter what, Thalia was angry, sad with worries, the buried tears rolled off her cheeks for feeling proud of her but also frustrated all at the same time.

"I told you not to do anything crazy, princess."

"""…."""

They didn't speak at her sudden display of closeness. Thalia felt weird as it was so unlike her, but it was Annabeth who reached out and patted the top of her head softly.

Like comforting a puppy, it was her way of saying: "There there…"

Awkwardness settled in the air, Thalia was well aware of Percy's and Illya's uncomfortableness as they tried to decide whether to leave or not, but now that she had her reassurance from the girl who caused this mess, it was time. Finally, the real chewing began now…

Followed by a hard shove away, Thalia held Annabeth's shoulders with a freezing grip and glared.

"Now tell me why you set off a nuclear bomb in the middle of the city or I'm going to cuff you to the chair!" She pulled away and looked dead serious at the princess.

It wasn't a joke, and that's why she heard a self-conscious Uh-oh leaving Annabeth's lips as she shrunk backward.

"…. And I was ready to protect everyone, but-"

Unable to finish, Illya continued, "I taught Annabeth how to control her magic circuit so she can cast a protective barrier when the explosion happens, but I couldn't rush in time to protect them from the blast, except for Percy, that's why…"

They looked to the back of the cabin where Katie was whispering softly to Piper who seemed to be gaining a bit of her consciousness back.

Annabeth winced and looked away.

Still, their explanation eased a few of her worries. Surely, the Minotaur had always been a tough enemy to deal with. The few times she had crossed paths with the monster, it always took an entire group's effort to make him retreat. Annabeth did more than that, she sent the foul beast straight back to the underworld.

If there was anything to be praise about setting off a nuclear explosion while being trapped in a confined underground lab, killing the Minotaur was undoubtedly an incredible achievement on its own.

"Are you mad?"

Thalia decide to shake her head and sighed, "I couldn't be mad at you even if I wanted to, Beth. Besides, you protected everyone like you promised. I'm proud of you."

"Thalia…" Annabeth bit her lips, "I didn't protect anyone. Everyone protected me."

"Still, I am proud of you."

Percy nodded in acknowledgment too, "Me too, wise girl. You save everyone here."
Annabeth looked longingly at her seaweed brain but quickly hung her head, "I didn't save anyone, Percy. If anything, I just cause more problems, and I almost— I… If you didn't—"

Thalia passed a soft glance, "Don't worry, princess. We can talk about it later, there are things we need to tell you anyway, things we shouldn't have kept from you."

"Thalia… Percy…"

"You'll be fine, Annabeth. I am never leaving your side, so don't worry."

"Percy…"

Their gazes drawn to each other, Thalia smiled when the couple shared a hug of reassurance. Just watching how they seek comfort in each other's embrace could make even the most apathetic person jealous, so it's no surprise everyone was watching them with a smile of their own.

"I love you," Percy whispered ever so softly while Annabeth hid her blush.

"Ahem!"

Thalia's interruption was enough to separate them while pink flushes plastered on their cheeks.

"By the way, your homemade bomb didn't have any radioactive material, right?"

"Oh,"

Everyone predictably turned their heads.

"Hmm? I think so?" Annabeth tilted her head, "Besides, I would need plutonium or uranium in order to make it actually radioactive, so don't worry."

She beamed a carefree deredere-type smile, "At least, I think we should be fine, so…"

Said so nonchalantly with such a super straight poker face too, Thalia and everyone else could only eyeball at the princess, "Ahh…"

"What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Most Half-Bloods in the cabin looked away uneasily and whistled to themselves. Thalia sighed.

"Well, I guess it's time to properly teach magic to you two now." Thalia looked at the couple who miraculously kept their promise with newfound despondent, "Maybe that'll stop you from coming up with any more crazy ideas like this."

"Hey! I am right here, you know?"

It was Percy who let out the first snickering laugh at his wise girl. That was it. Illya followed suit, Katie tried to suppress it, Travis and Connor both gave wry smiles, and eventually, Thalia lost as well. She was a total sucker when it came to being roped into a good mood.

"Maawhh!" The princess pouted, "I hate you so much, seaweed brain!"

"Hey! Come on, I didn't do anything!"

The laughs on his face said otherwise.

"I don't care. Go die in a fire!"

"Awww… Come on, wise girl…" Percy nudged closer.

Even from a distance, their display of affection was obvious enough that everyone knew to give the couple their alone time now. They were on the verge of being lovey-dovey again, even Thalia knew it was best to leave them alone.

"Man! I am beat!" Thalia was finally able to relax into a seat, "This has been a wide night."

"You were a huge help, Thalia." Travis said, "Without you or everyone else, we wouldn't have escaped from Walter's schemes at all."

"Yeah, probably. By the way, how did you two end up there? Did Chiron give you a quest or something?"

Travis brushed his hair, "Actually, it's because… Well, Katie was supposed to bring back some new Half-Bloods, but when she went missing, we thought something might have happened given the news about Amk and Walter, so we went to investigate and managed to find her along with everyone here."

"Too bad we got knocked out after someone sneak up from behind us." Connor pushed his bangs away, "It would have been a breeze to get everyone back safely if we were more alert."

Thalia understood now.

"Did… Did he do anything to…"

Travis shook his head, "No… we made sure the younger ones are safe, but we weren't able to protect Mera. She was there longer than Katie, so they must have done the majority of their…."

His words paused as he looked at the kids.

"It's sad that we can't defend her because that prison sealed our powers away. I don't know how they can do that, but someone must be helping them."

Thalia nodded, "You are right about that,"

Thalia shared a look with the twins at the confused kids, "We are going to have to debrief at the estate anyway, so I'll explain everything we've learned when we are back."

Connor blew a breath up and sent his bangs flying, "That would be great, but I am not sure if the others will…"

Thalia bit her lips. It was true what Connor was saying, but this wasn't the time to think too deeply about them, "Let me worry about that. You worry about sending the message across the camp."

Travis grinned, "You always know how to handle a crowd, Thalia. I know it won't change what happened, but I'm sure they will lend an ear."

Connor nodded as well.

"And besides, once they hear about Rachel being the oracle spirit, they'll jump at the chance to help out." Connor patted the sleeping girl's head to which she cooed softly, "I mean, no one would be able to say no to her when she used her cuteness to charm everyone, right?"

Visible hopelessness from two, no… three pair of eyes trained themselves at the twin brother most likely to get himself into trouble.

"I sometimes hate being your brother…"

"Twin brother! Don't forget that."

"I hate my life… "

Suddenly giggling, Thalia quickly bit her lips to quiet her laughs while Katie smirked at her, "Yep. I deal with these two exclusively. It gets exhausting after a while."

"I bet," Thalia smirked back.

And with that, Thalia finally felt like she could relax.

Leaning back into the couch, Thalia sighed an especially long breath. Everything that happened today had been nothing but a hectic mess one after another, but at the very least, they were all alive, that's more than what could be said about many other Half-Bloods who took on huge quests like this.

This was why it's only natural for Thalia's consciousness to suddenly drift.

The longer she leaned back and got comfortable, the urge to softly drift away grew softer and softer until….

Wreeeeekkttt!

Violently thrown out of her seat, Thalia almost smacked face-first into the divider that separated the cabin. She barely caught her balance by kicking up with her feet on a drawer.

Then another rough pitch rolled them toward the starboard and threw everyone off their feet.

"What the hell is going on!?" Annabeth squealed as she hung on for dear life.

Finally, their flight seemed to stabilize. Luckily, everyone was wearing seatbelts, and the ones that weren't: Percy, Annabeth, Illya, Katie, and Thalia all managed to stay upright.

"Sorry! That was the automatic evasive maneuver program." Owlfred announced, "Is everyone alright?!"

Gosh darn it! What now?

"Look! Behind us…"

Thalia passed a glance at the windows behind them. Nothing but the clear dark skies were visible, yet the older son of Hermes wasn't one to lie often, so Thalia looked harder.

"Is that…" Rachel was wide awake and perturbed.

Something was blinking, red and green dots flowing side by side were closing in on them along with a shadowy shade of darkness. It had a huge hull, yet it barely stood out because its exterior tint was pretty much concealing itself against the night.

"Travis is right. We've got a tail behind us." Owlfred sounded on edge, "This one is going to be tricky."

A stealth attack helicopter?! Thalia bit her lips and wished for nothing more than this madness tonight to end already.

That's when two consecutive explosions detonated on both the starboard and port side. They were a good distance away, but its shockwave rocked the cabin and sent huge turbulence on their flight path nonetheless.

Everyone screamed in terror.

Watching the events unfold, Thalia could only curse to herself.

Just how much more of a vile monster are you? You are ready to blow up your own daughter?!

"It doesn't seem like they are here to play around, Lady Thalia." Owlfred said urgently, "I can barely avoid those warning shots. I won't be able to keep dodging their missiles if this keeps up."

Fist clenched tightly, Annabeth looked straight toward her as if wishing for some kind of miracle to magically appear, "Please tell me you have a plan, Thals!"

There was only one she could think of, but the risk was probably greater than having Owlfred initialize temporal gate, while making sure to avoid their missiles, and also being mindful about the extra weight on board…

It was nearly impossible. Owlfred might be an AI, but even his theoretically limitless processors would have a limit, and Thalia didn't want to strain him too much and risk their AI friend having random shutdowns, especially not when he was the sole pilot of their helicopter.

"Alright! I've got a plan. Let's go, Percy!"

"Go? Where are we— Ah! What are you doing…?! N-Not Again!" The whole cabin stared wordlessly as she punched the locking switch and let the right door slide open, all the while pulling a really reluctant Percy in a tight grip as she stood on the edge.

"Th-Thalia…?" Annabeth blinked her wide eyes.

"Don't wait up for us! We'll stall them as long as we can so get as far away from here as possible, then temporal gate back to the estate, Owlfred. We'll be back before you know it."

Owlfred blinked orange in acknowledgment, "Good luck, Thalia. I'll get them back safe."

Thalia nodded at everyone's speechlessness before…

"Wait… You are not going to… J-Just hold on a minute-ee— Ahhhh!"

Thalia jumped out and dragged behind an unwilling son of Poseidon by his arms. They hurled a good hundred feet toward the ground before she stabilized them with her flight power. His raspy voice rang out like nails on a chalkboard as he hung to her for dear life.

"You are fucking crazy, Thals! And after all that talk about Annabeth's crazy nuclear bomb plan, you are even crazier!"

"Quit whining, Percy." Thalia flew back up to the same elevation and sneak behind their enemy. The fact that they didn't tilt or made any deviation in their flight pattern meant they didn't see the two of them jump off the helicopter they were pursuing, "You said you can manipulate your elements now, didn't you?"

"Yeah…? But how is that going to help in any case whatsoever?! Besides, that was just one time! A special case! It's not like I can do it again on the spot!"

"Figure it out, Percy." Thalia kept closer enough to avoid detecting their radar sensor, "I'm going to start attacking now and draw their attention."

"Huh?!"

"You'll know what I am trying to do soon enough, now get ready!" Thalia closed her eyes to focus on preparing an incantation, "Be it devastation or preservation, I alone command the heaven realm and beyond. Heed my prayer, my body is nothing more than a conduit, your sole protector. Stay your blade, I shall be your sword. Lay down your shield, I will defend your prestige and slay for your esteem honor. For my life has always been yours, LIGHTNING ZENOBLADE!"

A thunderous boom shook the skies and snapped down with violent intent. Lightning bolts from all different directions struck the same place at the same time. A single person absorbed its tremendous power, sending a blast of energy wave as it rippled across the dark purple skies right beneath the cloud. Finally, Thalia opened her eyes and greeted the familiar sight of her body pulsing with electricity. Her incantation was now completed.

"…" Percy just held to her in speechlessness.

Thalia was now one with her element.

"You're…"

"Pretty cool, right?" Thalia smirked, her vision now filled with vibrant blue electricity and snapping away with limitless power, "It won't be easy taking this guy down. That's why I need you to create a water shield and render their attacks in a stasis bubble. It will give me more than enough time to do some real damage."

"R-Right…"

Thalia nodded, "I'm counting on you, Percy."

Raising her right hand with palms out, blue electricity snapped toward the skies as it thundered and boomed at her command. Dark clouds floated above her fingertips drawing otherworldly power as increasing frequent flashes of purple lit up the skies.

"Take this! Lightning Shard Volley!"

Four intense bolts snapped with incredible speed and struck the stealth attack helicopter, yet all it did was rattle its hull while a deadly amount of static power coursed through its metal plates before dissipating into thin air. The overwhelming attack only sent a bit of turbulence on their flight path.

"Tsk.." Thalia scowled.

"How… How is it still standing?"

"I suspect as much," Thalia flexed her right hand a few times, "That helicopter had been modified to withstanding lightning strikes."

"So what now?!"

Before Thalia could answer, their enemy finally tilted around and hovered face to face with the same attitude as them. Baring down with high-power machine gun cannons and armed with guided missile rockets, Thalia sensed a tough fight ahead.

But then…

A droplet fell from the skies, followed by increasingly frequent drops one after another. Before her very eyes, the skies started pouring buckets. It was raining hard with a perfect thunderstorm to match.

"I guess we are pretty lucky after all. This will make it easier for you, right?" Thalia passed a glance at Percy who was shocked at the sudden change in weather.

"Did you do that?"

Thalia shook her head, "No, but I bet someone saw our battle and is trying to help, so let's make the best of it and take him down, right?"

Despite his apprehension, Percy nodded and slowly held out his left hand too, "Okay, let's do it!"

"Good." Thalia ready her right hand and released a one-handed long sword, her element immediately fused with the blade and created a bright aqua glow on top of silver, "Let do it, Percy!"