Annabeth's POV
None of us could believe it.
Percy was no longer confused by our confusion. He fully understood what was wrong and why we were stunned.
Here was Thalia, our friend who was taken over by monsters and blessed into a tree by her father Zeus six years ago, now returned thanks to the power of the Golden Fleece.
But no one was more confused than her, though.
She looked around at all of our faces, stopping on mine. She squinted. "A-Annabeth?" She turned to Jasmine sitting beside Percy. "Jasmine?"
Toothless went up beside her and nuzzled his head against her.
"Toothless?" She asked. "You've grown. All three of you. Except maybe you, Grover."
Some of us chuckled at that last comment, but that was more than I could say for her. Thalia seemed to be the same size as she was when we lost her.
"Thalia," I said, a lost for words. "I can't believe you're back."
"Back?" she repeated. "Back from where?" She looked around at all the other campers. "Where are we? And where's Luke?"
Jasmine and I both pursed our lips. The campers shuffled awkwardly on their feet.
"What?" Thalia asked, noticing.
"Perhaps we should take this to the Big House," Chiron suggested, though it was more of a polite command.
The campers dispersed and went back to their usual morning activities. We helped Thalia to her feet, her continuing to lean against Percy for support. It was weird to be at the same height as her now. Grover, Chiron, Thalia, Percy, Toothless, Jasmine, and I walked down the hill to the Big House, Thalia looking at every object as we passed by them.
We ran into Mr. D on the porch.
"Well, if it isn't my little sister," he said, sipping his Diet Coke.
"Sister?" Thalia asked.
"Yeah, this is Dionysus," Jasmine explained with annoyance.
She stared at her. "The Dionysus? The god of wine?"
"And, yeah, your brother as well as the camp director, unfortunately, yes. Be careful around this asshole."
"The irony of that coming from you," I muttered.
Thalia eyed him warily as we continued to carry her inside. Percy and Grover settled her down on the couch gently and Jasmine and I sat down next to her, after taking off my armor.
"What is this place?" she asked.
"Thalia," I said gently and placed my hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Do you remember where Grover was leading us to?"
"Camp Half-Blood," she replied. "Is this it?"
I nodded. "This is Chiron, the activities director. He trains all of us." I gestured over to him, who had retracted back into his wheelchair, making Thalia's eyes go wide. "And this is our friend Percy, a son of Poseidon."
"Poseidon . . ."
Percy was standing near us and raised his hand up. "Hi."
"My dear, what's the last thing you remember?" Chiron asked Thalia.
She closed her eyes in concentration. "Umm, we were following Grover up the hill to camp. We were being pursued by monsters. I was at the back of the line with my shield Aegis . . ." She fiddled with the shield in its bracelet form, still on her wrist. "I told the others to go up ahead and I would hold back the monsters from catching us, and then . . . here I am now." She opened her eyes and looked up. "What happened? Why is it so many years later? And you still haven't told me where Luke is."
We all exchanged nervous looks.
"You're doing it again," Thalia said, getting frustrated. "Tell me what happened to him. Or where he is. Is he . . ."
"No," Jasmine and I both said in unison.
"So why isn't he here right now?"
Jasmine and I exchanged one last look.
"You're going to want to sit back for this," Jasmine told her.
"I'm already sitting," she replied.
"And you may not believe us," I said.
"Try me."
We took a deep breath and we told her. Everything. From the moment she "died" to right here, right now. All while drinking tea that Grover set out for us.
She took everything calmly as we explained about the camp and our quests. She wasn't the least bit surprised that I was a daughter of Athena. But that lasted until we told her about Luke and his association with Kronos and how he was helping him destroy the Olympian gods. She was shaking her head as if she didn't want to believe it.
"I know he didn't like his father," Thalia admitted. "But . . ."
"We know," Jasmine agreed.
"Perhaps you all should give Thalia a tour of camp," Chiron suggested. "Show her her cabin. We'll introduce her to the rest of the camp tonight at the dining pavilion."
We nodded.
"Come on, Thalia," Jasmine said, standing up from the couch. "Let's show you around Camp Half-Blood. You'll love it here."
Jasmine was right about, as she always seems to be. Thalia adjusted well and quickly at camp, even better than Percy did, though she had us to thank for that.
It wasn't long before she began to act like the Thalia we remembered. Like the rest of us, she enjoyed camp and made herself at home. Even made a couple new friends in the process, as well as some enemies, naturally.
We enjoyed what was left of the summer session and then headed our separate ways for the upcoming year. Grover continued his search for Pan; Percy went back to be with his mom and search for a new school to attend next year in New York; Will did the same with his mom up in Maine. As for the rest of us, Chiron suggested to me and Jasmine to bring Thalia to our home and have her attend school with us (but to keep an eye on her and stay in touch with him).
My house was out of the question. An occasional visit would be fine, but staying in the same house with my father, step-mother, and step-brothers . . . no way. Luckily for her, Jasmine's parents, and family in general, were happy to welcome her into their home. This school year was certainly going to be an interesting one.
Wow, this was a short ass chapter. It has got to have been at least two years since I wrote this. I think I struggled to come up with ideas between these two books and what to do with Thalia, especially since I didn't particularly like her at first. I really don't like wasting my time making up a bunch of shit for a character who isn't going to be around for too long. I'm sure she would have maybe had more of a reaction when she learned about Luke, but that was never really specified, so I went with how calm she was when she finally came face-to-face with Luke in the book.
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