Special shout-out to NorthwestStar whose work is absolutely amazing and you should definitely go and read (not that I should need to advertise because her work is genuinely great and you should be reading it without me telling you to)
Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan so I don't own any of his work.
Luke
Clang! Clang! As he charged at me, I parried the blow. Duck, slash, parry. Slash, parry, duck. We continued trading blows, until he finally had his sword at my neck. "Getting sloppy Luke," Joe, the councillor of the Hermes cabin reprimanded. "What's wrong? You seem a bit out of sorts today."
"Nothing," I replied, trying to sound convincing. "I'm fine." Of course, I wasn't really going to tell him the real reason I was so upset today. Involuntarily, I glanced up to Half-Blood Hill. To her. Joe seemed to notice that and realised what was wrong.
"Oh no! I'm sorry. I didn't realise today was the day." I nodded glumly. Most people wouldn't understand why I was still grieving. They would tell me to move on. To get on with my life. But Joe understood. He'd known loss too. With a sympathetic, yet scrutinising look, he suggested, "Why don't you take the rest of the afternoon off today? It might help you to think a little. Clear your head. Don't want to you to die because you're too distracted!" He laughed weakly at his own joke and I offered a grateful smile.
"Thanks Joe." I turned away from the sword arena, deep in thought. Unconsciously, I began walking in a random direction and realised that I had taken myself to the tree. But I wasn't the only one there.
Annabeth was touching the trunk of the tree and saying, "I miss you Thals. Here at camp, I've found friends, siblings, but they're nothing compared to you. Even Luke's become distant lately." Guiltily, I realised that was true. At first, I'd checked up on Annabeth everyday, making sure she was alright, she was happy. Later, she was claimed by Athena while I was claimed by Hermes and we drifted apart. There were fewer times for us to meet and, if I was completely honest, she reminded me too much of my time with Thalia. Every time I saw her, all the pain and bitterness from losing Thalia would come back. But, I realised, she was still my family as much as Thalia was. I may have lost Thalia, but I resolved not to lose Annabeth as well.
"Annie," I called.
"Luke?" she asked in amazement. "What are you doing here?"
"Same as you I guess," I shrugged.
"You didn't hear anything I said did you?" her expression became more guarded.
"No," I lied. Noticing her expression, I asked, "What's wrong?"
"I - I just miss her," she whispered, pulling me into a hug.
"I know, I know," I told her unable to say anything more. Finally, she pulled out of the hug, wiping her tears.
"I just feel like I should have done more. Maybe, if you weren't burdened with me, you would have made it. I couldn't even fight properly. That's why I'm training so hard now. To make sure that it doesn't happen again," she confessed. I hadn't realised Annabeth felt this way. I'd been selfishly nursing my own grief instead of trying to help her.
"Annie, there was nothing more you could have done. Nothing any of us could have done. And you were a massive help to us. Remember the cyclops in Brooklyn? We're family and family isn't about always doing everything yourself, it's about helping each other through difficulties and vice versa." She nodded.
"How - how do you cope?" she asked nervously. I had no idea how to answer that. The truth was, I didn't. But how could I tell Annabeth that?
"Maybe," I ventured. "Instead of thinking of just the last night, think about the good times we had together. Like... remember when she saved up to buy an ice-cream for you?" Annabeth nodded, smiling fondly.
Then, she replied, "Yeah, that was the best ice-cream I ever had. Remember when she hot-wired that car when you panicked from a monster attack and ran around like a headless chicken?" I nodded, embarrassed by the memory, but Annabeth just giggled. It had been a long time since I'd seen her this happy. We continued reminiscing of all the good times until the sun set. Thalia might not be here, but we could keep her memory alive.
