A/N Longest chapter in the story! It's almost done now - just another chapter and then the epilogue.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Rick Riordan's work.


Thalia

It had been quite hard to digest when Chiron first told me that I'd been a tree for 6 years and I still wasn't used to it. There would be little things like Annabeth's age or not recognising pop culture references, but I felt so stupid, not knowing these obvious things. And then there was the whole daughter of Zeus thing. This I'd been slightly prepared for. When I was on the run, I'd only received garbled facts, bits and pieces, but not the whole picture. I knew that I was a daughter of Zeus, which meant that people would treat me differently, but I didn't know about the oath, which had now almost created a stigma around me. All of these together meant that I felt very lonely and disoriented for my first few days at camp. Even talking to Annabeth wasn't the same anymore. She'd grown up, found new friends. And I still don't feel comfortable going to her for help, even though we're the same age now because she'd always been my younger sister, not really a confidant in the same way as Luke. Luke. Another person who was missing from my new life. I'd asked around for where he was, but they would just avoid looking me in the eyes and say he wasn't here right now. At first, I thought he was dead, but they confirmed that he wasn't. So where was he? I needed to ask, no, demand the truth from someone. But who? Chiron was out of the question, he wouldn't tell me anything. I didn't really have any friends at camp except Percy, who understood being a kid of the big three was like, even though he got on my nerves sometimes. But this was too personal for Percy. The only person who would understand and explain it, whatever it was, properly was...

Half an hour later, after much internal debate and endless searching, I finally found her reading a book by the lake. "Annie!" I called.

"What did I tell you about calling me Annie in public?" she hissed.

I chuckled and gave a mock sigh, "Teenagers, how fast they grow up."

Annabeth playfully shoved me. "I'm guessing you're not here for a chat? What's wrong?"

I took a deep breath, "I need to know what happened to Luke." Her grey eyes turned stormy, recalling a bad memory. I thought she was going to tell me to go away and stop asking or just give me the same answer as everyone else.

Instead, after a second she sighed, "Fine, I suppose you have a right to know. Chiron told me to inform you about this. But I... couldn't. I couldn't ruin your blissful ignorance."

"Just tell me," I insisted, preparing for the worst. "I can take it."

She didn't seem to believe me, but she began, "I suppose it all started a year and a half ago on the Winter Solstice meeting. Someone stole your father's master bolt."

"What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The ultimate symbol of my father's power stolen?

"Yes. He blamed Poseidon and asked for it returned by Summer Solstice. Later that year, Percy was found by the monsters and brought to camp where Poseidon claimed him. Now, naturally, Zeus was even more convinced it was Poseidon so Percy, Grover and I were sent on a quest to retrieve it."

I almost burst out with an angry curse. Two twelve year olds, one of which was barely experienced and a satyr sent on such a dangerous quest?

"Well, long story short, we got the bolt back and we found out that it was stolen by Kronos."

"Kronos?" I asked angrily. "You faces Kronos?"

"Not exactly. He used a half-blood thief, but this thief was caught by Ares. But Kronos convinced Ares to come to his side. Manipulated him in some way. When we came back to Camp, we didn't know who the half-blood thief was until Luke..."

She choked up, unable to go on. My blood ran cold. "He died?" I whispered, unable to believe it.

"Worse. He was the thief."

It was as if someone had struck a blow to my gut. Luke joined Kronos? The Luke that had been my only companion for two years. The only person I'd trusted in forever. "No!" I exclaimed. "That's just not possible. Luke would never-"

"Well, he did," she snapped. "He betrayed us all. He was the one that poisoned your tree. He is the one that wants to resurrect Kronos again. So you better believe it whether you like it or not!" Annabeth took a deep breath, "Sorry. I've just had time to make my peace with it. You haven't. But I get how you feel, I really do." My mind was still processing this information. Luke has not only turned against the Camp and therefore Annabeth, but he'd tried to poison me?

"Why?" I finally found my voice. "Why would he do something like this?"

Annabeth just shrugged. "I don't know. Anger towards the gods. Power. To avenge you." She said the last bit so quietly I could barely hear it.

"He did this for... me?" I asked disbelievingly. "No, no. This is all wrong. This shouldn't be happening!"

"There's nothing we can do," Annabeth reminded me softly.

I was crying now and I leant against her shoulders to sob. After all, I couldn't rely on Luke for this anymore.