As Thalia pulled her car into the garage, all she could do was stare ahead. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Annabeth was watching her closely, as if looking for a reaction. Thalia wasn't going to give one. She was just fine, considering the fact that she had spent the last hour thinking she had killed someone.
Technically, Thalia did kill the thief. There was paramedics close by though, and they were able to restart the thief's heart. So, did it really count? Annabeth seemed to think so. She didn't say anything during the ride home, but she kept shooting looks the entire drive home.
Thalia got out of her car and didn't wait for the others. She couldn't even look at Bianca. This wasn't how Bianca's first mission was suppose to go. Bianca was suppose to learn how to stay safe and how to listen to Thalia. Then, she would catch her first criminal. How had the night gone so wrong?
Annabeth would probably take over the main training responsibilities for Bianca, which was fine. Annabeth could teach Bianca all of the rules and procedures. Thalia would just make sure that she taught Bianca how to properly take down criminals.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Bianca asked. Thalia glanced back at them and walked out of the garage and towards their small meeting room. She would just need to grab the keys to her own personal car and get away from everyone. "Someone did die."
Thalia stopped in front of the door and threw it open. Then, she turned towards Bianca and spoke, "I didn't kill anyone. They restarted the thief's heart, so I didn't kill him. Got it?"
Bianca didn't say a word. She just nodded. Thalia turned around and stared inside their meeting room. Percy and Piper were sitting at the table and staring at her. Fries were hanging out of Percy's mouth. Piper looked like she wanted to say something, but she ended up just staring.
"It doesn't count," Thalia snapped, as she looked at the two of them. She sat down in a chair and crossed her arms angrily. Thalia glared at the ground. When she had seen the gun pointed at Annabeth, all she could do was flash back to the bridge. She remembered Kronos taunting her, and every part of her thought she was going to lose another person she loved. Thalia would not allow that to happen again.
How would she explain it to the Olympians though? They would want to know why she hadn't waited for Bianca. It was true that Thalia didn't see Bianca there, but she also didn't really look. If Thalia had seen Bianca, the outcome probably wouldn't have been any different. There was no way for her to trust that inexperience wouldn't get in the way.
As Thalia thought about what happened, she took a deep breath. Words couldn't begin to describe how relieved she felt when the paramedics had restarted the thief's heart. It meant that she didn't actually kill anyone, and she wouldn't be pulled from doing missions. The thief would spend the night in the hospital, and once he was discharged, he would go straight to jail. The Olympians would have a talk with him first.
The entire situation still bothered Thalia. She didn't doubt it was an inside job. Two thieves with almost no tools broke into a secure office for Vulcan Industries. They knew exactly where to find Vulcan's office and where he kept the AI. Only people who worked there could have known the easiest path to take, so it was inside job.
Annabeth shared those thoughts with her mother on the ride home. Minerva had been on speaker, and thankfully, she didn't comment on what Thalia had done. She did tell them that Vulcan had taken everyone who worked in his office out to dinner only a hour before the break in. Their families were invited as well, and according to Minerva, everyone showed up.
That meant the thieves knew that no one would be working late. They must have been given the information by someone who worked there, but Thalia didn't know who would have the motive. Vulcan made a ton of inventions, but a lot of them were to solve specific problems in the town. There wasn't any rival corporations that would be able to make much use of the knowledge, so what were the thieves trying to accomplish?
The thieves were willing to kill for the AI. Why was it so important? Thalia sighed tiredly as no answer came to mind. She rubbed her face. Thalia heard someone walk in and took a deep breath. Thalia looked up and relaxed as she saw Leo.
"Hey guys. I heard my dad's place got broken into," Leo said. He sat on the table and grabbed a sandwich. His face was covered in grease, and he was wearing his tool belt. It always seemed like Leo's tool belt was full of everything imaginable, but it had never ripped or seemed to weight the scrawny boy down. "What did they take?"
"They took an AI that your father calls Talos. Do you know anything about it?" Annabeth asked. Leo looked at them and nodded. He grabbed some of the leftover fries and started to eat them. Thalia sat back and looked up at Leo.
"You guys know all about how my dad hates making AI because of that little incident about a decade ago, right?" Leo asked. Thalia nodded and tried to think back to what the incident actually was. She had only been about six or seven at the time, and her parents kept her shielded from it. All of their parents refused to talk about it.
Thalia did know that Vulcan created some kind of artificial intelligence. It was suppose to guard City Hall and some of the important items that were inside it. According to their parents, the AI glitched out and mistook a security guard for an intruder and killed the security guard. Thalia had tried to look up the incident a few times, but the newspapers didn't mention it. The news station didn't either, and there was nothing in City Hall's records. It was like the incident never actually happened.
"Well," Leo said, and Thalia was broken from her thoughts. She looked at Leo. "My father has spent a decade trying to make up for what happened. He has been working on a new AI that will help protect the streets. It's still an early prototype, but it works with our roomba. The next step is to put it inside a robot body. He still has the one from a decade ago, but I don't think he is going to use that."
Thalia shook her head. She didn't know why Vulcan wanted to make the AI so badly. It was like he didn't want the heroes to do their jobs. Thalia sighed in annoyance and laid her head back. Annabeth spoke, "The other thief got away with the AI, but it's useless without a body right?"
"Totally useless," Leo said. He leaned back. "I guess you could attach it to a computer, and it will tell you the best way to kill someone. It will also put a virus onto your laptop, if it isn't compatible with your software. That was a safety feature that my dad put in."
The room fell silent for a few moments. Leo was busy devouring the fries. Annabeth stared at Thalia, as if trying to see if she would have a reaction. Percy was leaning against Annabeth and staring at Thalia as well. Piper, the only normal one, was minding her own business and looking at her phone.
Thalia closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. All she wanted was for the day to be over. The weekend was coming, and she wouldn't have to worry about seeing Minerva again or even having to stay at home. She could just go to the arcade all day or anywhere else that would keep her away from people.
Hopefully, no one would try to break the law or commit another crime. Thalia didn't want to have another incident so close to what happened. It would just cause people to question her more than they already were. Thalia heard the sound of something slamming, and her eyes snapped open.
"She is ready!" a voice yelled, and there was the sound of something crashing. Thalia slowly looked at the door that was across the room. The door was thrown open a moment later, and Jupiter stormed out of the room. He walked straight past Thalia and out towards the garage, but Thalia didn't miss the blood that was trickling from his knuckles.
Out of the corner of her eye, Thalia saw someone step out of the meeting room. Minerva met Thalia's eyes but didn't say a word. Another woman, Diana, appeared behind Minerva. All Thalia could do was stare. Was Minerva trying to convince Diana and Jupiter that Thalia wasn't ready? Did she tell the about the dream?
Thalia could feel Minerva's gaze piercing into her, and she quickly stood. Thalia turned and hurried out of the room. She rushed past the garage and made it outside, to where her car was. Thalia didn't know where she was going, but she needed to get away from everyone.
Why couldn't things just calm down? Everything should have been back to normal by now. There was no reason for Minerva to worry about how Thalia was in the field. Her reaction to the thief was just a reaction. There was nothing else to the situation.
Thalia stalked towards her car and got inside. She turned the radio up loud enough for her ears to hurt, and she tore down the street. Her father was taking her side, but it was causing him to argue with one of his oldest friends. It made Thalia sick to her stomach. Why did she have to be involved in this? Why did Minerva have to bother with her personal life?
Thalia drove down the road and stared ahead. It was hard to separate her emotions. She was happy that her father had her back. She was upset that her father and Minerva argued because of it. Thalia hated that Minerva was so worried about her. Hell, her friends were worried about her as well. They didn't need to worry at all. Thalia was just fine, wasn't she?
After a few moments, Thalia pulled her car over to the side of the road. She turned down the radio and rested her head against the steering wheel. Thalia wasn't okay. She wasn't fine with the fact that she chose to have Kronos kill her girlfriend. Just remembering the moment caused anxiety to grow in Thalia's chest, and it also tore the breath from her throat.
Thalia needed to talk to someone, but who would understand? Her friends were worried about her, but they just didn't understand. They said it wasn't her fault. It was though. Thalia needed to find someone who understood. After a moment, Thalia looked up at the mirror and studied her own, broken eyes.
Thalia turned the car around and started to drive. There was one place she could go to. There was someone who understood what Thalia was going through. Thalia took a deep breath and focused on the road ahead.
If everything would just return to normal, Thalia would be fine. She would be able to return to her normal self. There would no longer be this terrible guilt that ran through her chest. She wouldn't spend half of her nights remembering what had happened. Everyone worried about her though, which made her keep remembering everything. She took deep breaths.
Thalia turned up the radio again to try and distract herself. It worked, until she came to her destination and pulled up in front of a house. Thalia took a deep breath and got out of her car. She closed the car door and just stared ahead. Could she really do this?
After taking a deep breath, Thalia closed her eyes. She felt someone's piercing gaze and slowly opened her eyes. Thalia didn't see anyone staring at her, and she didn't see anyone at front the door. It took a moment for Thalia to look around, but she still didn't see anyone. Was she just imagining things?
This was a bad idea. All she needed to do was get in her car and drive away. She should have never came here in the first place. Thalia saw movement and turned her head. She looked at the alley not far from her. Thalia could have sworn that she saw a flash of movement, like someone really was watching her.
Thalia shook her head and tried to focus. She couldn't make excuses for not walking up to the door. She would either do it or leave. After taking another deep breath, Thalia walked towards the front door and knocked. Thalia heard a soft bark from the other side, and after a minute, the door slowly opened.
Hylla opened the door completely and stared at Thalia. It took a few moments for Thalia to sit up and meet Hylla's eyes. Hylla looked absolutely exhausted. There was bags underneath her eyes, and her face was pale. She stared at Thalia.
"Do you blame me for Reyna dying?" Thalia asked. She knew that she should have started by greeting Hylla or asking how she was doing, but Thalia needed to know. She needed to know that she wasn't the only one who hated herself.
Hylla looked away and seemed to think about it. Before, Hylla had always seem so strong and sure of herself. She always had this fire in her eyes, but that was no longer the case. Hylla just looked broken and beaten down. After a few moments, Hylla nodded.
"Everyday," Hylla answered. Thalia looked down and nodded. "Then, I blame myself for getting Reyna involved in being a hero. I then blame my father for forcing us to leave Puerto Rico. It doesn't help that my mother was a monster. In the end Thalia, I blame everyone who was involved. Then, I realize it was Kronos' fault. He is the one who killed my sister, and I want him to suffer for it."
"I do too," Thalia said. Hylla opened the door and motioned for her to come in. After a few moments, Thalia did. Aurum and Argentum were waiting at the door. They didn't jump on Thalia or lick her out of excitement, but their tails did wag, if only slightly. "They want to give him a trial. I hope it's just an excuse to sentence him to death."
"Why not just kill him and be done with it?" Hylla muttered. She walked towards the couch and sat down. Thalia slowly closed the front door and walked towards the couch. She sat down as well. "You didn't come to the funeral."
"I didn't," Thalia confirmed. She didn't elaborate, and Hylla didn't ask. Instead, the two sat back in a comfortable silence. Hylla's gaze was focused straight ahead, and one of her hands was rubbing Aurum's back. Argentum rubbed against Thalia's leg, and she slowly patted the dog.
Thalia didn't know why or how, but she felt a little better. She was glad that she visited Hylla. Part of her had expected Hylla to immediately kick her out or at least throw a punch. It was a relief that Hylla didn't seem to completely hate her.
"I miss her," Thalia whispered. She looked at Hylla. "I'm sorry. I wish I had done something more."
"I wish you had too," Hylla muttered. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Hylla opened her eyes and stared off into the distance. "I wish it had been your father instead."
"I know," Thalia said. She leaned back against the couch and stared up at the ceiling. The comfortable silence settled over the two once again. Thalia didn't blame Hylla for what she said. If their positions were reversed, Thalia would feel the same.
Thalia closed her eyes. Things weren't going to get any easier for her, not for a long time. She could try to make Hylla feel better though, or she could just be there for Hylla. Thalia was sure that she was the only one who knew how Hylla felt. Thalia took a deep breath and felt a chill go down her spine.
Thalia slowly looked around and couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. She was just being paranoid though. First, she thought someone was watching her when she first went to the house. Now, she thought someone was watching her now. Thalia shook her head. It was just her mind being tired from the events of the day. All she needed to do was stop worrying and calm down. Hopefully, things would slowly start to return to normal.