Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm going to be posting a new chapter of this story every Monday. Please feel free to follow and review, as I would love to see your opinions. As always, check out my Youtube playlist "Random Fabulous Music" if you like music. And last but not least, I don't own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. It belongs solely to Rick Riordan, and I am just a fan.
Chapter Two: Thalia POV: Broken Promises
Annabeth opened the curtains and stood there, shocked. Thank the gods it wasn't a monster. Annabeth would have had more sense than to just stand there if it was a monster. I crossed the room to where she stood, curious. Nudging her out of the way, I looked outside and saw... I saw... I gasped and my heart started racing. Annabeth stumbled back unsteadily and I threw open the door, throwing myself into Luke's arms. He caught me and we kissed. I was very aware of the tears streaming down my face, which should have made me self conscious, considering I never cry, but I was too elated to care. Luke was back.
Luke leaned back to look at me. "You didn't change much," he observed, smiling.
It was true. I wore the same heavy eyeliner, combat boots, and leather jacket as I had worn almost ten years when we met. Except this time, I was also wearing wearing the crisp white dress shirt, red tie, and grey skirt and vest of my school uniform. "I could say the same for you too," I replied.
The truth was, as I looked at him closer, Luke had changed. His hair was longer and messier, and there were dark circles around his eyes showing that he hadn't been getting much sleep. I wondered when he'd last eaten.
I jumped back when Annabeth cleared her throat. I had forgotten she was there, she had been so quiet. I turned around to see how she was reacting to Luke's arrival. Apparently her surprise had quickly turned into anger. She glared at Luke, who was looking at her sadly.
"Annabeth," he whispered. She didn't reply. "Annabeth, I'm so sorry." He looked down, ashamed. Annabeth's face softened, and she looked like she was about to cry.
"Family, Luke," her voice broke. I had never seen Annabeth this close to tears before. "Remember? You promised. You told me we would be a family."
Time seemed to slow down. I was submerged completely in my thoughts, and recalled memories from ten years ago, some sweet, but some I would rather not remember. They all flooded my head, overwhelming me.
I especially remembered the day we found Annabeth. She was hiding behind a pile of storage crates in the back of an alley, and she nearly decapitated Luke before she realized we weren't trying to hurt her and calmed down. She told us her story, deciding to trust and join us. Luke and I instantly felt the need to protect her. Annabeth had been like a little sister to us ever since.
That night, though, Annabeth started worrying that we were going to take her back to her family. She had run away because she felt neglected, and she never wanted to return. Luke and I had reassured her that we would never do that. We had both known the feeling of being in hard family situations, and we weren't going to force someone else to go through that. I still remember exactly what Luke said next.
"Don't worry, Annabeth. We're a family now. You hear me? A family. I promise." That was back when Annabeth was only seven and Luke and I were twelve. Now Luke was twenty-two, I was twenty I technically was twenty-two as well, but I got turned into a tree for a couple years, long story), and Annabeth was seventeen.
Glancing at Luke and Annabeth's faces, they too were having a mix of happy and painful memories. Pain and sadness swam in their eyes.
I cleared my throat, snapping them out of their memories. I realized quickly that I had started crying again. I wiped my eyes, not worrying about smudging my eyeliner, and turned to Luke. "You should come inside," I suggested, my voice hoarse.
Luke looked up. He nodded. I led him inside. Annabeth shoved past us and out the front door. "I- I need to be alone right now." She came out of her room, pushing past me as she left the apartment.
"Annabeth, wait, please!" Luke pleaded. He sounded hurt. The door slammed shut behind Annabeth. Luke sighed. "I should have expected this, just waltzing in here like that. Thalia, I know I made mistakes. I was angry. With the gods, Chiron, myself. I should have protected you. It's my fault you almost died. I should have- I should have made Grover take Annabeth and stayed behind to protect you. I should've done something.
"Kronos caught me at my weakest point. I joined him because he offered me a better deal. The gods treat us terribly. How can you still side with them, after Hera stole your brother? Even though Zeus never treated you like one of his children, never spoke to you, never took care of you when your mother couldn't? After Hermes left me alone, even after my mother started having visions nightly, and I started hiding in the closet because I was so frightened? After the gods let us wander for months without help, or guidance, or even communication? The monsters just kept coming back, but did we get help? Of course not! The gods don't care about us, Thali. Don't you see? They never have, and they never will. Not even our own parents, Thalia."
Luke had risen his voice near the middle of his speech, but by the end it was reduced to a whisper. He collapsed into one of the wooden kitchen chairs, his forehead resting against the edge of the table and his hands covering his face.
"Luke," I said weakly. I honestly wasn't sure what to do. Luke was right- the gods had neglected us. But was it really a good idea to overthrow them? Sure they were arrogant, and didn't do enough for their kids, but there were times when they had shown support for demigods, times when they had helped us defeat monsters.
Luke lifted his face from his hands to look at me. There was something broken inside of him, shattered into tiny shards. I had seen that look before. "I love you, Thali. I never stopped loving you. When you got turned into a tree- I blamed myself. I still do."
I walked over and wrapped my arms around him.
