We finappy got 5 reviews! THX FOR DOING SO IF U DID! :D Here is the final chapter of Thalia's Quest. Enjoy!
Amara screamed when she saw the smoke.
She and Bianca had just reached the edge of a forest that Bianca had said she was sure Thalia and Luke were in. But then the heat suddenly rose and tendrils of smoke swirled into the sky. Then they say the first of the flames form in the wood.
"Run!" Bianca yelled. "Fire!"
She didn't have to tell her twice. The seven-year-old daughter of Demeter turned on her heels and ran until she reached the city again.
But Bianca was gone.
Then her face appeared before her. Bianca was surrounded my flames.
"Amara, listen to me. I'm IMing you because I'm going in to go find Thalia and Luke."
"But you could get hurt!"
Bianca smirked. "I'm a daughter of Hades. I don't burn easy."
She waved her hand through the mist and stared at the empty space. Amara was out of breath, and to her horror she felt hot tears sting her face. Her father was dead, a monster had raided their house and that was how she got on the run. Her mother couldn't care less about her. Her best friends were either dead or close to it, and now her new friend was risking her life for her.
Amara fell to her knees, and then a voice was heard behind her.
"Are you alright?"
Amara closed her eyes, choosing to ignore the voice.
They knelt beside her. "Hello?"
Amara looked into the green eyes of a fifteen year old girl with brown hair blowing around her face. She wore an orange shirt and a necklace with clay beads strung along it. Most of the beads, like the girl's shirt, were too faded to read.
"Who are you?" Amara whispered.
The girl smiled. "So you do have a voice! My name's Katie. And yours would be...?"
"Amara."
"Ooo, that's pretty!" Katie grinned.
Amara's gaze fell to the girl's waist, where a small dagger was strapped. Their eyes met.
"You're a demigod, too, aren't you?" Amara breathed.
Katie nodded slowly. "My full name's Katie Gardner. I guess that's why my mom was attracted to my dad. My mom's Demeter, BTW."
"Mine too."
Katie's eyes widened. "Whoa, I go looking for Percy and I find my half sister! Go figure."
"Percy?"
She waved a hand dismissivly. "Oh, he's just the sixteen year old living legend of my camp that's gone missing, is all," she said.
"Oh." Amara blinked at her sister. "Katie, what if I told you there was a whole forest on fire about a mile from here?"
"Oh, gods. Take me to it, sis!"
Thalia's POV:
The fox was fast. Swift. Agile. I easily dodged the flames and the burning foliage. My mind was racing. Luke had left me. Why, though? Why?
Soon I collapsed. Exhaustion took over. Just before I passed out, I saw a jet of water and green eyes.
Bianca:
Bianca gasped when she saw Amara and a girl she thought she remembered as Katie Gardner putting out the fire with squirt-flowers they had grown.
A white fox lay knocked out in front of them.
Soon all the flames were out and Bianca ran to the fox's side.
"Thalia?" She whispered.
The fox's blue eyes blinked open and it nodded.
Katie and Amara joined her near Thalia. "Did Luke hurt you?" Amara whispered.
Thalia didn't move.
"Girls, step away."
Lady Artemis stood behind them, bow raised.
Bianca tightened her grip on the fox. "No," she said sternly. "I won't let you kill Thalia."
"She lost, Bianca," Artemis said. "And she knew the consequences."
"Stop!"
Luke Castellan ran into the clearing.
"Go away, Luke," Amara spat. "You ruined Thalia."
"I know," he said quietly. "And I regret it with my life. I couldn't reach her because of the fire, so being the coward I am I ran."
He fell to his knees.
Katie Gardner glared at him. "Buzz off, you," she snapped.
Luke looked up at her and frowned. "Wait- since when have you been here?" He sighed. "Look, the point is, I'm sorry for leaving Thalia. If we could have another chance...?"
Artemis thought for a moment, and then she lowered her bow. "You may speak to Thalia alone, see what she thinks. Come on, girls." The Hunters left, followed by Katie, Amara, and Bianca.
Luke walked up to the fox. "Thal, I'm sorry," he said.
Thalia blinked at him. Then she closed her eyes, and Luke heard her thoughts in his mind. Why'd you leave me, Luke?
"Because I was scared of dying again. It hurts, Thal, and I didn't want to do it again."
The fox opened its eyes, and Luke could see tears forming in them. But now I'm going to have to feel the hurt, the pain.
"I didn't know we would fail. I was going to come back for you."
But you didn't.
"I'm here now, aren't I?"
Luke held Thalia closer to him.
"Thal," he whispered. "I am so, so sorry. This was a huge mistake. Everything I did was a huge mistake. Can you forgive me?"
Thalia was silent for a minute.
"Yes."
The voice wasn't in his mind this time.
He pulled away, and a girl with shoulder-length black hair, blue eyes, and freckles was in his arms, wearing a black shirt and jeans.
Thalia Grace, the human Thalia Grace, laughed. "I can forgive you, Luke. Thank you." She hugged him again.
"Thalia." The soft voice belonged to Artemis. "You and Luke passed."
Thalia pulled away and frowned at the Hunteress. "But..."
"The real Trials were to see how the boy reacted after you failed. You were set up to fail anyway."
"Gee, thanks," Muttered Thalia, scowling.
"But now think. Neither of you will die now, but do you really want to give up being a Hunter for Luke? Give up everything you chose to be a part of?"
"I-" She bit her lip. Give up being a Hunter? Never see Alexis or Phoebe again as her sisters?
But on the other hand, she'd have Luke...
"Thalia," Luke whispered in her ear. "If you want to be a Hunter, do it. Don't give all of this up for me. Please, Thal, we can still be friends after."
"I'm not supposed to talk to boys, if I'm a Hunteress."
"But you can, if he passed the Trials," Artemis said, kneeling beside them.
"Thalia, what will you choose?" Bianca, who had walked up to them.
"I choose..."
The final scene:
Thalia stood, arms behind her back. She watched the sun go down over the mountains in the distance, then closed her eyes. She wondered if she had made the right choice, if she would be happy like this.
You will, she told herself. This is right. This is what you should've done in the first place.
But nothing will be the same for me now.
She had given it up. All of it.
And for what?
"Thalia!"
She grinned as a girl ran into her arms. That girl was soon followed by another, slightly older girl.
Thalia hugged Phoebe and Alexis back.
This was what she had given it up for. Her friends. Her family.
Her sisters at arms.
But she still felt that longing. The one she knew would never go away.
The longing for him.
The longing for Luke Castellan.
"Thalia. My turn."
She grinned again, forgetting he was there. She ran into his arms, laughing.
"Why am I here again?" He asked.
Thalia pulled away and punched him in the arm. "Because you love me, silly."
"And because you made me."
Thalia smirked. "That too."
"But you know I can't stay. Artemis will kill me."
"I know."
"But I'll visit," he promised.
"You'd better," Thalia said, kissing him on the cheek. "Or else I'll find you."
"Then I wouldn't have to visit, would I?"
And so our story ends.
Readers: Awwww! D;
Me: I know, I know. But hey!
Readers (eagerly): What?! What?!
Me: I might write another story!
Readers: *gasp* YAY!
Me: Yep! About Amara! But I won't unless you review, so review. Thanks to all of you that already did, and thanks to those of you that will. Um... you else can I thank? Oh! My BFF (in real life and in this) IzzyPJAC! She was my first view ever, and my first RE-view! Also Cricket the Clarinetist, for her idea imputs!
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Goodbye,
KLoveMe