A/N Another one, and so soon! I guess I've just been in a creative mood. By the way, Thalia's birthday isn't as soon as it is in the book. She's still fifteen, but she just had a birthday in my story, so she has about ten months before the Prophecy. Hope you like it!

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"Thalia," Artemis said. "Daughter of Zeus. Will you join the Hunt?"

The room went silent. Thalia could feel everyone's eyes on her. Annabeth might have squeezed her hand, she wasn't sure. She thought back to Mount Tam. If she said yes, she could take back everything. The betrayal, the pain she would inevitably cause. But at what cost? No Luke, she thought bitterly.

"I-I . . . No." she finally answered. Everyone looked surprised, especially Artemis. The only one who wasn't shocked was Apollo. He was glaring at her, but she shrugged it off.

"Very well," Artemis mumbled after a long and awkward silence. After the winter solstice meeting, Thalia went to find an out-of-the-way place on Olympus; she wasn't in the mood to talk. Her hopes were shattered when Apollo found her hiding spot.

"Lord Apollo," she muttered, making a move to go around him.

He stopped her and said in a cold voice, "I am the God of Prophecies. I can see the future! Did you think no one would know?"

Damn it! Can't I at least get out of here before something else goes wrong? Thalia put on the most innocent face she could make, which wasn't all that innocent. "W-what do you mean?"

"Don't lie to me! You know exactly what I mean, sister." In all her life, it had never occurred to Thalia that Apollo was her brother. Well, half-brother.

Thalia decided to give up on innocence. "Fine, you got me. But Gods can't meddle directly with us, isn't that right, brother?"

Apollo narrowed his eyes, knowing that she had him. "Maybe if you would have brought this up at the council-"

"They would have killed you!"

Thalia smirked. "And now you've sealed their deaths." She pushed past him and joined her friends with newfound confidence, and all Apollo did was glare and wonder, what have I done?

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Later that night, with everyone asleep in their respective cabins, Thalia was wide awake, anxiously awaiting 12:34.

"You know what's weird?" Luke asked curiously one night. Thalia looked at him skeptically.

Finally, she answered "What, Luke? What strange thought could you possibly have at-" She looked at the watch Luke had stolen for her. "-12:30 at night?"

"Four minutes from now, it will be 12:34."

"Wow! You can tell time!" Thalia said sarcastically.

Luke rolled his eyes. "No, 12:34. As is, 1, 2, 3, 4."

"And . . . ?" Thalia looked at him quizzically.

"Well, how cool is that?"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"You're welcome, Sergeant Sarcasm."

Thalia scowled, and Luke smirked in response. "How about, from now on, that's our time. Whenever it's 12:34, if I'm not there, you think of me. I'll do the same. And we never share that time with anyone else."

Thalia thought for a moment. "Okay."

"Pinky promise?" Thalia rolled her eyes again before giving in to his childish whim.

And so, that was the time she and Luke agreed. She decided to go a little earlier, to scout out the area and whatnot. They would meet at Zeus' fist.

On her way there, however, she was interrupted by a pair of green eyes and a, "Why, if it isn't Pinecone Face."

Thalia rolled her eyes. Then she noticed Nico was with him. "What are you doing up?"

Nico answered her. "Just some cousins spending quality time thanks to insomnia. Care to join us?"

Thalia felt her palms sweating. It had to be close to the meeting time, and Luke wouldn't wait forever. But she couldn't deny them; they would question her. Suddenly a plan popped into her mind. She smirked, and the two boys looked at her questioningly.

"How about a race? Through the woods to my old tree."

Percy and Nico smirked as well. "Bring it on."

The three made a makeshift starting line, and then they were off. Thalia made sure to purposefully stay a little behind them both. As they ran through the forest, Thalia took a turn off that led to Zeus' fist.

That worked better than I thought, Thalia grinned. I should- Thalia's thoughts were cut off as she rounded the corner of the rock formation and a pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind.

"Right on time," Luke whispered, putting his head on her shoulder.

Thalia blushed. "Don't do that."

Luke feigned hurt. "You don't like me touching you?" He let go and backed up, giving Thalia room to turn around.

"That's what she said."

"I cannot believe you just said that."

"And I meant sneaking up on me, by the way."

"So you do like me touching you." Luke smirked. Thalia blushed again, and opened her mouth to say something, but Luke cut her off. "Don't say it." He then proceeded to poke her shoulder playfully, have her slap his hand and repeat the process until they were both laughing uncontrollably.

Finally, Thalia sighed. "I missed this. I missed you."

Luke put his arm around her. "I wasn't a tree for six years. You have no idea what that was like."

Thalia frowned. "I'm sorry."

Luke rolled his eyes. "That wasn't your fault. That's the whole reason we're doing this."

Thalia smiled. "Yeah, I guess. Hey, where's that monster army of yours?"

"Well, I couldn't exactly bring them in and go unnoticed. Besides, I knew I wouldn't need protection from you."

Thalia was about to make a witty remark when she heard Percy and Nico calling her in the distance. Her eyes turned worried, a mirror of Luke's.

"We need to go," they said in unison.

And with that, the two demigods left the camp that they had once called home.

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So? What did you think? Tell me in a review, pretty please? An author can only get better by knowing what she's doing wrong. And I'm still hoping for title suggestions.

Peace, Love, and Pokémon-
Mercu

P. S. One person commented on my new signature? Come on, please?

P. P. S. Should I have a funny quote in each chapter like I did for Reading TLH?