Her life began to play out infront of her. It was like when people had a near death experience and their life flashed before their eyes. But this was different. Like she was watching through a window.
She saw herself with her mother. They were arguing about something, and Thalia was eventually sent to her room. Her past self spun around, stomped up the stairs, and slammed the door to her room.
She had begun to get more rebellious when she was six. She talked back and argued a lot. She got in more trouble than a six year old usually does.
Then she saw Zeus coming back when she was seven. Except this time he was a little different. He looked older and was more fatherly to her. Sometimes he didn't speak English. The memories weren't from what she had seen at the time, and she was watching what had happened.
The scene that was playing now was of baby Jason. Oh, gods. She thought. I haven't seen him in so long. It was all Hera's fault. She had taken him and now he was as good as dead. Tears starts to form in her eyes but she quickly blinked them away.
She tried to rush forward but the images didn't get any closer. She tried running for it again but the memories of her brother were impossibly far away. So close, yet so far.
She reached out and stepped forward. Her hand brushed something and she jumped backward. If she could touch something she was expecting the softness of the blanket or anything else in the memory. Instead she felt something rough, like the bark of a tree.
What freaked her out even more was that she couldn't even see the tree. Invisible objects in Memory Lane? Kind of freaky. Her fingertips were tingling. Maybe from all the emotions that swirled around in her, maybe something else.
She backed away from the invisible tree. She continued looking at the real live memories around her. She watched herself and Jason growing up.
She smiled at the scene of Jason trying to eat a stapler when he was two. He had cut himself Thalia watched her eyes widen when she saw Jason was bleeding. She rushed over to help him. She took the stapler away from him and cleaned him up. She put on a band-aid and gave him a small kiss. Then they continued playing.
Thalia smiled sadly. It was a bittersweet memory. She had only stayed with her mom for as long as she did because of Jason. With a mom like theirs. . . well, Jason needed her.
There wasn't much to do here but watch her life replay. She sat down and got comfy. The ground was really soft and spongy. She felt blades of green grass beneath her hands. The scenery was starting to be more noticeable as the memories became more faded, slowly turning to fog.
When Thalia saw the scene that was now playing her jaw dropped and she wanted to cry. It was the day Jason was taken away.
This time around, Thalia could notice all the details. Her mother was really nervous as she packed for their trip. Thalia knew something was wrong that day. She never really fully trusted her.
She watched helplessly as the memory played. When her mom asked her to go get the picnic basket Thalia knew she never should have left her brother alone with her. This time knowing what was coming was worse than the first time.
When she had come back with the picnic basket her mother was a wreck. She was hugging herself and crying. She said something about how Hera had claimed him and taken him away. And how he was probably dead.
Thalia wiped away her years and tried to keep her expression calm. She smirked when she saw her temper tantrum. She had to be dragged out of the park kicking and screaming.
She watched as she called the police about her brother. They questioned her mother and left. Thalia and her mom argued. The arguments turned into a "Who can scream the loudest," contest.
Her mother's mental stability was rapidly declining. She told Thalia that she had betrayed her and she should be helping her.
As Thalia watched this part, her hands ripped the grass (which was becoming more and more real). Thalia watched her 9-year old self prepare to run away.
She had dumped the contents of her backpack onto the floor and begin filling it with food and clothes. She had also taken a big roll pf cash from her mother's purse. She had left in the middle of the night with no other goal than to get away and survive.
That night she had seen Amaltheia, a goat, and she followed it. When she first saw the goat, she was just going to pet when it disappeared. It reappeared farther away and Thalia tried to approach it again. It had led her out of the city that night.
She had known the gods were real and her father was Zeus. The goat was probably from mythology. Then it clicked. It was Amaltheia the goat who nursed Zeus when he was a baby.
Once she was out the city she kept watching for danger. She stopped in a park when she got hungry and looked in her backpack for food. As she was digging through the backpack she found a little metal cylinder, kind of like a Mace canister. She picked it up and examined it. When had she packed this? Had she accidently picked it up while packing?
She sat back and tried to figure out what it was. She poked it and it began to expand. She dropped it in surprise and a spear fell on the ground. She carefully picked it up and examined it. Since when were there weapons in her house? But she was thankful for it now.
Thalia watched the year go by. She watched herself fight monsters, scavenging for food, and discovering more of her powers. All while slowly traveling across the country.
Then Amaltheia appeared again. Thalia followed her for a long time. She ended up in the woods. Why was the goat leading her here? Amaltheia stopped infront of a cave. The goat turned to mist and was gone. Thalia peered into the cave. The cave was black and there was a faint red glow and a low rumble.
The bushes behind her rustled. She grabbed her spear and turned around to face the monster. But it wasn't a monster, it was a boy.
The boy looked about two years older than her. He had blond hair and blue eyes. "Who are you? What do you want?" she demanded and lifted her spear.
He seemed a little scared of her and backed away. "I'm Luke," he said and lifted his sword. "I'm just trying to get away from the monsters back there." He took a step forward. "Who are you?"
"Thalia, daughter of Zeus." she said proudly. "I'm guessing you're a demigods too?" she asked him.
He nodded. "Yeah. So how long have you been on the run?" he asked. Thalia looked at him warily. "About a year. You?" He lowered his sword and came closer. "Two years."
They were about to continue talking when the cave rumbled and the red glow grew stronger. Luke's eyes widened. "That's a dragon cave!" he said and grabbed her arm. He began to pull her away and ran through the forest. "What at you doing?" she yelled at him trying to keep up. "Getting us away from here!"
He let go of her arm and they continued running for a few more minutes. They finally stopped in a clearing panting. "Thanks a lot." she grumbled.
"You're welcome." he said ignoring the sarcasm.
"What did you do that for?"
"I saved you from a dragon. You're lucky it didn't see us."
"I could've handled it."
He smiled like it was a silly idea. "A full grown dragon? By yourself? Yeah right."
"Well,bye." Thalia readjusted her backpack and began to walk away.
"Wait, where are you going?" he asked her.
She shrugged. "Somewhere. Anywhere."
He paused and started to say something when a snake monster burst into the clearing. It lunged at Luke and he raised his sword in defense. She ran towards it and and tried to hit it with her spear. It ignored Luke and turned on her.
She got ready to hit it with her spear when it turned to dust. She spit out some of the golden dust and saw Luke behind the pile of monster ashes. "Thanks."
"No problem." he said.
He picked up her backpack and handed it to her. "What do you think about becoming a team?"
"Well, two is better than one." Thalia said.
"So we're in this together?" Luke asked.
"Yep. Now let's get going before more monsters come." she said and began walking into the woods. Luke smiled and followed her.
Thalia didn't feel like watching the rest of the years go by. She knew what happened. All sorts of monsters had attacked, even auotomans, she practiced her powers (she may have shocked Luke once or twice, but who's counting?), and they learned more about each other. When he asked her about her family she never mentioned her brother. It was just too painful.
Thalia pushed the memories away and got up. She looked around the valley where she was (she had begun to call it Memory Lane instead of 'Where the hell am I?'). The memories weren't as real now and the valley was equally visible.
She wandered around trying to figure out where she was. Was she dead yet? This didn't seem like the Underworld. It was somewhere else entirely.
Buildings appeared but she couldn't tell what they were. They seemed to be built out of fog and there were no details as to what they might be.
She eventually found a lake. She had never been all that fond of water but the lake was pretty and calming. It was different than the rest of the place because it seemed real, like the grass and the tree.
She reached out to touch the water and saw her arms. There were surprisingly no cuts or blood or anything.
She bent over the water and used it as a mirror. Her face was okay, healthy even, but her eyes. Instead of blue they were green. Green. What happened to her eyes?
She backed up a bit scared but mostly freaked out. Something's not right. She went back to where she appeared first near the tree.
While she walked there she tried to put together the facts. She had died, maybe. Then she woke up near a tree. She was watching her life go by literally. The scenery became clearer as the memories turned into mist. She didn't know where she was. Everything seemed unreal like a dream.
She found the tree. This time she could tell what it was. It was a huge pine, it had been here a long time. She sat underneath it in the it's shade and watched the rest of her life.
A/N: Hi people and to my story! I really shouldn't be doing another story but I had writer's block then this story was written! So last chapter was more of a prologue really. '~' This chapter seems much more satisfactory. She was supposed to come back in this chapter but it turned out longer than planned. So what do you think? Good, bad, okay? Can you guess where she is and the importance of the tree? Thanks for reading!