".. There's a wave that's crashing over me,

And all I can do, is surrender.."

-WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING by Sanctus Real

CHAPTER 4: Destinies and Epiphanies

Thalia was sitting on the floor, leaning her back against the door of her mom's old apartment. Someone else was living in it now. Whoever the place belonged to hadn't been home by the time Thalia had got there. So, she had picked the lock and forced her way in. The place still had the same walls, the same kitchen counters, the same window view, the same two bedrooms but it was foreign in every way possible.

Her room had been remodeled into something else, an office or possibly an art studio with canvases strewn all over the room. Her mother's bedroom had smelled like aftershave and sweat, clothes were laid out everywhere and the huge, mahogany mirror her mother had been so fond of was gone. Her mother's belongings was gone and nothing was left. All traces of her was gone from the apartment. As if they had never lived there. As if they never existed.

Tears fell after the other, streaming down her cheeks endlessly. It was only days after she woke up on the ground with curious campers looking down at her. Annabeth was older now, around her age. Then she realized, even she doesn't know how old she was. She sobbed harder then. Her life had been erased quite thoroughly and the only people that remembered her, that mattered to her, were at war with each other.

She asked Annabeth about him. She asked where he was and why she hasn't seen him or why he hadn't visited yet or if he was okay. When Annabeth looked uncomfortable and tears tinged her eyes, she had feared the worse. But when Annabeth spoke, she had thought that fate couldn't be anymore crueler in her awakening.

And then she saw Percy standing by the doorway, listening to the story Annabeth was telling, looking weary, his eyes hard and his posture sagged. She felt a wave of rage washing through her toward him. How dare this Jackson kid look so defeated? He wasn't completely hopeless! He wasn't redeemable! He hasn't died, for the gods' sake! How dare he assume that he would not come back to them?

She heard footsteps coming towards her.

Her sobs ceased as she sensed who it was.

She looked up.

Luke Castellan recoiled.

He stood rigidly, his eyes teary and wide. His mouth opened and close slightly as if he had something to say but couldn't form the words to describe it. He unconsciously raised a hand toward her, reaching for her, but he stopped himself.

"Thalia?" he whispered so quietly as if he was afraid that it might just be an illusion. Any louder and it would disappear and he would wake up and remember she was gone and he'd live through it again. And he can't have that. He can't do it again, live without her, live without seeing her. He was desperate to hold her in his arms, hug her tight until it would all disappear, until the world would vanish from beneath their feet.

Thalia felt a surge of joy wash up inside her. She shakily got up on her feet and ran to Luke and he received her with open arms. He was so warm and Thalia felt like melting in his arms, wanting the warmth to wash the chill in her bones that torments her so. But she couldn't. She isn't suppose to. She was suppose to be angry with him. To hate him, to be disappointed and disgusted. So, Thalia hit him, punched him, but he just hugged her tighter, warmer.

And how could she possibly hate him?

"How could you?" she cried into his chest. "How could you do this to Annabeth? To me?!"

Luke felt something wet trickle down his face. It was Thalia. It was really her. He closed his eyes and tuned out her outraged cries, smelling her scent and taking in her warmth in his arms. She was here, truly and wholly here. She was the same as he remembered, the black leather she wore, her black, spiky hair, her bright blue eyes that was so much like the sky.

He cupped her face and looked her in the eye, their gazes burning.

"I had to." he whispered. "I had to."

Thalia pushed him away, ripping herself from his arms roughly.

"This is what I wake up to?" she demanded. "This is why my father saved me, preserved me, for?!"

Luke remained silent, his face unfathomable. Only his eyes gave him away. And they were screaming for Thalia to stop, to come back in his arms and forget the rest of the world. Thalia would have done so just then but she couldn't. Not with the questions and the anger and the pain in her heart.

"To see this? Mom's dead and you-.." she choked back a sob. Thalia hung her head. Luke was breathing heavily, his gaze still trailed on her, his fists curling and uncurling.

"I thought I lost you forever." he whispered. He looked so vulnerable, admitting his most desperate and intimate fear.

"Why did you do it then? Why are helping Kronos? Why'd you bring me back? Why did you try to kill Percy? Why did you do the things they've told me you've done? Is it true?" she demanded and Luke remained silent, coiling back into his cool and detached façade. "Was it all true? Tell me!"

"Why are you asking me? You know it's true. You of all people should understand why I did it." Luke said, his eyes turning hard and cold.

"To betray our friends? Our family?" she said, outraged.

"They're not my family." Luke hissed coldly.

"What about me? What about Annabeth? What about the things you promised us?" Thalia retorted.

"I'm sorry." he said, his voice wavering a little. They're eyes locked and Thalia felt a rush of panic go through her by what she saw in those sky blue eyes; misplaced self-righteous and justice that was nothing other than revenge.

"I don't understand." Thalia cried desperately. "Why this? You were never this. I thought you cared about us. I thought you loved us."

Luke's eyes faded back into those soft blues she had come to love, his voice quivering. "I love you. I always have and I always will."

Thalia felt light, so incredibly light she thought she could fly. A pleasurable shiver ran through her spine, her fingers giddy at possibly the worst time ever. But she welcomed the sensations, welcomed the words and treasured them deeply in her heart. There were words bubbled on her throat, racing to come out. She wanted to say that she loved him, too. She wanted to say she loved him even when he betrayed her and their friends. She wanted to tell him to stay with her forever. New tears streamed down her face, from his words, the emotions raging inside of her or for their situation as a whole, she didn't know.

But instead, her tone was harsher than she intended.

"You say that to my face after you betrayed us all, you-.."

Luke crossed the gap between them and kissed her fiercely. He didn't want to hear the blames she was about to say. He didn't want to hear the hurt in her voice. He didn't want to see her tears fall down knowing that he caused it. So, he held on more tightly when he felt her kissing him back.

Thalia felt all her defenses crashing down. She memorized the feel of his lips, the taste and his scent, carve them to memory because she knew this was a one-time deal. There was nothing else on earth more important to her than Luke. Nothing else she loved more than to be with him. But she can't sacrifice the entire world to have her happiness. Because he'd chosen his side and it was high time she chose hers. And she can't watch the world burn. Not with so many others she loved at stake.

When they broke apart, Luke beseeched her, his beautiful blue eyes begging her to come with him. But Luke already knew the answer. He'd known it from the start, from the moment he'd seen her leaning on her mother's old apartment with tears in her eyes, alive and as beautiful as he remembered her to be. Thalia's eyes were begging as well, begging to be forgiven and that she loved him but she couldn't come with him. She wanted to run away with him, go to some place no one would know.

Far from the gods.

Far from the war.

Just Thalia and Luke.

But Luke only smiled sadly at her, his eyes apologetic as well how that dream cannot truly come to life, no matter how he wished it to be. It was too late to back out now. Too much was at stake, too much gambled, too much of his hate and bitterness to throw away. He cupped her face, his touch gentle and rested his forehead against hers. He breathe in deep.

For the future of the demigods.

For the betterment of all.

For his mother.

For his peace and for his destiny.

He kissed her forehead softly and tore himself away from the woman he loved, turning his back and not look back. Thalia wanted to stop him, wanted to run to him and never let go.

But she knew and he knew.

They have chosen their sides and walked different paths. Different destinies.

"Thalia?"

The sound of her name had Thalia bolt upright. She had fallen asleep on the foot of the Roman version of her father's statue. She looked around, half bleary, for the source of the voice. It surprised her to see Frank and Hazel staring at her with curiosity in their eyes.

"Sorry," she murmured. "I must've fallen asleep. You guys don't have some Roman rule against sleeping beneath statues of gods, do you?"

Hazel smiled at her. "Fortunately, we don't."

"Good." Thalia smiled back. Frank cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. Hazel glanced at him and breathed in deep. The shared a look, one that Thalia knew well. She'd shared it with countless of others before. They're suspicious of something and Thalia could help them in some way to resolve it.

"Can we talk to you?" Hazel asked, her eyes losing the humor that they held seconds before.

"What about?" Thalia asked, raising her eyebrows at the sudden sober atmosphere.

"Percy." Frank said bluntly.

"We-.." Hazel started but her nerves wavered. She sighed. "We think something's wrong with him. He's not the same anymore. Something.. changed in him."

"What made you say that?" Thalia asked, frowning a little.

"Well, for starters, he doesn't seem to remember Tyson." Frank said.

"What? How do you-.." Thalia started to ask.

"He came to camp and helped us. You guys sent him ahead, didn't you? To look for Percy?" Hazel cut her off gently.

Thalia shook her head. "Truth be told, I just met up with the others midway here. It took me about two days to track the ship and when I found them, I was exhausted and slept for a couple of hours. We barely had time to debrief before the ship descended so we could get supplies and the monsters attacked."

Frank and Hazel looked each other, worry and suspicion in their eyes, fears growing more pronounced. "I think it slipped the other's mind that Tyson had been sent ahead to scout. After all, we sent out a lot of satyrs and demigods to go and look for him, in sea and in land. Piper, Jason, Hedge and Leo barely knew Tyson, anyway." Thalia continued. "Are the two of you the only ones who saw Tyson?"

"No," Frank said. "The whole camp did. He fought off most of the other Cyclops."

"And it never came up in conversations at all?" Thalia asked, disbelief coloring her tone.

"Actually, Tyson joined us in the feast of Fortuna." Hazel said.

"What?" Thalia demanded. "Then, where is he now?"

"We don't know." Frank said, grimly. "We noticed he wasn't around during the time Hylla, Reyna's older sister, had left with the amazons. We supposed that Tyson and Ella," Thalia raised an eyebrow at the name. "She's a harpy that we found during our quest. She read and memorized a lot of prophecies so we brought her along with us. We assumed that they left with them but it seemed strange he never said goodbye but Percy didn't seem too concerned that he and Ella were gone so we shrugged it off. But things really became weirder when you guys walked in."

Thalia frowned, about to give a retort when Hazel intervened.

"What Frank was trying to say is, Percy had been itching to see you guys. He talked a lot about you and Camp Half-Blood and this Annabeth. He even dreamed about her." Hazel said.

Thalia raised bother of her eyebrows.

"He talks in his sleep." Hazel sheepishly explained.

Thalia snorted. "Yeah, he does."

"But the point is," Frank said, getting back to the topic. "It's like he just switched or something. One moment he was telling us that the Greeks weren't bad and that we should work together to defeat Gaea and the next, he was telling people that the you guys are dangerous and shouldn't be trusted. Octavian was practically beaming at him. That's about the creepiest thing you could get. You saw his reaction to you when you guys arrived. That's when we were sure this wasn't the Percy we knew. When Lupa sent a messenger to inform us you guys were coming, he immediately made us all go commando on you."

Thalia scowled in air, trying to process all the information that they told her. So, in conclusion, Tyson was missing along with a harpy that can recite prophecies and Percy was the same seaweed brain she knew until he somehow got possessed.

And she thought their lives couldn't get any more complicated.

"What do you think happened to him?" Thalia asked.

"What do you mean?" Frank said, frowning at her accusation.

"I just mean that it's your camp after all." Thalia said, raising her hands in defense. " Is there anything you could think of that might have happened to him? A place he shouldn't go? A gem he shouldn't have touched? Weird things stiring? Something like that?"

Frank and Hazel looked at each other before turning back to her, baffled.

"Well, it happens in our camp." Thalia explained. "We keep the forest stocked with monsters to work with and to keep it interesting during Capture the Flag. It's a game we play and a part of our training. We also used to have secret entrances to a labyrinth that could get you anywhere but it's destroyed now after a battle."

"You Greeks are so weird." Frank said but he was grinning so Thalia concluded he was only joking. Thalia returned it with a smirk of her own.

"That's rich coming from a guy who wears a toga." Thalia said.

"It's for ceremonial purposes." Frank said, pretending to whine. Hazel laughed and Frank beamed at her. Thalia joined in and they laughed together.

That's how Percy found them.

"Frank. Hazel." Percy almost barked.

The laughter died abruptly and Frank and Hazel spun to meet his stern, cold eyes. Frank coward a bit under the scrutiny and Hazel only looked down to avoid Percy's burning gaze. Only Thalia remained unscathed. Now that she knew something was truly wrong with Percy, her spirit had been revived. Hope washed in and brought forth her more stubborn side. Thalia leveled Percy's hard gaze with a playful and challenging one, daring him wordlessly in every way she knew. For a moment, Percy seemed confused by her sudden change of tactics but the mask of annoyance quickly slipped back in.

"We're needed at the Senate House. A meeting has been called." He told Frank and Hazel who nodded and together, they walked out of the temple. Percy's gaze turned to Thalia, her eyes stubbornly empty now. "You should probably get ready, too. All the greacus are joining us."

He turned to exit the temple but Thalia's voice stopped him.

"Is that the best insult you could come up with?" Thalia mildly taunted, crossing her arms. "I've heard you get more creative than that. You're losing your touch. Had this place made you too soft?"

Percy turned his head, half facing her, a cold grin stretching on his face. Thalia knew there was no way this could be her friend.

"Being a Greek is the highest insult to this place."

He turned and walked away, leaving Thalia who's silently vowing to do everything in her power to get her friend back.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I feel all giddy with the upcoming events of this plot. Leave a comment and tell me what you think so far.