"Ugh." Thalia groggily raised herself to a standing position, using her hands to get up, and spat out a glob of blood.

Almost immediately a wave of nausea overcame her, and her legs wobbled underneath herself. Percy rushed over, looping one of her arms around his shoulders. "Slow down there, Pinecone Face."

Thalia growled, glaring at her cousin, causing him to chuckle. "Glad you made it in time for the brawl."

He laughed, louder this time, and replied back, "Wouldn't miss it for the world, Thals."

She giggled in response, and the son of Poseidon continued to help his cousin to the infirmary tent. Once they entered the small structure, Percy's eyes darted throughout the room, taking a quick inventory of those being tended to. There were three wounded huntresses, one with a bandage around her head, two with body wounds, and Leo and Jason were also healed.

Piper was working on Leo-Jason already having been aided and was now in a deep slumber-and the Hispanic half-blood did not seem to appreciate the girl's attempts to help.

"Ow!" he whined, wincing and flinching away as she worked on a gash in his arm. "Damn that smarts!"

"Well maybe if you hadn't been such a dumbass and gotten yourself cut like this, I wouldn't have to sew you up." She grumbled, her irritation at his complaints evident in her tone.

Percy helped Thalia over to the bed next to the pair of demigods, allowing the daughter of Zeus to get onto the cot by herself. "Hey," he tapped Piper on the shoulder, drawing her attention, "I'll handle him, and you go get some rest. We'll probably be back on the road in a little while."

The daughter of Aphrodite let out a sigh of relief, a weary smile adorning her features, "Thanks, Percy. You should probably knock out pretty soon, too."

The immortal grinned back, "I'll make sure to do that."

She nodded and plodded off to her tent, leaving Percy to attend to his cousin and the son of Hephaestus. "Thanks dude," Leo grinned crookedly at him, brushing some hair out of his face, "She's a butcher with a needle."

The son of Poseidon let out a snort, which caused Thalia to giggle as well. "Kid, if you're gonna live a demigod life, you're gonna get a lot more than that paper cut."

The Hispanic boy's smile vanished, and was replaced by a perplexed look. "What do you mean by that?" He asked in a worried tone.

Percy just laughed and shook his head, controlling some of the water from a nearby bowl and using it to heal Leo's wound. Once he was done, he backed away from the son of Hephaestus, motioning for him to leave the infirmary. "Go. Get some sleep. By the time you wake up, we'll probably want to start moving again, so take advantage of the break while you can."

Leo scurried out of the tent, leaving Percy to see to Thalia's wounds. As he approached her, the lieutenant frowned. "Hey." She stopped him, grasping his cheeks with her hands. She tilted his head upward, trying to get a better look at his neck.

She growled, her eyes darkening and a scowl growing onto her face. "Who?" She questioned.

Percy brought his face back down, stopping her from observing his neck anymore. "It's nothing. While I was gone, I met someone, and we got into a little spat. Everything's fine now." He looked into Thalia's eyes, trying to calm her down.

"Who?!" Her voice was louder this time, and she left no room for debate on whether or not he would answer the question.

Percy sighed, and began to tell the story. "Her name was Lamia. She's a monster; a daughter of Hecate. She thought the best way to get rid of the problem that is me was through asphyxiation. I proved her wrong, and she met the business end of an ice shard. I'll heal, but right now, priority is your injuries."

Thalia's eyes softened, and she wrapped her cousin up in a hug. "I don't like people hurting my family, and you're the closest thing I have after Annie died. You need to promise me that you'll be careful, okay little brother?"

Percy scoffed at the 'little brother' comment, but hugged his cousin in return, nonetheless. "I promise, Thals. Children of the big three watch out for each other, remember? Now, let's get a look at these cuts."

Thalia pulled out of the hug, smiling warmly at the son of Poseidon, before tilting her face and allowing him to get a view of the gash in her cheek. Percy began healing the wound using water, and as he did so, he began laughing.

"What?" Thalia asked, a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Remember when we first met the manticore?" He responded, still laughing.

"Duh. You wanted to be the hero, so you ran off to try and fight it by yourself, like the Kelp Head that you are." The daughter of Zeus was nearly guffawing now.

Percy removed his hands from her cheek, the wound now healed, and continued the joke. "And then we met Nico, who thought I was a god, and started asking me a bunch of questions. I swear I wanted to kick his ass. What was that game he was really in to? Mimic magic?"

"Mythomagic, Perce." Nico strolled up, his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face. "And I had a legendary collection."

Thalia was holding her sides at this point, "Good gods," she wheezed, "You were SUCH a nerd."

The son of Hades flushed red, and he responded to her comment. "In my defense, my only friend at that time was my sister."

Percy was laughing so hard that he was bent over, hands on his knees, roaring with laughter. "Nico, buddy, you are not helping your case right now."

The son of Hades just shrugged, beaming at his two cousins. The few remaining huntresses in the tent stared at them judgmentally, but the three of them paid them no mind.

"AHEM." Artemis loudly cleared her throat, somewhat annoyed by the mannerisms of her demigod cousins.

Thalia was the first to straighten up, "My lady," she began, bowing her head from her upright position on the bed, "what can we do for you?"

The goddess remained stoic until the two males were calm again, before inhaling and speaking. "I wish to converse with Perseus." When no one moved from their positions, she continued her statement. "Alone."

The remaining huntresses in the tent scurried out, and Thalia and Nico attempted to leave. Percy held his arms out to his sides, blocking any forward movement from his cousins. "If there is something you wish to say to me, Lady Artemis, I believe it is more than reasonable that Thalia and Nico be present to hear it."

Artemis growled, her eyes narrowing. The son of Poseidon would make this difficult. She forced a smile, her eyes glaring at the other immortal in the room. "I don't believe that is necessary."

Percy smiled right back at her, his slightly less aggressive and responded calmly. "Well, I do. Now, by all means, continue."

She growled louder this time, but closed her eyes and took a moment to compose herself. "I wish to… apologize for my behavior in our earlier conversation. The statement that I made was not relevant to the topic we were discussing, and it was… excessive of me to insult your personal emotions."

Percy grinned this time, genuinely, because he knew how much it pained a god, much more an Olympian, to swallow their pride and apologize. "Thank you, Lady Artemis. I know how difficult that must have been for you."

The goddess looked slightly pained, but gave a stiff nod, turning and hurrying off.

"Was I really this annoying when you first met me?" Nico leaned in so only Percy and Thalia could hear, referencing the talkative child of Hephaestus.

The lieutenant snorted, and the son of Poseidon shrugged. "Eh. It's kind of hard to compare, because you're both 'I talk a lot' annoying, but Leo is the 'bad jokes' variant of annoying. You were 'overly curious and asks a lot of questions' annoying. Little column A, and little column B I suppose."

"Stay alert." Artemis warned, her eyes scanning the horizon as the group moved. "We're getting close."

Percy snorted, "I don't think we're in much danger, Lady Artemis. It's going to be very difficult to take a group this large in public; even monsters have to realize that."

Nico shot a dirty look at him, "Hey!" He protested. "They took me right outside of the Empire State Building!"

The son of Poseidon met his glance, trying to acknowledge that he had heard his cousin's statement. "I realize that. My point is that it's easier to capture one demigod, no matter how powerful they may be, than it is to capture fourteen of them."

Artemis winced, but it was not enough for anyone to notice her discomfort. There had been thirteen huntresses, excluding herself, but they had lost four in the most recent battle. She stopped walking, but no one seemed to notice as she was lost in her thoughts.

"Lady Artemis?" The goddess snapped out of her stupor, her eyes darting up to find two kaleidoscopic-colored orbs staring at her. "Forgive my intrusion, but you seemed distracted. Is everything alright?"

The Olympian sighed in relief, glad that there was no further confrontation toward her at the moment. "It has been a stressful week, child. But worry not, we will get through this. I recommend you and your friends stay close to Jackson. He has a knack for surviving trouble."

The aforementioned son of Poseidon apparently caught wind of the conversation, slowing down to fall into stride with the two women. "I'm afraid that won't be possible."

Artemis glanced up at him, slightly annoyed, and slightly perplexed. "And why might that be, Jackson? Are you above traveling with untrained demigods?"

Percy laughed at this accusation, throwing his head back, "No, no. Nothing like that. This mystery man seems to have a grudge against me. I don't know why, but powerful people just seem to have it out for me. I'm not going to let anyone get hurt because I wasn't good enough to protect them."

Thalia stopped abruptly, and Artemis would have crashed into her had she not possessed Olympian reflexes. The daughter of Zeus turned slowly, her fists clenching as she did so, hissing through gritted teeth. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?"

The son of Poseidon realized that she was extremely unhappy with his statement, so his expression grew serious. "I am not going to have anyone else die because they followed me into battle."

"DO NOT DISCREDIT ANNABETH'S BRAVERY! SHE MADE A DECISION TO GIVE HER LIFE FOR HER CAMP, AND YOU WILL NOT TAKE THAT AWAY FROM HER!" Thalia was blatantly screaming now. Winds were swirling around the two of them, faster than normal wind patterns. To increase the intensity even more, the daughter of Zeus had electricity shooting off of her in all directions, causing the surrounding parties to take a wide step away from the duo.

Percy stood his ground, his voice lowering to a visceral growl. "I would never take anything away from her. And you know what? If I had a chance to go back, I would have given my life for her, one hundred times over. She was a far greater hero than I could ever hope to be. But it was MY fault that she died! I don't want anyone else dying because I wasn't good enough!"

Thalia took a deep breath, the wind and static decreasing slightly, but it was still clear she was not happy. "What do you mean 'it was your fault that she died'?"

The son of Poseidon sighed, then ran a lone hand over his face, collecting his thoughts. He had visibly grown less angry, and now just seemed crestfallen. "It was my plan." He whispered, slumping to the ground.

He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. "It was my plan." He breathed, staring blankly into the distance.

Thalia took slow breaths, attempting to calm herself down. She crouched down to look Percy in the eyes. "What do you mean, 'It was my plan?'"

The immortal took a deep breath. Slowly exhaled, he met his cousin's demanding eyes. "We were losing the battle. I knew it. She knew it. Everyone in that damned camp knew it. We needed to take out the leader if we had wanted any chance at survival. I told her I would take him from the front while she went invisible. I told her to stab him in the back when she saw an opening. When I went in to engage him, I was beaten. Easily. He threw me back, then whirled around, and he stabbed her right through the stomach."

"It wasn't your fault." Thalia's electric blue orbs were fierce, and she glared right at Percy.

The son of Poseidon's eyes were sorrowful, and he didn't believe a word she said. "Yes it is. I should have been stronger. I could have saved her."

"No, you couldn't. This is isn't a matter of strength. You were facing someone more skillful of than any of us. Annabeth knew what she was doing. You are at your best when you're angry. She knew that the quickest way to get you mad was to have something happen to her. She sacrificed herself so that her friends would survive. And you're not going to take that away from her." Thalia stood to her full height, striding away from the whole party in the direction of the Empire State Building. "I'll see you on Olympus."

"Thalia, wait!" Nico called after her, holding an arm out in her direction.

The daughter of Zeus didn't halt her gait, instead raising her right arm in the air, her middle finger extended.

So, I wanted to give reviewers a little more appreciation for what they write in, and this happened:

ArthurShade- I appreciate the badassery in life, as well.

JustLucky05- I think that last chapter was my favorite so far. You'll have to wait and see what happens with Pertemis.

NightOwl95- I've gotten some of that. I had to kill off Annabeth cause it would give me a reason to go all BAMF with Percy during the story.

Defective Wolf- Thanks for the correction. I realized I was wrong sometime last week but i forgot to correct myself.

Guest- Um, thanks for the review. However, saying 'more please' is not likely to elicit quicker or better writing from me. In fact, flames motivate me more than 'more please.'

I'm sorry this is such a short chapter. Next chapter will most likely be the longest one yet, if all goes as planned. I had some writing block at the end here, and I am also trying to come up with ideas for a nerdy game I play with some friends of mine. Writing Percy/Thalia family fluff is definitely the best part of my writing process. Uh, yeah. Thanks for reviewing, and keep doing that thing that you do. Hope you enjoyed

LTS