Watching him burn was probably the hardest thing the huntress ever did.
So badly did she want to run into that fire and hug his dying body one last time.
But he was already dead. And he was burning. And she was forbidden.
Artemis dropped by in her 12 year old form to pat her lieutenant on the back, "You did the right thing."
And Thalia felt like screaming. She wanted to cry. She wanted to break down on the spot and quit the hunt. She wanted to die.
It was the same feeling as before. As when she kicked him off the cliff.
"You're not Luke. I don't know you anymore."
Luke went tumbling backwards at the impact of her foot. Then off the cliff.
Thalia just stood there. She couldn't believe what she just did. "Luke" she whispered to the horizon, "LUKE!"
Annabeth knew she had finally cracked. She had kept all of her emotions bottled up inside and she couldn't anymore. She knelt down by Thalia and put her arm around the sobbing girl. "Thalia, I'm sorry, but he's gone."
But he wasn't gone then, and Thalia wished she had known that. She wouldn't have joined if she had known. But it was too late. Now he was really gone.