Thalia was back in the forest. Everything seemed the same as it was before she abruptly phased through the tree.
The sun wasn't blindingly bright like in the otherworld.
Thalia was thankful for that.
It was so bright that she could still see through her eyelids.
Curse you sun.
The first thing Thalia did was look for the tree that she fell through.
She soon found it. It wasn't particularly hard to find. It stood alone away from all of the other trees in the forest.
Maybe that's why she decided to lean on that tree. It was a solo rider, just like her. She envisioned a biker wearing a leather jacket with black-tinted aviators, riding off into the sunset.
...
A strange realization hit her.
Was I really trying to justify leaning on a tree?
For a second, she questioned her own sanity before shoving it to the back of her mind.
Her attention returned to the tree itself.
From the outside, it looked like any old tree.
There wasn't anything that set it apart from all the other ones.
Maybe it had something to do with touching it?
She outstretched her hand, seeing if she could replicate the phenomenon, but nothing happened.
What a predictable outcome.
Thalia didn't know what she expected and felt dumb by even trying. It was her fault to think that something would happen by touching it.
Maybe she had to do it by electrocuting the tree?
"Thalia!"
Her head whipped to the voice. It was Bianca. Thalia let out a sigh of relief.
"Gods, you almost scared me! I was this close to striking you with lightning. THIS close!" Thalia gestured with her index and thumb.
The daughter of Hades burst out in giggles.
"You might be laughing now, but one day I swear it's going to happen."
"Yeah, yeah," Bianca shrugged it off.
"Whatcha doing?" Bianca asked, looking at Thalia's palm against the tree. "Got tree sentiments?"
"You're asking for it." Thalia rapidly rubbed her palms together as if she was trying to create lightning from her hands and started messing with Bianca's wavy hair.
"Ugh! You're ruining my hair!" Despite saying this, Bianca made no attempt to stop her.
Their faces were full of smiles.
"Well isn't that the point?" Thalia replied sarcastically.
After adequately messing up her hair, she pretended to be a hair stylist asking for the bill, holding out her hand. "That'll be 25."
Bianca's eyes popped out and her mouth was opened wide in an "O" shape.
"25 DOLLARS! ARE YOU CRAZY!!" She said that while playfully pushing Thalia's hand away.
The duo looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"No. But really, what were you doing?" Bianca asked.
Bianca's face was dead serious. All of the playfulness from a moment ago completely disappeared. Her seriousness confused Thalia because she didn't understand what the big deal was.
"I was just-" Her electric blue eyes briefly met Bianca's. For some unknown reason, Thalia felt anxious and decided not to tell her. There wasn't a need for Bianca to know. At least, not yet.
"I- I was just hunting a horned hellhound," Thalia said, hoping to cover up the small hiccup that she did.
Thankfully, Bianca didn't inquire more about it, allowing Thalia to let out a silent sigh of relief.
"Let's go then. It's getting late." Bianca motioned for Thalia to follow her back to camp.
Now that Thalia looked, it was almost nighttime. As much as she wanted to find out what was going on, it was probably best if she left it alone.
That place was probably someone's grave.
While leaving, she felt a gaze from behind, causing her to turn and look at the tree.
There was nothing to note though.
Just a few green fireflies flying around.