[David's Pov]

Thalia Grace is one of the most feral people I've ever met.

That's saying a lot if you consider that I sleep in the same room with teenagers who bury landmines in front of their lawns.

Just to be sure, I didn't want to blame her for simply being a rough person. I believe violence can be used for good—not simply in defeating monsters, but to convey things too abstract to put into words.

But Thalia's terrorism...well, there is a reason I used the word terror.

Her rage had very little rhyme or reason behind it, just like the storm clouds and lightning strikes accompanying her temper.

"In some ways, she resembled her father a bit too much," Chiron sighed over his cup of coffee.

I sipped a cup of cocoa with a slight nod. Zeus was also a well-known tyrant in his earlier days of rule, although I didn't believe the Ichor flowing in her vein was the sole reason Thalia was being difficult.

"Not all children of Zeus acted like her, though, did they?" I pointed out to Chiron. The wise centaur nodded.

"True. But they all needed some help to adapt to the mortal world. I used to teach them how to utilize their strengths, how ones should use their magnificent powers to thwart evil and protect the innocents."

"Just like you are doing now," I finished.

Chiron smiled a little as my voice was riddled with respect for the eons-old teacher of Half-Bloods.

"Yes, David. But I am afraid I am getting too old."

"Aren't you immortal?" I asked, confused. Chiron took another sip of his coffee and nodded.

"Immortal, yes. But there is a limit to how much one can learn. During the three thousand years of western civilization, I'm afraid the mortal world has changed too much for me to cover everything."

"What are you saying, Chiron?"

It almost sounded like Chiron was about to announce his retirement, which made me nervous.

However, Chiron's next sentence was something completely different—and it filled me with even more dread.

"I want you to look after Thalia, David."

I sprang to my feet, "You want me to what?!"

My voice cracked into a shriek. Chiron wasn't surprised by my reaction. On the other hand, he sighed deeply, as if it was the exact response he expected and feared.

"Chiron, with all due and respect, I think I'm the worst candidate for the job," I explained, trying my best to change Chiron's mind, "Thalia hates me!"

"I heard you were with Thalia during the Valentine's Day celebration?"

I winced when Chiron reminded me of the event. Sure, it was a nice moment then, but the Aphrodite Cabin kept pandering at me about that for a month before I finally told them to shut up.

"Well, yeah...but she seems to hate me even more after that."

Chiron sighed again. He readjusted himself against the magical wheelchair and looked me in the eyes.

"David, Hate is a strong word. On what behalf do you believe that Thalia would hate you?"

"She scowls whenever she sees me," I started, ticking one of my fingers. I had an entire list to go through, "She keeps trying to maim me during sparring sessions and also demands one whenever wherever—"

I looked up when Chiron chuckled.

"I'm sorry, but to this old centaur, it sounds like Thalia took an interest in you."

"What?" I recoiled at the idea.

Look, I'm not saying Thalia is hopelessly unattractive; on the contrary, a handful of boys and girls alike had taken quite an interest on the hardened, girl crush daughter of Zeus. In a way, I guess she inherited that side of her father as well.

However, I didn't like someone who shoot electricity whenever they got upset. Besides, Zoë was...

...well, I wasn't sure when we'll see each other again, but I would never go for another girl as long as I lived.

Chiron chuckled again, "Not in a romantic way, my boy. Thalia would never..." His smile hardened into a sorrowful expression as his eyes stared into the crackling flames of the hearth.

The wise centaur stayed silent for a long time, but I could easily guess what, or who was on his mind.

"Is it about Luke?" I asked.

Chiron flinched in his seat, "How do you know about him?"

I shrugged, "The whole camp avoided talking about him, so I did some digging around. He was a Son of Hermes, right? Left the camp two years ago after he tried to poison Percy..."

I stopped when Chiron's expression steadily get more sorrowful during my short rant.

Once again, I couldn't help but acknowledge the impact Luke left on the camp. And, to be honest, it made me angry.

His betrayal affected Annabeth, Percy, Thalia, and even Chiron.

I'd heard Annabeth used to have a crush on him for years before she met Percy. By the sounds of it, Thalia liked the guy too, which explained why she stood her last ground at the Half-Blood Hill.

What I didn't understand was, if this guy was such a pivotal guy in the Camp, why did he stab everyone in the back? What kind of an anus move was that?

"Anyway," Chiron started, obviously eager to change the subject, "I believe Thalia has taken a rivalry against you. Your accomplishment during the quest to save Artemis must have left an impression."

"You mean she is jealous," I grumbled. Chiron didn't deny, which solidified my suspicion.

The story of my duel against the Titan General Atlas had somehow spread across the camp.

There were generally two reactions. Most of the camp, including my cabin mates, didn't believe it.

It didn't help that I couldn't recreate such amazing feats during camp activities. I was not remarkably stronger than others, nor did I beat anyone with ease in combat.

I couldn't explain why myself, but I could never reach the state when I fought Atlas in my daily life.

My best guess was that I only managed to keep going against Atlas because I was determined beyond my life to hold my ground and fight.

I couldn't allow myself to be defeated, much less back down when everyone's lives present at the altar—and countless more—depended on my shoulder

But then again, the sigil had "stopped working" ever since I accepted the deal with Hecuba. It was possible that I'd never be able to reach the same rate of profoundness ever again.

But unrelated to whether if I could support the rumors or not, there were a handful of people who believed the stories.

Percy congratulated on my success, and he also stopped pulling back during our sword practices. Even though he wiped the floor with me 7-8 times out of 10, he didn't doubt my triumph.

On the other hand, there were examples like Thalia, who couldn't seem to accept that there was possibly someone stronger than her, which brought us back to the point in hand.

"If she has taken a rivalry against me, wouldn't it be better if I kept my distance from her?" I suggested, "Maybe you can assign someone who knows her better or is interested in her."

I thought it was a logical solution. However, Chiron shook his head.

"If someone could make their way into Thalia's heart, it would be one of the ideal solutions. But currently, Thalia is like an injured animal, David. Whatever she may look like on the outside, internally, she is bruised and hurt beyond belief."

As Chiron explained, I recalled what Thalia had said under her tree.

"Between the three of us, I'm the only one that is left behind. Annabeth moved on. Luke is gone...and I'm still here. Alone."

To my surprise, an answer automatically came to my mouth.

"She is lonely," I said, "When Thalia turned back into a human after several years, too much has changed for her to accept simply."

Chiron nodded. A hint of a proud smile was etched across his lips.

"Children of Zeus are usually stubborn. They don't adapt to the environment; they try to change the environment to meet their taste.

Unfortunately, that mindset is hard to apply in the current age of men. It doesn't help that Thalia hardly had any time to relax during her life."

"I can relate to that," I muttered.

Maybe I had some leeway when I was younger, under the care of my mother—Hecate. But for reasons yet unclear, I had next to no memory of those times.

The times I do remember, the experiences that shape me, aren't laid back.

Even Rose, the one aspect I held dear...I couldn't even tell what had happened to her after I left her. In the brief time I'd met her, she had changed so much that she was almost unrecognizable.

...Huh.

Maybe Thalia and I shared more similarities than I estimated.

I glanced at the wise centaur. Chiron had one of those difficult-to-read expressions, yet I had a suspicion that he somehow knew I had a similar turmoil to the brash daughter of Zeus.

"Alright, Chiron. I'll try my best," I said.

[Line Break]

So…two weeks had passed, and turns out, my best was far from enough.

Although I spoke confidently to Chiron, I couldn't think of a clear way to approach Thalia.

I doubted walking up to Cabin 1 and knocking at her room would accomplish more than getting electrified on the spot.

I'm not exaggerating, by the way. Lee Fletcher has been recuperating in the infirmary for a week now, bless is courageous soul. One of these days, I'll ask him what he saw in Thalia that made him so resilient to earn her heart.

Anyway, back to the topic.

As I couldn't think of a way to approach her, the natural replacement was waiting for Thalia to come find me, and start from there.

What I hadn't anticipated was, it meant that I had to accept the sparring challenge Thalia demanded whenever she had free time—and she had a lot of free time.

"Come on!" Thalia snarled.

She flipped her spear in her right hand. Sparks of electricity flickered at either tips, drawing a light blue circle in the air.

The replica of the mighty shield Aegis hung from her left arm. Thalia had the shield tiled slightly to the side, leaving an opening just to tempt me to make the first move.

I raised my cryokinetic sword. The faint chill emitting from the blade washed over my face.

Normally, it would have been a appropriate stimulant to keep me focused on the battle, but currently, I was too tired—both mentally and physically—with combating against the adolescent tyrant.

"I said, come on!" Thalia shouted and slammed her spear and shield together.

This was our 30? 40th sparring within the past two weeks. That roughly translates to 1-2 sparring per day, and I would be severely discriminating my efforts if I called that schedule merely "exhausting" or "draining".

It was a straight up torture. I couldn't understand where Thalia got the energy to invariably challenge me over and over again.

When I didn't make a move, Thalia lost her patience and charged. I stepped to the right to dodge her first stab, but that only meant I was face-to-face with the face of Medusa.

You can never get used to that horrific face. It was beyond being simply "ugly", the face had some majestic power of striking your worst fears.

Staring at its haunting eyes, my legs seized up. Thalia spun around and swung her spear down.

Right before the wood shaft landed on my back, I tucked in and rolled forward.

Thalia stepped back, knowing full well that a spearman(or woman) should always keep their distance from their enemy. However, I wasn't going to let her gain the upper hand so easily.

I may be exhausted by the whole situation, but that didn't mean I will let her take an easy victory.

I pushed forward with a jab. Thalia raised her shield to protect her face.

She trued to shove Medusa's face at me again, but I ducked under the metal plate hurtling towards me and smacked her shoulder with the flat of my blade.

"Ga!" Thalia yelped and hissed in pain. The shield hung loosly by her forearm as her grip went slack.

White frost blossomed from where my blade landed. Thalia brushed the specs off and snarled.

She slammed her foot into my chest, sending me sprawling on the ground. I tried to get back up, but Thalia was already towering over my body before I could even shake off the daze.

"I win," She declared, aiming the crackling tip of the spear at my throat, "again."

"And in a ten time streak too," I replied, trying to sound congratulating than exhuasted. However, judging from Thalia's scowl, my intention wasn't executed well enough to meet her demand.

Thalia stepped back and I pulled myself up once again. It was early March, so the weather wasn't yet to be warm but I was sweatier than a marathon runner in July. My legs felt like jelly, my breath clawed at my throat. All I wanted to do was go back to my cabin and sleep until the summer rolled in. On the other hand, the overbearing daugher of Zeus seemed to be unfazed by the previous duel.

"You are not giving your best," Thalia grumbled, "You were not like this when you fought Atlas."

"For the last damned time, I can't fight like that all the time!" I protested.

However, Thalia only scowled louder.

"Why not?" She demanded, "Why can't you fight like that? Is the occasion not special enough?"

On a normal day, I would've let her caviling pass, mostly because I was too tired.

However, today, I was irritated more than usual.

I had to postpone my own training with Hecuba in order to attended to this stupid training, and I would've loved as much as her if something different happened.

But there was nothing; everything was the same, yet Thalia had the gall to blame me.

"Gee, I wonder; how many times have we sparred over the past two weeks?"

Thalia widened her eyes, surprised that I made a retort for once.

But the moment didn't last, and her shock quickly converted into anger.

"Don't get sassy with me, you—"

I smiled smugly as Thalia struggled to find an instant nickname for me.

She had a peculiar habit of never calling one that she detastes by their name.

"Whatever!" She finally decided, "I want a proper fight; one against your full, unleashed potential—not some mild workout routine!"

"Well, either way we've done what you wanted. Now it's your turn to uphold the bargain," I pointed out, "You have to take part in one other camp activity before we can go

Despite all the downsides I have ranted on about previously, I didn't attend to Thalia's will without any conditions.

Thalia rolled her eyes and retracted her shield back into a wrist band.

"Whatever. This rehabilitation gig you are trying to pull is idiotic. I'm not a rabid animal."

"Maybe stop acting like one and other people might start buying your words."

Thalia pulled a face at me, but I simply turned my back and walked out.

I had a perfect activity Thalia could participate in.

[Line Break]

"No!" Thalia shrieked.

It was odd because I'd never heard a shriek before.

"But this is literally one of your elements," I argued, "Besides, flying on a pegasus isn't hard—the horses do all the hard stuff for you. You just have to make sure you maintain the balance so that you don't fall enough—"

"Stop, stop, stop," Thalia waved both her head and hands, "There is no way in Hades that I'm riding on those creatures."

On hindsight, I should have picked up on Thalia's obvious verbal nonverbal signs of having issue with the particular activity.

But during the moment, I was still tired from the relentless sparrings, and truthfully, I was quite sour towards Thalia.

The more she rejected the idea, the more I brcame determined to get her on the back of a pegasus.

So, I did the worst thing I could do, and provoked the hot-headed daughter of Zeus.

"Don't tell me you're actually scared, right? Even eight year olds try it without a hitch."

It wasn't even a good taunt—that was what my cabinmates said when they heard the story—but it did its job well enough.

Thalia's cheeks turned bright red with a mixture of embarrassment and fury.

"Who says I'm scard?! I can do it, I just don't want to!"

"Prove it." I challenged her.

Thalia growled, "Watch me!"

She strode over to the line of pegasi, who all tried their best to avoid eye contact with the annoyed spark-flickering punk girl.

Good news for most of them, Thalia seemed to have already made up her mind on which pegasus she was going to ride.

On the contrary, I was the one getting concerned when she dragged out the black pegasus from the stables.

Blackjack snorted and whinned, glaring at both of us for ruining his nap time, but his rebelliousness only seemed to seal Thalia's choice.

"Hey, Thalia... you know that's Percy's horse, right?"

"Exactly," Thalia spat and slung her leg on Blackjack's back.

"Do you know even how to fly—"

"Hiy-yah!"

Thalia kicked the horse into action, something you should ABSOLUTELY NOT DO in any case, and Blackjack soared into the sky.

For a grand total of 3 seconds, everything seemed fine. Thalia looked down at me with a smirk, but her expression quickly changed when she realized how high she was.

"Oh, oh god," Thalia muttered as she ascended higher and higher, "Oh no. Wait, wait this is too high—!"

Finally, she let out a shirll scream. And with that, her body emitted an actual bolt of lightning.

It struck the roof of the stable, setting fire to the whole vasility. Before I could do anything, half a doznes of pegasi flew away in panic.

Blackjack shook off Thalia as soon as he caught the chance.

"Thalia!"

I rushed forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

Even with one mechanical arm, catching a muscular teenage girl free falling 20ft was more demanding than I thought.

I looked up through the pain just in time to see Blackjack snort in my direction before flying away as well.

I couldn't understand horse, but I was fairly certain the black pegasus was flying over to Percy's house, eager to tell him everything about what happened.

"...Shit."


A/N:

Hey, how's it going?

Sorry for the long break and short chapter.

During the "break", I went through the boot camp and is currently serving as an actual troop.

All in all, I think I did manage to adapt to the new surroundings, but that took some time; add that with my finger getting bruised, and I couldn't make the time to write.

Hopefully all those issues are left in the past as we dive into the new mini arc, where Thalia sets the Pegasus free by accident.

What will happen next?

You'll see that in the next chapter(hopefully it won't take this long again)

I hope you had a fun time reading.

Ta ta~