Happy 4th birthday to this story, and what better wait to celebrate than some Jason angst, my specialty. This idea stems from my author's note in my last chapter.

Do I remember how this chain of events went down in the book? No. Do I care? Also no. Enjoy the angst.

Also, perfect timing (ish) cause we finally have our show's Thalia!

Story #51: Thalia's Struck By Lightning Like Lighting Hitting a Tree

"Run!" Luke screams.

Thalia hoisted Annabeth on her back and started running at top speed as Luke's yell was so potent she heard his voice strain. She can feel Annabeth squirm on her back, probably turning around to call out to Luke. The cold blade of her knife presses against her back and it sends chills down Thalia's spine. The battle is unbearably warm, sweat clings her clothes to her body as locks of her short black hair stick all over her face and the back of her neck. She has her knife in her hands, gripping the handle just in case one jumps out at her. Now she has Annabeth on her back, running through the forest leading up to Camp Half-Blood.

Annabeth squirms as the Hellhounds howl within the trees, hiding in the darkness. Thalia doesn't even know where those Furies are but she has one objective: get to Camp Half-Blood.

"Look out!" Annabeth yells.

Thalia skips to a stop, wet mud splashing on her jeans when she sees a Hellhound running up to them. It stops, snarling its layers of teeth coated in blood. Whose blood is that? Thalia shrugs Annabeth off her back, keeping her eyes locked with the beast. She pulls her knife back about to attack, but a tree falls and crushes the hound. Grover slides off the tree trunk and stomps on the hellhound's head for good measure.

"Why aren't you there yet?" Luke asks once he runs up to them.

"Little distraction," Thalia responds, pointing to the crushed Hellhound with her blade.

"We can't lead the monsters to camp," Grover tells them. "We have the forces there, but we can't risk them even knowing where it is or the other campers."

"We need a map," Annabeth pipes up.

"We can't look at a map."

"Maps need to be followed."

"Only if you're lost," Luke states.

Thunder rumbles in the sky as monsters roar. Grover, Luke, and Thalia encircle Annabeth, looking all around them. The Hellhounds growling and snarling, ready to pounce on them as the Furies shriek from the trees. The most dangerous monsters from the Underworld tracking them like prey solely because she's a child who shouldn't exist. Thalia licks sweat off her upper lip, frowning up at the sky and hoping her father sees her grimace.

"We'll dart for Camp," Thalia states the new plan. "Grover, lead the way. Annabeth and Luke, follow. I'll be the last in the chain."

"No, Thalia-" Luke tries to interrupt.

"We don't have the time. The monsters will keep getting worse from here on out the longer we fight in these woods."

"Thalia."

"Luke."

Her voice is stronger but not like her gaze up at her. Her breaths heave and she has no more to say. Despite their current hash on the plan, they and Grover all have the same goal: get Annabeth to camp safely. Thalia trusts Luke and he knows that she trusts him in return. She joined forces with him at the start because he became like a brother to her, almost reminding her of—

"We gotta go," Grover says.

Grover leaps over the fallen tree and starts running. Luke follows him in step.

"Thalia?"

Lightning strikes as she hears a small voice calls her name. She looks down and it's not Annabeth beside her. Instead, it's Jason. Thalia's frozen on the spot as she looks at that little blond boy with sky-blue eyes and a small scar on his upper lip from when he tried to eat a stapler. She lost him in the woods when he was younger. Then she took her eyes off of him for only a second and her mother lost him in wolf-infested woods without an explanation. Jason was the only reason she stayed. She had to make sure he was taken care of because she didn't trust her mother.

Then before she knew it, Thalia was on the run. She saw no point in being at that house anymore. He was gone.

He would've been Annabeth's age. He would've been by her side if she was better. He would've gotten him to Camp Half-Blood where he would be safe.

"Thalia?"

"Annabeth, you have to listen to me," Thalia says, holding her by the shoulders and leaning down so their faces are at the same height. Tears rim her eyes but she can't let them fall for Annabeth or any of the monsters to see. "Grover got us on his side by showing us a path to something desirable, something fun. From that part, it hardly matters what we want. We'll have so much fun at Camp Half-Blood if Grover's stories are as animated as he says. There will be so many other kids like us and we'll have dumb matching shirts."

Annabeth nods. She was so small, capable, and fiery for someone her age. She stabbed a cyclops in the foot a while back, but Thalia had to protect her too.

"Come on," Thalia encourages.

The two of them start running, eventually catching up to Luke and Grover who finish taking down more Hellhounds.

"Camp isn't that much further!" Grover yells.

"Look out!" Luke screams.

Thalia immediately pushes Annabeth towards Luke and Grover as a Fury's claws grip her shoulders. Thalia hollers but nobody could hear her over the Fury's cry. Her warm blood stains where the claws break the skin and she falls on her knees. Thalia yells as she slices the Fury's claw. When the monster is off balance, Thalia whips her body around and calls the winds to pry that monster off her. Thalia falls back once she's free, blood pooling on the ground around her.

She looks at Annabeth, who is gripping onto Luke and holding back a cry. Thalia sees Grover and Luke and she's breathing heavily. She feels the storm building at her fingertips, electricity prickling her skin at every inch. The Hellhounds circle her, smelling and salivating at the blood that draws them to her and the others; this time with more intensity than the scent of being the Big Man's kid.

"Go to Camp," Thalia tells them. "I'll hold them off."

"No!" Annabeth yells.

"Luke," Thalia states. "I'll be right behind you."

Luke's face doesn't shift. He knows what she means. Luke grabs Annabeth

"I'll see you at Camp," Thalia tells Annabeth.

With shaky legs, Thalia stands. Her sneakers sink in the mud as the wind whirls around her arms. She glances back and sees Grover leading Luke and Annabeth out of her way and towards camp. Thunder rumbles in the sky and Thalia feels the lightning building in her veins. There are too many beady red eyes to lock onto but as long as Thalia knows they're close, it doesn't matter how many there are.

"Go!" Thalia yells at her friends as the elements come crashing down.

Lightning obliterates the forest before her, ripping pain so immense in Thalia's body that she can't handle it. The monsters howling and trees cracking suddenly become a deafening silence in her ears as her body takes on a fresh lightning strike from above. Thalia flies back and hits a tree, falling right in the mud. She doesn't move. If there are any monsters left, they can have her. If she somehow makes it, she can start thinking of a life that's left for her and not the death at the end of it all.

Besides, most of the time, the fun one's had leads to the pain that makes the hurt with it.

Rain patters on her skin and Thalia's barely open eyes flicker up and she sees a shimmer of gold dust. The magic extends itself into tendrils that swirl and reach out to her. She wants to scamper back away from it, but she can't move. Her body hurts so much that she might as well be dead.

"Never fear a storm, Jason, it's your father saying that he loves you."

Thalia isn't sure if it's a tear or rain that escapes her eye and she doesn't care. Thalia forgot what her mother sounds like. For the longest time, she forgot her voice and she was glad for that change in memory. Whenever she tried to muster it in her mind, it was always melded with someone else's. But now? Now it's clear as day.

Her eyes close as the gold forms a blanket over her.

*cue pine tree*