Sorry I didn't get this to you guys sooner. Better late than never right? Thanks so much for all the great comments and reviews!!!! :) - Thalia

In the act of loving someone you arm them against you. - Anon.

When you love someone, you took a risk of breaking your heart. - Anon.

I had dreamed of what my reunion with Luke would be like. In reality it was nothing like my dreams. To say it was chaotic would have been an understatement. If I could have went back to that moment I would have. I regret so much, it's not even funny. Life should come with a rewind button, but alas it doesn't. I had kicked the love of my life off a cliff.

I'd be lying if I said making my way down the streets of L.A. where the easiest thing I'd ever done. It seemed like everything reminded me of my happy childhood. I swear I could almost hear the clink of ice in a glass and my mother's drunken laugh. The memories of all those nights I had to deal with her alcoholic rage sent chills down my spine. I had fled this city to be away from her. The woman who had given birth to me, the woman who hadn't wanted me at all.

I head the door bang open and knew that it was her coming home after a long night of partying. Her wicked witch like laugh reverberated off the walls of the apartment. "Thalia!" I flinched at the sound of my name, but after a minute or so I reluctantly got up from my window seat, gently laying down the book I'd been reading. On my way to the living room I caught a glimpse of myself in the hall mirror. A huge bruise covered my left eye from the last time she wanted to punish me for being alive. I often wondered why she didn't just abort me or put me up for adoption if she loathed me so much.

"Yes?" I felt so timid and weak. I hated it. I hated her. I took in the sight of my mother. She had been gorgeous once, but the effects of the liquor had muted her beauty. She cackled at the sight of me.

"Thalia!" Someone called my name breaking my horrible reverie. I searched frantically for whoever had called my name. My eyes came to rest upon a beautiful young woman. Her hair was dark brown and fell in perfect waves. Her eyes where a light green color that reminded me of grass. Her beauty rivaled that of Aphrodite's. I knew instantly she wasn't human, but a goddess. The lady beckoned me towards her and I obeyed, bridging the gap between us with a few long strides. "Thalia, daughter of Zeus you've kept me waiting." Then it hit me who this was. I had seen her before when I visited Olympus.

"I'm sorry, Ariadne. I honestly didn't know you where waiting for me." I stopped puzzled by why she was waiting for. "Why areyou waiting for me?" Ariadne let out a heartbreakingly melodic laugh. She looked to be no more than 17. Dressed in the latest fashion she could have been mistaken for a teen starlet.

"You mean Dionysus didn't tell you? Oh, what am I kidding of course he didn't tell you. If I didn't love him so much I'd kill. But you know what that's like dear." Ariadne waved her hand like I knew exactly what she was talking about, when in fact I didn't.

"Ummmm....I do?" I stammered trying my hardest to figure out what she meant.

"Honey, you're not the only one who had a guy they loved leave you high and dry." Theseus. Luke was my Theseus was what she was getting at. The look on my face must have betrayed me, because she had a look of satisfaction on hers. "I wonder at times if it's ever safe to love a hero. Luke wasn't fickle like Theseus was." I was as of now extremely confused. I found Luke very fickle now that he was gone. He never really figured out which side he was on.

"You're wrong. Luke was fickle. I was stupid to love him," I said bitterly. I seriously didn't know what she was getting at. When we first started the heinous converstation I thought Ariadne was sweet, but now she was starting to prove annoying. "Can we get to the point?" I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot waiting for her reply.

"I'm here to prepare you for what you're about to do. You need to know three things about Luke before you go to the Underworld." Was she kidding me? I knew everything there was to know about Luke......or at least I used to.

"Why did they send you?" I couldn't get why anyone would send Ariadne to tell me something. She was Dionysus' wife and nothing more.

"Because I've been hurt too. Believe it or not Thalia some wounds just don't heal. I have a feeling you'll learn this. You may gain the closure you seek, but the ache will continue to be there. It will dull over time, but it will never go away," Ariadne said patiently. Suddenly I felt awful for acting like a brat. She really did understand what I was going through. Theseus left her on an island, he broke her heart much like Luke had mine.

"Go ahead," I whispered. Tears began to pool in my eyes. I will not cry here, not in the middle of L.A, not in front of all these people.

"You know how you have to have something to keep you anchored to this world when you bathe in the river Styx?" I nodded and wiped at my eyes hoping to get rid of any sort of moisture. Thank the gods I decided against wearing make-up. Percy had told me about how he thought of Annabeth when he had taken a dip in the Styx and had made a few speculations as to what Luke had thought of. "Luke thought of you. His vision was much like that of Percy's. You where waiting for him on the shore. You don't know how bad he wanted you to actually be there." This was killing me. Was I really the thing that kept him anchored to this world? Tears began to threaten me once more, but I held them back. I had to be strong. "You where the last thought on his mind. He only had one true regret and that was leaving you on Half-Blood Hill." Ariadne's voice had taken on a wistful sort of tone. A thoughtful look came across her face.

"What's the third thing?" Something inside me told me that the third thing would be the hardest for me to grasp. I knew this thing would cut me to the core.

"You're the reason he joined up with Kronos. You where what Kronos promised him."