A/N: This is story is about how Percy sees Thalia. At least in my opinion. There will be at least two more chapters. Some things inspired from the books but it goes AU at some point. The Summary shows it clearly. If you don't ship Perlia, that's alright just please don't send any hate. I'm not a fan of Percabeth but I respect the ship and it's fans. All I ask is that you please do the same in return.

Legend;

He was eleven when he learned that good people die but not because they aren't good enough...but because sometimes they choose to place other lives before their own.

Those people were called heroes and stories were told about them wherever he went. He remembered having to memorize for History class their adventures, remembered the teacher saying it was important to know them.

He never did, though. Know them. How could he when they were long dead and buried? Sure, he had dyslexia but that didn't stop him from remembering her story. She was different from all the boring legends that Mrs. Smith was trying to shove down his troath.

Thalia was real; she was more than blurry words written on old textbooks, more than a white and black picture when you searched on the internet.

Percy had proof of her bravery and adventures. It didn't matter that if he checked google all it would offer him would be blank pages or useless results. His friends spoke of her sometimes because his friends were hers too.

The barrier that defended Camp Half-Blood carried her namesake. It was because of her that monsters weren't able to attack him whenever he passed by her tree.

Even in death, her selfless sacrifice to protect those closest to her affected the future. Thalia was alive in spirit and alive in Annabeth's, Grover's hearts; in his too. Her tree protected his home and her story inspired him.

And that, made all the difference between a true legend and one you don't even feel that it had ever existed.

Resolve;

This time, he was twelve and everything he had ever learned at eleven had now question marks after. He was angry and confused but the worst was feeling hopeless.

For the first time since Thalia died, the camp was attacked. The barrier that had protected the safe place for all demigods was now crumbling and he wasn't the one sent to save it.

Percy felt like everything was a bad joke, like the gods were laughing at them from the sky. Like Zeus didn't give a rat's ass about his daughter dying all over again.

But the most confusing thought of all was how could Luke poison the tree? No, not the tree but Thalia because it was her presence covered by roots and leaves. He couldn't understand and he didn't have to because with or without approval from Chiron and Mr. D, he was going anyway.

He owed it to everyone, he owed it to himself and he owed it to Thalia. She protected them for so long, now it was her turn to get rescued for once.

Similar; Different

He hadn't thought such intense blue was even possible to exist until he looked into her eyes. It was right after she woke-up and returned to the living world. They weren't like his, that resembled the sea. No, hers were a darker shade, electryfing. They resembled the sky during a storm. They either looked like they could burn him with a single look or like they could make him forget his own name but never something in between.

Percy had later discovered that her eyes were the mirror of her own self. Because just like the endless pools of blue, it was all or nothing with Thalia. Never the middle ground.

Days, weeks passed and he had never saw things as clear as he saw them in that moment. Annabeth was right when he told him Thalia and him were alike, the scary kind of alike because other than the obvious things like their similar tempers, bravery, impulsive and stubborn nature...Percy was either all in or all out, just like her. There was no middle for the sea with it's deepths or for the sky with it's heights.

They were either up to the surface or down below and he didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

That meant that they could never meet on even terms.

Anger;

He had soon come to the realization that his temper got the worst around two people: Luke and Thalia. The former was a traitor, the enemy but the latter was...his best friend, rival?

He had never really known where he stood with Thalia. Especially when she was ready to burn him into a crisp.

They were playing Capture the Flag against the Hunters of Artemis. He had never reacted well to orders to begin with so adding his ADHD and Annabeth's kidnapping to the mix and you got a fight between the two most powerful demigods.

If someone were to ask Percy who started it, he would say it was Thalia but his stupid tendency to never listen could have possibly been at fault too.

He liked her, really. She was cool and strong but ever since he and the others saved her, people weren't turning to him for advice or leadership anymore. It was her they looked up to and not just because her dad was the ruler of Olympus.

It was childish, that need of attention and that jealousy over someone whose life recently started to play out again but as such, Percy was thirteen and doomed to make mistakes until he got older.

Thalia was no different and the sight of both of them angry, launching attacks at each other reminded the other demigods just how alike they were because it was when people got angry that they showed their true colors. Nothing said more about a person than their reactions when things weren't working the way they wanted them to.

Fear;

It was in people's nature to be afraid. They all had things that scared them even if the blood of goods were running through their veins. Percy knew that all to well; he had his own fears to conquer after all.

But seeing someone else struggle, seeing Thalia tremble and look paler than usual was disturbing if not shocking. Even before he had got to meet her in person, Annabeth made her seem invincible in her stories. His belief in that only magnified after meeting her in person.

Thalia's eyes always held unwavering confidence and Percy who had been on the recieving end of her glare one too many times felt thrown-off at the sight of the uncernity, of the fear in them. However, there was no time to dwell on that because unless they didn't want to end up as lunch on a monster's table, they had to jump.

I'll just have to be brave for the both of us then. He had thought, taking her hand and grasping it tightly in his.

It had seemed his boldness did something because seconds later Thalia had looked at him like he had grown two heads, asking and he was going to quote: "WHAT IN THE NAMES OF THE GODS DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING PERSEUS JACKSON?"

He had cringed then because not even his mom used his full name. Ever.

Naturally, Percy did the impulsive thing ( and the reason behind his future funeral most probably ), taking Aegis from Thalia and pushing the both of them on the shield down the hill.

When they safely reached the ground, Thalia looked like she was about to stuff his mouth with snow or bury him in it. He didn't want to find out which so he quickly blurted out: "You're afraid of heights."

Which was far from teasing really. Percy knew how bad fear could mess you up and he wasn't going to make it worse for her.

If anything, he was determinated to help Thalia get over her fear. She wasn't fearless as the world thought or as she wanted to look and that was okay.

Nobody was invincible to fear.