Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson

έψιλοv—Epsilon

Luke caught Thalia when she fainted. He didn't blame her it'd been a long, stressful night. For both of them. But he couldn't afford to pass out, who would've caught Thalia?

"Luke! Thalia!" Annabeth's voice called. Luke turned his head and looked behind him to see a small girl with fiery blonde hair running toward him. "There you are! When I woke up and you weren't there, I thought—" Annabeth broke off when she got closer and noticed the other girls.

Artemis's eyes softened. "Hello, young one," she said gently. "What's your name?"

Annabeth looked up at Luke for approval. He nodded stiffly. She looked back at Artemis.

"A-Annabeth." she stuttered quietly.

"That's a very fitting name," Artemis commented. She turned back to her Hunters. "Let us set up camp." she instructed. "So that these two young ladies may rest."

Luke ignored this passive aggressive insult.

The Hunters set camp up in only a few minutes. It was like Luke had gone through a time warp. One moment Luke was standing there, holding Thalia and the next he's sitting on a log in front of a blazing fire with silver tents made of silk shaped in a crescent moon, Thalia and Annabeth resting in one of their tents. Surrounding the camp were white timber wolves and falcons in the trees.

Luke glared at the fire, it kept him warm, sure, but the Hunters' cold demeanor was starting to get on his nerves. He understood that they didn't like boys, being with Artemis and all, but still, they didn't have to leave him outside all alone. If Annabeth and Thalia hadn't been here he would've been back in their own shelter sleeping peacefully.

"Thalia Grace," Luke recognized Zoë Nightshade's old-accent. He didn't bother to look. If Thalia was being called by Zoë Nightshade then it had nothing to do with him and must've been important. He didn't think that Zoë Nightshade would appreciate that. "Come, Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee." she spoke.

Out of the corners of Luke's eyes he saw Thalia and Zoë duck into the last tent. Luke sighed heavily leaning forward and resting his crossed arms on his knees before resting his chin on his arms. He glowered at the fire. Couldn't the sun rise yet so they could get going? He'd rather be at Camp Half-Blood right now than here.

"Luke?"

Luke turned to see Annabeth, her head poked out from one of the tents. He couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked as she came out of the tent and run up to the fire to sit next to him on the log.

"I had a nightmare." she said.

"You wanna tell me about it?" he asked mussing her hair up. She made a face and stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled.

Annabeth sighed heavily and looked into the fire. "Just my family." she mumbled glumly.

Luke put an arm around her and rubbing her arm soothingly. "We're your family now."

Annabeth looked up at him and he smiled. A slow smile formed on her adorable little face as well.

Luke looked back at the fire again, but through the flames he saw Thalia's black hair. He thought about calling to her, but she looked a little distraught and needed some time alone to think. So, he held his tongue.

Sighing he looked back at Annabeth, her eyes were drooping and she looked extremely sleepy.

"Maybe you should go get some more rest, Annabeth." he suggested quietly.

She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "But I'm not tired."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Still, it's warmer and more comfortable inside. And you're a growing girl, you need your sleep."

"Okay," Annabeth mumbled still rubbing her eyes. Luke made sure that she got safely into the tent before turning back around.

Now Zoë was talking to Thalia. It looked fine at first, but it seemed to get more heated with every word that was spoken between them.

"I'm not alone!" Thalia's voice rose over the flames and hit Luke. What were they arguing about?

Zoë pointed in Luke's direction and responded, "You call that a family?"

It was like squeezing lemon juice into his open wounds. What was wrong with him? Besides being a guy. Then again, what was wrong with being a guy? It wasn't fair, why did everyone always have to show respect to the gods when they never got it back. All they were, were pawns to the gods. They could care less about what happened to them, as long as they gained from it. It absolutely infuriated Luke.

Thalia coming to sit next to him brought Luke back to the present.

"Anything good on tonight?" Thalia joked playfully shoving him.

He rolled his eyes and shoved back.

"Um, if I may ask, what did Zoë Nightshade want from you?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

Thalia pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Artemis asked me to join the Hunters." she said slowly.

Luke's heart jumped in his chest. It was probably bad of him, but he hoped that the fight Thalia had with Zoë Nightshade had meant she'd said no. Still, he had to be sure.

"What… what did you say?" he asked quietly, too afraid to meet her gaze.

"I turned it down," Thalia said looking over at him with clear, electric blue eyes. Luke looked back.

"Really? Why?" Thalia's face fell. "I mean, it's not that I'm not… glad, but—What I'm trying to say is—Well, you see… I just—"

Thalia laughed. "Okay, okay, calm down. I said no because I can't abandon my family." She took his hand into hers, a smile lighting up her eyes.

Luke did something really impulsive then, he leaned forward and kissed Thalia. It was probably the most dangerous thing he could've done throughout his entire life. Kissing a girl who'd just turned down the Hunters, in Artemis's presence. But, in that singular moment, it didn't really matter.

Thalia froze for a second shocked at his gesture, but her eyes slid closed and she kissed him back.

When they pulled back it became awkward between them. What were you supposed to say after that first kiss? They could barely even look at each other it was so awkward. All the noise was the sound of the crackling fire.

The next morning the Hunters broke camp just as fast as they had set it up and left without a single word to the trio. Nothing about Camp Half-Blood and nothing about the decision Artemis had presented Thalia. Not even a goodbye to Annabeth who Artemis had seemed to like a whole bunch more than Luke and Thalia.

Several days later Luke, Thalia and Annabeth had traveled to another small town. The night was still young, and they hadn't eaten since the Hunters visit, and more monsters had been chasing them. Like right now, they were trying to avoid a hellhound. They were both beat and knew if they got into a fight, one of them was going to slip up and all of them were likely to die.

"Do you think we lost it?" Thalia asked in a whisper, peeking around an alleyway corner, gripping the shaft of her spear, her shield out.

"I think so," Luke answered just as quiet, leaning against the wall and sliding down. "For now at least." he muttered. "Are you okay, Annabeth?" he asked looking down at the grey-eyed girl.

"I'm okay," she answered in a whisper sitting down next to him.

Thalia sat down on Luke's opposite side—his two girls. It was like they had let out a collective sigh, relaxing after what felt like days. Thalia and Annabeth closed their eyes and both gently leaned against Luke. Luke rested his cheek on the top Thalia's head and put an arm around Annabeth, closing his eyes as well, but keeping alert.

Not a moment later did they hear a noise somewhere down the alley. The three demigods were up on their feet, wielding their weapons, ready for a fight.

"Where do you think it came from?" Thalia asked, her eyes darting around, trying to see any moving shadows through the gloom.

The same noise sounded.

"Over there," Luke whispered, gesturing with his chin. Perfectly in sync, they all moved forward with stealth. The noise came again, echoing off the walls, a little louder, indicating they were heading in the right direction.

Thalia crept along the wall, Luke right behind her and Annabeth in the middle, and looked over into the next alley. Luke waited patiently for Thalia to tell them if something had gone down that alley.

She pulled back and looked over at Luke and Annabeth, nodding to confirm that something was lurking down there.

"Looks… human." she told them.

"Maybe he's got cash." Luke suggested.

Cash meant food and food meant energy. No more hunger pains in their hollow stomachs. Just thinking about food made Luke's mouth water and his stomach growl.

"Maneuver twenty-six?" Thalia asked. Luke looked down at Annabeth who nodded up at him, he looked back at Thalia and nodded in agreement before getting into place on the other side of the entrance to the other connecting alley. Annabeth stayed with Thalia.

Thalia looked over at him and mouthed the countdown, "One, two, three!" Luke darted forward, Thalia and Annabeth on his heels.

As he blocked the figure's path, Thalia and Annabeth tripped him up. He landed on the ground with an oof!

Then, all three held their weapons, poised at the figure.

"My-name-is-Grover-I'm-a-protector-and-was-sent-to-find-you-guys-I-swear-I'm-not-a-monster-I've-come-to-take-you-to-Camp-Half-Blood-please-don't-kill-me!" the figure whimpered, in one big breath.

Now that the danger had passed, Luke pulled his sword back and looked down at the person. Actually, not person, satyr: the top half was human, the bottom half had fur and hooves, like a goat.

"A satyr." Luke told Thalia and Annabeth, nodding down at Grover.

Thalia threw her spear into her left hand and held her right out for Grover and hauled him to his feet, er, hooves.

"All right, goat boy, what is this camp that everyone keeps mentioning?" Thalia asked.

Grover made a face at his new nickname. "Camp Half-Blood," he explained anyway. "It's kind of self explanatory. It's a camp for half-bloods like you guys. I'm supposed to take you guys there." His face paled. "And it better be quick, the only reason I found you guys was because of the monster scent trails."

Thalia, Luke and Annabeth exchanged looks, scowling.

"Hades found out that Zeus broke the oath," Luke spoke remembering just now what the telkhine had told him right before they'd gone to his mother's. Thalia looked at him her eyebrows shooting up, her mouth dropping slightly.

"What did you just say?" she asked.

"I meant to tell you when I found out but—" Luke quickly tried to explain.

"But what?" Thalia asked cutting him off taking a step forward. Grover gulped nervously and took two steps back.

"Thalia, I'm sure he has a good explanation," Annabeth tried to reason.

But Thalia ignored her. "It wasn't important enough? How could you forget to tell me something like that?"

"The telkhine was the one who told me. I was going to tell you, I swear. But you were injured and our shelter was destroyed. I was a little distraught." Luke quickly explained hating seeing her angry with him.

Thalia simmered down, guilt flooding her gorgeous eyes. "Sorry." she mumbled stepping back and dropping her gaze.

Luke pulled her into a hug. "I understand." He pulled back and turned to face Grover again. "Hades found out and is sending these monsters after us. He won't stop." Luke looked down at Thalia with concern. "Not until she's dead." His throat tightened.

"Then we'd better get going." Grover advised readjusting the Rasta cap on his head.

"Keep going!" Grover gasped as the four of them ran. "We're almost there!"

Light flashed above, the sky illuminating with a bright, blue-white light before dimming again. Thunder followed with ear-splitting cracks. Cold, spitting rain poured down on the quartet, who were trying to get away from the horde of monsters chasing after them. They were far now, but gaining quickly. Quicker than any of them wanted. If only they hadn't met that Cyclops….

Several hundred yards away a hill appeared.

Half-Blood Hill.

They were so close!

But with the way the monsters were chasing after them, Luke feared they weren't going to make it to Camp Half-Blood alive… at least, not all of them. His heart hammering in his chest, he pushed himself harder, and risked a glance behind them.

"Look out!" Luke shouted stopping and turning to face the three hellhounds that had managed to run ahead of the pack.

Thalia, Annabeth and Grover stopped, Thalia brandishing her shield, tightening her grip on the shaft of her spear. Annabeth gripped the dagger Luke had given her with a determined look in her sparkling grey eyes.

Grover nervously tugged at Thalia's shirt. "We can't! We have to go! They're gaining." His voice shook.

Luke stabbed a hellhound as it leapt forward, but it rolled away before the Celestial bronze could slice through its body.

"We have no choice!" Thalia shouted as more thunder rumbled overhead.

Luke looked over at to see how Thalia and Annabeth were doing. Annabeth was struggling a bit because she had to get in close to make a strike. Of course Thalia was trying to keep two hellhounds at bay and help Annabeth, but that was a difficult task, even for the most trained warrior.

Taking a big risk, Luke jumped at the hellhound totally exposing himself and jabbed and slashed with all his might. Finally the hellhound evaporated and Luke ran over to help Annabeth.

"Help if you can!" Thalia shouted at Grover before running toward yet another hellhound with a battle cry, just as Luke got over to Annabeth. Together they shredded the hellhound and through the rain and dust that used to be the monster, they both saw a black mass. They couldn't tell what it was at first, but Luke's blood ran cold when he realized it was the other monsters. There were so many he couldn't even see the ground they trampled on.

"Luke, look out!" Annabeth shouted shoving him to the side. They hit the ground and slid slightly from all the mud. A hellhound's paws landed where they'd just been. Annabeth and Luke leapt to their feet ready to face it.

"Luke! Annabeth!" Thalia shouted from somewhere.

"Kind of busy!" Luke replied back as the hound flung a paw out. He dodged fluidly and slashed, as Annabeth bravely ran in to make a strike of her own before dashing back out of the line of fire. Unfortunately as Luke went to jab his foot slipped underneath the unstable earth. His head hit the ground hard and he saw stars for a moment. Annabeth not expecting him to be there fell over him.

"Guys!" Thalia's shriek broke through the thunder overhead.

Before the hound could do anything though, a tin can hit the side of its head and bounced off harmlessly. The thing swung its head around, its eyes trained on Grover now.

Grover threw another tin can at it, but that only seemed to make it more ticked off.

The hound threw out a paw; claws sheathed because apparently he wasn't that important, and knocked him to the ground. He didn't get up.

"Grover!" Thalia shouted. No response.

Blinking, Luke capitalized on Grover's heroic act and jumped up, lunging toward the hound and lashing with his sword. Annabeth had recovered as well, and soon Thalia came to help and as a team they sent it back to the Underworld.

"We need to move, now!" Thalia shouted, looking worriedly over at the ever-growing mass. They were extremely close. Any leeway they could've had had evaporated now. Their chances of making it to camp was a million to none.

Luke and Thalia both threw one of Grover's arms over their shoulders, made sure

Annabeth was in front of them and started stumbling toward Half-Blood Hill. Every now again Grover would mutter, "Food."

"Come on," Thalia groaned. "Wake up, goat boy!"

With effort and every last shred of energy Annabeth, Luke and Thalia had, they trudged up the hill, but at the top Thalia glanced back.

She shoved Grover into Luke. "Go." she commanded, slapping her bracelet. Aegis spiraled out.

Luke's eyes widened. "I'm not leaving you!" he shouted shaking his head, droplets of water spraying every which way. What was she thinking? They'd be able to make it… they would! Wouldn't they?

"I'm not leaving you either!" Annabeth objected looking up at Thalia.

Thalia looked back at the black mass, just seeing the smiles of satisfaction from the Furies, before looking down at Annabeth with sad eyes and then meeting Luke's beautiful blue eyes. Eyes that she wished she could stare into forever. "You have to! We're not going to make it." If Luke hadn't known any better, it looked as if Thalia had begun to cry, but it was hard to tell with the sheets of rain.

Luke's chest tightened and a lump formed in his throat. No, he wasn't going to let her do this! He couldn't! They had to make it! They had to. What would he do without Thalia?

"Yes, we are! Don't say that!" Luke's voice shook.

"Food!" Grover moaned again.

Thalia looked back at the monsters. They were mere yards away from the base of the hill. Her throat clogged up.

"Luke you have taken care of me for years now!" she told him in a rush, reaching up to caress his face. "Now it's my turn. I'm going to hold them. It should give you guys enough time to get down there. To safety."

"Thalia, please, don't!" Annabeth sobbed. "We're all going to make it! We can if we get going now!"

Luke's eyes tightened with pain, he could see nothing they were ever going to say was going to change her mind. "Thalia…"

"We have to make sacrifices." she said pulling her hand back. "I'm saying goodbye." She paused momentarily. "I have to." She gave Annabeth a quick, bone-crushing hug.

"Thalia, I—" Luke started when she'd pulled away.

"Go!" she ordered.

Reluctantly, with Grover's arm still thrown over his shoulder, Luke descended the hill with Annabeth and they ran as fast as they could to the big blue house.

He laid Grover down on the porch of the house and turned back to look at the hill. Annabeth came over to him, and he put his arm around her comfortingly. Together, they watched what was going on at the peak of the hill.

Thalia stood bravely, her head held high, her shield and spear at the ready. Then, like a wave of pure darkness they were on her. Luke couldn't distinguish what exactly was happening as Thalia jabbed and slashed with her spear, blocking their demonic claws with her shield.

The Furies circled overhead, waiting for a chance to dive in.

But more came, faster than she could disintegrate them. They surrounded her on the hill.

Luke's heart lurched in his chest as he watched in horror, as one of the Furies ripped her shield from her arm. Another taking her spear and snapping it in half. Giving one of the hellhounds a chance to rack its claws across her back.

Luke was too far away to hear her screams of agony, but he felt as if he could hear them, ringing in his ears, clawing at his heart, shredding it to ribbons.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried darting forward, but Luke held her back. "Let me go! Let me go! We need to help her!" she shouted, struggling against him.

"It's too late," he whispered his own eyes filling with tears. Annabeth stopped struggling and collapsed into body-racking sobs on the porch. Luke felt frozen, his eyes were stuck, wide open, glued to top of the hill.

Thalia fell and disappeared in the mass, but before the monsters could do anything else there was a great flash. So great, Luke had to turn his head away. But he felt the air pressure change, he felt all the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand up on end; he smelled ozone.

When the light faded and Luke looked back to where Thalia had fallen, there stood a tree.

A pine tree. Tall, healthy, fully grown.

There were no monsters to be seen within miles.

Like always, thunder followed, but this thunder was like nothing Luke had ever heard before. His hands flew up to his ears, the sound reverberating in his chest, the ground shaking from the force the clashing clouds caused. The house groaned, rattling with the ground.

Zeus, Luke thought. It had to be. But why? Why now? He'd never shown he cared about Thalia in the first place. Now that she's dying he decides to do something. And it had to be turning her into a tree? His best friend, his companion on the run, the one he… loved was a tree! How was that fair! How was that justice?

If anything, Thalia should've died and gone to Elysium for sacrificing herself for Luke, Annabeth and Grover to get to safety. Instead, she'd be a tree. Eternally. Not dead, but not alive either.

Luke's jaw clenched.

A wave of pure, black, unadulterated hatred washed over him, practically drowning him.

He loathed them.

Despised them.

Every last Olympian. His father especially.

He wanted them to pay for what happened with Thalia. This was all their fault! Directly, indirectly, it didn't matter! They're the ones who caused this!

The sound of a door opening caught Luke's attention. He turned to see a centaur standing in the doorway. Without a word, he kneeled down next to Annabeth and took her into his arms. Another half-blood helped a now half-conscious Grover to his feet and started inside. Luke followed, taking a swift look at the pine tree standing at the crest of the hill.

A shiver ran down Luke's spine as he stepped inside, as a deep, icy, ancient chuckle filled his mind.

Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it. ~ Terry Pratchett

All right, that's the end. Stay tuned for the next small story in the series: Enemy Among Us. I might post it within the next week or so. Hope you enjoyed!

thank-you-for-everything

~ See you at Camp Half-Blood!