Hello Readers, Leonidas here! Now, I know it seems weird that I'm starting another story here, but recently I was reading a couple of stories that spiked my interest in a certain pairing, which seems like an interesting one to write. If you've read my stories before, you know that I'm not very good at the whole romance thing, but I'm going to give it a shot. This is going to be my first story where the focus is the relationship. I haven't said it yet, but I'm pretty sure you all can figure this one out. Also, just assume that everything is the same up to this point in the novels (with a few minor tweaks the Percabeth scenes.)

Anyway, here is "Children of the Storm." Enjoy!

~Leonidas

***

PERCY

The girl stared at me in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed. "Who—"

"I'm Percy," I said, "You're safe now."

"Strangest dream..."

"It's okay."

"Dying."

"No," I assured her, "You're okay. What's your name?"

That's when I knew. Even before she said it.

The girl's blue eyes stared into mine, and I understood what the Golden Fleece quest had been about. The poisoning of the tree. Everything. Kronos had done it to bring another chess piece into play—

another chance to control the prophecy.

Even Chiron, Annabeth, and Grover, who should've been celebrating this moment, were too shocked, thinking about what it might mean for the future. And I was holding someone who was destined to be my best friend, or possibly my worst enemy.

"I am Thalia," the girl said, "Daughter of Zeus."

Was I surprised? Yeah, but that didn't change the fact that she needed help. I get that everyone is surprised to see her, especially since she just appeared out of the tree, but still...

"Where...?" She asks. I can hear the exhaustion in her voice. I guess separating your spirit from a tree had to be draining, even with the magic of the Golden Fleece.

"Camp Half-Blood." I reply softly, "You made it Thalia. You're safe."

"Safe." She replies softly and closes her eyes once again.

I become reaware of the crowd of demigods hovering around us, and suddenly feel self-conscious. They still haven't moved, staring in shock and awe at the two of us. I push that thought aside though and focus back on Thalia.

"Can you stand?" I ask, "We need to get you to the Big House. You can rest there."

Thalia nods slightly and supports herself on her hands. I lift her head off of my shoulder and stand up, offering her my hand.

The Daughter of Zeus ignores my hand and tries to stand up herself. She manages to get to her feet, but she sways a little and begins to tip forward.

"Woah there." I catch her before she falls over, "I got you. Don't worry."

I shift her arm slightly so that its over my shoulder as I wrap my own arm around her, supporting her weight against me.

"Safe." She mutters again.

"Yeah. Safe." I reply softly, " You're safe in camp now. The monsters can't get to you here."

She nods slightly, obviously still too weak to do much. I glare out at the crowd of demigods who still have done nothing to help Thalia.

"Move aside." I snap slightly, "If you're all just going to stand there, at least let me get her to the infirmary."

That seemed to break everyone from their stupor, and everyone rushed forward to greet Thalia. I pull the daughter of Zeus closer, almost on instinct.

"Give her some space!" I almost yell, "She needs to get to the infirmary."

A couple Apollo guys move towards me, offering to take her from me and carry her down, but I shake my head and keep moving Thalia slowly towards the Big House. The only people who haven't moved were Annabeth, Chiron and Grover. They stared at the two of us as if this was some sort of dream. I guess I can't fault them for that. Annabeth and Grover had been really close friends with Thalia, and this was probably the first time Chiron had seen anything like this.

It takes us some time, but eventually we get to the Big House. Carefully, I open the door and gently guide the daughter of Zeus to the infirmary wing of the building and lie her down on one of the beds. Once I put her down, I begin rummaging thought the cabinets, looking for some nectar and ambrosia. After a few moments, I find some nectar and turn back the Thalia, only to be met by those electric blue eyes. In the time I had spent looking for medicine, she had turned onto her side and opened her eyes, looking right at me. I felt hairs on the back of my neck rise a little, as if even her stare was electrifying the air around me.

"What-" She begins.

"Easy there." I cut her off and help her sit up, "Talk later. Just drink this right now."

I hand her a small glass of nectar, which she accepts and proceeds to drain it faster than anyone I'd ever seen.

She puts the glass down on a table next to her and sighs, color slowly returning to her cheeks. I can hear the clamoring of people heading towards the Big House. It sounded like the entire camp was rushing this way, which in all likelihood was exactly what is happening.

I take the glass off of the table and turn to place it on the countertop behind me. As I'm turning back, Thalia speaks up, seemingly able to speak in full sentences now.

"What is going on?" The voice was still a little weak, but I could tell it was steadily growing stronger.

Before I could respond, the door to the infirmary slams open and a mess of blonde hair flies in and crushes the daughter of Zeus in a hug, "Thalia!"

Thalia looks down at the girl in slight shock, "Annabeth...? What- How- Why are you so tall?"

I smile to myself slightly. Annabeth really had been right when she said we were similar. That is probably exactly how I would have responded.

"Thalia, my dear. I believe this meeting is a long time coming." Chiron entered the room, horse half compacted into his magic wheelchair, with Grover right behind him. The old centaur smiles kindly, "My name is Chiron, and I welcome you to Camp Half-Blood."

Thalia looks at Chiron, then back down at Annabeth, then over at Grover, "Grover?"

Grover's eyes were as wide as saucers, "H-Hey Thalia. It is great to see you again. Well, I got some um, satyr stuff, yeah, satyr stuff to take care of. So I'll see you later." My friend then proceeds to turn around and run through the door, but not before slamming into the doorframe.

I watch him run off. I get where Grover is coming from. He feels really guilty about what happened to Thalia. He blames himself, and now that Thalia's back, he can't look at her, because it reminds him of that night.

Suddenly, the sound outside doubles, probably demigods pestering Grover as he left. Thalia looks over Annabeth, who refused to let her friend go, curiously.

"What's going on out there?" She asks, still a little quiet.

"It seems everyone wants to meet the famous daughter of Zeus." I smile grimly and turn to Chiron, "I can go disperse them Chiron."

He sighs and rubs his temples, the only sigh he ever gives that he's stressed, "Thank you Percy, but I'll do it myself You stay here with Thalia and Ms. Chase."

I nod as he wheels out and turn back towards the occupied bed. In doing so, I catch Thalia's intense gaze, and once again I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I look back into her electrifying eyes and we hold each others' gaze for a moment until she breaks it and looks down.

"Annabeth, can you please get off of me?" She asks. When the daughter of Athena shakes her head no, Thalia just sighs in defeat and lies back, "Why do you look so much older? You don't look seven years old."

A feeling of dread slowly creeps its way through my body, "Thalia?" I ask carefully, "What is the last thing you remember?"

"I was on the hill." She replies slowly, "I had just told Grover to get Luke and Annabeth over the border. He refused; said he wasn't leaving me behind, but I insisted. He said he would be right back to get me across too." She took a deeps breath.

At this point, Annabeth had finally removed herself from Thalia's chest and was sitting down right next to the daughter of Zeus, listening carefully to the story. I motion for her to continue.

"It was a tough fight. there were a lot of monsters. Hellhounds, Dracenae, you name it, it was there. Then from above, one of Hades' furies dive-bombed me. Just as it was about to hit, there was this bright flash of light then...I woke up on the hill, the monsters were gone and you" she points at me, "were there."

Annabeth looks at Thalia in shock. Look at her and can tell that we're thinking the same thing.

"Thalia." I start, "There is really no easy way to tell you this..." I hear Chiron reenter the infirmary, but focus on the story, "but it's been six years since you, Annabeth, and Luke got to camp."

She stares at me, mouth slightly open, "Six years? But how...?"

"Your father, Lord Zeus, saved you." Chiron takes up the narrative from here, "I'm sorry to say this, but you have spent the past six years as a pine tree."

She looks at Chiron, almost disbelievingly, "A...pine tree? I was a pine tree for six years?"

Chiron and I nod.

"Seriously?"

"Quite."

"I don't believe you. You're joking."

"I assure you my dear, I rarely joke around."

"It's true." I jump in, "Chiron doesn't joke, and especially about something like this."

Thalia stares at me again, then looks around the room, as if she just noticed something. After a few seconds, she turns to look at Annabeth, "Hey Annie, where's Luke?"

The three of us freeze. Of course she was going to ask about Luke. She and Luke had been on the run together before they met Annabeth and later Grover.

Thalia could tell something was wrong, "Annabeth? What's going on? Where is Luke?"

Chiron clears his throat, "Annabeth, I believe you should get back to Cabin Six. They need their counselor and it would be best for you to explain what has happened to them."

Annabeth nods, almost too fast, "You're right Chiron. I'll head over there now." The daughter of Athena all but runs out of the Big House.

Now that just leaves me and Chiron under the stark gaze of the daughter of Zeus. I shift a little. Dang she has an intimidating gaze, with those intense blue eyes that seemed to spark with energy. For some reason, I found it really difficult to look away.

"Now Thalia, you have had a stressful day." Chiron say diplomatically, "It would be best if you rested for the night. We can explain everything in the morning."

I took note of the fact that Chiron never actually said Luke's name. Thalia did too, if her narrowed eyes were anything to go by. I could also tell that she was very tired and the very mention of sleep seemed to be enough. she let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes, head falling back on the pillow behind her.

"You best head back to your cabin as well Percy." Chiron says quietly, trying not to wake Thalia.

I turn from the daughter of Zeus and look at my teacher, "Actually Chiron...I was wondering if I could stay here for the night. To keep an eye on Thalia."

"Argus is more than capable of ensuring Thalia's safety." He replies softly.

"But I-" I stop myself, "Yeah, sure. I'll head over there now."

There's a strange look in Chiron's eyes as he looks at me. It's like he's seeing something about me he hadn't before, "Though with all of the commotion, it would probably be best if I had Argus guard the Golden Fleece, so Thalia will still need someone too look after her for the night."

I look at Chiron again and smile a little, "Thanks Chiron. I won't let you down."

The old centaur nods slightly and wheels himself out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. The moment he does, I pull a chair over to the side of the bed and sit down. The moment I do, Thalia starts talking, voice slightly muffled by the pillow and blanket.

"Why do you care so much Percy?" she asks, slowly turning over to look at me.

I shrug, "No one else was doing anything to help." I point out.

"True." She mutters, trying to sit up, but I put a hand on her stomach and push her back down.

"Stay down." I say softly, "You still need to regain your energy."

She groans a little and lies back down. I pull my hand away and feel a slight shock as I do so and jump back.

"Sorry." The daughter of Zeus mutters.

"It's fine." I shake my hand a little to get it moving again.

"There's something familiar about you." The comment came seemingly out of nowhere, "Who's your godly parent?"

"Poseidon." I reply, "God of the seas."

"Big Three." She looks at me with those electric eyes, "That's why. You're powerful."

I shrug, "I guess. That's what people tell me."

"It's what they expect from you." She finishes my thought.

"Yeah." I nod in agreement. There's a lot of pressure being the child of one of the Big Three. Other demigods expect us to be powerful leaders. They expect us to have all the answers all the time. It's stressful. Clearly Thalia knew how I felt, because as we looked at each other, a sense of understanding passed between us.

I don't know why I did it, but I gently place my hand on top of hers. This time, there's no shock. Thalia looks at me and sighs.

"Sleep." Encourage her, "You need to regain your energy. I'll be right here when you wake up."

Unlike Luke. Woah, where did that thought come from?

Thalia lies back again and closes her eyes. I wait a few moments until I see her breathing slow and stabilizes, then slowly I try to stand up to get some water. By the time I return, I find Thalia curled up in a little ball on the bed, like a cat, sleeping peacefully. I place the glass of water on the table next to me and sit down in the chair beside the bed. It's been a long night, and that finally catches up to me. I close my eyes and slip into the world of Morpheus.

***

What did you think of the chapter? Am I moving it along too fast? This is going to be an AU that follows the general proceedings of the PJO series. I'll do my very best to complete this story (Or one of my stories at least.) Anyways, you all know the drill:

Vote. Comment. And keep being awesome!

~Leonidas_son_of_Nike