One-Shot: Poison
So, this one shot takes place a little bit before the Sea of Monsters. Hope you like it!
Six years ago
Luke sat down against the huge pine tree.
"Hey, Thals, the centaur- Chiron- says that he doesn't know of any way to change you back. I guess you would be dead, anyway, huh?" Luke laughed without humor.
He sighed and leaned back against the trunk.
"It feels like forever since I lost you. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you are dead. It hasn't even been twelve hours since this morning and I already miss you so much."
He could still imagine Thalia's cheeks flushing while she shoved him aside and told him what an idiot he was.
He would give anything to go back to how they were before, on the run, sitting at the fire and laughing.
He kept talking to break the silence.
"Grover feels responsible for what happened. Annabeth is still waiting for you to show up and call out 'April fools' or something. To be honest, I don't blame them. I feel the same way. I don't want to give Annabeth false hope by agreeing with her, though..."
On and on he spoke his mind to Thalia like he always did every night, but this time, Thalia didn't respond and comfort him like she always did, didn't add in her two cents worth when he asked for help.
This time, he didn't get to feel the warmth of her hug as he cried, didn't get to smile in thanks as she wiped his tears, didn't get to see her gorgeous electric blue eyes soften in sympathy and kindness (something that only Luke could make happen).
This time, he wouldn't get to wake up the next morning to see the small smile that he rarely got to see in the first place, but lived coax out.
Luke had lost his best friend, and now for some reason, his chest hurt and he felt empty.
Five years ago
Luke walked up to the tree like he did every night, this time holding a small object in his hand.
In a weak voice, he said,"Happy birthday, Thalia."
He opened his cupped palms and exposed a silver chain with a silver lightning bolt pendant attached to it.
He looked at the tree, blushed, and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I guess you can't wear it right now, but when I turn you back into a human, I'll give it to you."
He remembered two years before, when he had tried to give her a silver charm bracelet for her birthday and she had gotten extremely angry with him.
Flashback start--
"You idiot, we're running low on money, anyway." Thalia glared at him as he looked down in embarrassment.
"S-sorry, I just wanted to do something nice for you. You've been working so hard..."
She growled. "You're gonna need a better excuse than that."
He scrambled behind a tree and tentatively offered to put it on her wrist.
She looked at the jewelry box, then at Luke, then at her wrist. Her eyes softened, and he knew he had caught her. Resignatedly, she sighed and nodded her head.
He eagerly moved back to that gravitational pull that she had around her and carefully took the bracelet from the box, then clipped it around the same wrist that Aegis rested.
She looked down to her wrist and gave a slight smile of satisfaction.
Luke's heart raced when he saw the smile on her face.
Flashback end--
Luke wanted to put this necklace around her neck and see the smile on her face when she looked at it.
Four years ago
"Hey, Thals, I'm sorry I haven't been visiting as much."
Camp had taken up Luke's life, doing night lessons and capture the flag after dark, introducing new campers to the area, the occasional party. Eventually, Luke only visited Thalia about once or twice a month after dark.
He sat in his regular spot next to the trunk, leaning back.
"I think I found a way to bring you back," he said, his eyes lighting up at the prospect of seeing her face again, "If I go on a quest and earn the favor of some gods, I can be granted a wish to bring you back!"
He spent the rest of the night thinking up quests and ways to earn the favor of the gods, along with the things that they would do together when she became human once again.
That night, the Hermes head counselor found Luke not in Cabin Eleven, but curled up, asleep, around the pine tree.
Three years ago
Luke sprinted to the tree in joy and excitement, a grin splitting his seventeen year old face.
"I finally got one, Thals! Hermes sent for a quest to retrieve the apples of immortality from the garden of Hesperides!" Luke's happiness made him practically glow in the sunlight. "I'll finally turn you back into a human again!"
Two years ago
"Is that really it? I mess up once and they never want to see me again? I still made it! I'm still alive! Stop treating me like some glass object!" Luke paced back and forth in front of the tree, running his hands through his hair and over his scar as he rampaged.
He turned and looked back on his reason for going on the quest in the first place. Gradually, he deflated.
"I'm sorry, Thals. I still haven't gotten any closer to turning you back into a human."
Last year, before Percy Jackson was attacked in the forest by Luke with a pit scorpion
Luke gently caressed the bark of the pine tree. Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood had returned from their quest. Grover had left camp in search of Pan, and summer was coming to a close.
Luke knew that his betrayal was going to be revealed soon, and he had to get rid of that Percy kid before it was too late.
First, though, he had to say goodbye to Thalia before he left.
"I'm sorry I couldn't change you back," he whispered into the trunk, "I'll find some way to change you back into a human with Kronos. I promise."
Then he left to go to the sword-fighters arena to train there one last time before he went to go find Percy.
Present time
Luke looked at the glass vial in his hands and looked back up to see the pine tree again. A tear slowly dripped down his face.
He'd fought against Kronos about this; he would never do anything that he knew would hurt Thalia. Unfortunately, he was the only half blood in the army, and that meant that he had to do this.
In a way, he was grateful that he was doing this. If it were anyone else, he would have already killed them. He knew that he wouldn't have allowed anyone to hurt Thalia.
Somehow, Luke ended up standing in front of Thalia's tree, ready to kill her.
He would rather use the poison on himself.
His chest hurt at the thought of killing the pine tree, destroying the last physical piece of Thalia in the world.
He sat down in his spot, leaning back on the trunk like he would always do, years back.
"I'm sorry, Thals," he sobbed, "I didn't want this to happen. I just wanted to save you."
Then, he opened the vial and poured it on the roots. Immediately, he heard a soft hissing noise. At the same time, he felt a piece of his soul agonizingly burn away.
Sometime in the future
"What?" Luke blinked.
"It was the Jackson kid, sir, it seems that he put the Golden Fleece on the pine tree and not only did the pine tree recover, but the girl did, too."
"Get out."
The monster looked offended. "Excuse me, sir?"
"Get out now."
Hesitantly, he left, and Luke was alone in his room.
Finally, he released his hold on his emotions and grinned, tears of joy slipping from the edges of his eyes.
He needed to find a way to get her on Kronos's good side and keep her alive.
Thalia...
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