I was racing through the woods when it began. When they found me. Or when I found them, I guess. I can remember the ordeal like it was earlier today. I can remember every second I spent with Luke. I can remember every single thing he said, did. Every joke he made. Like it had all just happened. Like he wasn't dead. Like... Like he was here.

---

There's a point in everyone's life where something unpleasant happens. My unpleasant event began the day that I got claimed.

I stood in the middle of the field, flag held high and Luke right next to me, beaming and shouting with everyone. Luke had been told to get the flag and I'd been marked down as a girl and a newbie so when I saw my chance I took it. Luke was happy for me. My happy moment of glory was ruined as suddenly everyone gasped and then there was a roar from a bunch of blonde kids. My eyes went wide and I looked up.

There it was. "A-Apollo?" I stuttered, eyebrows scrunching together.

Someone ran up to me. "Welcome to the Apollo cabin!" The boy smiled at me.

I smiled back weakly. "Yeah." That means that I wouldn't see Luke as much. I'd miss him...

Turns out that as time passed, the space was just what we needed. We became inseparable and eventually I told him about how my mom killed herself in grief over losing my dad, finally, when I was about ten. I told him about how I hated the gods for messing with mortals then leaving them. So, in exchange, he told me what he was doing. I sided with him in the battle.  I saw Kronos rise.

And I saw Luke die. No, I saw Luke sacrifice himself. And he looked at me just before he died. "See it... A new... Way..."

That's when Annabeth and Percy took him from me. "NO! LUKE! NO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was sobbing and Annabeth was hugging me.

"I know. I know. I know," she tried to soothe.

Practically limp in her arms, I tried to reach out for Luke but my body wouldn't move. "No... He can't be dead... He can't be... Not Luke..." my voice was soft and weak, full of wet emotion that broke up my words with cracks and pops.

She held me tightly. "I'm so sorry... I know you two were ridiculously close. I'm so sorry for your loss, Y/n..."

My head spun and I couldn't see. I chocked on my sobs, blood running down my arm. "I... He killed himself. Doesn't he hate the gods? What... I didn't know what to think anymore. One thing has always been clear," I mumbled incoherently. "My dad has always been... A dick. Apollo has always been the enemy. That one thing was the only thing that kept me sane in all the chaos. Now... I don't know what to think. And he's dead... He's dead," I sobbed.

She held me tightly. "I'm here for you, Y/n. Camp Halfblood will always be your home. I promise. I know how confused you were. And are. As was Luke. I know. I'm so sorry, Y/n..."

I sighed. "He loved you so much," I whispered. "You were so special to him." She became silent. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I know you two were..." I bit my lip.

She smiled, amused. "No," she told me. "We weren't."

Percy sat next to me. Annabeth was holding me and I looked at him. "Hello. I'm Percy Jackson. And I want to take you back to camp so we can talk, okay?"

There was a second where I balanced on cussing him out and apologizing, unsure on how to deal with the boy I'd seen countless times before. Only ever when he was my enemy. "He wasn't evil," I finally settled on saying. "He really believed in it."

Percy pursed his lips. "I know... That doesn't make him good."

My eyes watered and I chuckled weakly. "I- I think I always knew you'd win. I always knew it was wrong. I hoped... I hoped that we could just be without the gods. But Luke... I hoped he wouldn't die. But when Kronos rose, it was all different. It was scary and evil and I hated it... And now he's dead..." I clutched Annabeth and she hugged me tightly too.

"You're not evil," Percy told me. His sea green eyes were dark and serious, but he had a smile on his lips. Small, but there. "We've seen a lot of death and blood today. Let's go home to camp and just... I want to meet you, properly. I've seen you at the right side of Luke since the beginning. But I'm sorry to say I don't even know you're name. I would like to know you."

I sniffed. "Y/n," I told him.

"Y/n..." He smiled a little wider. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Y/n."

We exchanged nods and there was something that simply settled between us. We both relaxed and Annabeth pat my back. The memories of the good old days - when Luke was the leader and her and I were best friends and Thalia was never a tree - came back to me and all I could see in her blonde hair and grey eyes ere safety and intelligence and maturity, all I'd come to know as part of Home. "What now?" I asked quietly.

Percy stood, holding out his hand. "Now, we go home." I leaned away from Annabeth, she stood as well, offering her hand next to Percy. I took each of their offered hands with one of my own, crossing my arms, and they pulled me up. They each helped me stand as my leg was badly injured, each of them putting one of my arms around the back of their necks. We walked past the demolition we had sat in before, leaving it behind and moving ahead and onward.

Everything changed. Luke was gone, but I didn't forget him. I lived every day to please him. Every day I thought of how happy he'd be to see me as I was.

"See it a different way."

That was the last thing he'd told me, and I didn't forget that either. New perspective meant everything. I even got to meet my dad. He was an air head, but he wasn't a complete dick. To the last day, Luke was with me. I never lost him or the lesson and advice he'd taught and given to me.

How could I? He was my best friend.