Percy Jackson: Guardian of the Hunt

Chapter 10

Thalia

Thalia's day started with an IM from a very angry Son of Hades. Okay, it didn't start with that but  that's what Thalia thought. They'd been searching for Percy for the past 3 days with no luck. It was like he'd completely disappeared. Phoebe had been taken by Artemis to Olympus so that she could deal with her. She hadn't done anything yet because she wanted Percy to decide Phoebe's fate.

Anyways, back to the IM from the angry Son of Hades. Thalia had split from the rest of the hunt to search on her own in the woods where she had last seen Percy.

The memory of Percy's hurt face still haunted her. Oh, how stupid she had been to believe such a stupid lie. Her self-beration had been interrupted by an IM forming in front of her.

She was sort of confused because it was quite late into the night. Who could be IM'ing her now?
Turned out to be a very angry Son of Hades.

Nico looked the same as when she had last seen him: Happy in that subtle way that he would be and yet Thalia could see that he was stressed. They'd been keeping in touch for awhile and Thalia had brought him up to date about everything that had been happening. But she had completely forgotten to inform him about what had conspired in the last week since she'd been so caught up in her own guilt and in search of Percy.

"You kicked Percy out of the hunt?!" Are his first words and Thalia cringes, "Hello to you too, dear cousin. And yes I did but I can- wait a minute, how did you know that?'' she looks at Nico with what she hopes to be is an intimidating glare.

Apparently it's not since Nico rolls his eyes, scowling as he replies, "He was here just now. He was hurt so I took hin to Will to heal him and Annabeth showed up and..." He narrates the entire story to her in one breath. And when he's done Thalia feels like jumping into Tartarus for all the events that she has triggered. The guilt she feels increases, like red ants under her skin. Did that even make sense? Nevertheless, that's how she felt.

"What in Posiedon's underpants did you do to him, Thals?" Nico asks. He looks as sad as she feels. Thalia can't even bring herself to laugh at the small joke which he'd seriously added to the question. But this is good, he's back to nickname basis, it means she's safe...For now. Now it's Thalia's turn to tell her story.

With each word, Nico's face grows redder until he's frowning so hard that Thalia has the urge to hide. "Gods, all you girls are so dumb!"(A.N: I honestly have nothing against girls, seeing as I am one myself. We girls rock!)

Before Thalia could retort about how boys are dumber(A.N: No offence boys), Nico continues, "What in the world were you thinking, Thalia?!" Uh oh, no more nickname basis. He runs a hand through his hair, like she had seen Percy doing so many times. The mist starts to shimmer and Nico throws in a handful of drachmas to keep it going. Where did he get so much money? Does Hades make sure that his children are rich and wealthy? Or did- Thalia shook her head. Stupid ADHD.

"I know. I'm sorry, Nico. It's just..." Thalia's runs a hand through her own hair in frustration. Nico sighs, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. We need to find him before he does something stupid. The way he spoke to Annabeth, it was almost like he was saying goodbye." For a moment Thalia panics. What was Percy going to do now? Where was he? Oh Gods, what if he did something drastic? But then she calms down, since once you're part of the hunt, you couldn't exactly kill yourself.

"Relax, Neeks. He can't do anything like that. None of the hunters can. Do you know where he went?" Nico lets out a sigh of relief. "I don't know. He just disappeared into mist. He's taken to vapour traveling now." Just then Thalia hears the loud caw of an eagle. She looks up to see one majestic bird swoop over the foliage of greenery before it swoops up into the sky.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Nico asked, eyeing the bird with interest.

(A.N: Nico was informed of Percy's powers by Thalia when Percy had joined the hunt)

Thalia slowly nods her head, keeping an eye on Eagle-Percy. At least she thinks it is. "Then what are you waiting for, you dimwit? Go get him!" Nico yells. Before Thalia can snap at him he slashes a hand through the IM, effectively ending their call and saving himself from her verbal onslaught. Thalia sighs before she starts to follow her cousin's aimless flight.

3 HOURS LATER

That's how long it took for Percy to stop his flight. Thalia's legs feel like soggy noodles. Apparently That's also how long it took for Percy himself to get tired too because she sees the eagle sluggishly fly through the trees ahead of her. Dawn has approached and she sees the pink-orange sky with a pink sun rising. She thanks the Gods above for the rest because she didn't think she could have followed him any longer. She figures she's probably at least a mile and a half from the spot she started searching for him.

Thalia pushed aside a few protruding arms of leaves and reaches a clearing. She looks up to the tallest tree to see Percy stretched up on one of its sturdy branches. His eyes are closed and the movement of his chest indicates that he's sleeping. He looks comfortable enough for a place that looks dangerous to be sleeping in.

Thalia sighed in relief. Finally.
She doesn't feel like waking him up. Instead she settles down against the bark of another tree and leans against it to rest. She doesn't remember closing her eyes but it seems she does and she drifts off to sleep.

MORNING

When she wakes up, the sky has taken its usual baby blue color with the sun warming her face. She then feels the weight of something on her shoulder. Thalia turns slightly to see Percy's head on her shoulder, almost lolling off of her shoulder. It reminds her of that one time where Percy had leaned against her, exactly like this. They'd been talking casually then and Percy had looked happy as he could be.

Thalia smiles and gently eased his head off and onto her lap. Percy doesn't stir except for making a garbled sound with his open mouth, making Thalia laugh quietly. She leaned back against the the tree to settle more comfortably and starts running a hand through his hair. Percy unconsciously leans into her hand and continues to doze.
She didn't understand why Percy had come down during his nap. He was supposed to be angry at her. But then again, Percy never did the expected. He always managed to surprise her.

Thalia had never been close to Jason as much as she was with Percy. Before Jason had been taken to the Wolf House, they'd been close. But of course after that, the gap had been too big for them to ever be that close again. She was happy that she found a brother in Percy and she vowed to never hurt him again. A rustling noise alerts her of another presence and she looks up to see Artemis. She's in her 12 year old form and her hair looks like fire in the sunlight.

Thalia's eyes widened, "M'lady...I was just-". To her surprise, Artemis smiles at her gently. "The hunters told me that you hadn't come back so I came in search of you." She explained.
"I'm sorry, I forgot all about that. I followed Percy here and I was so tired, I just fell asleep." Thalia said. She makes a move to get up but Artemis raises a hand to stop her movements, "It's fine, Thalia. Let the boy sleep for awhile. I'll inform the hunt to get here by evening. Will you be able to bring him to Olympus, after he wakes up?" Artemis said, canting her head in question. Thalia nods, "Yes, M'lady. And thank you." Artemis simply smiles.

She begins to glow so Thalia averts her eyes and when she opens them, the Goddess is gone.

On her lap, Percy sleeps on, unperturbed.
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