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Percy honestly had no idea what he was doing.
He'd been at camp for, like, a week, and already everybody was treating him like some kind of freak. Apparently, some urchin infestation of a god was his father, and introduced himself via a glowing fork over Percy's head during Capture the Flag two days ago.
There were no other kids of the Big Three gods that he could talk to, for some reason, so Percy was kinda alone. What else was new?
And he couldn't ask his mom questions, either, since...
Well, he tried not to think about it.
In a bout of depressing stupidity, Percy snuck out of Cabin Three in the middle of the night and trudged his way up Half-Blood Hill. He sat in the dirt, leaning his back against the pine tree that was once Thalia, a daughter of Zeus.
Percy sighed. "Um... Hi. I'm Percy Jackson."
That was so dumb.
"I'm Poseidon's son, I guess. That's still weird to think about. Does that make us cousins? My cousin is... a tree. I don't know your story or whatever, but you were a Big Three kid, too, so you could probably relate to my current life crap."
The pine tree did not respond.
"This is really stupid," Percy kicked a rock by his foot. "I'm leaving for a quest tomorrow. Your dad thinks I stole some stupid bolt or whatever, so I have to get it back for him to keep him and Poseidon from drowning half the country. Yippee, right?"
Percy bonked his head back on the bark and reached up, flicking a low branch above his head. A few pine needles fell onto his face. He sputtered and huffed one out of his nostril.
"Thanks for that," he scowled at the tree. "Anyway. Your dad wants me dead and our uncle has my mom captive. Yay for family, or whatever. Happy times all around. I'm gonna get her back, though. I honestly couldn't care less about our dads' stupid fight or whatever. I wonder if you'd agree. Godly dads kinda blow, don't you think?"
A breeze blew past his face. Percy blinked. "I think that was a yes. I'm gonna take it as one. I mean, your dad turned you into a tree. Who wants that? Mine would probably turn me into a barnacle or something. Stick me to an anchor and let me rot for eternity. He kinda made my life suck so far, so why not my afterlife, too?"
Percy felt movement beneath his hand and he snatched it up to his chest. "O...kay. I'm either going even more insane than I already am or a root just moved."
He looked down and saw a root raised in an arch, where it had been flat to the dirt a moment before. Percy slowly put his hand back down and slid his fingers beneath the arch, and the root slithered slowly to rest in his palm.
"Are you... holding my hand?" he laughed incredulously. "Jeez, this is so trippy. Thanks for the comfort, I guess."
Another soft wind blew into the area around the tree, and the branch above Percy's head dipped down, bobbing to pat his head.
Percy, for the first time in several days, smiled for real. "You know, Thalia, you're not so bad. I... should probably get back to my cabin before the harpies come after me for breaking curfew."
The root in his hand slowly raised again so he could release his hand. "I think I'll come back when my quest is over. If I'm still alive or whatever. I'll tell you all about it."
Again, there was no response from the tree.
Percy stood and brushed the dirt off his butt, patting the tree's bark before shoving his hands in his pajama pants pockets. "See ya, Thalia."
Percy jogged up Half-Blood Hill, a grin on his face, and stopped when he reached the magical borders.
He put his hand on Thalia's pine tree and laughed to himself.
"Hi, Thalia," he said with a smile. "I lived. Got my mom back. Your dad didn't kill me. Crazy, right?"
A prickly branch patted his head just like it had the first night. Percy took it as a Welcome back, cuz. Good job.
"I'll give you all the details later, I promise. Kinda gotta update Chiron first and check on Annabeth and Grover. Probably do chores or whatever. No rest for the half-godly, I guess. I'll sneak out later, okay? Don't go anywhere."
He chuckled at his own lame joke.
The branch poked him between the shoulders, nudging him to the other side of the borders. "Okay, okay, I'm going. Be back soon."
Percy walked off toward the Big House, meeting Annabeth and Grover along the way who drug him the rest of the way there.
"Told you I'd be back," Percy plopped down in the dirt, gently tapping his fist against the tree trunk. "Still want the details?"
The tree root raised up and Percy smiled, wrapping his hand around it from below. "Holding my hand again, eh? Careful, I'll think I'm your favorite. Anyway, so..."
Riptide clutched in his hand, in sword form, Percy stood by Thalia's tree and leaned up against it. He couldn't risk sitting down and relaxing like all the other times he had last summer after his quest, when he had nothing to watch out for.
"Hey, Thals. I really hope... I hope you don't feel this stuff happening. You don't deserve this. You've had enough, in my opinion."
He glanced up, seeing the branch that usually would poke and prod at him in response to his conversation. It was wilted and yellowed, missing most of its needles.
"We're gonna save you, Thalia," Percy reached with one hand, the one not holding his sword, and patted the tree gently. Just like she had for him so many times when he needed comfort. "We're gonna save you and Grover. And we're gonna find whoever did this to you, though I have an idea who, and they're not gonna get away with it. I promise."
The woods were eerily quiet. Percy sighed. "I'm not gonna let you die on us, okay? You'll be back to your old prickly self in no time."
He huffed a sad laugh. "You would've smacked me with a branch for that if you could've. When we get you back, I'll give you a free hit for it. Okay? Just... stay strong. I won't let you down."
Percy woke to Grover banging on his door.
He was upright in bed in seconds, pen-sword in hand and ready. "Grover, what━"
"Percy! Annabeth... on the hill... she..."
No other words needed to be said. His covers were thrown off and Percy was racing out his door behind his best friend. Annabeth had been on border guard duty before he'd went to bed. Something was wrong.
"She's lying there... just lying there..."
Percy ran faster, blood pumping and heart pounding with worry.
There was a crowd at the top of Half-Blood Hill, and Percy's stomach dropped. Chiron had arrived and grabbed Percy and Grover to race them the rest of the way up the hill.
Percy was expecting the Fleece to be gone, stolen, and Thalia's tree to be wilting again.
He jumped down as soon as they'd reached the top, and Chiron cursed something about the Titan Lord and tricks, but Percy was barely listening.
Annabeth stood there, tears streaming down her face, and Percy was momentarily glad she wasn't the one lying on the ground like Grover had said someone was.
"It... she... just suddenly there..."
Percy still didn't understand, but he saw a girl on the ground, unconscious, and he ran over to her side. Chiron called for him to stop. He didn't.
He knelt down beside the girl. Short black hair, freckles, pale skin, and covered in all kinds of dark goth clothes and band pins. She looked like the girl he saw in his dreams when he had dreamed of Thalia, despite never having seen her before.
Nobody else came close to her.
Her skin was cold when Percy put a hand to her head, but his fingers tingled.
"She needs nectar and ambrosia," he said. Nobody moved.
"Come on!" he yelled to everyone around them. "What's wrong with you guys? We need to get her to the Big House!"
The girl took a shaky breath, and Percy snapped his gaze back down to her when she coughed, opening her eyes. He lifted her head gently, putting his leg beneath her so she wasn't laying on the ground anymore.
Her eyes were bright blue━electric blue.
She shivered and shook beneath him, and he carefully grabbed her hand, hers lying on top of his. She looked to it strangely, tightening her grip just the slightest bit. "I know..."
"I'm Percy," he said. "You're safe now."
"Strangest dream..."
"It's okay."
"Dying..."
"No," he said gently. "You're okay."
He was going to ask her name, but clarity suddenly smacked him in the face. He knew exactly who she was "You're okay now, Thalia."
Thalia's eyes bore into his, and she gave his hand a shaky squeeze. "I know you. Percy. You... you promised to... save me..."
Percy smiled. "I did. You heard me."
She nodded, trembling. "Heard... all..."
Everyone stared at them, speechless. Percy knew this was a bad omen, that Kronos had tricked them into using the Fleece to revive the only other Big Three child in existence. Something about a Great Prophecy or whatever.
Percy ignored that thought for the time being and held his cousin's hand. Her other hand raised up slowly, and hit against his chest with a soft thump. "...Free hit."
He laughed. "Yeah," he nodded. "You got your free hit. I promised."
The hand that hit him reached up further and cupped his cheek, shaking. "Percy Jackson... Poseidon."
"Yeah, cuz," he laughed again, tears springing to his eyes without his permission. "Nice to meet you for real this time."
Thalia smiled at him, curling in on herself and squeezing his hand. "Real... alive... not dying?"
"No," Percy shook his head. "Not dying. You're safe now."
Thalia closed her eyes, still smiling. "Safe..."
Percy carefully stood up and hooked an arm under her knees, the other behind her back. Her head lolled to rest against his collarbone. He wasn't worried about her passing out again, since he could feel her breath against his neck. She was alive.
Annabeth and Grover were openly crying, just as he was, even as confused as they looked, and Chiron looked more grim than Percy had ever seen him.
"Well?" he sniffed and stepped toward the edge of the hill, his cousin in his arms. "Let's get her to the Big House."