𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙈𝙀 𝘼 𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙊 ➪ Tʜᴀʟɪᴀ Gʀᴀᴄᴇ

𝗜𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗔

(Soon as Aurora, daughter of the dawn,)

There's a teenager running up a hill, and she's being chased by an army of monsters but she doesn't look scared. She looks almost . . . peaceful.

She's thinking, though, thinking about death and what lies beyond. She's thinking about sacrifices, and blood, and gore, and grief. She's made up her mind.

She stops.

She yells for the others to keep moving.

She'll buy them some time, she says. She'll make sure that the sacrifice wasn't in vain.

And maybe, just maybe, they'll never have to part again.

It doesn't quite work out like that.

(With rosy lustre streak'd the dewy lawn,)

. . .

(Again the mournful crowds surround the pyre,)

A blonde boy and a younger, darker-haired girl are sitting in a tree, watching their friends spread out below them. They're all grateful for a break.

"Hey, Thalia?" the blond boy asks. He's looking down at his friends with such a soft expression. "Have you ever been in love?"

Thalia looks up at the sky, through the blanket of leaves and blossoming flowers. "Yes."

He turns toward her. "That's not exactly the answer I expected."

She shoves his shoulder lightly, though they both know he can't fall. "I had a life before the Hunters, you know!"

"I know, I know!"

"Her name was Genia." The softness in her voice does not escape her brother. He smiles. "She's dead."

His smile fades. "Shit, sorry."

The girl shrugs. "She sacrificed her life for me and Annabeth. Luke, too, I guess."

"How did it happen?"

"Has Annabeth ever told you the story of the cyclop's den before she got to Camp?" At her brother's nod, she continues. "That's where Genia died. Me and Luke were tied up, and-"

"Annabeth never mentioned a Genia dying there," her brother needles, gently.

"She blames herself, they all do," Thalia looks down at the group of teens below them. "Annabeth was seven, I think. She and Genia were free, and she rushed forward and stabbed the monster in the foot. She couldn't follow through."

"She always said that that gave her enough time to free you guys."

Thalia chuckles. "That's 'cause Genia took over. She placed herself between Annabeth and the monster, and well"-- she shrugs-- "she was never the strongest of fighters. Her powers weren't affecting him, because he was already so angry and loud. She died."

He nods. "She sounds like a hero."

Thalia sobs, a gentle, quiet sound, and wipes at her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "She was. Is." Her eyes find her brothers, bright blue meeting identical bright blue. "She's waiting for me in Elysium."

Her brother smiles and takes her hand, and for just a second, it's like old times, when they still lived together, and nothing had gone horribly wrong.

(And quench with wine the yet remaining fire.)

. . .