The Nature of a Demigod

Bone Chilling Cold

"But the clerk said-"

"I know," she told me. "I'm checking anyway."

"You want me to come with you?" Y/N asked. Thalia shrugged tiredly. He followed with her quietly.

I let them go. I knew how it felt to be restless. All half-bloods had attention deficit problems because of our inborn battlefield reflexes. We couldn't stand just waiting around. Also, I had a feeling Thalia was still upset over our conversation last night about Luke. It was not pretty.

[Y/N's POV]

I walked with Thalia, tucking my hands into my pockets. I did not want to talk with Bianca right now.

I mean, I wasn't sure even sure what I could say, especially now that she was a Hunter and everything. And the hunters were a group I (previously?) hated. Still not sure how I feel given the added context.

"How you holding up?" Thalia asked. I shrugged, breathing softly through my nose. "Well... I've been better."

Thalia frowned, sadly. She looked like she was thinking on something. "How about you? With the whole... one friend's missing, and another's gone crazy thing?"

She looked like she wanted to zap my eyebrows off again. "Sorry." I said.

We just kept walking down the road, looking around in different shops, trying to kill time or maybe just to get a way out of here.

"How come you never get mad at some people?" Thalia asked out of nowhere. A cold chill blew between us.

I furled my lips in, trying to think of an answer to that as our feet crunched the thin layers of ice on the road.

"I mean, Zoe said horrible things to you. And you've just brushed it off. You didn't confront her, or- or say anything about it." she continued.

"I'm not really sure, Thalia." I said, rubbing my hands together now. "I guess I think it's just not worth getting worked up over."

She huffed at me, folding her arms as we walked. "You know, sometimes I wonder how you're still alive, Y/N." she rattled off.

"How do you figure?"

"Well, from what everyone has told me, you haven't stopped trying to get yourself killed since I saved your life."

"Yeah?" I asked, stifling a soft chuckle. "I wouldn't put it like that."

"Well how would you put it?" she asked as we walked past the post office again.

I took a deep breath. "I'd say... I was paying it forward." Thalia scoffed and smiled sarcastically.

"Well, you can stop paying it forward, Y/N. I saved your life, yeah, but it feels like you're trying to waste it."

"I'm not trying to waste it. I'm trying to make it worth something. And, I don't know what Grover, or Annabeth, or Percy have told you, but you shouldn't listen to them. They worry about me more than themselves."

"So what?" Thalia asked, stopping in front of me. She was near my height. A few inches shorter, so I had to look down at her. "They shouldn't." I said, looking down at her.

"Why not? Why shouldn't anyone care about you?" I just shrugged, and tried to move past her. She pushed me in the chest. A small jolt of electricity passed through my nervous system, and I lost my footing, falling on the icy ground hard.

"Sorry!" She said, pulling me to my feet. I dusted some of the ice off my back, and huffed. "You know why I don't want anyone to do that? Because I'm not worth the time, alright? I've had to go through a lot of shit already. And I don't want people I care about getting wrapped up into it."