The End of Everything

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Reyna's POV

There was a lot going on back at camp Half Blood. Figuring where to house everyone was going to be complicated along with taking care of the wounded. Despite all of this, Thia slept. She hadn't lasted more than a few minutes on Thalia's back before falling asleep.

Whatever had transpired had zapped every ounce of her energy. She was so far asleep that Thalia and I managed to tug her out of her bloodied and ruined clothes in order to put her into pajamas.

However, during this process I was floored by the long jagged scar that ran across her entire torso. From just above the hip her scar ran over her stomach and across her chest ending so it just peeked out from the collar of her shirt.

It was hard to look at knowing that she'd been injured so horribly and being reminded of it. As wonderful as it was having her back, I still couldn't shake the image of her lifeless body. For hours my worst nightmare had been true, though it was seemingly easy to move past, it wasn't. We'd lost her. We'd actually lost her and it was far more painful than I ever imagined.

A pain all to familiar and annoying flared up in my chest. The one that caused my entire body to go rigid and my breathing to be painfully shallow. Like dozens of needles were being systematically pushed into my heart.

Biting the inside of my cheek I leaned heavily on the wall my hand resting over my heart where I could feel the slight flutter create an irregular beat.

Thalia, bless her, knew immediately what was wrong. She was always so in tune with me. Her attention shifted from Thia to me in less than a millisecond. She shouldn't have been worrying over me, not when our daughter had just woken from the dead, but Thalia would smack me if she knew I'd thought such a thing.

"Easy." She gave me a tiny smile before carefully drawing me into her arms. "You need to rest too. There's been too much stress today."

She was right, and this pain would pass as it always did but it was a nuisance and there seemed to be no way of getting rid of it. I supposed that considering how long I'd lived and how many battles I'd fought I would come out damaged from it. It was only a matter of time. What I never thought was that I'd have someone as wonderful as her to support me.

"I'm good." The pain slowly faded after another minute or two and I was able to relax.

"Now, shower, and rest," Thalia said sternly, but there was a glint of humor in her eyes.

"Sure thing Mom," I teased. Thalia rolled her eyes and rested her hands on my cheeks pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"I mean it." And that she did. In truth, I was more than happy to curl up in bed and have a real excuse for doing so. It was rare I got the chance to. Thalia on the other hand left to go help with everything else going on. She was never one to sit still, especially if others needed her.

It was strange seeing Thia so peaceful as if nothing serious had happened a mere hour or so before. Still, she had changed so much and the more I studied her the more I realized how much she'd grown up within this last month or so.

She'd always appeared much younger than her actual age but that was no longer the case. Her features had grown sharper and much more distinct. The slight arch to her eyebrows had sharpened to mirror Thalia's giving Thia the similar appearance of constant amusement.