Thalia Grace (wasatree) wrote in spinningcompass, @ 2012-11-06 17:29:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !plot |
WHO: Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace
WHAT: Luke arrives. Thalia is confused. Nothing is beautiful and everything hurts.
WHEN: Oct 31
WHERE: Outside the apartments, then a pub
WARNINGS: Blood rain!
STATUS: Closed/G’doced
Thalia flew down the stairs of the apartment building, determined to get outside before Jason could. Although she could understand why her brother felt so murderous towards Luke - Luke had, after all, been responsible for a war that had killed a lot of people, including Thalia’s friends and the soldiers under Jason’s command - she couldn’t let Jason enact his revenge on Luke. No matter what he’d done, no matter who he’d gotten killed, he had still once been her best friend, and now the memories of the train were telling her that he was trying to redeem himself...and that she loved him.
She still didn’t know how it could have happened. Just a few hours ago, things had been perfectly clear. Luke was dead, her brother was here, and she was Thalia, First Lieutenant of Artemis’s Hunters. But with the arrival of the book and the memories they brought, everything had been thrown into disarray. She didn’t know if she could trust it. How could she believe a bunch of memories that had just been magically crammed through her head? She hadn’t lived through Shanghai and the kiss he had given her there. She hadn’t been the one who had held him desperately and begged him not to leave. That was another version of her...but one she understood completely.
In any case, it all had to be sorted out and she couldn’t possibly let her brother kill him before they could figure it out.
She rushed outside, and there he was. For a moment she just stood stock still, staring. Part of her was seeing him for the first time since she’d kicked him off a mountain years ago. Another part of her was crying out with relief that he was here, and that she hadn’t lost him as she’d feared back on the train. Both sets of memories warred with each other before practicality set in and she ran up to take his arm. “Jason’s gonna be down soon. Do something Hermes-ish and get us out of here.”
Luke had settled himself at the base of a tree when he found himself off the train. He didn't know what this place was, or why Thalia was different- he supposed it must be another place like the train, pulling people from different worlds. And to find that Jason was here, who hated him as much as ever, and he didn't know what to make of this place.
As she approached, he looked up. He reached for her as she took his arm and then took another look around. Jason wasn't in the area, so he started quickly- he couldn't fly like his father, but in some situations he was able to travel a bit faster than most. In just a few minutes they were safely away, and he led her into a pub. "Is this alright?"
Thalia wasn’t sure if anything was all right when her dead best friend - the one who’d tried to destroy the world - came back to life and told her that she’d told him that she loved him - something that she actually remembered happening although she herself didn’t do it - but this pub was as good a place as any to get away from younger brothers bent on wreaking revenge.
“Yeah,” she said quietly.
They took their seats, and for a moment she just sat there, drinking in the sight of him. On one hand, she had no idea how to react, because the last time she’d seen him, she was kicking him off a mountain. But on the other...she was relieved that he was there, because when she’d woken up after being hit by the memories in the book, her first and most terrifying thought was that Luke was gone, and that she’d lost him after all. She didn’t know which set of memories to believe.
Finally she reached out tentatively to touch the side of his face, as if to reassure herself that he was really there. “I can’t believe it’s you,” she breathed.
Luke flinched slightly as her hand came up, but he relaxed after a split second. "It's me," he said quietly, looking back to her with a frank, open gaze. His hand came up, gently covering hers at his cheek. "What- do you know what this place is? I don't understand what's happening, why I'm here."
She nearly yanked her hand back in a panic when he touched it with his. In fact, she started to draw back, but after a moment she, too, relaxed and let her hand stay where it was, sandwiched between the roughening skin of his cheek and the warmth of his hand. Was this how the other her felt when he touched her? That odd tingling, as if she’d drawn too much electricity? She thought a moment, drawing upon her new memories. Yes. Yes, she did. In fact, the other her would probably want to brush her thumb over his lips now, and maybe lean in...
This time, Thalia did pull back her hand, quickly retracting it to lay on her lap.“I don’t understand it either,” she said, looking away. “I...I was on the Hunt, and then I somehow got dropped here. I’ve been here for weeks. But...but there’s a part of me that remembers being with you, on the train.”
Luke frowned slightly, looking down to the table in front of him. How could this be? "I don't understand. You were there with me, and we-"
He broke off, shaking his head. It didn't matter. He didn't deserve it, didn't deserve her, and it was probably best that nothing came of it. "Forget it. It's not- we're here now."
“Yeah,” Thalia murmured. This was horrible, this awkwardness between them. But really, what did you say to someone you both remember loving and remember hating?
Finally, she looked back at him. “Apparently it’s a thing. There are other people who got pulled from the train to this island. But I think so far I’m the only one who’s had a double life on both.” She gave him a pained smile. “Lucky me, huh?”
"At least you're here. And in one piece." Luke leaned back in his seat with a sigh. He hated this awkwardness, wondered what was going to happen to them. "So what now? What- I mean. Are we..?"
“Are we...?” Thalia echoed, not sure what he was getting at. Did he want to know if they could pick up where they left off on the train? Did he simply want to know that she wasn’t going to kick him down a mountain again? She couldn’t answer that any more that she could answer what they were going to do now.
“What do you want to happen?” she finally asked, echoing Mitchell’s question of her from earlier on.
"I don't know," Luke admitted, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned back in his seat. "I really don't. I liked what- on the train, it felt real. It was real. To me, at least. But if you- was it really you? How is it possible for you to have two sets of memories? I want you to forgive me, and I'm trying to atone for everything I did, even though I know it's nearly impossible. I'll never be able to make up for what I let happen."
He wasn't trying to sound self pitying, but he knew the scale of what he had done. He really had enjoyed what they had on the train, what they were beginning, but then it was taken away and this felt like a huge step backwards. He had to back off. "But you're still a Hunter. I can't- I can't ask you to give that up. To go against a goddess, to break your oath."
And that was the crux of the problem, wasn’t it? Forgiving him wasn’t going to be hard. She could remember how hard he was trying to atone for his mistakes on the train, despite Nico and Jason’s apathy. No, the hard thing was figuring out what to do afterwards. When it all came down to it, she was Hunter, he was a boy, and any relationship between them would be forbidden. They hadn’t figured out how to do that on the train, and they weren’t any closer to it here. In fact, they were even further from it, thanks to Thalia’s dual memories.
“I don’t know how it’s possible, but there it is. I do have two sets of memories, and I have a giant headache because of it.” Even now, her head felt as if someone had just applied a gong to it. “Just...give me time, okay? I need to sort everything out in my head. But listen...”
She leaned forward slightly, hating to see him so upset even while she herself was confused. “There’s a vampire here, I think he’s going through some of the same stuff you are. Like, he’s done really bad things, and he’s trying to atone for them. So if you, you know, want to have someone to talk to who understands...”
"I'm sorry."
Luke was quiet, deflating in his seat. He brought his hands up, pressing his fingers to his eyes. "Vampire? I- sure. I'll keep that in mind." He didn't know if he'd really seek this guy out, but he didn't know yet. There was too much to think about. "I'm- I should go. I'm only making things worse."
“No, don’t.” Thalia instinctively reached out to put her hand on his, intending to forestall him from leaving. It was meant to be a simple touch, one that she’d done without thinking years ago when things had been simpler, but from there she couldn’t resist sliding her fingers through his.
In that moment, she had a flash of a memory: the two of them, sitting on the floor of the train, with hands and arms entwined and clinging to each other as if they couldn’t even bear to have an inch of space between them. Just remember this. No matter what happens, I love you, and I’m not going to lose you again.
“I’m not going to lose you again,” she whispered.
Luke froze as she took his hand, and he grasped hers tightly in return. He watched her, unsure as she seemed lost in her mind and his cheeks flushed at her whispered words. Did she remember the train? His heart hammered in his chest and he swallowed, nodding slowly. "I'm not- I'll always be here for you, Lia."
She smiled at him, half relieved and half sad. While it was good to know that he wasn’t thinking of going anymore, she was reminded that he hadn’t always been there for her. Then again, she hadn’t really be there for him, either. She’d been too busy being a tree.
“I wish I’d been there when the hate started getting so intense,” she said softly. “I wish I’d been there when Kronos first started talking to you. I wish...I’d been there to grow up with you, and I wish it hadn’t gotten to the point where becoming a Hunter was the only way I could find peace.”
It was the first time she’d expressed regret, in either reality, about becoming a Hunter.
"It's not your fault," Luke insisted. "Your father- it's a bit twisted, but he was trying to save you. If he hadn't, then you would have-"
He broke off, shaking his head. "I wanted to do more for you. I wished I could have- I'd sworn to protect you and Annabeth and I failed at both. And you- no. Don't regret being a Hunter. I don't want you to live with that."
To be perfectly honest, he wished for the same, but there wasn't really anything he could have done-- nothing either of them could have done. "I wish I hadn't let it come to that, either. And sometimes I wish that I hadn't- that I hadn't come back. I should have died that day."
Thalia nodded, remembering that last stand on Halfblood Hill. She’d stopped having nightmares about it once she joined the Hunters, but she could still remember the claws piercing her skin - so many of them! - and the jaws closing in. If her father hadn’t intervened, she most certainly would’ve died. She shuddered involuntarily, looking away.
“I’m glad you didn’t, because now we - I mean you - have a second chance.” She glanced back to him, trying to smile. “So make the most of it, okay? And maybe one day there will be legends about the traitor-turned-hero, and the Hunter who...” loved him? “...couldn’t be with him.”
Luke lifted his shoulder in a shrug. "I doubt there will be legends about me," he replied, shaking his head. "They'll know what happened, because of the war, but honestly? I'd be perfectly happy to be left alone and forgotten by the masses for the rest of my life. I just want a few friends, and to move on from my past." Or to just..die, but that didn't really seem to be an option right now. "I wish there was a way for us. But I can't let you defy Artemis."
“I’ll be your friend,” she said softly, giving his hand a quick squeeze. She wished she could do more, because it hurt to see him like this, but even if she could sort out her feelings, he was right: she couldn’t defy Artemis. That was how girls got turned into sea serpents, and with her luck, she’d get beheaded by Percy or something.
She was silent for a moment, until she couldn’t hold back anymore. “Luke, I...” but the words wouldn’t come now. She struggled with them, and finally changed her line of thought. “Listen. There has to be a reason why we got put on the train together, and now we’re here together. Maybe it’s the gods having fun with us. Or maybe...maybe there’s something stronger and bigger at work. Maybe this is just meant to be.”
"I know you will," he said. He just..oh, he didn't know. He slumped forward, his free hand coming up to cover his eyes. "Maybe which is?" He looked over at her, his chin now resting on his hand. "This? Us having to suffer through this? Knowing that we both want something that can never be? Or are you saying that we're meant to be, even if it goes against your oath?"
"I don't know," Thalia admitted. She hadn't really known what she'd been talking about; she'd just been grasping at straws.
"I don't know what we're going to do. But I do know that we're here now, together, which is more than we had before. So maybe we should just...enjoy that, and maybe we'll come up with...I don't know, a way to be together."
"I guess," he replied quietly. "I- yeah. No, you're right." Luke didn't know how this could possibly end well, but he was willing to see what might happen. He wondered if it was even possible, for them to find a way to be together, but it was certainly tempting.
"Of course I'm right," Thalia told him, smiling genuinely for the first time since seeing him here. "When are you going to figure out that I'm always right, Fingers?"
And, impulsively, she leaned across the table to kiss him on the cheek.
Luke couldn't help but smile, his chest suddenly tight at the use of her old nickname for him. Gods, he hadn't heard her call him that in years. "One of these days, maybe."
Her kiss surprised him, and he closed his eyes, cheeks flushing. "So. Are you hungry or anything?"
She’d surprised herself with the kiss as well, and she settled back in her seat, blushing. “Uh, yeah. You wanna get something to eat?”
She was already looking around for a server as she spoke, but as she did so, she happened to catch a glimpse of the window - and the blood raining down outside of it. Her eyes widened. “Oh my gods.”
"Yeah, if you don't mind? I don't know what's going on, but I know I'm hungry, at least." Luke had just caught the eye of a waitress and was flagging her down when Thalia spoke again. He looked over, concerned, then followed her gaze to the window. "Holy mother of- what is that out there?"
“I have no idea, but it can’t be good.” Never one to shy away from potentially dangerous situations, Thalia left her seat to take a better look outside the window. Then, not satisfied with just looking out, she opened the door and stepped out, looking out from the awning. Tentatively, she stuck her hand out, where the blood splashed on it. Her eyes widened.
“Oh gross! It’s blood!”
"Blood?" Luke blinked and slid out of his table, crossing over to stand beside her, leaning out the door. "That's disgusting. I wonder if it's human, or what- where it's from."
“Thankfully not a dead body hanging from the roof,” Thalia said, after looking up to make sure. “That’s usually what happens in the movies. It looks like it’s just...raining.”
While she was well-used to blood, being used to bleeding out animals and such, the stench was too much for even her. She backed up back into the pub and searched for something to wipe her hand on. “Okay, here’s the plan. We wait a few minutes to see if it’s the apocalypse. And if not...well, we’ll figure out what to do after that. I just hope no god up there has been mortally wounded.”
"It reeks," he said, pulling a face and stepping back, holding the door open to let her in. He found a napkin at their table and handed it to her- it was better than nothing for the moment. "I hope not. I wonder if there's a way for us to find out, or if my dad-"
Luke broke off, shaking his head. "Nevermind. We'll- we'll figure it out."
Thalia accepted the napkin, distractedly wiping off her hand as she listened to him.
“You can pray to him,” she said softly. This was pushing it, maybe a little too much, a little too soon, but she didn’t want to let the subject drop when it was the first time in years that Luke had talked about his father with anything other than hatred. “See if he responds. He still cares about you, I know he does. If he can, he probably will. It’s just...whether he’s able. Artemis hasn’t said anything.”
"I haven't prayed to him in years," Luke replied quietly. It had never seemed to do him any good before, and a part of him wondered if it would do any good now. He hadn't seen his father since he was possessed, and he didn't know how much anger Hermes held toward him. But if any of the gods could reach them, it would have to be Hermes, wouldn't it? God of Travelers, messenger god- why not? He sighed. "I'll do what I can, see if I can find anything out."
It was more than Thalia had hoped for, and she smiled at him. If Hermes could be able to break through, it would be fantastic: not just for them to find a way out of this place, but also for Luke to finally get things sorted out with his father.
If Hermes didn’t break through, however.... Thalia had seen Luke’s prayers go unheeded often enough. She knew how angry and resentful he got after that, and she didn’t want it all starting again. “If he doesn’t respond, it’s not because he doesn’t want to, okay?” she said anxiously. She put her clean hand on his arm, willing him to look at her to see the conviction in her eyes. “It’s because he can’t.”
"I know." He spoke quietly, his voice tired. He had to believe that, or else he'd go crazy. And- well, he really didn't want to start down that old path again. Luke looked back out the window. "That looks disgusting- I really hope it isn't a sign for things to come."
It was enough for now. Thalia let her hand fall from his arm and took a step back, glancing out the window again. “Well, no zombies have attacked and I don’t see any locusts, so how about we get that food and hope it goes away soon?”