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Life tends to balance itself out, the nature equivalence Mother Nature created for us. If you're a predator━━you hunt, you feast on the rotting flesh of spoils of your own war and stand out in the open, waiting. If you're prey━━you hide, you hope that you can outrun the predator, that if you can run just a little bit faster you might make it. The predators are at the top of the food chain, prey at the bottom.
Juliet was being hunted like a prey, she felt like the black and white zebra grazing in the tall grass, waiting to be killed by the hungry, untamed lion. She ran, she ran as fast as her small legs could take her. The undergrowth cracked and groaned as the five children passed, the forest was a blur of mossy trees and grassy hills. The heavy footsteps of the one-eyed monsters growing closer, and closer as their small legs wore out from exhaustion. They had been running for days, running from monsters, their pasts, and everything that used to be. Just a little farther they told themselves, just run a little faster.
Their breaths were getting more ragged, their body's beaten and bruised, their lungs cultivating the little air that seemed to surround them. Juliet's limbs were on fire, it raged and burned, it felt as it the fire might just burn right through her skin and disintegrate. Twigs had entangled themselves in her dark hair, and mud coated her skin like a second layer. The moon gleamed so bright, as if there was nothing wrong in the world, as if it was taunting them. It was beautiful, tragic, in classic Greek fashion.
"Just keep going." Its what Juliet kept repeating in her head, it's what Luke kept mumbling over and over again. His sandy hair was now brown with dirt and grease, his once youthful, cyon eyes were now glazed with war, destruction, and grief. His face was left unscathed, unless one looked they wouldn't see the worry lines that greased his brow, or the crescent circles under his eyelids. They wouldn't see that Luke hid it all━━he was good at faking, he could easily manipulate one to think that everything was okay and well. It was a talent that Juliet both envied and feared.
As they ran, she was able to make out the feint glow of torches about 100 feet away. They were almost there, just a little farther, a little more. Her heart speed up, hope blossomed in her chest for what seemed like the first time in years. She found the last fragment of energy she had, and ran faster, faster than she'd ever ran before. We might actually make it.
They were drawing closer to the entrance when Juliet heard a thud behind her. Her momentum came to a complete stop as she whirled around to find that Grover had tripped over a fallen tree. Shit. He lied sprawled on the mossy gross, dazed for a moment before attempting to stand back up. However, the minute he put weight on his left hoof he cried out in pain, and fell again.
"Grover!" Annabeth exclaimed as she ran to his side.
Juliet saw Thalia and Luke exchange a brief look that held a million words. Luke ran to Grovers side and slung his arm around his shoulder, gesturing for Annabeth to do the same. She held his hand firmly in hers as she stood up, now supporting the weight of not only her exhausted body, but Grover's as well.
The trio started once again for the torched entrance, with Juliet in tow. However, they came to a abrupt stop when they realized Thalia wasn't following. "Thalia, come on!" Luke exclaimed. The monsters were gaining, the children were losing time, and energy.
The girl in question turned to the them, an unfamiliar look in her eyes. "Go. I'll hold them off." She had her dagger drawn, and the way she spoke said it wasn't up for question.
"No. They'll kill you!" Juliet shouted, she never was one to listen anyways.
"They will if you don't go! Go! I can handle them!" Thalia shouted back, but there was something else in her tone━━sorrow almost. Their was no more time for Juliet to fight however, because Thalia took off running in the direction of the cyclops.
She went to run after her but, Luke grabbed her with his one free hand. "Don't, we need to go or we're all dead."
Juliet didn't want to leave Thalia but, she knew that if they didn't go now, it would all be for nothing. She took one last fleeting look at Thalia fighting for her life before turning her back and running once more.
They ran, the forest becoming a blur once again. The entrance to camp half-blood becoming clearer and clearer. The four were five feet from crossing the border when they heard a skull shattering scream. Juliet whirled her head around to see the blurred body of spiky black hair and punk cloths thrown and hit the ground, hard. So hard, that not even a half-blood who healed faster than normal humans, would survive.
Juliet's heart dropped to her stomach. She stood paralyzed as she watched Thalia struggle to take her last breaths. Her electric blue eyes fluttering, threatening to close forever. The world became fuzzy, nothing seemed real. Not Annabeth screaming at Luke to let her go, not Grover's soft sobs, not even Luke's teary eyes. All she could see was Thalia's dying body, the world seemed to stop. The monsters that had been chasing them for days seemed to disappear to Juliet.
Thalia, the girl who had taken her in and treated her like family. The girl who had become family to Juliet. Thalia, the girl who lied dying on the forest's floor. Her eyes threatened to close, her breaths becoming shallower and uneven.
And then something happened, just as Thalia took her last dying breath.
Her body seemed to glow, her hands and legs becoming wood and tree. Grass and roots covered her face and body, the roots steaming higher and higher until they became a full fledge tree. Her body that once ran with crimson blood now breathed honeyed maple sap. Her limbs and ligaments now lived in pine needles and wooden branches. Her soul, it lived in the space around them. The protective barrier surrounded them, it represented the sacrifice she made to save them. She died protecting them, and now she would live as the protector of camp. She would now forever protect the four she sacrificed herself for.
Juliet didn't even realize tears were streaming down her face. It was beautiful, it was terrible, it was heartbreaking.
Zeus had felt pity on his only daughter and turned her into a tree. He gave them a gift. It was the first and only time Juliet would be thankful to the god.
She felt a slight tug on her sleeve and turned to find Luke who was trying to comfort Annabeth and support Grover at the same time, while trying to keep himself from falling apart. The monsters were still outside the barrier, however they weren't getting in anytime soon.
Juliet turned her back on the barrier and made her way to the torched entrance to camp half-blood━━her new home. All the while knowing what had been sacrificed to get her there.
