Fandom One Shots

PJO/HoO-Tattoos

Third Person POV

"Get back here Valdez!" Thalia roared, lightning flashing in the sky as she chased the scrawny son of Hephaestus.

"Not a chance in Hades!" He replied, her quiver bouncing uncomfortably against his back as he ran from the now mostly weaponless daughter of Zeus.

Percy laughed as the two ran past him. "Take him out, Thalia!"

"I plan on it!"

"Don't encourage her!"

Percy laughed and followed them, wanting to see what would happen. He joined the train of curious and amused campers.

Thalia finally tackled Leo near her tree. She forcefully yanked her quiver over his head and tossed it out of his reach, then began to beat on him.

"Alright, okay, Thals, calm down!" Percy knew that she wouldn't hesitate to beat him to a pulp and with her Hunter strength meant she could kill him by accident. Or on purpose, he wouldn't put it past her.

He wasn't surprised when his cousin ignored him. A crowd slowly formed around the enraged huntress and Percy finally decided that he needed to save Leo before the kid died.

"Annabeth, gimme a hand here!" He moved forward and grabbed Thalia around the waist, hauling her off of the whimpering son of Hephaestus. Annabeth put herself between Leo and Thalia while Nyssa ran over to her half brother to help him up.

"Don't. Touch. My. STUFF!" Thalia snarled.

"Worth it." Leo said shakily, leaning on Nyssa's shoulder and clutching his bleeding nose. His lip was split and a bruise was forming around his right eye. "Hey, Thals, when did you get that tattoo?"

"It's henna, you moron. I got it last week, why is that important?" The crowd started to disperse now that the fun was over.

"I meant the one on your upper arm. It's two names, doesn't look like henna."

Thalia grabbed her arm, scowling at him. "It's nothing." She glanced at Percy, making him raise an eyebrow.

"What is it then?" Now Annabeth was intrigued.

"It's nothing, okay?!" She wrenched herself away from Percy and stormed off.

"What did it say, Leo?" Annabeth asked.

"I dunno. Two names I think, one started with a 'C' and the other with an 'S' or something."

"Maybe it's something personal. If she doesn't want to tell us, then she doesn't have to." Nyssa said. 

"True...Hey, Wise Girl, want to go swimming?" Percy asked.

"We've got schedules to follow, Seaweed Brain."

"So? I'm the only person in my cabin and Malcolm can deal with your siblings for an hour. Please?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Tell you what, meet you at the beach in 20 minutes."

"Yes!" Percy pecked her cheek and she laughed before heading for her cabin.

"I'll get Leo to the infirmary, you two have fun." Nyssa chuckled and helped her beat up brother walk off.

Percy turned to walk away, then a flash of silver caught his eye.

Thalia's quiver lay forgotten on the dirt. Figuring that leaving it out where someone who didn't know whose it was could find it and endanger themselves, he grabbed it, planning on heading towards where Thalia had gone.

Something else caught his eye, on Thalia's tree.

Moving closer, he realized that it was words carved into the tree. He carefully skirted the sleeping Peleus who was stretched out next to the tree, soaking in the sun, and read the words that were almost hidden among the wreaths that the Demeter cabin made for the demigods who had died in the wars. They kept the wreaths up constantly, as a reminder, but Percy ignored the bright flowers.

'Charlie and Silena'

Percy felt his heart clench. He'd never noticed this before, but he didn't really pay attention to what was on Thalia's tree. It looked like it had been carved then had a torch of some sort taken to it.

He ran his fingers over the two names, then suddenly remembered what Leo had said. 

'Two names I think, one started with a 'C' and the other with an 'S' or something.'

This couldn't be a coincidence. Had Thalia's stint as a tree given her some sort of tattoo?

Percy suddenly remembered Thalia's quiver hanging off his shoulder. Trekking down to the cabins, he checked the Artemis Cabin, then the Zeus one. Thalia was inside neither. 

He frowned, trying to figure out where she could have gone. His mind provided him with an image of Thalia in the forest, near Zeus' Fist.

Checking his watch, he ran for the forest, knowing he had about 10 minutes left.

Thalia was sitting on Zeus' Fist, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"Does it say what I think it says?" Percy asked, scaring her and earning a silver knife flying towards his head. He ducked and pulled it out of the tree that it hit, scrambling up Zeus' Fist to hand Thalia her things and sit next to her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Thalia protested.

"I saw the carving on the tree." Percy said, pushing away tears. "Is it on your arm too?"

Thalia nodded, her own eyes filled with tears, which were uncharacteristic of her.

"T-thinking about it....it just reminds me...o-of everyone I lost. E-Everyone we lost." She muttered.

Percy nodded. "Yeah...that's what it reminded me of..."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, caught in memories.

"Gods, I miss him." Percy finally said.

"Beckendorf?"

"Yeah...he was one of my best friends. Not as close as Grover and I, but pretty close."

"Silena was okay too." Thalia muttered.

Percy nodded, staring at his feet.

"How long has it been there?"

"Since I turned human again. I didn't want to get rid of it."

"I'm glad you didn't." He gave her a one armed hug, then stood. 

"Percy!" Thalia stopped him as he walked away.

"Yeah?"

"If you ever want to talk about any of them who died, B-Bianca or any of them...I'd be willing to listen."

Percy smiled. "Thanks, Pinecone Face."

Checking his watch, he groaned. "I'm gonna be late to my date with Annabeth!"

"Not if you run. She won't be too mad."

Percy turned and broke into a jog, praying his girlfriend wouldn't be mad.