PJO oneshots/ headcannons

26--Forever

Forever starts small.

She ran into him at the dragon's cave outside of Charleston. And honestly, she wasn't sure who was surprised more - her, the boy or the dragon, but the monster set things straight. It blew an arc of fire over their heads and roared.

Thalia pulled the boy behind a particularly large rock. He stumbled back and looked at her in awe, staring at her sphere. "You- You're like me."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "If you mean, about to be charbroiled into demigod lunch, then yeah. I'm like you."

The boy frowned. "Demigod. You know who we are."

Thalia looked at the Celestial Bronze sword he was carrying. "By the looks of it, you do too."

"How did you get here?" He had blonde hair, she noticed. And blue eyes, a different kind of blue compared to her own. And he was tall, a little older than her maybe.

"The goat," She answered.

"What?"

"I followed the goat."

The boy didn't question it. He didn't have any time, even if he'd wanted to. Another roar brought them back to their senses. "We'll continue this later." He told her. "Right now, we have a dragon to worry about."

"Alright, well, do you have a plan?"

He looked behind the rock and winced. "Yep, I distract and you attack."

Thalia frowned. "You're going to die."

He smirked at her and his smile stretched over his face lopsidedly. Small lines traced at the corners of his eyes when he smiled like that. "I promise I won't die. But just in case I do; Hello, I'm Luke. Nice to meet you."

"Thalia." A small smile crept onto her lips. "We run on my mark."

"On your mark."

"Three...two-"

The dragon blew another wave of flames at their rock, melting half of it off. "Now!" Luke screamed and together they charged.

Forever is a long time.

"Thalia," Artemis said. "Daughter of Zeus. Will you join the Hunt?"

Stunned silence filled the room. Annabeth smiled. She squeezed Thalia's hand and let it go, as if she'd been expecting this all along.

"I will," Thalia said firmly.

Zeus rose, his eyes full of concern. "My daughter, consider well—"

"Father," she said. "I will not turn sixteen tomorrow. I will never turn sixteen. I won't let this prophecy be mine. I stand with my sister Artemis. Kronos will never tempt me again."

She knew she was making the right decision, and it wasn't only because of the prophecy. She didn't want to feel any more heart ache. She didn't want to feel what she had felt with Luke ever again. Love like that - it hurt when they went away.

She knelt at the feet of her sister and recited her oath. The moment she said the last word, a feeling of peace fell over her. Her entire body relaxed, finally letting free ll the anger, the bitterness, the hurt that she'd been feeling.

She said, what felt a lot like a goodbye, to her friends, knowing full well that it was a goodbye. She'd live forever. She'd watch them live only a few years. 

But Thalia walked up to the Goddess Artemis, and she took her stance beside her as a sister and a loyal follower.

Forever happened slowly.