Snowfall

Trivia

"Why should I fucking care that Hecate's goddamn polecat is missing?" Thalia grumbled to her companion. "It's her polecat. We shouldn't need to find it for her!"

"She's a goddess, Thalia," Percy groaned, tired of his friend's constant complaining. "You try telling her 'no, I don't want to.'"

"Shut it, Jackson," Thalia snapped, very much annoyed about the task Hecate had set upon them. Apparently, her polecat went missing and she couldn't recover any information about the captor, so she had decided to steal the hunter's lieutenant and a powerful demigod. Unfortunately, that was Thalia and Percy.

She had lent them her dog to help, but it wasn't exactly being much help. It trailed them around and didn't even try to track the polecat like was expected of it. The extent of its usefulness was being something for Thalia to take her anger out on.

"Thalia! Stop kicking the poor thing!" Percy complained as she slammed it in the side with her foot. It whimpered scampering away from her.

"It's immortal! It'll be fine! Plus, if I hurt her dog, maybe Hecate will realise we do not want to be here!" Thalia yelled, lifting her fists at the cowering canine.

"I want a break too, Thals, more than anyone, but you know beating up Hecate's pet won't help," Percy said, his voice cracking a bit as he spoke. "But you know the gods aren't like that. No matter how much we deserve peace, we won't get it."

Thalia listened to Percy's wistful speaking and feeling a rush of anger towards the gods. He was right. What had the gods ever done to deserve their service?

"Why shouldn't we?" Thalia growled. "We've saved their sorry asses twice at least. We deserve better than we get." She glanced up at the sky and muttered: "sometimes I think Luke was right about his father."

Percy's head snapped towards her. "Thalia, no," he commanded. "Do not think like that. We saved the olympians for a reason. If we just throw that away now, then what have all the sacrifices been worth?"

"That's what I'm afraid of!" She shouted. "That they all died for nothing. That their sacrifices were for undeserving people who took their deaths for granted! All of them: Luke, Bianca, Zoë, Silena, every last one was taken for granted!" Her eyes glistened with tears but she refused to let them fall. Not with someone there to witness it.

"Hermes cared for Luke, Artemis cared for Zoë, Hades cared for Bianca, all of them were cared for!" Percy argued in a feeble attempt to defend the gods.

"Maybe so, but maybe not. Luke was the hero, only then did Hermes show love. Artemis never treated Zoë as a friend but as a servant. Bianca was to Hades his key to acceptance, not his daughter. Did they ever truly love us? Do they truly love us?" Thalia couldn't keep back her tears now, letting them roll down her cheeks and onto the ground.

Percy moved and enveloped her in a hug. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, her tears wetting his skin. He rubbed her back comfortingly. "They're just prideful. Many demigods are prideful: Annabeth, Jason, even yourself, but that doesn't mean that you don't love. Pride is only a mask, not the true person. I truly believe that the gods, however arrogant they seem, do have love for us."

"Zeus doesn't," Thalia croaked, sniffling slightly.

"Zeus is an egotistical bastard." She laughed quietly. "I'm serious. He may be your father, but it doesn't matter that he doesn't love you. You have Artemis, your sisters in the hunt, your brother, your friends, all of them love you."

"Do you?" It was quiet, muffled slightly by the fabric of his shirt.

Percy stiffened for a moment, then relaxed again. "Of course. You're the little sister I never had."

Thalia pulled back and punched him in the arm. "I'm older than you, idiot!"

"You look younger."

"Now we just sound like Artemis and Apollo!"

"They're siblings and they get along well. Just proves my point." Percy smirked at her, dancing away from her as she raised her hand threateningly. Her eyes were slightly red and there were tear trails on her cheeks, but the slight grin sitting upon her face showed that she had been reassured.

"Do I need to do what Artemis does and threaten to shoot you where her brother doesn't shine?" Thalia threatened.

Percy winced at the thought. "Nope. That's unnecessary. We don't need to do that." She chuckled at the pained look on his face just thinking about it.

"Then let's hurry up and find this damn polecat so I don't have to be stuck out here with the likes of you," Thalia teased as she hopped over to where the dog was trying to reach some squirrels sitting on a branch up high.

"I'm offended! I'm a genuinely nice person! However could you say such a thing!" He said dramatically, raising a hand to his forehead to exaggerate.

Thalia smiled. "Alright Mr Nice Guy, let's go."