#chbverse

You hadn’t meant to intrude. You’d just noticed he was gone, noticed the way he’d smiled a little too tightly all evening. When you approached, you slowed, unsure—until Percy felt your presence and flinched, shoulders tensing on instinct alone.

“Hey,” you said softly. “I’m sorry. I can go if you want.”

He didn’t look at you right away. “You don’t have to.”

The words came out rough, like they’d scraped his throat on the way up.

You sat beside him anyway, close enough that your arms brushed, far enough that he didn’t feel trapped. You didn’t stare. You didn’t ask. You just stayed, and somehow that hurt more than being alone.

Percy finally exhaled. “They’re ugly,” he muttered, nodding toward his torso. “I try not to think about them. But sometimes… it’s like they’re louder than everything else.”

You turned to him then, eyes gentle but unflinching. “They’re not ugly,” you said. “They’re proof you’re still here.”

He let out a humorless laugh. “Still here doesn’t always feel like a good thing.”

The admission slipped out before he could stop it. His fingers dug into the sand. For a moment, you wondered if he’d shut down completely—but then you reached out, slow and deliberate, giving him time to pull away.

He didn’t.

Your hand rested over his, warm, grounding. “I know that feeling,” you said quietly. “The one where existing feels heavier than disappearing.”

Percy swallowed. His eyes burned, and he hated that too—hated how close he always felt to breaking, like one wrong thought could send him spiraling back into the dark places he worked so hard to outrun.

“I used to think,” he admitted, voice barely above the waves, “that if I was strong enough, fast enough, brave enough… none of it would’ve happened. That I could’ve stopped it.”

You shook your head. “You were a kid, Percy. None of that was your fault. Not then. Not ever.”

Something in his chest cracked at the certainty in your tone.

Carefully, you traced a finger just beside one of the scars—not touching, but close enough that he felt seen without feeling exposed. “These don’t define you,” you continued. “They don’t make you broken. And they don’t cancel out the good—the way you protect people, the way you care, the way you keep choosing to live even when it hurts.”

He finally looked at you. Really looked.

“You don’t see me the way I see myself,” he said.

You met his gaze without hesitation. “No. I see you the way you actually are.”

The ocean sighed behind you both. Percy leaned into you then, forehead resting against your shoulder, the weight of him heavy and achingly human. You wrapped your arms around him without thinking, holding him like you understood that sometimes survival wasn’t loud or heroic—it was quiet, trembling, and desperately in need of warmth.

For the first time that night, the scars were silent, still.

And for once, Percy didn’t feel like he had to face them alone.

And then they gain Annabeth. She's a blonde little slip of a girl and she needs Thalia to take care of her like Jason had needed Thalia to take care of him. The three of them are family - a real family. And Luke is older than her and better at getting them things that they need and Annabeth is little, not much older than Jason should have been. They are a family. Not like the one she knew before, Thalia isn't taking care of Annabeth on her own like she was with Jason, she can rely on Luke.

They run into the Hunters and stupid Zoë who is like Halcyon and thinks Luke will betray her. Zoë thinks she should leave and abandon her family, like Beryl abandoned Jason. She says that guys can't be trusted. This is stupid, Jason was the most wonderful thing her mother ever made and Luke's one of the most trustworthy people she's ever known. It was Beryl who couldn't be trusted, Beryl who betrayed her. Luke takes care of her. Thalia tells the Hunters to fuck off. She has her family, she won't leave them. She's made that mistake before.

Thalia's ankle gets hurt and the monsters are getting worse. Luke gets angry after they go to his house and Thalia is a bit scared because her mom got angry too but also she gets it because she's angry at her parents too. Jason is gone because of Beryl, because of Hera. Her brother was abandoned by their mother, she doesn't blame Luke for being mad at Hermes for abandoning him. Especially with how very off his mom is. She's crazy but not in the mean way that Beryl was crazy. She's still dangerous though and part of Thalia is glad that Hermes ordered them to leave even if she's mad at him too. She just wishes Luke was less mad.

Then they meet Grover and Grover is going to get them to safety but Thalia is still injured. They have a bad run in with a cyclops and Thalia nearly loses her family again. She's scared because she is the target. She's the one being hunted, her family is in danger because of her. And maybe Jason had been in danger because of her too - if she had never been born, then Beryl would have only had one child by Zeus and maybe Hera would have let him be. Maybe Hades will let Luke and Annabeth be if he gets her.

Thalia can't stand the idea of losing her family again. She left Jason with Beryl and she lost Jason. But Luke isn't Beryl, she can trust him to take care of their Annabeth without her there. Maybe the only way to save her family is if she's gone.

So Thalia sacrifices herself feeling secure in the knowledge that her family is safe, that she did for them what she couldn't do for Jason. Her father shows up as her family makes it to camp and everything hurts but her family is safe.

Six years pass and she wakes up and Annabeth is there and older but Luke is gone. She doesn't like this - but maybe this is what Halcyon meant by betrayal. He still hadn't betrayed her, not really: Annabeth is alive, and Camp is safe for her. As safe as it gets for demigods anyways. She's not surprised about Luke joining the Titans or that Annabeth didn't. They're both alive. Her mom is dead though. Thalia feels guilty about that but she's angry she feels that way.

Grover is still kicking too, and around five months after she wakes up he asks for her to help him get these two demigods safely to Camp. She agrees and she goes up to Maine with her Annabeth and this kid, who's Annabeth's best friend and crush even if the girl won't admit it. His name is Percy Jackson and Thalia can't decide if she loves him or hates him. He doesn't listen to her and his mom is wonderful in a way her's never was.

Then Annabeth is missing. The kids they came up to save are siblings, Bianca and Nico, and they're both okay. Then the Hunters show up. Artemis confirms that Annabeth didn't fall - she was taken. She's with the Titans now, which means she's with Luke. Thalia isn't worried. She trusts Luke with Annabeth.

Then stupid Zoë tells Bianca the same thing she told Thalia all those years ago and Bianca doesn't tell Zoë to fuck off like Thalia did. Bianca joins and Thalia is torn between being angry at her for leaving behind her little brother - something Thalia has always regretted doing herself - or envious that Bianca can safely leave her brother behind. She doesn't have to worry like Thalia had. Nico won't meet the same fate Jason did. Thalia decides that Bianca is a fool. She's jealous.

Percy's there on their quest, and Thalia still can't decide if she loves him or hates him. She's leaning towards the latter, especially when he keeps insisting that stupid Zoë is right, Luke is a traitor and he's going to hurt Annabeth. Luke wouldn't hurt Annabeth, he's not Beryl. He's trustworthy. He won't betray Thalia.

Bianca dies and Thalia mourns. Bianca was a fool but she was better than Thalia in one way - she died before her brother did. Nico was far away and safe. She left a gift for him with Percy. Thalia wishes she had something to remember Jason by the way Nico would have something to remember Bianca by. Mostly she wishes her brother was still alive. Bianca is dead and Thalia is still jealous.

Then they find Luke and Annabeth and suddenly... Percy and Zoë were right. Luke hurt Annabeth. The one thing Thalia trusted he would never do. There's a fight. Luke is upset but Thalia is furious and hurt. Luke is like Beryl. He hurt Annabeth. She can't forgive Beryl and she can't forgive Hera and so she can't forgive Luke either. She pushes him off the cliff. She doesn't mean to, and a part of her feels bad because Annabeth is alive and Luke doesn't seem to understand what he's done. Part of her wishes she could push Hera off a cliff too. Most of her wishes she'd listened to Zoë and Percy sooner. Maybe she could have saved Annabeth that way. She never seems to be able to save her family. Zoë and Bianca are dead but Thalia thinks they are lucky because they were smart and they weren't betrayed and their loved ones are okay because of them and not despite them.

Then they are on Olympus. Her father is there. The last time she'd seen him was when she was dying. The time before that was when Jason was alive. She wonders, not for the first time, if he had taken care of Jason's funeral rites. She thinks he must have. He showed up when she died after all. She's angry at him but she doesn't hate him like she hates Beryl and Hera and Luke.

The prophecy is still a problem. Thalia knows she can't be the hero - it's too soon, and she keeps failing her families. But Percy is smart and saw what she didn't in Luke and is devoted to Annabeth. He'll keep what remains of her family safe for her. Zoë and Bianca were smart too, so Thalia follows their lead. She swears herself to Artemis - a large part of her hates it. Her fatal flaw is power and she is leashing herself. But her power hasn't saved her family yet so she'll step back. She'll cage who she is, fight in another way, and hope it's enough to keep her family safe.