Promises don't last forever

[ Luke pov ]

Luke woke up because of the movement. His body hurt and every single part of it overflowed with exhaustion. Looking to see where he was, he found himself on the back of a familiar of a dark-skinned boy, though the boy had horns and goat legs.

"You are up!" exclaimed the satyr while noticing his movements. "Thank the gods you are finally up! How are you feeling?" continued asking the satyr while breathing heavily.

"Everything hurts..." replied Luke. "Where are we going? And why are you carrying me?" asked Luke, bringing his attention to their surrounding, trees were all around them and the darkness of the night made it hard for him to see properly.

"Well we are running from them!" exclaimed Grover while motioning Luke to see behind.

As Luke followed his directions and looked behind, he saw countless hellhounds running after them, alongside three extremely frightening monsters. These three monsters had bat-like wings and yellow fangs on their mouths, which along their glowing eyes and overall unsightly appearance made them truly beings out of a nightmare.

Looking at his side, Luke saw Annabeth running while panting heavily and Thalia running next to her while carrying a small girl without arms...

Luke felt something inside him break when he saw Christina in that state, suddenly memories of what had happened before he passed out began coming to him, each one hurting him more than the previous one.

Grover, who noticed Luke's breath growing faster and more desperate, tried to calm him down. "It's okey! We are almost at the camp, I am sure they will figure out a way to treat her once we get there!" he exclaimed, though he wasn't sure there was anything to do about it.

They had given her and Luke the last ambrosia they had, successfully healing most of their wounds and scars caused by the fire, but they didn't manage to bring back her arms. In a similar manner, Luke still had some small scars on the soles of his feet and the tips of his fingers.

"You are up?!" asked loudly Thalia from his side, bringing Annabeth's attention to Luke as well.

"Yes." replied Luke while looking at her.

"Good, get down from Grover and carry Christina!" she ordered with a serious expression. "I will buy us some time."

Luke's eyes widened at the implications of her words as he got down form Grover and began running, ignoring the pain and exhaustion of his body.

"No!" he said while looking into her eyes seriously. The soles of his feet were screaming at him as they made contact with the hard soil and sharp branches, however he ignored them.

Thalia smiled at this, a single small tear falling down her cheek. "We both know they are after me, so they won't be following you guys if I stay behind..." she said while giving Christina to Luke, who grabbed her and placed her on his shoulders.

"Please don't do this..." he said, his voice slowly breaking.

Maybe because of the movement, or perhaps because of the loud sounds, Christina woke up. As she opened her eyes, she was met by the sight of Luke asking Thalia to stay, while a single tear flowed down through her cheeks.

"W-Wait... what are you doing sis?" asked Christina. She had woken up sometimes during their journey on Thalia's shoulders, however her mind overflowed with pain and sudden memories and she would immediately pass out.

Thalia looked in her direction surprised, her expression growing more pained than before. "Hey there Chris..." said Thalia, slowly caressing Christina's cheek while still running. "I am right behind you okey?"

"W-Wait, don't go!" said Christina while small tears formed on the corners of her eyes.

"Come on now little sis, I promise you I will be just fine, and when have I ever broken a promise to you?" asked Thalia, the teardrop falling on the ground while her expression turned into a proud one.

Turning to face Annabeth, she took the backpack the little girl was carrying and pulled out a broken shield made of Celestial bronze form it. "Hey Annabeth, I am right behind you ok? So do you mind holding on to this for me?" she asked while handing her bracelet that could turn into a shield to Annabeth, making the little girl's eyes widen.

"B-But-" tried to say Annabeth, however she started choking between sobs.

"Shhh, you need to be strong now okey? Chris was hurt, so you will have to take care of her and protect her." said Thalia while hugging Annabeth. "Now keep running and don't look back." she continued, still with a kind smile on her face.

"You... are you really making me break my promise?" asked Luke while looking at Thalia. "We promised to never leave each other behind, to never abandon each other and never blame each other. Are you really going to break it?!" continued Luke, his voice breaking because of the pain.

Thalia simply looked at him with the same smile as she stopped running. "I need your help now Luke." she said. "It is something only you can do... and you know that."

Luke gritted his teeth while despair became clear on his face, however he simply nodded and looked away from her, tightening his hold on Christina and simultaneously grabbing the crying Annabeth and placing her on his other shoulder.

Ignoring the pain and exhaustion, disregarding the pleas his body made him to rest as well as the begging voice in his mind that told him to stay with Thalia, he moved forward.

"S-Stop! Let me help you sis!" screamed the crying Christina while trying to reach Thalia, only to realise her hands would never feel her sister's face again. Looking at the empty space where her forearms used to be, she started cursing at everything she knew while throbbing around in Luke's arms, begging him to stop and stay. "Don't leave me!" she continued screaming while tears poured down from her eyes.

Thalia could only ignore the pleas of Christina and Annabeth and looked them in the eyes with a proud smile. She always thought dying was hard, she believed if she were to stay behind it would be the hardest thing ever, but now? Now she realised... doing something to protect what you love is never hard. In fact she couldn't think of any single decision in her life that was easier to make.

"Are you watching me, Jason?" she asked in a low voice, her words getting lost under the screams of her sisters. "This time, I will protect my family..."

Looking at Luke's back, tears started falling down her cheeks and into the grass as she slowly turned around, tightening her hold on the broken shield and looking at the horde of monsters approaching.

Luke turned his head to see Thalia one last time, only to find her at the top of the hill being devoured by countless hellhounds and ripped apart by the three furies, still holding onto her shield tightly while hitting them.

Blood flowed out from her eyes, nose and mouth, her gaze was cold when looking at the creatures that were eating her alive, however the smile on her face didn't vanish despite the pain.

"AAAGGGGRRRRRHHHHHH!!!!!!!" screamed Thalia while throwing lightning form what remained of her only arm, keeping the attention of the monsters on her.

Turning back, Luke continued moving forward while following Grover, ignoring the sound of the monsters enjoying their feast, the tears that kept flowing out of his eyes, the screams of his little sisters and the sight of Thalia's bloodied, limbless body that kept screaming in rage and agony.

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Author note:

I felt my soul die a little while writing this.