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.

"I'm taller than you." Percy gloated in her face. He had to look down because even standing on her tip toes, Thalia was just barely taller than his shoulders.

"You're still dumber than me." She told him. Percy only laughed. He swung an arm around her and ruffled her hair. "Alright little sis, whatever you say."

Thalia pushed him away. "I am nobody's little sister."

"Right. That's why you're younger than your little brother."

She scowled. Partly because she couldn't argue his point, but also because she couldn't even stomp her foot and yell at him without looking like an immature little girl.

Percy sat down on the grass. The shadows of the tall pine tree played shadows on his face - her pine - Thalia's Pine. "Must be pretty cool, huh?" Percy said. "Being immortal?"

Thalia sat down next to him. "Not regretting your decision, are you Jackson?"

"Are you kidding?" Smile lines crinkled around his eyes when he laughed. It tugged at a distant memory, but Thalia couldn't place her finger on it. "I wouldn't have left my mum behind. Or Grover, or Tyson, or-"

"Annabeth."

"Yeah, Annabeth." He looked down the valley, a new sparkle coming to his eyes. Then he frowned. "Don't you ever get scared?"

"What, the thought of being alive for maybe thousands of years?"

"Yeah." Percy said. "I mean, aren't you afraid? Afraid of watching everyone else- slowly... die? Annabeth and I are in collage. And you, you're still fifteen. You've been fifteen for four years now."

"Oh yeah. It's plenty scary." She was watching the campers mill around the central hearth. She was imagining what this place would like a thousand years from where she sat. "But hey, I still have time. You're not going anywhere yet. Right now, is what matters."

Percy gave her that smirk she'd gotten used to seeing. "Right now, I'm taller than you."

Forever ended too quickly.

It was a dark day. The sky reflected what she was feeling. The rain pelting down on her mixed with her tears and slowly fell to the merciless, cold ground.

Names flew through her mind.

Luke Castallen. Percy Jackson. Annabeth Chase. Jason Grace. Nico di Angelo. She couldn't seem to remember who was underneath the golden shroud.

It didn't matter anyway. It was no one that she knew.

It wasn't Kelp Head with his snarky comments and sweet smiles. It was a corpse, withering and wrinkled. It wasn't Annabeth. It couldn't belt out long speeches on Roman architecture. It could only stare with eyes closed, holding a bouquet of flowers that would die within a few days. It wasn't Luke. She knew it wasn't him. He'd left her a long time ago.

Thalia walked away somewhere in the middle of it all. The crying faces, the desperate families, it was too much to take.

She didn't really know where she went. She just walked away.

Away.

Away from it all.

The only thing that protected her from insanity was the silver circlet on her head. It gave her purpose. It told her where she had to walk.

Forever never stopped.

"M'lady,"

Artemis was kneeling over her. There was a silver tear in her eye, threatening to spill. "Hush, huntress."

The melancholy faces looked down at her. She couldn't tell if they were looks of pity, sorrow or regret. Phoebe knelt beside her and took her hand. "You saved us." Thalia thought she was crying. "I owe you one."

Thalia managed a smile through her strangled sobs. "Two... that gorgon in New Jersey."

"One and a half." 

Artemis, pushed a strand of her hair away from her face. Thalia looked at her and grasped her fingers. "Did I serve you okay?"

"Okay undermines your servitude, Maiden. Now rest. It's time to go." She looked into the eyes of the goddess and she saw the stars of the night sky, spinning in an oblivion of midnight blue. It was impossible to see the stars anywhere else but in her eyes. They were never in the sky anymore, clouded over by pollution. 

She saw the stars and she thought of her friends. Names flashed in her mind. Tyson. Grover. Silena. Zoe. Bianca. Piper. Leo. Frank. Reyna. Will. Hazel. 

And she took her last breath.

Forever kept going.

The under world wasn't much different from the last time she'd been there. Except for the fact that they added some lighting down there. Sure, it was creepy, yellow, glowing light, but light none the less.

It was a long walk to Elysium. A long road.

By the end of it, she had no memory of ever having gotten there. She could only see the magnificent city before her. It looked beautiful, but little like home. There was someone waiting for her at the gates. A boy with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. The scar had disappeared. He looked like he had years ago, when they were still running. Years - thousands of years ago. Yet he was standing there, still seventeen. And she was looking at him in awe, still fifteen.

When he saw her, he smiled. "Took you long enough."

Thalia sobbed and ran at him. She wasn't sure if it was to hug him or strangle him. Probably both, but Luke got hold of her shoulders and calmed her down. "Whoa, Thals. Easy."

"You betrayed us. You died. You died, Castallen! You promised you wouldn't!"

"I know." He said. She saw real sadness in his eyes. "I know. And you have no idea how much I regret all of it. How much I wish we could go back."

"We can't go back."

"We can't."

Thalia wiped away her eyes, her mascara smudging on her hand. "Is everyone still there? Percy, Annabeth? Grover?"

Luke smiled at her sadly. "They chose re-birth. We waited a long time, but- well, you were immortal."

"You didn't go?"

"Figured we'd go out together." His lips tugged up. "You know, like old times."

"How will we remember each other?"

"We'll remember. But just in case we don't; Hey, I'm Luke."

"Thalia." She told him.

Forever starts again.