Reyna's POV

Thia was as clueless as Thalia. I didn't know what I expected. It was almost comical really, but I couldn't laugh. That would make her upset.

"So you told her you were taking everyone else with you and you'd be gone for a year?" I asked, trying to summarize what she'd told me.

"Yeah," Thia nodded eagerly.

"Don't you think that's a little insensitive?" I questioned, taking a sip of my drink.

"No. I was being upfront and forward," Thia shrugged, running her thumb over the handle of her mug.

"Let me put it this way instead." Thia tilted her head in curiosity. "Don't you think that if Jaxon, Grey, Maria, Sol, and Emily all decided to do something without you for a whole year you'd be upset?"

Thia puzzled over my question for a moment. "I guess. It depends though. If they kept in touch it wouldn't be that bad."

"Alright. Now what if they didn't plan on coming back? They went from one place to another for a whole year again." Thia frowned taking the opportunity to think while drinking her hot chocolate.

"I suppose I'd be upset. Would they be coming back after?" Thia questioned.

"No, they keep going," I explained. "One place to another. They Iris message occasionally, say hello in a letter or two but that's it."

"Well that would be horrible. I mean, we are cousins." Thia frowned, a part of her forgetting it was a hypothetical scenario.

"Now forget the hypothetical and replace it with you and the others." Realization seemed to slap her in the face.

"Oh man. I get it now," she groaned, leaning back in her chair. "I'm so stupid!"

"No, just a bit naive at times but you'll learn," I assured her.

"How do I fix it? It's not like she's gonna listen to me." Thia leaned forward resting her forehead on the table. Rolling my eyes I patted her on the head.

"Give it an hour or so then try again. If you have to, recruit Andy for help," I suggested. Thia sighed loudly. "Don't wallow in self pity."

"More like self stupidity," Thia mumbled, sitting up at last and giving me a glum look. "What if that doesn't work?"

"Then you try again. Eventually, if she really wants you to leave her alone she'll have to say so." Thia didn't seem to like that answer any better than the original one.

"I can't do that," she shook her head. "I'll just let it be."

"Thia..." She was already getting up and hurriedly set her mug in the sink.

"It's okay, really. I can write and Iris message." Thia shrugged, heading for the stairs. "Thanks for the talk!"

Part of me wanted to laugh but the other part of me was equally frustrated. Thia was always so afraid of conflict it was almost always impossible to make her realize that it was sometimes a necessity.

I let the clock tick away a few minutes as I finished my own hot chocolate before going up the stairs. Knocking lightly on her door I heard her sigh before opening it.

"Alright, kid. Sit down. We're really having a chat now," I decided. Thia seemed a tad confused but flopped onto her bed as I shut the door behind us.

"What's the topic this time?" She asked, looking at the dragons that still hung from her ceiling.

"Same as before,",I smiled, sitting on the edge of her desk.

"I thought that convo was cancelled," she laughed,,grabbing a small stuffed monkey she had kept since she was little.

"Consider it renewed," I shrugged. Thia snickered but sat up and turned to me. "Why don't you want to talk things out with Leah?"

"Because she can be scary," Thia joked.

"Be serious." She was like Thalia in the way she used humor to cope. She sighed and followed it with a groan.

"I don't know Mom. Okay?" She tossed the small stuffed animal onto the floor and buried her face in her pillows. This was going to be harder than I thought.

Crossing the room I pulled away the pillows and tossed them at the foot of the bed. "Alright baby girl, I have ways of getting answers."

"No you don't," she grumbled.

"Yes I do. Now let's see, do you want The Toe Popper?" Thia hated having her toes cracked. It was something I used to do to wake her up in the morning, call it evil, but it was funny as hell. "Maybe the Knuckle?"

That got her attention. "Don't you dare."

The Knuckle was a very effective means of digging ones knuckle into certain muscles and causing the unfortunate victim to squirm from a combination of pain and a tickling sensation. Hylla had used the trick on me one too many times. I was deadly with it.

"Then spill." Thia rolled her eyes and sat up making room for me to sit next to her.

"It'll be easier to go if we don't sort things out," she said quietly. "I didn't say anything but not taking her with is going to suck. Especially with Andy coming along and Marianna. We could be the four musketeers."

"What's stopping you from letting her go with you guys?" To me it made perfect sense to offer Leah a spot with them. The more hands Thia had the better. Not to mention there was some truth, even for demigods, behind strength in numbers.

"Mom, let's be real for a second." This time it was Thia's turn to be serious.

"Alright," I nodded.

"I'm never going to have the amount of potential and opportunities as she is if she stays here. There's School to finish not to mention she's praetor now. She can transform this place
and make it better than it ever was before." Thia's eyebrows creased together in thought. "I'll be running around the world putting things together and back into place. Taking her away from opportunities here is stupid. She'd be miserable just following me around when she could be here with others to enjoy the company of. She could build something wonderful and get to watch it grow. She's won her chance to live a happy demigod life. With my job, that's never going to happen. I'll always have to fight something."

"Maybe you're right," I admitted. Thia's expression shifted to surprise at my words. "It would be hard to pull her away from opportunities here but maybe you need an anchor. Something to remind you that you're more than a servant to some higher power. You still have a life to live. It's good to have a reminder like that. I was very absorbed in my work before your Mom dragged me away from it. I realized how much I was really missing out on life."

"That doesn't change the fact that I can't neglect my duty," Thia's face fell. "It wouldn't be like Mama coming and going for a month or two. It would be years. That's a long time to wait for someone."

"Some people are worth waiting for if you care for them enough." Giving her a small smile I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "It's your decision love, just don't have any regrets. Those are hard to live with."

"Easier said than done," Thia sighed. Kissing her on the head I left her to think. She had a difficult decision ahead of her. I hoped I'd provided my best advice.

"Rey, can Luke crash on the couch?" Thalia asked, bounding down the hall until she tackled me in a hug.

"Yeah. Sure." I laughed, as she gave an excited cheer.

"You can sleep on the couch you scum bag!" Thalia yelled down the hall where Luke awkwardly stood.

"Okay then," he nodded, walking past.

"I'm assuming you sorted things out?" I asked, watching him pass.

"Yeah, somewhat. I can't necessarily forgive him for everything but he did help me on more than one occasion, and he's back. The real Luke anyways. The one I liked as a kid." Thalia sighed, resting her head in my shoulder. "It's good to have him back. Even if it is a lot different than I expected."

"You're telling me. Something about blonde haired, blue eyed boys with scars disappearing and coming back seems to be a trend with us," I snorted. Thalia rolled her eyes but a smile settled on her face.

"What did you and Thia talk about?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Nothing. Just that some things you have to wait for." Thalia nodded, eyes glancing at Thia's shut door. "For instance, a certain Grace."

"Yeah, that must have been a long wait for you," she joked. "What? Like a couple years?"

"Don't seem so smug. It wasn't like anyone was lining up for you," I teased. Thalia feigned hurt at my words.

"I had a scary moon lady with a bow who can taser people protecting me. You think people wanted to line up?"

"Well, you sure did throw yourself at my feet," I joked.

"I passed out on your doorstep," Thalia frowned.

"Same thing."