This idea has been floating around in my head for a long time. Warning: character death. Please review!

I don't own the characters, Rick Riordan does.

Thalia stared at the spot where the Iris-message had been a moment before, her brain still processing what had just happened- or rather, the news she had just received.

"Thalia? You alright in there?"

The lieutenant of Artemis didn't turn around. She knew that the voice belonged to Laura, one of the Hunters. She knew that she should respond. But Laura's voice sounded watery and distant, as if she were speaking through a copper pipe a long way away.

The daughter of Zeus just sat there, frozen, staring, pushing away what was right in front of her, willing it not to be true.

Flashback

Thalia and the Hunters had just arrived back at their semi-permanent camp after a weeklong absence. They always left this camp up in the wintertime, and broke it down when spring came. It was a good place to fall back on in bad weather- located in a spacious wooded clearing, it provided a perfect place to relax and sip one's hot chocolate whilst engaging in friendly banter with one's sisters.

Life was well with the Hunters of Artemis. They'd been busy after the Giant War, cleaning up the mess and all the rogue monsters that were running around. It was an enormous job and the camps unfortunately couldn't help much, as they were trying to work out their own politics. But Hylla and her Amazons joined forces with the Hunters, and it had now been over two years since the war. Things weren't completely back to normal yet, but settling down.

The Hunters were just settling in to camp. Thalia had just curled up in her tent with her hot cocoa and her book. It was The Shadow Thief by Anne Ursu, and it was hilarious. It was one of those Greek-mythology-come-to-life stories. Those were quite interesting to read from the perspective of a demigod. Thalia was enjoying it heartedly.

Little did she know, she wouldn't get to enjoy it for much longer.

The air shimmered in front of her, and an Iris-message appeared. It was from Annabeth Chase. Over the two years since the Giant War, she'd finally finished growing at the formidable height of 6'1. That, combined with her haunted stormy eyes and permanent analytic scowl, she made quite the intimidating presence.

Annabeth looked awful. There were dark circles under her stormy eyes, and she looked gaunt and pale. Anyone who didn't know her would have said she was simply suffering from lack of sleep.

Thalia knew better. Her eyes were a tiny bit shinier that normal. The lines below them were drawn tight. The shattered look in her eyes that had been there since Tartarus; that she tried to hide most of the time; was more noticeable than usual, almost as much as it had been the first time the two girls had seen each other after the daughter of Athena had returned from Greece.

This was not going to be a fun conversation, Thalia knew.

Sure enough, when Annabeth spoke she only said three words.

"Nico's dead. Manticore."

Thalia's mug of hot cocoa slipped out of her hand and shattered on the ground.

Annabeth disconnected the Iris-message.

End of flashback

Nico di Angelo. Son of Hades. Arguably the most terrifying demigod in the world, with his hollow, shattered, sunken eyes and black sword that seemed to devour all light. Very powerful, very determined. No stranger to loss. Had a talent for making his enemies afraid.

Killed by a manticore. A manticore, of all things. The very same as the first monster he'd ever seen, on that snowy cliff in Maine all those years ago.

Then the full truth dawned on the black-haired girl.

Five years ago today.

New Mexico.

The junkyard.

Talos.

One shall be lost in the land without rain.

Bianca.

Five years ago today, Bianca di Angelo had died. It was a cruel joke, that her brother should die on the same day, at the hands- or rather, thorns- of the first monster they'd seen.

Thalia was pretty sure by now that the Fates loved cruel jokes.

Chiron's words echoed in Thalia's head. A hero's fate is never happy.

How true it was.

That Night

Thalia was sitting on a log just outside of camp. She was looking up at the stars. In particular, the Huntress.

Zoe, she thought. What would you do?

In the next second, she realized that was a foolish question. She knew exactly what Zoe would have done. The daughter of Atlas would have shrugged it off as just a male that was foolish and got himself killed, and she wouldn't have grieved, thinking that he had it coming to him all along.

Besides, maybe it didn't matter what Zoe would have done. Thalia was the lieutenant of Artemis now, Zoe was dead.

Thalia felt a presence slide in on the log beside her. Knowing that it was Lady Artemis, she didn't move or say anything. Honestly, she'd expected the goddess to come check on her. That was just how Artemis was.

"What are you thinking about?"

Thalia took a deep breath, and answered "My family."

A moment passed.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Artemis said.

"Well, don't get me wrong, the Hunters are my family, and I love them. But my family's bigger than just them. Annabeth, her and I and Luke spent a long time on the run together. You can't do that without becoming family. Percy, he may be a Kelp Head, but he's part of my family too. He's saved my life too many times to not be. And there's my brother Jason, too. Point is, family is important to me after…after what happened with Luke."

Artemis didn't answer immediately. The silence probably only lasted a few moments, but it seemed to stretch on for millenia. Finally the goddess spoke.

"I can understand that, but I still don't understand what you're getting at."

Thalia took a deep breath. "They're all growing up. Percy and Annabeth got married just a few months ago. Jason is working a full-time job as pontifex maximus. They're getting older." Here Thalia paused a moment before going on. "I never will. I'm immortal now. Don't misunderstand, I love being a Hunter. But…" she hesitated, glancing at her patron nervously. "Sometimes…I-I wonder if I'm really cut out for immortality."

Artemis tilted her head. Her auburn hair glinted in the moonlight. "Why is that?" She didn't sound angry, to Thalia's relief, only curious.

The spiky-haired girl sighed. "Most likely, I'll outlive them. I'll stay fifteen forever, and I'll have to watch them all get old and die. Assuming they live long enough to die of old age, and aren't killed…like Nico was. I'll have to watch that happen, and not be able to do anything about it."

She sighed again. "The other thing is… what if I forget? I highly doubt, if I served you for a thousand years, that I would remember everything about those thousand years. I don't want to forget my first family."

Artemis opened her mouth to speak, but Thalia rushed on. "You know, there's something that Percy once told me, that I can't quite get out of my head. He told me something that Ares told him. 'Life is only precious because it ends.' I want to live my life to the fullest that I can, and I can't help but wonder if that's possible when I'm immortal."

Now it was Artemis' turn to sigh. "I understand what you mean, Thalia. Immortality is a gift, but also a curse."

Thalia turned to her curiously. "You're not angry?

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Please. I'd only be angry if you were breaking your oath." She hesitated, studying her lieutenant for a moment.

"Thalia, I know you, and I wish that I'd seen this before. As…as much as it pains me to say this, Ares was right. Life is only precious because it ends."

She stopped, and took a deep breath, as if steeling herself for what she was about to say.

"For most of the Hunters, immortality is lovely. When they join, they get a home, a family, usually for the first time. They don't have anything to lose. But you, Thalia…you're different. You had a family before the Hunters; maybe a dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless. You have something to lose. And I think you're right when you say you aren't cut out for immortality."

Thalia studied the goddess, startled.

Artemis continued. "All I'm saying is, I won't stop you if you want to leave. Like I said before, I'd only be angry if you were breaking your vow. You're a great huntress and lieutenant, but if this isn't what you want…well- I do not wish to keep you from what you do want."

The goddess' eyes widened infinitesimally as something else occurred to her. "Another option…Let me tell you a story." She closed her dark eyes for a moment, lost in memories.

"I remember it like yesterday- which, granted, isn't all that well, but you get my point."

Thalia snorted. Artemis' short term memory was terrible, and the moon goddess knew it. She supposed that was just another curse of immortality…and there went the brief moment of humor, down the drain.

Artemis smiled drily before continuing. "It was Sunday, September second, 1666. We met her- or rather, Zoë met her- during the Great Fire of London. Her apartment building was burning down. We were in London, trying to rescue as many people as possible. We were not able to save very many. Zoë heard screaming, and before I could stop her, she'd just plunged straight into this burning building. The wall collapsed behind her. I knew that Zoë was very capable, but I was still terrified for her. But, the next thing I know, Zoë was leaping straight out of a third floor window with a girl in her arms, her hair on fire and her skin burned to a crisp. She survived, obviously, but just barely. As for the girl that she saved…she was burned, but not too badly. Her name was Natalie."

"Once the fire was over and we were out of London, I asked her if she wanted to join the Hunters."

She stopped; and looked directly at her lieutenant, and pale eyes met bright blue. Thalia was enthralled by the story, but she didn't quite understand why Artemis was telling her this.

As if the goddess had read her mind- she probably had- Artemis smiled knowingly, her eyes twinkling. Thalia was suddenly reminded of Albus Dumbledore- which was a completely random, unwelcome thought. Stupid ADHD.

Artemis looked amused. Probably she'd read Thalia's mind again. Great. But- thankfully- she didn't comment. That would've been embarrassing. Instead, she continued with the story.

"She was a very open girl. She told me that she had mixed feelings about it- she was perfectly fine with swearing off boys and hunting monsters- she turned out to be clearsighted, in fact. But, like you, she wasn't sure she wanted immortality. Oh, Natalie loved life, she did. I remember Edith joking that if someone used her joy of life to power a wagon, it would keep going for centuries. Although she never said the exact words, she agreed with Ares too- life is only precious because it ends."

Thalia regarded her patron goddess curiously, not sure where she was going with this.

"I talked to her for a long time, and eventually we reached an agreement. I gave her my blessing, but not the blessing that I usually give to new Hunters. She became Hunter in every way except one thing- she was not immortal. She swore the same oath as all the Hunters, swore off boys, pledged herself to me, received the extra strength and endurance of a Hunter, but she was not immortal. She traveled quite a bit. Over the years, she visited us many times, traveled with us a lot, but she traveled mostly on her own. Since she was mortal, she didn't have to worry about monsters much, though they did occasionally target her. She was a Hunter in all except immortality, so that wasn't too much of a problem for her, even when she went to Greece."

The goddess closed her eyes. "Natalie lived to be one hundred. She died keeping a couple of telkhines from bombing a plane that happened to have a daughter of Hermes on it. Needless to say, she achieved Elysium, but she chose rebirth immediately afterward."

Artemis sighed. "Though she traveled far and wide, she never forgot her oath, and she always came back to us. We could always count on a visit every three months, that is unless she was overseas or something. And even then- she made sure that we always knew where she'd be, so we often visited her overseas. She was a true Hunter. She was a Hunter, despite not being immortal."

The goddess looked at Thalia pointedly.

The Hunter's eyes widened as she realized what her patron was offering her. The faculty of speech temporarily abandoned her.

"I…uh…well…I'll-uh- think about it- um- I guess…"

Artemis smirked. Thalia glared at her halfheartedly.

"You could have that, if you wanted. You wouldn't be leaving the Hunters, but you could live your life to the fullest extent." She paused. "I'm not asking you to decide right now, but think on it."

All Thalia could manage to do was nod. Artemis smiled tightly and nodded back, then stood up from the log and walked to the Hunters' camp, her auburn hair glittering like starlight.

Thalia sat there for a long time.

This was the price of immortality, she realized. To watch others die in front of you, outliving them all. To know that you will truly never see them again- or if you do, it would be a long, long time. And what did one ultimately get out of it? What was so great about eternal life, anyway? Now that she really considered it, immortality seemed quite selfish. It was probably worth it to some, but now Thalia didn't think she was among those some.

Thalia thought back to when she had joined the Hunters of Artemis. She'd joined in order to never turn sixteen, to escape the prophecy. Now…she wondered what would have happened had she not. Would the prophecy have ended up applying to her? Most likely not- prophecies can't usually be changed. So was her decision to join Artemis ultimately pointless?

But perhaps…perhaps there was some value in it at the time, to make sure that she didn't alter the prophecy. But the Titan War was long over. The prophecy had run its course. Luke was dead, and Kronos with him. So any value that had existed in Thalia's choice at the time it was made, was now long gone.

She'd been selfish. Selfish to choose immortality. If life is only precious because it ends…well then where did that leave Thalia?

On the other hand…she'd found a second home in the Hunters. She loved Artemis their patron, Laura the new girl, Liesel from the 1930s, Daphne from the 1600s, Edith from the Middle Ages…the list went on and on. They were family too, and she didn't want to leave them.

Thalia made her decision.

The next day, Artemis granted her wish. She was still a Hunter, just not immortal.

Through all the rest of her years, she remained the lieutenant of Artemis. When she turned fifty, Artemis suggested that she secede the post to another Hunter, but she refused. She was going to serve the goddess for the rest of her life, and she wasn't going to let Geras stop her.

She stayed with the Hunt about half of the time, spending the other half visiting her family at the camps.

When she was sixty-three, Artemis sent her on a mission to act as a teacher at a school in Chicago and look for possible demigods and/or recruits for the Hunters. And she found a girl who fit both of those categories.

It was a Friday afternoon, and Thalia was walking the demigod— Dale Collins— to the street corner after school as always, since they lived just a block apart. But Thalia had a feeling about today— as a Hunter, she tended to have a natural sense of when there were monsters around, and it was really tingling right now.

Thalia should not have been happy about that, yet she was. The past year of teaching Latin to high school students with literally zero monster attacks had been incredibly boring, and she was excited about the prospect of a fight.

As if on cue, there was a feral snarl, and a gigantic golden lion leaped out of the shadows. Dale gave a strangled scream and stumbled back. Thalia leaped in front of her, somehow managing to brandish Aegis and nock an arrow at the same time. "Stay back!"

Thalia wasn't quite sure if she was talking to Dale or the Nemean Lion, but that didn't matter right now. She drew a silver card out of her pocket and twisted it. It glowed silver and then disappeared— a call for reinforcements. She'd just have to entertain the lion and keep Dale safe until the Hunters arrived.

Speaking of Dale, she was on her butt on the pavement, rendered completely paralyzed with fear and confusion. Thalia spoke to her without turning around. "Stay behind me. Don't move. I'll explain later..."

The lion lunged. The Hunter bashed her shield into its face, but it scored a gash on her thigh. It wasn't terribly bad, but worrying nonetheless. That would slow her down.

The beast retreated a step, growling. Then it suddenly lunged again. For a moment, it and Thalia were a blur of gold, silver, and electricity. Somewhere in the tumult, the lion threw her off, grabbed her leg in its mouth, and flung her against a nearby brick wall. The daughter of Zeus hit the bricks with a sickening CRACK!

Thalia's head spun and she saw double. A brick wall, she thought detachedly. I thought Jason was supposed to be the one that smashed into brick walls.

Her vision started to come back into focus. The lion was advancing on Dale, who was too still too shocked to move.

Her head still felt like it had been tumble dried, but she couldn't let the lion hurt Dale. They just had to hold out a few more seconds, until the rest of the Hunters arrived. So she gathered up every last ounce of strength she had and threw herself at the monster.

She smashed, punched, whacked the lion as hard as she could in as many places as possible. In return, it completely mauled her. Blood poured onto the pavement. The lion was winning the fight.

Somewhere in Thalia's pain-filled mind, it clicked, the same way it had that day on the hill when the hellhounds had caught up with her and Luke and Annabeth and she'd told them to go.

She knew she wasn't going to make it out of this. This would be her last fight. The Hunters wouldn't get here in time.

She didn't mind, really. She'd lived a good life, after all.

But she resolved to make her death mean something. She wouldn't die until the lion was dead too.

There was only one way to kill the Nemean Lion and keep Dale safe, and Thalia knew it would kill her, but her duty was more important.

The daughter of Zeus summoned every last bit of strength she had left, and let it all loose on the lion in one terrifying yell. Lightning— the most Thalia had ever summoned— came streaking out of the sky and blasted the Nemean Lion.

When the dust cleared, the lion was no more. Thalia collapsed on the pavement in the middle of a large patch of burned and smoldering pavement, her vision beginning to fade.

Dale finally broke out of her paralysis and ran to her Latin teacher's side. "Oh my god! Ms. Grace! What the hell was that?! Are you…no, of course you're not okay!"

Thalia looked up at the young half-blood. "Dale," she rasped quietly. "My friends will be here in a m-moment. They'll explain—" She broke down into a fit of coughing.

"They'll—they'll explain everything. What…whatever you d-decide… just… just know I ch-chose this…not your fault."

Dale blinked. "I…I don't understand."

Thalia's vision was darkening, but she looked up into Dale's eyes.

They were electric blue, exactly like her own.

"Don't blame yourself…my sister."

Suddenly Dale was pushed aside and another face took her place…a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and pale silvery eyes.

"What happened?" demanded Artemis.

"Nemean lion…" Thalia rasped.

Artemis looked at the scorch marks on the pavement and seemed to understand. She placed her hand on Thalia's chest, but the Hunter shook her head.

"Have I…done well?" she rasped.

"Of course, Thalia. I can try to—"

Thalia cut her off. "No…I am happy. Thank you—" She took a shuddering breath and said her last words. "Thank you, milady. Don't…blame yourself…any of you."

The last thing she saw was Artemis' pale eyes and Dale's electric blue ones…electric blue eyes just like hers.

The last thing she heard was the whistling of the Chicago wind.

The last thing she felt was Artemis slipping a drachma into her hand.

Then her vision went dark.