[Third Person's PoV]
The next day…
Annabeth was in the library, organizing everything. Although she couldn't fully act like a librarian in the past months, it didn't mean she didn't try to learn a few things from the experience.
Despite people finding it weird that she acted as the librarian for Athena's Cabin, her digestion reached a total of 45 percent due to this.
Now, with the completion of the General Library, the digestion should finish rather quickly.
Meanwhile, Lucian was walking by the Dormitories where everyone who previously didn't have a cabin to belong to slept for the stormy night.
"Yo! Guys, how did you enjoy the dorms?" Lucian asked with a smile and his hands in his pockets.
People started dabbing Lucian up as they saw him. "Dude, the place is sick!" a kid with black hair and eyes said with a smile.
A girl who looked a little older than them with pale skin, brown hair, and dark eyes smiled towards Lucian. "Yeah Lucian, thanks. The place is awesome, and the rooms are much bigger than they appeared. I think I detected a bit of magic from it…"
Lucian grinned at her. "So you noticed, yeah a little bit of enchantments here and there, you know, the usual."
The girl rolled her eyes. "Only you would call that a little bit of Enchantment."
"What about everyone else? Did they enjoy it?"
The boy smiled and scoffed slightly while pointing back with his thumb. "Enjoy it? Some are still oversleeping."
Lucian continued acquiring their thoughts for a bit before he walked around the Camp checking the new buildings.
As Lucian arrived near the communication hub, Luke walked up to him, and they did a small handshake between the two of them. "Are you sure this thing is safe?" Luke asked.
Lucian scoffed. "Look who you're talking to. Of course, that thing is safe. I made it. It's Enchanted to not attract monsters when it's used, so people will be able to call and send messages back home rather quickly."
Luke smiled. "You're something else, you know that?"
Lucian shrugged his shoulders. "Of course, I know. It's the way I was born."
Luke chuckled. Then, he gained a look as if he remembered something before asking, "Have you seen Thalia? I haven't seen her since last night."
"No… but that's strange. I'm pretty sure I was the last person who saw her, so I'll quickly go look for her."
Luke nodded before thanking him. As Luke looked back towards everyone else from his cabin, a flash of uncertainty passed his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Lucian asked.
Luke shook his head. "Ah, it's nothing… I have to go; it looks like the others need me."
Lucian didn't say anything and continued to look at Luke's retreating back with narrowed eyes and a slightly furrowed brow.
Lucian then closed his eyes, combining his spatial awareness with his ability to detect life-force, and tried to pinpoint Thalia's location.
He detected her alone in the training facility Lucian built for Chiron by herself. Lucian was a bit confused before he sank into his shadow and traveled towards her.
He quietly appeared by the door of the gym, lowering his presence as he leaned on the door frame and watched.
Thalia was wearing a black sports bra and black tight shorts as she continued punching the sandbag with aggression using her bare hands, her skin glistening with sweat.
Seeing her hate-filled eyes, Lucian walked towards the sandbag and held it in place. Thalia stopped and grew a bit confused until Lucian revealed his presence.
"What did this sandbag do to you? Bad mister sandbag" Lucian teased as he playfully smacked the side of it.
"Oh, shut up," Thalia scoffed, trying to hide the small smile she gained.
Lucian was about to mention that he didn't know his kisses could cause so much hate, but before he did, he noticed something which caused his teasing grin to completely disappear. He narrowed his eyes to get a better look.
Seeing Lucian's quick expression change, she looked at him with furrowing brows. "What?" she questioned.
"Why have you been crying?" Lucian coldly demanded.
"I haven't been crying," Thalia scoffed again, becoming defensive.
"You could try to cover it with all the emo makeup you want, but I can tell right away."
"Oh, shut it," she said, dismissing the emo makeup comment. "And I haven't been crying."
"Uh-huh, and we didn't kiss last night either," Lucian said in a plain voice.
Thalia blushed as she heard that. "Huh… what?" she asked, unsure why he brought it up.
"Sorry, I thought we were just telling each other lies," Lucian said while looking straight at her as he hugged the sandbag.
Thalia let out a reluctant sigh before she took on a boxing position and started punching the sandbag as Lucian held it in place.
"I met my father last night…" Thalia's lips quivered as her punches became faster.
Lucian's eyes widened a bit before he nodded in understanding. 'I can see where this is headed,' he silently thought to himself.
Lucian heard her voice crack a bit as she continued. "You know, instead of saying 'Hi,' 'How are you,' or 'I'm proud of you for surviving against the odds,' the first thing he says is that he doesn't permit me to be in a relationship with you."
Lucian's eyes turned a bit frosty as he saw tears start to pool in her eyes. "He said that it was for my own good, but I know that's bullshit. It has nothing to do with me… He's just being petty about his dislike for your dad."
Lucian's danger sense then rang, causing him to take a step to the side. Thalia's fist was surrounded by lightning as she roared, "AHHHHH, I WISH HE WAS NEVER MY FATHER TO BEGIN WITH. WHY DOES HE HAVE TO MAKE MY LIFE MORE DIFFICULT THAN IT ALREADY IS!"
Her fist ripped right through the sandbag, causing the sand to go flying everywhere as black tears streamed down her eyes, her mascara ruined.
Lucian didn't reply. He reached out and took Thalia's hand, pulling her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around Lucian's neck as more tears continued to flow.
As Thalia continued to cry, Lucian's eyes grew bright red as he looked up towards the ceiling.
'I don't know how, but I can tell he's looking… You're just making it easier and easier for me to kill you in the future without any sort of guilt,' he silently thought to himself before closing his eyes and patting her back.
Lucian then detected people making their way toward the training grounds, which caused him to envelop Thalia and himself in his shadow and disappear from where they stood.
They reappeared back in his underground hideout without Thalia noticing, as she was still crying.
"Why?" she whimpered, her hug around Lucian's neck tightening. "Why did he have to be my father… Why can't I just have a normal family?"
Lucian broke off the hug slightly before bringing his forehead to hers, making her blue eyes look into his. "Look, what I'm about to say is probably the corniest thing you'll ever hear, but here goes.
You've been dealt a bad hand in life, there's no doubt about that, but what you do with that hand is what matters most.
Yes, you have a terrible family, and yeah, your father is probably the worst piece of shit in existence. But you're strong, and you're not totally alone. You're the strongest demigod I have ever known (apart from myself, obviously), and you have Annabeth, Luke, and me as friends supporting you.
So you can either keep complaining and crying about the bad hand you got, or you can completely ignore it. It's not going to go away, but it's up to you to choose whether to pay attention to it or not and completely focus on the good hand you do have.
Focus on the good things you do have. It might not be a lot, but that's what makes it precious."
Lucian felt himself blushing for saying that and started to inwardly cringe. Thalia's chuckling and giggle didn't help either with his embarrassment.
"You're right… that was the corniest shit I've ever heard," she said, giggling. Her tensed shoulders started to relax.
As she started to call down she looked at Lucian's eyes before she slowly closed her own and lowered her head, kissing Lucian's lips.
It unexpectedly took him by surprise.
"But it's something I needed to hear. Thanks, Lucy," she grinned brightly.
Lucian turned red and looked to the side, holding his hand over his mouth to hide his blush, and it wasn't because of the kiss, no…
'Her smile… Wow,' he thought to himself.