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Coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all
The whole room erupted into cheers as Luke finished his speech and took a sip from the champagne glass. A few seconds later, as everyone began dancing in the mess hall, he felt the powerful hand of Charles Beckendorf pat him on the shoulder. He turned towards the other groomsmen, where he was met with a gigantic smile.
“You did good man. That was, wow. Chris was right picking you as his best man. I don’t know if I could’ve come close to that.”
Luke laughed with the son of Hephaestus. “Hey man, what can I say. Us sons of Hermes have our way with words.”
Luke couldn’t help the grin from spreading across his face. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Chris and Clarrise laughing jovially as Chris pulled the daughter of Ares and now wife onto the dance floor. He was glad they were happy, they deserved it. It’s amazing they managed to reconcile after the Titan W-
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this?
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss
Luke’s mind snapped back to the present. What was that? A small frown appeared on the blonde’s face as he failed to recall what he’d just been thinking. Did Chris and Clarrise have a fight? Why did they need to reconcile?
Lost in his own thoughts, Luke didn’t notice Charles leaving his side to find Silena (the maid of honor, as if Clarrise would have anyone else), nor did he realize his presence being replaced by a much smaller, much feistier spiky haired woman.
“Now what did that poor glass of champagne do to you? Here I was thinking of stealing a bottle or two on our way out,” came the voice of one daughter or Zeus as one of her arms linked through his.
Luke whipped around to face Thalia, momentarily stunned at her appearance. No one knew Thalia better than Luke, and so he knew she was never one to dress up, and if she did it was never in an actual dress. But here she was, wearing a simple, floor length, skin tight dress that exposed her shoulders with a sweetheart neckline to boot. A baby blue ( eggshell , Selena had called it) that matched perfectly the color of his eyes, but served to highlight her own darker ones.
Thalia’s small smirk grew into one befitting a cheshire cat at Luke’s stunned silence. A raised brow preceded her taunt, “cat got your tongue, Street Rat?”
She’d always called him that ever since she learned ‘ Aladdin’ was his favorite Disney Movie as a kid (hers was ‘ Monsters Inc.’ , and Annabeth loved ‘ Finding Nemo’ ). A stupid grin covered his face as he lowered his face so that their foreheads were touching, and slipped his arm out of her grasp and down to rest just above her hip bones. Neither of them were much for public affection, but when she looked like this , and they were at a wedding of all things, how could he not?
“No, but I wouldn’t mind if this fox I’ve been looking at took it.”
A small blush rose on her cheeks, but her smirk stayed ever present as she rolled her eyes at his lame attempt at being seductive. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and slowly pulled him to the dance floor.
A few minutes later, they’re laughing and spinning along with the rest of the wedding party on the dance floor. Light and bubbly from the champagne and drunk off the energy of each other, Luke and Thalia slowly become more and more entwined during their ‘slow’ dance.
She’s laughing at something he’d said about Travis trying to ask Katie to dance with him. He leans forward and their lips connect. Soft, and slow like they have countless times before on lazy Sundays and after more ‘intense’ moments in the privacy of their own home.
He loves being able to see her like this. So happy and carefree, so different from the last time he saw her when she was fighting him and screaming at him on Mount Orth-
Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab
While he's having a smoke
And she's taking a drag
A wolf whistle breaks Luke’s train of thought, and he and Thalia separate, but still remain pressed against each other on the dance floor.
“Thals, please refrain from eating your boyfriend’s face in public. There are children here after all,” comes a familiar voice from behind Luke (what was with everyone and coming up behind him at a wedding?).
With Thalia’s arms still wrapped around his neck and his around her waist he can’t turn to get a good look, but he’d recognize Annabeth’s voice anywhere (and no one else could get away with calling her Thals and not be zapped into dust .5 seconds later).
Thalia shoots a false glare over (more so around, than over) his shoulder at the blonde. “Yes, shouldn’t little children like yourself go away and let us older, more mature figures do much older more mature things. Now scram,” and Luke feels Thalia’s hand leave his neck to presumably shoo Annabeth away, or flip her the bird. Either is equally likely with Thalia.
With her arm no longer holding him in place, he’s able to turn his body to actually face the daughter of Athena. She’s wearing a simple, red dress that stops just above her ankles, and she’s wearing comfortable looking flats. Her hair is styled slightly into a bun with some curls falling down her face. Similar to Thalia, Annabeth isn’t one to dress up but he figures that’s more than enough for her and presumably her dark haired companion. But that does bring the question of just where is Percy Jackson?
“Speaking of boyfriends though, where’s Percy? I haven’t seen him around,” Luke questioned.
Annabeth looked at him puzzled. “I’m sorry, who?”
Luke looked at Thalia with a questioning look, but she was looking at him like he’d said they should go skydiving.
“Percy? Percy Jackson? Son of Poseidon? Green eyes? Kinda skinny and lanky? Looks like a skater from a 90s sitcom? Returned the master bolt, got the golden fleece for your tree, etc.” A sharp pain popped in Luke’s left temple causing him to wince, but he ignored it.
Both Thalia and Annabeth’s faces grew from confused to concerned.
“Luke babe,” Thalia began, bringing his attention to her. “What are you talking about? My dad’s bolt never went missing, and why would I have a tree that needs the golden fleece of all things?”
Now Luke was the one confused. He looked between the two of them sure that they were playing a joke on him, but both seemed to be telling the truth.
“You mean to tell me you have no idea who Percy Jackson is?” Another burst of pain, stronger, and Luke had to clutch at his head. It felt like a migraine.
“Luke?”
“Babe c’mere.”
Thalia and Annabeth lead him over to a nearby table where he sat, and they squatted in front of him. Annabeth tried to move his arm away from his head while Thalia talked to him, but everything was fuzzy.
“Luke babe, talk to me. What’s happening? Who is Percy Jackson?”
Luke gaped at her like a fish, opening and closing his mouth but nothing came out but a small whine. The pain in his head was growing much worse than a migraine.
He began to see dark spots, and could feel himself start to sway. This wasn’t right, something was wrong. Why couldn’t he remember? Why were Clarrise and Chris having a fight? Why did Thalia yell? Why didn’t they know Percy Jackson?
“Luke. Hey, Luke babe stay with me here. C’mon Street Rat look at me, I need you to work with me here.”
Thalia’s voice was growing hysterical, but her words sounded like echoes. But she needed him, so he had to focus.
“I-I’m here. Just, just lightheaded, is all,” Luke managed to slur out, but then all his energy left him and he collapsed to the side as everything went black.
Seconds, minutes, maybe hours later, he sees Thalia’s face above him, in a circle of shadow. Tears are streaming down her face, and with what little power he has left Luke reaches up to wipe her tears away before they fall.
“Luke, Luke please. You promised, you promised . We were gonna get that happy ending. Please Luke, please don’t leave me yet. I-I can’t do this. I need you Luke please.”
With his last breath before fading into darkness, he whispers what he wished he’d had the chance to say.
“I love you.”
Now they're going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head
Luke was no longer at the wedding. He was in a strange box, filled with a golden essence flowing around and seemingly through him. His eyes widened at the sensation as the essence passed through him, and he felt the sharp pain shoot through wherever it touched.
The pain brought back his memories. He was in Kronos’s sarcophagus. He was raising the Titan Lord to tear down the gods. Chris and Clarrise didn’t have an argument, they were on opposing sides of the war. Just like him and Annabeth. Like him and Thalia.
They’d never get that happy ending. They’d never be able to be that family he’d promised, because he’d fucked it up. He ruined it.
But she's touching his chest now
He takes off her dress now
Let me go
More images filled his mind, visions of different times, but not ones that were possible.
Him, an older Annabeth and Silena winning capture the flag against older Beckendorf and Clarrise. They’re laughing around a campfire in the middle of Camp Half-Blood. Lee Fletcher is there singing, while Thalia is there, leaning her head against his shoulder and holding his hand as they watch their friends and Chiron all enjoy themselves.
Him, walking Annabeth down the aisle in her wedding dress.
Annabeth, Clarrise, and Silena in bridesmaid gowns at the end of the aisle, as he turns and sees Thalia enter the mess hall. Her head held high, as Chiron walks her down the aisle. But Luke can tell, with the faint dusting of pink on her cheeks and the way she’s clearly trying to tug Chiron along (who he could see slightly chuckling as he resisted her pulling, dragging this on as long as possible) that she was embarrassed to be the center of attention.
Him and Thalia in a hospital, with a spiky, golden haired baby in her arms.
Him, Thalia, and baby Jason all laughing on a bed together.
As the essence of time itself fills his body more and more images fill his head, and he can’t hold in his screams.
And I just can't look, it's killing me
And taking control
Quickly, the voices join the images. Sharp whispers, tearing apart the timelines he’s watching. Whispering how these were stolen from him, taken by the Gods and those that protect them. It takes him a while to realize that this is Kronos, now literally inside his head. And soon, the voice turns from the stainless steel of Kronos to a mix of the Titan Lord’s and to Luke’s horror, his own voice as more and more of the Lord of Time’s soul enters into Luke’s body as a vessel.
It seemed to go on for eternity, as he felt the metaphysical claws of Kronos crawl through his mind, shredding everything it could as Luke’s soul was ripped apart.
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis
But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Having a large portion of your soul ripped out of your body in order to make room for another, much more powerful being was easily the most painful thing Luke had ever experienced. Which was kind of incredible, seeing as he literally bathed in the waters of the River Styx not even a week (was it a week? Time in the Labyrinth was weird) ago.
He literally lost a part of himself. Feelings, memories, cognitive functions, all eviscerated into the golden void that was surrounding and filling up his body. It hurt, so much, almost enough that Luke began to scream for it to stop. For it to end, for someone to kill him to get this over with.
But the images flashed through his mind. Times that didn’t happen. That will never happen, because of the Gods. Because of how fucked up everything in this world was. He felt the golden energy fill him more, and behind the searing pain filling him was something different. Something, powerful . This was it. With this, he could change things, make the world better , for Demigods, for minor gods. For Thalia. For Annabeth. All of them, they’d thank him once he finished. Once they saw what he’d seen.
More and more of Kronos’s essence entered his body, so much to the point it absorbed the remaining bits of Luke’s soul that remained. But instead of painfully filling him up like an overflowing cup of water, now he could tell it was fueling him. Like a formula one race car, he felt more energy than he’d ever thought possible. In this semi-conscious state within the sarcophagus, he felt a wild grin split his face.
Open up my eager eyes
And then with a gasp, his eyes opened, back on Mount Orthrys, but instead of seeing through his eyes, it’s like he’s watching a movie through himself. Slowly, his body rises out of the sarcophagus, and as his new scythe is presented to him, he sees his reflection. The golden hew to his skin, and more importantly, the now cold, golden eyes of Kronos.
Percy Jackson is near, and now, he’ll cut him to pieces. He will bring about the end he promised.
And Luke can no longer tell if it’s him or Kronos, but he feels his face split into a maniacal grin as his feet make contact with the ground for the first time in eons. This is where the fun begins.
'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside