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Annabeth and Tyson were tired but Percy was wide awake. They were on the Princess Andromeda, a yacht anchored off the shores of Camp Half-Blood. Ever since it arrived, demigods had been jumping into the ocean to swim across to it. They were traitors every one of them, leaving the Olympians to join Kronos.
Percy couldn't pretend he hadn't noticed the yacht or thought about the man who might be on it. When Hermes sent Percy on the quest to bring his son back, Percy had even been eager to go. He'd never say this aloud but Percy missed Luke and he was worried about him. Kronos was dangerous and he already thought of Luke as a failure. One wrong move and Luke could be killed.
So while his quest mates slept, Percy wandered the halls. He would find Luke and he would save Luke from himself. It was just that he wasn't expecting to find Luke five minutes after leaving the bedroom.
"I found you!" Percy gasped. He recovered quickly from his surprise, reached out with both hands for Luke even though he knew it was dead foolishness. "I've been so worried. I'm here to save you," Percy said earnestly.
Luke wore blue slacks and a white button up shirt with a blue vest over it. The first few buttons on the shirt were done, showing off a deep V of his chest. He looked like the kind of man who belonged on a yacht. Luke shot Percy a perplexed look. "'Save' me?" he echoed. "Why?" His lightning blue eyes were bright with madness. Luke smiled indulgently at Percy. "I'm happier than I've ever been."
Percy's heart skipped a beat and he had to resist the urge to take a step backward. If he was going to save Luke, he couldn't first run from Luke no matter how much his instincts screamed at him that he was facing a dangerous predator.
Luke was suddenly right in front of Percy, the distance between them closed in a heartbeat. Luke no longer wore the necklace of clay beads around his neck, marking him as a member of Camp Half-Blood. His throat looked bare without it. Luke cupped Percy's face with both hands, his touch gentle. This close his demigod scent of hot candle wax and leather filled Percy's nose. "Don't you want to be happy too?" Luke asked, sounding genuine.
The scent of Luke was overwhelming. Percy almost said 'no' before processing the actual question. Did he want to be happy? "Yes," Percy said, pouring his heart into the word so that Luke would know he meant it. There were too many days when happiness felt out of reach. "Luke, I do. I want to be happy."
Luke's expression only grew more and more happy with Percy's words. The question had been genuine because Luke found joy in Percy's happiness.
Except…Percy wasn't done.
"But I can't be happy with Kronos," Percy continued, shaking his head. Hermes had asked Percy to save Luke. He never said how and Percy was beginning to get the inkling of an idea…if only he could convince Luke of it.
The happiness left Luke's face like a light being switched off and leaving only darkness behind. He flexed his fingers, one at a time, little points of pressure that made Percy suddenly aware of how easy it would be for Luke to snap Percy's neck. "But Kronos is going to give demigods the respect that we deserve and he's going to stop the monsters from eating us. Who wouldn't be happy about that?"
Percy blinked. He knew Luke wanted respect from the gods but he didn't know about the monsters part. Once upon a time, the gods chose to curse all monsters so that they could never permanently die and would always crave the flesh of demigods. It was extremely messed up but Percy seemed to be the only one who thought so. Now Luke was here, telling Percy that it didn't have to be that way.
And Percy felt his resolve weakening. Why exactly was Kronos a bad guy again? It's not like anyone told horror stories about Kronos' reign except for that time he ate a few of his kids. Right, that would be why. It was a good thing that Kronos' son, Zeus, would never eat anyone - let alone in a selfish attempt to stay in power.
Percy shook his head. "What if he's lying?"
To Percy's surprise, Luke shrugged. Some of the madness left his eyes, though they still gleamed with it. "Then things stay exactly the same as they are now."
Luke said it almost flippantly, as though that wasn't terrible in its own right. And how could he really believe that Kronos' rule might have no change on demigod lives as they were? Sure, Grover said that most demigods died by twelve years old and Percy had certainly been put in numerous life or death situations, but that had to be better than whatever life would look like under Kronos. Although now that he thought about it, Percy wasn't really sure why he believed that life with Kronos as their king would be worse than what was currently reality for demigods everywhere.
Luke watched Percy's face very carefully and the excitement came back to his face and brightened his eyes. "Yes! Exactly! We already have it so bad and it's not just us demigods, the monsters and the minor gods are suffering too. Things may not improve but they won't get any worse with Kronos as the king of gods."
Percy struggled to refute anything that Luke had said. It couldn't really be that easy, could it? The path to making life better for everyone couldn't involve overthrowing the gods, could it? Weren't gods supposed to be perfect beings above reproach? Well, the gods that Percy met were far from perfect and Percy honestly hadn't been impressed by what he'd seen. He fell back on the only line he'd been given, "Hermes sent me to save you."
To Percy's immense surprise, Luke didn't tense up and get angry. He only tilted his head to the side and gave a begrudging smile. "If you're my guardian angel, then shouldn't you be by my side, Percy?" Luke asked dryly, finding amusement in the idea. Maybe because there were no such thing as angels.
Percy still couldn't find the words he needed. He stood still and silent, looking up into Luke's face and wanting to cry like he had last summer the night that Luke asked Percy to run away. Percy had been too scared to yes then and it appeared to be the same now. They were in the exact same predicament.
Luke's face was only inches from Percy's. He was all Percy could see, filling Percy's vision. All Percy could smell was the hot candle wax and leather scent that belonged solely to Luke like an intoxicating perfume. "We were happy together, weren't we, Percy?" Luke asked very quietly, his searching voice only for Percy to hear.
Percy knew that the only way he should answer that question was with a lie. The gods would be furious if they overheard this conversation and there was no doubt that at least Hermes was listening. But as much as Percy knew it was wrong, he couldn't bring himself to lie. "Yes, Luke," Percy agreed very softly. Tears rolled silent and hot down his cheeks to dampen Luke's palms.
They'd been so happy together.
There was never a happier time in Percy's life than when he was with Luke. And the truth of that was so unfair, especially since things turned so sour with Luke. The worst part of it all was that Percy didn't want it to be sour and he knew Luke didn't either, otherwise Luke wouldn't have asked Percy to run with him.
Together they were a we. They were better together and happier together.
Percy lifted his chin, looked into Luke's lighting pale blue eyes.
Luke looked back with an expression of pure longing. He really still wanted Percy. Maybe Luke wanted Percy even more now that he found happiness away from Camp Half-Blood, now that he knew what life could be and that Percy was missing out.
"Promise me that you'll think of another way," Percy said. "I don't trust Kronos, Luke. He's too dangerous. Swear to me that you'll think of another way."
To Percy's surprise, Luke flashed Percy a lopsided smile. "You know he said the same thing about you." Luke tapped the tip of Percy's nose with a finger. "'That Percy Jackson is too dangerous. I don't trust him, Luke'."
This did not inspire confidence or goodwill within Percy when it came to their grandfather. Though it did cement the idea that Percy was right about Kronos. "So what are you going to do?" Percy asked, catching Luke's hand in his.
Luke twisted his wrist so that he could slot his fingers between Percy's. "Ask you to stay and find another way," Luke said. It shouldn't have been that easy but Luke didn't hesitate and Percy didn't sense any deception coming from him. He looked into Percy's eyes and there was only sincerity in Luke's expression.
Was it really that easy? Would this really work? Nothing in Percy's life had ever been easy. If Luke was lying, if he was deceiving Percy and still planned to go through with the Kronos plan, then Percy was going to have to stop him. Well, Percy would be right by Luke's side the whole time to remind him and guide him in the right direction. Before, Percy didn't really know what was going on but now he did and he could take actions to correct Luke's mistakes and his own.
Percy felt the tension leave his body. He squeezed Luke's hand and offered Luke a small smile. Suddenly Percy was exhausted, beyond exhausted, the day having just caught up with him at this very moment. His eyes hurt from staying awake so long. "Which one of these is your room?" Percy asked.
Luke grinned. "This way," he said and led Percy through the yacht to his bedroom. The room that Luke slept in was quite a bit nicer than the guest rooms that Annabeth and Tyson were in. The most important part was that there was one big bed.
Percy made right for it, pulling his hand free from Luke's so that he could crawl into it. He could almost feel the upcoming relief. Percy burrowed beneath the comforter. His eyes were closed by the time his head hit the pillow.
Luke laughed. He untied Percy's shoes and tugged them off his feet, letting them drop to the carpeted floor with soft thuds. "That's my side of the bed," Luke gently scolded. He crawled into bed and manhandled Percy closer to the middle of the bed so that Luke could lay down beside him.
Percy growled but his heart wasn't in it and he didn't really mind Luke moving him. In fact, he kind of missed Luke throwing him around. Percy sighed and felt himself drift into a doze.
When Luke was settled, he reached over for Percy's hand again. Minutes passed with no further sound nor movement from Luke. Percy was mostly asleep when he heard Luke whisper so softly, "I was afraid that I'd lost you forever, you know. I thought I wouldn't be able to save you." Luke took a shaky breath. "Thank gods I was wrong."