Chapter Text
"STOP!" Annabeth came from nowhere.
Kronos whirled to face her and slashed with Backbiter, but somehow Annabeth caught the strike on her dagger hilt. It was a move only the quickest and most skilled knife fighter could've managed. Don't ask me where she found the strength, but she stepped closer for leverage, their blades crossed, and for a moment she stood face-to-face with the Titan lord, holding him at a standstill.
"Luke," she said, gritting her teeth, "I understand now. You have to trust me."
Kronos roared in outrage. "Luke Castellan is dead! His body will burn away as I assume my true form!"
I tried to move, but my body was frozen again. How could Annabeth, battered and half dead with exhaustion, have the strength to fight a Titan like Kronos?
Kronos pushed against her, trying to dislodge his blade, but she held him in check, her arms trembling as he forced his sword down toward her neck.
"Your mother," Annabeth grunted. "She saw your fate."
"Service to Kronos!" the Titan roared. "This is my fate."
"No!" Annabeth insisted. Her eyes were tearing up, but I didn't know if it was from sadness or pain. "That's not the end, Luke. The prophecy: she saw what you would do. It applies to you!"
"I will crush you, child!" Kronos bellowed.
"You won't," Annabeth said. "You promised. You're holding Kronos back even now."
"LIES!" Kronos pushed again, and this time Annabeth lost her balance. With his free hand, Kronos struck her face, and she slid backward.
I summoned all my will. I managed to rise, but it was like holding the weight of the sky again.
Kronos loomed over Annabeth, his sword raised.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She croaked, "Family, Luke. You promised."
I took a painful step forward. Grover was back on his feet, over by the throne of Hera, but he seemed to be struggling to move as well. Before either of us could get anywhere close to Annabeth, Kronos staggered.
He stared at the knife in Annabeth's hand, the blood on her face. "Promise."
Then he gasped like he couldn't get air. "Annabeth . . ." But it wasn't the Titan's voice. It was Luke's. He stumbled forward like he couldn't control his own body. "You're bleeding. . . ."
"My knife." Annabeth tried to raise her dagger, but it clattered out of her hand. Her arm bent at a funny angle. She looked at me, imploring, "Percy, please . . ."
I could move again.
I surged forward and scooped up her knife. I knocked Backbiter out of Luke's hand, and it spun into the hearth. Luke hardly paid me any attention. He stepped toward Annabeth, but I put myself between him and her.
"Don't touch her," I said.
Anger rippled across his face. Kronos's voice growled: "Jackson . . ." Was it his imagination, or was his whole body glowing, turning gold?
He gasped again. Luke's voice: "He's changing. Help. He's . . . he's almost ready. He won't need my body anymore. Please—"
"NO!" Kronos bellowed. He looked around for his sword, but it was in the hearth, glowing among the coals.
He stumbled toward it. I tried to stop him, but he pushed me out of the way with such force I landed next to Annabeth and cracked my head on the base of Athena's throne.
"The knife, Percy," Annabeth muttered. Her breath was shallow. "Hero . . . cursed blade . . ."
When my vision came back into focus, I saw Kronos grasping his sword. Then he bellowed in pain and dropped it. His hands were smoking and seared. The hearth fire had grown red-hot, like the scythe wasn't compatible with it. I saw an image of Hestia flickering in the ashes, frowning at Kronos with disapproval.
Luke turned and collapsed, clutching his ruined hands. "Please, Percy . . ."
I struggled to my feet. I moved toward him with the knife. I should kill him. That was the plan.
Luke seemed to know what I was thinking. He moistened his lips. "You can't. . . can't do it yourself. He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can . . . can keep him controlled."
He was definitely glowing now, his skin starting to smoke.
I raised the knife to strike. Then I looked at Annabeth, at Grover cradling her in his arms, trying to shield her. And I finally understood what she'd been trying to tell me.
You are not the hero, Rachel had said. It will affect what you do.
"Please," Luke groaned. "No time."
If Kronos evolved into his true form, there would be no stopping him. He would make Typhon look like a playground bully.
The line from the great prophecy echoed in my head: A hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. My whole world tipped upside down, and I gave the knife to Luke.
Grover yelped. "Percy? Are you . . . um . . ."
Crazy. Insane. Off my rocker. Probably.
But I watched as Luke grasped the hilt.
I stood before him—defenseless.
He unlatched the side straps of his armor, exposing a small bit of skin just under his left arm, a place that would be very hard to hit. With difficulty, he stabbed himself.
It wasn't a deep cut, but Luke howled. His eyes glowed like lava. The throne room shook, throwing me off my feet. An aura of energy surrounded Luke, growing brighter and brighter. I shut my eyes and felt a force like a nuclear explosion blister my skin and crack my lips.
It was silent for a long time.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Luke sprawled at the hearth. On the floor around him was a blackened circle of ash. Kronos's scythe had liquified into molten metal and was trickling into the coals of the hearth, which now glowed like a blacksmith's furnace.
Luke's left side was bloody. His eyes were open—blue eyes, the way they used to be. His breath was a deep rattle.
"Good . . . blade," he croaked.
I knelt next to him. Annabeth limped over with Grover's support. They both had tears in their eyes.
Luke gazed at Annabeth. "You knew. I almost killed you, but you knew . . ."
"Shhh." Her voice trembled. "You were a hero at the end, Luke. You'll go to Elysium."
He shook his head weakly. "Think . . . rebirth. Try for three times. Isles of the Blest."
Annabeth sniffled. "You always push yourself too hard."
He held up his charred hand. Annabeth touched his fingertips.
"Did you . . ." Luke coughed and his lips glistened red. "Did you love me?"
Annabeth wiped her tears away. "There was a time I thought . . . well, I thought . . ." She looked at me, like she was drinking in the fact that I was still here. And I realized I was doing the same thing. The world was collapsing, and the only thing that really mattered to me was that she was alive.
"You were like a brother to me Luke," she said softly. "But I didn't love you."
He nodded, as if he'd expected it. He winced in pain.
"We can get ambrosia," Grover said. "We can—"
"Grover," Luke gulped. "You're the bravest satyr I ever knew. But no. There's no healing. . . ." Another cough.
He gripped my sleeve, and I could feel the heat of his skin like a fire. "Ethan. Me. All the unclaimed. Don't let it . . . Don't let it happen again."
His eyes were angry, but pleading too.
"I won't," I said. "I promise."
Luke nodded and his hand went slack.
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Then I woke up.
It was a strange place, dark, as in, it was pitch black.
I didn't know what to do, so I thought about what happened before I got here.
First, a year ago, I let Kronos take over my body. That was dumb of me. Second, he almost killed Percy and Annabeth. After that, I got control of my body again. I knew it wasn't long before Kronos got his true body and killed me in the process so I had to kill myself to get rid of him. Of course it was painful.
Then Annabeth told me I was a hero, I didn't believe her but I knew I couldn't tell her that. I told her I would try for rebirth but what I didn't say was that I was gonna wait for them. She said I push myself too hard, she's probably right. I asked her if she loved me, I already knew the answer but Percy needed to hear it. She said she didn't, what a liar, but I knew she only said that because Percy was there. I had nodded because I didn't want to call her out, for Percys sake. I had expected her to lie.
Grover tried to save me but I told him it was useless, because it was.
Afterward I made Percy promise to not let anyone go down my path. He looked like he agreed with me wholeheartedly but there was hesitation all the same.
Then . . . I died.
So, where am I?
"Hello."
I whirled to see who was talking to find nobody there.
"Sorry to startle you, but I needed to talk to you," the voice said.
I turned again to find a tall and beautiful woman in front of me.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I am Emarixen, but you may call me Emmx," she, Emmx, replied.
"Why am I here? Where is here? Why do you need to talk to me?"
"That's a lot of questions, Luke Castellan, but I can answer them all," before I could say anything, she continued. "For why you're here, it's because I needed to talk to you before you went away. This place is a time before the beginning, which would be a little hard to explain to a mortal so please don't ask. And for your last question, I need to tell you about the future, just a little though."
I didn't say anything at first, trying to wrap my head around everything she just said.
"How do you know my name?" I questioned.
"I am the beginning so I know all names."
"You are the beginning?" my eyes widen when I realize. "You're a goddess!?"
"Yes."
I forgot how to speak. Why would a goddess want to talk to me? I've been trying to kill them.
"So, may I tell you about the future?" she asked which made me come back to reality.
"Sure," I responded.
"Wonderful!" She sat down crisscrossed, then I did the same, and she continued talking. "First off, when Percy is sixteen he will disappear around Christmas time because of Hera."
"Isn't he already sixteen?"
"We're before the beginning of world, he's not even born yet. Anyway, Hera will also take somebody from the Roman version of Camp Half-Blood. Six months after he is found, they will go and find Percy."
"Why six months?"
"Because that is how long it takes to make a flying ship. Now, before they leave I would suggest you go to Atlanta, Georgia and wait for a giant ship which you should, by then, know what looks like." She shifts the position of her legs from crisscross to under her. "You will then be there for most of their journey. When they get to Europe, Annabeth will leave the group for a little while. Then she will be falling into Tartarus with Percy being the only thing keeping her from truly falling. There are two things you can do, one, you can let them fall or two, you can use your legs to wrap around Percy and cut the string tied to Annabeths foot, Percy will then haul her up and you two will fall."
"Why are those my only options?" I complain.
"Because if Percy falls in by himself he will cease to have morals. As I was saying—"
"Why wouldn't he have morals?"
"His morals are: protect friends at any cost, but he will stop if his friends are scared or want him to stop. With no friends to stop him, he won't have any morals by the time he gets out. So, that's all the information you need I believe. But I do have a favor to ask you." She leaned forward as she said this.
Skeptically I asked, "What?"
"Okay, so, there are these two people, the one from the Roman camp that Hera kidnapped and this Latino elf-looking boy that he came to camp with, who the fates decided to make sure could never be together. So what I need you to do is tell the fates, 'it says to storm or fire, the world must fall not "the storm or fire must fall with the world."'"
I sighed, "sure, why not."
"Great!"
"I do have one more question though."
"Yes?"
"Why do I need to know all this?"
"Right, I forgot to tell you. Kronos tried to use his powers to go back in time but he failed . . . kind of."
I raised my eyebrow, "Kind of?"
"Yes, now you get to go back in time and try again. You'll be going back to June 13, 2006. Good luck."
Before I could get another word out I was waking up in my 19 year old body with memories that I shouldn't have. I knew it was gonna be a long road ahead and decided that since it was still dark I would get more sleep before continuing to live out a life I had already lived. And this time around I'm gonna fix everything because I already know the outcome of my actions and I won't let Percy get hurt like that again.
Starting with telling Kronos I'm not working with him anymore.