Summary: This is the ending of the first book, when Luke Castellan uses a scorpion to poison Percy Jackson, but what if Kronos had interfered?
Luke Castellan POV
Percy followed me into the forest, I would admittedly miss him. The way his eyes lit up when I raised the 6-pack of cokes made me want to laugh. How could I though, when I knew that I would have to kill him moments later? I explained how when I got back from the quest, the gods hadn't cared, my anger and bitterness leaked into my voice. Percy defended them, it was only a matter of time before they betrayed him. Was Poseidon nicer than Hermes? Would Poseidon actually have treated me more as a son, instead of leaving me with my mother? I pushed the thoughts down, no, all the gods are the same. "I'm leaving Percy, I just wanted to say goodbye." A Pit Scorpion appeared when I snapped my fingers, Percy ignored it and stared at me. Betrayal was written all across his face, at least this way he'll get Elysium, the gods would've been more harsh, I assured myself. The Pit Scorpion walked closer to Percy, but it wasn't allowed to sting him until I had left, "Pit Scorpions can jump 15 feet in the air and you'll die after 60 seconds with their poison in your veins." I ignored the pains of sadness, Annabeth had said that, and I was betraying her. Cutting Backbiter through the air, I was about to step through the darkness when Kronos spoke in my mind.
Stop... I froze, "w... what do you need Lord Kronos?" Bring the boy to me... alive... behind me, the Pit Scorpion was about to lunge at him. I swung my sword at it as it jumped at Percy. Percy looked at me, he was about to say why when I interrupted him. "Lord Kronos wants to see you," my voice monotone. I had been about to leave him to die, I couldn't exactly be friendly with him. Swinging Backbiter through the air I throw him into the shadows, I looked behind me, the birds were chirping and there wasn't a nymph in sight. My soda can lay in the stream, half-covered by mud. Goodbye Camp Half-Blood, even though I hated gods, I would miss it, it had become a second home to me.
Percy Jackson POV
Luke had betrayed me, just like the Oracle had prophesied. When I came out the other side, I was lying on a cold hard floor. It was stone, my stomach hurt (probably because I fell on it) and there was a horrible feeling. Like I was in a room with gods but when I looked into the darkness, I could see nothing there. "Luke! Luke!" Even though he had just betrayed me, I was scared out of my mind. Where had he gone, he had said something about taking me to Kronos... I almost screamed when an evil and sinister voice spoke in my mind. Son of Poseidon, we finally meet face to face... " I don't know what you mean, there's no one here..." silly demi-god, just because you can't see something doesn't mean it isn't there. "W... what do you want?" I stutter, the malevolent aura of the room made me want to run away as fast as I could. Join me Perseus, the gods do not care for you, if you were a threat then Poseidon would kill you in an instant. "You're wrong," I shout but the voice laughed, am I? When the Minotaur attacked, where was he? When you fought Ares, where was he? He never spoke to you, never acknowledged you for years, yet you are his son... Luke stepped out of the shadows. "Percy, join us, the gods will throw you away the second you are of no use to them." There was a truth to his words, I stared at his scar... Poseidon would kill you in an instant, Kronos' words repeated in my head over and over. I had gone to the underworld to save my mother and he hadn't even acknowledged me throughout the entire quest. Succeed in missions and you will be rewarded... I had gotten Hades' Helm and Zeus' Lightning Bolt but the gods had considered killing me instead.
"I'll join you," after everything he had done for the gods, they had wanted to kill him. Luke smiled but I could see it was forced, he frowned and fell silent for a few seconds. Then he cut the air with Backbiter and he was gone in a swirl of shadows. Demi-god, come here... I could make out something glowing, it was faint at first but the more I stared at it, the stronger the light became. With a start, I realized that it was a coffin, could it be...? Once enough people have sworn loyalty to me, I will be able to use Castellan and he will become my body. Kronos told me to repeat some words after him, once I had, the coffin seemed more defined and stronger. Power flowed through me, Kronos had given me his blessing, I grinned. Rest young demi-god, you will be needed soon...
Annabeth Chase POV
Where had that seaweed brain gone? Dionysus had the cleaning harpies looking for him, luckily for him, they had no luck at finding him so far. When I had talked to Chiron earlier, he seemed confused, Luke had disappeared too. This surprised me too, where were they? Mr. D was called to Olympus for a meeting so the search had ended for now. Suddenly Travis ran up to me, out of breath he gasped, "Chiron needs you in the Big House." I ran in, the doors slammed shut behind me, Chiron visibly winced at the sound. But I couldn't think about that, not after I saw who was lying in one of the infirmary beds. "Percy! What happened? Where's Luke?" He coughed, Chiron looked at me. "Annabeth, Percy's been stung by a Pit Scorpion, he was very lucky to get to camp in time." How had a Pit Scorpion got into camp? Percy looked at me tiredly, "Luke brought me into the woods and revealed he was working for Kronos. Then he made the scorpion appear and stab me." I didn't look up as someone started feeding him some nectar, Chiron cleared his throat. "I'll have to alert the gods about this betrayal," he said before excusing himself. Percy had his eyes closed, one of the campers led me out, how could Luke betray us? The realization hit me, Luke was extremely bitter with the gods after his quest, I was just surprised that he would so openly hate them as to try and destroy them.
Percy Jackson POV
Chiron and Annabeth had no reason to question my lie, and the rest of the campers would believe them once they announce that Luke was a traitor. Kronos' plan was unfolding nicely. It was his idea to have me sting myself with a Pit Scorpion stinger as soon as I was teleported just outside of camp. As soon as everyone left the Big House, I left through the back door. Pulling out a vial of liquid that Luke had gotten from the Underworld, I walked in the direction of the big pine tree along the border. Then I poured it all over the tree's roots. I dropped the vial in one of the trashcans then headed back through the backdoor of the Big House. Luckily for me, no one had noticed I had left as I lay on the bed. Kronos' plan was extremely elaborate, he had every step planned out and he only told me enough to say that some of the camper would be going on a quest to help the tree. I was to join the quest.
Author's Note: I am contemplating on having Percy like someone. The top 3 possibilities are Annabeth, Artemis, and Nico. Review if you have an idea. Thank you for reading!