A Million Drachma Question

*A/N: HELLLOOO! I ship Luke/Annabeth so much it hurts. I don't care what others say. Don't get me wrong, i STILL love Percy/Annabeth. Anyway, just finished the Percy Jackson series last Friday. Cried soooo hard! Yes, I know, call me a loser for being late. My mom rarely buys me books. I buy with them with my own money. Sucks for me ...

I can't get this idea out of my head so I decided to write it down! Hope you enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Rick Riordan is a genius. I am nothing like him ...

The blow knocked me off my feet. I felt the strong smell of blood and almost retched until I realized that the blood was coming from me. I could sense the blood traveling up my nose every labored breathe I take. I crouched lower and spat the foul liquid out of my mouth.

Oh wait. That was a stupid idea. The gods may think of it as an insult. Whatever. Olympus will end before they could blast me into pieces anyway.

I looked up and saw two – Kronos – no Lukes in front of me. I refuse to call him Kronos. I know what the prophecy means now. Percy was right. Luke was trying to fight the Lord of Time from using his body.

"Annabeth… you're bleeding." he said, his handsome features looking concerned.

A wave of pain crashed into me. For a moment, I had him back. For a moment, it was Luke who was speaking, not Kronos. I wanted to cry in relief. Wanted to hug him and never let him go, because I was right. He was never evil. He made the wrong choices, that I would admit. But it was not the need for power that drove him to do this. It was because he didn't realize how much the people around him loved him, particularly his father. He was scared. I had the urge to reach out for him, but I know what must be done. I understand the prophecy now.

"The knife, Percy."

He looked at me in confusion but obliged. He gripped the knife's hilt in one hand and stared back at me, his eyes waiting for me to give some answers. Ugh. His brain really is filled with seaweed. For a son of Poseidon, he could be so slow.

"The Prophecy." I grunted. His brows slowly unfurrowed and I knew that he understood. Luke's attention snapped back to Percy again. He was eyeing the blade in Percy's hand. "Give it to me." he rasped.

"No. I should kill you myself." Percy replied.

"You can't … He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Give it to me. I know where … Please. There's no more time." His expression looked like he was in really terrible pain, which I'm sure he was. It must be taking a lot of him to fight the Titan lord. Kronos himself was getting desperate. I could now see a faint golden glow around him. I felt more scared than ever. More for him than for myself though. I was ready to die. But I wasn't sure if I could handle him disintegrating when Kronos showed his divine form.

The glow seemed enough proof for Percy. He handed the knife to Luke and backed away.

Luke raised his left arm and removed the armor covering it. I had to admire his intelligence. The spot he picked was hard to hit during a battle.

I held my breath and narrowed my eyes. I was feeling so queasy, so nervous, that my knees buckled.

You see, this was the disadvantage of knowing the truth, a lesson I learned just minutes ago when I finally understood the prophecy. You get hurt and you wish that you never had that knowledge, wish that you could remove that piece of information from your head. But it was too late.

Luke stabbed his weak spot with my knife. It wasn't very deep and under normal circumstances, it wouldn't even kill him. But there was nothing normal about this situation. He bore the curse of Achilles. He may be invincible, but even a simple stab on his weak spot would kill him.

Bright blinding light filled the room. I knew what was coming and turned away, shutting my eyes tightly. I could only hope that Percy had enough brains to do the same.

Intense heat seared my skin. I cried out in pain. Suddenly it was over. The light dimmed into nothing and when I turned around, I saw the dying Luke Castellan on the floor, with black dust surrounding him. Kronos's scythe turned into liquidized metal and was trickling into the place where the goddess Hestia sat.

I made a choking sound at the back of my throat. Luke's left side was bloody, his eyes roaming around the room, trying to memorize everything he saw before he took his last breath. I kneeled in front of him, my hand instinctively cupping his cheek.

"You knew…" he rasped. "I tried to kill you but still – " I placed a finger on his lips. "You're a hero, Luke. Such a brave one." His blue eyes twinkled like the way they used to and his lips curved into a half-smile.

Hot tears started to roll down my cheeks. I stroked his face with my thumb, dwelling in the smooth feel of it. "You didn't have to do that, Luke." I said, my throat closing up again. "Lots of people cared for you. Your father loves you very much. Even your mother."

His chest vibrated as he chuckled softly. "We all have our share of regrets in life, I guess." Then his eyes stared right at mine when he asked the million drachma question. "Annabeth … did you … did you love me?"

For a few seconds, I tensed. I have a feeling that he didn't mean that in a friendly way. I can't say that what he asked did not take me by surprise. I was uncomfortably aware of Percy's presence in the room. We sort of have a thing going on. Maybe you could call it a crush. But that's just it. It was not what I felt for Luke. What I felt for Luke was something entirely different. I can't really explain it. But know I knew what it was. So I answered him without the slightest hesitation. "Yes I did. Still do, actually." I smiled down at him.

"I'm sorry." he said.

"I understand." Then I leaned down to kiss him. I could've stayed like that forever, but that's not the way life works. You have to accept that the good things will end and that problems will surface. How could this moment be so perfect in such a horrible way? How could I be so grieved yet so happy at the same time? I bet even my mother won't know. There are some things that you need to feel in order to understand.

"Grover… Annabeth… especially you, Percy. I owe you a lot. Thanks for saving me. Don't let this thing happen again."

"Promise." Percy whispered.

Luke's hand slackened. His eyes fluttered shut. He was gone.

I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. It would not do us good to have somebody weeping right now. That was all I could do to keep myself from sobbing. I couldn't talk to Percy or Grover without breaking down into a complete mess. I'm sure they'd understand. Next to Luke and Thalia, they knew me better than anyone.

"We need a shroud … for the Luke Castellan, the son of Hermes." Percy said when the Olympians arrived.

I shot Percy a grateful look. He met my eyes worriedly. I gave him a small reassuring smile.

It was Percy who held me when Hermes lit Luke's shroud. I finally unleashed the burden in my chest. I sobbed so hard, I was staining Percy's shirt, but he didn't seem to care. He rubbed my back as I released all the grief I've been keeping. Not only for Luke, but for all the others who died fighting for Olympus. Through my hazy eyes I noticed that Hermes' eyes were red. He wiped his eyes with his hand every now and then. He really did love his son.

I turned my attention to Percy. He looked away from me, trying to hide the proof of his sadness. I squeezed his hand and he smiled sadly at me, the first tear escaping his eye. We squeezed each other's hand, offering each other some comfort.

I was far from healed. But I knew that Luke didn't die in vain. I knew that he died a hero. And that was enough.

*A/N: How was it? Please leave a review! And oh, if you happen to know any good Percy Jackson blogs in tumblr, could you please add them to your review? Thanks! :D