Disclaimer: If I owned Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I would be working my butt off to write book 5 right now, not a fan fiction! Luke's Side of the Story
If you give your computer a dirty look every time you read my name, then I don't blame you. I was a terrible person, this I don't deny that. Sometimes, though, when I lay in bed at night, I cry. I really do miss my father, I miss Thalia and Annabeth, and even Percy suddenly doesn't seem so bad. For quite a while now I have been making plans to run away from Kronos, but I know that he will find me. He always does.
I lay in my bed, one summer night. The Princess Andromeda is slowly rocking, making me seasick. Every few minutes, I lift my head and look out the window. We were a few miles from the shoreline of Long Island, so close to home yet so far. Here's something that Percy might not have mentioned when he told you his story: there are bars on my window. I am a prisoner on my own ship. I was a fool to go off and work for Kronos. He is a heartless scoundrel. I am his trusted advisor, though I hate it more than anything. Kronos expects me to fight for him, and I usually do. I cannot stand up to him. I am not strong enough to fight him.
I thought about my father and how he visited me on my twelfth birthday. He really did care, I thought sadly to myself.I had just taken it all for granted. My father had even given me flying shoes, and all I did was take the present and turn them into something evil. Why did I listen to Kronos? Why was I such a fool? I was so stupid back then.
As I sulked in my bed, the sun rose. Lord Apollo was bringing another day to me. A couple of the ships guards unlocked my door. That's another thing Percy most likely didn't tell you: I'm locked in this room. The guards walked in, smiling like the heartless monsters they were.
I stood up from my bed, feeling dizzy from lack of sleep. I don't sleep anymore to avoid contact with Kronos.
Making my way down the hall, I saw a sad group of guards, all huddled on the ground to stay warm. Even though it was summer, you can never find warmth on this ship.
When I got to the front, where the captain was steering, I told him the plan the Kronos had told me. We would be going into the Labyrinth again. We never slept in there; it would be too dangerous with all of the monsters and what not. I was really mad about this plan, because so far, it was working. We had already gotten Ariadne's String, and believe me; I tried to sabotage it many times. Now all that we had to do was get a way past Antaeus, some jerk that was the son of Poseidon and Gaia. He supported gladiator fighting, which was people killing each other for entertainment. Sounds like a real fun guy, right?
We docked out ship on Long Island and used one of the many ways into he Labyrinth that we had found. As we walked down the long halls to the arena of Antaeus, I tried to figure out what to do next. Maybe if I provide really poor entertainment, he'll send us away. Maybe he might even make the guards fight and then Kronos will lose some followers! I could only hope for the worst to happen.
When we reached the arena, Antaeus made me sit next to the smelly brute. He was huge and had no taste in decoration. All over the arena, skulls were plastered to the wall and hanging on chains like charms. It was the most disgusting place you could possibly think of. There was a crowd of cheering monsters, impatiently waiting for the show to start. About five minutes after I sat down, the first fight took place.
The two unlucky contestants were a centaur and a giant. This was such a poorly matched group. I could not believe Antaeus was making a poor centaur fight. About halfway through the fight, though, we had some unexpected visitors.
As the giant was easily beating the centaur, my two dracaenae shoved Percy, Annabeth, and some red headed girl through the door. When we locked eyes, I couldn't help but smile at my old friends, but I have been locked up for so long that my smile must have looked cold. He mouthed my name, which sent me into sheer joy, for it assured me that I was remembered. Percy's eyes wandered all around the arena, but not a few moments after we had seen each other, the centaur on the floor had been murdered.
The giant left happily with his prize. Once he was gone, Antaeus stood up. "Good Entertainment," he shouted, "but nothing I have not seen before. What else do you have, Luke, Son of Hermes?"
My jaw tightened when he called me that. The mention of my father made me so sad that I wanted to lay down right there and cry, but I calmly rose to my feet. I had an idea on how to get Antaeus gone for good. I just have to hope that Percy was as clever as I remember him to be.
"Lord Antaeus," I said, kissing up to the jerk. "You have been an excellent host! We would be happy to amuse you, to repay the favor of passing through your territory." I knew I was going to have to word this right to get it to work.
"A favor I have not yet granted," replied Antaeus smugly. "I want entertainment!" He sounded like a three year old asking his mommy for a cookie! Gods how I hated this guy!
I forced myself to bow, which wasn't easy. "I believe I have something better than centaurs to fight in your arena. A brother of yours," I pointed my finger at Percy. "Percy Jackson, a son of Poseidon."
Antaeus got really exited about this. I tried to make myself sound as annoying as possible by reminding him that I wanted to pass through his territory. When he told me that he might if Percy's death pleased him, I gave Percy a look that I tried my best to look encouraging. I don't think he took it the right way.
"Luke!" yelled a voice that sounded familiar. I had forgotten that Annabeth was here. "Stop this!" she shouted, "Let us go."
For a moment I was stunned. Annabeth was really beautiful. She looked much older and more mature than I remembered her. She wasn't that little seven-year-old that I met so many years ago. If only I could have a second chance with her…
Anteaus interrupted the fairy tale going on in my head by saying, "Enough time for the females to fight afterward. First, Percy Jackson, what weapons will you choose?"
Percy was pushed into the middle of the arena. He and Antaeus got into an argument over which their dad's favorite was. Finally, Antaeus insisted that he choose a weapon, and Percy choose Riptide. Silently, I cheered for Percy. The first monster was a dracaenae. He easily finished her off in under a minute. Antaeus complained that he was going too fast, so he sent out another guy to fight him.
The next fighter was some Demigod with an eye patch. They fought for about five minutes, maybe more. Man, they were good, but then Percy started playing all defense. The eye patch kid got really tired, and when he struck again, Percy was able to know his sword to the ground and the eye patch kid with it. For a second, I thought that Percy was actually going to kill the guy, but then he did something that I admired: he helped the kid back up.
Antaeus was really ticked about this. "NO ONE DISHONORS THE GAME!" he shouted, right in my ear.
"Why don't you fight me yourself?" asked Percy. Yes! Luckily, he was as clever as I remember him to be. I just hope that he know what he's doing.
Antaeus jumped into the arena, not being able to stand his pride being hurt. I closed my eyes, but this only made the suspense worse. Come on, Percy, I silently begged. He took a strike, sticking his sword right into Antaeus's side. I thought Anteaus would disintegrate, but to my great surprise, he just pulled the sword out and threw it across the arena. This wasn't looking good. I prayed that Percy would win. I wasn't sure who I was praying to, but I was.
It looked like Percy was going for his sword. Suddenly he ran straight at Antaeus. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see Percy die, but instead of hearing his bones crack, I heard Antaeus cry out in surprise. I opened one eye, and saw that Percy was actually jumping off of his face! "Oh my gods," I whispered to myself. Percy was a genius! He grabbed onto the chains above, and egged on Antaeus. Since this was hurting Antaeus's pride, he climbed onto the chains. Percy hooked a chain onto Antaeus's loincloth, the only thing he was wearing, and gave him a super wedgie. Then Percy started to rap him up in other chains. My guards looked at me, warning me to do something. I gathered my wits and used some reverse psychology. "Free him," I said, "He is our host!"
I watched in amazement. This was so great! He would have to thank Percy numerous times if he got out of this alive.
Percy slashed at Antaeus, making sand pour out of him. After a few more slashes, Anteaus was gone, and all that was left was a loincloth. I could have jumped up and cheered, but, of course, my guards wanted me to do something. "Jackson!" I said, in the best "angry voice" I could make myself do, "I should have killed you long ago."
"You tried to," he reminded me. I don't think I'm doing a good job on this "making peace and running away with Percy" plan.
I tried to look cheerful and happy that he was here, so I laughed. When I looked down, I noticed Percy was blowing a blue whistle. Awesome! Percy had a plan!
"What's that supposed to do?" I asked out of curiosity. Darn, I have to remember to be nicer.
As a bunch of monsters took out a bunch of big scary-looking weapons, I giant dog came running through the door. I am so proud of Percy! The dog tossed up Kelli, the disgusting empousa that cheated on me. When she came flying back down, Kelli landed right in my lap!
The redheaded girl said something and they all ran for the far exit. Some of the monsters tried to chase them, but in the hurry, I don't think in of them made it to the door. They were safe! Now all I had to do was get away from here and… the guards grabbed me when I turned. They were all smiling deviously. "This way, boy," said a big ugly one, "Lord Kronos has a special job for you. You may no know it, but we have been preparing you for a long, long time."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXThank you for reading; I hope that this gave you a whole new perspective on Luke. I might continue… I might not. Depends on many things. Reviewing wouldn't hurt your chances either. Don't worry, your chances are pretty good, but I am juggling five stories at once. This story is going to be flowing from book four to what I think will happen in book five. Hope that you liked it.