Thinking twice
Luke Castellan was wearing his Hermes Converses, flying to the Princess Adromeda. He was chosen to host the spirit of the titan lord Kronos. He was right above Brooklyn, and the wind was blowing silence all around him. The only thing that broke the silence was a beautiful voice singing in the dead of the night.
He was flying low, around the rooftops. Thats why he so easily heard the voice that was calling him. Pulling him towards it. Only the sirens could have such an effect on a man. Yet, this voice wasn't hypnotizing like the sirens song. No, this was warm and inviting. Something so sweet, It could easily be mistaken for the scent of caramel or chocolate.
He waited for the voice to be loud enough to land. Oh yes, he was landing for this voice. The voice of a girl he didn't even know. This voice, so tempting, so seducing, so amazingly beautiful. This voice so amazing that it melted away the ice around his new, cold heart.
He landed on a rooftop across from an orange apartment building. When he was safely on the rooftop, he sat down and relaxed, listening to that beautiful voice. He was so tempted to find the girl and keep her for himself. But the girls voice was so beautiful that he didn't want to hurt the source of it.
He could clearly make out what she was singing, so he guessed she was close. Then he saw a beautiful girl about his age on a balcony, singing and playing the guitar. She was in the orange building right in front of him, her eyes were closed. He decided to stay on the roof and relax. I'm not time-bound anyway. He thought to himself.
When I was younger
I saw my daddy cry
And curse at the wind
He broke his own heart
And I watched
As he tried to reassemble it
And my momma swore that
She would never let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love
If it does not exist
But darling,
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
Maybe I know, somewhere
Deep in my soul
That love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways
To make it alone
Keep a straight face
And I've always lived like this Because none of it was ever worth the risk Well, You, are, the only exception I've got a tight grip on reality Ohh- You, are, the only exception
Keeping a comfortable, distance
And up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm
Content with loneliness
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
But I can't
Let go of what's in front of me here
I know you're leaving
In the morning, when you wake up
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
And I'm on my way to believing
Oh, And I'm on my way to believing
She stopped singing as, not thinking, Luke clapped his hands loudly. She noticed him right away and yelled "Hey you? Why are you on a roof?" He tried to make something up and said "I'm uh watching the fireworks." She raised her eyebrows and said "What fireworks?" Lord Kronos, help me. He thought to himself. As if on cue, fireworks exploded about a mile away. Thank you my lord. He thought. "How did you do that?" She asked, stunned.
"Do what?" "You know, the fireworks!" I didn't do anything!" She glared at him and said "Whats your name kid?" He decided to tell her. They probably would never meet again anyway. "Luke, Luke Castellan." The girl's jaw just dropped. "Thats not possible. Luke Castellan is not real." He was offended as he said "Excuse me? I'm standing right here." "No, you're not. You're just a figment of my imagination. Luke Castellan is a fictional book character."
He had no idea what the girl was talking about. He just said "No one has written a book about me." She just laughed and said "Then how do I know this? You're mothers name is May Castellan, you're father is Hermes, you're a half blood, you have ADHD and dyslexia, you live at Camp Half Blood, you had a friend named Thalia who was the daughter of Zeus, she died but was turned into a pine tree and a friend named Annabeth who is a daughter of Athena. You hate your father, that scar on your face is because of Landon is it?, the dragon who guards the golden apple, you poisoned Thalia's tree, she's back to life, she's gonna join the hunters, you actually trust Kronos, you will die a hero's death in the end blah blah blah."
Luke was freaked out. How did this girl know about that? About... him, his enemies, the future? He was actually starting to believe her. About these books. "Hmm you seem to know much about me." "Yeah, so does the smart part of the teenage and tweenage population." "Really? Well, I highly doubt that. You're an Oracle." She giggled and said "The Oracle of Delphi was cursed by Hades 50 years ago. Around the time when Nico and Bianca Di Angelo were 10 or 12."
"Hmm. So you know about those stupid half bloods as well." She raised her eyebrows and said "Stupid? I would say you're the stupid one." He was pretty agitated by her now, so he flew up to her and whispered in her ear "Say that again, and you won't be able to sleep tonight." She laughed without humor and whispered darkly "I've heard about that Titan's nightmares. They don't scare me." He smiled and lifted her chin so that her eyes met his and said "Say that when you wake up in a cold sweat tonight." She smiled coldly back at him and snarled "I'll let you know."
This bitch. He thought before glancing past her. The balcony was in her bedroom, a large room that was painted black with an electric blue carpet on the floor. There were posters on the walls of rock bands. Hollywood Undead, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Framing Hanley, and Panic! At The Disco. There were pictures of her and her friends, beautiful sketches, and complicated music sheets. Her bed was queen sized with black and electric blue sheets. The colors reminded him of Thalia, her and the girl were really alike.
"Show me these books." he snarled back at her. "Fine" She said as he released her from his grip. She walked over to a small book shelf in the corner of the room and pulled out five hardcover books. She signaled for him to enter as she lay the books on a desk. She sat on her bed while Luke read the titles of the books. The Lightning Thief, The Sea Of Monsters, The Titans Curse, The Battle Of The Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian. He already knew what was in the first two books. He had experienced it the past two years. He picked up the third book, The Titans Curse, sat next to her, and began to read it.
"Hey, that took me a day to read. you're not reading it in my house. Its from Percy's POV anyway." She said, poking his arm. "Fine" He closed the book and put it back on the desk. He sat back on her bed and said "I never got your name." She smiled and said "Catherine, Catherine Anne" She held out her hand for a shake. "Um. Can I borrow these books?" "How do I know you'll give them back? I don't trust the son of the god of thieves."
He flinched at 'the god of thieves'. She noticed and said "I'm sorry, I didn't know you didn't want to hear his name." He just smiled and said "It's okay, Its just..." She frowned and asked "just what?" "I um, don't like to be reminded of him." She put her hand on top of his and said "Its okay, I mean, I don't like to be reminded of my sister." He turned to her and said "Why not?" She looked at her feet and said "We um, got into a fight and, we haven't talked to each other since."
He saw tears well up in her eyes, threatening to spill over. He put an arm around her and said "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you." She looked up at him with a smile and said "It's okay, I guess we found something we have in common." They both laughed and when they stopped, Luke began to lean in towards her and she did the same. Catherine hesitated for a moment but kept leaning in.
When their lips met, both of them felt a tingling sensation. When Catherine pulled away, she smiled at him as he put his arm around her waist and pulled her into another kiss. Their lips lingered together for a moment, until she pulled away, gasping slightly for air. Both their hearts were pounding when she said "Its getting early, you should go." He glanced at his watch, it read 3:28 AM.
"Do you want me to go?" he asked with a confused look on his face. "No. Its just, my mom she wakes up at 6 to go to work. And she checks on me before she leaves." "Can't you lock the door?" She shook her head and said "She'll know somethings up." He thought for a moment before saying "Can you come out tomorrow?" She smiled as she said "Yeah, just call me when you're on your way." He frowned and said "I can't, It'll attract any monster around here." "Then ring the doorbell, my house is number 4."
He smiled and said "Alright." As he walked towards the balcony with the books, she grabbed his arm and said "Wait, I don't know if... you should know about your future." He gave her a confused look. "Why not?" "Because... you don't want to know what happens to you in the end." He just said "Yes, I do. I want to know if I made the right choices." She gave him a concerned look and said "Don't be mad, but by the looks of it... I don't think you did."
He scrunched his eyebrows and asked "Why do you think that?" "You'll see at the end of the fifth book." He got an exited look in his eyes as he said "Tell me." She went back and sat on her bed. She took The Last Olympian from Luke and read.
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... I 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 neuclear 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' scythe had liquefied into molten metal and was trickling into the coals of the hearth, which now glowed like a blacksmiths 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 in 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 pushed 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... 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 dame 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 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 from 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. The gods arrived a few minutes later in their full war regalia, thundering into the throne room and expecting a battle.
What they found were Annabeth, Grover, and me standing over the body of a broken half-blood, in the dim warm light of the hearth. "Percy," My father called, awe in his voice. "What... what is this?" I turned and faced the Olympians. "We need a shroud," I announced, my voice cracking. "A shroud for the son of Hermes."
I'm going to need a few more reviews until I change this into a regular story. Lets make the 3 into a 10? How bout it?