I rushed over to Cabin 11, as fast as I possibly could, bowling over people left and right. My mind was racing over what could have possibly upset Annabeth. Was she having a nightmare of Tartarus before she woke up? Or did something remind her of someone who was lost? Maybe it was… Luke?
That thought made me falter a bit. No matter how much I tried, I just could not get over Annabeth's crush on Luke. Every pang of jealousy that went through me whenever she mentioned Luke was accompanied by a spike of shame. I shouldn't be angry at someone who passed, much less someone who saved the world (even if he nearly destroyed it in the first place). And yet, I still was. I hated him for hurting Annabeth, hated him for the deaths of Beckendorf, Silena, Zoe, Bianca, Lee, Castor and so many more.
I was shaken out of my thoughts by the graywood door to Cabin 11. I hesitantly knocked on it. A few seconds later, one of Annabeth's siblings opened it.
"Oh, hey Percy. Annabeth's this way." Said Laura, one of the younger Athena campers. She led me to a room separate from the brainiac's workshop/sleeping area. We stopped in front of a (surprise) gray door.
Laura pointed at it, and said, "She's in there. I would go in too, but…" I understood her silence. Whenever Annabeth was upset, she would throw the nearest thing at anyone who tried to enter the room, except me, of course. She did not like for people to see her crying. Malcolm's unexpected haircut a few weeks was proof of that. It was also the result of him being unfortunate enough for nothing to be near Annabeth except her ever-present dagger…
"Thanks for the escort, Laura." I said with a smile. For some reason, the girl's cheeks exploded with red. She stuttered out a farewell, then promptly left. Ignoring the strangeness, I mentally prepared myself for the storm of rage and tears that would be Annabeth. I took a few deep breaths, before rapping my fist against the door.
"Annabeth, I'm comin' in!" I called. I had learned my lesson about walking into Annabeth's room suddenly, when a ruler nearly took my eye out. Scary stuff, man. Slowly opening the door, so Annabeth would have a few seconds to fix her hair if she wanted, I walked in on a very unexpected scene.
Annabeth, crying, being held by… Luke!?
"Uhhhhh…" I said. However, it seemed like neither of them heard me. I coughed loudly in an attempt to get their attention. No dice.
"Uh, Annabeth. You okay?" I asked, currently ignoring dead man sitting next to her. Yet, I was the one being ignored, by both.
"I just miss-hic- him so mu-hic-ch! Why did he have to-hic-side with Kronos!?" Annabeth wailed. Being extremely weirded out, I had nothing to say. Fortunately, Luke took care of my speechlessness. Unfortunately, what he said turned my world on it's head.
"Percy knew the risks of joining the Titans. Let's just be thankful he came back to his senses at the last second, and saved us all."
What. The. Fuck. When did I join the Titans!? That was Luke's thing, not mine! Deciding to put a stop to this madness, I stepped forward, reaching towards the crying Annabeth's shoulder to get her attention. My hand went straight through her.
I tried again, with the same results. And again. And again. I must have stood there for five minutes, waving my hand through my girlfriend's body, as if she was a hallucination. Or as if I was a ghost. Becoming a bit hysterical, I started yelling right in her ears.
"Annabeth! What the hell is going on! Come on, answer me! Please!" Eventually, my yelling deteriorated into wordless spasms, as I tried to wrap my head around my current situation.
"Luke, I'm gonna-hic- go to the bathroom really quick. Wait here, please?" Annabeth pleaded, which was yet another thing that struck me as odd in this strange reality. Annabeth never pleaded. She usually demanded things of people. Or asked, if they were lucky(me!). But pleading was new.
Luke chuckled a bit, and said, "I'd wait here for the next thousand years if you asked me to, Wise Girl." Hey, that's my pet-name! I call copyright!
Annabeth, gave a watery smile, and left without another word.
"So, Percy. You like to listen in on people's conversations?"
Saying I was startled is like saying that someone was birthed by a woman. It's so obvious, it never needs to be stated. But stated it was. I turned to face Luke so quickly I felt something in my neck pop.
Luke chuckled at my completely appropriate reaction. "Man, you can yell really loud, you know that?" he said. My jaw dropped.
I started spluttering out some form of response, but it was never fully formed, because Luke cut me off.
"Shh. No questions now. Annabeth will probably be back in a few minutes, so I need to explain this to you quickly, 'cause I have a lot of stuff to cover." My jaw snapped shut with an audible clack, and I pursed my lips. Luke nodded in approval.
"Alright, so you know how you're the Fates' favorite toy?" At this I nodded. Luke continued, "Well, this time, they really fucked you over. You don't exist anymore."
At this, my jaw dropped, again, and I tried to formulate some sort of complaint.
"Ah ah ah, no questions yet. They switched our places. I'm the one who retrieved Zeus's Master Bolt, which you stole, retrieved the Fleece, held up the Sky, all of that jazz. You are the one who almost let Kronos wipe out Western Civilization, but sacrificed yourself to destroy him. I was one of the Seven who defeated Gaea, I fell into Tartarus with Annabeth, defeated Polybotes. Even smashed his face in with Terminus' bust, just like you. And, before you ask, yes I'm still a son of Hermes." Luke paused, trying to figure out how to explain my current predicament to me. I waited with bated breath, trying to comprehend everything I've heard so far.
"Okay, so. You not existing anymore. Right. I'm not supposed to have all this knowledge of the alternate reality where you were the hero, but the Fates are allowing it because it'll probably be funnier for you to know exactly what's happening but be helpless to stop it. Anyways, they plopped your mind, just your mind, into an alternate reality. That's why nobody can see you. It's like those demigod dreams I, er, you, I mean, we had back on that whole quest-spree. Possibly only the gods can see you, but the gods in this reality think you're a traitorous bastard. They might not be able to harm you 'cause the Fates don't wanna lose their favorite toy, but they will insult you with everything in their vocabulary. Zeus might even try to send Morpheus after ya or something, but probably not. Just in case, stay away from the gods." Luke paused to catch his breath. My head was spinning, but I just nodded when he looked at me as if seeking permission to continue. I would absorb it all now, then process it later when I was alone with my thoughts.
"Alright… uh, what now?...Oh! The Fates might occasionally transport you to some random place to see certain events, so don't panic when that happens. And also remember, nobody other than the immortals can see you. If they transport you to, say, Olympus in the middle of a council meeting, run like hell. Now then…" Luke trailed off, lost in thoughts.
It was during the son of Hermes' silence that I heard footsteps down the hall. Most likely Annabeth, because the Athena campers usually vacated the cabin when Annabeth was having a fit, just in case of those rare occasions when she would leave the room and try to prevent people from seeing her cry at the same time. Man, she was violent. And hot. Very hot.
Luke seemed to also hear the footsteps, because he tensed up. He spoke in a lowered voice,
"Okay, look. I don't know why the Fates chose to let me in on this secret, but I probably won't remember this conversation, or any of the information. Just be careful, and good luck getting back to your dimension. Also, Bob said for me to tell you he said hi when me and Annie were in Tartarus. I don't know how the hell he knew about this, but it probably had to do with the Fates."
The mention of Bob left me feeling horrible all over again about his sacrifice. He, a Titan meant to destroy me, ended up giving up his life for a 'friend' who abandoned him to enslavement at the hands of Hades. What a nice guy I am.
My internal mourning/self-degrading monologue was interrupted by the door opening. Annabeth was back from the bathroom. The sight of her made me smile a little, despite the guilt ripping up my insides. She had cleaned up a bit; blew her nose, wiped her previously tear-stained face, and fixed her hair. She sat back down on the bed, next to Luke, and rested her head on his broad shoulder.
"Hey, Luke. Thanks for helping me out with this. I don't know what I would've done without you." I said sincerely. Luke looked at me for a second, like he was studying me, then winked.
I thought I was starting to finally get over my hatred of him, even if he was an alternate-dimension Luke. Then Luke put a finger under Annabeth's chin, lifted her face, and rained kisses upon her lips and cheeks. Once done with his assault, he pulled her into a tight embrace, then stuck his tongue out at me.
Nope. Fuck that guy.
That was when the Fates decided to get the ball rolling on my little adventure. A sea-green light began to envelop me. Luke saw it, and waved at me. I flipped him off. He chuckled. I teleported out of the Athena Cabin with a smirk on my face.
Which was promptly wiped off when I noticed where I was teleported; five thousand feet above a big city. I screamed my lungs out.