I do not own Percy Jackson.

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Luke's expression was unreadable, his face blank. Tension rose between the two of them as he gauged her expression, the tension rolling off her shoulders, the tear streaks down her cheeks.

"You found out." He said, completely ignoring me. It made me feel annoyed, though I didn't interrupt. I was mute, standing silently while I tried to figure out exactly why Rowan looked like someone had just ripped her heart out. "You two weren't supposed to find out until it happened."

You two? What was he talking about? What was he keeping from me and Rowan? Well now, just me because it looked like Rowan had figured it out. Her hands clenched by her side, about to reach for her whip. She raised a shaking finger and pointed down the hall, where her room was.

"We need to talk," She said again, her words unsteady. Her eyes, however, hardened, as though she were willing to drag Luke to her room if necessary.

Luke glanced at me, chewing on his bottom lip. Suddenly, I realized he was waiting for me to answer for him. After all, this was in the middle of our training session. Quickly, I nodded my head.

"Yeah, go ahead," I said, "I'll just stay here and play with my sword." I sat down to prove that I could behave, and he left, passing before Rowan. It surprised me how tall Rowan was. Luke was like a giant to me (okay, not really, since compared to the ten foot giants, he looked like a midget) but she came up to his nose. Rowan spun around once to look at me before taking off after Luke.

As soon as the two of them were gone, my anxiety came back into high gear. Being alone gave me a chance to think about old memories, which I didn't want to think about. As it was, all of my memories were either depressing, sad, confusing or a combination of all three. With the exception of leaving my old friends...that had been brutal.

I would never forgive Kronos for that. But the longer I knew him, the more I came to realize just how human he was. And that scared me. When I'd came here, I'd been so determined to betray him in the end, to make him suffer the way he made me suffer, but when he talked to me, he sounded just like a human guy. He sounded like a normal person with emotions and everything.

And no subject was banned from being breached. He answered my questions, asked some of his own, and snuck in a witty retort that made me question of he had just been born to be bad or if he had been turned bad.

One conversation particularly had me thinking about just how evil he really was.

"So just how did you know my mother?" I asked, shifting uncomfortably. It didn't slip my mind that I was talking to a black coffin, where his voice came from. It was easier if I focused on the air above it, instead of at the disturbing pictures painted on the side of it.

"I thought you already knew?" Though I'd heard his voice before, I couldn't get used to it. I flinched, hearing the rich smooth voice asking such an innocent question, the type of voice that belonged to a murderer, not the person I called my father.

"Well, yeah, but I thought you might...," I stopped talking, my mumbling cutting off with a small, awkward burst of giggles. He was silent for once, and I panicked, wondering if I had done something to upset him. I could picture him getting rid of me quite easily, if I were weak or irritating, he wouldn't care if he had to kill me.

"What do you want to know?" He said after a great length of time had passed. "I don't have the patience or the strength to tell you the entire thing but I'll answer some intelligent questions."

"Okay, then," I was more than thrilled.

Finally, someone to answer my questions. The tension in the room evaporated, which had been very noticable since he and I were the only ones in the room. I searched my mind, wondering which questions I should ask. I only talked to him for fifteen minutes at a time, since he was still weak. Settling on one question, I shifted slightly.

"My last name," I decided, then explained quickly, "Aphrodite told me my mother's last name was Valentine. But my last name is Stone, then he said something about a guy named Adrian...,"

"Adrian Stone was not my alias, thank you very much," Kronos said, sounding annoyed, "Nor did she go to college. Aphrodite told you that to make you feel a little better. Yes, your mother went to college, but she spent most of her time in Camp Half Blood. Adrian was a friend who died and she chased down. She convinced me to name you after him, since she couldn't save him."

"Convinced you," I snorted, then immediately regretted it, hoping I hadn't offended him. That wouldn't be good for me, especially since I'd worked so hard to have a tentative relationship with him. "Sorry, I just can't imagine it."

"Neither could I," Kronos said, and I heard his silent chuckle. "To think, a mere demigod could actually convince me to do something...but she was something else, your mother. Made me almost regret having to take her."

"Why didn't you just leave her alone, then?" I asked. "If you loved her so much."

"I don't know about love," Kronos said, "I could never love anyoen that weak and fragile, but I cared about her to an extent. But, she was insistent on your well being. And, even as a powerful being, even I can't work miracles. Once you're dead, you can't be brought back. It's impossible. Especially since you are of my blood. Switching your souls was difficult enough."

"So, Hecate didn't kill her?" I asked. My hatred of the goddess had only intensified from my stay here. I didn't think anyone could be more self centered than Annabeth, but I was wrong. Hecate could give one of the Aphrodite girls a run for vanity.

"Hecate did what was asked," Kronos said, as though uneffected by talking about my mother's death. "It's not in her personality to care about humans. To Gods and Titans alike, humans are so very fragile and breakable. Even demigods. It would be like a human upset about the death of a singular ant. It happens all the time, and they are so tiny, you stop thinking of them as alive."

"Humans have feelings too," I argued, "We may not seem as important to all you immortals, but our lives matter just as much as yours do. What I don't get, though, is why Gods act like we are so inferior."

"You are inferior," Kronos said, "Though I suppose if you wan to get into details, it has to do with how you're raised. Everything goes back to that, even god's personalities. Take Hera, for example."

"Hera, what about her?" I asked, shocked.

"She's the goddess of marraige," Kronos said, "Don't you think she should be warm and soft and...carefree, I suppose would be a word to call her. Does he cold demeonor surprise you?"

I started. I hadn't even thought to think of it like that, though I suppose that it would make sense. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that should be Hera's personality. The goddess of marraige should be warm, not cold. What had made her like that?

Taking advantage of my hesitation, Kronos continued, "She adapted to her surroundings. Her husband cheats on her, has many demigods and she can't do a thing to change it. Would that make her change her personality, if she had to live with it for years upon years?"

"I...I guess," I said, "So...are you saying that..gods were raised to think that...,"

"That humans are less than them, yes. Gods have been alive longer than the human species. It would only make sense for them to believe that they are better than you. After all, they've seen the wars you've caused, the anger, the corruption you've brought on yourselves. It would be hard to not think of you as inferior. After all, your lives are small spots compared to the lives that we live."

"That...that makes no sense," I said. Bluntly, I blurted out, "Would that have to do with how you are, as well, then?"

I had said the wrong thing. The air iced over. Dark air hung over the horizon, and a sense of malice entered the room along with a powerful presence pressing against my mind that made the room spin. I gasped.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry...," I muttered, not really sure what I was apologizing for. I hated it when he got angry. It just reminded me of how powerful he was, how dangerous. I couldn't believe that I had deluded myself into thinking he was normal.

"Get. Away." His words came like chipped pices of ice. I couldn't figure out why he as so mad, but I didn't have to be told twice. I got up wtih jerky movements and slammed the door behind me.

Well, I had enjoyed the conversation before his mood had switched off. But I'd learned that was common with them. After that, I didn't exactly hate him anymore, though I would be foolish to get attached to him.

Sighing, rubbing my sore back, I sat up. After a second, I left in the general direction of my room, running my fingers down the wall. I still couldn't figure out my way through this place, and I didn't want to step on an abandoned weapon, like last time. It hadn't been my fault that someone had carelessly thrown away an arrow, but Luke had laughed anyway.

As the hallway curved the shafts of light dimmed even more, I realized that I could hear voices speaking.

"...lose you." I heard a girl's voie say. I froze on the spot, realizing that it was Rowan. Her tone wasn't sappy, though. She said the words as though they were a lifeline, like she was trying not to cry. I couldn't seem to move.

"Why are you having second thoughts about it now?" Luke demanded, his voie furious. I gasped and slapped a hand over my mouth.

Stupid, Stupid. I thought to myself. Conversation faltered for a second, then the sounds of someone pacing.

"I didn't expect it to happen so soon," Rowan said, her voice tight, "Luke...,"

"It has to be done. I have no regrets." Luke said. "It's not like there's really anyone left to make me regret this or to slow it down, you know?" He had lost me. What on earth was he talking about.

"I understand your loyalty to him," Rowan said, choking,"But do you realize that at the end, you'll be...you'll be...,"

"Dead?" Luke finished. My heart dropped. "Yes, I did. And I don't care, as long as I'm helping Kronos rise. That's worth giving my life up for." What, no! What was Luke saying? Did he mean to make it seem like there was no way for him to be alive after the war? I blanked out, unable to understand what was happening.

My attention was diverted until I heard Rowan scream something at Luke, which shocked me. Rowan never screamed.

"And what about me?" She demanded. "Have you thought about what will happen to me, how I will feel? Or have you been too preoccupied thinking about Jaime to realize that this is going to effect me, too? Have you even thught I would care about you?"

"Rowan, what are you talking about?" I could hear the geniune shock in his voie. For once, I understood faster than him.

"Have you considered-have you ever thought I could ever," Rowan cut off her own words, throwing in a small laugh that sounded like suppressed tears. Then, after a pause, she asked, "Do you see me as a girl, at all? Aren't I pretty enough, smart enough, good enough for you?"

I sucked in a deep breath at her words. A second later, I heard the sound of a door opening and I ducked in the shadows. Rowan stormed out of her own room, her face red from crying and ran down the hallway. After a slight pause, Luke came out. His face was set in mild disbelief as he turned toward his room.

I was torn, wanting to go to my own room yet wanting so badly to know exactly what they were talking about. I hadn't realized that Rowan was in love with Luke. It should've been obvious but it hadn't been. Why had I assumed that she was always ill tempered? I'd never thought it would be because of Luke.

After an afterthought, I chased Luke through the dark hallways. He heard me, because I wasn't quiet, yet he didn't stop. He sped up a little, causing me to growl and pick up sped until I had caught up with him. He tried to step past me but I pushed him back, panting.

"What were you two talking about?" I gasped, nearly doubled over. Luke's eyes were controlled, his expression tight.

"I should've know you would spy on us," He said, not surprised. Another day, that would've made me give out an excuse about how I hadn't meant to do it, but not now. Not when I was so curious about something I wantd to ask him.

"What were you talking to her about?" I asked again. "I have a right to know, especially if it has to do with Kro-my father." Luke stared at him a second longer, and I matched his icy glare. A few demigods passed us, giving us strange looks but looking away quickly when they realized who it was. The silence lengthened and I nearly gave him.

"I'll just get Rowan to tell me," I threatened. He sighed, picking at a stray thread on his sweater. When he spoke, it wasn't at me.

"Kronos will rise up tomorrow," He said, "Tomorrow morning, he'll take over my body and the invasion will start."

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A/N: Just to clarify, the first couple of chapters will happen before the last book. And I've changed around the plot slightly to suit my needs, though it shouldn't effect the plot. And just out of curiousity, what do you people think of Rowan? She was just going to be a meaningless OC, but now, I feel like she needs a bigger role in this. Does anyone agree with me, or is her character just a back up character?

Also, does anyone know how old Luke is? The best I can guess is that he's nineteen or something. If you know, please tell me!

Read and Review, please!