I do not own Percy Jackson…R.R. does

By the way, sorry these chapters are so short

Chapter 3: I Fight an Old and New Enemy

"I've been waiting for you."

I didn't say anything. I just attacked. I ran forward, Riptide above my head, and swung down hard at his head. He managed to block my blade with Backbiter though. He pushed my sword away and swung towards my legs, but I jumped and the blade passed beneath my legs.

This started our fight. I was breathing raggedly and I couldn't believe I had lasted this long against Kronos. Our fight had been going on for at least 15 minutes now. Plus it had started raining a few minutes ago, but I stayed dry thanks to my being the son of Poseidon. To me, it seemed like Luke was tiring just as much as I was.

That shouldn't be happening. Kronos should have been much stronger than me. But maybe Chiron was right. Last summer, he had said that Kronos being in Luke's body may be making him not as powerful as if he was in his own body. Confidence surged through me. Maybe this weakness could help me beat him. He seemed to have the same amount of skill that regular old Luke possessed. And I could beat Luke.

I swung toward his head with Riptide, but he ducked out of the way, stabbing Backbiter at my stomach, only to be blocked by my shield. I fought furiously, determined to defeat him. In one savage blow, I used the same trick Luke had taught me the first time I'd come to camp. I swung my sword up and around, bringing it down on the handle of his blade hard enough so that he dropped it. And before he had tome to even reach for it, I flicked Riptide up so it was resting against his throat. He stopped moving.

We stood there, frozen, for who knows how long, our breathing heavy.

Yet even though I had him at sword point, Luke grinned up at me through the rain, chuckling. "You won't kill me, Jackson." He hissed. "You don't have it in you. You've never killed another human before, only monsters,"

"You aren't human." I said, trying to keep my voice steady. I couldn't listen to him, I had to stab, and just one was all it would take.

"I may not be human, but Luke is, almost. I know you hate him for joining with me, Percy, but think about it; he is a demigod, just like you. Could you bring yourself to kill one of your own?"

He was right. Luke was still in there somewhere; Annabeth had spotted it last summer. Even if he was evil, he was still a person. Could I really bring myself to kill him? Did I really hate him that much? My hand started to shake. I had to! It was my duty as the prophecy kid, wasn't it? All of a sudden, I wasn't so sure. I knew Kronos was trying to manipulate me, but I couldn't help but think that.

Luke spoke again. "You know you won't kill me, Percy, because if you do, I'll kill her."

My eyes snapped back to Kronos, trapped in the confines of Luke's body. There was an evil smirk on his scarred face. I wanted to tear it off.

"What do you mean?" I asked, scared by what he said; though I knew who he was talking about. Sure enough, he turned his head to look down at the fighting campers and monsters. I followed his gaze and my eyes landed on Annabeth.

She and Grover were trying to fight off a dragon woman, and it was looking to be in their favor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke raise his hand slightly in the direction of a Lastrigonian archer. The monster raised his bow and trained it on Annabeth. Fear clutched me.

"No," I dropped Riptide and ran to the edge of the hill, bringing my hands up to cup my mouth as I yelled, "ANNABETH! BEHIND YOU!"

She looked up at me gesturing towards the archer who, at that moment, fired.

My breath caught in my throat as I watched the arrow speed toward her.

But, somehow, Annabeth managed to dodge the arrow. It whizzed past her head and, luckily, straight into the draconian. She yowled in pain and arched her back where the arrow struck, giving Grover the chance to run up and stab her in the leg. The draconian shrieked again and vanished in a cloud of dust.

They both grinned up at me, but just as quickly, their smiles turned to expressions of horror. They yelled and pointed behind me, but I could barely make out what they were saying over the roaring and sword clanging. It looked like Annabeth was saying…what? Luke?

Oh my gods, Luke! I'd completely forgotten him when he'd threatened Annabeth! I spun around, reaching for riptide, but I stopped moving when I found a sword pointed straight at me. I'd dropped Riptide! How could I have been so stupid! Now Luke had my only weapon and he was going to kill me with it.

"See, Jackson? That's why you don't want friends. They lead to your ultimate destruction." The rain had stopped now, so even if Luke hurt me, I wouldn't be able to save myself because there was no water anywhere. I thought of my fatal flaw. So it was true, I was going to die because I cared too much about my friends.

"And now," Luke said, raising my sword above his head. "You die and I get to take over Olympus," he stabbed downward.

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