A/N- Don't trust me anymore. I'm really sorry about, well everything. I actually said updates would be quicker last time and then this happened. I don't even...urg. Life is harsh sometimes. School life, home life. Everything was against me even writing at all. I've really hated every moment of this, but I HOPEFULLY am back in control now and I'll be trying to dedicate my summer to getting caught up with my writing. No promises unfortunately, because you'll never know what God will through at me next but at the very least, I've really gotten into Luke's mindset now, so that was a positive of this. Really hope this chapter was worth the wait you guys.
"Ahhhh!"
The pain of the memories rushing through me brought me to my knees, disabling my ability to speak, to think, to breathe. I couldn't do anything but scream and writher in pain on the floor. My blade had sprawled away from me but that didn't stop the memories of my past life flow into me. These memories of mine flashed before my eyes, returning as one painful image after the other.
I was rolled onto my back, probably by Maxie and saw my mother's face. Or the mother of Luke Danro. However, as I continued to stare at her, Isabella Danro's shape transfigured and turned into a different woman. A woman with a wild look in her eye that made it seem she was in as much pain as I was. One with wild white hair that stuck out at all ends. May Castellan...
May Castellan was my mother...no, then who was Isabella Danro? Also my mother or an imposter? Was that right? I didn't know. Then again, perhaps May had been the imposter. I certainly felt...no remembered enough of a hatred for her. Why would I hate my mother? There was a reason...
The woman I thought to be my mother moved towards me, arms open, with the intent to embrace me. No! I moved away quickly. The pain still stuck with me but the fear for this woman drove me to move instinctively. Maxie moved towards me, while also placing a hand around his aunt, moving her behind him, as if he was protecting her. Protecting her from...me?
I realised I was something like May Castellan. A crazed, animal like creature that most people couldn't bear to look at because they feared that they would trigger some sort of violent reaction from the creature. I had to concentrate. I could not allow myself to become like my mother. My old mother. This was confusing and it made my head split as I tried to make sense of everything around me.
I backed away from my half-brother and mother. I held my head in my hands and tried to focus but the sea of memories inside of my head was not easy to manage. It seemed pratically impossible to sort through the scenes I saw and try to pick out which ones were from this life and which ones were from a past life.
"Luke," Maxie said coming closer and reaching his hand out towards me "Please, just let us help you." He begged however my mind was in no fit state to be able to comply with his wishes. Maxie's form began to shift into countless others. The likes of the Stoll brothers and Chris Rodriguez all stood where Maxie stood. My past brothers...
"Ahhh!" I screamed, unable to do much else. "Leave me alone!" I managed to get out. Not talking to my mother or half-brother but to the memories that had come and destroyed my life. It had not been exciting or glamerous but it had been a better life than I had as Luke Castellan and Luke Danro had no need for the world of Gods.
"I would not think like that if I were you master Danro or would you rather be called Castellan?" A high cold laugh followed the question. I looked around but I could not find a source of the laugh and as I looked around, the laugh grew louder.
"Luke...?" Maxie's voice, now begging of him. Only Maxie's voice was not coming out of Maxie's body. Rather it was a body with a much more familiar look to it. Athletic body, shortly cropped blond hair. He would be handsome, if not for a pair of golden eyes and a scar running down one side of his face.
"Kronos!" I managed to scream and backed away. Yet again, fear was fighting against everything else that was raging in my body, forcing it to move in jerky motions. My eyes locked on to the scythe that I had tossed away. I had been born with ADHD. A disorder that I now remembered being associated with half-bloods, giving them instincts to use in a fight, in order to survive.
'Kronos' moved closer, reading my movements and reacting to them. 'May Castellan' left the room, running, leaving the scene. Leaving her son yet again. I howled in anger and used that rage, those feelings of abandonment and hatred to fuel my body and I moved quickly, swinging the scythe. All I cared about was returning Kronos to a billion tiny pieces like he belonged.
"No, stop it Luke. You don't know what you're doing!" Another voice inside my head. This one was warmer than the last but for some reason it made me feel sick. Hatred boiled up my blood, at the mere sound of this second voice.
"Shut up!" I shouted at the voice and I heard laughter to follow my outburst. 'Kronos' looked at me warily. He didn't make a move towards me, nor did he retreat. He kept himself in a crouch, as if he were a cat getting ready to pounce on a prey. But I was no prey. I was a predator.
I swung my scythe with the intention of cutting off 'Kronos'' head, but he moved quickly, far quicker than any mortal. He had only moved a few inches but it seemed more like he had teleported rather than moved on his own two feet. He gave me a steely look. "I'm sorry Luke," he said, before rushing me.
The two of us fell down to the ground and Backbiter sprawled away from me. 'Kronos' and I struggled against one another, punching, kicking and doing anything else we could to gain an advantage. I pushed 'Kronos' into a coffee table and he returned the favour by jumping up kicking me into a wall. We continued to wrestle and fight in that manner, but no blood was being drawn and in my state I could feel myself losing the battle and my opponent was holding back.
"He would never try to really hurt you Luke. Remember, he's simply trying to help." One of the voices in my head made another appearance and the annoying, useless comments sprawled countless memories of being scowled by a godly figure. Hermes was the one who was trying to calm me down, I realised. But why should I listen to him? He was telling me that Kronos would never hurt me. Similar to himself perhaps? All of it was lies.
"Everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie, Hermes," I told him. "You said you would protect me; you lied. You said you would protect mom; you lied. You said things would get better; you lied! Why should I listen to anything you have to say?"
"When have you ever listened to anything he really has to say?" 'Kronos' retorted, fiercely. I stood for a moment, completely dumbstruck. Now, Kronos, lord of the titans was giving me parental counciling. This coming from a man who attempted to eat his three sons?
And then the pain seemed to still for a moment. The cloud in my mind cleared a little and I realised that despite Kronos being the master manipulator that he is; this wasn't his style. This wasn't him and I saw Maxie stand where Kronos once did. "I don't...someone help me!" The pain flooded back to me. Everything was too confusing. I couldn't make sense of it.
"I don't understand," Hermes' voice "I thought there was progress being made."
"Please Hermes, don't be a fool. You should hardly be interfering as it is. The world has to be in balance. The more you interfere, the harder it will be on him. Luke's little mind is in jumbles. He was messed up to begin with and now; well let's just say if he doesn't go insane, at the very least he'll get a nice white room and there will be lots of people to take care of him once he gets there."
"I have faith in my son, Hades. He will pull through this and he will be the hero of the prophecy and save us."
Prophecy? What prophecy? I tried to remember. "The myth master...eight half-bloods?" I said aloud to myself, but I got some nods of encouagement from Maxie.
"That's right Luke, please you have to get a grip. For everyone's sake. You have to control yourself." Maxie pleaded but everything was easier said than done.
I tried to calm down and I tried to think. Some parts were clear now. I was a half-blood. I was meant to lead eight other half-blood to fight against someone who was messing with the order of the world of the Gods and mortals. Someone was trying to bring reality itself to its knees and I was supposed to somehow stop him. How was I supposed to do that? And how was having these memories of a past life supposed to help? They only made things worse. I couldn't handle anymore pressure on my self.
"Luke, it's okay," Maxie shushed him, like a mother with a newborn. "It's okay." He repeated soothingly. He took Luke by the hand and led him away from the wreckage of the living room. He brought him into the bathroom and Maxie almost immediately regretted his actions.
I saw myself and I almost didn't recognise the person I saw in the bathroom mirror. Luke Danro seemed quite similar to Luke Castellan. They both had blond hair and blue eyes. They both had athletic bodies, although Luke Danro's body didn't quite match up to the level of fitness that he had in his previous life. Probably due to the lack of fighting and what-not. Another difference was that Luke Danro had piercings and a few tattoos and Luke Castellan did not. But the biggest difference was the lack of scar running down his face. And for some reason, this detail made me very conscious of a difference between what he was and what he had been.
And suddenly, yet again, nothing made sense. "I don't understand!" I wailed. "Who am I? Am I Luke Castellan or am I Luke Danro? What day is it? What year? What am I supposed to do? Why...why me? Why?" I held my ears to my head, as if that would help in any way possible. My body became shaky. My battle instincts were going into overdrive. My mind saw everything as a potential threat and yet some small parts of it were fighting back. The only problem was; they were losing and it just made it, in my mind, even more confusing.
More high, cold laughter filled my head, making my headaches worse. The voice sounded like Kronos', but it was slightly difference. There wasn't that completely evil feeling that the Lord of Time gave out. I matched the laugh with Hades and tried to think why he would be laughing at me.
Again, I had a hard time shifting through the memories to find the right one. Usually whenever I tried to remember my past life, as Luke Castellan, the memories of Luke Danro would intervene, making it difficult to remember anything. Annoyingly, my encounters with Hermes and Kronos seemed to be completely etched into my mind. I could barely remember my time with Thalia and Annabeth and that made me feel pathetic. The fact that I would dare forget them; it was disgraceful.
"You can do it!"
Words of support. But these didn't come from my father. I couldn't match the voice correctly though. It sounded familiar but it was slightly different than the voice might have belonged to.
I continued to try and think and eventually I found it. I remembered why Hades was laughing. If I didn't Hades would keep true to our deal and send me to the fields of punishment for all eternity. I supposed I probably would have deserved it but both Lukes. Luke Castellan and Luke Danro agreed there was still time to change. To fix what was wrong. And that allowed the answer to shine through. If I was to get to a point where my two minds could be at peace I would seem something to join them. Something that they would have in common, besides from the obvious. Something that would represent both Castellan and Danro.
I tried to focus my mind, looking for the answer. It was a difficult thing to do, as it was asking what really represented myself. Almost like a true name...a true name. I looked into the mirror, looking at myself properly, probably for the first time ever. I began to smile. "Luke...?" Maxie sounded hopeful but he froze as he saw my reflection in the mirror. It was no good natured smile, rather it was the smile of a madman. "Luke, what are you planning to do?" He asked, suddenly very serious. Maxie's problem, I found out, was that he was too trusting, especially of family members. Feigning innocence, I pretended to be very put together and with one swift motion, I had Maxie over my knee and withering on the ground beneath me. I smiled, sadistically. Like I said, I was a predator.
I calmly left the bathroom and returned to the living room. There was a woman in there trying to make some sort of attempt to clean the mess Maxie and I had made.
"Hello Isabella Danro. Lovely night, isn't it?" I asked, politely. Isabella seemed frightened by me. Maybe she was afraid of what might be of me. Or perhaps she was more scared that the son that she had raised for twenty-one years was now almost a complete stranger to her. "I'm sorry but there are just a few things I can't avoid. Some things I need to do to make sense of my life. One of these things...is this."
I picked up Backbiter. Ms Danro's eyebrows burrowed in confusion and then suddenly her eyes shot open in shock as she saw me raise the blade to my own face and make a long deep cut in the side of my face with the scythe. In exactly the same place and exactly the same size that Luke Castellan once had a scar. And all the while, I laughed. Not crazy, like a madman, although I could certainly see why people would think so. I laughed in victory. This was something Hades hadn't expected me to do. He hadn't expected me to make the connection between my new and old life. And by doing so, I could feel myself become calmer. There was blood pouring down my face but I couldn't do anything about that. Now that I was thinking clearer, I realised a few things. And other things needed sorting out.
"Hades. Hermes." I called out "And anyone else who wants to join us. You're welcome to it." I disappeared into the bathroom for a few moments to retrieve Maxie, and shoulder to shoulder we came out to face Hades, Hermes, Rachel and Percy Jackson. Somehow I wasn't surprised.
Maxie was barely able to stand and had to sit down, whether or not it was because of the damage that I had done to him or the fact that this may have been the first time he had ever seen his father, I wasn't sure. Speaking of Hermes...
"Come here. Let me heal that. I have some medicene from Asclepius that will help." Hermes said, coming closer to me. Yet again, he had adopted his doting father personality while around me. I grabbed his hand, before he could reach into a messenger bag, containing all of Hermes' deliveries.
"Don't. That would defeat the purpose!" I scolded him, nastily. Honestly, Hermes and me had to have one of the worst father and son relationships of all time. Even when I hadn't remembered him, I had hated him. Hermes looked crestfallen but he then turned to his other son. I had already figured out that Hermes had to have been Maxie's father too. Hermes had probably had him watch over me and, concerning all that time when he was missing, well there was only one place he could have been.
I walked towards the person I knew had to Percy Jackson. The black hair and sea green eyes were a dead giveaway. Percy was into his fourties now, but the years had been kind to him. He had wrinkles around his eyes which showed he still smiled a lot and recalling a memory from today, I realised he had married Annabeth. I couldn't say he didn't have good taste in girls. "How's Camp doing? I heard you had some pretty wild adventures while I was gone." I said, making it sound like I had just gone away on some trip.
Percy seemed a bit taken aback by how casual I was being but he just smiled, laughed and nodded like the idiot he was. "Yeah, there's been some tough times. But you...what you're doing...I can't say much more than good luck." I nodded, sensing how uncomfortable Percy was. I supposed that Gods were used to seeing each other in different forms. But a mortal seeing another mortal in a completely different body, especially after they had died, well it must have been very disorientating.
"Hey, remind me, after this whole mess is over to make dinner for you and Annabeth or something, okay?" I told Percy "I mean, you've saved my life, what twice now? Probably more." I smiled at him and Percy's eyes took on a light of understanding. He could see that I was happier person the way I was now. Or at least I could be happy.
After my words with Percy, I turned on Hades. "Our contract isn't broken yet is it?" I asked him. He just chuckled in reply. "And you knew about Maxie. You knew about Percy and Hermes and yet you didn't do anything to make it any worse on me?"
Hades shrugged and raised an eyebrow. "What's your point kid?" He asked, arrogantly and for a few seconds I thought I might have been wrong but then I was sure he didn't know about Rachel's interference with my dream the night before. She showed me some more of what she had seen.
"My point, Hades," I said, suddenly turning deadly serious and cold, more like the Luke who served Kronos "Is that you are a coniving, greedy, asshole who would never let someone beat them. You let me live tonight but you have something else planned." It wasn't a question or even an accusation. It was a statement of fact.
Hades smiled wickedly and procceded to lift me up by my throat. Hermes and Percy moved quickly but Hades summoned flames to surround the two of us, blocking the others off. "You always were a little smartass. Well whatever Luke. I don't care. Live your life as long as you can. Try to fufill your prophecy but just remember what I say. The world needs balance." Hades suddenly turned towards Hermes. "And if you're to die, well then you can blame your precious father!" He laughed loudly and dropped me to the ground. Before anyone could do anything, Hades unveiled the symbol of power that I had once stolen. He put it on and in a flash disappeared.
"He's probably gone to hide off in some hole in the Underworld." Percy told me. I thought about that possibility but for some reason I couldn't be sure that was the truth this time. And for once, I think I felt fear for a God. Hades wasn't going to give up that easily. He had a plan and if it were successful, it would surely result in my death. That was one thing I was sure about.
I let out a huge sigh. I was exhausted, physically and mentally and I didn't have the energy to worry about Hades right now. My father came over to me and kissed my forehead. "Sleep dear Luke. You will need your strength. Besides we still have some tricks up our sleeves." I saw a sneaky grin flash across Hermes' face but I didn't have the energy to question him any further about it. And by the time I awoke days later, I would have forgotten all about it, as Maxie and I were about to head out on a journey that would decide the fate of everyone's existence as we knew it.
