Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or any other character associated with the franchise. I am also aware that this story may be similar to Working Class Hero by Felicity Dream; I have no intentions to copy their work.
Chapter 3
Cabin 11 was very cramped. Percy had already been introduced to some of the other residents but only a fraction of them. There were not enough bunk beds for everyone, so instead of sleeping on the floor Luke said Percy could share with him. It was almost curfew and eventually more campers filed in and went to bed. Percy had fallen asleep hours ago but Luke was still awake, he leaned against the wall with Percy curled into his side. Luke was thinking about the routine trip to Olympus for the solstice, originally Luke had planned to go, sneak off while everyone was sleeping and steal the master bolt. That was before he had met Percy, the little sea green eyed boy had completely changed his opinion of the gods, well some of them. It appeared that Poseidon really did care about his son and it was for the boys' own safety that he was in Luke's care. Suddenly Percy stirred and cried out, obviously in pain. Luke scooped him up and ran for the big house he didn't care about curfew or the harpies that would try to eat them. Once they arrived at the large house Luke banged on the door loud enough to wake up the entire camp. After what seemed like hours Dionysus himself came to the door, he opened it and snapped. "What do you want kid? Do you want to make me angry?!" Fortunately Chiron came to the door and after one look at the unconscious Percy he pulled them both inside.
Immediately Chiron trotted off to get his medical kit, Luke could also have sworn he wanted to remove the curlers from his tail before anyone else saw them. Mr D also disappeared, probably to go back to bed. This left Luke alone with the sick Percy, who was shivering on the couch. Gently Luke brushed back Percy's hair and made a decision in his mind. He would not steal the bolt because he knew Percy would get the gods to change just by meeting them. Yes if Percy went to Olympus maybe it would get them to realise how vulnerable and precious their children were. Soon Chiron came back in to the room with a wooden box, from it he produced vials of nectar, ambrosia and other colourful substances. He mixed a few together and made Percy drink them. But there was no change. Percy was still shivering and had now started coughing up blood. Luke tried to soothe him and rubbed his back until the coughing stopped but Percy was unconscious again. Luke was terrified; he didn't want to see Percy like this. Chiron got up and went to call Poseidon, leaving Luke alone again. Suddenly there was a flash in the room and the sea god himself appeared. Immediately the god knelt down next to his son and held his hand.
"Oh! Percy" Poseidon muttered as he brushed his child's dark hair from his eyes. The god looked up and met the blue eyed son of Hermes; Luke nodded at him and got up to leave. Gratefully Poseidon nodded back. Once the door shut, Poseidon kissed Percy's forehead and whispered "I love you son." As soon as he said that a large rumble of thunder echoed in the distance and Poseidon knew he was in trouble. Hermes flashed in next to him he had a sorrowful look on his face.
"Zeus has called an emergency meeting, to discuss the oath." Poseidon nodded and went to flash out but before he did he wanted one last thing done.
"Hermes, tell your son he can come in and take care of Percy and tell him where I have gone." Hermes nodded once and Poseidon flashed out.
Hermes really wished he didn't have to confront his son but he couldn't put it off any longer. He opened the door and went to get his son who was sat outside on the steps. When Luke heard the front door open he whirled around but his anxious expression quickly changed to anger when he saw his father. Luke turned to leave but Hermes quickly grabbed his arm. "Luke, please I really want to speak with you and soon but right now Percy needs you and I must get to the council meeting. Zeus knows about the boy and is very angry; if Poseidon can't calm him then Zeus will undoubtedly try to kill the child." Luke stood still and listened quietly, he then shook off his father's hand and walked into the big house, slamming the door behind him. Hermes sighed and flashed up to Olympus.
After Luke shut the door he ran straight into Chiron who was looking at him unhappily. "Luke, what your father said is true. If the attacks on Percy become more frequent then you must take him to Poseidon's realm, he will be safest there. The sea will also make him stronger." Luke frowned he had not been expecting this kind of change.
"Why wasn't he taken there earlier? Zeus would never have found out." Luke asked. Chiron frowned, that had not dawned on him before. Chiron couldn't turn around in the small hallway so he walked backwards into the lounge where Percy still lay. Chiron walked over to his magic wheelchair and collapsed into it. They sat in silence for a while until Percy started to wake. In an instant Luke and Chiron were both at his side.
"Percy, how are you feeling?" asked Chiron, Luke vaguely registered that Chiron had avoided his question. Percy mumbled and tossed in Luke's arms, Luke tried to calm him down. After a few minutes of this Percy calmed down and Luke noticed just how tired he was, the younger boys' face was pale and covered in sweat. Luke picked up the frail boy; who weighed less than a sack of potatoes and carried him to the bathroom. Once there he placed Percy in the bathtub and started to fill it with water. As he expected Percy stayed completely dry but his colour did start to return.
Percy stayed in the tub for about half an hour and the sun was just rising through the windows. Camp slowly became more alive and happy voices could be heard throughout. But that was of little consolidation to Percy; he was still tired from the night before and had not eaten since. Once Luke pulled the boy from his energy supply, Percy almost instantly fell asleep in his friends' arms. Luke carried him to the lounge where Chiron was waiting for them. Chiron stood up from his wheel chair and helped place Percy back on the sofa. They sat quietly listening to the sounds Percy made in his sleep, until the centaur spoke up.
"Luke, I am going to give you a pardon from all you classes for a while, until Percy gets better. Your skills are already far more advanced than the other campers are, so I feel that taking time off will not impede them." Luke smiled at Chiron's willingness to let him spend time with Percy but in his heart he knew that Percy would not really get better, it was only a matter of time.
They took turns taking care of the child who was confined to the couch, Chiron would leave whenever he had a class and Luke would take over. The Hermes cabin had been in the care of the Stoll brothers for a week now and it had not been totally destroyed, yet. There had been one mishap with some Greek-fire bombs that the twins had previously stolen, luckily the damage was minor. Right now both mentor and counsellor were in the big house, the weather was terrible as it had been all day, thunder clapped in the distance and lightning flashed in through the windows.
These conditions were also having an effect on their charge, Percy. Day by day his condition got worse and this was starting to affect Luke too. He was becoming more withdrawn, resentful and his anger at his father was growing; Hermes had yet to come back. Only young Percy could calm Luke once he got upset, they were like brothers they relied on each other. Soon Luke could not tolerate seeing Percy so ill, he had started considering to steal the lightning bolt again, just to prove a point. And that's when the dreams started, each night Luke would find himself standing at the edge of a bottomless pit. He would stare into it waiting and then the voice started to speak, it would try to lure him in, ask him to do unspeakable things in that rich voice. But Luke resisted or he was pulled away by an imaginary force. When the annual visit to Olympus drew closer the voice got stronger and Luke could no longer resist its taunt, even his invisible saviour had backed off.
Luke was currently packing all his essentials for the trip plus a few extra treats for Percy, when the little boy burst in. Percy was breathing heavily and wobbled on his feet for a few seconds before he recovered. Sighing Luke picked up the young child; who still did not weigh much despite his large meals. Immediately Percy snuggled into him and held on, Luke kissed the boys messy black hair and asked him if he was packed. Percy nodded as best he could and Luke noticed the child's breathing go back to normal. In the distance a conch horn sounded signalling that all campers had to get to the vans for the trip.
Luke and Percy sat in the back of one of the vans, Argus was driving. Unfortunately for them Clarisse and her brothers also got in, taking up most of the seats. The last seat was filled by Annabeth Chase daughter of Athena. Percy was sat by the window looking out at the sights, which meant that Luke and Annabeth were next to each other. Luke didn't mind that, he had come to camp with Annabeth after all, but after Thalia Grace's death they hadn't really talked much. "So Luke, are you going to introduce me to your friend?" Annabeth prompted, she bumped his arm slightly too. He couldn't respond to her for a moment. Luke knew she had a crush on him but he didn't want to upset her and lose a good friend. Thankfully Percy came to the rescue and spoke up.
"Percy Jackson." He introduced himself "Luke's my big brother" Annabeth looked at him curiously then; she was very smart and could clearly see that Percy was no son of Hermes. Luke gave her a meaningful stare and shook his head, effectively telling her to shut up, but Annabeth being who she was didn't pay attention. She introduced herself to Percy and then stared into the seat in front of hers'; you could practically see the gears in her head working. Percy however was still looking at Annabeth a dreamy expression on his face.
Makes sense Luke thought, they are the same age and she is probably the first girl he has met who didn't laugh at him. Percy's expression made Luke chuckle which knocked the 10 year old out of his daze, Percy then made a cute pout making Luke's chuckle turn into full blown laughter. This caused the Ares kids in front of them to turn and glare hatefully and Clarisse, being the bully she is said. "What's wrong Prissy, never seen a girl before? Oh no of course you haven't!" Clarisse and her brothers all laughed and turned back around.
Luke was furious he wanted to murder Clarisse right then; fortunately she was sat right in front of him. He reached forward with his left hand and wrapped it around her throat. She gasped as her head was pulled against the headrest; Luke leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Listen Clarisse, you may think what you said is funny but I don't. So you had better not go around saying anything else like that or you will have to fight for your life, understand? You know what don't even look at my brother again, got it?" Luke threatened. Clarisse struggled to nod and Luke hadn't realised that his hold on her throat was getting tighter; he saw her ears turn blue before he released her and leaned back. Percy and Annabeth were both staring at him their eyes were wide, they had undoubtedly heard his threats and could see Clarisse sputtering and coughing. Luke was still furious and was glaring daggers at Clarisse's head, he eased off when Percy leaned into him and whispered a "Thank you" in his ear.
Authors note: Thank you for reading! If you have time please review.
Recommendations: Working Class Hero by Felicity Dream
I'm a Grenade by Elihaha
Anaklusmos14 and TheseusLives are also great authors.
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