Chapter 8
Percy wandered through the fields of Elysium, slowly making her way towards the house at the edge of the city. As she drew closer, its design became more visible to her and she realized it was ranch style with light grey bricks mixed in with darker ones. The front door was made of dark, red and gold wood with glass shards inlaid into it to glint with sunlight. She knocked on the door. It let a large, booming sound that reminded her of cell doors opening in Tartarus, she shuddered.
"Yeah?" Luke's voice came as he opened the door. He had a toothbrush in his mouth so it came out funny. The minute he saw her, he frowned and beckoned her inside before shutting the door. He walked down a hallway that was about five feet from the door and she followed. It led her into a small area that held two bedrooms and a bathroom. Luke was rinsing his toothbrush and he wiped his mouth before turning to her with an elevated eyebrow.
"I know I'm early, but I didn't know where to go." She mumbled and he nodded his head slowly before beckoning her back down the hallway and into a small kitchen with huge windows overlooking a hill and the training arena.
"What's up?" he asks, pulling out a chair and straddling it to face her. She pulled a chair over to face him and sighed.
"I'm assuming you haven't heard much about the second war?" she questioned and he shook his head silently, his eyes glinting slightly dangerously.
"Okay," she sighed deeply his time. "This may take a while." She glanced at him and he motioned for her to continue.
"I'm going to skip to the important part. As you know, Anthony and I where dating at the time-"he interrupted her.
"Wait. You aren't dating now?" he asked and she raised her eyebrow at him.
"No, He cheated on me." She muttered, leaning back against the chair. Now, Luke's eyes where very dark.
"Well, I didn't think he was that low. Not after Thalia and I saved him." He sighed and again motioned for her to continue.
"Okay. So, we were in Arachne's cave. Most of the people we were on a quest with were busy and Anthony didn't notice Arachne's silk wrapped around his ankle. Before we knew it, Arachne was pulling him down, into Tartarus. I grabbed him and we both went over the edge. I tried holding onto a ledge, but it was either let go of him and pull myself up or go with him. As you know, I couldn't let go of him so I chose to let go of the ledge." Luke mutters something under his breath and Percy ignores it.
"I don't know how long we fell for. It felt like forever, but once we landed, that seemed like heaven. I know Anthony can't remember any of the horrors, but it sticks with me. I remember the burning black sand, the crags that spit flames and monsters everywhere. It was so hot that even the air burned our skin," she shuddered and her voice shook, but she tried to continue. "I remember that Anthony was supposed to be keeping watch while I slept one time and I woke up to screaming. It was the sounds of torture and I was in a cell. Blood was thick around the left side of my skull and I couldn't see out of that eye. Raucous laughing is what I remember next. It terrified me and I couldn't figure out why. It didn't scare me as bad as the man did though. His eyes, they were so dark and intent and-"she paused and took a shaky breath. "He came into my cell one day. I had seen him go into others and I heard the horrors that went on in there. –"Now her voice was so shaky, you could hardly understand it and her eyes where a pale, scared color. Luke had never seen her like this.
"Hey. It's alright. I get it." He stood up and walked carefully over to her. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, he embraced her gently and protectively.
"He won't hurt you again, okay?" He asked, looking her in the eyes. She shook her head.
"You can't promise that!" she was hyperventilating now and he shook her gently to catch her attention.
"No, I can't. What I can promise you is that if you ever have to see him again; I'll be with you." His eyes were sincere and she nodded and slowed her breathing down. Luke stood up and watched her for a few minutes, mainly how her eyes went from their pale green to a slightly darker sky blue. Weariness echoed their thoughts throughout her face and Luke realized that these horrors followed her everywhere.
"Come on," he said, tugging her up and over to the couch. "You can sleep a little before training." Quickly as ever, Percy stopped dead in her tracks and shook her head quickly and nervously.
"No!" she replied and Luke pulled her down onto the couch, wrapping his arm around her.
"Yes. I'm right here and I told you you'd never have to face that man alone." She relaxed a little when he said this and leaned into him for support. Already her eyes where drooping, but she had one more question.
"Luke?" she asked, her voice whispery.
"Yeah?" he asked, rubbing her shoulder lightly.
"Are we friends?" he chuckled quietly before answering the tired girl.
"Yeah, we're friends." He answered and she drifted off to sleep, only hearing Luke mumble something else afterword's.
Xxxx
"What's with sleeping beauty?" A quiet voice asked Luke, who stood in the kitchen looking out at the training grounds.
"Can't tell you. She's tired though and most likely hasn't been sleeping well." He replied, looking at the dark haired man beside him.
"She's going to need to start sleeping if she's going to be training with us." There was a hint of worry in his voice and Luke nodded in agreement.
'I better wake her up." Luke started for the couch but a strong hand stopped him. He turned to see Achilles deep eyes staring into his blue ones.
"Lady Styx is worried about her. I don't know much, but I do know that she's going to be under a lot of pressure if this war blows up into something big." Achilles eyes held the wisdom he'd gained over the years and Luke nodded slightly.
He knelt next to Percy and gently shook her shoulder, her eyes opened slowly and he smiled softly at her.
"Hey," he said quietly "Time to wake up." She watched him for a moment before sitting up.
"Good morning!" Achilles said, walking into the room with a glass of water and a granola bar. He handed them to her and she took them reluctantly, eyeing the water warily.
"It has protein and a little sugar in it. It should taste like lemon water." Achilles replied, seeing her caution. He sat down in a chair across from her and watched her with an interested expression. Luke sat down where he knelt, next to Percy's knees.
"How do I know you're not lying?" she growled lightly, not quite angry.
"Just drink it." Achilles replied with an exasperated sigh, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. She lifted the cup to her lips and downed it quickly, scrunching her nose at the taste. Achilles laughed.
"I never told you it tasted good." He said, standing up and pacing from window to window, looking for something.
"Let's start heading down to the training field. The others should've been here by now and we're losing time." Without anything else, he walked out of the house, leaving the door open for them to follow.
"What should I expect in training?" Percy asked as Luke pulled on tan combat boots. He looked up at her quickly as he tied them.
"The usual camp stuff; running, pushups, pull ups, fighting." He paused and stood up, jumping a few times to test the shoes out. "It's harder though. If you thought Chiron pushed us, wait until you get to training today." He jumped down the porch steps and she followed closely, her tennis shoes bending with her feet perfectly. Luke paused, watching the shape of Achilles quickly getting smaller as he headed down the hill towards the arena.
"Your brother is going to push you when it comes time to test your powers. I know you've learned everything from trial and error. They don't." he warned, his eyes flashing as they looked into hers.
"So, don't do anything that could get me killed. Right." She grinned at him and he rolled his eyes.
"I'll race you." His eyes had that traitorous gleam in them that made her shiver, but she grinned back anyways and took off down the hill, through the knee high green grass and purple flowers.
I know the story has been really slow, but I promise I'll try to speed things up a little and add some action.
