Disclaimer: Nope, just a fanfiction writer. I would be a man, if I owned it, wouldn't I? So nope.
Story: What if Percy was a little older, and female? What if, at an older age, she wasn't the impressionable 12 year old that easily changed his life for others, but had her own plans, designs? And mind you, nice and sweet as she is, underneath she isn't all that forgiving…
Set AU for "The Lightning Thief", genderbending.
Spoilers: Definitely for the first book for now.
Warnings: Cursing and violence for now…hm, just in case since I'm usually writing it, bit of crazy humor, perverted humor, morbid or sarcastic humor, and maybe some sexual situations…
Pairings: Ares/Percy, Hermes/Percy, Apollo/Percy, semi-platonic (semi-not) Luke/Percy (mostly friendship, one-sided romance), Poseidon/Sally, Hades/Persephone, one-sided Annabeth/Percy, one-sided Clarisse/Percy, Annabeth/?, Clarisse/?, Dr. Chase/Athena…

Dedicated to phoebsx!

The Light Before We Land
Chapter Ten: Dice Was Loaded From the Start (Judas Kiss)

Tiredly, she finally pulled herself up and glanced ahead. The Helm of Darkness was laid neatly in front of her, without a care. Her hand numbly grabbed it and picked it up, she staring at the Helm with a blank gaze.

The fluttering of wings alerted her to the fact she wasn't alone She looked away from the Helm to see Alecto and the other two Furies, and she exchanged a solemn glance with her. A quiet understanding pass through them both, and Percy just handed the Helm to the Fury, who took off with the others without a word.

Completely numb, she trudged all the way to town. It was just her luck that the first people she saw recognized her. She pleaded with them not to bring her to a hospital, but they did insist in bringing her to a hotel. She had only just gotten into the room when police were already knocking on her door. She tiredly let them in and stared as they fidgeted in front of her.

"I'm Officer Rogan," the younger one waved slightly, a slight blush on his face, accompanied by a shy smile and an awed look.

"And I'm Officer Dereks," the older looking one smiled at her grimly. "We're hoping you could answer some questions and we could escort you to a hospital."

"No hospital," she answered shortly.

They looked hesitant.

"Well…is there anywhere you'd like us to take you?" Officer Dereks reluctantly asked.

"I'd like to be taken back to New York…back home, Officers," she said tiredly. Not bothering to even hide her exhaustion, she leaned back on the couch and let her limbs lay askew on it as she blinked slowly at them, feeling her eyes grow heavier with each blink. She was torn between wanting to pass out and never waking up again, or crying her eyes out and curling up in bed in a ball.

"Alright, but we'd still like to get you to the station and have those questions answered. It might even be easier on you in the long run, if you were to just issue a press statement," he suggested. His partner stayed quiet, letting him handle it.

Percy nodded unenthusiastically, agreeing to it. They got up and she followed suit.

"Would you like me to carry that for you?" Officer Rogan blurted out, turning red as he pointed at the thrice-damned backpack.

She glared slightly at it, snatching it from its spot and clutching it to her chest. She looked at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry, that's classified," she said automatically.

Their eyes lighted up in interest and they glanced at the backpack with more attention than they had previously. Officer Rogan nodded knowingly, eagerly looking at her.

"Right, part of the reason you were on the run for so long and be on your mission?"

"Yeah, sure," 'Let's go with that.'

Then again, that was actually accurate. She bit back a bitter laugh and let them lead the way. At the station, she answered the questions as vaguely as she could, most of the time answering with a "Classified." Out of her exhausted and deadened state, she mustered up a bit of amusement that they were actually accepting and buying that answer, without question or any more prodding. Frankly, she was surprised they even believed her, considering she looked like a mess and like she'd gone to hell and back (which wasn't all that far off). But if they were going to take it at face value, she wasn't going to complain.

Then the press was called in for her and she made similar statements, and also answers once she let them ask questions. She put on a teary-eyed, exhausted federal agent look on her face, asking for a way to be sent home, and they ate that up, reporters and police officers eagerly donating money, some even with dopey-eyed, silly grinning red faces. Good for her, there was more than enough for a ticket to New York, with left over she could save.

Maybe she could concede a little to Grover about that frugal business…

She was escorted to the airport, where she was loaded into a private plane and flown off. She hardly cared that she was in the air and in danger of being blasted from the sky by Zeus. She had the Lightning Bolt, and if he was so desperate to get her that he didn't care about it, then he wasn't going to get his Bolt back after all. She can't exactly deliver it dead. And there's that matter of fighting two gods, one of them one of the Big Three and the other an expert at fighting. She was tired, aching, in pain, and miserable. She really didn't give a flip about anything after what she'd gone through, and after fighting two gods she thought she deserved a break.

She kept clutching onto that stupid backpack, slumping in her seat. Well, at least she was alone…with her and just the pilots, she had time to think to herself without any interruptions. Reluctantly opening the backpack, she searched through it to see what had survived. The extra clothing they never got to use was destroyed, but luckily she'd moved that dress and the money and coin bags to her own backpack. Other than that, the Double Stuf Oreos and the canister of milk had also somehow survived.

Huh. That must've been some canister that waiter was able to get his hands on. And the Oreos must be the godly version of Twinkies –able to survive an apocalypse.

Finally opening the packet of Oreos, warm from the heat of the Bolt that she was currently ignoring, she started eating it with the milk, ignoring also the tears that dripped down her face and the occasional sniffle that escaped her. She threw the bag away from her, letting it fall to the ground, glaring at it briefly before turning back to her Oreos.

"Don't trust the gifts," she muttered angrily.

As she was traveling to New York, back in Camp Half-Blood, Annabeth was having a rest. After being taken back in pearl-like spheres, she and Grover had made it back to camp with a rushed explanation to Chiron, who had ushered them both to the infirmary. She knew something had gotten out to the rest of the camp, but she had just curled up on a bed and passed out. She remembered just how troubled Percy was on the way to the Underworld, remembering the last time the teen had actually been cheery. Barring her time with Charon, the last time had been when they were leaving Santa Monica, and even then Percy had been off.

"Livin' easy, livin' free~!" Percy sung, turning up the radio.

"Percy?"

"Yeah, Grover?"

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, come on! This is the perfect song to listen to right now. We're headin' to hell, guys! We're on the highway to hell~!" Percy sung the last part. "Seriously, this is a great road song. Period. I was going to put it throughout our whole trip, but I didn't have a copy of the song to put on, or a player. I played it briefly on the Amtrak train though," Percy added thoughtfully.

Grover started mumbling, before grinning resignedly. Annabeth grinned as well, but she looked more closely at her female friend, noticing that Percy's smile was a little strained.

Something must've happened down in the waters, and it didn't look too good.

She was worried now, wondering what had happened after they'd been forced out. But she'd have to wait. Along…with…everyone…else…

What the Tartarus?

She had woken up to the most stupidest thing ever. It matched Percy's insane stupidity (though she was being biased, seeing as Percy's stupidity was just really insane logic that worked out but usually just drove her crazy), so it would equally make sense that it was about Percy.

"Will…what is everyone arguing about?" she asked the Son of Apollo to be sure.

Will shrugged and gave her a sheepish smile.

"We're arguing about who's going to make Percy's shroud," he hesitantly said.

There was a long pause.

"You have no idea if she's dead!" she screeched.

Will winced, "Yeah, but…it's the Underworld. And she was going up against Hades himself."

She fumed and gave him the evil eye, "She's not dead. And if you guys continue, Imma get off this bed and kick your asses."

"Um…everyone is making a separate shroud themselves for her. Malcolm is heading the Athena cabin's, on your behalf."

Annabeth cursed, before backtracking. Percy was rubbing off on her.

Poseidon, unfortunately, was even more incensed. He had, in a quiet and controlled voice, lectured his wife about destroying things that didn't belong to her. Then, in silent gloating/revenge kind of way, he whipped out his new copy and blatantly began to stare at it, rubbing it in her face. She had fumed for a moment, before stomping off and leaving him be. He then called on the Nereid that had gone to see his daughter, wishing to know of anything she might have to say of Perseas and wanting to know why she hadn't come to report already.

The Nereid came slowly, eyes already averted from him. A sinking feeling grew in his stomach and he already knew that things hadn't gone as well as he'd wanted. He bid her to speak and the Nereid reluctantly narrated her meeting with his daughter. He dazedly dismissed her, sitting on his throne as despair slowly snuck up on him.

Would he ever be able to reach out to his daughter?

He moped to himself, unknowing that at that very moment, his daughter was heading straight for Olympus just as Zeus summoned him for another impromptu meeting.

Back with her, she'd just arrived at the airport. The waiting reporters already there had her blanching and looking around for an escape. They hadn't caught sight of her yet, so she just grabbed the backpack and slunk around in the shadows, hailing a cab quickly and setting the destination to the Empire State Building. She got out of the cab and walked into the lobby, seeing the guard at the front desk. She walked to stand in front of him, impatiently rapping her knuckles sharply against the desk to get his attention.

He looked up slowly from his book, giving her a bored look.

"Six hundredth floor," she ordered harshly.

He yawned, "No such floor, Miss."

In a blink of an eye, she had appeared behind the desk, clutched his collar and slammed him against the wall. She felt a pang of vindictiveness at being the one to slam someone else against the wall this time.

Tightening her grip, she pushed him harder against the wall and glared eerily at him.

"I don't have the time or patience to deal with you right now. Get me to the six hundredth floor now," she glared.

He swallowed in fear, his hand scrambling in his pocket before hurriedly whipping out a key card.

"H-here. Insert this into the security slot. Make sure no one else is in the elevator with you," he choked out.

She grabbed the key card and let him go, letting him slide harmlessly against the wall to the ground. She turned on her heel sharply and headed to the nearest elevator. Inside, she did as the guard told her to, the card disappearing and a red button appearing in its place, 600 embossed on it.

She waited in quiet anguish. Not only did she fail in bringing back her mom, she had been lied to, betrayed, toyed with, and a whole number of things that made her bite back her words and opt for torturing herself silently. She didn't even get to bring up Charon's pay raise or Cerberus. She was also still in pain from the double beating from two separate gods; she should've taken advantage of that hotel room and shower while she had the chance…

The elevator finally stopped and she stepped through.

Without further ado, she walked through the roads of Olympus with determination, not bothering to move her focus from her task –not even to glance around at the splendor around her, or to notice and reciprocate the curious and even awed glances of those around her that noticed her walk.

She did vaguely note in the back of her mind that Hades' palace was a near replica of Olympus, if only in black and bronze than the white and silver of this place. Her heart squeezed painfully and once again she mentally reached out for her uncle, even as she quietly cursed him.

She went through the central courtyard and finally made it to the throne room. Two gods were already seated, looking briefly surprised to see her before becoming stoic and revealing nothing to her. It was easy to guess who they were and she merely blinked at them, coming closer as they waited for her to approach. She knew she looked in disarray, walking through Olympus like she'd gone through chaos, even as she walked with purpose. Even now, before them, her appearance did nothing but show the trouble she'd been through, though she stood there proudly and in defiance.

She didn't bow or greet either of them. She stood there in disrespect, looking them both in the eye grimly. The one whose air crackled and smelled of ozone narrowed his eyes at her.

"You dare stand there in insolence? Do you know what we can do to you, impertinent girl?" his voice rumbled.

Her lips tightened slightly into a purse, but she didn't show any other reaction, maintaining her indifferent exterior.

"Then why don't you?" she challenged. "I stand here and say nothing in defense. Do what you will, I say nothing against it."

Zeus blinked in shock then turning again stoic, but already he'd already shown his confusion and hesitation.

Clearly, they were not used to someone not crumbling in fear and begging forgiveness and groveling in reverence. They had not expected someone to just accept their fate, unlike all others before who had succumbed to fear and weakness.

Percy stood there in resignation and refusal.

"I have destroyed and transformed others into rodents for lesser acts of disobedience," Zeus quietly spoke. "And yet, for once, why bother with one such as you who does not even care? There is no point in punishing an indifferent person when nothing will change. You will not repent."

"No, I wouldn't," she answered just as quietly, but in a firm voice. "And I'll stand here regardless."

While she didn't know, they knew she was important and weren't sure what would happen without her. But at the same time, when they were punishing others for their slights, the sufferers had always been afraid and recanted. To punish one who wasn't and wouldn't was unheard of for them, and would be pointless. The whole point was that the person cared about what happened to them. And that's why Zeus chose to surprisingly back down.

Still, her eyes were frightening like voids, dark and unrevealing, gazing at them apathetically.

"Perseas, look at me."

Her gaze moved from Zeus to her father, who looked at her with almost a strange, frightening intensity she hadn't expected. In fact, she thought he would be the one with the indifferent gaze. And yet, as she looked at him…as their eyes connected…it wasn't what she saw at all. For sure, she could tell he wasn't sure if he was happy about her, happy to have her as a daughter or not…but there was this odd softness to his gaze that had her faltering.

And even more telling, though he didn't know what to think of her, suddenly she knew she was quite sure what she thought of him. All this time, feelings had warred within her, thoughts haunting her…but here in the now, she suddenly understood herself and what she felt.

"Speak, Perseas, and know we know you will speak only the truth," her father murmured.

So she began speaking about the tale as she understood, taking out the Lightning Bolt and tossing it to Zeus rudely, who caught it with only a glance of disapproval. She unflinchingly added in her dreams and Ares' comments that supported her suspicion about an outside source.

"So Hades is at fault after all," Zeus growled.

She scoffed, sneering. "You are as proud and impulsive as your son," she insulted. His hand clenched around his Bolt, it crackling in warning. She looked back disdainfully. "Stop flying off the handle and accusing everyone without proof. Lord Hades isn't at fault. Not only are there extenuating circumstances that remove him as suspect, but the feeling I got from this presence was evil…and old…older than you," she scrunched up her eyebrows, trying to make sense of that.

But they also didn't miss her actually addressing Hades as Lord and of defending him from being suspect and of the implication that he wasn't evil.

The two gods had a quick but intense discussion in Ancient Greek, that she was only able to discern one word. Father.

'Kronos is involved somehow,' but she said nothing out loud or revealed anything on her face.

Their discussion came to an abrupt halt after Poseidon looked like he'd made some sort of suggestion and Zeus cut him off. When her father made to argue, the sky god held up a hand angrily.

"That's enough," Zeus frowned. "There is nothing more to be said. I must leave to purify the thunderbolt in the waters of Lemnos."

He rose, turning to face her. His face showed his inner struggle, but in the end it softened just the slightest.

"You have done me a great service. Few heroes could have accomplished as much. To show you my thanks, I shall spare your life. I do not trust you, Perseas Jackson. I do not like what your arrival means for the future of Olympus. But for the sake of peace in the family, I shall let you live."

Percy inclined her head towards him slightly, showing her first acknowledgement since she'd arrived.

Uncomfortably, Zeus cleared his throat. "Do not presume to fly again. Do not let me find you here when I return. Otherwise you shall taste this bolt. And it shall be your last sensation."

"Then it is a good thing I'm not hungry," she answered wryly.

His lips twitched, but then he fixed it in a scowl and disappeared in a blinding flash of lightning, thunder booming in the palace.

And then it was just her and Poseidon left.

She didn't bother speaking about her suspicions of Kronos, knowing that if it was him, that it would do her no good to bring it up. It looked like a closed matter on their end, especially of Zeus' adamancy, and it was no longer her business, and what was to be said she already knew and could already work out what Kronos' part had been in her Quest. It looked like a failed resurrection anyway. She washed her hands of this.

"Your uncle," Poseidon sighed, a small tentative smile on his lips as he transformed into the size of a regular man, "has always had a flair for dramatic exits. I think he would've done well as the god of theater."

Obviously, he was trying to break the ice over the uncomfortable atmosphere that had descended upon Zeus' departure.

Her gaze was unsympathetic as she appraised him uninterestedly. Still, she stayed silent.

"Obedience does not come naturally to you, does it? I must take some blame for that, I suppose. The sea does not like to be restrained," he laughed awkwardly.

"I thought…when I would meet you, I would hate you," she interrupted. Her voice was soft, echoing in the chamber.

He froze, his eyes widening and his breath stilling in his chest.

"But I feel…nothing. I feel absolutely nothing towards you. You don't mean anything to me."

She turned her back to him, walking away as indifferent as she'd come.

"I won't bother you again," she called out without a backwards look, her voice fading away as she left her father behind.

Poseidon stood alone, struck into stillness and a sudden bout of loneliness as her departure left behind a haunting silence, a hush suffocating him as much as not even the eavesdropping gods and goddess dared to break.

Even though she had been aloof in the throne room and as she walked passed all those who'd turned and kneeled towards her, faces filled with gratitude and respect, in the elevator, alone and once again miserable, she broke down and cried herself out, just like she'd been wanting to. She let everything in the past few days catch up to her and just cried it out.

She'd composed herself once she'd reached the lobby, face back to its normal stoicism.

Hailing a cab, she headed back to Half-Blood Hill in quiet contemplation, smiling softly as she realized she'd get to see Luke again.

Of course, when she entered camp, she wasn't expecting to see a funeral pyre being built for her, with eight different shrouds surrounding it. Each shroud had one thing in common –an emerald trident in the middle. That was where the similarities ended.

The Athena shroud for her was a gray background of silk cloth, with embroidered owls flying around the trident in a complicated pattern. The Dionysus one was actually very elegant, with an embroidered grapevine entangled around a graceful wooden arch from one side of the trident to the other, and white strawberries on a thin vine making the border. The Demeter shroud was easily the prettiest, with a rose vine entwined around the trident, and real flowers sewn around the border.

The others were just odd.

The Hermes one looked like kids had a war on it, with splashes of paint and food stains, hand and foot prints with paint, dirt, and other questionable substances, and out of placed drawn rainbows here and there with smiley faces, all around the trident. The Apollo one easily stood out, actually shining somehow. The background was a gold that flashed with the light, and shone so brightly she could barely see the emerald trident. The Aphrodite one was just a blown up picture of her in her sundress she wore with Luke that one day, smiling to the camera. It looked like a pop teen idol poster, especially with the added glossy sheen. The trident was just a small little sketch at the top of the poster, like it was an afterthought. Of the 'odd ones out', the Hephaestus one was the most normal, with a dark scarlet background that she would've thought the Ares' kids would have chosen, a metal frame as the border and making the shroud look like it was in a picture frame. Even though, the shroud already had spots of it burning.

The Ares cabin's shroud was easily her favorite, even if it was one of the odd ones.

There was that classic scarlet color again, with cheesy little mini tridents all over. But the best part of it? Her being drawn as an action hero, complete with Terminator leather clothing and sunglasses and motorcycle (though she swore they probably modeled it after their dad's stuff, after they got the idea to copy the Terminator). She knew they probably had one of the Apollo kids draw it, knowing none of them had an ounce of artistic ability in them.

The creepiest part of it all though…was the lifelike copy of her on the unfinished pyre, probably an automaton made by the Hephaestus cabin and aesthetically completed by the Aphrodite cabin, to look like her.

There was nothing else for it than to…

"I'M NOT DEAD, YOU MORONS!"

The campers still working jumped, whirling around to see her. They gaped before they burst into excited chatter, with no one being coherent to Percy's ears.

"Alright, shut up and talk one at a time!" she snapped, becoming overwhelmed.

Everyone shut up and she waited. Then she saw Clarisse elbowing her way through to her, a large grin on the bigger girl's face. Inwardly, her blood boiled, but she calmed herself down.

Clarisse was not Ares. Ares had told her himself that he didn't fight his kids' fight, back at the diner, so the same could be said for Clarisse. She was not her father.

She relaxed her shoulders and gave a smaller smile back at the brunette, who clapped her hard several times on her back, while roughly putting on a laurel wreath onto Percy's head.

"You're alive, Kelp Brain! Great! Too bad though, all that hard work on the shrouds and all –especially the Ares cabin! What a waste, what a waste. On second thought, shame you didn't die," Clarisse said cheekily. "Eh, we could just burn them anyways."

Percy snorted, "Meh, sounds good. I bet it'll be fun. Where's Annabeth and Grover? And Luke?"

"Infirmary. Probably passed out from all the screaming they did about us making your shrouds. Your boy toy's MIA around camp. It's been hard to pin him down since you left."

Percy frowned, "What did you call him?"

Clarisse waved it off, hurriedly dismissing it. "Nothing, nothing. Go find him. The other two are probably still comatose."

Her frown deepened, but since she wanted to see Luke and that she started to worry about him after hearing Clarisse's comments, she ignored the other girl and made her way through the crowd and decided to start looking for the missing man.

She bit her lip. A gut feeling told her to look somewhere odd. Something told her he might be in her cabin and she followed it, though she wondered why Luke would be in there. And yet, once she'd entered it, she knew immediately that he was there. The place was too clean, especially for it to be supposedly empty since she was gone. Even if Luke did a massive clean spree right before she came, he would have no idea when or even if she was coming.

She walked across her walkway, placing the laurel wreath onto the table on the way, quietly opening the door to where the beds were and stared at the limp figure draped across the still joined beds.

He…he hadn't been sleeping here the entire time, had he?

Had Luke even gone back to the Hermes cabin at all? What had been happening to him since she'd left for her Quest? For a moment, she felt slightly guilty at the thought that maybe she should've taken Luke instead of Annabeth after all, but then she thought that Annabeth would understand if she saw Luke now.

She gently kneeled down behind him, one slender hand touching his shoulder lightly.

"Luke? I'm home," she said softly, gently shaking him.

He mumbled something, but didn't make any other move.

She kissed his cheek tenderly, worriedly telling him, "Hey, sweetie. I'll be right back, I promise. I'm just going to check in with Mr. D and Chiron and then I'll be all yours. You just sit tight and you can tell me what's going on."

She reluctantly left, wanting to just stay but opting for herself to hurry with her report on the Quest and then come back as fast as she could. At the Big House, she saw both Chiron and Dionysus already waiting for her.

"About time, brat. Took you awhile," Dionysus yawned.

She just rolled her eyes in amusement, while Chiron twitched, looking agitated for once as he glared witheringly at the wine god. He gave her a relieved smile though.

"Thank the gods you're okay and made it back, Perseas," Chiron greeted her.

Percy gave him a reassuring smile back.

"I should turn you into a rodent for all the trouble you caused the camp by faking your death," Dionysus sniffed haughtily, even with already knowing that she was alive because she'd made it to tell the story to Zeus, and he had eavesdropped on the event. Not that he was going to say anything. Better to make the camp run around like chickens with their heads cut off, and because it was fun messing with her. And he knew she hadn't fake her death, like he said –Percy Baiting was fun.

"I didn't fake my death," she twitched. "What is up with all of you wanting to turn me into a rat?" Percy asked irritably.

"I did offer to turn you into a dolphin once," Dionysus perked up.

"You wanted to turn me into a rat when we first met."

Dionysus just shrugged.

She rolled her eyes again before focusing on Chiron.

"One more thing before I start reporting. There was one thing that kept coming back to bother me…When you were preparing the car for us, why shift?" Percy's stare was starting to become uncomfortable.

Chiron fidgeted while Dionysus looked on in amusement. "Well, we hadn't really thought of that."

"Thought so."

"Erm…Percy?"

"You know, what the hell was that one week for when you gave us a shift and freakin' no gas?" Percy yelled at them.

Chiron winced. "…A super armored demigod car?"

Percy stomped over to him and pinched his arm hard.

"Ouch!"

"That was for the crappy car that barely got us started on our Quest," she scowled heavily at him.

Then she quickly but efficiently began recounting her journey, minus certain details no one needed to know like she'd left out with Zeus. Chiron nodded, leaving to deal with the other campers and clear up what had happened, though she was sure that the Stoll Brothers eavesdropping outside the window would do a better job and wouldn't leave out anything like the centaur was sure to do.

"Hey…Cabin Twelve didn't do so bad on their shroud, eh?" Dionysus coughed to get her attention.

"Cabin Twelve is your cabin," she deadpanned.

"Yeah. But my sons did an excellent job on your shroud."

"I did like the shroud," Percy admitted, though she was narrowing her eyes at him, wondering what he was up to.

"And you know, I helped a bit. I mean, it was all their work and everything, but the strawberries were my idea and I provided the materials," he stared at her.

"…Yes?"

"Sooo…drink?"

She snorted and shook her head.

After she was finished there, with Dionysus off to Olympus early for the Summer Solstice meeting, she went back to her cabin and saw Luke running around, fixing up things.

"Percy! I thought I heard you earlier. Oh gods! I'm sorry, I kind of forgot to tidy up today –" he started rambling.

She smiled genuinely for what seemed like the first time in a long time, going over to him and holding a finger to his lips, quieting him.

"Hey now, none of that. I missed you and you weren't there to greet me when I came back," she teased.

"I'm really sorry –"

She cut him off again by placing her whole hand against his mouth, stepping back slightly to scrutinize him. He actually looked a little worse than he had when she last saw him. His hair was disheveled and his clothes were crumpled and messy. His beautiful blue eyes she'd always loved on him weren't just dulled now, they were paired with exhaustion and looked even almost lifeless –except for the spark that had lit up when he'd seen her. The bags under his eyes were darker and he looked almost like a ghost with how pale his skin was.

"Don't be sorry, Luke," she said firmly, reaching out that hand to cradle the side of his face. "You've taken care of our place, but you haven't been taking care of yourself."

"O-our place," Luke hesitatingly smiled. He moved his head and nuzzled his face against her hand, his lips placing a soft kiss there.

She started, his words from before flashing back to her, and she pulled her hand away while taking a step back. He started before grasping her hand and holding it in place, keeping it on his face as he looked pleadingly at her.

"Don't mind my words from before now. Please, Percy, don't let what I said bother you. Don't pull away from me."

Percy winced, but one glance from his pleading face made her cave. She kept her hand there, but didn't move any closer. He frowned and stepped closer himself, wrapping his arms around her as he buried his face into her neck and just stayed there without another word.

After awhile, Percy broke the silence.

"Hey, why don't you take a shower, take care of yourself while I fix up breakfast? You can even use my shower, okay? I'll just go by the camp store while you shower."

Luke suddenly panicked, latching tighter onto her.

"No! You can't go. Please stay, don't leave. Stay here with me."

She caressed his head briefly, "Luke, I'm just going to go to the store. I promise I'll be right back."

"No…Don't go. I don't want you to go. Just stay here," he mumbled.

She sighed, "How will I cook?"

"I bought fresh food every day for me to eat," he shrugged, still holding onto her.

"Luke," she paused. "Did you stay in my cabin the entire time I was gone?"

He didn't answer her, but she could hear his reply anyway.

She sighed again, "Okay. Go take a shower and I'll start breakfast."

"Will you stay here?"

"Yes."

"I mean, just stay here with me for awhile. Like before you went to your Quest?" he looked at her imploringly.

She hesitated, but then gave him a small smile. "Sure, why not? How long do you plan on kidnapping me then?"

Luke shrugged again, not answering her joke. Her smile faltered for a second before it came back stronger.

"It's okay then. We'll stay here all of today, tomorrow, and then we'll come out the day before the Summer Solstice so we don't look like we're dead with the world," she teased.

"Okay," his voice came out small.

Her smile turned a little sad and she brought him closer and held him.

"Go on. I'll be here."

Just a few minutes later, Luke was finishing up in the shower as fast as he could so he could be back with her, coming out while still looking tired though he was also looking marginally better than he had. Toasted bagels with cream cheese was on a platter on the table, coupled with a bowl of cut up fruit and toast with strawberry jam.

"Just strawberry jam?" he asked in amusement, coming towards her and picking up a glass of orange juice. He took a sip as he put an arm around her shoulder, with her leaning into him as she took a bite of her toast.

"I'm biased. What do you expect?"

He went and sat on the other side from her, piling food onto his own plate. They ate in comfortable silence for a while before they began any talk.

She winced from pain at her lingering injuries. "Man, I'm so exhausted. And I'm still in pain. Stupid ass of a god."

"You mean Hades?" Luke's lips twitched.

Percy snorted. "No, Ares, but him too. Jerk was behind the mess, for the most part. Good thing I got to swipe his jacket and shades off of him."

While she talked, she didn't noticed Luke stiffening up.

"You met him when you got the Bolt back, right?" he confirmed in a quiet voice.

"Nah. I met him a little after that Iris-Message to you. He had Hades' Helm too, that jerk," she muttered that last part.

His hand was clenching forcefully onto his drink so tightly that it began to crack and then break. Juice splattered everywhere just as the glass shattered into pieces, with some of them digging into his hand. Percy cried out, rushing to him and holding onto his bleeding hand gently.

"Fuck, Luke, what the hell?" she asked in panic, examining his hand.

"Sorry," he averted his eyes. "Can you heal it?"

She hesitated. "Luke…don't tell anyone, but since my fight with Hades, I think my powers have been shortcuiting."

Luke looked at her in surprise, "Really? What happened?"

She told him in detail what had happened from the time in Santa Monica to her fight with Ares, and he looked as confused as she felt.

"Weird. Try healing it and see what happens," he suggested.

She did, but she couldn't heal it fully. In frustration, she slammed her fist onto the table, unexpectedly shattering it like Luke had broken the glass.

"What happened?" Luke blinked, looking at the mess on the floor.

Percy stared, "I don't know. My…my powers have been weird since coming here, especially since the Minotaur incident….no, since Alecto," she furrowed her eyebrows. He looked at her, silently asking for an explanation. So she told him about first meeting Alecto, the weird control she had over the lightning, and how she'd entered camp with her hyrdro powers becoming more heightened as she discovered her other powers.

"Odd…I think you may need an anchor though," Luke hmmed. "You take a shower yourself, Percy. Then go take a nap. I'll wait in bed for you, and rest with you."

She gave him a grateful smile, though she insisted on bandaging his hand first.

Later at night, she woke up alone. Confused, she got up to see Luke in front of the fireplace, gazing at it with an unreadable look. He was knocking back a bottle of something, though she had a feeling that it was alcohol. Where he got it, she didn't know. And she was definitely sure it wasn't part of the batch that Slimy Gabe left behind for her.

Knocking on her cabin door interrupted her thoughts, and she hesitantly went to go see to the person before confronting Luke.

"Who is it?"

"Percy? It's Annabeth. What's going on? No one's seen you since you've arrived in the early morning and I haven't gotten a chance to see you either. I didn't even know you were back safely already," she could hear Annabeth's upset voice through the door.

"Sorry, Annabeth. I, uh, came to check on Luke and had a feeling he was in my cabin. I've been in here the whole time with him, because he doesn't seem alright right now. I think I'll be in here with him for awhile too. We'll be out the day before the Summer Solstice, okay? Just…Luke is having a hard time right now, and I'm going to take care of him and try to find out what's wrong."

It was quiet on the other side, but then she heard a frustrated sigh.

"Okay. I'll see you then. I'll tell the others too, and we'll have the burial shroud burning when you're out," Annabeth said wryly.

Percy waited until she could hear her footsteps fade away, before turning to Luke who hadn't moved from his position or even looked at her or at the door when there had been knocking. She crept closer and quietly sat next to him, taking the bottle from his hands and putting it aside before she then held both of his hands in hers.

"Hey, come on. Tell me what's wrong?"

Luke surprised her by turning towards her quickly and throwing himself at her, clutching her close to him.

"Make a promise," he mumbled.

"Alright, if it'll help," Percy soothed.

"I want several promises," Luke tightened his grip on her.

"That's fine, sweetheart."

Luke laid his forehead onto her shoulder.

"I'm scared, Percy."

"Of what?" she asked quietly, hoping not to startle him and stop him from answering.

"Of myself…I just don't care anymore. I stopped caring about everything. I haven't cared about anything for a long time, until you. You're the only thing, person I care about, Percy."

Percy didn't know what to say to that, so she just started brushing her hand through his hair in comfort.

"You're so, so beautiful," he murmured into her ear. He moved back and stared at her soulfully. "You're absolutely perfect."

"Luke, you know I'm not per –"

He cut her off, "But I'm a freak. I'm the one who has everything wrong with him. I don't deserve you, but I need you so much. Can't you see that? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Aghast, she gripped his face and stared into his eyes.

"You are not a freak. Luke, what are you saying –"

"Thank you for loving me," he said solemnly, cutting her off a second time. "You love me so perfectly. You do everything so perfectly to me."

Percy froze. Again, she was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to say in response to him. She didn't know how to comfort him, how to make him feel better, how to do anything for him. She was unsure of what to do by then.

"Promise me. Promise me you'll never abandon me. Where everyone else abandons me, don't you abandon me too," his eyes started to hold a wild look to them and his voice took on a desperate tone. "Promise me!"

"I-I promise!" Percy blurted out, startled.

"Promise on the River Styx," Luke said seriously.

She stared at him.

"Promise."

"I promise on the River Styx," Percy murmured, looking at Luke like she'd never seen him before.

"That you'll never give up on me, no matter what happens."

"I promise on the River Styx," she breathed out, feeling worried and becoming upset.

"Promise me that you'll never hate me, no matter what I do. To anyone, even the gods," he spat out.

She hesitated, not knowing why he would ask that. But the way he was looking at her right then prompted a confused affirmative from her.

"And promise me," here he hesitated. "That you'll love me until the day I die."

They just stared at each other in silence after that. Percy didn't know how to answer him. What was he asking of her? Hell, she didn't love him like that, right? But…there are different types of love. And she did love him in some way, she realized.

"I promise…on the River Styx," her voice cracked at the end, but he just slumped onto her, quieting.

"Luke, I don't understand. What's wrong? Why are you acting like this?"

She was shocked when he bolted away from her, gripping onto her arms painfully and the hint of desperation became full blown and the wild look came back even worse than it had been.

"Because, Percy! I need you to save me. I need you to save my soul!"

She gaped at him, but stopped thinking and just reacted, pulling him into her arms and made comforting noises and whispered soothing words. She let him continue clutching onto her, even when it started to hurt.

The next day was a little better, though Luke continued to be quiet and sometimes he stared off into space. There were times when he just needed to seek her out and wanted her presence or needed her to hold him. But she still couldn't get him to say what was wrong.

Then came the day where they were to come out of the cabin. There was a huge celebration planned, and Percy was amused. She could see Luke seemed antsy though and particularly sullen, but she tried not to bring it up.

She brought Luke with her as all the shrouds were showed off and she took pictures of them and with them. She snuck the Ares cabin one away, deciding to keep that one for herself. They presented her with another laurel wreath, along with the others, though she was the only one with shrouds considering she was the only one considered going to be dead when they saw Annabeth and Grover come back and what had happened to her.

Continuing camp tradition, they all had a big feast that was held in their honor, and then Percy led a procession to the bonfire, with Luke hovering close to her (which kind of did break tradition…) and Annabeth and Grover taking position behind. She then set about burning all of them, and was completely happy to set fire on that automaton version of herself. If it worked, she didn't want to know.

She got her own leather necklace, complete with a pitch black bead with a shimmering sea-green trident in the center, to represent her first summer there. However, Luke had pulled her aside and handed her his own necklace.

"I want you to put on beads for me for now own," he gave her a painful smile.

She blinked and gave him a reassuring smile, even if hesitant, accepting it and entwining it around her wrist like a bracelet. When he was about to leave, she quickly grabbed a hold of his shoulder.

"Hey…sometimes, you're a little distant. I was just wondering…are you upset at me or something? Um, like are you resenting all the attention I'm getting?"

He looked surprised for a moment before giving her a genuine smile that only slightly calmed her.

"No, Percy. Sorry, I've just been out of it."

And that was that.

The party continued until midnight, where they were all ushered into their cabins to sleep. They were all gone and asleep for half an hour, when Percy was alone, somberly staring at the skies.

"Percy."

She turned to see Luke standing off to the side, staring at her grimly. He was dressed up, wearing black slacks, a dress shirt, and his hair neatly combed. She could see the watch she gave him attached on his right wrist, and the edge of something poking out of his pocket.

"Come take a walk with me," was all he said, before he started walking away.

She hesitated, but her worry for him was starting to come back again so she followed after him. They stopped by the creek where she'd faced down that hellhound and she shivered.

"Luke, why are we here? What's going on?" she felt frustrated, especially by how redundant she felt she was being.

Luke turned to her, giving her a sad smile.

"I love you. I completely and utterly love you," he confessed.

Shocked, she was frozen while Luke took the chance to come closer and pull her to him, grabbing her face and kissing her. Still shocked and frozen, she let him kiss her until intense pain erupted in her side. She gasped as she moved her head back, feeling her knees buckle, collapsing against Luke as she dimly registered the steel edge of what seemed like a knife digging into her side.

She breathed heavily, tears coming out of her eyes as she was trying to work out what had just happened.

Luke supported her as she nearly fell back, the cold metal of the ring she gave him digging into the area between her shoulders and where his left hand cradled her to him, her knees bending under her as she kept gasping. He leaned over her, his lips trembling as he stared at her with dead eyes.

"If I can't have you…no one can. Especially the gods."

He kissed her lips lightly one more time, before letting her gently down, walking away into the darkness and leaving her to die there. Her figure shook, feeling pain at her side but also it creeping from it to everywhere else, even as she smelled the acrid smell of smoke and ash. She continued gasping and shaking, feeling her body shut down and the cold encase her.

"She's here! I found her!"

"Quick! Get her to the infirmary, she's dying!"

She was in and out of consciousness. She could hear screaming and yelling, ones of pain and others of panic and outrage. She was jostled as she was carried in a hurry out of the woods, but she couldn't feel anything. Her entire body felt cold and numb. Again, the acrid smell of smoke. It assaulted her senses and made her vaguely want to throw up.

"Help! Somebody help!"

"Over here!"

She was on a bed now. She felt something being put to her lips and liquid being poured into her mouth. Someone cursing. Screams of pain in the background. Crashes.

"It's not working!"

"Damn it, she's dying anyway! Pour the whole thing down her throat and on the wound!"

She blacked out again.

When she next woke up, she didn't know how long she had been out. Looking at the clock on the wall, she remembering it had been around 12:30 to 1 when she'd been with Luke. It was now 7 am, a couple hours later.

"Percy, are you okay?" she heard the teary voice of Annabeth.

But the Daughter of Poseidon only stared back blankly.

"What happened?" Grover asked with wide eyes.

Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She tried over and over, but instead tears started pouring out and she started to sob, laying back down and turning her head into her pillow to cry as she ignored them. It was like that for the rest of the day, no one able to reach her. And then Chiron met her.

"Percy, I don't really want to ask this of you, especially in the position you're in, but I don't think anyone else will be able to gain access to the gods. Especially with this meeting, and I think the gods would preferably want to hear what had happened from you. Do you…do you think you can travel to the Empire State Building and report to the gods?"

The pain in her side won't go away. Her body was still numb at the same time. Her mind felt blank and she felt lost.

"I'll be fine," she answered stoically.

He hesitated but then nodded, handing over some papers.

"We didn't mean to read it, but it was from Luke and we thought he might've left a clue as to why he had done this. We only skimmed it and read what pertained to his reasons, leaving all the personal comments only for you in privacy."

She took them and began reading, Chiron leaving her behind. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and got off the bed, not waiting for anyone to release her or deem her healthy enough to leave. She walked out, seeing the chaos that Luke left behind him, with Percy none the wiser. All the cabins had been more or less burned down, and demigods were scattered everywhere, either crying on each other or by themselves. Some huddled in groups, some crying out in pain, and many in various stages of bandaging or trying to help clean up.

Her cabin was the only one left intact.

She trudged to it, going inside. She robotically collected her things and then left without another word, seeking out Argus. No one else knew she had already left.

When she made it to the Empire State Building, she continued on in her blank state, entering and giving a dead stare to the guard. He shivered and handed over the key card, and she went to the elevator. It wasn't long until she made it all the way to the throne room in her daze, not noticing anything else.

The gathered gods all stared at her.

"Why are you here?" Zeus' voice rumbled in disapproval through the room.

She stared blankly at him. Then she opened her mouth and began telling what had happened at camp, who had been behind it, and what Luke's role had really been through this whole thing. All the while, the growing horror that came from her words encompassed everyone.

"This is most unfortunate," Hera spoke out. "And now, Zeus, we have definite proof of Father's involvement. And with Hermes' child gone, we cannot be sure of a total prevention of his rising this time."

At the mention of Hermes, Percy looked up and scanned the gods' faces, seeing the god with familiar features. He looked in shock, having been unsettled and moving accordingly when he heard what his son had done. He looked deep in thought and pain flashed through his features.

"Idiots," her mouth opened on its own accord, blurting that out.

The room stilled and eyes pierced through her. She felt anger building up in her and she began to just rant.

"The whole lot of you! This…this is all your fault. Why bother having children if you can't even take care of them? Irresponsible and selfish. If you can't take care of your kids, you shouldn't even be having any! Mortal people who act like you have their kids taken away all the time. All of you act like a bunch of children who can't keep their fucking hands to themselves and don't know the consequences of fucking around and taking responsibility when you fuck up. And who gets to deal with the cost of your actions then? Your kids! Idiots!" she screamed at them.

Pain erupted through her side. Once again her knees buckled and she fell onto them on the ground, breaking out into sobs once more, hands blindly reaching out for her side wound.

"She's in hysteria," she heard someone say. "I'll take her to our infirmary and find out what I can do for her."

"Wait, Brother. Watch her side, there is blood!" a softer and comforting voice reached her ears.

She was unable to see through her blurry eyes, tears blinding her vision, but she saw the outline of a man with light-colored hair. She felt a familiar shock when he first touched her to carry her, before being enveloped in warmth.

Back in a daze, she couldn't keep track of time, only knowing she was on a bed again and that man hovering over her as he tried to heal her. Whatever he did, he was able to help her for the most part. He left then and she was alone to lie in her misery. There was a period of blackness that she couldn't really remember anything, but the first time her eyes opened and were clear, she was still so exhausted and weary of everything. Swallowing down another bout of tears, she slipped out of bed and grabbed her bag.

When Apollo came back to check on her, she was gone and there was no sign of her.

Started 12/6/10 –Completed 12/21/10
End the Lightning Thief Arc 3/10/10 -12/21/10

A/n: HAPPY CHRISTMAS OR HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I'm going for a batch update kind of thing, so expect more updates (from other stories). Soo…who hates me for this chapter and wants to come after me with pitchforks and torches? (sweatdrops and moves away) Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm sorry, though I did have this plan for like a looong time. Thanks to everyone who voted for me in the Veritas Award and to the late birthday greetings (ncalkins and jk.4eva)! It means a lot!

I love the song Highway to Hell. I thought it was brilliant that they put it in the movie, which was exactly the song I was thinking about when reading the book. As for the end part of this chapter, it should seem a little disconnected, so I hoped that went through, especially with the different tenses and stuff. I'm creating a website soon, that should have some PJO stuff up, like visuals and notes and stuff. So look forward to that. Anyways…the 210th reviewer gets sent a picture of what I think Percy looks like, the 225th reviewer gets sent the 1st photoshopped picture of her I did with a picture of a known character, the 235th reviewers gets the 2nd photoshopped picture, and the 250th gets the cover picture I put together for the fic.

Ghost: Thank you! I'd actually planned to have the Hades/Percy fight more detailed and all, but it turned out fine now. The Ares fight I'd also planned on, but I didn't know how to write it, so it came out better than I'd expected.

MusicOfTheDawn: The dog's name Cerberus ^.^ I love the three-headed dog. As for Percy dying…she can't die! She's the star of the show (which is my failsafe for any show where I worry about the main character dying –if it's a group show, then I'm doomed because someone's guaranteed to die). Yeah, Ares still cursed her, but there's a reason for that. Love the Italian suits, though the price is real for that suit (which is also real). Scary, eh? Thanks for the double review! And don't worry about Hades, things'll be better for him.

phoebe turner: Thanks!

GuessL.V: AND THANK YOU! I WILL EQUALLY USE CAPS!