Chapter X – Luke's P.O.V.
It's been a while since I've last set foot on Earth's soil and I am not exactly that ecstatic about it. I was never really good with keeping secrets and all that so I'm a potential candidate for ruining and completely sabotaging this entire mission single-handedly.
Kronos, though much, much older than me, is under me by means of the ranking system at the army so I had the wonderful privilege of reintroducing ourselves in front of the whole Immortal Council (Which consisted of all the Greek gods, same goes for the Roman gods.). Do you fancy that? I most certainly do not. I'm not exactly open to the idea of facing the people who once considered me as, not just a traitor to the Western Civilization, but the traitor of the Western Civilization.
"Luke, if you ever consider yourself in a situation of dire help just remember that I'm the one who is going to tell everyone that I possessed their most valued hero." Kronos, who was right beside me spoke up. Kronos wore Percy's mess coat, his hair neatly combed to a side (Which was so un-Percy.), and you could tell that Kronos, who was once the King of the Titans, was scared. He was as nervous as a kitten dripping wet, soaked to the bone, teeth chattering because of the cold.
This was a sight to behold if it weren't for the bloody circumstances.
"Well, have you ever been the traitor?" he did not respond to the question. I am about to face the people who have once considered me their comrade and their ally when I turned my back to join. . .well, him.
"Well, if it helps, I'm the real bad guy here, you resurfaced during the endgame." I nod my head, that's kind of helping me except I still have to face them. I heard from people that I died a hero but I don't really feel like a hero. I just don't think that I'm worthy to be called the real 'Hero of Olympus'. I'm not even an inch near being worthy of having that title. I know the real Hero of Olympus, though. If I would've been presented with the chance to become immortal, I would've jumped right at it, but he was different―he had the power to become a powerful immortal but he gave it up for us, the demigods (Though he had another ulterior motive, let's keep him clear and PG here.), to prevent the mistake from happening all over again.
"We're here." I heard Andrew's voice behind us. At first I was very reluctant as this is a dangerous mission as dangerous as the mission in which we lost Percy to the Void. Although he's soul is still here, he never made an appearance. When I was being possessed by Kronos, I immediately showed signs of struggle when I knew that he was already abusing my body and breaking his promises. I knew that he was using my body against my will and I knew he was leading me to my fucking death, so yes, I was bit damn vocal.
In Percy's case, he hadn't made any action or interference towards himself hosting Kronos. Kronos hadn't tried to reveal his true form so Percy is safe from the case of losing himself to a fate worse than death but his life is indeed worse than that of death or probably than Tartarus itself. It's terrifying to actually think of such a good-hearted man would have to go through this.
'If only he knew the real reason why.'
I took Andrew and Kronos with me to Olympus and to say that the gods were shocked would be the understatement of the century.
"Luke?" my father, Hermes, said in disbelief. The gods were stunned and Zeus looked at Hades and (they probably had a telepathic message) Hades nodded. After some more minutes in silence, I only noticed that Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter (I've been watching them the whole time therefore I know the reason why she did that to Percy.). I turned to face Kronos and Andrew to ask them if they were ready and they gave me a nod.
"Olympians and half-bloods, we come in peace. We, the army of Chaos, know about the upcoming war with Gaea and the rest of her primordial siblings along with their intention, once using an Olympian's blood as tribute, to wake up End, Chaos's father." Others were shocked as if they only knew that they were only going to fight Gaea.
"I am Luke Castellan, a former deceased demigod son of Hermes," I turned to my father, "I'm sorry, Dad. I hope you can forgive me." He stood from his chair and he immediately went to me (after shrinking to his human size) and enveloped me in his arms. "I've missed you, Dad." My teary voice sounded throughout the room and he returned the gesture.
After our reunion, Hermes returned to his seat and he regained his composure but the smile he had on his face retained. "First of all, Chaos would like to extend his apologies for being unavailable to assist us himself as he has many other things to do such as keeping other planets discovering each other and declaring an intergalactic war and setting off a domino effect with the other planets.
As I said this, Athena was occupied by intensely gazing and studying Andrew for some reason (She could probably notice the resemblance between them as Andrew is her grandson.). Andrew, on the other hand, was glaring at Annabeth (He found a picture of me, Thalia and Annabeth and he quickly connected the dots when he saw a brief description of the photo at the back.) and if his glare could kill, Annabeth would be motionless on the ground by now.
Andrew would be left behind at Olympus to protect and keep an eye on the gods as each god is vitally important. When we spoke about having a representative left on Olympus, Athena almost immediately asked for Andrew to be left behind. For what reason, I do not know. Andrew did not decline and he accepted the offer of being left behind because the task of protecting the gods isn't even remotely near the part of protecting Percy, which is his main objective and goal.
"Where would you like to lodge yourself and your army?" Zeus asked (He became much more civil and disciplined, Percy had that effect that made people or immortals realize their mistakes.) me and I hesitated before I answered.
"We would like to temporarily reside at Camp Half-Blood so that we could train other campers as well and, you know, prepare them for the upcoming war." Zeus gave a nod and gave us the right after swearing on the River Styx. Right after swearing on the River Styx, Annabeth stood up and she spoke. Although she's still the beautiful little sister I have, something was off with her, you know? She's different, drastically and marginally different, I would say.
"We lost Percy this day, 50 years ago," her voice was as rough as sandpaper. Ananbeth isn't the same as the old Annabeth. She lost Percy and now she's a different person. Annabeth turned to us and back to the gods, "And for the last time," her voice broke, her face hopeful but she was holding back, as if hoping was something difficult. And I did understand, the hope of Percy being alive is both a gift and a curse to Annabeth. It could easily build her up and destroy her, all at once. "And for the last time, I ask you, I ask every single one of you, has anyone seen Percy?" Andrew, Kronos and I stiffened at the mention of his name.
The answer, or the lack thereof, made her composure falter. I could tell that she tried to hold this sob back, but it was fruitless. She let out this defeated sob and momentarily excused herself as Poseidon, who seemed to grow older as every second had passed, had heavily pronounced Percy dead and that when we and the campers were about to exit the throne room, Athena spoke up. Athena wishes to know who were their ally's high ranked officers. After a brief moment of silence, Andrew stepped forward and he spoke.
Through the years, he changed from the scrawny five year old into this brave and daring (Quite cold and emotionless as well.) fifteen year old. His once bright and golden honey blonde had grown darker and his once stormy grey eyes had now contained specks of blue and swirls of green.
"I am Andrew, the heir of the heir apparent to the throne of the Universe. I am the grandson of Chaos, part of the Primordial Council, member of the Atomian Parliament, and the Lieutenant of the Army." He carried himself with such confidence and authority. He had this aura similar to the aura of Percy, even though Percy's aura was much more defined and more powerful to such extent, Andrew's aura was to be feared of as well, especially if you haven't met Percy.
Kronos was wearing a hood that covered his face so that none of the gods or campers could see his face and when Andrew finished, everyone looked at him expectantly. Time seemed to freeze (Seemed, somehow, did not fit the sentence quite right―I bet that he did freeze time for just about a millisecond.) and I could hear his slow and uneven breathing. After a rather deafening silence, Kronos stepped up.
"I am the heir to the throne of the Universe." There was a hint of fear in his voice but barely noticeable and you would have to know him for such a long time to notice it. "I am the heir apparent to the throne, the highest General of the Planitis Atomos' Ground Force's Army, part of the Primordial Council, a member of the Parliament, and. . ." he paused and hesitated. Although he had faced the ground, I could tell that he was nervous.
"I am the 15th reincarnation of Omicron, son of Chaos," what?! He. . .is he pretending to be―
"I am," he took down his hood for everyone to see his slightly scarred face and his frozen sea-green eyes had made contact with everyone in the room. "I am Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, hero of Olympus, defeater of Gaea and Kronos, the bane of all mythological monsters." With his hooded cloak in the ground, their eyes feasted on the medal and honor-covered general who was once their own.
"I accept the prophecy," Kronos sneered, as if he was forced to do so. His hair was slightly messed up a bit. "I accept this prophecy, henceforth responsible for the world and the hero of Olympus. I am Percy Jackson."