Chapter 13

I'm not going to go into any more detail on torture because I'm really bad at writing it and also for if there are younger readers on the site.

Two weeks had gone by since the day they had first received the video and Percy's weapon. Zeus had decided to let Luke and the others stay for a while longer, at least until Percy was found. Olympus had been in uproar for the past week. Gods where coming and going so quickly it was hard to know who hadn't been there. The enemy hadn't shown their faces and Zeus had suspicions that the only thing they'd wanted was Percy.

Luke had continued training, his father had even been helping him with his teleportation abilities. Right now, he was watching the sun sink in the sky, it was nice to see real sunsets and he remembered vividly, watching them with Percy.

"Luke!" the call came from his right and he turned to see Chiron making his way up the cliff towards him. Luke stood to greet him with a small smile.

"Hey, Chiron." Luke didn't know how his old mentor would react to him being on the outer limits of the camp. He'd needed to get off Olympus and this was the only 'safe' place he could go.

"Luke. If I may ask, what are you doing here?" Chiron's intuition served him well, but Luke had always been a mystery to the old centaur.

"Thinking. Reliving old memories." Luke replied, turning back to watch the sun turn a dazzling shade of pink as its bottom had sunk below the horizon.

"Why?" Chiron watched him with slight caution. Luke had never been one for reliving the past, so that was news to him.

"The gods offered me immortality, along with Achilles, Odysseus, and Theseus." Chiron smiled softly at the demigod son of Hermes.

"That's wonderful, Luke. Why haven't you accepted yet?" Luke shook his head and that was when Chiron saw the anguish in the boy's eyes.

"I can't." Luke replied, turning away from his old mentor and standing on the edge of the cliff, looking down to see the waves crashing against it angrily.

"Why?" Chiron asked, not following the hero.

"I don't know. I guess I just want to wait and see what happens to Persephone first." He replied, kicking a loose pebble and watching it tumble into the rough waters below.

"Persephone will return, and when she does, I suggest you be there to witness it." Chiron didn't wait for an answer, he just cantered back down the cliff, towards camp. Luke watched him go for a moment before teleporting himself back to Olympus.

Xxx

"Luke! I've been meaning to talk to you." Anthony's voice carried towards him through the busy streets of Olympus and Luke felt a tinge of anger at hearing his voice.

"Anthony." He bitterly replied, staring at the boy who had once been so smart.

"I've heard that you've been hanging out with Percy. I don't think that's such a great idea." Anthony replied, not pausing for a beat. Luke froze, his mind reeling slightly to comprehend what the boy had just told him. "You see, Percy isn't the smartest and you're a bad influence on her-" His voice was choked off by the depth of anger in Luke's eyes.

"Chase, I used to think you were a great kid, but now, after you've cheated on the best hero of all time and then have the nerve to confront me about being bad for her, I think you can just," he tilted his head dangerously and stepped closer "Stay the hell away."

"I'm just saying what's true. You and I both know she's not the smartest and without me, she never would've been able to defeat, well, you." Anthony stood there with a smirk on his face, but Luke's went deathly calm as a silence rang over him. His fists curled up and wham! He punched the younger demigod in the jaw, knocking the kid out. He stood over him for a moment, looking down at the face of the son of Athena before turning around. He wasn't ready for the next surprise. Thalia Grace stood watching him, her arms folded across her chest. She wore her normal, hunter getup and Luke tried to walk past her but she stopped him with a crackle of energy.

"I should've warned you what a big ego he had." She frowned down at the boy before turning back to Luke and studying him for a moment. "I have a few questions and you can answer them the easy way, or the hard way." Luke sighed when she said this and nodded his head slowly, motioning for her to lead the way. She led him down several different roads and soon he was lost and hoping she knew her way better than he did.

"Okay, this is good." They were in an old alley way that looked like it hadn't been used in about a hundred years.

"What do you want to know? "He asked, sitting down on the cobblestone and watching her pace in front of him. She didn't reply for several moments.

"Why did Percy come to you for training?" she asked finally and he sighed.

"She said that I was the only one who could train her." Thalia froze in front of him and he watched her face carefully.

"There are plenty who would be able and willing to train her here on Olympus." Thalia hissed, beginning to pace again.

"Yes, I know. I think she wanted to be somewhere where she didn't have to worry about being judged. Being a hero means being watched all the time, but when you're training with those of same or higher status then you, you aren't judged, you're trained." He paused for a moment and Thalia knelt next to him on the damp cobblestone.

"She could've trained with the hunters." Thalia replied, her blue eyes questioning.

'Yes, but you and I both know that Percy would never fit in with them. Most of her friends are male, she came where she felt most comfortable and that was-" he paused and frowned.

"With you. She felt most comfortable with the person that tried to kill her several times. Right." Thalia shook her head and sat down next to him, leaning her head against the wall.

"Thalia. To be honest, Percy doesn't really care if she lives or dies. You and I have both seen her in battle. She takes chances that no other person could afford. She's never known what it's like not to be fighting for her life, so she does things that others wouldn't." He replied, Thalia tucked her head between her legs and groaned softly.

"Sometimes she's so normal, then other times she looks at you with this look that," she pauses and looks at him "It looks like she's studying you, trying to figure out what your next move will be and how to kill you."

"That would be the warrior in her. I think she came to me because I'm the exact same way. I try to know every person's weaknesses and use them against them. That's why I'm so good at turning on people." he replied softly, folding his hands in front of him. Thalia was silent for a moment before replying.

"You don't do it to everybody. You've learned to control it, Luke. I think Percy taught you that." He looked up at her and saw the electric blue eyes, tears blurred his vision and he ducked his head.

"I love her, Thalia." He cried out and Thalia let out a soft gasp.

"Luke, look at me." Her voice was softer now and he did.

"Percy was heartbroken when she had to hand you that knife. She blamed herself for it. If you truly love her, then I can promise you that it'll be okay." She said and he wiped his eyes quickly.

"Can you keep that to yourself, Thalia?" he asked after a few seconds. Thalia smiled and punched his arm, not gently.

"Of course. What are friends for?" she stood up and walked away, leaving him sitting there, but at the corner of the alley, she stopped "By the way, the gods got a message this morning, it seems they'll be getting an Iris message in," she looked at the sun. "Right about now, I think you should be there." It took him a few seconds, but he understood her message and leapt to his feet. He'd already done his limit of teleportation for the day, but that didn't mean he couldn't run.