Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews last chapter! OMG I can't believe we're already at 20 chapters, that's insane! Ok, before I go on a rant, let's move on to the vague responses! :) First, let me say that I'm so glad people loved that little twist at the end of last chapter. I was a little worried. I felt like people would either really like it or would hate it and say "Where did Luke even come from?" or "He should've been dead" and then I would've been sad and gotten in a fight and it would've ended poorly. So I'm glad THAT didn't happen! :D I'm so excited that Luke has finally returned to the plot after his brief, unexplained disappearance, and now he can go about doing... Whatever he's going to do! (No spoilers, me! Gosh, you can't keep your mouth shut about this, can you?) You know what would be hilarious, though? If it wasn't actually Luke. Like, what if Annabeth just THOUGHT it was Luke but it was actually some other blonde guy that looked and sounded a lot like him? And all you guys jumped to the conclusion that Luke was back when he was actually dead in a ditch somewhere. Lol that would be so freaking hilarious... Anyways... I'm sorry about the long time it's taken between chapters, but school got a hell of a lot worse this year, and I don't even have a study hall where I can do work. I almost fell asleep on the kitchen table at 3:00 in the afternoon on Friday, doing homework, so you can tell that I'm honestly trying not to be a slacker. But I think that's about it for my ranting... I own nothing but please enjoy this chapter! :)

Third Person POV

"We need to help him!" Annabeth pleaded.

"I might be able to help you with that," a voice offered from the doorway to the small room they stood in. Annabeth whirled around, recognizing the voice immediately, despite her disbelief that she would hear it again with such a friendly compassion.

"Luke?"

Immediately, Silena and Beck scooted closer to Grover and formed a human shield between the intruder and Annabeth. Scoffing at their worry, the daughter of Athena tried to peer around the wall of their connected shoulders and face the person on the other side.

"Guys, he's here to help," Annabeth urged. "Let's just hear him out."

"I'd rather not, Annabeth," Silena stated, crossing her arms in defiance against the son of Hermes. "How do we know this isn't some kind of trick?"

Luke raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, inching out of the shadows and closer to the group. As the light moved across his body, it illuminated a bloody gash going down the demigod's left leg and dripping slowly onto the ground. "I'm not trying to trick you."

Despite her angry fortitude, Silena gasped.

"Holy shit," Beck cursed under his breath. "What the hell happened?"

Luke shrugged noncommittedly, stopping a few feet from the unmoving, living barrier between him and one of his oldest friends. "Kronos happened."

Silena opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it and rethought her position on the matter. "That might be fake. It could be a trick of the Mist, Kronos surely taught him how to manipulate it."

"It smells real," Grover nearly whimpered, looking at the nasty wound with barely disguised horror.

"Maybe we could continue this somewhere else where we could all sit?" Luke suggested suddenly, having been watching the exchange with great interest. "I hate to interrupt, but I'd really prefer sitting."

Silently, the three demigods and one satyr agreed to do as Luke suggested. Still maintaining the barrier between him and Annabeth, they shuffled out of the room and into one that closer resembled a dining area.

"Thank you," Luke murmured once they sat down, bar Beckendorf who remained standing with his arms crossed behind Annabeth and Silena.

"Don't thank us yet," Silena nearly spat at him, narrowing her blue eyes. "Even if I'm not willing to believe it, you may have turned a new cheek. Sure, miracles can happen. But you still betrayed us to Kronos!"

"Silena-" Annabeth tried to interject, with no-doubt kind words to Luke in her voice.

"No, Annabeth." For once, Silena refused to back down to one of her best friend's urging. "How many times did he try to kill us? How many times did he try to kill you? Have you forgotten that he once helped kidnap you and held you hostage beneath the sky? He didn't try to save you, he just watched. Why should we try to save him?"

"You shouldn't."

Every eye in the room turned to look at the earnest son of Hermes.

"What?" Annabeth managed, frowning.

"You shouldn't try to save me," Luke repeated, tone serious and genuine. "Silena is right, I did terrible things. And while I can regret those actions, every single damn one of them, I can't even begin to ask for your forgiveness."

"Then why are you here?" Beckendorf asked after a beat of silence, raising a challenging eyebrow at the son of Hermes that wronged too many of the people gathered around the table of Poseidon's apartment. "And how did you even know that we were here?"

"I saw Percy leave," he answered simply and easily. "I was in the alley below and I saw him run across a bridge made of ice to the other side. When he never ran back to this side, it was easy to tell which building he was running from and which he was running to. I counted the fire escapes to find the floor, and when I got here I guessed - correctly, might I add - that he had entered the apartment whose doors were still open to the corridor."

The others all looked at Annabeth, who frowned to herself. "I thought I closed the door behind me," she murmured loud enough for the others to hear. It would've had to be her door, otherwise Luke might not have found them.

As if he didn't detect her confusion, Luke laughed a little to himself, earning glares from the other demigods. Seeing this, he hurried to explain himself. "I should've known that Percy would do something like that."

"Like what?" Grover asked, a small frown pulling his lips south.

Luke grinned. "Annabeth says she closed the door, and I don't doubt her. Percy is a smart guy, but also a damn loyal one too. If I had to guess, I'd say that he wanted someone to find you guys so he went and opened the door closest to where you were so you would be discovered. He probably didn't want to leave you alone, not in this weird apartment that smells vaguely like fish, especially at night."

"Excuse me, but this is my weird apartment that smells vaguely like fish, and I don't remember giving you permission to enter."

Luke whirled around in his chair, hissing audibly when he twisted his injured leg. The others spun their heads around too, gaze landing on a man clad in a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts, standing and frowning a few feet away.

"Lord Poseidon," Annabeth greeted with a hushed exclamation.

"We were just leaving," Grover croaked at the same time, looking like he was ready to pass out. Which, knowing him, he probably was.

Poseidon waved a dismissive hand at the four of them. "You four are fine, you need not worry." He turned his green-eyed glare to the son of Hermes. "You, on the other hand... I believe the son of Hephaestus asked you a question."

Luke swallowed hard before speaking. "I believe I answered his question in a satisfactory fashion, but I can repeat my answer if it would please you, Lor-"

"You didn't answer both of his questions," Poseidon interrupted, gaze narrowing further.

"I don't know what-"

Poseidon lifted a hand and Luke stopped in his tracks, closing his mouth abruptly. The others stared on in a mix of apprehension, confusion, and curiosity. What had drawn the god of the sea from Olympus?

"Why are you here?"

Luke hesitated before responding, as if he expected Poseidon to cut him off again immediately after he started speaking. When Poseidon made no move, Luke answered reluctantly, "I just want to help Percy, Lord Poseidon."

The god stared at the demigod for a long moment, never blinking and never taking his eyes off the mortal son of Hermes before him. The moment lasted so long that Annabeth began to already mourn the man the son of Hermes used to be and tried to be in the end, because surely Poseidon was just contemplating which animal to turn him into.

Unlike Artemis and Dionysus, Poseidon wasn't known for turning people into a certain species of animal, so he had a wide variety of options to choose from.

When he opened his mouth to speak, Annabeth expected some kind of spell or chant. She expected to hold back tears of regret as she watched Luke writhe away into whatever animal Poseidon selected for the son of Hermes. She expected Luke to scamper off as a creature on four legs, not two.

Instead, Poseidon's face softened and he said gently, "How can you help me bring my son home?"

Hey guys, this is heartbreakingly short and it makes me want to cry, the shortness, but I fell asleep twice typing this so I just have to cut my losses and submit this. I'm sorry it's so short, but I'll try to post a longer chapter next week. School is just really tough and I've been getting these headaches that become even worse when I look at a computer screen, so I'm loathe to do anything at all when I have them. But again, I'm sorry. I'll update again next Sunday. Thanks! :)