DISCLAIMER: All the characters in the story belong to Rick Riordan.

A/N: I made the chapter only for Annabeth to explain Luke's dying wish, the cause behind his actions, the people he let down, his dream in life and other what if and hypothetical questions.

Let me know more about them. If you have any, then tell me about it.


Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Before you start, I've a question that remained unanswered for two days. Kronos said he'd pressured Luke in several ways to prepare him for the styx. What could he possibly use?" Jason interrupted her.

"Well, you can all see that Percy has a misplaced jealousy towards Luke because of me, right?"

Everyone nodded. That's in plain sight.

"To begin with, Luke is very much jealous of Percy."

That caused a lot of raised eyebrows.

"Don't be surprised. I knew it after he visited me in San francisco. Percy has everything Luke longed for. Sally Jackson is one of the very few mortal parent a demigod could ask for. She'd put up an abusive relation to keep Percy away from monsters for a little longer."

Everyone in the know or the one who read the book so far can see it clear as a lake.

Luke's mother- well, he feared her for all those um..., supposed episodes. He afraid of her speaking about his fate and all. She wasn't easy to handle for him." Annabeth began, not clearly knowing how to explain Ms. Castellan to everyone.

Everyone nodded. They'd seen her (listened, perhaps) during an episode and Luke running away is justified for a nine year old. Not right thing, but justified.

"Poseidon pays attention to Percy. He gave him power over seas, hydrokinesis, earthquakes, sword skills and much more is unraveled yet. Even though Luke was experienced and has his own set of skills, to him, they seem to pale in comparison to Percy's. Luke never had a father figure, in his eyes, that is. Poseidon only had a single son, ofcourse he'd pay attention. Hermes was busy, and he couldn't go against Zeus to visit his son. And Hermes decided to stay away to avoid Luke turning dark early. It's a mistake, but not on Hermes' part." Annabeth raised another finger.

"Even though Thalia is his best friend/almost girlfriend," cue glare from Thalia and chuckle from Annabeth, "he couldn't understand her situation as a big three kid, which Percy does. They both became friends-sort-of-siblings and Thalia sided with him on Mount Tam, then became a hunter. She has forsaken love completely for another heart break. Luke lost Thalia." she raised another finger.

"Then there's me. His little sister, mentee who usually follows him without any question turned him down from running away. I don't think it's reason, but when asked if because of Percy I'm not going with him, I didn't actually disagree per se. The seven year old who depended on him didn't need him anymore because she found herself a man who wouldn't leave her didn't sit well with him."

"At camp, Luke acted a little distant with everyone, even me. Percy tend to be friends with almost everyone. Percy has everything Luke longed for. Kronos could use anything among them to exploit his mind - to destroy everything Percy holds dear. That idea might've appealed Luke." Annabeth muttered the last line darkly.

Everyone looked dazed for a moment. Luke had a lot going on too. A few couldn't help but sympathize with him to lose so many things to his enemy.


Annabeth cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"The Prophecy. Ethan turning against him caused his power of influence on the host to dwindle down a little. Luke watched all these within Kronos. He was wrestling for control every moment. Since family was his mortal spot, injuring me- his last family, anchored him to the world and take control of his body. My knife, the knife he handed me with a promise of family, was cursed since he broke the promise when betrayed all of us. Luke understood in that fraction that he'd to sacrifice to eliminate Kronos back to tartarus, that too by his own hand. He has no complaint since it's his dream for a long time- to be a hero. A hero deemed by a prophecy, nonetheless. He had to strike his mortal spot to end the war and everything he'd ever done." Annabeth spoke in one breath.

"Three choices are made here. My choice- to believe he's still there and not giving up on him. That I couldn't save his life but can only liberate his soul. Percy's- to hand him the knife when he had the chance to strike. Luke- hold Kronos at bay and strike at his mortal spot instead of attacking a defenseless Percy. The Prophecy only gave one choice - Percy's because, it's the hardest. My choice to believe in him is easy. Percy would choose the same had Sally replaced Luke. You could never give up on Family. Luke's conviction makes his sacrifice worthy for him. He's fulfilling his dream. What can he ask for." Annabeth paused to collect her thoughts on Percy's choice.

"Percy had to believe, like I had that Luke could turn things around, even when they had a betrayal in the past. Percy's flaw wouldn't let him trust a betrayal once again. It is easy to strike than yield. Percy had to choose between his need to be a hero or a wise decision- mine, to hand the knife to Luke." Annabeth finished the Choice part of the prophecy.

Everyone listened with rapt attention not to miss a word. Prophecies are made with deceptions to mislead. Unraveling one Great Prophecy is a hard task until it passes.


"Then his last wishes. They too had priorities in Luke's opinion, I guess." Annabeth continued. They are words of wisdom from wisdom's daughter.

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to hear too. It's been bugging me for a while." Thalia said, some belwilderment on her face.

"His least priority was to family. Me. I honestly don't know why he'd ask me that question. That question didn't seem to point at me." She glanced at Thalia while speaking upto here. If she'd been there, that question would be appropriate to her, but why the little girl?

"I had thought his question implied whether he'd hurt me more than he thought he had— that he'd thought he tricked me into holding the sky for him because I loved him. I was about to tell him there was a time I convinced myself I had feelings for him - the admiration of a seven year old stuck and grew along upto twelve. Then a realization stuck me. Why did I want to save Luke? Is it because I love him? Where did this love come from actually?" she question. Thalia nodded, prodding her to continue.

"All the time I'd wanted to save him was only to get back the last of the my family, not because of I love him. I have never considered him more than a brother although I misinterpreted my feelings of kinship as a little crush at the age of ten." she paused for everything to settle in.

"The promise which made us three a family, however short-lived it was, held a lot of significance to the Great Prophecy. I longed for a family that wouldn't abandon me. He promised me that and I made him a hero— a hero he never meant to be. I created an illusionary Luke who'd never hurt me, abandon me, without actually learning anything about the real Luke. Only Thalia knew him and saw for what he'd become. Only because of it, she could let him go. I was in my own imaginary world believing Luke was all good and he was just manipulated." she justified her blind belief in him.

"After Thalia's incident, he was never the same. A shell of his old self. I knew our little family was no more. His quest completely broke him. He succumbed to his fears. I couldn't identify anything different from his past self, since I was little and created this illusion of Luke as a hero, a saviour."

Everyone nodded. They couldn't blame a ten year old for not noticing his change; when his cabin, Chiron, the entire camp couldn't even notice.

"He promised me family. He took the responsibility of a father to me, since his father wasn't much to him. A promise to be a hero he'd always longed for. A promise to gain the devotion of a hero. A promise to prove his worth to his father. A promise he couldn't keep. A promise, he didn't know it's implications as a 14 year old scared boy, who was still searching for his own place in the world." Annabeth explained Lukes deepest desire.

"Luke only knew me for those two weeks. He treated me as a kid at camp too. He still viewed me as a seven year old who admired him more than anything and followed after him all the time when he asked me to run away with him. He'd believed I would follow him even after betraying me, using my trust to trap me and using me as further bait to trap Percy. Oh, and don't even get me started with the countless times he'd tried to kill Percy." Annabeth voice turned hard at the last line.

I seriously can't believe Percy putting up with me even when I defended Luke all the time. she thought now. She would've popped a vessel, threw a fit and made a scene had Percy defended Rachel like that.

Such blind faith without even fully knowing a person at the age of seven couldn't be blamed on her, but Annabeth isn't anyone. She could see it in herself how much of a fool she'd been to drag so many under the bus along with her.

Her desperation and longing for a family, and her pride to save Luke on her own till the end may have won them a war, but at what cost? What would've happened if she lost her faith in him sooner?

"Where did I love him then? No, I didn't love Luke at any point in all the years I've known him. Then there's Percy, staring at me hungrily for the same answer, like his life depended on it. It actually was. Had I uttered one wrong word or made him misinterpret one wrong sentence then, there wouldn't be an Us anymore. Sure, he may stick around, but would never open upto me, never in this life. I'd completely lose his love, a best friend, my partner, even being his friend. He'd completely close off the world, slowly succumb to his inner demon." She took a breath to control her emotionsfrom going haywire because of the last line.

"Staring at him, I was reminded of all the arguments we've had, the tension and distance between us, dancing around each other. All of these things are becase I never clarified to him what Luke actually meant to me, never listened for him to complete his argument berfore closing off and distancing myself from him. The look in his eyes clearly stating the answer would change his future, our future — if there were one, that is."

"Here was Luke, clearly thought I loved him because of everything I did for him. There'd be no surprise if Percy too had thought like that. Anyone without the background knowledge would think like that." She glanced at Thalia, who nodded in understanding, that she knew exactly what the younger girl's feelings for Luke were.

"Even though Luke's dying there, I couldn't help be happy that Percy survived. We both survived. That stuck with me. Yes, I love him. I'm in love with the idiot seaweed brain who wouldn't leave me for the world, even if he had a doubt that I might not even like him. So I clearly spoke my next words that Luke was always like a brother to me but I didn't love him."

Then she glanced at Grover, who nodded to let her proceed.

"Luke's next priority was to the friend— a friend he'd partially ruined the future of. If Luke was careful, cautious, as his usual self, we would've found camp with less monsters. I don't imply we can save Thalia, but that incident ruined Luke, along with Grover. Grover and I know this, that Luke never forgave Grover for his mistakes. That haunted Grover till that day because he knew them both the longest and they were both ruined for his partial mistake. Luke declaring his worth was the forgiveness and acceptance Grover needed as a closure." Annabeth explained Grover's history to everyone.

His last priority was Percy, because he saw future in Percy. Percy didn't fight for the gods. He fought for the demigods. He fought for a right to change things. Luke thought he fought for the demigods too, but he chose poorly and before he knew it, he's gone far too deep. Luke saw that. He taught Percy. He was a mentor for the both of us. He gave his last guidance as a mentor to Percy for a better future for all the half-bloods." she finished Luke's choices.

Everyone was absorbing the words and processing them. These thoghts, choices and decisions could guide them to be a better person.

"Did you ever think it's unfair for Luke to die? Even with all bad choices?" Piper asked uncertainly.

"In a weird way. Luke's death had almost been a...relief. For such a long time, I'd been agonizing over him, trying to figure out how he could be saved. He saved me, gave me a family, and I'd wanted to be the one to save him then. That's probably my hubris speaking, still. He was too deep to be saved by anyone. He was out of reach for a long time but, reality had only settled after his sacrifice. It was like the weight of trying to get him back was off my shoulders." Annabeth spoke her mind.

"If I didn't know about Silena, I still would strive to save him till the end. That would make me unable to face him head on. Percy would struggle to keep me from harm's way, all the while fighting Kronos. Everything would simply lead to disaster. Silena's confession made me give up on Luke. It was easier to remind him of his old self and accept his choice to sacrifice himself." she strangely accepted her wrong judgement even with her pride.

"I couldn't convince him off his decisions. I don't have that much impact on him, as he simply treats me as a kid. Thalia's death was worse on him. She was to him like what I was to Percy. Maybe she could've changed his mind or avoided joining Kronos had she not been a tree. But even she couldn't change the fact that Luke would betray his friends once and sacrifice his life to set things right. That's Luke's fate." Annabeth deadpanned.

Annabeth only realized this fact after the war and Percy informing of Luke's fate being severed on the day he came to camp. One way or another, Luke would always end up like that. That's the reason for her relief. Luke didn't have a good life. She just hopes he can live a meaningful one in his next.

Nico had already informed her that Luke accepted Elysium only to choose rebirth very quickly. He'd set himself on a path for Isles of Blest.

"I know this is going to be a hypothetical question, but what if Luke survived...?" katie trailed off

"Let me guess, what if Luke survived and I really love him. Is that it?" Annabeth finished. Katie nodded. "I'm only going to answer this to match the prophecy line."

"Katie, I seriously think the ending would go down in another path completely. But for simplicity, let's go with the same setting. I guess the prophecy would come true, either way. Luke had to sacrifice to make things right. If he survived, the sacrifice goes to Percy. If I were like anything like you said, Percy would lose his mortal connection to the world and die" - she had to choke back a lump forming in her throat. Tears threatened at the mere idea of Percy being sacrificed. "without a hope to stay alive. We wouldn't have known what happened to him. A single choice shall end his days— a choice to make me his mortal connection."

"If he didn't die immediately, We would all lose Percy permanently. There wouldn't be anything stopping him from accepting immortality and be done with all of us. Because once you betray loyalty, loyalty betrays you." she took a breath.

"Had I been like what you asked, while Luke was trying to kill Percy, with all the war going, all the deaths caused by him, then I had competely betrayed Percy. A single choice to end his days- his days as a mortal. Everything would remain the same, despite the war. Luke would have to make penace for his wrongs for all his life away from all of us. Nobody would get any rewards or anything, since the gods got Percy they'll forget about us. The gods and demigods would become distant too in his absence. Percy would literally leave behind everything—friends, camp, family all because I would be in them and live his life under the sea never to show his face to anyone." Annabeth spoke her first hypothesis

Everyone shuddered at that. There's always need to be someone to make peace and spread hope on both sides. If Percy felt abandoned and really left them be, they wouldn't even have a chance to talk and convince him, since he'd be a god already.

"Can you really believe I love Luke after all that he'd done, including our opposite characters, my pride his wrath, age? Luke is not even my type." Annabeth asked.

Everyone shook their heads, really considering the question that border-lined fantasy. Katie blushed in embarresment at how non-sensical her question sounded.

Annabeth started with another hypothesis.

"Wait, there's more. It's not like it has to happen that way only. Had I ever been like what you said, I would've joined Kronos. Percy, Thalia, Biance and Nico wouldn't let us live or leave that easily. Four big three kids would either kill us or atleast capture us to hand over to the gods. And the future would be a little different. Something would happen to Great Prophecy." Annabeth spoke of another possibility.

"There's more. I would be forced to become the spy at camp. Thalia would definitely be able to tell something's wrong with me. I'd try to convince her to switch sides. Either we three switch to Kronos and get killed by Percy, Bianca and Nico or Thalia capturing me before I slip off, completely ruining my life. The war would go without me. The same outcome may happen to, with Percy and Thalia. Everything would look colorful except me—abandoned once again, not just by family but by the whole godly side, scorned, disowned, left to fend off alone." Annabeth revealed how dark her brain could weave stories.

Thalia stared off into the distance, wondering if she could do that. She did that in Luke's case. She would, only if she finds Annabeth has gone too far deep too. She wouldn't save one at the expense of multiple lives.

"There's another one. If everything upto the battle in the throne room was same, Silena's death would make me look at Luke only as a traitor. Even if I had loved him, there wouldn't be an us to begin with. Percy would accept immortality without me reciprocating his feelings. He wouldn't ask the gods for another gift since Luke lived and it would become his punishment to mend the relation between gods and their children. There'd be Nico in place of Percy for the next war." Annabeth spoke tiredly.

"There are several hypothesis, if you consider every single crossroads in our journey. So don't. There was never love between Luke and I. We're each others illusions, created to fill the emptiness within." She closed the hypothetical questions.

"Then what's your type, Annabeth?" Piper asked, her Aphrodite side showing up.

Annabeth simply raised an eyebrow at just stared at the brunette like — do you even have to ask this?

Blonde hair and blue eyes were never her thing. She didn't even like her blonde hair that much. Anything but blonde. Though, she can proclaim Percy's eyes captivated her like none other. She didn't get herself mesmerized like that with anyone. She didn't find herself attracted to any boys other than Percy and Luke(her admiration played a very big role), since she's californian complexion, she liked Percy's mediterranean complexion much more. She didn't get attracted to anyone after him in the least, totally hooked on him. Then that's her type.


"What's Percy's thoughts about Luke?" Jason asked, intruiged. The Roman camp wouldn't accept traitors. So can Percy can prevail there without any baggage?

"Well, Percy had mixed thoughts about Luke. He admired him first for accepting and welcoming him into the Hermes cabin. He admired Luke's skill in combat and sword. His betrayal stung Percy just as much it stung me, cause Percy trusted Luke even more than me. He's angry at Luke for using my emotions to trap and use me as bait. He hated him for all the deaths he caused during these four years. He respects him as a hero and honored his last wish. He feels helpless that Luke's life turned out to be like that. If Luke ever comeback to life, Percy just wouldn't stab him like I would." Annabeth didn't even hesitate talking about Percy's opinion on Luke. They're all facts. Thalia nodded beside her. She'd do the same.

Jason nodded, getting a little better at understanding Percy.

"Me, me. Another hypothetical question. Jason, who was the other leader at camp Jupiter?" Rachel turned to Jason.

"Reyna." Piper stiffened lightly beside him.

"Yes, her. What would the outcome be if Reyna and You were switched instead of them?" Rachel pointed at Jason and grinned at the blonde's annoyed expression.

"Rach, I can't predict that with Percy's impulsiveness. He's unpredictable. If I disappear suddenly, just like us, he'd search camp, contact everyone related, confirm with Nico whether I'm alive or not. Once all things are done, he'd storm Atlantis for Poseidon to take him to Olympus. He has the curse, no gods could complete defeat him and Poseidon wouldn't allow anyone to smite him. He'd just saved them— their golden boy. Poseidon would relent his request, I'm sure. One look at Percy being crazy, anyone would immediately confirm that he's almost on the edge." Annabeth grinned at the idea of Percy storming the Olympus for her.

"Then he'd start suspecting the gods anatogonistic to me, zeroing on Hera, who was missing. He'd throw a tantrum, making gods realize that Hera was kidnapped. Then he'd get the dream from Hera, tipping him of me to collect Reyna and the other two."

"He'd zero in on her tatoo quickly. Percy got a knack for smaller details. He'd go deep into it, even more than I could—"

She stopped abruptly at the conjecture, mouth agape. "I'm so stupid." she proclaimed lamely.

Everyone knows not to point out at her at the given moment. Everyone but Stolls.

"Wait, Annabeth, would you mind repeating that again, after I get a recorder, real quick." A glare shut him up.

"Yes, during the Labyrinth quest, we found the Roman architectures and discussed a lot about it at nights. We searched the big house for any roman records. But Percy came up with this hypothesis —like during the Roman empire, the gods moved to Rome, had roman demigods, enjoyed roman lifestyle, whatever that is, then moved on from there. The Labyrinth being in America now indicates that Romans too shifted to America. I crossed his conjuncture at that time saying we'd know about their existance as saytr scavange whole America." Annabeth mumbled, remembering the old conversation.

Everyone felt a rush— jumping off a cliff like rush about the new revelation. Percy's conjuncture had hit too close to home.

"He'd confront Chiron, draw answers using loopholes to figure out Reyna's identity. He'd defnitely join the quest like it or not. Or atleast tail them clearing all the monsters in their way. Every god owed him a debt at somepoint, they wouldn't refuse his prayer to kill some giants. Once when he find out I had no memory of him at the roman camp..." Annabeth paused for a dramatic effect.

"Do you think, that he'd wait for the ship to be built and sail for me at camp Jupiter. Nope. Not at all. Nobody, not even Olympians can stop my seaweed brain from storming Camp Jupiter. Percy has more wit and intelligence than we give him credit for. Let's just say being with me, he fails in the intel dept. He just acts dumb to have low expectations from him. When he wants, all his ideas would be out of the box and he get them done. If he didn't find me there, he wouldn't kill anyone, but lay waste the camp, atleast. Unless someone gives him some straight answers about me, the Prophecy of Seven would get hold. He wouldn't let them build it. Or he'd let them built it, but not let it sail to camp Jupiter."

"You mean, us remaining big three kids couldn't stop him?" Jason asked incrediously.

"Jason, you wouldn't be here if Reyna's here. At your camp, he wouldn't have any liabilities. Do you honestly believe you can take down a person when yourr weapons simply bounce off him. His swordskills make him a demon one-on-one. His ability over water makes him hard to approach him in 1Vmany . Gods forbid, his simple read on water molecules in the air would sharpen his senses along with his highstrung ADHD. How can you take him on Jason? You're good, I couldn't agree more. One of the best here now and best at there too. But Percy... with his invulnerability, natural sword skills, high control over his elements, unpredectable wit and obsession to find me makes him a demon on the hunt. You have to match him in everything to go toe-to-toe with him." Annabeth gave away, a detailed description of her boyfriend.

"Do you think Thalia would fight him when he's going crazy over me. And Nico? Nico worships Percy since he was ten. Would Nico fight Percy over something as gods asked him to? No! And there's more. A beserker and violent Percy isn't to mess with. He erupted a volcano from its heart when he's fourteen only to get me few more seconds to escape without considering his life. Do you believe he'd destroy some other places just to prove his point?" Annabeth explained patiently.

Jason struggled to hide his blush because of his outburst, the question he asked and the tone Annabeth took to coax him like a kid embarrassed him. Thalia throwing an amused smile, Piper patting his arm didn't help either.

"There's more. Tyson, the cyclops general of the Poseidon's army is his baby brother. Tyson looks upto Percy just after Poseidon. A single call from him and Tyson would storm anything in his way. Do you believe the gods go to this length only for Hera to join both camps while they're suffering with split personality." Annabeth asked in a smug tone.

"And do you know what would set him off among all these things? That Chiron wouldn't tell him anything. Chiron simply stating he was helpless would make Percy take things in his hands. That Chiron is helpless regarding me would make him not use camp's help at all. He would do whatever he likes. He has more people at his call. He can cover more ground. He's more power and resources than me."

"That's our difference Jason. I'd let us suffer than dragging everyone into the trouble. Percy would let simply let the world rot than make me suffer. He becomes a loose canon without me, and that's the only reason Hera took him instead of me, and wiped his memories.

I don't believe all to happen. But knowing Percy, I can tell with eighty percent certainity of all possible outcomes." She added helpfully.

"The only way to stop him is to get straight with him. Hera has to let him know of her plans and promise my safety atleast till he finds me. Or Rachel has to foresee the other choices leading to disaster, in particulary mine. He won't stop if it only endangers him." Annabeth informed Percy analysis too.

"If that's all, let finish dinner and the book today." She got up and left with Thalia, Rachel.

Everyone slowly stood up and went along the way to the pavilion.

"Man, you think she's serious about all the hypothesis?" Leo asked Jason and Piper in disbelief.

"I don't know" Jason replied uncertainly. Truthfully, he doesn't have a problem believing anything about Percy anymore. That guy is a legend.

"Ofcourse, its true. Did you see an ounce of uncertainity in Annabeth when she spoke about all the possible outcomes. All are considering he doens't lose his rationality and start mad hunting. And she's not sure about his impulsiveness and unpredictablity. Whatever she'd said is a tone down version of the otcomes." Piper clarified. She didn't mention anything about Annabeth not believing about Percy not remembering her.

"Pipes, are you serious? What made you think that?" Jason asked incredously.

"He risked certain expulsion from camp and possible death scenarios and still went on the uninvited quest when she went missing, when she's only a friend instead of moping around at camp at fourteen would speak tonnes about it. Now, that's his girlfriend, probably the person he loves most in the world, he's indestructable and he's got resources and an army of sea-folk at his call. Percy's probably go with the flow, think while you act, improvise at time, hope for the best, accept the outcome type of guy. Would you twiddle your thumb and wait if you were him, Jason?" Piper posed a question.

Jason stumbled in his steps at her sudden questioning tone. He glanced at her to find an expectant look on her face. He gulped nervously.

"Yeah, probably." Jason mumbled.

"There's still something I didn't even mention here. I'll tell you after dinner, on our way back." Piper mused, keeping them in suspense.

They went to the dining pavilion.

xXx

A/N: Annabeth & Luke never really have anything beyond kinship and familal love. Their kinship is the lynchpin for plot. Taking his dying question as a romantically involved one is demeaning his sacrifice and character. He had such a character build up. A goodguy-turned badguy-turned goodguy. Luke was charming. Why would he go for high schooler whom he'd raised as if he'd ever lacked women.

A large part of Annabeth's story is her feeling rejected by her family. Her mother is a non-entity in her life, she feels like her dad chose his new family over her and she clearly has a tense relationship with her step-mother. Then she finds Thalia and Luke, a found family and while she isn't rejected, she is left behind when Thalia dies, and Luke becoming his former shell.

Then Luke rejects everything that Annabeth believes in by helping Kronos. Her loyalty to him and her belief that he can be helped would make total sense if she just saw him as family, the only family she has left. If she'd anything more for him, she'd plenty of chances to join him and convince otherwise, or runaway with him when asked.

A/N: Reyna/Annabeth switching hypothesis— I really went with the flow on it. I considered every possibility and wrote the chapter at this god-forsaken hour. Remind or Correct me for any possibilities.

happy reading. I await your replies to make this chapter more memorable.