And hello. It's been a really long time, huh.

I'm gonna be real frank here and state it- the rest of the story is gonna be really fast paced and stuff. I started Life's complications in secondary 2- 14 years old. My planning for this story was shoddy, and even now it's really hard to pick up all the random messy pieces strewn across this series. However, I'll try to salvage this from here on out

I'm terribly sorry for not updating. Life's been busy, and motivation is something hard to come by nowadays. I will finish this story though, 0one way or another. Now, I'm just interested to know how many of you still are reading this story.

I hope you do enjoy this chapter. I've handed up the entire backstory on Luke and Percy on a silver platter. Enjoy~

(Also, I am planning on starting a new series on Percy Jackson. One more fantasy like but not really about gods. It may or may not come out soon, but I do hope you guys will like it.)

Enjoy! And please R&R for any chronological timeline mistakes as well as just letting me know where I can improve and whether you're still interested in this story.

~Kuntakintae

Annabeth's POV

Watching Percy train was, with the lack of better words, mesmerizing but simply terrifying. The way he swept through the ranks of straw dummies, tearing through any 'defences' the straw dummies could throw at him and thundering through the obstacle course he had set for himself displayed a level of skill that was so damn high that I couldn't even begin to imagine how many more years of gruelling training I'd have to endure to reach.

Shivers ran down my spine as I saw him emotionlessly slicing through a straw dummy before rolling and dealing an upward cut that completely split another straw dummy into half. The way he fought wasn't to merely spar and best people in terms of skill- the way he fought was to completely destroy an opponent's defences and take his or her life.

It wasn't easy watching him train like this. It just kept on reminding me of what he had been through, what Luke had been through, and what both of them had done before- murder others for the sake of themselves, the sake of their own survival.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity- which was in fact only about half an hour-, Percy took notice of me. As soon as his eyes landed on me, his entire body froze, not following through with the devastating diagonal slash he was about to deliver to yet another unfortunate straw dummy.

"Hi," I said awkwardly, unsure whether he was in the mood to talk. Also, the fact that his normally mirth-filled eyes were, at that moment, a dull, dark green caused me to be a little afraid of him.

As soon as the word left my mouth, however, all the fight he had seemed to seep out of him. His body relaxed and he sighed, looking down at his toes while rubbing the back of his neck- a habit of his whenever he felt really awkward or abashed.

"Hey," He simply replied as he walked towards where I was sitting. When he looked back up at me, the sight of us usual, sea-green eyes caused me to unconsciously relax.

"Want some water?" I asked with a smile, offering up a bottle as he drew closer. He shot back his usual lopsided grin and took it.

"Thanks wise girl," He said before taking a swig from the water bottle. Hearing the endearing nickname coming from his lips caused me to relax even more- my seaweed brain was back.

As soon as he chucked down the whole bottle, he sat beside me and lay back against the wall, sighing as he finally got to relax his tense muscles. His shirt was drenched in sweat, and his hair was even messier than usual. Looking at him like this caused my heart to skip a beat, and reminded me once again what I had discovered a few days back.

I was starting to fall for Percy Jackson.

In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised when that one particular day, when I was standing at my doorway watching Percy walk towards me that I realised that my heart was beating at a slightly higher rate than usual and that there was a small possibility that I had started to develop feelings for my best friend.

However, it wasn't exactly my fault that my past relationship- Luke Castellan, that damnable bastard- caused me to think that my heart would never be able to be mended back together again, much less be stolen by someone else.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, my curiosity- as well as my gut- finally moved me into action.

"Can you share with me? About everything?" I asked, my tone neither pushing nor urging. I didn't want to force an answer out of him. I wanted him to tell me because he truly trusted me, not because I had forced him into telling me about it.

His reaction was not at all what I had expected. Instead of immediately refusing and making up excuses, he simply kept his silence and stared contemplatively at the training ground- which was currently littered with destroyed dummies. I winced slightly at the thought of Percy having to clean all that up.

Then I remembered that he was probably rich enough to have machines in this area to do the cleaning, and my pity for him dissipated.

"I can hardly remember what my early childhood days were like" Percy's soft voice shook me out of my distracting thoughts.

"It was so long ago. Me and my parents walking in the park, them bringing me to Disneyland, us having a cheerful and peaceful dinner around the dining table- "His voice cracked as he recounted melancholically about his happier days- ones that had been robbed from him.

"Tartarus- now that I can remember well. It isn't exactly a place anyone would be able to forget," Percy chuckled mirthlessly.

"My title- not one I gave myself, mind you- was called 'The Slaughtering Knight'" The very title caused me to shift uncomfortably in my seat. Percy didn't seem to notice though, and I didn't interrupt him.

"'Slaughtering' because I completely destroyed any opponent I ever faced. However good their defences were, I completely decimated them," Percy continued. I didn't doubt his words for even a second. After seeing how he had trained, my heart shook as I wondered how exactly he fought in a real life and death battle.

"'Knight' was because no matter what the judges ever said, I never killed any opponent I faced once I had defeated them. The term was used to ridicule me, but I quite like it," He grinned slightly as he revealed it.

Shock bombarded my mind from all sides. Was what he had said true? Had he never murdered anyone before? It seemed almost impossible, yet I was ready to embrace any glimmer of hope that Percy had never been a cold-blooded killer.

"So…you've never killed before?" I asked tentatively, almost afraid that his reply would dash my hopes. His silence, however, was even more painful that whatever he would have said.

"Please tell me, Percy. Seaweed brain, tell me if you've killed before," I managed to say without stuttering and stammering. It wasn't the right time to falter. Percy was finally opening up, and I'd rather fight Luke than waste this chance.

"Before Tartarus, before joining the arena, I encountered many dangers. When I think back, I wonder how on earth did I, an eight-year-old kid, manage to survive in the wild by myself. I guess most of it can be attributed to luck, but some attributed to my surprising skill for fighting as well," His voice was detached and monotone, but he continued on with his story.

"There had been a group of bullies- probably around six to eight sixteen-year-old hoodlums- that had me cornered in an alley. They demanded Riptide, whatever money that I had and even the clothes I had on my back. Of course, I couldn't give them those- they were my only means of survival. My refusal, however, instigated them to turn to violence," My eyes widened as I realised where his story was going toward.

"I curled into a ball, hugging Riptide close to my chest as they pummelled me relentlessly. It took around three minutes for me to break, and you know what happened next," Indeed, I did. Percy had had a sword as well as a natural ability to fight. Furthermore, he had been young and beaten down like an animal.

He couldn't have been calm and rationale, and his primal instincts would have taken over.

He had killed those hoodlums.

"After that day, though, I never ever killed anyone ever again. The mental trauma of seeing decapitated heads and flowing blood on my young mind was enough to prevent me from ever killing anyone ever again," Percy told me, and I sagged in relief.

"You did it in self-defence," I replied, reaching across the gap between us and holding his hand, trying to comfort him.

"Murder is murder. No matter what the reason was, lives were still taken away by my hand, and I won't run away from it," Percy insisted. I couldn't help but give a small smile- the stubbornness in him hadn't left. It reminded me that even with all these new information, he was still Percy.

"Can you tell me what happened in tartarus and what happened to- "My voice cracked. It seems like although I no longer fainted at the mere thought of him, it was still too early for me to be speaking Luke's name.

"Tartarus is ruled by a man called 'Kronos'. He's the benefactor of Luke, and he holds a lot of power in his hands. He is the main bridge between all underworld leaders. You can say that he is the king of the underworld."

"He is also the reason why I am so afraid to tell you all about my life," Percy continued and glanced at me. Seeing my determined face, he sighed and stared back at the training ground.

"He never did like me. Luke and I were close friends, and he thought that my presence deterred Luke from becoming the weapon he sought to shape him into. Me and Luke originally hated him to our very core, and never gave in to his pressure. Believe it or not, Luke was like me at one time- unwilling to kill anyone he faced."

Now that shook me to the core. I already knew that Luke had not always been the guy I met all those years ago, but hearing it would probably continue to shock me for a while.

"However, it was because of that damn Hercules that helped Kronos break Luke. After that particular match, Luke became more and more unwilling to let go of his opponents. More and more of his opponents left the arena with permanent injuries, and the Luke I had known faded away into non-existence."

"We talked less and less. He became darker, more violent and merciless. The final straw was when he killed another gladiator in cold blood- slit the throat and watched the life ebb away." Percy's voice was as hard and cold as a stone now.

"We got into a huge argument. We even started fighting-but Kronos caught us and arranged a match- match of the year to determine who's the best fighter- for us to officially 'spar'" Percy snorted as soon as the words left his mouth. Even I could infer that the match was anything but a simple spar.

"Then we fought. It was the hardest match of my life- and it was not only in the physical aspect, thought the physical aspect wasn't easy as well. Luke's and my skills had always been on the same level- even with different fighting styles. We knew each other like the back of our hands. Mentally, it was torturous. To see what was once your best friend turn into something so monstrous- it was horrifying," Percy gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

"The match ended when we both hit each other on the head hard with the pummel of our swords, and it ended in a draw as both of us got knocked out."

"I woke up several days later to find out that Luke was in a coma. It literally tore my heart out to know that I was the cause of such a severe injury to him. However, he woke up several weeks later, but not without losing something." As soon as I heard these words, my heart started to thump wildly against my chest.

Something told me that whatever he was about to say was going to be very important.

"The memories of his early childhood years- before Tartarus- as well as the memories of what happened outside the arena matches he fought in were all gone. He no longer remembered me- or Thalia since she was in his early childhood years- but he retained all the memories of his matches, and his cold and cruel personality."

"The Luke I knew was no more, and Kronos had succeeded in gaining his weapon. Luke was beyond saving, so I packed up and escaped at the age of twelve, and I've never met him since. Till now, of course."

"And that's my story," Percy ended with a tone of finality. Minutes of silence passed as I took it in all in. My mind roiled as I replayed his words over and over again and gleaning information from them.

Suddenly, Percy tapped me on the shoulder, causing me to oook up at him. What I saw wasn't what I expected to see at all.

Instead of a cold, emotionless face, I saw an uncertain, hesitant and even fearful face. For a moment, I wondered whether he was actually afraid of Kronos and Luke, but his next few words shot down those thoughts, and gave rise to a whole lot of new, unwanted ones.

"Are you…willing to share yours?"