Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, I am not Rick Riorden. The dialogue in this chapter also belongs to rick riorden.

Luke POV

I jogged to the sword arena, deciding to do a little sword play to try and clear my head. Kronos had been very angry with me when he found out that the lightning bolt made it to Zeus. He had plagued me with terrible nightmares, so bad that I only slept a few hours a night. He had given me a new task now, to convince other demigods to join his cause. I had already recruited Chris Rodriguez, Ethan Nakamura, and Selena Beauregard. I shook my head, trying to clear my mind, and swung with Backbiter, the new sword that Kronos had given me to bind me to him. I had been destroying the battle dummies, pretending that they were the Olympians, for around an hour, when I had the feeling I was being watched. I spun around, surprised, and I saw Percy Jackson, the reason for my nightmares, for ruining my chances to start a war between the Olympians. "Percy!" I exclaimed, pretending to be glad to see him

"Um, sorry," Percy said, blushing. "I just—"

"It's okay," I lowered the sword. "Just doing some last-minute practice. "

"Those dummies won't be bothering anybody anymore." Percy said, a slightly idiotic expression on his face.

I shrugged indifferently. "We build new ones every summer."

I saw Percy staring at Backbiter, and I smirked. "Oh, this? New toy. This is Backbiter." I said, a hint of pride in my voice. I turned the blade, making glint wickedly in the morning sunlight. "One side is celestial bronze. The other is tempered steel. Works on mortals and immortals both." Percy looked pensive, which made him look like an idiot.

"I didn't know they could make weapons like that."

"They probably can't," I agreed. I thought of the forges of the Telekhines "It's one of a kind."

I gave him a tiny smile, then slid backbiter back into the scabbard. "Listen, I was going to come looking for you. What do you say we go down to the woods one last time, look for something to fight?" Percy hesitated, but I pulled out a six pack of coke, and his resolve crumble. "Sure," he decided. "Why not?"

We walked down to the woods and kicked around for some kind of monster to fight, but it was too hot. All the monsters with any sense must've been taking siestas in their nice cool caves. We found a shady spot by the creek where Percy broke Clarisse's electric spear. I thought I had chosen nicely the scenery for his last minutes. We sat on a big rock, drank our Cokes, and watched the sunlight in the woods. After a few minutes, I set down my coke can, and turned to Percy. "Do you miss being on a quest?" I questioned, genuinely interested. "With monsters attacking me every three feet? Are you serious?" I raised an eyebrow. Percy sighed. "Yeah, I guess." He admitted reluctantly." Do you?" I scowled, the memories from my quest were not good ones, and I did not wish to talk about them. I could tell from Percy's expression that he was surprised by my face.

"I've lived at Half-Blood Hill year-round since I was fourteen," I retorted, getting madder by the second. "Ever since Thalia ... well, you know. I trained, and trained, and trained. I never got to be a normal teenager, out there in the real world. Then they threw me one quest, and when I came back, it was like, 'Okay, ride's over. Have a nice life.'" I crumpled the coke can, and threw in the stream. Percy was stunned that I would litter, but I didn't care. I would be out of this miserable camp in a few minutes anyway.

"The heck with laurel wreaths," I replied bitterly. "I'm not going to end up like those dusty trophies in the Big House attic."

"You make it sound like you're leaving."

I grinned. "Oh, I'm leaving, all right, Percy. I brought you down here to say good-bye." I snapped my fingers, burning a hole in the ground. A second later, a pit scorpion surfaced, its pincers snapping menacingly. I saw Percy going for his pen, but I stopped him, saying, "I wouldn't. Pit scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet. Its stinger can pierce right through your clothes. You'll be dead in sixty seconds."

"Luke, what—" I then saw the recognition on his face, and I knew he had figured it out.

"You," Percy said with contempt in his voice. I stood calmly, and then brushed off my jeans.

"I saw a lot out there in the world, Percy," I said. "Didn't you feel it—the darkness gathering, the monsters growing stronger? Didn't you realize how useless it all is? All the heroics—being pawns of the gods. They should've been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they've hung on, thanks to us half-bloods."

"Luke ... you're talking about our parents," Percy said, disbelief laced through his voice.

I laughed. "That's supposed to make me love them? Their precious 'Western civilization is a disease, Percy. It's killing the world. The only way to stop it is to burn it to the ground, start over with something more honest."

"You're as crazy as Ares."

My anger flared. I hated being compared with the gods. "Ares is a fool. He never realized the true master he was serving. If I had time, Percy, I could explain. But I'm afraid you won't live that long."

The pit scorpion was inching up Percy's body, getting closer and closer to his heart. I could tell that Percy was nervous, because his shirt was starting to get wet. "Kronos," Percy said rashly. "That's who you serve."

The air got colder. "You should be careful with names," I warned.

"Kronos got you to steal the master bolt and the helm. He spoke to you in your dreams." I rolled my eyes. Honestly, how long does it take someone to figure this stuff out?

I felt my eye twitch. "He spoke to you, too, Percy. You should've listened."

"He's brainwashing you, Luke."

"You're wrong. He showed me that my talents are being wasted. You know what my quest was two years ago, Percy? My father, Hermes, wanted me to steal a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides and return it to Olympus. After all the training I'd done, that was the best he could think up."

"That's not an easy quest," Percy said. "Hercules did it."

"Exactly," I said. "Where's the glory in repeating what others have done? All the gods know how to do is replay their past. My heart wasn't in it. The dragon in the garden gave me this"—I gestured to my scar—"and when I came back, all I got was pity. I wanted to pull Olympus down stone by stone right then, but I bided my time. I began to dream of Kronos. He convinced me to steal something worthwhile, something no hero had ever had the courage to take. When we went on that winter-solstice field trip, while the other campers were asleep, I snuck into the throne room and took Zeus's master bolt right from his chair. Hades's helm of darkness, too. You wouldn't believe how easy it was. The Olympians are so arrogant; they never dreamed someone would dare steal from them. Their security is horrible. I was halfway across New Jersey before I heard the storms rumbling, and I knew they'd discovered my theft."

The scorpion was now sitting on Percy's knee, and I could tell he was struggling to keep his voice calm. "So why didn't you bring the items to Kronos?"

I stopped smiling. "I ... I got overconfident. Zeus sent out his sons and daughters to find the stolen bolt— Artemis, Apollo, my father, Hermes. But it was Ares who caught me. I could have beaten him, but I wasn't careful enough. He disarmed me, took the items of power, threatened to return them to Olympus and burn me alive. Then Kronos's voice came to me and told me what to say. I put the idea in Ares's head about a great war between the gods. I said all he had to do was hide the items away for a while and watch the others fight. Ares got a wicked gleam in his eyes. I knew he was hooked. He let me go, and I returned to Olympus before anyone noticed my absence." I drew my sword, running my thumb down the flat of the blade. "Afterward, the Lord of the Titans ... h-he punished me with nightmares. I swore not to fail again. Back at Camp Half-Blood, in my dreams, I was told that a second hero would arrive, one who could be tricked into taking the bolt and the helm the rest of the way—from Ares down to Tartarus."

"You summoned the hellhound, that night in the forest."

"We had to make Chiron think the camp wasn't safe for you, so he would start you on your quest. We had to confirm his fears that Hades was after you. And it worked."

"The flying shoes were cursed," Percy said. "They were supposed to drag me and the backpack into Tartarus."

"And they would have, if you'd been wearing them. But you gave them to the satyr, which wasn't part of the plan. Grover messes up everything he touches. He even confused the curse."

I glanced at the scorpion; it was sitting on his thigh now."You should have died in Tartarus, Percy. But don't worry, I'll leave you with my little friend to set things right."

"Thalia gave her life to save you," Percy gritted his teeth. "And this is how you repay her?"

"Don't speak of Thalia!" I shouted. I was fuming now."The gods let her die! That's one of the many things they will pay for."

"You're being used, Luke. You and Ares both. Don't listen to Kronos."

"I've been used?" My voice cracked. "Look at yourself. What has your dad ever done for you? Kronos will rise. You've only delayed his plans. He will cast the Olympians into Tartarus and drive humanity back to their caves. All except the strongest—the ones who serve him."

"Call off the bug," Percy said. "If you're so strong, fight me yourself"

I smiled. Did he really think that I would be so stupid? "Nice try, Percy. But I'm not Ares. You can't bait me. My lord is waiting, and he's got plenty of quests for me to undertake."

"Luke—"

"Good-bye, Percy. There is a new Golden Age coming. You won't be part of it."

I slashed my sword, disappearing from that miserable camp, and returning to my lord.

AN

Hey, I just wanna tell you that, I am not going to update until I get five more reviews. Also we are going to go back to the states for a month, so I will not update till I get back.