In which Luke doesn't like doubting himself and gets defensive lol.
Replies:
Undeath9087: Yeah Percy's gotten under his skin at least- and chaos will come in time.
Guest: Eh, I don't think anyone would be okay being possessed by Kronos.
avaatje: Hehehe, drama is wonderful I must admit.
Zephyr0f8: Sally's books followed what happened to the kids pretty dedicatedly, just leaving out some of the fine details with Percy's heritage- though there were minor hints that 'Ariadne' was something other than just magician lol. And you shall see what I have planned for Luke.
Guest: You'll have to wait and see, I do love Blackjack though.
MKDemiGodzilla-Warrior: Hmmmm...perhaps, we shall see.
Guest: Yeah she's being smart about it- but why would Luke bother watching the movies or reading the book lol? Who would assume that they were actually true unless they actually read or watch it and out two and two together? Just knowing the things he does is one thing but he making that connection isn't so easy.
The silence after Percy's words felt thick and cloying, and Luke stared at her for several long moment, a horrified look on his face as he took in her words. And she knew it was a lot to take in.
His face had gone pale, the scar down his cheek looking even more vivid in contrast. The son of Hermes swallowed hard, repeatedly as he stared at Percy, who forced herself to lift her head and meet his eyes. "Don't be a naïve idiot. Your life won't be better because of Kronos. No. No if you let him in then your life won't even be your life anymore." and there was fear in his eyes- no matter how good the son of Hermes was at hiding his doubts. Then he closed his eyes, his expression shutting down, and Percy knew there was no chance of her reading what he was thinking in his expression. That was annoying and somewhat worrying but it wasn't the end of the world, Percy would find a way to make it work, she always did. "It's your choice." she gave a small shrug, leaning back. She could sense that pushing harder would make him snap- which would push him even further into Kronos' arms. No, no she wanted, she needed, to try and pull him away. And in this case she felt that the best way to do that would be to let him dwell on her words.
"I-" Luke spoke up after several long uncomfortable moments, his expression twisting slightly. "Even if I wanted to leave I can't. There's nowhere that would be safe from the gods or from Kronos."
"You'd be surprised." Percy remarked, a smile flashing across her lips.
He was considering it. Oh he wouldn't bite yet, wouldn't take the plunge but he was considering it. That was good progress all things considered.
And she wasn't surprised when Luke shook his head, a sharp jerky motion as he rose swiftly to his feet. "No. No I'm not listening to some little girl who's probably full of lies. I- this is the only way to get my vengeance. To get my justice for Thalia-"
"And for Annabeth?"
And Luke was fast. Very fast, Percy hadn't expected him to be that fast- but he was fuelled by grief and rage at her little jibe.
He moved so fast that the drinks were knocked aside, one of the glasses rolling off the table and shattering even as the liquid inside spilled all over the table.
Not that Percy had too much time to focus on that given the fact that there was a hand around her throat and her head was smacking back against the edge of the benches backrest as he pushed her down hard.
"Shut up." the son of Hermes snarled the words- and Percy could see that his eyes were filled with unshed tears. "You shut the fuck up. You don't know anything. You don't- it wasn't supposed to happen." and she could feel the tightness, her air was cut off.
But Percy was a Princess of the House of Life. She was the Eye of Nephthys, the living embodiment of Chaos itself. A hand around her throat, no matter how tight, didn't scare her.
She thrust her elbows backwards against the backrest, pushing her chest forward as she did, which knocked Luke off balance and he lost his footing slightly, stumbling.
And his stumbling was made worse by Percy summoning up a small swell of water- nothing huge just enough to rock the boat.
And as Luke stumbled Percy pushed her lower half up, wrapping her legs around Luke's waist lightning fast and lashing out with one hand, curling it around the back of Luke's neck as she hauled herself up closer, forcing him to loosen his grip- and then let go of her throat as he staggered backwards- which didn't do him much good when Percy pulled her head back and then rammed it forward, smashing her forehead into his face directly.
The crunch of the bones in Luke's nose breaking was a horrific noise- one that would have made Percy shudder in different circumstances. However in these circumstances Percy decided it was rather satisfying, until he spun and rushed at a wall- because ouch.
The impact was hard and jarring on her back, and Percy lost her grip, slipping down slightly before she let her legs swing down and her feet hit the ground as she brought up her knee between the older Demigods legs.
The noise he let out was a low choked moan as she pushed him backwards- hunched over as he was, and Percy eyed him wearily when he didn't rise and charge again.
"Truce." Percy's voice was slightly hoarse from his attempt to choke the life from her- which in Percy's opinion was very rude of him. "No more fighting, both of us are just going to end up battered and I don't want you dead."
"Maybe I want you dead." Luke managed through gritted teeth.
"Then you'd be fucking yourself over." Percy mentally willed the boat to head towards the docks again- easy enough to do and it wasn't as if they'd gone far out. Just far enough that Luke wouldn't have been able to storm off easily. So that he'd be forced to listen to what she had to say. Not that it had dine much good.
"I..." Luke looked hesitant for a moment before he looked away, straightening up very slightly. "Fine. A truce. But don't expect me to pretend to like it. As far as I'm concerned next time we meet..."
"You'll kill me? Better men have tried." Percy shook her head, "We're on our way back to shore now. You can go on your merry way knowing you failed to get the Fleece. Good luck explaining that to your boss by the way-"
"Do you want me to run you through?" Luke growled the words, a frustrated look crossing his face. Clearly he didn't know how to handle someone like her. Who was completely unafraid and unimpressed by him. That was good-it kept him uncertain and on edge around her.
She would make the most of that whilst it lasted. "I mean, you could try- but I doubt you'd have much luck." she shrugged dismissively, waving a hand as if his threat meant nothing, which truthfully it did mean nothing.
"You are so annoying." Luke ground out, shaking his head as he did. "So fucking annoying." but he backed off and turned away, storming proudly up the steps that led up to the deck.
Percy had to resist the urge to roll her eyes and she followed behind him, shoving her hands into her pockets as she emerged into the bright sunshine, watching Luke walk over to the prow of the boat, though he did glance back at her as she moved towards him.
"I'm going to figure out what you are some day you know. You mentioned other Pantheons-"
"Go ahead." Percy shrugged, "It's not even that hard to do if you have half a brain. But it won't help you much." well it would erase some of their advantage but... Percy was pretty sure the seeds of doubt she'd planted would be flowering soon so hopefully he wouldn't be telling the Titan just what the annoying mystery meddler was.
"You're too confident- you might be powerful but you're not unbeatable and I'll find a way-"
"Oh no one's unbeatable." Percy remarked, "Even the most powerful beings have weak points, can be distracted or unlucky. They can make stupid mistakes. I know I have more than once. But when I am beaten? It won't be you Luke. It'll never be you."
"One of these days..." Luke shook his head before taking a few steps back and then running forward- using the momentum to leap onto the solid decking of the docks, sprinting away into the distance within an instant.
Percy blinked, staring after him for just a moment before she shrugged. Whatever was going to happen with Luke would come soon enough. There was little she could do either way.
And in any case she had other things to focus on- she'd been gone for way too long, Piper was probably worrying and if Annabeth had noticed she'd gone she would be too- which was the last thing Percy wanted. She had no clue how she was going to explain any of this to either of them.
She let out a huff, returning below deck to locate her phone before she headed back up, transforming once more and taking to the air.
The flight didn't take Percy long, and she glided down behind the cafe so that she could transform herself back, brushing her hair- which had come loose during her confrontation with Luke, out of her face.
She paused for just a second as her fingers brushed her cheek and she noticed a faint ache. And shit but Luke had punched her hadn't he? She'd hardly noticed the ache but there was bound to be a mark.
Percy let out a long suffering sigh at that thought. Well. She wasn't going to have no choice but to put up with Annabeth and Piper fussing over her and being protective for a few hours she supposed.
She shoved her hands into her pockets, making her way from behind the cafe and casually walking towards where Piper was waiting for her- and she noticed that Annabeth was sat with Piper now.
A quick glance around told her that Chiron must have left, and Grover wasn't there so he'd probably either gone with the Centaur or set off on his own somewhere.
Whoops. Percy must have been gone longer than she'd realised- she'd been pretty focused on breaking through to Luke.
It was Annabeth who noticed first- standing up from where she was sat at the small table with such speed that she almost knocked the drinks she and Piper had over.
Piper whirled around an instant later, eyes very clearly focusing on Percy, and she heard Piper's voice calling, "Oh gods Percy!" and Percy winced.
Okay- okay so her face probably looked even worse than she'd imagined.
"I'm fine!" she sped up, reaching the table quickly, where Annabeth was suddenly in front of her, a gentle hand pressing to her uninjured cheek and gently turning her head just so.
"You're fine?!" her voice was slightly higher than usual, "You're fine? Really Percy? Really? You look like someone smacked you across the face with a bat or something-"
"It is not that bad-"
"It is so that bad." Piper retorted, on Percy's other side, fingers pressing into the skin around her jaw as as if she was afraid that a touch could made Percy shatter into a thousand pieces.
It made something in her chest go tight and Percy was sure that she was blushing for some reason- which was ridiculous but she just couldn't figure it all out in her own head. "I mean, it was just one punch-"
"A punch? Who punched you?" Annabeth snarled the words, "Who do I have to kill Percy?"
"Yeah." Piper had her dagger in her hand suddenly, "What creep thought they could get away with hurting you?" she paused, considering and then, "Unless you've already dealt with them I guess-"
"It is fine." Percy gripped both of their arms gently, pushing their hands down from her face. "Really. Honestly I barely even noticed the ache until I touched it."
"Who?" Annabeth's voice was low, "You still haven't given us a name Seaweed brain?"
"I-" Percy hesitated for just a second, because she knew that it would be hard to hear but-"
"I guess my... disguise when I went aboard the Princess Andromeda wasn't so convincing as I thought. Luke recognised my hair, he must have seen our boat as we left because he headed here knowing this was the closest place to the Sea of Monsters where we could reach land and... and he found the boat-"
"Luke." Annabeth's expression was suddenly terrified, "Luke was- you-" she was shaking- and Percy let go of Piper to grip Annabeth's other arm and steady her as Piper grabbed her shoulders.
"Annabeth- Annabeth look at me." Percy's voice was soothing, "It's fine. I'm fine- c'mon let's sit down and I'll tell you guys what happened."