Hey guys! First off, I am so, so, sorry there haven't been updates in such a while! Things have just been very busy! I do apologise. I hope you enjoy this chapter. The next one should be up next Tuesday-Thursday! Promise! Read, Enjoy and Review! :)
Annabeth
For once in her life, Annabeth's mind was completely blank, unable to process what she was seeing. She couldn't understand. Luke was dead. She'd seen him die. And dead people don't stand in front of you, grinning.
"L-Lu-Luke?" She stuttered out. The sight of him brought a flood of emotions through her. She had known him since she was seven. For a while it had just been her, him and Thalia. They had been their own family. Then they had reached camp, and Luke had become more and more distant. She met Percy. Luke turned evil, succumbing to his lust for power, and his drive for revenge. But he had been good in the end. He sacrificed his life to defeat Kronos. He had been a hero of Olympus.
But he had died. He was meant to be gone. Annabeth, she had made peace with that part of her life, but she had also started a new one. Luke being there just thrusted her old one back.
"Annabeth." Luke smiled. His hair was the same sandy colour it had always been, and that smile was exactly the same as the smile he used to give, back before he started working for Kronos. His scar curved as he spoke. "It's good to see you."
"But- how- you're meant to be dead! How are you are here?"
"I can't really explain it. I think Hades brought me here. He said I still have a purpose, some things left to do."
"That doesn't make sense." Annabeth got out. Now her mind was racing.
A hurt expression flashed on his face. "I thought you'd be glad to see me."
"Luke, you were evil, then you were dead, and I-"
"I sacrificed myself to kill Kronos!" Luke snapped, before he smiled apologetically at his sudden outburst. He took a step forward. "I am here to help you, Annabeth."
"I know that Luke! You were a hero in the end. But Hades doesn't bring people back from the dead."
"Why are you obsessing over that? Why can't you just be happy? We can finally be together." Luke smile grew even wider.
"But-Luke- I'm with Percy dead -"
"Oh Percy, Percy. I can turn the tide of this war. I was the hero of Olympus. And I still can be."
"We are all fighting in this war." She gestured at her friends next to her.
"Yes, but I defeated Kronos. I can defeat Gaia." Luke smirked.
"Luke, of course we'd be grateful for your help. I'm just a bit shocked you're here." That was an understatement. Annabeth was surprised she hadn't broken down yet. None of this made sense. Hades didn't bring people back from the dead, not like that. Maybe Nico, or some other child of Hades, but not Hades himself.
And she didn't even know what her feelings were. Of course, she had been upset, had grieved about Luke's death. But he had turned evil. Then he had sacrificed himself. His story had been completed. He had been a hero. Him being here, now, it just brought all the memories back, not all of them good. And hope. She didn't love Luke, not in that way, but she did think of him as a brother. Maybe, just maybe, this mean he could start a new life, as the good person he had once been. If this was all really real, then surely it could only be a good thing? But none of it made sense.
Annabeth realized that none of her friends had said a thing. All the seven were here, but she had been the only one who had spoken. "Percy?" Percy's face was frozen staring at Luke. He seemed to be in shock, and wasn't coming out of it. The rest of the seven were the same.
"Luke? Luke, what's happening?"
Luke just stood still. "They're in shock. They've been frozen, captured in that one emotion."
"But who could do that?" Annabeth asked, her mind racing. Luke didn't respond. The pieces slowly started to fall in place in Annabeth's head. For the first time since Luke's arrival she looked around. She had been so focused on Luke, she hadn't realise what was happening around them. There was no fighting where the seven were, Luke facing them. Though there were monsters behind Luke, they didn't attack. It was a circle of calm amidst the battle that raged around them.
"Luke," Annabeth said slowly. "Why are there monsters behind you? And why aren't they attacking?"
"Oh, I think they still think I'm their master, from when I used to work for…well, you know. Useful, isn't it? Another way I can help you!"
Annabeth wasn't very encouraged. There was a large group of hellhounds behind Luke, but while they were snarling and drooling, they weren't attacking. But the fight was still going on around them.
"So stop all the monsters, not just this bunch of hellhounds."
Luke frowned. "I can't do that Annabeth. If I stop all of them, don't you think they would work out I'm not on their side?'
Annabeth took a shaky breath. This was all so strange. Luke, the monster controlling, her frozen friends. Though Annabeth knew something was wrong. She had an idea of what could be happening. She just didn't want it to be true. Luke; he was like her brother, and now he was back. She should be happy. Why did she have to think something was wrong? Why, for once, couldn't it all be ok?
"I'm glad to have you back Luke." Annabeth smiled. "It can be like old times. Why don't we try out some hound attack?"
A shadow of confusion lingered on Luke's face, before he smiled, bemused. "Umm, okay?"
"Oh sorry. That's just my daughter of Athena side coming out, making weird comments that no-one understands." Luke laughed at her statement. Annabeth didn't. Sometimes she hated being a daughter of Athena. Sometimes she just wished she didn't have to work it out.
Annabeth looked at Percy's face, his sword slightly raised, not moving. Then without warning, she drew her drakon-bone sword, darted forward and swung it at Luke. He barely had time to raise his sword to deflect it. He stumbled sideways.
"Annabeth! What are you doing?"
Annabeth didn't respond. She darted sideways, stabbing at Luke. Her sword grazed his side, drawing blood. Luke growled, and slammed forward at Annabeth. She rolled backwards, before jumping sideways, as Luke charged towards her.
"What are you doing, Annabeth?" There was a harsh tone to his voice.
"You're not Luke!" Annabeth yelled, as she parried Luke's blow with her sword. "You're some imposter. I don't know what you are, but you're not him!"
The fake-Luke dodged Annabeth's swipe. "What are you talking about? What gives you that idea?"
"The hound attack!" Annabeth shouted, feinting to the left, before swiping at fake-Luke's right leg. "It used to be a game, that Luke, Thalia and I used to play, when we were on the run. If you were the real Luke, you would know that!"
Fake-Luke scowled in fury. He whirled his sword, slashing and stabbing. Annabeth deflected his blows, edging her way forward. Luckily, this Luke didn't posses Luke's actual fighting skills. Annabeth had been analysing his battle moves, and knew a way to beat fake-Luke. She ran to the left, fake-Luke following her. She spun round, jumped to the right, but Luke was running too fast to stop. Fake-Luke was strong and heavy, but he was slow. And Annabeth was using that to her advantage. Once she was behind him, she struck him with her sword, cutting, and stabbing. He groaned in pain. Suddenly Annabeth pushed sideways with her sword, sending him flying to the ground.
There was a flicker as Luke's form began to change. Behind her, her friends started to unfreeze.
"Luke!" Percy yelled. "Annabeth, that's – wait- that's not Luke! What is that?"
Luke was transforming rapidly, his shape changing. Suddenly the flickering stop, and the creature that used to be Luke stood up. It was a tall woman, with a striking face, and long dark hair. On first glance she was just a beautiful woman, but when Annabeth looked for more than a second, she saw that her mouth was stretched out, almost like a snout. She had a forked tongue, and her skin was tinged with green. There were light scales all over her. Then dark green wings unfolded from her back, pointed at the end. She was part woman, part dragon.
"Lamia." Annabeth breathed.
This was the Lamia, the enchantress. The giants must have got her to work for them. She could impersonate any being, charm anyone into believing her. Only those with incredibly strong will, so the stories went, could overcome her power.
Hazel gave a strangled gasp. "Where- where did my mother go?"
"Your mother? My mother was there!" Leo said, shocked.
"No, it was my mother. And now it's that." Frank scowled, pointing at the Lamia.
Jason gave a yelp, and charged forward. Annabeth didn't know who he had seen, but he seemed angry now. He swung down his sword. Lamia eaily dodged, and whistled. The hellhounds charged forward, ramming into Jason. Annabeth ran forward, Percy behind her swiping at the hounds, disintegrating them. Leo blasted fire at them, Piper, Frank and Hazel stabbing amd cutting. Soon they were back in the midst of the battle, all sorts of creatures facing them.
"Percy!" Annabeth yelled over the clamour of the battle. "I'm going after Lamia!" Percy nodded. Annabeth ducked under the sailing blade of an empousai, and ran forward. Lamia was flying a metre above the ground, holding a thin, cold sword.
"Hello, Annabeth. Did you like my impersonation of Luke?" Her voice was high and clear, a cruel quality to it.
Annabeth scowled, and jumped up, slashing her sword. It cut the edge of Lamia's wing as she dodged. She shrieked in pain, before plunging down, sword out, at Annabeth. Annabeth rolled to the side, as Lamia crashed to the ground. Now that Lamia was at the same level as Annabeth it would be easier to fight her. Annabeth charged forward, but Lamia stabbed at her with her sword, causing Annabeth to stumble. Lamia cut her with her weapon. Annabeth winced in pain. She managed to jump to her feet. Suddenly Lamia opened her mouth and fire roared out of it. Annabeth barely had to time to duck, the heat making her feel woozy. Of course, Annabeth thought, everything about Lamia, even her fire, was designed to make people lose their senses. Suddenly Lamia flapped her winds, and the gust of wind threw Annabeth back, as she collapsed on the floor. The wind was strong and Annabeth felt like the impact had at least bruised her ribs.
Lamia laughed. "So weak. I think I should change my target. Ah, look, the Poseidon scum."
Annabeth felt the blast of heat from Lamia's fire above her. Lamia laughed in delight. "A direct hit!" Annabeth almost broke down.
"PERCY!" She screamed. Lamia looked down at her in disgust, before slamming the side of her head with her sword. Annabeth's vision turned black. She gasped for breath, dizzy and faint. "Percy!" She coughed out. She could hear someone's voice above her- was that Piper? It explained why no monsters had attacked her. "Percy!" She cried one more time. Her head pounded. She tried to stand up, but her vision was still fuzzy. She carried on yelling Percy's name. Though she couldn't see much, it was evident Lamia was not here, but had probably flown away to face some other opponent.
"Annabeth!" Annabeth looked up at the sound of Percy. Could that mean-? He was okay? He hadn't been burnt?
"Percy?" Annabeth's vision was clearing, and she saw Percy in the distance. She sighed with relief. Her vision cleared, though she every part of her body still hurt. Percy ran towards her. He opened his arms to hug her. For a second Annabeth felt a flicker of unease flash through her, but she ignored it and accepted the embrace.
Suddenly she felt something in the left side of her stomach. Then agony. She yelped in pain as blood poured down her sides, staining her armour. Piper, who had been behind her, rushed to her side. Annabeth looked up and saw a smile playing on Percy's face, a bloodstained sword in his hand. But no, that was not Percy's face. This face was full of cruelty, hate. Everything Percy wasn't.
"Annabeth!" Annabeth heard the yell from the side. Percy- the real Percy rushed to her side. He held her shoulders. "Annabeth you're going to be okay." He scowled at Lamia. "Piper look after her." He stood up and swung Riptide at Lamia. Annabeth couldn't focus on the battle, too focused on the pain. Piper poured some nectar on the wound. Before her eyes it started to heal, but while the pain lessened, it was still there.
"We need to get you to safety." Piper said over the noise of the battle. Frank was nearby, keeping any monsters from coming near them.
"No!" Annabeth responded vehemently. She could see Percy was struggling in the fight with Lamia. Lamia wasn't the greatest fighter by monster standards, and Annabeth reckoned that in a straight fight any of the seven could defeat her. But Lamia was an enchantress. She used her powers to dull you, make you lose sense, and that was how she defeated you. But Annabeth had a plan.
"I know how to defeat her! If I don't, she'll ruin our armies. Trust me."
Piper hesitated. "Fine."
"Thank you. Now get Jason and Leo! I'll get Hazel and Frank!"
Piper nodded and ran off, slashing hellhounds on the way. Annabeth stumbled to where Frank was, ignoring the pain in her left side. "Frank!" She yelled. Frank turned to look at her. "Get Hazel! We need both of you to fight Lamia!"
Frank turned into a dragon immediately and flew off, incinerating a dozen draconae.
Annabeth hurried to help Percy. Percy was moving slower than usual, clearly having been subjected to Lamia's charm. She stabbed at Lamia, her and Percy working in their team, so well practised they did it without thinking.
"Annabeth, what are you doing? You need to get out of here!"
"No chance! I know how to defeat this witch." She slammed her blade into Lamia, a direct hit. Suddenly Jason ran behind Lamia and stabbed her, Leo throwing his hammer at the back of her head. Frank dived down as an eagle and pecked Lamia in the eye, while Hazel darted forward and cut Lamia's wing with her cavalry sword. Piper used her charmspeak slowing Lamia down just like she had done to them.
One on one, Lamia would always have the upper hand. She could charm one person, and in most situations it would be nearly impossible to stay fighting, let alone to kill her. But a physical hit to her would make her lose concentration, and break the charm. And she couldn't charm more than one person at a time, unless she froze the other people, like she had done when she had been pretending to be Luke. But then that left the last person open to hit her, like Annabeth had done, which had broken the charm. In a group, they had the upper hand on Lamia.
They attacked Lamia as a unit, from all different sides. Whenever Lamia started to enchant one person, the others quickly broke it. Lamia's fire proved a problem though. That affected everyone. Lamia laughed at their dazed expressions. Annabeth snapped. This witch had subjected her to too much today; the fake Luke, the tricking of her friends, being stabbed by an identical replica of her boyfriend. She snarled and lunged at Lamia. Her blade pierced her heart. Lamia shrieked, and her friends joined in, chopping her to bits. Soon she disintegrated to dust.
For a second Annabeth felt relief, but then the pain came back to her. The adrenaline in the fight had meant she was able to forget it, but now she felt it crystal clear. She saw black spots in her vision. She managed to gasp, before she collapsed to the ground.
Hoe you enjoyed that chapter! Please review now, more reviews= quicker I update. But the next chapter should be up next Tuesday-Thursday! So check again then. :)