Chapter 17

Luke had almost single handily killed every demigod hunter in the room. Man, Cain was going to be ticked off, after Luke had killed his brother. My shoulder hurt as I walked forward. Luke didn't spot me for a few seconds. When he did, I almost ran away in fear. His eyes were so cold and merciless. I began to wonder if the boy I knew when I was little, ever existed. If he had, I didn't see any of that boy in Luke. I prayed that we weren't too late to save Percy. A grin spread across Luke's face. That made me freeze. Luke started walking toward me. The gun hung at his side. A tear rolled down my cheek. "What's wrong, Annabeth?" Luke hissed.

I couldn't answer. "Well, Wise Girl? Are you scared of me?" Luke asked.

Only Percy was aloud to call me Wise Girl. But there was no emotion in Luke's voice, I couldn't tell if that was Percy or not. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Travis and Connor raise their swords behind a lab-table. Thalia had her bow aimed. Though, all my friends had their weapons ready, I didn't know what use they could be when Luke had the Achilles spot. Then I remembered Nico forgot to even ask me where Percy's Achilles spot was. How was he going to remove Luke's soul now? Luke came closer until he was inches away from me. All I could do was stand there and look into his bitter eyes. When I looked into his eyes, it made me think that maybe Percy was really gone. The scar on Luke's face looked like it was made yesterday. My heart started beating faster. I couldn't find the right words to say. Luke raised the gun, "What? You think I'm going to kill you?"

I couldn't keep my eyes off the gun in Luke's hand. He laughed. "You honestly think I am, I can see the fear in your eyes. I'm not going to kill you without a reason."

"You killed mortals...mercilessly," I muttered.

An annoyed look appeared on Luke's face. "Percy and I, we're not so different. You should have seen him in the village before he came to rescue you," Luke told me.

"W-What do you mean?" I asked.

"Percy killed every single villager there. He showed them no mercy," Luke smiled.

"You're lying! Percy would never..." my voice trailed off.

"Well, it doesn't matter if you believe me or not," Luke said. "Percy is gone and there is nothing you can do about it."

Luke pointed the gun at me. "Wait! You said you wouldn't kill me without a reason!" I protested.

"Yeah, well, I lied," Luke shrugged.

Panic filled my body. The gun never fired. Travis and Connor had jumped on Luke's back. They each had one of Luke's arms twisted behind his back. The gun clattered to the floor. "You know, I never really liked you guys," Luke said calmly to the Stroll brothers.

In a second Connor and Travis were flung from Luke's back. Travis smashed into the wall and slid to the floor. Connor slid across a lab-table and hit the floor with glass in his back. Thalia shot an arrow at Luke. It harmlessly bounced off of his chest. Luke pointed the gun at Thalia and fired. Before the bullet hit her Jake grabbed her legs and she fell as the bullet was planted into the wall. "You ruined the fun, Jake." Luke shook his head.

"Percy!" I cried.

Luke turned his head toward me. Just for a second, I thought I saw Percy's green eyes. "Percy is gone!" Luke snapped.

Grover and Pollux ran at Luke. Luke easily hit Pollux and sent him flying through the air. He grabbed Grover by the neck and lifted him in the air. Grover choked for air. "Luke! Stop!" I yelled crashing into his chest.

He let go of Grover and hit the ground. Grover panted as he took in a deep breath. While Luke was processing what just happened, I bent down in front of Grover. "Try your empathy link with Percy," I told him.

"Do you think it will work?" Grover asked.

"I don't know. But anything could help at this point," I said.

"O-Okay, I'll try," he nodded.

Then I felt someone grab my shirt. Luke threw me back and Grover scrambled away. I landed on my shoulder; I let out a whimper of pain. Luke walked toward me and gripped my shirt. He brought me up so I was face-to-face with him. "Percy, I know you're in there somewhere!" I said.

"I'll say it again, Percy is GONE," Luke snarled.

"No, he isn't," I said.

Luke started getting frustrated. I looked into his eyes and I knew Percy was still in there. Suddenly Nico slammed into Luke. Nico yelled, "Hold him off!"

Katie and Jake stood up and started fighting Luke. Everyone else did the same, except Connor, who was sitting against the wall cheering everyone on. Nico turned back to me. I folded my arms, "Let me guess, you don't know where Percy's Achilles spot is, right?"

Nico smiled. "Yeah."

"So what's your plan?" I rolled my eyes.

He went back to looking serious. "Well, I need you to stab his Achilles spot. Then I'll grab Backbiter and remove Luke's soul. Just don't get killed before then, okay?"

"Got it," I smiled.

Nico handed Backbiter to me. This was going to be fun...not! So how was I suppose to stab or even get to his back?

Percy's POV

I felt like I was back in the River Styx. Except, I didn't feel like my body was on fire. I was just floating through the water. Luke had already taken over my body. So why wasn't I dead already? I didn't know who I was anymore. The darkness around me was starting to close in. When it had completely surrounded me, I would fade away. "Percy!" a voice echoed around me.

Who was Percy? The voice said it again. It sounded familiar. But I couldn't remember. "Percy, I know you're in there somewhere!" the voice cried.

It was so familiar. I held my head in frustration. Then just for a second I could see something other than darkness. I could see a girl. She had curly blond hair and stormy grey eyes. Her shirt was orange and said "Camp Half-Blood" on it. I felt like I'd seen her before. Actually more than felt like, I knew I'd seen her. "Percy is GONE!" another voice yelled.

This voice was sounded mean and almost like they didn't believe what they were saying. Who was this Percy guy anyway? I looked at my shirt. It was just like the girl's shirt. Camp Half-Blood. What was that? I heard the name Percy called again. Then I remembered. Percy was my name. The girl's name was Annabeth Chase. She was one of the single most important people in my life. "Annabeth!" my voice echoed in the dark.

Annabeth's POV

Luke winced for a moment and held his head. "You're not taking over, Percy!" Luke muttered to himself.

My heart skipped a beat. Percy was still there! The problem was: Luke was in the way. Percy couldn't do it on his own, he needed Nico's help. "Luke!" I shouted.

He looked at me with eyes like daggers. Luke dropped Percy's shield and walked toward me. "I've had about enough of you stupid campers," Luke snarled.

I ran at him with Backbiter. Before Luke shot his gun, I slid on the ground. I grabbed Percy's shield and held it in front of me. Bullets bounced off it. I plunged Backbiter into his Achilles spot. "Nico, now!" I yelled.

Nico jumped down from somewhere above me. His planted his feet on Luke's back and gripped Backbiter. Luke howled with pain. "No!" he roared.

A light started coming from Backbiter. Suddenly Luke grabbed my arm and pulled me in front of him. "I'm not dying alone," he growled.

I didn't know what he meant, until he fired the gun. I felt the bullet pass though my rib-cage and out of my body.

Author's note: Yes, I know. I'm mean.