A new story and angle I am aiming for here. Dont know what to expect, but I will try my best.
As always, Enjoy!
- Losthouse
House of the Lost
Camp Half-blood,
Sometime after the end of the war.
Narrator POV
"Percy, can you at least eat dinner, please?" came the voice from outside the door.
Again.
Ignoring it for what seemed the hundredth time, he rolled over in his bed and closed his eyes, begging for it to go away. This time, sadness was evident in the voice that sounded once more.
"Please..."
Clenching his fists at the sound of retreating hooves and a growing mumble of other voices retreating with it, he tried to think of something, literally anything to rid his mind of the thoughts that gave him no rest.
Finally, he was forced to unclench and relax his hands when sleep finally took over, and he welcomed Morpheus into his mind, already knowing what visions he will see.
A lone memory plagued his mind.
Flashback
Final Battle - Olympus
A single bloodied pair sprinted through the burning immortal city of the gods, the thunder of explosions from within the throne room at the very pinnacle shaking the land to its core, forcing the pair to break pace slightly as they stumbled up the steep steps.
"If he destroys the thrones then it will all be for nothing! We need to move faster!" shouted Annabeth frantically between pants, trailing behind Percy who now opted to go up two steps at a time, maybe even three.
But as his legs burnt themselves out, his mind was calm.
'The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap', he repeated over and over in his mind with every step.
If his death was needed to save the world from all evil, then his death he will give.
To save everyone.
To protect Annabeth.
Quickly throwing back a short look at the blonde girl panting up the stairs behind him, he engraved her beautiful features in his mind, not missing the broken look that shattered her grey orbs.
Turning back around to hide the tear that slipped from the corner of his eye as it mixed with his sweat, he reached the top of the steps first and ran over to the throne room doors that were slightly agape, booting them inwards whilst raising riptide.
The throne room was in ruins, but not a single seat of power was destroyed.
They made it in time.
"LUKE!" He bellowed at the top of his voice.
Catching a look of surprise, it was nearly instantly wiped away and replaced with a feral snarl.
"That insolent boy is dead! Soon my real form will return, and you shall see the mighty power of a TRUE King!" he shouted, brandishing his scythe and swinging at another column, reducing it to dust and cracking the throne room's ceiling.
"But that's only if I let you live long enough to see my true form-"
At first, a rough chuckle rippled then burst out as Percy fell into emotionless laughter, mad eyes meeting a reflecting pair of mad eyes.
Taken aback by the outburst of the demigod, Luke's eyes glistened gold and he lowered his scythe.
Exactly that was the moment when Annabeth limped into the throne room and gasped at the sight of Luke.
"Luke!" she screamed out.
Momentarily taking his eyes off Percy, Kronos snarled at being interrupted again and simply shot a beam of golden energy into Annabeth, sending her crashing and sprawling into the rubble of the demolished throne room.
Percy didn't even flinch. But his laughter instantly died.
His eyes were blank.
Watching.
Maddening.
"I must admit I underestimated you grandson..."
Walking towards Zeus's throne, Kronos - or Luke - pressed his palm against the smooth golden surface only to quickly retract it when sparked by electricity.
"You have been a thorn in my side from day one, ruining every plan...sinking my ships...killing off my army..."
Finally, turning away from the throne of his son, Kronos stared into the glassed eyes of the demigod.
"How does it feel, that even after doing everything in your power, you still lost?" started Kronos with a devilish glint in his features.
"The death of your loved ones, the destruction of your home, those powerless and helpless moments when you watch your family be cut down one by one as you-"
"Enough."
Cut the monotone voice of the demigod.
Thunder boomed throughout the entirety of Olympus.
Now it was Kronos's turn to laugh.
Looking up at the sky, he spread out his arms and shouted, "Now now Zeus, If you have something to say, come and say it! Oh right, you CANT!"
The second time, the thunder rolled around louder and seemingly came closer and closer. Kronos's only laughed harder.
Letting out a sigh, the Lord of Time set his gaze for a final time on the demigod before him. It was time end things once and for all.
"I respect your bravery, and for that, I will give you a quick dea-"
BOOM!
From out of nowhere lightning cut through the roof of the throne room and struck Kronos head-on, instantly charing the clothes on his body and forcing him to take a knee, then the dark grey, almost black, thunder clouds released a torrential downpour on the whole of Olympus.
"Get off your knees, you bastard," roughly spat out Percy, allowing his cloaths to soak through as his eyes flashed and another lightning bolt struck awfully close to the throne room.
Realization dawned on the Titan as the demigod raised his sword and strode over in his direction, his footsteps still managing to echo in the storm around them.
The Stormbringer.
"If I must die, so be it..." he said to himself more so than to anyone, gradually closing the gap and increasing his pace.
"But I'm taking you with me!"
Bursting into a full sprint as his eyes reflected the flash of thunder, he closed the gap in a few long steps and slammed riptide in a downward arc at the still-kneeling titan, who just about managed to parry as he finally came to his senses.
A swift kick from Kronos separated the pair for a brief second before steel collided and sparks flew like fireflies, the force of each strike deafening to the ear as both beings refused to give ground, flurries of strikes depicting the true dance of death as they twirled, slashed and stabbed with deadly precision.
Kronos was a foe like no other, Perseus long forgot about technique and went all in on his instincts, parrying and blocking strikes his eyes didn't even see and retaliating with just as much force.
The battle seemingly lasted for eons, but in reality, it was no more than a dozen minutes when both men leaped away from each other and gulped in as much air as they could, chests heaving, hot breaths letting out dancing smoke as temperatures dropped to freezing.
Perseus's clothes were nothing but shreds, his armor depicting lethal wounds. If it wasn't for the curse of Achilles he would be long dead. Yet his face was an emotionless mask, the pounding rainfall providing him with an edge as he let the water heal him and re-energize him as much as possible.
He was in his element.
Kronos wasn't fairing much better. Locked within Lukes's mortal form, he couldn't utilize his powers to the full extent alas he destroys his mortal frame, and already having used so much power to reach and destroy the throne room, he was burning out faster and faster.
Calming their breaths, both warriors raised their swords and took their stances, muscles tensed and ready to pounce when a weak whisper stopped them in their tracks. Even the rain paused to a drizzle.
"Luke...I know you are still there..."
Risking a glance at Annabeth's sprawled figure, Percy saw her slowly getting up.
The torrential downpour hasn't even touched her.
"Annabeth! Stay away! He wont-"
"Please Luke...this wasn't the path you were meant to take...you were meant to be a hero! Standing with us, shoulder to shoulder!"
Lost in decision, Percy helplessly watched as Annabeth approached the Titan. He was lost in the moment because Lukes's eyes kept shifting from gold to blue, weird spasms taking course throughout his body.
It was a fight for control. No words left his mouth but agony tortured his features.
"You can still be the hero you wanted to be! You can still change, you can etch yourself into history Luke!" carried on Annabeth in tears, taking the final steps towards the shaking figure of Luke, placing her hands on his cheeks, staring into his eyes as they stop shifting colors and locked blue.
And that's when it all went horribly wrong.
"NO! YOU WILL NOT RUIN MY PLANS AGAIN!"
Luke, losing the fight for control, grabbed the dagger off of Annabeth's waist and plunged it deep into her chest, twisting it and pulling it out roughly.
It felt like time stopped.
Percy's heartbeat paused to a crawl, before shattering into a million pieces. Sluggishly sprinting towards Annabeth as she took a few steps backwards and fell, he managed to catch her and close the wound on her chest with his palm.
But it was hopeless, blood flowed freely between his tightly closed fingers no matter how hard he tried.
"Annabeth! No-no-no-NO!" he shouted frantically as he couldn't stop the tears flooding from his eyes.
He was exhausted. He was tired.
He was broken.
Soft hands stroked the tears away from his cheeks as Annabeth attempted to whisper words of comfort, Percy's rocking figure cradling her head on his neck as sobs wrecked his body.
The fight for Olympus meant nothing if, in the end, he lost what he held most dear.
"Percy...I'm sor-sorry," she coughed, blood spluttering from the edge of her lips.
"Shhh - don't say anything, you will be alright, I can still save you!"
"You have saved me enough times Percy. For the last time, let me sa-save you."
Wasting a second to look back and follow her gaze, Percy saw Luke's figure on his knees, staring at the blood in his hands.
For as his eyes weren't gold.
"I lo-ove you, Seaweed Brain," she whispered for a final time, using her last energy to plant a chaste kiss on his lips before her eyes glassed over and life slipped away.
Closing his eyes, he kept rocking back and forth in silent sobs, clenching her to his chest when a voice broke him out of his state.
It all happened so fast. One moment she was there, and one moment she was gone.
"What have I done?" came a low whisper of shock from behind.
Laying down the lifeless body in his arms with great care, he picked up Annabeth's discarded dagger from the floor and leaped at Luke, slamming a straight right into his jaw and knocking him over.
He didn't see red. He didn't have tunnel vision, no.
He felt nothing.
"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" he screamed, now standing over the unresisting body of Luke as he kept slamming his fists over and over at the body beneath him.
"Im - Im sorry," kept repeating Luke amidst his beating.
Letting out a scream of rage - or was it despair, Percy kicked the bloodied figure of Luke before turning towards the heavens.
"IS THIS THE FATE I DESERVE!? HAVE I NOT SACRIFICED ENOUGH!?"
Receiving no answer, Percy let the dagger slip from his grip when he was suddenly pushed over. Rolling to his feet in a split second, he watched Luke pick up the dagger before flipping it and resting the edge in the crack of his armor plates beneath his armpit.
His Achilles spot.
"I know you will never forgive me, but I hope in the next life we can be brothers."
He plunged the dagger hilt deep.
"I'm sorry."
With those words, the prophecy was complete, as Luke's blue eyes shed a single tear, before rolling back and passing out in a splash in a puddle of blood and water.
It all happened too fast for him to even comprehend...
A single warrior stood in the center of what remained of the throne room of the immortals.
Alone he stood between the blood and bodies of those he once called family, friend, foe, and lover.
Looking down at his scarred and bloodstained hands, he dropped to his knees, and the final raindrop fell from the heavens.
It was over, but at what cost?
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
The first chapter is short and more of an opener.
Reviews are much appreciated, and ideas are welcome.