Double update because I missed it yesterday
Luke pov
Percy Jackson. Her name brought many, many different feelings depending on who heard it.
To monsters, it was a signal to run as quickly as possible. To swallow your pride and hide because she can and will kill you.
To the demigods, well, the demigods who were her allies, it was a relief. For she would most definitely help you out of any trouble you're in. Regardless of whether or not you are close to her. She would kill herself if it meant she could save any of you.
To any enemies, go up and read my comment on the monsters and follow that. You should heed my warning, don't say I didn't warn you. Speaking from personal experience, that's me four years ago, before I died.
As for me? I was still deciding. We have barely been in each other's presence for 2 or 3 hours without wanting to kill each other. And for now, I'm trying to maintain that relationship. I haven't lied to her, not at all, but it was clear she still maintained a distance from me. No biggy, I understood.
She had been an enigma to me. It never really clicked. I never knew what to feel when around her. The first time we met, I forgot how to breathe. Every time I tried to kill her, it was only with a lot of 'convincing' on Kronos's part. Even then, I couldn't help but check on her to see if she survived. It wasn't enough, but it was all I could do back then. As she grew up, all I could think about was to have her in my arms, for her to look at me without fear. Sometimes she did. When it was only the two of us, she was relaxed. Riptide was never drawn.
She has come a long way from the scrawny, naive little 12-year-old who had witnessed her mother's death.
Now she was a confident leader who led the demigods into two wars and came out victorious. She was friends with the Olympian Goddess, Artemis. And most importantly, she went through Tartarus and betrayal. And still survived. Not an enemy I would want.
Besides, the Fates warned me that my decisions would affect the survival of Earth. That was why I decided to help my former enemy (lover?) instead of killing her. And also because I knew that she deserved to live. But I hated the defeated look she had in her eyes. Was it fair for a single human to go through so much? No. Ιt's not fair for anyone.
So, instead of betraying her as I did 8 years ago, I befriended her. So far, it isn't a decision I regretted. And hopefully, it won't be a decision I regret in the future, though that's highly unlikely.
"Are we fucking there yet?!" Percy now yelled as we fell in slow motion. Her voice was impatient, angry even. But her body was trembling and she was trying to curl into herself. It was like a defense movement, to not let anyone know she was scared. I know because I've been there before. "Almost." I replied calmly, hoping that I would calm her down.
It didn't work. Percy was shivering even more. The Fates had shown me some of the events that happened after my 'death'. One of them was showing Percy falling into a pit. Tartarus, to be exact.
I awkwardly 'swam' went over to her, wrapping my arms around her, causing her to immediately relax. I wasn't a friend, far from it, but at least she had the comfort of knowing she wasn't alone. And she never will be. Not again.
The ground finally came up and Percy stumbled, almost kissing the ground. I didn't bother teasing her about it. "I hate portals almost as I hate random teleporting." She said matter of factly. "They are actually nearly identical, so I'm not sure what you're comparing but yeah. Not gonna comment. C'mon, let's get going." I told her as I scanned the area. It was foggy, so I couldn't be sure of our surroundings. There weren't any sounds either, so no immediate danger. Still, I was wary of this place. "Any new destinations, Blondie?"
"You talk like I know everything, Angel. But yeah, I do. Get out of this place and find out where we are."
"Smart plan, Blondie. Except we don't even know where we fucking are!"
"Language, Angel." I reprimanded her. Gods, she reminded me of little Annabeth.
"Who cares?"
"I do! Now please, let me concentrate?" Percy snorted in amusement but kept quiet. "Can you sense any life here, Angel?"
She frowned in concentration, her brows nearly touching as she used her powers. I was half joking when I said that. I didn't expect her to actually have the power to sense people. "I sense life forces up north!" She announced. Her shoulders slumped down in exhaustion but she immediately started running north.
"Hey, wait up!" I shouted as I ran. Technically I could use my power, but I thought, why not see how fast I can be without it?
The answer is, not fast at all. Percy was impatiently tapping her foot on the ground when I reached, red-faced. Either I was slow, or she was fast. I'm guessing the latter.
"Do hurry, Luke. Else I might think you've ditched me." She said cheerfully, but I could catch the worry in her eyes. For a second, she really thought I'd abandon her like everyone else, besides Artemis. "Alright, alright. You got it, Angel." I winked, grinning at the frustrated huff she let out.
"This direction leads to Mars." She said pointing right. "And that," she pointed to the left, "leads to Venus."
"The God?"
"No, silly! The planet! What else?" She smacked her forehead. "Idiot." She muttered out loud. There weren't any inhabitants near, thank Gods. But wait, didn't she say there were life forces here? I'm so confused.
"So, the planets, huh?"
"You were the one who came up with this idea!"
"Tell that to the Fates! They were the ones who told me to leave the world we knew." I protested. Percy flipped me off but stared in the direction of Mars. "The life forces I felt left here already. They're going to Mars."
"Humans can't actually survive in space though." I muttered.
"Yeah... I'm betting that those there aren't human."
"Neither are we, Angel. Who cares? So long as they don't attack us."
"I have a human blade." Her whispers were barely heard. "Huh?"
"You have Backbiter. I have one made by myself. Out of regular steel and Celestial Bronze."
"Made by yourself? Where's Riptide?"
"I returned it to Zoë." Her eyes looked shattered under the soft light. "I couldn't bear it. It was the first gift Poseidon gave me." I wrapped my arm around her. "Stay strong, Angel. You're no longer there anymore."
"Stay strong... of course." She shook her head, her eyes returning to the forced determination. "We left Earth. I don't have to tie myself to the planet anymore. Right."
Percy took my hand from her shoulders and started running east. "C'mon. The sooner we get a destination, the better."
Time skip
We sat on the train, out of breath. It was made of literal starlight, on its way to Mars. The train was riding on some kind of light that makes it travel like, well, light.
It was lucky we caught it. If not we would have to wait another 10 years. Not sure if I could handle that, immortality or not.
"What are we going to do, Luke?" Percy asked, staring at the millions of stars outside the train window, a much better view than all the MRTs.
"I don't know, Angel." I said, deciding on honesty.
Percy groaned out loud, causing many weird looks in our directions from the... er... inhabitants. They were all human-like, with weird genetics. Some had different-coloured skin. Some had more than two eyes. Some had tails. One even had his face upside down.
One takeaway point—in life, everything is weird. Don't try to argue.
Percy sighed wearily and plopped her head against my shoulder. "I'm so tired, Luke." She whispers, her gaze never once leaving the many creatures around us. I got the feeling she wasn't talking about normal fatigue. "Why am I the Fates plaything? Haven't they gotten tired of me as I'm tired of my life?"
This was the first time she dropped her act around me. and I scrambled to say the right things. "I know, Angel. And, believe me, I think they also hate the life you're living. Some things, even the Fates cannot control. And I know you are tired but are you willing to let this world die?"
"I sometimes wish I would." She said, her eyes half-dropping. "Alas, I am cursed with personal loyalty. I can't let it happen, not when I can do something about it."
"Personal loyalty." I murmured. The flaw was the one thing that had kept Percy alive till 16. Like when she was on Calypso's island. And when I tricked Annabeth. And many more. "It is a powerful flaw that can bring out the best in you, Angel. But it can also be the monster that comes to haunt you. Yet it isn't your friends who choose it for you, Angel. It's yourself. So, what do you want it to be?"
Percy stayed quiet. Only after a few minutes did I realise she was asleep. I sighed and moved her to a more comfortable position and fell asleep myself. This had been a long day. Yet our adventure had barely just begun.
Percy slouched down and followed me, her feet gliding over the weird surface. It was mushy, hard, uneven, and weird. Oh wait, I already said that.
Her footsteps were tiny compared to mine but she made up for it with twice as fast steps than I did.
"Where are we going, Luke?" She asked. If I didn't know better, she was enjoying asking questions for once. Enjoying not having to look strong.
"Honestly? I don't know. Let's just wander."
Her bright and cheery smile after an hour did not match my foul mood. "Luke!" She practically sang.
"What?" I snapped. She faltered a little but kept her bright smile. "I found out some tidbits about space."
I snorted. "Really?"
"Oh yes."
"Let's hear it then."
"You know the planets." She said slowly. "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune."
"Who doesn't?"
"Well, those are the planets. We're on Mars right now. To travel to each planet, we need to take Statrix, the train we just took."
I tried not to be too impatient. But I thought even Percy would know this was useless information. Or maybe she did know. Sometimes, you never know what's going on in someone else's head but I thought Percy was smart. Smarter than people gave credit for.
"Each planet is large. Some larger than Earth. But not as advanced. We could hide anywhere, and no one would know. But there is also another planet. Planet Chaon. The Lord Chaos stays there, governing over the nine planets. When time comes, he sends his army to deal with the threat. He has eight commanders and eight sectors, one for each planet."
"Please don't tell me you want to join."
"Of course not, Luke," Percy said gently. "I just thought you'd like to know at least some things about this universe. We don't want to stumble on anything blindly."
"Sounds like what you do half the time."
"That's the daughter of Poseidon that everyone thinks they know. How I react for them. Because they only know who I am on the surface. The dumb Seaweed Brain who only gets through everything because of her girlfriend, Annabeth Chase." Percy said, blinking furiously. I immediately felt bad. "I'm sorry, Angel."
Percy looked away shyly, something I have never seen on her. "I'm sorry, forget I said anything.
"Perce." I said, confused. "Why are you acting like this? Like your problems don't matter?"
"Because!" Percy whirled around. And the confused look shattered me. "No one ever had time for me. They all expect me to be the untouchable demigoddess, the one who always had time for others, no matter what time. I expected you to be the same."
"Percy." I said softly, gently. "I can understand that, I used to be the oldest demigod alive, remember? But… you're not the oldest, you don't have as much experience as others. You are their leader, yes, but advisor? It shouldn't be expected of you.
"That's what you think. It's too bad everyone else doesn't think the same." She said, all fight leaving her. "Everyone expects me to be Persephone Jackson, extra dumb demigod. Confident leader. Survivor of Tartarus without a scratch. And girl who always has your back." She broke. "Why? Why are all these expected of me? When there's literally a daughter and son of Zeus! Lord of all Gods!"
I was stunned in silence but she didn't finish. "And Thalia gets to escape her fate but I had to face it because I couldn't put it on Nico's shoulders. But he still held a grudge against me for Bianca. But it wasn't my fault. Zoë and I had clearly said not to touch anything. But I was still blamed! Why, Luke? Why am I the one to be blamed? Because I'm the leader they expect me to be." She said bitterly. "Even when Jason came to stay. He became jealous of me, whether he consciously knew it or not. And it was then, I wished I could give him the burdens. The expectations. But I couldn't. Because it wasn't fair. And do you know what they told me the days they betrayed me? That I was taking advantage of my leadership. I never wanted it!"
Her ranting was of everything that went wrong. Her voice held so much pain, anguish, anger. Feelings that could never be realized just suddenly exploded. As all the pent-up frustration burst out from her, I leaned in closer and squeezed her in a hug as she burst into soft tears. I seemed to be doing that a lot. Finally she stopped, hiding her face from me. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." I said, not expecting how true the words were. "Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on."
"Now you're gloating about being mine." Percy rolled her eyes. I smiled. Honestly, I found it adorable when she acted like this. "I don't have to. But, Angel, I don't expect you to be anyone. If you can't find a moment to be true to yourself, you can count on me."
For a second, she was so quiet I thought she would reject it. But after a while, she whispered. "I don't know how to."
How to what? How to be true to herself? How to count on someone? They were both equally depressing. So, I said instead, "then I'll help you learn."
She smiled. Calmly. Relaxed. Happy even. And at me. For the first time in years, she smiled genuinely at me.
A/n: cringe! I don't know why I wrote this. I was running out of things to say. Because I'm just so excited to get to the plot. It's unlike anything. Promise.
p.s. I lied, we're not getting close to the plot, that's like ten chapters away. I would know, I already made the whole LAoC timeline