Princesses, Punks, and One Problem.

What?!

Luke returned to his apartment, casting his bloodied garments into the fire in place of a plush robe to lounge about. He had an entire day of relaxation ahead of him, followed by what might possibly be the best moment of his life. 

Yet one thing was ruining the image for him, which is why he had sent for his best friend, and confidante, Thalia Grace. What he hadn't expected was for her to arrive so soon. 

She came pounding on the door, demanding to be let in. 

"Luke!" She yelled through the door, causing Luke to jump and look down at his attire. He was not dressed for company yet. 

"Give me a minute, Grace!" He referred to her last name as he pushed himself off the couch to meander toward his room. 

Luke's room was by far the best room in the house, featuring a king sized water bed, full screen television, and all sorts of expensive decor framed the walls, including original artworks that millions had gone into. 

As he changed clothes, Luke took a deep breath. He was preparing for a breakdown, quite honestly. 

He slowly walked to the door, prepping. 

"Luke, open this dam door it's been a minute!" Luke laughed heartily, grinning, he opened the wooden slab separating him from one of his best friends, Thalia Grace. Annabeth and her were really close too. How convenient.

Thalia was dressed in a silver parka despite the weather. She'd joined a program that allowed her to travel across the nation as if she were a real hunter from the older times, where there were no phones nor television. The program was called "Hunters of Artemis Reborn".

It was cool, but annoying. Meant you had to use a freaking hawk to send her messages!

"Thalia... I'm going to ask Annabeth to marry me!" Well, that's not what he meant to say, but it was true. 

His friend blanched. "What?!" 

Luke nodded. "And I'll bet anything she's going to say yes. She has to... We've been in love for years now." Liar. 

Thalia raised her eyebrows, shedding her parka and carelessly casting it aside on the couch. "You're not even out of college yet, what are you doing, Luke?" 

Luke sighed happily. "I want to tie the knot... So I never lose her. I'm scared to let her go, and I won't have to if we get married, don't you see Thalia?" 

Thalia eyed him, her short hair being blown haughtily out of her eyes. "If this is such a great thing, then what's with all the wistful sighs? A man about to be engaged isn't usually so down in the dumps." Thalia pointed out. 

Luke frowned. Apparently his happy sigh hadn't been so happy. 

"I need to talk to you about something serious. I need your help, Thalia." 

The shorter punk in front of him arched her black eyebrows, electric blue eyes not leaving his. "Oh really?" 

Luke rolled his eyes. "This is serious, please no jokes." 

She collapsed on his couch, crossing her ankles in leisure. "Fine. Talk away." 

"Thalia... You know about Kronos... Right?" 

She rolled her eyes. Luke had promised her years ago when she first found out that he wouldn't try to end the world or anything, and as disproving as she was of it, she never tried to change him. A thing he valued in her. Thalia was incredibly opinionated, but she wasn't judgmental. 

"Yeah, okay, well, I have a problem." 

Another arched eyebrow from her. 

"I want him gone. Out of me. He's not awake entirely all the time, but  when he is, it's evil, Thalia. Evil. I'm forgetting when it's me and when it's him. We're becoming the same people. I never wanted to hurt anyone to get Annabeth, but that's what Kronos told me would work. And it did, but now I did something really bad, I can't explain. But I need him gone. Now that I have Annabeth, I can't let her get hurt because of him!" 

He knew that his thoughts were wrong. Technically if he was able to get rid of Kronos, he would have just used the Titan of Time for his own purposes. And some small rational part of him thought a Titan would not appreciate being used by a demigod... 

"Back up. How would Annabeth get hurt?" 

Annabeth was Thalia's first priority of all that he'd said. Of course. The two had also been best friends, and for all Luke knew, they still were. He hadn't followed up much with who Thalia was friends with, namely because she was friends with practically everyone. 

Thalia was just a likable person. 

Unlike Luke. Because of Kronos. And his own need and wants. He'd lost everything but Annabeth to Kronos. And the way he was supposed to keep her was wrong, and Luke knew it. 

But what was he supposed to do now? 

Before he could stop it, crystalline tears were drifting down his face. He was still somewhat human, even with Kronos within.

In a flash, Thalia was up, her palms pressed to Luke's face. "Hey, drop the tears. Men don't cry, it's a sign of weakness!" 

Luke laughed sadly. "What am I supposed to do, Thals?" 

"You're supposed to fix whatever mess you made." 

And that's all he got. Because Kronos woke up. And he was mad that Luke wanted him out. "Mess? Like a mortal would know what a real mess was!"

Luke hadn't meant to heart Thalia. Luke hadn't meant to hurt Percy. Luke hadn't meant to hurt Annabeth. He wanted them all safe. But the thing was, Kronos didn't. 

Kronos and Luke were two very different people, see. Luke hadn't meant for any of this. But watching through his own eyes as Kronos attacked his friend, bloodied, beaten, as she staggered away, hurt in her eyes, he realized something. Luke was becoming Kronos. So why did he keep fighting it? 

All it did was hurt his friends more. Why not become the evil he'd embraced? Why not, indeed.