HER┃lukecastellan

7

"Percy Jackson. You weren't supposed to make it out alive..."

I could distinguish a voice, echoing through sheer darkness, a darkness that thinned away more and more.

"I can't let you take that bolt to Olympus."

It fell silent as my eyes were finally met with whom it belonged to.

"I'm the lightning thief."

Luke.

I stood, taking in his presence as a numb feeling consumed my body.

I was neither surprised nor upset...

I couldn't be.

I could expect anything from him at this point.

But Percy felt different.

He began to express his anger towards Luke, demanding answers for why he did what he had done.

Luke gave them all without hesitation, slowly revealing his true intentions, his true self.

Thunder began to rumble above, but not a flash of lightning to be seen in the dark sky as they both spoke fiercely, enraging the other just a bit more each time.

Luke finally lunged at Percy, attempting to swipe Zeus' Master Bolt that he held in his hand.

Percy sidestepped him, but Luke managed to land a kick to the side of his head, sending Percy and the bolt tumbling to the ground.

Annabeth, who I hadn't noticed, dove for it but Luke flew past, swooping down to snatch the bolt away from her reach with the help of his winged shoes he wore.

But before he could escape away with it, a knife had appeared in her hand. She charged at him as Luke struggled to dodge every strike of hers.

As I watched them, I couldn't help but sense a tension between the two.

It made me think back to the young Annabeth and Luke.

Her strikes had now become quicker, one finally got him on his arm and a thick cut began to form. She took this as an opportunity to gain the upper hand and kicked him, sending him up into the air.

He didn't bother trying to come back down and instead flew into the night, disappearing into the skyscrapers I recognized to be the New York City skyline.

I darted towards the edge of the balcony we were on, trying to look out at where he had gone as I heard Percy and Annabeth talking behind me.

I turned to see Percy slipping on another pair of the winged shoes. How he got them, I don't know.

He uncapped a pen, it instantly took the form of a sword as the shoes carried him up into the air and after Luke.

I could only watch, his silhouette becoming fainter and fainter in the distance.

"Luke!" I heard Percy's yell before a flash of lightning lit up the darkness momentarily.

Everything fell still.

My hands gripped the railing, an anxiousness arising in me.