HER┃lukecastellan

19

I wasn't wrong.

Luke had become this way...

Because of what I didn't do.

Even Achilles knew it.

A murmur came from the sleeping figure of Luke, distracting me from my thoughts.

He sat slumped over in a chair, snoring lightly.

I hadn't left his side since he obtained the curse. Nor did I want to.

Time had surely passed since then.

Enough for him to conjure up a plan to attack Camp Half-Blood and discuss it with Kronos.

Anybody would've thought him evil because of this.

He wasn't... at least not entirely.

The Luke I had known was still there. Somewhere.

And I caught a glimpse of him, not too long ago.

He had become furious with an empousa for killing a boy in Seattle, and then again when a monstrous ally of Kronos was released. He disapproved of her, calling her 'too chaotic'.

I felt my lips quirk upwards as I thought of it.

He wasn't all gone.

I reached out to touch his cheek, letting my fingertips glide across his jaw.

I had noticed the change in his appearance since he bathed in the River Styx.

His skin practically glowed, and there was not a trace of how weary and beaten he once was. Now, he looked like a god.

A chill ran through me as I thought about the reason why he appeared like this.

It was the last thing I wanted to think about, but the thought wouldn't leave my mind as I drew my hand from him.

You're only kidding yourself if you try to avoid it, the little voice in the back of my mind whispered.

I'm not kidding myself, my heart fought back. I know the end is near. I know that this isn't going to last.

I just don't want to believe...

My throat closed tight as I watched him.

Because if I believe it, it makes it real, and I... I don't want to believe that I'll lose the love of my life. Not yet. Not ever.

—

The time I had spent with him cost me.

I didn't stay much long with him after he awoke.

The darkness sucked me in, putting me into a deep sleep like it had many times before, only to spit me back out after gods knows how long.

This time though, it left me standing in front of a casket.

One that was much too familiar for me to confuse.

I heard footsteps approaching as I stared at the malevolent golden light it emitted, now much more profusely than ever.

I almost didn't notice when the footsteps stopped right in front of it.

Percy.

He stood beside me, staring intently at it. He did what I feared to do next. He opened it.

I felt my blood run cold at the sight.

I had lost him.