Annabeth Chase and the Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter 43 - We find the lost god

I don't even remember the blind sprint. It just felt like I was in a daze, being dragged along by Percy as Rachel led us away from traps. I remember crying the whole time we were running, but it was only when we collapsed from exhaustion in some white tunnel that I really let myself go. As soon as Percy let go of my arm, I crumbled into a ball, tucked my head between my knees and didn't even try to hide the sobs that were wracking my body. 

It felt like my whole world had collapsed around me. I couldn't get rid of the image of Luke out of my head, the cruelty that had twisted his face when he'd watched Percy struggling. And the golden eyes that looked so out of place. 

He didn't even seem to recognise me when I called his name. It was like it wasn't Luke at all. Something else must have taken control of him, that was the only logical explanation. The way he reacted when Rachel hit him with the hair brush confirmed it. He was still in there. He wouldn't have chosen to do that to himself. 

I barely registered the others talking, so lost in my own misery as I was, but I felt the silence when they stopped. I slowly lifted my head to see Percy gazing at me sorrowfully, like he wanted to comfort me, but he wasn't sure how. Like he'd only say the wrong things, like usual. 

I did my best to rub the tears from my eyes and tried to banish the sobs from my throat, enough so I could speak. "What . . . what was wrong with Luke?" I whispered, pleading with Percy, clinging to my hope that it wasn't Luke's fault. "What did they do to him?"

Percy hesitated, but told me what he'd found. "When I came up to the coffin, Luke was inside, sleeping or something like that. He had a massive hole in his chest, like someone had been ripping out parts of him. Then Ethan Nakamura came and pledged his service to Kronos." Percy sighed and looked like he wanted to close his eyes, but he forged on. "This spirit was sucked straight into Luke and when he woke, he wasn't Luke anymore. He was Kronos."  

"No," I said, not wanting to believe it. Refusing to believe it. "That can't be true. He couldn't -"

"He gave himself over to Kronos," Percy said. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. But Luke it gone."

"No," I insisted. It didn't make sense. "You saw when Rachel hit him."

Percy gave Rachel a proud smile. "You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush."

Rachel blushed. "It was the only thing I had."

"But you saw," I pressed, unwilling to let it go. "When it hit him, just for a second, he was dazed. He came back to his senses."

"So maybe Kronos wasn't completely settled in the body, or whatever," Percy said, waving away my argument. "It doesn't mean Luke was in control."

"You want him to be evil, is that it?" White hot anger washed over me. Tears threatened at my eyes again, but I angrily pushed them back. "You didn't know him before, Percy. I did!"

Percy snapped. "What is it with you?" he demanded. "Why do you keep defending him?"

"Whoa, you two," Rachel said, looking shocked at our anger. "Knock it off."

I turned on her, eager for someone else to take my anger out on. "Stay out of it, mortal girl! If it wasn't for you . . ." 

And lose a love to worse than death. The words of the prophecy seemed to reverberate in my head. I'd spent so long trying to figure out what they meant, and now they were clear. 

My anger rushed out of me like a flood bursting from a dam. It left me empty and cold. I buried my head back into my knees and let the tears flow.