On the Fringe // Chapter Four
I owe apologies to everyone for the lateness of this chapter. D: *hands out apology-cookies* I'll do something to make up for it later. Like maybe actually post the smut drabbles this fic spawned.
Title: On the Fringe
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: EventualLuke/Percy, past!Percy/Annabeth. Also some OC pairings, but those are very minor.
Warnings: AU, slash (m/m and f/f). Spoilers for The Last Olympian. Also, there's a handful of OCs, but most of them are camp counselors with minor roles.
Author's Note: This fic completely changes Luke's fate in The Last Olympian and will otherwise have spoilers. And if you bothered to look at the pairings and warnings, there will be slash, both with boys and girls, so if you don't like it, use your handy little back button right now. If you're still reading this, enjoy the fic.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are copyright to Rick Riordan and if he had any idea what I'm doing with his characters, I'm sure he'd be out for my foolish mortal blood. I do, however, own the OCs.
Chapter Four
June was coming to a close and Percy had spent the better half of the last week with Luke. Because the Poseidon cabin currently only hosted Percy and Alima, they were often put into lessons and activities with other cabins. Occasionally, they were also joined by Nico, since he was on his own. More often than not, the two (or three) of them joined the Hermes cabin for activities.
With the addition of so many new campers and cabins, Chiron had added several new activities to the line up. The children of Demeter ran a greenhouse with the children of Antheia, goddess of flowers. Rumor had it the plants grown in the greenhouse were sold to florists in the nearby cities to add to the income already brought in from the sales of the strawberries grown by the satyrs and Dionysus' kids. When it came to the usual javelin-throwing lessons from the Ares cabin, there was a complementary staff-fighting course taught by the children of Enyalius, a lesser god of war. The Hecate cabin occasionally gave lessons on spells anyone could use for protection and minor healing.
Camp was once again busy with training, without the worry of attack. Campers enjoyed their days, learning to harness their abilities, physical and otherwise. Dinners were fun again, sacrifices to the gods sent up with earnest thanks and campfire songs were sung until the fire was burning high, hot and colorful. It was easy to get back into the feel of how camp had first been when Percy came nearly five years ago.
It was a hot day, sun beating down at the camp when Luke finally got Percy to take him on in a match. The Hermes and Poseidon cabins had teamed up for sword practice in the arena that day. Luke and Percy were supposed to be showing their cabin mates a few key moves before letting everyone pair up to practice. Luke held a sword he'd had the Hephaestus kids forge for him, balanced almost perfectly for the young man's grip. Percy, of course, chose to wield Riptide. He'd been through too much with the sword to ever take up a different blade.
The lessons had started with Luke explaining different moves to the onlookers. Of course, one of the younger campers called out for a demonstrative match between the two of them. So, with no excuse to back out of it, Percy found himself facing Luke, his long-time enemy with whom he was slowly building a renewed friendship. While he was wary about fighting him, even in a practice match, Percy readied himself, focusing on Luke and watching for the older half-blood's first move.
He'd done this several times before. Luke shot forward, taking the offensive while Percy took defense. Battle instincts that Percy had honed over the years took over and he had no trouble fending off Luke's attacks. He could tell from the way Luke watched him that the blond man was impressed by how much he'd improved.
The group of campers watching cheered them on, the guys riled up the way most men were during any sporting event and the girls swooning, over Luke or Percy or both. Even those who were apprehensive about Luke for knowing his involvement with Kronos were cheering, forgetting, for the time being, their distrust of their half-brother. Alima, of course, cheered for her own half-brother.
Percy paid the onlookers no mind. He was focused only on Luke. The older half-blood had always been the better swordsman, so Percy couldn't let himself be distracted. He parried against Luke's attacks, blocked others with his sword and shield. The metallic clangs from the swords clashing together echoed across the arena over the sound of the cheering from the crowd as the two young men sparred.
In the middle of the match, Percy noticed something different in Luke's moves. It wasn't something that was easy to catch; he doubted anyone noticed besides himself. The change was so subtle, but Percy could sense that Luke wasn't giving the fight his usual strength or determination. It was almost as if the older half-blood was puzzled by something. The fierceness that was typically in Luke's gaze when he fought was gone, replaced by a look of confusion.
Percy hesitated, caught off guard by the change in Luke. This turned out to be a mistake on the son of Poseidon's part, as Luke lunged forward, moving in quickly to disarm Percy and shove him to the ground. Percy found himself pinned beneath Luke, blade against his throat with the older half-blood's face just inches from his own.
A fierce blush took over Percy's face at the realization of just how close Luke was to him. He could feel Luke's hand pressing against his chest, warmth emanated from the spot where the older demigod's hand rested. Those blue and gold eyes were all Percy could see and he couldn't seem to pull himself away from them. Memories of see those eyes, fully gold, staring into his own in past battles, rose to Percy's mind and he almost let those memories take him over and take him back to the previous summer when it took all he had to fight against Kronos in Luke's body.
"Perce," Luke said, just softly enough for only Percy to hear his voice. There was that familiar smirk again, spread over Luke's lips just within Percy's line of sight. "You shouldn't let your opponent distract you."
If it were possible, Percy was sure his face would turn even redder. He placed his hands on Luke's chest and shoved him off. Luke, smirk still in place, shifted to stand, bringing his sword from its place against Percy's throat. He turned to the gathered campers to explain the disarming move that he’d used against Percy, acting as if nothing had happened.
Percy, as he stood up, knew better. That look in Luke's eyes hadn't been some trick to try to confuse him; it had been genuine puzzlement. Their match had triggered something, of that, Percy was certain. Exactly what, he couldn’t know. He had his suspicions and he wasn't quite sure what he could do about it now.
Deciding to let it go for the time being, Percy turned to help instruct the campers. Luke had already split the group in two so they could both work with a smaller group. Percy's group was eager to get to work, so he let them partner up and start. Most of them had been to the previous sword training sessions, so they were working on more advanced techniques, but there were a few stragglers. Percy worked with those campers first, letting everyone else practice at their own pace for the remainder of the hour.
As the hour moved on, Percy kept looking towards Luke. The son of Hermes kept himself busy, helping with his half-siblings and shouting advice over the noise of blade clashing against blade and shield. All the while, he acted as though nothing odd had happened. Percy, however, could not get his mind off the look he’d seen in Luke's eyes.
"Percy?" Alima called not long after the lesson had ended. "We are scheduled to go to the beach with the Nereids next and we will be late if you do not hurry."
Percy looked over to her with confusion, having lost himself in his thoughts. He remembered a moment later that, yes, they had managed to get an hour at the beach into their schedule. "Oh, go ahead without me. I'll catch up."
Alima gave a slight frown, but made no other objection. One of the Demeter girls that she’d made friends with during her stay at camp hurried over to walk with her to the beach, giving Percy the chance he needed to catch up with Luke. The older half-blood was picking up equipment that had been tossed aside without care the moment the lesson was over.
"Need a hand?" Percy asked.
Luke looked up and, just for a brief moment, that same puzzled look from earlier graced his eyes. "Oh. Sure, yeah."
Percy picked up a couple of swords that laid on the ground. "So, uh, how's it going?"
Luke gave a shrug. "I've had worse lessons. What about you?"
"Same old, same old," Percy replied. With an armful of swords, he headed towards the equipment pit where all swords, shields and armor were supposed to be kept when they weren't being used. Once he had everything put away, he turned back around to find Luke standing right in front of him. "Uh…"
"What exactly are you hiding from me?" Luke asked, blue-gold eyes narrowed slightly at the younger half-blood. "A week ago, you came and told me you're sorry for avoiding me, we start acting like friends again and, just now, during our match --"
Percy hesitated. "What happened during the match?"
Luke turned his back on Percy. "I don't know. It was just a feeling. The way you and I fought…it felt familiar. Like we'd fought before, but not in a friendly match like today."
Percy kept his mouth shut, though his thoughts were running through his mind with explanations. He wanted to speak up, wanted to help Luke, but with the oath he'd taken, he couldn't. This was the first time since taking the oath that he honestly regretted taking it. In the last week, though it was a short time, he'd gotten used to treating Luke as a friend again. He wanted to help Luke; he thought that, perhaps, a little bit of help would be been enough, if Luke's memories hadn't been erased.
"Percy," Luke spoke up, cutting into Percy's thoughts. "Have I…done anything to hurt you?"
Percy looked up at Luke. The older half-blood had turned back around to face him and Percy could see a sort of pain in the blond’s eyes. That alone surprised Percy; even before Luke had turned out to be a traitor, Percy had always seen him as someone almost insusceptible to pain. To see Luke in pain now was just another eye-opener for the younger half-blood.
Percy realized that Luke was waiting for an answer still and chose his next words carefully. "Not intentionally," he told him. Which, he supposed, was partially true; when Luke's body had been taken over by Kronos, the son of Hermes hadn’t had control over his actions. Then again, hadn't Luke intentionally given himself over to Kronos in order to get rid of Percy?
Luke studied him for a moment, looking at the younger man for any sign that he was being lied to. If he found any, he didn't say anything. Instead, he just placed his hands on his hips and gave a sigh with a shake of his head.
"I just wish I knew what it was about you," he said, finally.
Percy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Luke waved him off. "Nothing, nothing. I'll talk to you later, Perce. You'd better hurry to the beach."
Percy hesitated, frowned, then slowly turned to head for the beach. He wanted to know what Luke was thinking, why he seemed to be so moody around him. They'd talked about the dreams (some of them, anyways), they'd started rebuilding their friendship. What else could there be?
* * * * *
"So, Annabeth, you're coming to camp for the Fourth?" Percy asked his ex-girlfriend later that night.
Annabeth nodded, her image shimmering in the mist of the Iris-message. "I wouldn't miss the annual fireworks display!" she told him. "Construction is going so well that I think I've earned a little break. And, besides, I miss camp."
"Even though you’re up on Olympus, partying with the muses when you’re off-duty?" Percy asked, a slight teasing tone in his voice.
Annabeth frowned at him. "Don't get me wrong, Seaweed Brain, Olympus is great, but my home is down there, with you and Grover and Chiron."
Though she hadn't said it, Percy knew that Annabeth counted Luke in the group, as well. To Annabeth, Luke had always meant home. Again, the jealousy Percy had always felt whenever Annabeth spoke of Luke or implied that she was talking about the older half-blood rose up in his chest. However, tonight, it felt somewhat…different. Oh, certainly, he was angry that Luke was in Annabeth's mind all the time, but it wasn't that Percy was angry that she was thinking of Luke, instead of him.
Percy was angry that Annabeth was thinking of Luke at all.
"Percy? Did you hear me?"
Percy pushed down his anger. He wasn't sure why he was angry in the first place. He knew Annabeth would always love Luke, but she had long since given up on him to settle for Percy. That thought had Percy angry all over again and, this time, he couldn't push it down very far.
"Yes, I heard you," he lied. "I've got to go. Talk to you on the fourth."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "I said I'd be there tomorrow."
"Tomorrow. Yeah. Whatever."
Percy waved his hand through the mist made by the fountain to cut the connect of the Iris message. Too angry with Annabeth to go to bed and, with time before everyone had to go to bed, Percy left the cabin. He decided to go to the Hecate cabin across the way to talk to one of the girls there about getting an elixer to calm himself down before lights out. While the Hecate girls, a proper coven of thirteen, were known by the camper for their spells, their charms and potions were also well-known to be useful for everything from an upset stomach to a prank on an unsuspecting cabin-mate.
As Percy crossed to the Hecate cabin, he saw the Aura twins, Emma and Ella, coming out. The two of them were dressed identically, as usual. Over the last couple of weeks, Percy had learned to tell them apart; while the girls were near perfectly identical, Emma was right-handed, where Ella was left-handed and they coordinated a set of woven hemp anklets to match their dominant sides. Emma's green-beaded anklet was on her right ankle and Ella's purple-beaded anklet was on her left. Aside from personality, the anklets were the only way to tell one twin from the other.
"Hi, Percy!" Emma called, waving at the approaching son of Poseidon.
Percy gave a wave back, but held his tongue; he was still upset and there was no reason to take his anger out on one of the friendliest people at camp. Instead, he forced himself to smile at Emma. Emma smiled back, grabbed her sister's hand to hook their pinkies as they headed over to their own cabin.
"So, what brings the son of Poseidon to the Hecate cabin?"
Percy looked up to see Tayen leaning against the doorframe of her cabin. The Barbadian girl had her usual shorts and Camp Half-Blood tanktop on, but she was missing her jewelry, which Percy found a bit odd; he'd rarely seen her without her numerous bracelets and necklaces, since she usually only took them off for the weekly Capture the Flag game.
"I wanted to see about a couple potions," Percy said, stepping up to the doorway.
"You have drachma?" Tayen asked.
Percy nodded and pulled a handful of the golden coins out of his pocket to show her. Tayen glanced around for any sign of Chiron or Mr. D; though both camp directors knew that the Hecate cabin was charging for the potions they made, they couldn't do anything about it unless they actively caught the girls making a sale. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she gestured for Percy to come in.
"What are you looking for?" she asked as she led Percy to the corner of the cabin where they kept the potions. "Healing, enhancing, prank?"
"Just something to calm down with," Percy told her. "And maybe something to help me sleep."
Tayen gave a hum as she went through the selection, picking up a vial of blue liquid. "You having trouble sleeping, too?"
Percy arched a brow at her. "Too?"
The dark-skinned girl shrugged. "Luke stopped by this morning, asking for a sleeping aid. He said something about nightmares and unusual dreams."
"He's having nightmares?" Percy asked, surprised. He knew that Luke had been having dreams, but the older half-blood had never said anything about any nightmares. "What kind of nightmares?"
Tayen picked up a vial of silver liquid and looked right at Percy. "I think you know," she told him. "What else could he possibly have nightmares about?"
Percy swallowed. "Kronos."
Tayen's eyes darkened as she handed Percy the two vials in exchange for four drachma. "He's not supposed to remember the Lord of Time or anything that happened, but I think he'll always have some shadows of his past in his mind. It would take more than a few drops of the Lethe's waters to take everything away."
Percy nodded. "Grover said almost the same thing. It doesn't have the same effect."
"I'll admit, Percy, I'm a little worried about him. Something has to be done about his memories or perhaps about the oath." The daughter of Hecate turned to face him. "I think we were wrong to take the oath; it was, perhaps, a little short-sighted."
Percy considered the concern in Tayen's voice. "Tayen…do you like Luke?"
The older girl gave a start and looked at Percy like he'd gone crazy. "What? Do I--? No!" she shook her head, blushing deeply. "Percy, I'm dating Emma and Ella."
Now Percy stared at her. "Y-you’re dating Emma and Ella?"
"Why do you think they were just here?" Tayen asked, her face still dark from her blush. "Good gods, Percy Jackson!" She shook her head again, as if she was trying to get rid of the mental image of her even liking Luke in any way more than a casual acquaintance.
"S-so, why are you worried about Luke?" Percy tried to get the subject back onto the son of Hermes.
Tayen took a moment to consider her answer. "You remember that I was on the Titans' side with my mother in last year's battle? I knew Luke before he gave his body to the Titan Lord."
This surprised Percy. He hadn’t thought that Tayen might have known Luke before the battle. "What can you tell me?"
There was silence from the older half-blood for a long moment. "Luke…" she finally began, "he never wanted to give his body to the Lord of Time. Lord Kronos tormented Luke for years. Giving up his body was Luke's last resort. It was his biggest fear."
"I thought I was Luke's biggest fear," Percy said, furrowing his brow.
Tayen gave a snort. "Luke never feared you. He feared for you."
Percy stared at her. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's not my place to say, Percy Jackson. If you want answers for that, you'll have to ask Luke."
"But I can't ask Luke," Percy told her. "He doesn't remember!"
"There is a lot that Luke doesn't remember, true, but this is not something he's likely to forget," Tayen told him. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Believe me when I say this, Percy. You are the key for him and always have been."
Percy gave her a confused look, but apparently, the daughter of Hecate was done talking to him about Luke. She shooed him out of the cabin, informing him which elixer did what and reminding him to take only a small swallow of the potions and in which order to take them. As soon as he was out of the cabin, Tayen shut the door, leaving Percy to head back to his own cabin.
Once Percy was back to his own cabin, he crawled into bed. Alima was still out, taking as much time as she could before eleven, when lights were turned out and everyone was to be in bed. Percy took the blue potion and opened it. He swallowed just a little bit, as Tayen instructed. Immediately, he felt himself calm, all the troubles of that day melting away like the fog that sometimes lingered over the campgrounds in the morning. He followed the same instructions with the silver potion, capped it and set both potions on his bedside table before curling up under his blanket.
* * * * *
Almost as soon as the dream began, Percy knew it was different than the ones he'd had previously. He hadn't been wandering camp, he hadn't been anywhere. He was in his bed, just as he'd been when he'd fallen asleep. At first, it was hard to tell that he was even dreaming, it was so much like being awake. The only way he could tell it was a dream was the surreal feeling that surrounded him.
His cabin, usually lit with the faint glow of the fountain in the corner, was dim and empty, for his half-sister was not there. Neither was her bed or any of the empty beds that usually sat scattered throughout the cabin. It was only Percy and his bed. There wasn't a sign that anyone else ever used the cabin.
The bronze hippocampi that Tyson had created and hung up clinked together in a soft breeze coming in through the front door, which was left open a couple inches. There was no light coming in from the moon outside, only wind. A chill ran down Percy's spine as he began to sit up and throw his blankets off.
A hand pushed him back down. "You're fine, Perce."
Percy recognized the voice. It was the same voice that had been haunting his dreams of late. He reached to grab the hand that pushed him back down. "Lu--"
A pair of lips against his cut him off, pressing firm, yet gently. Percy froze, a warm feeling in his gut as Luke kissed him. He knew it was Luke; there was no mistake about it, not with the other dreams. He wanted to push the older half-blood away, but he refrained and, instead, reached out to pull Luke closer. Percy wasn't thinking, just acting.
Before he knew it, Luke's lips had moved from Percy's, venturing lower and along the younger half-blood's jaw, down to his throat. Percy tilted his head back and to the side, allowing Luke greater access to the soft, sensitive skin. Percy's eyes slipped shut, the warm feeling spreading within him as Luke's hands began wandering over his body. It felt so good, so right, but a thought nagged at Percy's mind, even in his subconsciousness.
"Why?" he asked.
"Figure it out, Perseus Jackson," came the reply.
But the voice that had answered his question hadn't been Luke's. The older half-blood was too busy administrating warm, wanting kisses along Percy's collar. Whoever had spoken was invisible to Percy, hidden somewhere in the darkness of the dream.
"This is not something that can be simply told to you," the mysterious voice continued. "I have given you everything I can. Now, it is up to you."
Percy wanted to ask more, wanted to know who it was that had spoken. It wasn't Morpheus; Percy had met the god of dreams before and would know if he were the speaker. Why was this mysterious person giving Percy these dreams? Were they the one giving Luke the mirror dreams and, again, why?
"You have the answer, Perseus. You just have to see it."
Percy opened his mouth to ask what that meant, but Luke chose that moment to capture his lips in another kiss as he tugged at Percy's pants. Percy let go of subconscious thought and gave in to the desires he felt in his dream. He wrapped his arms around Luke and pulled him down over him.
* * * * *
"You look exhausted," Nico told Percy the next morning.
The son of Hades had joined up with the Poseidon and Hebe cabins for archery practice, since all three cabins were small; with only Nico in the Hades cabin, Percy and Alima in the Poseidon cabin and only five kids in the Hebe cabin, it seemed like a good idea to bunch them together. Chiron was just letting them practice on their own, since most of them had a fair idea of how to use their bows, though the centaur would occasionally take a camper aside for some additional help.
"I've been up since three this morning," Percy replied, not so much practicing with his bow, but rather just toying with it. "Couldn't get back to sleep."
"I thought you got something from the Hecate girls for that," Nico said.
Percy looked at him, one eyebrow arched. "How did you--?"
Nico shrugged. "I see things. My cabin's right next to yours and I saw you leave the Hecate cabin with a couple of potions. I figured you'd gotten something to help you sleep, since you've been so tired lately."
"Is it that obvious I've been tired?"
Nico shrugged again, pulling an arrow along his bow, aiming and letting the arrow fly. Though the son of Hades was much more comfortable with a sword, he wasn't half-bad with a bow. His aim was just a little off, but at least he could actually hit the targets, where Percy couldn't. Nico swore softly in Ancient Greek and notched another arrow.
"I can tell you haven't been sleeping," he began. "For one, your eyes are bloodshot and puffy. Is there a reason you can't sleep?"
Percy opened his mouth to tell Nico that he'd been having dreams, but immediately shut it again, blushing a violent crimson; the last thing he needed to tell the younger half-blood was about his progressively suggestive and sexual dreams. It certainly wasn't anything to dump onto Nico, especially in such a public place, like the archery range.
"It's just…dreams," he said, finally. He could at least admit that much. "Nothing I can't handle."
Nico arched a slender brow at the older demigod. "Can't tell me about them?"
Percy's blush returned in full force. "I'd…rather not."
The son of Hades shrugged and turned back to his target, lining up his shot and letting go of the arrow. His shot hit only a couple inches off from the bullseye. "Son of a--!"
"Frustrating, isn't it?" asked a boy on Nico's other side.
"Julian," Nico greeted, voice soft and even, as it was whenever he spoke to anyone who wasn’t Percy, Annabeth or Chiron.
The boy, Julian Evans, son of Hebe, was about the same age as Nico, with soft, curly brown hair and pale blue eyes. He was a generally friendly half-blood and usually ready to help, whether his help was appreciated or not. Julian instructed Nico to ready another arrow and, when the other boy grudgingly obeyed, gave him some pointers, guiding Nico where needed.
"Try now," Julian grinned.
Nico did. The shot hit the bullseye this time, not quite dead-center, but definitely within the red circle painted on the target. Nico stared at the target, blinking a couple of times before giving a satisfied nod. He thanked Julian for the advice. The son of Hebe just grinned again and went back to his own bow.
"I think someone likes you," Alima teased from her place on Percy's other side. She was taking a break from practice, drinking from a bottle of water provided by the camp store.
A frown graced Nico's features, as if he was entirely unsure what to make of the Eastern girl's statement. He settled for giving a shrug. "Whatever."
Percy shook his head. "I think he wants to be your friend."
"He wants to be everyone's friend," Alima said. She passed a bottle of water to both Percy and Nico. "It is getting hot. You will want to keep hydrated."
Percy gratefully accepted the bottle and opened it to take a long drink. Just because he was a child of Poseidon and had the water within him didn't mean he couldn't get dehydrated like everyone else. When he brought the bottle back from his mouth, he nearly dropped it when Annabeth appeared right in front of him, Yankees cap in her hand as she brought it from her head.
"Surprise, Seaweed Brain," the blonde greeted. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.
Percy, though he'd been angry with Annabeth the previous night, couldn't help but be glad to see her. "What's up, Wise-Girl?" he asked, hugging her in return.
Annabeth pulled away, putting her hands on her hips. "So, what was with cutting me off last night?" she asked, giving Percy a glare.
Percy shrank under that glare. He'd dated Annabeth long enough to know that when she was upset, she could be pretty scary; daughter of Athena or not, one just did not get on the wrong side of an angry Annabeth. "I was tired," he lied.
"Zeus' bolts, Percy, you were mad at me! Why?!" Annabeth's gray eyes darkened with her question. "I didn't even do anything!"
Percy noted that the other kids at the archery range had paused in their shooting to look at Percy and Annabeth, no doubt their attention grabbed by the daughter of Athena’s shouting.
"Can we talk about this later?" he asked. He actually didn't want to talk about it at all, but maybe he could at least distract Annabeth and diffuse her anger.
Annabeth fumed for a moment in silence. "Fine, but don't think I'm going to forget about it!" She folded her arms over her chest. "I'm going to go talk to Malcolm about getting my bunk back. I will talk to you later, Percy."
With that, she spun on her heel, her long blonde hair twirling with the movement, then bouncing off her back as she stormed towards the pavilion. Percy watched her go, then heaved a sigh, slumping his shoulders. The Hebe kids that had been watching him and Annabeth gave disappointed looks at the loss of their entertainment and went back to practice.
"Well," Nico said. "She wasn't happy with you."
"Certainly not," Alima agreed.
Percy groaned. "She's going to string me up and gut me like a fish."
And he wouldn't put it past her, once he sat down with her and explained his situation. The thing was, he wasn't sure how to even begin to tell his sort-of-but-not-really-ex-girlfriend that he was pretty sure he was falling in love with someone else? Especially, how did he tell her that he was pretty sure he was falling in love with someone that she had loved for years and that he had, until only recently, hated with a passion?
Percy had only just realized it that morning, after the long, silent hours after his latest dream.
Whether he accepted it or not, the voice in his dream had been right; the answer was right in front of him. Percy Jackson, hero of Olympus, was falling in love with the one person who had tried to kill him on several occasions, tried to destroy the camp, his home and his world, Luke Castellan.
Author's Note: And the spaz-face does it again! 5,191 words! AND the story’s finally going somewhere! Ohoho~ Now, don't get too excited, 'cause I may have a bit of a hiatus coming; summer time's a comin' and that means no school for Kirii, which means no internet access on a regular basis. Soooo, I don't know when I'll be updating this fic again. So, hang on, try to be patient with me and forgive me if it takes me a while to get back to you guys!
Title: On the Fringe
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: EventualLuke/Percy, past!Percy/Annabeth. Also some OC pairings, but those are very minor.
Warnings: AU, slash (m/m and f/f). Spoilers for The Last Olympian. Also, there's a handful of OCs, but most of them are camp counselors with minor roles.
Author's Note: This fic completely changes Luke's fate in The Last Olympian and will otherwise have spoilers. And if you bothered to look at the pairings and warnings, there will be slash, both with boys and girls, so if you don't like it, use your handy little back button right now. If you're still reading this, enjoy the fic.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are copyright to Rick Riordan and if he had any idea what I'm doing with his characters, I'm sure he'd be out for my foolish mortal blood. I do, however, own the OCs.
Chapter Four
June was coming to a close and Percy had spent the better half of the last week with Luke. Because the Poseidon cabin currently only hosted Percy and Alima, they were often put into lessons and activities with other cabins. Occasionally, they were also joined by Nico, since he was on his own. More often than not, the two (or three) of them joined the Hermes cabin for activities.
With the addition of so many new campers and cabins, Chiron had added several new activities to the line up. The children of Demeter ran a greenhouse with the children of Antheia, goddess of flowers. Rumor had it the plants grown in the greenhouse were sold to florists in the nearby cities to add to the income already brought in from the sales of the strawberries grown by the satyrs and Dionysus' kids. When it came to the usual javelin-throwing lessons from the Ares cabin, there was a complementary staff-fighting course taught by the children of Enyalius, a lesser god of war. The Hecate cabin occasionally gave lessons on spells anyone could use for protection and minor healing.
Camp was once again busy with training, without the worry of attack. Campers enjoyed their days, learning to harness their abilities, physical and otherwise. Dinners were fun again, sacrifices to the gods sent up with earnest thanks and campfire songs were sung until the fire was burning high, hot and colorful. It was easy to get back into the feel of how camp had first been when Percy came nearly five years ago.
It was a hot day, sun beating down at the camp when Luke finally got Percy to take him on in a match. The Hermes and Poseidon cabins had teamed up for sword practice in the arena that day. Luke and Percy were supposed to be showing their cabin mates a few key moves before letting everyone pair up to practice. Luke held a sword he'd had the Hephaestus kids forge for him, balanced almost perfectly for the young man's grip. Percy, of course, chose to wield Riptide. He'd been through too much with the sword to ever take up a different blade.
The lessons had started with Luke explaining different moves to the onlookers. Of course, one of the younger campers called out for a demonstrative match between the two of them. So, with no excuse to back out of it, Percy found himself facing Luke, his long-time enemy with whom he was slowly building a renewed friendship. While he was wary about fighting him, even in a practice match, Percy readied himself, focusing on Luke and watching for the older half-blood's first move.
He'd done this several times before. Luke shot forward, taking the offensive while Percy took defense. Battle instincts that Percy had honed over the years took over and he had no trouble fending off Luke's attacks. He could tell from the way Luke watched him that the blond man was impressed by how much he'd improved.
The group of campers watching cheered them on, the guys riled up the way most men were during any sporting event and the girls swooning, over Luke or Percy or both. Even those who were apprehensive about Luke for knowing his involvement with Kronos were cheering, forgetting, for the time being, their distrust of their half-brother. Alima, of course, cheered for her own half-brother.
Percy paid the onlookers no mind. He was focused only on Luke. The older half-blood had always been the better swordsman, so Percy couldn't let himself be distracted. He parried against Luke's attacks, blocked others with his sword and shield. The metallic clangs from the swords clashing together echoed across the arena over the sound of the cheering from the crowd as the two young men sparred.
In the middle of the match, Percy noticed something different in Luke's moves. It wasn't something that was easy to catch; he doubted anyone noticed besides himself. The change was so subtle, but Percy could sense that Luke wasn't giving the fight his usual strength or determination. It was almost as if the older half-blood was puzzled by something. The fierceness that was typically in Luke's gaze when he fought was gone, replaced by a look of confusion.
Percy hesitated, caught off guard by the change in Luke. This turned out to be a mistake on the son of Poseidon's part, as Luke lunged forward, moving in quickly to disarm Percy and shove him to the ground. Percy found himself pinned beneath Luke, blade against his throat with the older half-blood's face just inches from his own.
A fierce blush took over Percy's face at the realization of just how close Luke was to him. He could feel Luke's hand pressing against his chest, warmth emanated from the spot where the older demigod's hand rested. Those blue and gold eyes were all Percy could see and he couldn't seem to pull himself away from them. Memories of see those eyes, fully gold, staring into his own in past battles, rose to Percy's mind and he almost let those memories take him over and take him back to the previous summer when it took all he had to fight against Kronos in Luke's body.
"Perce," Luke said, just softly enough for only Percy to hear his voice. There was that familiar smirk again, spread over Luke's lips just within Percy's line of sight. "You shouldn't let your opponent distract you."
If it were possible, Percy was sure his face would turn even redder. He placed his hands on Luke's chest and shoved him off. Luke, smirk still in place, shifted to stand, bringing his sword from its place against Percy's throat. He turned to the gathered campers to explain the disarming move that he’d used against Percy, acting as if nothing had happened.
Percy, as he stood up, knew better. That look in Luke's eyes hadn't been some trick to try to confuse him; it had been genuine puzzlement. Their match had triggered something, of that, Percy was certain. Exactly what, he couldn’t know. He had his suspicions and he wasn't quite sure what he could do about it now.
Deciding to let it go for the time being, Percy turned to help instruct the campers. Luke had already split the group in two so they could both work with a smaller group. Percy's group was eager to get to work, so he let them partner up and start. Most of them had been to the previous sword training sessions, so they were working on more advanced techniques, but there were a few stragglers. Percy worked with those campers first, letting everyone else practice at their own pace for the remainder of the hour.
As the hour moved on, Percy kept looking towards Luke. The son of Hermes kept himself busy, helping with his half-siblings and shouting advice over the noise of blade clashing against blade and shield. All the while, he acted as though nothing odd had happened. Percy, however, could not get his mind off the look he’d seen in Luke's eyes.
"Percy?" Alima called not long after the lesson had ended. "We are scheduled to go to the beach with the Nereids next and we will be late if you do not hurry."
Percy looked over to her with confusion, having lost himself in his thoughts. He remembered a moment later that, yes, they had managed to get an hour at the beach into their schedule. "Oh, go ahead without me. I'll catch up."
Alima gave a slight frown, but made no other objection. One of the Demeter girls that she’d made friends with during her stay at camp hurried over to walk with her to the beach, giving Percy the chance he needed to catch up with Luke. The older half-blood was picking up equipment that had been tossed aside without care the moment the lesson was over.
"Need a hand?" Percy asked.
Luke looked up and, just for a brief moment, that same puzzled look from earlier graced his eyes. "Oh. Sure, yeah."
Percy picked up a couple of swords that laid on the ground. "So, uh, how's it going?"
Luke gave a shrug. "I've had worse lessons. What about you?"
"Same old, same old," Percy replied. With an armful of swords, he headed towards the equipment pit where all swords, shields and armor were supposed to be kept when they weren't being used. Once he had everything put away, he turned back around to find Luke standing right in front of him. "Uh…"
"What exactly are you hiding from me?" Luke asked, blue-gold eyes narrowed slightly at the younger half-blood. "A week ago, you came and told me you're sorry for avoiding me, we start acting like friends again and, just now, during our match --"
Percy hesitated. "What happened during the match?"
Luke turned his back on Percy. "I don't know. It was just a feeling. The way you and I fought…it felt familiar. Like we'd fought before, but not in a friendly match like today."
Percy kept his mouth shut, though his thoughts were running through his mind with explanations. He wanted to speak up, wanted to help Luke, but with the oath he'd taken, he couldn't. This was the first time since taking the oath that he honestly regretted taking it. In the last week, though it was a short time, he'd gotten used to treating Luke as a friend again. He wanted to help Luke; he thought that, perhaps, a little bit of help would be been enough, if Luke's memories hadn't been erased.
"Percy," Luke spoke up, cutting into Percy's thoughts. "Have I…done anything to hurt you?"
Percy looked up at Luke. The older half-blood had turned back around to face him and Percy could see a sort of pain in the blond’s eyes. That alone surprised Percy; even before Luke had turned out to be a traitor, Percy had always seen him as someone almost insusceptible to pain. To see Luke in pain now was just another eye-opener for the younger half-blood.
Percy realized that Luke was waiting for an answer still and chose his next words carefully. "Not intentionally," he told him. Which, he supposed, was partially true; when Luke's body had been taken over by Kronos, the son of Hermes hadn’t had control over his actions. Then again, hadn't Luke intentionally given himself over to Kronos in order to get rid of Percy?
Luke studied him for a moment, looking at the younger man for any sign that he was being lied to. If he found any, he didn't say anything. Instead, he just placed his hands on his hips and gave a sigh with a shake of his head.
"I just wish I knew what it was about you," he said, finally.
Percy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Luke waved him off. "Nothing, nothing. I'll talk to you later, Perce. You'd better hurry to the beach."
Percy hesitated, frowned, then slowly turned to head for the beach. He wanted to know what Luke was thinking, why he seemed to be so moody around him. They'd talked about the dreams (some of them, anyways), they'd started rebuilding their friendship. What else could there be?
* * * * *
"So, Annabeth, you're coming to camp for the Fourth?" Percy asked his ex-girlfriend later that night.
Annabeth nodded, her image shimmering in the mist of the Iris-message. "I wouldn't miss the annual fireworks display!" she told him. "Construction is going so well that I think I've earned a little break. And, besides, I miss camp."
"Even though you’re up on Olympus, partying with the muses when you’re off-duty?" Percy asked, a slight teasing tone in his voice.
Annabeth frowned at him. "Don't get me wrong, Seaweed Brain, Olympus is great, but my home is down there, with you and Grover and Chiron."
Though she hadn't said it, Percy knew that Annabeth counted Luke in the group, as well. To Annabeth, Luke had always meant home. Again, the jealousy Percy had always felt whenever Annabeth spoke of Luke or implied that she was talking about the older half-blood rose up in his chest. However, tonight, it felt somewhat…different. Oh, certainly, he was angry that Luke was in Annabeth's mind all the time, but it wasn't that Percy was angry that she was thinking of Luke, instead of him.
Percy was angry that Annabeth was thinking of Luke at all.
"Percy? Did you hear me?"
Percy pushed down his anger. He wasn't sure why he was angry in the first place. He knew Annabeth would always love Luke, but she had long since given up on him to settle for Percy. That thought had Percy angry all over again and, this time, he couldn't push it down very far.
"Yes, I heard you," he lied. "I've got to go. Talk to you on the fourth."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "I said I'd be there tomorrow."
"Tomorrow. Yeah. Whatever."
Percy waved his hand through the mist made by the fountain to cut the connect of the Iris message. Too angry with Annabeth to go to bed and, with time before everyone had to go to bed, Percy left the cabin. He decided to go to the Hecate cabin across the way to talk to one of the girls there about getting an elixer to calm himself down before lights out. While the Hecate girls, a proper coven of thirteen, were known by the camper for their spells, their charms and potions were also well-known to be useful for everything from an upset stomach to a prank on an unsuspecting cabin-mate.
As Percy crossed to the Hecate cabin, he saw the Aura twins, Emma and Ella, coming out. The two of them were dressed identically, as usual. Over the last couple of weeks, Percy had learned to tell them apart; while the girls were near perfectly identical, Emma was right-handed, where Ella was left-handed and they coordinated a set of woven hemp anklets to match their dominant sides. Emma's green-beaded anklet was on her right ankle and Ella's purple-beaded anklet was on her left. Aside from personality, the anklets were the only way to tell one twin from the other.
"Hi, Percy!" Emma called, waving at the approaching son of Poseidon.
Percy gave a wave back, but held his tongue; he was still upset and there was no reason to take his anger out on one of the friendliest people at camp. Instead, he forced himself to smile at Emma. Emma smiled back, grabbed her sister's hand to hook their pinkies as they headed over to their own cabin.
"So, what brings the son of Poseidon to the Hecate cabin?"
Percy looked up to see Tayen leaning against the doorframe of her cabin. The Barbadian girl had her usual shorts and Camp Half-Blood tanktop on, but she was missing her jewelry, which Percy found a bit odd; he'd rarely seen her without her numerous bracelets and necklaces, since she usually only took them off for the weekly Capture the Flag game.
"I wanted to see about a couple potions," Percy said, stepping up to the doorway.
"You have drachma?" Tayen asked.
Percy nodded and pulled a handful of the golden coins out of his pocket to show her. Tayen glanced around for any sign of Chiron or Mr. D; though both camp directors knew that the Hecate cabin was charging for the potions they made, they couldn't do anything about it unless they actively caught the girls making a sale. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she gestured for Percy to come in.
"What are you looking for?" she asked as she led Percy to the corner of the cabin where they kept the potions. "Healing, enhancing, prank?"
"Just something to calm down with," Percy told her. "And maybe something to help me sleep."
Tayen gave a hum as she went through the selection, picking up a vial of blue liquid. "You having trouble sleeping, too?"
Percy arched a brow at her. "Too?"
The dark-skinned girl shrugged. "Luke stopped by this morning, asking for a sleeping aid. He said something about nightmares and unusual dreams."
"He's having nightmares?" Percy asked, surprised. He knew that Luke had been having dreams, but the older half-blood had never said anything about any nightmares. "What kind of nightmares?"
Tayen picked up a vial of silver liquid and looked right at Percy. "I think you know," she told him. "What else could he possibly have nightmares about?"
Percy swallowed. "Kronos."
Tayen's eyes darkened as she handed Percy the two vials in exchange for four drachma. "He's not supposed to remember the Lord of Time or anything that happened, but I think he'll always have some shadows of his past in his mind. It would take more than a few drops of the Lethe's waters to take everything away."
Percy nodded. "Grover said almost the same thing. It doesn't have the same effect."
"I'll admit, Percy, I'm a little worried about him. Something has to be done about his memories or perhaps about the oath." The daughter of Hecate turned to face him. "I think we were wrong to take the oath; it was, perhaps, a little short-sighted."
Percy considered the concern in Tayen's voice. "Tayen…do you like Luke?"
The older girl gave a start and looked at Percy like he'd gone crazy. "What? Do I--? No!" she shook her head, blushing deeply. "Percy, I'm dating Emma and Ella."
Now Percy stared at her. "Y-you’re dating Emma and Ella?"
"Why do you think they were just here?" Tayen asked, her face still dark from her blush. "Good gods, Percy Jackson!" She shook her head again, as if she was trying to get rid of the mental image of her even liking Luke in any way more than a casual acquaintance.
"S-so, why are you worried about Luke?" Percy tried to get the subject back onto the son of Hermes.
Tayen took a moment to consider her answer. "You remember that I was on the Titans' side with my mother in last year's battle? I knew Luke before he gave his body to the Titan Lord."
This surprised Percy. He hadn’t thought that Tayen might have known Luke before the battle. "What can you tell me?"
There was silence from the older half-blood for a long moment. "Luke…" she finally began, "he never wanted to give his body to the Lord of Time. Lord Kronos tormented Luke for years. Giving up his body was Luke's last resort. It was his biggest fear."
"I thought I was Luke's biggest fear," Percy said, furrowing his brow.
Tayen gave a snort. "Luke never feared you. He feared for you."
Percy stared at her. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's not my place to say, Percy Jackson. If you want answers for that, you'll have to ask Luke."
"But I can't ask Luke," Percy told her. "He doesn't remember!"
"There is a lot that Luke doesn't remember, true, but this is not something he's likely to forget," Tayen told him. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Believe me when I say this, Percy. You are the key for him and always have been."
Percy gave her a confused look, but apparently, the daughter of Hecate was done talking to him about Luke. She shooed him out of the cabin, informing him which elixer did what and reminding him to take only a small swallow of the potions and in which order to take them. As soon as he was out of the cabin, Tayen shut the door, leaving Percy to head back to his own cabin.
Once Percy was back to his own cabin, he crawled into bed. Alima was still out, taking as much time as she could before eleven, when lights were turned out and everyone was to be in bed. Percy took the blue potion and opened it. He swallowed just a little bit, as Tayen instructed. Immediately, he felt himself calm, all the troubles of that day melting away like the fog that sometimes lingered over the campgrounds in the morning. He followed the same instructions with the silver potion, capped it and set both potions on his bedside table before curling up under his blanket.
* * * * *
Almost as soon as the dream began, Percy knew it was different than the ones he'd had previously. He hadn't been wandering camp, he hadn't been anywhere. He was in his bed, just as he'd been when he'd fallen asleep. At first, it was hard to tell that he was even dreaming, it was so much like being awake. The only way he could tell it was a dream was the surreal feeling that surrounded him.
His cabin, usually lit with the faint glow of the fountain in the corner, was dim and empty, for his half-sister was not there. Neither was her bed or any of the empty beds that usually sat scattered throughout the cabin. It was only Percy and his bed. There wasn't a sign that anyone else ever used the cabin.
The bronze hippocampi that Tyson had created and hung up clinked together in a soft breeze coming in through the front door, which was left open a couple inches. There was no light coming in from the moon outside, only wind. A chill ran down Percy's spine as he began to sit up and throw his blankets off.
A hand pushed him back down. "You're fine, Perce."
Percy recognized the voice. It was the same voice that had been haunting his dreams of late. He reached to grab the hand that pushed him back down. "Lu--"
A pair of lips against his cut him off, pressing firm, yet gently. Percy froze, a warm feeling in his gut as Luke kissed him. He knew it was Luke; there was no mistake about it, not with the other dreams. He wanted to push the older half-blood away, but he refrained and, instead, reached out to pull Luke closer. Percy wasn't thinking, just acting.
Before he knew it, Luke's lips had moved from Percy's, venturing lower and along the younger half-blood's jaw, down to his throat. Percy tilted his head back and to the side, allowing Luke greater access to the soft, sensitive skin. Percy's eyes slipped shut, the warm feeling spreading within him as Luke's hands began wandering over his body. It felt so good, so right, but a thought nagged at Percy's mind, even in his subconsciousness.
"Why?" he asked.
"Figure it out, Perseus Jackson," came the reply.
But the voice that had answered his question hadn't been Luke's. The older half-blood was too busy administrating warm, wanting kisses along Percy's collar. Whoever had spoken was invisible to Percy, hidden somewhere in the darkness of the dream.
"This is not something that can be simply told to you," the mysterious voice continued. "I have given you everything I can. Now, it is up to you."
Percy wanted to ask more, wanted to know who it was that had spoken. It wasn't Morpheus; Percy had met the god of dreams before and would know if he were the speaker. Why was this mysterious person giving Percy these dreams? Were they the one giving Luke the mirror dreams and, again, why?
"You have the answer, Perseus. You just have to see it."
Percy opened his mouth to ask what that meant, but Luke chose that moment to capture his lips in another kiss as he tugged at Percy's pants. Percy let go of subconscious thought and gave in to the desires he felt in his dream. He wrapped his arms around Luke and pulled him down over him.
* * * * *
"You look exhausted," Nico told Percy the next morning.
The son of Hades had joined up with the Poseidon and Hebe cabins for archery practice, since all three cabins were small; with only Nico in the Hades cabin, Percy and Alima in the Poseidon cabin and only five kids in the Hebe cabin, it seemed like a good idea to bunch them together. Chiron was just letting them practice on their own, since most of them had a fair idea of how to use their bows, though the centaur would occasionally take a camper aside for some additional help.
"I've been up since three this morning," Percy replied, not so much practicing with his bow, but rather just toying with it. "Couldn't get back to sleep."
"I thought you got something from the Hecate girls for that," Nico said.
Percy looked at him, one eyebrow arched. "How did you--?"
Nico shrugged. "I see things. My cabin's right next to yours and I saw you leave the Hecate cabin with a couple of potions. I figured you'd gotten something to help you sleep, since you've been so tired lately."
"Is it that obvious I've been tired?"
Nico shrugged again, pulling an arrow along his bow, aiming and letting the arrow fly. Though the son of Hades was much more comfortable with a sword, he wasn't half-bad with a bow. His aim was just a little off, but at least he could actually hit the targets, where Percy couldn't. Nico swore softly in Ancient Greek and notched another arrow.
"I can tell you haven't been sleeping," he began. "For one, your eyes are bloodshot and puffy. Is there a reason you can't sleep?"
Percy opened his mouth to tell Nico that he'd been having dreams, but immediately shut it again, blushing a violent crimson; the last thing he needed to tell the younger half-blood was about his progressively suggestive and sexual dreams. It certainly wasn't anything to dump onto Nico, especially in such a public place, like the archery range.
"It's just…dreams," he said, finally. He could at least admit that much. "Nothing I can't handle."
Nico arched a slender brow at the older demigod. "Can't tell me about them?"
Percy's blush returned in full force. "I'd…rather not."
The son of Hades shrugged and turned back to his target, lining up his shot and letting go of the arrow. His shot hit only a couple inches off from the bullseye. "Son of a--!"
"Frustrating, isn't it?" asked a boy on Nico's other side.
"Julian," Nico greeted, voice soft and even, as it was whenever he spoke to anyone who wasn’t Percy, Annabeth or Chiron.
The boy, Julian Evans, son of Hebe, was about the same age as Nico, with soft, curly brown hair and pale blue eyes. He was a generally friendly half-blood and usually ready to help, whether his help was appreciated or not. Julian instructed Nico to ready another arrow and, when the other boy grudgingly obeyed, gave him some pointers, guiding Nico where needed.
"Try now," Julian grinned.
Nico did. The shot hit the bullseye this time, not quite dead-center, but definitely within the red circle painted on the target. Nico stared at the target, blinking a couple of times before giving a satisfied nod. He thanked Julian for the advice. The son of Hebe just grinned again and went back to his own bow.
"I think someone likes you," Alima teased from her place on Percy's other side. She was taking a break from practice, drinking from a bottle of water provided by the camp store.
A frown graced Nico's features, as if he was entirely unsure what to make of the Eastern girl's statement. He settled for giving a shrug. "Whatever."
Percy shook his head. "I think he wants to be your friend."
"He wants to be everyone's friend," Alima said. She passed a bottle of water to both Percy and Nico. "It is getting hot. You will want to keep hydrated."
Percy gratefully accepted the bottle and opened it to take a long drink. Just because he was a child of Poseidon and had the water within him didn't mean he couldn't get dehydrated like everyone else. When he brought the bottle back from his mouth, he nearly dropped it when Annabeth appeared right in front of him, Yankees cap in her hand as she brought it from her head.
"Surprise, Seaweed Brain," the blonde greeted. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.
Percy, though he'd been angry with Annabeth the previous night, couldn't help but be glad to see her. "What's up, Wise-Girl?" he asked, hugging her in return.
Annabeth pulled away, putting her hands on her hips. "So, what was with cutting me off last night?" she asked, giving Percy a glare.
Percy shrank under that glare. He'd dated Annabeth long enough to know that when she was upset, she could be pretty scary; daughter of Athena or not, one just did not get on the wrong side of an angry Annabeth. "I was tired," he lied.
"Zeus' bolts, Percy, you were mad at me! Why?!" Annabeth's gray eyes darkened with her question. "I didn't even do anything!"
Percy noted that the other kids at the archery range had paused in their shooting to look at Percy and Annabeth, no doubt their attention grabbed by the daughter of Athena’s shouting.
"Can we talk about this later?" he asked. He actually didn't want to talk about it at all, but maybe he could at least distract Annabeth and diffuse her anger.
Annabeth fumed for a moment in silence. "Fine, but don't think I'm going to forget about it!" She folded her arms over her chest. "I'm going to go talk to Malcolm about getting my bunk back. I will talk to you later, Percy."
With that, she spun on her heel, her long blonde hair twirling with the movement, then bouncing off her back as she stormed towards the pavilion. Percy watched her go, then heaved a sigh, slumping his shoulders. The Hebe kids that had been watching him and Annabeth gave disappointed looks at the loss of their entertainment and went back to practice.
"Well," Nico said. "She wasn't happy with you."
"Certainly not," Alima agreed.
Percy groaned. "She's going to string me up and gut me like a fish."
And he wouldn't put it past her, once he sat down with her and explained his situation. The thing was, he wasn't sure how to even begin to tell his sort-of-but-not-really-ex-girlfriend that he was pretty sure he was falling in love with someone else? Especially, how did he tell her that he was pretty sure he was falling in love with someone that she had loved for years and that he had, until only recently, hated with a passion?
Percy had only just realized it that morning, after the long, silent hours after his latest dream.
Whether he accepted it or not, the voice in his dream had been right; the answer was right in front of him. Percy Jackson, hero of Olympus, was falling in love with the one person who had tried to kill him on several occasions, tried to destroy the camp, his home and his world, Luke Castellan.
Author's Note: And the spaz-face does it again! 5,191 words! AND the story’s finally going somewhere! Ohoho~ Now, don't get too excited, 'cause I may have a bit of a hiatus coming; summer time's a comin' and that means no school for Kirii, which means no internet access on a regular basis. Soooo, I don't know when I'll be updating this fic again. So, hang on, try to be patient with me and forgive me if it takes me a while to get back to you guys!