2nd Chance: Book 2 (PJO/HoO FanFic)

Epilogue

L U K E

"Luke." I ignored them. I continued to look around, searching. My heart was pounding. This is impossible. He couldn't have... How'd he know? He knew this would happen. He did something. Something to hold him down. An anchor to this world. He didn't lose himself within the power exchange. But how...

"Luke." Nothing,"Luke, will you just stop!" I turned around to face my girlfriend.

"He couldn't have, Zoë. It's impossible. That explosion-"

"Didn't kill him. Luke, why are you worrying so much? He's fine. He's out there. In fact, we should go and search-"

"No." I said, cutting her off and walking away from the battlefield and towards the camp.

"What do you mean no?" Bianca snapped,"We have to search for him! He'd want us to-"

"I said no! He wouldn't want us to look for him! He told me! He knew. He knew this might happen and told me. He said,'If you don't find my body, don't search for me. I'll find my way to you.'" I said, running a hand through my hair. By the gods, this is so stressful. I can't do this. He's gonna kill me. If he had died, I would've known. Now...now I'm not so sure. I don't know where he is, how he's feeling, what he's doing, or even if he's alive! Now he expects me to do nothing. I pressed the palm of my hands to my eyes, trying to ease my pounding head full of questions.

"Luke, how'd he know? He probably lost his memories..." Jason said quietly, trying hard not to annoy me,"Just let us find him. We can help him."

I shook my head, feeling tears starting to form,"I can't..." I whispered,"I promised him I wouldn't. With or without memories, I'm not gonna break the last thing he'd want me to do. I'm sorry, ok?" I walked towards Chaos, who was waiting on the porch of the Big House.

He said nothing for a while, which I was grateful for. We watched as everyone said their goodbyes, and I felt my heart break a little. This place was my home. I've been dying to come back ever since I was revived. Now that I'm here, I have to leave again, but it's my job I guess. I need to learn not to get attached to things too much.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Chaos finally said, not looking at me.

"Yeah. I mean, I love this place-"

"I'm not talking about that, Luke." He cut in, looking at me this time,"I'm talking about Percy." My heart dropped into my stomach,"The anticipation. Knowing he'll come, but not knowing when." His eyes were blank and emotionless, but I saw past his facade. I know he was hurting just as much as I was. He knew Percy during his Godly years, and they were close. Chaos could pass as his father, and I knew Percy looked at him like that, though he would never admit it.

"Yeah..." I muttered answering his question. I looked away and instead turned my attention towards my friends,"but it's what he would've wanted. He never cared much for his own safty, but he'd do anything to save ours. So he'd be happy to know he'd saved all of us."

"Almost..." Chaos muttered.

My heart constricted in pain, and my eyes sifted to Silena who sat alone under Thalia's tree. Beckendorf. He had died saving Silena from a Hydra. She wouldn't stop crying, so we had to dismiss her from the battle. She calmed down after 10 minutes, but it was still a heartbreaking moment. Watching someone break apart in front of my very eyes was terrifying, but my heart went out to her either way. They had a whole marriage planned in their heads. They imagined a happy ending. Not this. Not having to watch your fiancé die for the second time.

Gods, I was with her! I should've warned her! I should've distracted it, but no! I was to busy watching Percy's back instead of hers! Maybe, if I had done my job, he would still be alive, and out of all the pain I've ever felt, nothing came close to the guilt I felt in my veins. How am I gonna live knowing this? That it was my fault? I took a deep breath to try and calm myself. It's ok, Luke. If Percy can handle it for years, then so can you. I bit my lip, but Percy changed so much. I barely even knew him, and it took years to break down his walls. Gods, I can't do this. I'm not Percy. I can't hold in my emotions like that.

"Stop that." Chaos muttered.

I looked at him weirdly,"Stop what?"

He avoided eye contact,"Percy was like that the first couple of days after I brought him back. He was thinking a lot, and he was quiet. I thought it was normal. He just went through some tough times, but after the first week, he stopped. No more thinking. He made up his mind and that was the day he changed. Don't do the same thing, Luke. Tell us what you're thinking about, or if you're upset. Please."

I looked down,"Sorry..." I hated seeing Chaos like this. He was usually loud and happy. Seeing him so...emotionless and depressed killed me inside. I sighed and stuffed my hands in my pocket. I stopped once I felt something in it. I slowly pulled it out. It looked something like a remote with only one red button in the middle. The top shone a bright red. Percy must've slipped it in my pocket sometime while I wasn't looking. I looked around until my eyes landed on a certain blond girl,"I'll be back." I told Chaos before standing up and walking towards Annabeth.

She was walking towards the Aphrodite cabin when I stopped her,"Hey, Annie!"

She turned around and gave me a small smile,"Hey, Luke. What's up?" I could tell she'd been crying because her eyes were red and puffy. I gave her a look of pity because I know it's hard.

I handed her the remote,"Click this button if you ever need us again. This will alert Chaos who will see if the emergency is important enough for us." She took it and nodded,"And, uh, I'm gonna miss you." I muttered.

She smiled,"Me, too. You are gonna visit, aren't you? 'Cause if you don't, then the next time I see you, I'll kill you."

I laughed,"Noted." After we said our farewells and hugged, I walked back to Chaos. The others were already there waiting for me,"Ready?" I asked them. They all nodded, and as everyone walked through the portal Chaos made, never once did we look back.

H E R M E S

I sighed and closed my eyes as everyone in the room argued. My head was pounding like crazy, and I felt as if someone was trying to break open my skull. Of course, no one noticed. Ok, maybe Hestia and Hades noticed, but they said nothing. Everyone else, though, was too busy arguing to even bother looking my way.

Suddenly, all at once, my head exploded. Ok, not literally, but it felt like it. A whimper escaped my lips, and I clutched my head, massaging my temples as if it'll help. It didn't. It only made it worse. I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Hermes?" I couldn't identify the voice, but it didn't matter. All the sound faded, and images flashed behind my closed eyelids. Bodies; they were everywhere. Only one stood up above all the rest. As if they sensed my presence, all their eyes opened and stared at me, then the screaming started. It was all I could hear; the pleas and yells for mercy. They were crawling towards me, so I tried to back away, but I wouldn't budge. Then the boy looked up at me with familiar, lost eyes.

"I had to do it, Hermes. I just had to." He said, and his voice made me cold all over. I knew that voice,"Everything's going to change. Just know who you are and what your abilities are." His cold and unfocused eyes bore into me,"Until we meet again, I suppose."

My eyes snapped open to meet the blue eyes staring back at me,"Hermes?" Apollo said softly,"What happened?" I was sweating like crazy, yet I was freezing.

I noticed everyone starting at us both and my cheeks flushed in embarrassment,"Nothing. I'm-" I tried moving, but I felt myself clutch something.

Apollo looked down at my hand,"What's that?" He whispered.

I slowly opened my hand, and saw that it was a folded paper. I opened it up cautiously. There was only 10 words scribbled on it.

I ᕼᗩᗪ TO ᗪO IT, ᕼEᖇᗰᔕ. I ᒍᑌᔕT ᕼᗩᗪ TO....

I quickly balled the sheet of paper and stood up. I walked to the hearth and threw it in, watching it burn. I looked up and said,"It was nothing. Nothing at all..." Even as I said it to them, it seemed as if I was trying to convince myself that.

Because of that boy.

I can't get him out my head.

His eyes.

His voice.

Percy...