Commander Alpha

Chapter 26

Zoë's POV

I barely listened to Percy and Kronos's pre-battle banter. I was too preoccupied thinking about Luke. I had a bad feeling about the war and I decided that it was now or never to act on the feelings I'd had for Luke during the past few centuries.
You might be wondering how me, and ex-Hunter of Artemis and ex-man hater, could've fallen for Luke. Percy showed me that men could be good. Luke showed me just how good. There was hardly a part of him that I didn't like (aside from the whole starting the first war by bringing back Kronos thing).
By the time both sides began to charge each other, my nerves hit and all time high. I thought I might chicken out. Just as he began to sprint away, I grabbed his arm. He wheeled around towards me. When he saw the amount of nervousness I must have been portraying on my face, he looked really worried.
"Zoë! Are you-" I cut him off by leaning in and smashing my lips onto his. For a terrifying moment, he did nothing, only stand stiff as a board. I scolded myself for being myself so stupid as to think that he would ever fall for a girl like me, and was going to pull away when he leaned into the kiss. He wrapped his arms around my waist. My body filled with electricity, and my heart beat so strongly that I was sure he could feel it. When we were done kissing, Luke didn't let go of my waist, and I didn't mind. His warm breath tickled my neck, making me shiver. We only separated when we were interrupted by mind-message.
'FINALLY!" I jumped apart from Luke in surprise.
'Silena.' Luke groaned.
'As much as I appreciate this union of my OTP, I'm afraid we have a war to fight.' Percy thought. My face felt hot.
'Since when are we your... OTP?' I asked, the new word feeling uncomfortable in my mouth.
'Since forever. Now, go get in there!' Percy commanded. I looked at Luke.
"Right, well..." Luke began, not quite knowing how to finish.
"Good luck." I said. On an impulse, I kissed him on the cheek. I backed away and sprinted off to where I could hear Atlas's screaming. Luke and I's kiss was a welcome distraction, but I still had a job to do, and not a welcome one at that. Atlas was knocking aside demigods like flies. I stood directly behind him and drew my sword. My bow would be too risky, as I would run the risk of hitting a demigod. I cleared my throat, and Atlas turned around.
"Ah," he smirked. "A Chaos Warrior, come to try and take down me?" I decided not to reply, as I was afraid he would recognize my voice. I raced at him, sword drawn. Atlas charged to meet me. We fought, him having the upper hand in strength, and me having much more speed and agility. He would strike hard, but I would dodge and try to hit him.
After twenty minutes of constant battle, with the occasional demigod or monster watching for a second, we were both panting and breathing hard. I only had a few cuts, but each was deep. Atlas had many cuts, but they were shallow. Finally, he got a good hit on my upper thighs. His sword nearly cut through the bone, and I cried out in pain, the first sound I had made in the battle. Atlas stopped in surprise.
"Zoë?" I used his momentary confusion to thrust my sword into his torso. His eyes wide, Atlas knelt to the ground.
"Sweet dreams." I spat, then yanked my sword from where it was sheathed inside his body and used it to decapitate him. I watched as my father faded, feeling a sense of justice. He had killed me once, and I had killed him once. I guessed we were even.
I tried to put my weight on my injured leg, but immediately collapsed at the pain that followed. I hadn't even noticed that I'd made a noise, but I must have, as Luke came sprinting over.
"Zoë, your leg!"
"No I'm fine, I can-"
"You can not! I am taking you to the infirmary." I knew from Luke's tone that I wouldn't be able to argue with him. I looped one arm around his shoulder, and he put one around my waist, helping me to the infirmary. I wasn't sure if I was dizzy from Luke's touch or blood loss, but I guessed it was a mixture of both.
"Looks like I might be joining Emma in the one-legged club." I joked, dark spots growing in my vision.
"Then Charlie can make you a wicked awesome metal leg as well!" Luke said, trying to remain cheerful. Finally the dark spots completely took over my vision.
"Luke," I mumbled, then I lost consciousness.