The Lightning Thief: Apollo's Daughter

Betrayal

"Percy Jackson!"

Skyler's POV

I heard the all too familiar voice of Luke yell. I let out a silent sigh as we all turned to face Luke who was using a pair of his father's winged shoes. He landed in front of us and pointed at Percy with the point of his sword.

"You weren't supposed to make it out alive. I can't let you take that bolt to Olympus." Luke said as he spread his arms to either side of him. "I'm the lightning thief." I cast my blue eyes to the ground... I didn't want to hurt my friends. But Luke had always been there for me and I felt the need to repay him by siding with him.

"You hid the bolt in the shield! Why?!" Percy said, uncapping Riptide.

"Well, when you said you were going to the Underworld, it hit me. That is the perfect opportunity to get the bolt to Hades. But I didn't do it alone, oh no. I had help."

I could feel Luke's cold blue eyes on me. I didn't want to look up..I didn't want to admit to myself I was doing this. I let out a sigh then looked at Luke. I turned towards Percy and Annabeth. The way Percy looked at me was soul crushing. The way I knew Annabeth was looking at me hurt even more... "Skye?" Annabeth asked. I couldn't even bring myself to look at her. She was my sister. The pain that I knew was behind those storm grey eyes of hers would break me if I looked at her.

I began my slow walk to Luke's side. I stood there..like some kind of cowering dog behind their master's heels. I looked towards Percy whos sea green eyes held so much pain. 

I mouthed 'I'm sorry..' But I knew they would never look at me the same again.

"Luke, Skyler...Why would you do this?" Annabeth asked, her voice flattered as she spoke.

I felt Luke's

arm snake its way around my waist. "To bring Olympus crumbling down," Luke said, a smirk on his lips. "To bring a new age of gods."

"Percy let's go," Sally said, trying to get Annabeth and Percy to move.

"Well, it's too late. I'm returning the bolt to Zeus right now." Percy said glaring at Luke. He then looked at me and his eyes softened a bit but I could tell there was still hatred hidden behind them.

Luke turned me towards him, putting his hands on either side of my neck. I saw him smirk before he leaned down and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes when his lips touched my skin. I wanted to hit him, I wanted to go with Annabeth and Percy..but I knew I wouldn't be able to bring myself to fight Luke.

When his lips left my forehead he looked down at me. "Ready to be my queen?" He asked. I didn't answer him. I saw him frown for a split second but then he turned towards Percy and Annabeth.

"You won't get that bolt to Zeus before midnight," Luke said.

Luke jerked forward with the flying shoes, trying to grab the bolt from Percy, but he sidestepped and dodged. Luke turned and kicked Percy in the face. Percy scrambled to his feet as Luke swung his sword at the Son of Poseidon. Percy countered Luke's strike with Zeus' master bolt. I saw Luke knock the bolt out of Percy's hand, sending it skidding across the observation deck. Annabeth ran to grab the bolt but I was faster and kicked the bolt to the side. It hurt me to have to fight her but I had to...for Luke.

"Please...I don't want to do this." Annabeth pleaded as she unsheathed her celestial bronze dagger, pointing it at me. I pulled on the charm of my sword, the gold weapon forming in my hand.

"Annabeth, you can come with us...we can all be together. As a family." I held my hand out to her. I could see her think about it but then she sighed, her grey eyes hardening into a fierce glare. She slashed my palm with her dagger. I pulled my hand back to my chest, hissing in pain.

"How can you talk about family when you're betraying ours! Betraying the camp! Our home Skye!" She yelled at me. I could see the tears welling threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Annabeth...please-" She slashed at me again with her dagger, I jumped back dodging the attack. I sighed and swung my sword at her as we began to attack each other in an effortless dance-like fashion.

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Luke fly off, seeing he had the bolt. I soon saw Percy fly after him with his own flying shoes. Me and Annabeth continued to fight, tears streaming down both of our faces. Neither of us wanted to fight the other. After what seemed like forever I saw Percy come back with the bolt. The mistake of a lifetime was looking away from Annabeth. She kicked me to the ground, her foot pinning me to the ground.

"Annabeth stop!" I heard Percy yell as he landed and ran towards us.

"She betrayed us, Percy!" Annabeth shouted, adjusting her foot so that she was pressing down on my throat. I had my hands clawed at her ankle trying to push her foot off me.

"I know, I know. But, Luke made her, didn't he? Can't we work out what happens to her after we get back to camp?" He asked.

Annabeth sighed and looked down at me, removing her foot. I gasped, filling my lungs with as much of the thick air as I could. Percy helped me up and looked into my blue eyes with his sea green ones. He gently hugged me, pulling my head against his chest. I could feel my cheeks heat up but before I could say anything Sally yelled from over by the service elevator.

"We really got to go! We've got two minutes!" She yelled.

Percy grabbed my hand as we ran toward the service elevator. I slid the gold key card into the security slot and the steel grey doors slid open, revealing a fancy elevator inside. Percy was the first in, then myself and lastly Annabeth. Sally tried to step in but a pale barrier stopped her. "Go. I'll be here when you're done." She said, a comforting smile on her lips as she spoke to her son. She glanced at me, her eyes weary as the steel doors closed. Annabeth pressed the only button inside the elevator then turned so she could watch me closely, holding onto the hilt of her dagger protectively.

I marked out my moves in the elevator in case the girl I saw as my only family decided to lunge at me. I looked up at Percy, keeping Annabeth in my periphery."What happened to Luke..?" I asked softly.

"He's...I'll tell you later.." He said, looking down at the bolt and then at me.

The elevator made a soft ding noise and then the doors slid open. I didn't expect to nearly have a heart attack when the doors opened. We were standing on a narrow stone walkway in the middle of the air.

Below us was Manhattan, from the height of an airplane. In front of us, white marble steps wound up the spine of a cloud, into the sky. My eyes followed the stairway to its end, where my brain just could not accept what I saw. From the top of the clouds rose the decapitated peak of a mountain, its summit covered with snow. 

Clinging to the mountainside were dozens of palaces-- a city of mansions-- all with white-columned porticos, gilded terraces, and bronze braziers glowing with a thousand fires. Roads wound crazily up to the peak, where the largest palace gleamed against the snow. Precariously perched gardens bloomed with olive trees and rosebushes. I could make out an open-air market filled with colorful tents, a stone amphitheater built on one side of the mountain, a hippodrome and a coliseum on the other. It was an Ancient Greek city, except it wasn't in ruins. It was new and clean, and colorful, the way Athens must've looked twenty-five hundred years ago.

"We have one minute," Annabeth said coldly.