Princess Andromeda

Chapter five

"You've heard of Leo Valdez?"

"Shut up."

"They call him the new and improved Luke Castellan."

"I don't care."

"Do you know why?"

"Go away."

"He sacrificed himself for his family. For those selfish gods. Even came back to life. Just as you did. The only difference, though, is that you killed them, hurt them, and betrayed them before ending it all."

"Fuck off, Kronos."

...

Luke shot up. He felt the darkness in the back of his mind slowly recede.

He felt tired. He was so tired. He was going to lose everything.

He didn't think he could live through the flashbacks. He didn't want to. There was no point in anything. Not this trip. Not trying to survive. Not in mending his friendship with Annabeth, Thalia, or any Senior Campers. And certainly not in rekindling his relationship with Percy.  He had no chance.

Luke fell back into his bed with a painful headache. Luke remembered how is mother would run her fingers through his hair and kiss him in that motherly way whenever he had a nightmare. He had been so young back then, maybe four. May had been normal and perfect.

Luke's eyes screwed shut. He curled in on himself and tried to ignore the awful stinging in his eyes.

...

"Are you that dude that died in the Titan War? From that Bridge?" Jason asked

"I never died." Micheal repeated, tapping his foot gently against the bed's wooden frame.

"That doesn't make any sense! There is no way you could have survived that long underwater!And if you think I'm gonna believe you, then explain why you took so long to come to us!" Annabeth snapped.

Percy he gently put a hand on her shoulder as to not startle her- he didn't need to be judo flipped right now- and said, "Annabeth, just let him explain, then you can yell at him, alright?"

Annabeth turned to glare at him then scowled at Micheal, "Go on."

Micheal let out an exasperated sigh, "Look, when Percy made that bridge explode I fell into the water and-"

"Died" Annabeth finished. Thalia elbowed her and gestured for him to continue.

"My head slammed into the side of the bridge and I lost conciseness before I even hit the water."

"And then you died." Annabeth added. Everyone turned to glare at her. Annabeth abruptly stood up, "I'm going to get Nico and he will see whether he-" She pointed at Micheal, "Is actually alive. Goodbye." And then she left the room, slamming the door behind her.

Apollo frowned, "Why does that girl want my son to be dead?"

"She doesn't really want him to be dead. I'm sure she's glad he is alive. Annabeth just likes it when things make sense." Thalia told him.

"So wise." Jason said with a grin. Thalia turned on him and slapped him upside the head.

"Shut up, Jason."

"Did Nico say he was dead?"

"No Jason, Death Breath just brought us here and left. I should zap him when he gets here."

"He might be alive then, like an escaped soul or something." Jason said.

"My soul didn't have to to escape because I never died!"