riordanverse one shots

🪐the princess andromeda🪐

NOT LUKABETH. kinda like a slight plot change? in which tyson and percy are knocked out and locked up below decks before escaping and then the big fight with luke, and luke and annabeth talk. from annabeth's point of view.

She was shaking, her mind reeling. She couldn't believe that Luke would do something like this. This wasn't the Luke she used to know - this wasn't the Luke that saved her from dying alone when she was seven, and looked after her - this wasn't the Luke she had once had a crush on.

Annabeth sat defeatedly in the cell, her hands tied behind her back, another length rope binding her waist to a thick bar in the cell wall behind her, waiting. For what, she didn't know. Maybe she was waiting for Percy and Tyson to wake up. Maybe she was waiting for her distracted brain to come up with a plan. Or maybe, as much as she didn't want to admit it to herself, maybe she was waiting for Luke to come back around. He'd let them go, and he'd apologise, and he'd...

Oh, who was she kidding?

The daughter of Athena heard footsteps, and looked up. A small group of enemy demigods were approaching her, keys jangling, but she couldn't do anything. The rope was too tight around her wrists, and cutting into her stomach. One of them kneeled down behind her, and Annabeth held her breath. Maybe he was going to stab in the back, literally. But no, he was just untying the rope pinning her to the cell wall. Before she could even think, the other two yanked her to her feet, and practically dragged her out of the cell, up some stairs, and down a corridor. A dracaena leered at her as they passed, and she swallowed, hard.

Her captors pushed her through a set of ornate double doors, and forced her to kneel before Luke. He was sitting in a grand chair, almost like a throne. Annabeth didn't give him the respect of looking him in the eyes. If she did, he'd see how much he'd hurt her, and then he'd have too much power over her. She teared up a little, and blinked furiously, staring at the floor.

"Oh, no need to kneel, dearest Annabeth. You can stand up. But it would only be polite if you looked me in the eyes. After all, I am speaking to you." Luke's drawl was still as charming as ever, and Annabeth's rebellious heart skipped a beat. A demigod pulled her to her feet again, but she continued staring fiercely at the floor.

"Why, I'm surprised there isn't a hole in the floor from the way you're boring into it with that glare, Annie." There came his voice again. Don't react, Annabeth.

"Don't call me Annie," she spat.

"Very well. But I believe I told you to look me in the eyes." He spoke sharply, surprising Annabeth, but she didn't move until she felt a blade at her throat. Reluctantly, she lifted her head until whoever was holding it there was satisfied.

"What do you want?" she asked, a little hoarsely.

"I just want what's best for you. I want you to join me." Luke looked up from his sword, and met her glare. "You will join me, won't you, Annabeth?"

"After what you've done? Never. How dare you, Luke? Thalia was your friend!" Annabeth screamed, voicing, for the first time, how she really felt. "She gave her life for you! And I- I looked up to you, so much, and all you did was turn around and stab me in the back."

Luke's expression turned sour. "You're fighting a losing battle, Chase."

"I'm not on your side, and that makes it ten times better, Castellan." In spite of herself, tears formed in her eyes. "You don't have to do this," Annabeth whispered.

"Oh, I think you'll find I do. Soon there will be justice. But if that's how you really feel..." He waved his hand at the demigod. "Take her away. And tighten those knots, are you blind? She could rip those apart, easy," he added, knowing fully that the knots were already too tight. "So long, Annabeth."

"Good riddance." She was dragged away, still struggling. When she was tied down and alone again, she cried a little. This was not the Luke she used to know.