The Last Olympian: Apollo's Daughter

Hurricane Percy

Percy's POV

"Did you think Skye looked okay?" I asked Thalia when we got back to the Plaza Hotel. My mind couldn't shake the image of those golden flecks of light in her blue eyes...It almost haunted me.

"She'll be okay." Thalia paused but I could tell she was as concerned about the daughter of Apollo as well. It was written plain as day on her face. 

"Thalia...When Prometheus touched me... I had a vision. Of you and Skyler, years ago when you were on the run..."

Thalia's face darkened a bit. She looked out over Central Park as I told her the vision I was shown.

"That was a bad night," she mumbled. "Annabeth was so little, I don't think she really understood what she saw. She just knew Luke was upset."

Small fires were still burning in the north, but otherwise, the city seemed unnaturally peaceful. "Do you know what happened to her? To Luke's mom, I mean.."

"Percy..." She sighed. "No... Luke never talked about it, if he knew what caused it, he never told me..and I don't think he told Skye either. I never saw her have an, um, episode, but Luke told us about the glowing eyes, the strange things she would say. He made us promise never to tell. What caused it, I have no idea. If Luke knew, he never told us..."

"Hermes knew," I said. "Something caused May to see parts of Luke's future, and Hermes understood what would happen...how Luke would turn into Kronos."

Thalia frowned. "You can't be sure of that. Prometheus showed you what happened in the worst possible light. Hermes did love Luke. I could tell just by looking at his face. And Hermes was there that night because he was checking up on May, taking care of her. He wasn't all bad."

"It's still not right," I insisted. "Luke was just a little kid. Hermes never helped him, never stopped him from running away."

Thalia shouldered her bow. Again it struck me how much stronger she looked now that she'd stopped aging. You could almost see a silvery glow around her...the blessing of Artemis.

"Percy," she said, "you can't start feeling sorry for Luke. We all have tough things to deal with. All demigods do. Our parents are hardly ever around. But Luke made bad choices. Nobody forced him to do that..." She paused. Her electric blue eyes darkened. "I'm worried about them. Skyler and Annabeth... Percy If Annabeth has to face Luke... Or Skye in battle, I don't know if she can do it." She paused again. "Can you do it? Can you fight her for real?"

"She's not on their side-"

"Can you fight her?" Thalia repeated. She gripped my shoulders, small electric shocks went through my body.

I didn't like the idea... But if it came down to it, If I had to...

Who am I kidding... I can't fight her. I forced a brave face and nodded. "I'll be fine. Annabeth will be fine, it's not the first time she's faced him-"

"Percy...This will be the last time she faces him though." She said it slowly. "After that night, after we left his mom's house? Luke was never the same. He got reckless and moody like he had something to prove. By the time Grover found us and tried to get us to camp... well, part of the reason we had so much trouble was that Luke wouldn't be careful. He wanted to pick a fight with every monster we crossed. Annabeth didn't see that as a problem. Luke was her hero. She only understood that his parents had made him sad, and she got very defensive of him. Skyler saw the issue but she...She loved him, she wouldn't dare try and challenge his choices. Risk being alone again... All I'm saying... don't fall into the same trap. Luke has given himself to Kronos now. We can't afford to be soft on him. And as of right now, we have to act the same towards Skyler."