How Fates Can Twist

Chapter 11

TW: violence, disturbing descriptions at the end

Annabeth's POV

She followed Luke through the door and out onto the deck. Sure enough, a life boat was a stone's throw away. They could have all made it here easily without the distraction of shutting off the power. But Luke had wanted an opportunity to talk to her alone, to convince her to go with him. The realization brought back the voice in her head telling her to be wary of him, but she couldn't bring herself to listen to it.

Shouts rang out from inside the ship, the only warning before a cluster of bodies came tumbling through the doors to their left. A shining blade swung through the air ferociously, and within moments Percy was left standing surrounded by piles of monster dust. Next to him, Hazel and Frank finished off a telkhine.

Percy's eyes met hers and relief filled his features.

"There you are, we were looking for you! Sorry I took so long, I've been searching below deck all morning, and-" Percy stopped abruptly when his gaze landed on Luke. The relief on his face left, replaced by a look of revulsion and hatred.

"Annabeth?" he called. "Get behind me, right now." His voice was tense and commanding, and she felt herself pulled to do as he said.

Her feet were moving before she had time to examine the situation before her. Her body was now stationed a few inches past him, Percy a wall between herself and Luke.

He certainly seemed to know Luke. He knew enough to be wary of him, at least. It appeared he deemed Luke a serious threat, and he wanted Annabeth behind him so he could protect her from any harm. Oh. He wanted to protect her. The notion sent a bubble through her stomach, and she tried her best to push it down.

Percy thought Luke was dangerous, but Annabeth had been moments from running off with him. Her head had told her that it was the right move. Who's judgement did she trust more, though? Her own, which came from a mind that didn't remember where she had been two months ago, or Percy's, who had never failed her in all their years together? Even her own instincts knew better than her mind. She should have trusted them when they told her Luke was suspicious. She should have trusted Hazel when she said the same thing. She knew she had to be wary of everyone she met, it was one of the most important things she learned as a demigod. So why had Luke made that difficult for her?

Annabeth was relieved when she found herself behind Percy. She was happy to hide from Luke's stare that sent a shiver down her spine and made her feel a disturbing kaleidoscope of emotions.

. . .

Percy's POV

He should have found her sooner. He should have not left her in the first place. What was he thinking, running off to search the ship without so much as a goodbye? He might be able to find valuable information to help their quest. That's what he had been thinking. But he hadn't considered everything that could go wrong. He hadn't considered that Luke had been brought back, though perhaps he should have when the Princess Andromeda appeared.

Annabeth's eyes were red, as if she had just been crying. Luke must have made her cry. Percy didn't have to wonder about it, he knew Luke would harm her any chance he was given.

Percy felt guilt for not being by her side sooner. But his eyes landed on Annabeth's tear stained face again and he felt an anger like he'd never known. It was a searing pain slicing through his gut, sawing away at any cords of self control he may have had within. He would make Luke pay for hurting her.

Percy focused his stare into the blond man's eyes, blue and clouded. They were a tough shield to deflect any harm, but he'd break them down soon enough. He'd leave the man in a crumpled heap begging for a mercy he didn't deserve. A mercy he would never receive. The sawing sped up inside him.

A noise came from his side and Percy turned to see Frank having accidentally backed into a lifebuoy. The son of Mars scrambled to hide the look of fear on his face as Percy stared him down. It was his anger, Percy knew. His godly anger. Frank wanted to get as far away from it as possible. To the left, Hazel seemed to be doing the same thing, putting as much space between the two of them as possible as she backed up to the ship railing.

In between them, Annabeth stood unphased by his aura. In fact, she was standing closer to him than she had been seconds before, just an arm's reach away. Percy wanted to think it was because she knew that he would never harm her, that all of this anger was to protect her. That even as the cords of self control in him came closer and closer to snapping he would never let it hurt her. He needed her to know that. He couldn't handle a world where she didn't know that.

He reached his hand up and cupped her face. Her gaze met his and the world felt like it had suddenly shrunk down to just the two of them. He stroked her cheek with his thumb, wiping away a stray tear. If he could do nothing but wipe away her tears for the rest of eternity, he'd be more content than any other god ever could be.

"I won't let him do anything to you ever again," Percy said in a hushed tone. "I'll take care of it all."

Annabeth nodded. She didn't say anything and he could tell she was still shaken up from whatever words Luke had swormed her mind with. It would take time for her to recover. She could lose her happiness and confidence for who knows how long because of Luke. The thought sent another surge of blinding anger through Percy and he let go of Annabeth, turning to face Luke. The rage kept sawing away at his self control.

The man was bent over the railing of the ship, fussing with the ropes of a lifeboat that was prepped to launch. The damn coward has been trying to run.

Percy wouldn't be having any of that. Luke couldn't run from his punishment, not when it had been building up for the past 5 years. It would find him, Percy would make sure of that.

The first cord within him snapped. He didn't even raise a finger, but the rope and pulley system of the lifeboat sprang out of Luke's hands. The man jumped back in surprise and quickly found the culprit, staring from across the deck. His eyes still seemed sure of their ability to protect him. Percy wanted to see fear in their blue irises.

Another cord broke. Those same ropes now took on a life of their own and wrapped around Luke's wrists, torso, whatever they could find. They were like horrid snakes, but they held a righteous purpose. Luke yelled, telling him to stop. To let him go so they could talk about it. Why on earth would Percy ever let him go? So he could hurt more people, so he could mess with Annabeth's head even more?

Seeing him restrained wasn't enough. Another cord flew free in Percy's gut. With the blink of an eye, he sent the man overboard, being dragged towards the waters screaming like a madman. Like Annabeth being dragged away from the sharp rocks of the siren's island when they were 13. That time, Percy had been pulling her body under the waves to save her from the song. Now, he was saving her once again, by drowning the very man that she'd seen in the spell. The man who had plagued her life for far too long. Fear was the last thing Percy saw in his eyes before he went under.

But simply drowning wasn't enough for all Luke had done. His garbled sounds rose up from the surface of the ocean and Percy knew he needed to go further. The last cord in him snapped. His self control had nothing holding it up anymore. It was gone, falling away from him into the depths. It felt freeing.

There was water all around Luke, and there was water inside him too. Percy could mix them. Stir the liquids together, crossing in and out of cells as he instructed. It was all right there in front of him. So Percy began mixing.

Luke's muddled yells quickly turned to desperate screeches, as Percy had hoped. With every cry that reached his ears, he stirred more. He felt the water deep inside him. It called him to do more; to control it, to force it in and out of Luke's cells. He did, happily.

He weaved and churned the molecules until he no longer heard the screams from below. Percy walked slowly and confidently towards the railing. He knew what he would find on the other side. Luke's form floated in the water, but it was no longer a human body. His skin was transparent and distended, bones visible through it, a tinted blue almost the same color as the water around it. It was a mess, but it was what the man deserved.