A Demigod Life

Getting The Shield

As Luke opened his eyes, he felt the fabric of his clothes sticking to his skin, making him uncomfortable. He looked over and saw Perci coughing a bit as she sat up, looking back over at the water behind them.

"Well, that sucked."She muttered as Luke felt a sudden rush of cold air go through his wet clothes.

"Yeah... it really did."Luke agreed.

Perci looked up at the tall statue holding Ares shield, and the chair in front of it once they both stood up and she asked "How are we supposed to get that thing down?"

Luke looked at all the gears behind the chair and saw that they were still, but he couldn't quite figure out how to make it work so he said "These things are connected somehow. It's a machine, but how do you start the machine?"

Perci explained "This chair...It was a gift with a hidden purpose. Hephaestus offered it to Hera, but as soon as she sat in it, she couldn't get up. All the gods tried, but the machine was too smart. It was too strong. It was too much. Even for them. Finally, they said if Hephaestus let Hera free, Aphrodite would be his wife. The chair is the bargain. One of us goes in, the other gets the shield."

"You're not going in that chair."Luke said, getting protective.

"Whoever goes in, isn't coming out. I made that pretty clear."Percy told him.

"I know, which is why I said you aren't going in there. This isn't the Arch, Seaweed Brain. You're not pushing me This isn't the Arch, Seaweed Brain. You're not pushing me"Luke argued.

"Yes, I am."Perci said, shaking her head.

"No! Absolutely not! There has to be another way of getting this shield. There's no way that this is our only option. I will not let you get locked into that chair."Luke refused.

Perci exclaimed, making Luke stop talking "It's why you're here. When I was choosing my team, I told Chiron I needed someone who wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice me if the quest required it. He agreed. That was you. You were right. I can't believe it, but the Fates were right. There's no getting around this. We dodged it at the Arch, barely, but... maybe this isn't something you can dodge forever."

Luke stared at her frustated with everything. He felt angry at the gods for the way they set this all up, but he also felt sad.

"Perci, I..."Luke trailed off as he saw the way she was looking at her.

Perci said "Believe me, I wish there was another way this quest succeeds. I just don't see it."

Luke saw Perci gave him her pen-sword and she started to walk over to the chair before she turned around.

Perci told him "I need you to promise me something."

"I'm not leaving the Underworld without your mom."Luke whispered to her, holding back tears in his eyes as the lump in his throat started to burn.

"Thank you. I was gonna say, when this quest is done,  can you maybe swing back here and try to get me outta this thing?"Perci asked.

"You think you had to ask?"Luke scoffed.

"Just making sure."Perci said and Luke turned Perci to him and the two shared their first kiss. Once they pulled away, Luke said "I love you."

"I love you too."Perci says before she began to sit in the golden chair. She had tears in her eyes, and hearing thr gears behind the chair begin to move, made Luke immediately hate the idea and started begging her to stand up.

A wave of panic rushed through him when he heard the gears moving. He couldn't help but beg and beg Perci to stand up and try and get out of this thing. He felt his heart beat faster and faster because he knew exactly what was about to happen and he didn't want this to happen to her. There has to be another way that can work just as well as this...this can't be the price for this quest.