"-uke!" Uke? As in ukulele? What?
"Luke!" Ooooooh-Kay...
Ugh. I opened my eyes. Annabeth was on top of me, shaking me.
"We're in Vivren!" Her voice held wonder, mixed with worry.
When I realized the worry was for me, I felt a bit better. I sat up, and rubbed my temples. To be honest, I admit, I still have a bit of feelings for Annabeth, no scratch that, a lot.
"Dude..." I complained. "You really gotta work on your portal magic."
My thoughts felt dizzy. I was disoriented and woozy, a side effect of bad portal magic, I presumed. Wow, Annabeth. Nice portal magic, eh? Well, her magic is bad, but mine is nonexistent, so I'm not going to complain.
Annabeth helped me up, and we took in our surroundings.
We were in a beautiful forest. The trees were made of crystal, all different colours. The ground was a patch of green grass, and we were near a clearing. Flowers were everywhere, including some exotic plants which we'd never seen before. Birds and butterflies were nesting everywhere, as well as other creatures, like...even pegasi!
The temperature was warm, but not too hot, like a spring, May or June kind of temperature. But the animals seemed agitated, like something was wrong.
"Holy mother of Hera..." Annabeth murmured softly, beheld with wonder. Can't blame her.
"I know, right? But first," I looked around. "Let's go to the clearing." And so, we ran to the clearing.
The golden rays of sunlight shone down onto the forest, and nearby was a small stream. A tiny rainbow was reflected off it, enhancing the picture.
"Okay, so what now?" I asked. She looked thoughtful, and gazed into the distance. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and narrowed. A chilly, icy breeze that you would never expect blew through the meadows, causing the swaying of plants. I followed her gaze, and gasped.
"Oh, shit..." I cussed. A patch of thick, dark thunderclouds were swirling around some monument, flashing with red lightning. As if that wasn't scary enough, the clouds were expanding, coming nearer and nearer. Whole bodies of forest were already covered up, and it was getting closer.
"With our luck...we have to go there, let me guess." Annabeth muttered, all cheeriness gone.
Her stormy-silver eyes glowed with worry for our friends, our mission, and, well, everything. The top of her golden hair was the same colour as the sunlight, and the bottom was still galactic and starry.
Her crown was not knocked over, despite the wind and approaching storm. It's galactic colours and aurora borealis shifted and swirled in the crown, the Chaotic golden rim glowing. In other words, she looked like a queen.
"Are you...okay?" I asked, sensing her worry.
"Y-yeah," she muttered, refusing to meet my eyes, "I'm perfectly fine." But I could tell she was lying. Her eyes were rimmed red, and she turned the other way.
"Look, if it's about Percy-" I started, but she cut me off.
"LUKE!" She snapped. "IT'S NOT ABOUT PERCY!!! What's your deal?!" She asked angrily. I should've just shut up right then and there, but instead, I let my anger take full control.
"My deal is that he's all you cry over! Everyday, you're all Percy this and Seaweed Brain that! It's never about our mission, our comrades, our threats! You don't care about anything else!" I screamed, taking it way to far.
"OH MY GODS!!!" She shrieked. "How can you be the one saying that when you...DO YOU EVEN REMEMBER WHAT YOU DID IN YOUR LIFE?!"
That just got me even more provoked. "SHUT THE TARTARUS UP!!!" I shouted. "Look Annabeth Chase, Alpha, Light, whatever it is, you are the most selfish person I've ever met! I said it! There! YOU'RE SELFISH!"
She opened her mouth to say something, but before I could rein in my anger, I lost it.
"You always have to be the leader! You always have to lead a quest, to do every big part! You only worry about your own needs, not others! And you blame others for not being like you! That's what you are. A selfish jerk! And no one wants you! Why did you even come?" I screamed incredulously. "YOU DON'T EVEN CARE!!!"
I expected her to come back with some witty remark, but I went way too far.
Annabeth just stood there, her mouth opened. As soon as those words came back, I wished desperately to take them back. But time wasn't part of my powers.
She started crying. Tears ran down her cheeks. They were gold mixed with silver, but I had the feeling that this time, they weren't about Percy.
"Luke..." she muttered dejectedly. "I'll leave. I'm sorry I wasted your time." She started walking away. Away from the storm clouds. Away from the clearing. Away from me.
I grabbed her arm. "Annabeth, please, I didn't mean anything I said. I-"
For a moment, she stopped, and turned to face me, and we stood there, face-to-face. I was about to say something, when she whispered, "you did. You meant everything, Luke. I know. And I'm sorry."
That's how I ended up watching her retreating figure go further and further away from me. My heart ached at every step she took, but this was damage that could never be fixed.
I trudged along alone amidst the darkness and storm, towards the monument.
YOU ARE READING
Archangels: Uncontainable
Fanfiction**The first book of the Archangels series.** This is how one member of the Chaos army proves himself. This is how he makes amends for all the wrongs he did in his life. This is about Luke Castellan.
