The One Who Never Lied (Lukercy)

Chapter 5

The dream started like most demigod dreams do. In a dark room that might not even be a room. It could just be empty space. There was no sign of walls anywhere. At first there were sounds. Ocean waves crashing before going silent. A sign of Poseidon's anger.

Annabeth watched as the darkness encasing her shifted into a scene she didn't recognize. A boat. One with monsters and demigods. Most with light face, as if they didn't know who they were fighting for. Some were laughing or playfully sparring. There was a certain laugh that caught her attention.

She turned toward it. Percy and Luke. The two people Annabeth has considered her best friends. Both of who turned against her and the rest of Camp Halfblood. They were laughing and talking as if they were the ones who were best friends.

Annabeth watch Luke and Percy's movements as they walked in the crowd of demigods and monsters. Some of them scowled, but Luke said something to them. Their faces went neutral and went back to their previous activities.

On their way through the boat, the boys stopped to talk to Ethan Nakamura. Annabeth remembered the stone cold look on his face the first time she met Ethan. The look he had now was nothing like that. He wore the same shit eating grin that most troublesome demigods make. It didn't take him longer than a minute to strike up a conversation with Percy.

They were laughing. Annabeth took notice of the smile on Percy's face as he spoke. The admiration in Luke's eyes as he saw how easily Percy was getting accepted.

It took a moment, but Annabeth realized what the look was. It was the look Annabeth gave Luke when he and Thalia found her. A look of longing. Love.

Annabeth smiled to herself. She watched as Percy look at Luke, the same look dancing in his eyes. Luke grabbed Percy's arm and led him somewhere else. The scene started to fade. First the dark, empty space returned. Then the laughter left. All was silent and she was left replaying what she had just saw.

Before she could ponder it too long, the scene started to shift again. In a second, she was on Mount Olympus. The Gods were seated in their thrown. They were watching something. An Iris Message. Annabeth noticed that it was from when Percy was still at Camp. He was talking to Luke. They were smiling and laughing together.

Zeus slammed his fist on the arm rest of his thrown, turning to the minor goddess, Iris. "Why," Zeus started out slowly, venom filling his voice as he continued, "tell me, Iris, why you thought that letting them communicate with each other was a smart idea."

"I don't know," Iris admitted. "I don't know why I thought it was a good idea. It never crossed my mind that they would both end up on the other side."

"Well they did!" Zeus shouted, making everyone in the Throne Room jump. "I have watched this Iris Message many times and I can't even process what would have been going through your mind. Tell me, how many other times had they talked?"

"Most if not all nights since Luke turned," Iris shrugged slightly.

"And what did they talk about?" Zeus asked, leaning forward.

"Do you want the honest answer?" Iris all but smirked, knowing that Zeus wouldn't like the honest answer. Zeus turned red in the face, glaring at Iris even harder now.

"Of course I want the honest answer!" Zeus screamed. Iris shrugged again.

"Most nights they would talk about how we Gods are screwing them over," Iris stated matter-of-factly. "Percy would say how he can't keep going with all the pressure of being the Child of the Prophecy. Luke would comfort him. If I were to say, I'd say Aphrodite is a part of why."

Zeus turned slowly to the Goddess of Love. She smiled innocently. "Aphrodite don't tell me..." He trailed off, knowing the answer. "Do you all want us to be defeated by Kronos?!"

"I agree with my brother on this one," Poseidon spoke up. "Even though I hate Athena with all of my being, I would rather see Percy with Annabeth rather than Luke."

"As offensive as that was," Athena rolled her eyes, "I have to agree. At least him being with my daughter won't get us defeated and thrown into Tartarus."

"But it's love!" Aphrodite cried out. "They're in love. If they're in love they'll convince each other to join us again."

"Or they could come kill us," Poseidon argued. A series of nods made their way around the room. No one had noticed that two Gods left the Throne Room. Artemis and Apollo had left when Zeus was distracted yelling at Iris. Annabeth began to walk forward, see further into what the Gods were feeling or why she was here. But she was rooted to the spot.

"Now that Perseus has betrayed us," Zeus said, scaringly calm. "Who is going to lead into battle?"

"We don't have many options," Poseidon shrugged. "Thalia won't turn 16. Nico is already way past 16. Who else?"

"Maybe we'll have to assign the job to someone else," Aphrodite suggested, trying to take the tension off of herself. "Perhaps someone close to Percy."

"No, no, no," Athena said, "there is no way that we're putting Annabeth in that position. The prophecy was clear. It has to be a child of the Big Three."

"But we don't have any other children of the Big Three," Aphrodite pointed out again.

"Enough!" Zeus shouted. "We don't have any other option. Annabeth Chase will lead Camp Halfblood in the war. That's final." Annabeth stayed in the spot as the scene faded again. Soon she was encased in darkness. A cool wind sent shivers through her spine. As she came to terms with what would happen, she felt herself wake up.