The Glory That Is Rome (a Percy Jackson AU)

Luke's Rage

      Annabeth had never seen Luke so angry as he looked right now. The Colosseum had been drained of water and the debris had been cleared, but the muddy ground still squelched as Luke advanced towards Annabeth, Lucius, and Percy. He had told the crowd that he wanted to deal with them first before he finished the rebels off.

       Luke had been outfitted in armor and more a helmet on his head, so that only his eyes were visible. In the harsh sunlight, his gaze looked more gold than blue and the light reflecting off of his armor made him look like cold metal: all hardness and no softness as he swiped his sword at Percy and Annabeth. But metal can soften, Annabeth thought; it just needs warmth.

    With that realization, Annabeth stopped trying to avoid the fight.

    "Percy!" she shouted. "Hold Lucius. I'll deal with Luke!"  

     "Yes, do that Percy," Luke said. "I'm sure my ex-wife wants me to embrace her one last time."

      Annabeth handed Percy Lucius and looked up at Luke. She drew the dagger out of her belt and unsheathed it. It glinted in the sunlight, but Annabeth knew that against Luke's sword, it was pitifully weak.

    "Do you remember what we pledged at our wedding?" Annabeth asked. "You promised me that you would be my new family. You said that you would make up for the mistakes our first families made."

    "Stop trying to twist things!" Luke shouted. "You betrayed me! You cheated on me!"

    Annabeth wanted to spit at him. She wanted to remind him that he had done the same, but she knew that those words would only spill more bad blood between them. She needed to clean the blood that had already been spilled instead of drawing out more.

    "Luke, I wanted a child," she said. "I knew you wanted a son and I did too. That's why I did it. I did it because—"

    "Stop lying!" Luke said, his eyes glinting in anger.

    He lunged forward and his sword hit her dagger, It clattered to the ground. Luke swiped again and Annabeth dodged his blow, but ended up falling. She hit the ground and looked up to see Luke smirking above her. He had taken off his helmet and his face was as hard as the steel in the blade he held against her neck. She felt a trickle of blood seep through a shallow cut in her neck.

    "Any last words?" Luke asked.

    For once, Annabeth's mind was as empty as Luke's discarded helmet. She opened her lips to say something when she felt a kick in her belly. She yelped.

      Luke's expression changed and he blinked. He looked confused and realized for the first time that she was covered in bruises and scratches. He put his sword in his sheath and sat down beside Annabeth on the ground, caressing her cheek.

    "Oh Annabeth," Luke said. "I hurt you. Why?"

     "Because I hurt you," Annabeth said, "and when people are hurting, they do things they otherwise wouldn't dream of."

     "Kill her!"the crowds chanted, interrupting their conversation.

    Luke looked between the crowds and his ex-wife. His blue eyes looked like shallow pools of water now and Annabeth gasped as he picked up his sword. He picked it up and threw it across the arena.

    "The battle is over," Luke said.

     "No!" someone shouted. "It will never be!"

     Luke looked around, but it was too late. Hera had managed to enter the Colosseum and she swiped at Luke with a large blade. Luke didn't react quickly enough. He fell; he was dead by the time his body hit the ground. He had come to the Colosseum to oversee the execution of his enemies, but he would never leave it alive.