Percy Jackson's Sister

A Small Explosion Goes a Long Way

I could feel everyone's glare. I knew they were all asking the same question.

"I thought you'd be dead by now," he said. What a way to have a reunion.

"Sorry to disappoint you," I answered. There were so many things I wanted to say but couldn't. I didn't trust myself to speak. His words were powerful and if I let my vulnerability get the best of me, I knew he could convince me to join him.

Luke looked back and forth between Percy and I. A slight grin played on his face contorting his awful scar. "Oh, you're joking. You're Percy's half sister?"

"You and Thalia were right," I said. "Don't think I never heard your conversation, about me being different, like you guys," I countered.

"Then why did you run?" He seemed to get upset.

I looked down, not being able to answer. I knew why I ran, but this was not the time or the place to have this conversation. Luke simply nodded his head and turned to Percy.

"Well, Percy, we let you survive another year. I hope you appreciated it. How's your mom? How's school?"

Percy didn't seem in the mood for games. "You poisoned Thalia's tree."

"Right to the point, eh?" Luke said. "Yeah, I poisoned the tree, so what?"

Annabeth looked like she wanted to lunge at him. "How could you? Thalia saved your life! Our lives! How could you dishonor her-"

"I didn't dishonor her!" Luke snapped. "The gods dishonored her, Annabeth! If Thalia were alive, she'd be on my side."

"Liar!"

There was a kind of tension in the room that seemed to affect everyone. I tried to reach for Annabeth's hand but she jerked away from me. Her eyes sent me a clear message. I had lost her trust. I hadn't told her about Luke.

Luke noticed. He was slowly turning us against each other, just what he wanted. He took this opportunity to reason with Annabeth.

"The gods have blinded you. Can't you imagine a world without them, Annabeth? What good is that ancient history you study? Three thousand years of baggage! The West is rotten to the core. It has to be destroyed. Join me! We can start the world anew. We could use your intelligence, Annabeth."

She knew what Luke was trying to do. "Because you have none of your own!" She retorted.

"I know you, Annabeth. You deserve better than tagging along on some hopeless quest to save the camp. Half-Blood Hill will be overrun by monsters within the month. The heroes who survive will have no choice but to join us or be hunted to extinction. You really want to be on a losing team ... with company like this?" Luke shoved a finger at Tyson.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

"Traveling with a Cyclops," Luke chided. "Talk about dishonoring Thalia's memory! I'm surprised at you, Annabeth. You of all people-"

"Stop it!" she shouted.

It suddenly dawned on me. Her best friend was killed by a Cyclops. Thalia was killed by a Cyclops. I turned to Tyson, looking at him in a new light.

"Annabeth-" I started but she angrily cut me off.

"Don't," she said sternly.

"Oh, Cassidy?" Luke taunted. "You haven't told them? What do you have to hide? How could you be so... cold?"

I can't believe he remembered. I felt my hands starting to shake. "I hate you," I spat.

"You don't mean that," he pretended to look hurt.