gnossienne
n. the realisation that you didn't actually know someone as well as you thought you did
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'Look, I never wanted to be a half-blood.
Let's start from the top, shall we?
My name is Cassandra Jackson, but everyone usually calls me Ca...
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Dusk was settling in.
The boat was long gone and we walked along the East River of New York. Luke knew of a cheap, but nice hotel where we could stay the night. It was still quite a distance off, but I didn't mind. Luke held my hand, leading me.
He paused and looked into a small shop.
"Stay here. I'm going to get us something to eat." He gave me a quick kiss and left. I wrapped my cardigan me, feeling a chilly wind in the air as I leaned against the railing that separated me from the river. I turned to look down into the water, smiling.
"Cassie!" I jumped and looked behind me. New Yorkers walked past me eager to get to their destination. I gripped onto my dagger, expecting a monster to leap out and attack.
"In front of you!" The voice sounded familiar. I turned to look out onto the water and my eyes widened.
Annabeth, Chiron and Percy were crowded into a shimmering misty image.
I smiled at them. They looked stunned at how happy I was to see them.
"Hey! Thanks for letting me take a week away, Chiron." I waved at him, gratefully. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I turned to look at Percy. He looked sickly pale, almost grey. "You look terrible, Percy. Are you sick?"
"Cassie, where's Luke?" Annabeth asked, urgently. I glanced behind me to see if Luke had appeared from the shop.
"He went to get food. Why? Is something wrong?" I asked, turning back to them.
"Luke's the lightning thief!" Percy spat, glaring at nothing.
"What?" I laughed, a twinge of nervousness seeping in.
"Cassie, Luke admitted to Percy that he was working for Kronos. I'm truly sorry." Chiron said, his eyes full of sorrow. I shook my head.
"He cursed the shoes to drag Percy into Tartarus." Annabeth told me, desperate for me to believe them.
"Okay, but what would his motive be?" I questioned, not taking this seriously.
They were confused. They were wrong. They had to be.
"Luke has been angry at the gods for quite some time. Kronos came to him and manipulated him into joining him." Chiron explained.
"Cassie," I looked at Percy. Sweat was beading on his forehead. "Come back, please. You're not safe with Luke."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Luke would never hurt me!" The waves below me grew fiercer as they hit the stone wall responding to my anger.
"He attacked me!" Percy shot back. The waves dropped.
"What?" I managed to whisper out.
"He lured me into the woods and tried to kill me. He summoned a pit scorpion on me. He's dangerous!" I stared at them. A lump formed in the back of my throat and tears welled up in my eyes.
