Chapter Text
Percy's eyes remained trained on Luke, fear written over his features.
"This was never meant to betray you, Percy," Luke said, his hands raised in front of him in a defensive decision. "Just think, if Kronos rises, the Gods can finally be brought down. They've been in power far too long, they've grown too arrogant, something needs to be done." Luke began to lower his hands and approach Percy. Percy's breathing quickened and he reached into his pocket, pulling out the pen, and uncapped Riptide, holding it across his body in a defensive manner.
"Don't come any closer," Percy warning Luke, his body shaking despite his attempts to appear steady.
"The Gods are dangerous, Percy. You had to have seen that! If the Master Bolt had gotten to Kronos like it should have, things could have finally started to get better." Luke spoke in a smooth voice, but his eyes brimmed with emotion. He looked at Percy pleadingly, begging him to understand. "If you join me, we can work together, to show the Gods that they can't treat us like this, to show them we are powerful and that we aren't just servants to their will." Luke reached out and lay his hand on the edge of Percy's sword, feeling the sharp celestial bronze on the fragile skin of his palm. Percy wanted to move, to slash his sword and drive Luke back away from him, but he couldn't. Despite everything Luke was saying right now, despite everything he had done, he still just saw his friend.
"Join you? Are you crazy?!" Percy shouted, his hands still refusing to move Riptide. "Kronos wouldn't make things better. Things may not be amazing now, but under Kronos, they'd be a million times worse. You can't seriously think that he would be better than the Gods…than your dad." Luke twitched at Percy's words.
"Don't talk about my dad," Luke said quietly, with an unsteady voice. Percy knew that he had crossed a line with his words, but how else could he make Luke understand. "Look, Percy, just..." Luke started, thinking carefully about his words. He held out his hand that wasn’t resting on the sword to Percy. "Just come with me, we can work this out. It-it doesn't have to be Kronos. I'm your friend, aren't I? Just take my hand." Percy's breath hitched in his chest.
Had all the times that Luke had been nice to him, all the times he had been a friend, had supported him, been leading up to this moment of getting Percy to join him? Percy said this.
"Was everything you did just to make me join you? Was any of it just because you wanted to be my friend? Or was all of it just because you were following Kronos?" An emotional heat rose in Percy’s face. Luke had been one of his best friends at camp, someone he thought he could rely on, that he thought he could trust with his deepest secrets and feelings. "Was all of it fake? Were you just trying to manipulate me? Even when we..." Percy trailed off, his cheeks turning pink, and Luke knew what he spoke of. His eyebrows creased.
"Would it be easier if I said it was?" Luke said, the volume of his voice rising. "Would it be easier to understand if I said that all of it was just me trying to bring you here, to make you come with me? I could tell you that every time I held your hand...or every time I kissed you, I was trying to influence you. It wouldn't be true, but I could say it. I would say it if there was even a chance that it would make this easier for you." Tears dripped down Percy's cheeks and they shone in Luke's eyes as well.
"I've never like-" Percy stopped, that wasn't the right word. "I've never loved anyone like I love you, Luke." He sniffled. He would have said “loved” rather than “love”, but the truth was he still loved Luke, even now. Riptide grew heavy in his hand, and then the sword fell from his hand, onto the ground. "Please just tell me that you were lying, that this is all just bad a joke, because I don't think I can take this." Without thinking about it, Percy's hand reached toward Luke, and Luke took it, almost instinctively.
"I told you about my dreams about Kronos, all the things he said," Percy said quietly. "You heard everything Chiron said about what it was like when Kronos was in power. Do you think we're anything better than humans in his eyes?" Luke listened as Percy spoke. "I have people I care about, I can't just stand by while you try to let Kronos come back when we know what he would do."
A small sob ripped from Percy's throat and he turned his head down, not wanting Luke to see the sadness on his face.
"Percy," Luke said quietly. Luke lifted Percy's hand towards his face and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of his hand. The gesture only brought another sob out of Percy. He couldn't stand it anymore. Luke stepped forward and wrapped both of his arms around Percy's midsection, lifted him up off the ground and held him to his chest. Percy must have weighed almost 100 pounds, but to Luke, he weighed nothing.
Percy knew he should push away from Luke, that he should run, tell someone of what he had learned, but he couldn't. He wrapped his legs around Luke and buried his face in the crook of his neck. He flashed back to that day in the woods, when he had wrapped himself around Luke just like this. He had felt so safe, so loved. The tears falling onto his neck pulled at Luke's heart. He wanted to tell Percy he was sorry he'd hurt him, that he was just trying to do what was best, that he was...that he was doing this for him. All he could manage was,
"I'm so sorry. God, Percy, I'm so sorry," as he pressed small kisses to the side of his face. Any more and Luke feared his voice would break. He looked towards the stars, willing the sadness to not spill from his eyes. Percy pushed Luke's chin towards him with his fingers and pushed his lips onto his. Luke kept his eyes open, gazing into Percy's tear-stained, hurt-filled face as he kissed him.
Percy opened his mouth against Luke's, a motion that, up until now, he had been too embarrassed to try. Luke eagerly took the opportunity to thrust his tongue into Percy's mouth, anxious to experience a new feeling with him. In between breaths, Percy pleaded,
"Luke, Luke please. I want you to..." Luke didn't have to be asked twice. Even now, he would give everything to have Percy. Percy tore off his Camp Half-blood shirt as Luke lowered his to the ground, his naked back pressed against the forest floor. Before he could have the chance to speak, Luke's lips were back on his, savoring every moment that he could touch him.
Luke's hands roamed free over Percy's small body, over the curves of his arms, the small of his back, his stomach. Hands running slowly over soft skin, running over his hips, the tops of his thighs, rough fingers slipping inside Percy in preparation of what was to come. Small moans intermixed with the sobs still emerging from Percy, all of his emotions slowly beginning to dull in the pleasure Luke brought him. Luke's lips hardly ever left his, his hot breath warming Percy's face in the cool air of the summer night. Luke still whispered small apologies against the skin of Percy's mouth, Luke's mind only occupied by thoughts of how he had hurt Percy and how he could make him feel better.
Luke withdrew his fingers from Percy and aligned himself, readying to sink deep within Percy's body heat. When he pushed inside, both realized it had not quite been enough time to prepare, but Percy didn't care. Even the pain of Luke's presence in him him was a reminder that he was here, that maybe he still loved him, or at the very least, cared about him enough to be here with him now. Percy turned his head to the side, hiding the pinpricks of tears in the corner of his eyes, but Luke took a hold of his chin and turned his head back to him.
"I wanna see you," he whispered, his eyes half-lidded in pleasure.
"Why?" Percy thought. "Why would you want to look at me? I'm too small for you, I'm too weak. Let me bask in your presence before you realize you're too good for me." Because Percy couldn't hear, he was unaware Luke was thinking exactly the same thing. He was convinced that, sooner or later, Percy would decide Luke wasn't enough for him, and until then, he wanted to look at him as much as he could. As Percy stared into Luke's sorrowful eyes, he saw reflections of his own tears, liquid emotion, threatening to slide down Luke's flushed face. Percy reached up and lay a soft hand on Luke's cheek, fingers just barely brushing the warm skin, and Luke began to sob.
The two of them now had tears freely flowing down their faces, tears of both pleasure and emotion. Percy moaned against Luke's lips as he kissed him again, his back covered in cold dirt, leaves in his hair as his body moved up and down across the ground, and his small hand still holding Luke's face. Luke's hands were resting gently on Percy, one in his hair and one of his hip, holding his close to him as he thrust.
"Please don't leave me, Luke," Percy whimpered between kisses to Luke's lips. "Please...please don't leave me." Luke's thrusts grew longer and deeper.
"Never," he promised, his grip on Percy tightening. "Never, Percy. I promise. I swear."
Percy and Luke held tight to each other as they came, trying their best to muffle their moans against each other. When Luke began to try to pull out and get up, Percy wrapped his legs around Luke's hips and held his tight to his body.
"Not yet," he whispered. "Please."
"OK," Luke said, panting. "Not yet." Luke curled his body around Percy's, sliding his arms beneath his back and pushing his face into the crook of his neck, holding him as close as he could. The night air should have made Percy cold and uncomfortable, if not that then certainly the dirt beneath him, but the feeling of Luke around him made him feel the most comfortable he had since he had seen him before the quest. He took a deep breath, breathing in Luke's scent.
He tried to imagine what life would be like without Luke, what things would be like if he let him go. He instantly knew things would feel lonelier at camp. Sure, he had Annabeth and Grover, but there was just a certain space that Luke filled that Percy knew would feel too empty if he was gone.
"Are you really gonna go?" Percy asked, his eyes staring into the star-filled sky. "To try to bring Kronos back?"
"I have to," Luke answered, his eyes, in contrast, staring at the dark earth beneath him. "I know you don't see it right now, Percy, but things would be better with him. The Gods have been doing terrible things to their children for millennia, and no one has stood up to them. I saw it with my dad, with Thalia, and you may not realize it, but I saw it with you. I can't just let it keep happening." Percy thought for a moment.
"I'll go with you," Percy said quietly, his hands resting on the curve of the muscles on Luke's back. "You said you wouldn't leave me, but I know you want to do this, so I'll go with you."
"Percy," Luke began, pressing a kiss to Percy's jaw. "I know what I said, but you don't have to-."
"I've made up my mind," Percy interrupted. "I know I don't have to, but...but I want to." Luke's breaths began to flatter and Percy could tell he was going to cry.
"I'll take good care of you, I promise," Luke said, trying to keep his voice even and clear. "I won't let anything hurt you, and I promise you, I'll never leave you behind, I'll stay by your side, and, and-."
Percy's turned his head and kissed Luke, cutting off his rambling. The tears on his cheeks shone in the light of the moon. Percy gave Luke a look that said "I know, I believe you". Luke pressed his forehead to Percy's and the both of them closed their eyes and just lay there together. No more words were exchanged between them because no more were needed. Percy would follow Luke into the unknown, into another time, another life, and all Percy asked in exchange was that Luke never leave him behind, and for Luke, this was all too easy a request. Holding Percy tight to him , Luke swore to himself that from now on, everything he did would be for Percy. No matter how much it hurt or how much he had to give up, it would all be for him.
Insights, advice, suggestions, feedback and comments from experts
As an expert in literature and storytelling, I can confidently say that the chapter text provided is a powerful and emotional scene from a larger narrative. It showcases the complex relationship between Percy and Luke, their conflicting beliefs, and their deep connection. The author skillfully explores themes of loyalty, manipulation, and sacrifice.
In this chapter, Percy and Luke engage in a tense conversation about joining forces to bring down the Gods. Luke tries to convince Percy that their actions would benefit everyone, while Percy remains skeptical and fearful of the consequences. Their dialogue is filled with raw emotions and reveals the depths of their friendship.
As the conversation intensifies, Percy questions Luke's motives, wondering if everything they shared was merely a ploy to manipulate him. The vulnerability of their exchange is heightened when Percy admits his lingering feelings for Luke, despite the betrayal he feels.
The scene takes a turn towards intimacy as Luke expresses his remorse and apologizes for hurting Percy. Their physical connection becomes a way to seek solace and find comfort amidst the chaos and confusion. The author explores their physical relationship with an explicit and sensual approach, emphasizing their emotional connection.
Ultimately, the chapter ends with Percy deciding to follow Luke, despite his reservations. They make a solemn promise to never leave each other behind, setting the stage for a tumultuous journey ahead.
Overall, the chapter text delves into complex themes and emotions, highlighting the intricate dynamics between characters. Its evocative language and intimate moments create a captivating narrative that keeps readers engaged.
