Chapter Text
Somewhere near the Pacific Ocean
(Somewhere on a California Beach)
The water lapped at his ankles, the coolness of it sending involuntary shivers through his body. Though he did not mind the chill that came with the ocean water. He found it pleasant as the water came to the sandy shore and receded back into the depths. The ocean had always calmed him, it allowed his mind to rest when everything was too much for him. When not even sleep or drugs could calm the storm raging inside of him.
As the saying goes, it is always calm before the storm. Though the water may ebb the storm away for now, bringing calmness and serenity; it will always be back the next day. Raging inside of him as though it had never been calmed, raging as though it wishes to tear him apart and be free of the confines it was set in.
That is how Luke has felt ever since he was a child, ever since he was old enough to exactly understand why his father was gone and his mother insane. Old enough to take care of himself and run from the life that will always plague him in the back of his mind. The storm that will never cease, that will only calm for a short time before it comes back to him.
That is why the son of Hermes finds the ocean, the only thing that makes him feel truly free from the storm. If only for a short while.
Yet, with the ocean comes Poseidon, and with Poseidon comes his son; Percy Jackson. Luke had known that it would only be a short while before the son of the sea would come for him, the boy, the traitor that had got away. The young god would come for him as soon as he felt the presence of the Son of Hermes in his father’s waters. Luke knew that better than anyone, knew that he could feel him within the domain that he rules. Though he knew that Percy would wait and watch before reacting or coming before him.
It’s ironic. The one person that should have understood him became the very thing that Luke despised; a god. Just like Luke’s father — Hermes — and just like Percy’s father — Poseidon and just like every other demigod throughout history. Either having a mother or a father for a godly parent, someone you never see unless they sneak away to see you. Like you were an affair partner and they didn’t want their spouse to know.
Luke knew that feeling too well, considering that was how his father treated him. His father, Hermes only truly cared for his mother, the woman that he fell in love with, had a child with and subsequently made her insane. The son of Hermes will always blame his father, though his mother had a say in this as well. For the longest time, he blamed his father, a god, for why this happened to his mother. And then when he saw the real truth, that the gods did not care for their children and just produced them to go on quests and die; that was when Luke had enough.
Maybe that is why Percy is a god because if the only demigod — besides Luke — that would speak out against Zeus was gone, they could continue the cruel cycle. And that was what made Zeus a tyrant. Doing anything he wanted, and having no consequences fell upon him because he is the King of the Gods. Though his wife is the Queen of the Heavens and the Gods — she could easily take away his title and strip him of his power.
Maybe it was time for that to change.
Time for Zeus to be stripped of everything that he had. To be reduced to nothing and thrown to the shadows, where he would stay, never to be seen in the light of day again. And yet, Luke knew that it could never happen, that the Queen of the Gods would never betray her husband like he had betrayed her countless times before. Luke knew that better than most people, her ideals were more important to her than the fairness that the world deserves.
He sighed, running a hand through his black hair where he could see his pale blonde roots starting to peak out. His hair had gotten longer over the past few months that he had been staying in California. Possibly the one place that no one would look for him here because of the frequent monster attacks that happen almost daily to any demigod.
So, it was his safe haven, until he knew that Percy would show up to his new home. To come and take him back, to make him right his numerous wrongs and to apologise to those who have died and those who have to live with the trauma. Though they can blame him, Kronos was the one to truly blame. The Titan praying on a young boy, reaching into his greatest desires, pulling strings to have him right for plucking. Luke knew that people would blame him, did gods sakes he would blame himself too. It was his body that made everything happen, his mouth that spoke the words, that had given the orders. And yet, it was not his mind, not his conscience that controlled everything. That planned everything.
It may have been his body and his words, but it was not his thoughts and not his mind.
He knew that no one would understand it. No one would understand the truth, understand that he could not control his actions. That he was groomed into everything, that he was forced into the very things that they speak about him. Luke wishes that he was stronger, that Thalia had been alive then, that she could have been there for him. But nothing and no one could have changed what happened, not even the Fates themselves.
No one would understand the feeling of being controlled, of being taken apart and put back together again. Of being held against your will and your mind broken, only to be pieced together by a mad Titan. Maybe, Chris, his brother would understand, but Luke knew better than to make his half-brother’s life worse. To make the life that he had fought for, to make everything worse because he had only gotten better. He wished that he could turn back time to before everything had gone wrong, before he lost Thalia, before he became targeted, before he became a puppet to a vengeful and corrupt titan.
Maybe, he thought, if he let people in then they would understand, but he knew that it would only sound like excuses to them. Sounding like he was excusing his actions, when in actuality he was forced into something he did not want to be in. Perhaps he could let Percy into his mind, to see the scabbed over wounds and barely healed scars that held his mind, that barely kept it from falling apart; maybe then the godly son of Poseidon would understand him.
But the demigod knew better than to let anyone in, to let anyone see the damages that had been done to him. The damages they felt as though they could not be reversed. That Luke could never recover from them. From the wounds that will always be gaping indie of him, and not the ones that Kronos had caused on the outside, the ones that now litter his skin.
The water was warm at his ankles now, time had passed as he stayed trapped inside of his head. The one place that he does not want to be. Luke took a deep breath, wanting to stay away from his broken mind and fragile self-worth. It was supposed to help calm his mind and settle his nerves, but right now?
The water, the waves, the ocean did nothing for him. It felt as though the water had lost its purpose, felt as though he was slipping through the cracks and back into the one place he never wants to be in. The water reminded him of Percy, of the young son of Poseidon that had come into camp, lost and afraid for himself and his mother. Luke knew that feeling and he only wanted to calm the boy, but he knew that he could never truly calm the boy. Knowing what he would become, knowing that the Gods would fear him one day and that they would try to kill him in time. He knew it before the Gods had known it. Before Kronos forced his hand.
A warm, salt water breeze passed through the air and made his hair fly through the air gently. It smelled like Percy, the sea-salt on his tanned skin, the smell of the ocean in his hair. He knew what was coming before it came. The scent of Percy: sea-salt, ocean breeze, and sandalwood. He smelt the newly made Sea God before he saw him.
Luke did not freeze or tense, he only stared out at the horizon, watching as the sun set behind the ocean. Salt-water still lapped at his ankles, though the son of the Sea God stood beside him. “Why come to the beach if you know I’m going to find you?” Percy’s voice, deeper, rougher and more God-like, settled between the two of them. “Hmm?” His voice merely a whisper as his breath caressed where Luke’s neck met his shoulder. Luke stood still for a moment before Percy’s power washes over him and his contracting muscles, relaxed. “The ocean has always calmed my nerves, I never thought of it as a way that you would find me, Lord Perseus.”
The name sounded bitter on his tongue, tasting like a piece of lime in his mouth. He had said it with venom on his tongue, said it with such conviction that maybe he started to believe it himself. Percy’s eyes narrowed at him, dark and heavy, making Luke’s neck prickle from the weight of it. “Lord Perseus?” He asked the demigod, feeling the weight of his own name on his tongue, feeling the bitterness in his mouth and inside of his chest. “You’ve never called me that before, Luke.” He wanted to laugh at that, the God had throughout nothing when changed after he became what he is now. Oh, how wrong he was.
Everything had changed. Percy was a God while Luke was a demigod; Percy had become the one thing that they both hated more than anything. Luke knowing that the Gods are unfair to their children and mortals alike, and now Percy was the same as his father; a God that had all the power. Luke wanted to laugh and cry and vomit all at the same time, and he wanted to hate Percy too, wanted to hate him for what he had done. But Luke could not do that, he could not find anything to hate the former demigod. Nothing at all.
”You were never a god before now, Perce.” Luke said, his voice devoid of emotion, almost like he had no thoughts about his godly transformation. “You were like me, a demigod, before this.” Percy cocked his head at Luke, wanting to know exactly what was going on inside of that mind of his; to know what he thought about this change, about Percy being a God. Maybe he knew that Luke hated it, but could not hate Percy, or maybe he knew nothing at all.
Luke’s feet were still in the sea water, feeling the water recede from the shore and flow right back. It was a calming sensation, something that Luke did not to feel often enough, something that he had not felt since he was a child. But with Percy there, just behind him; he did not feel calm, if anything he felt the opposite: panic, anxiety, and fear. He could feel Percy’s power radiating from him, feeling as though it was overpowering to him. That now he was a God and he had the power to make the demigod to do anything the God wanted. Yet, he knew that Percy would rather die than do that to Luke, to anyone.
“I knew that you could sense me in the water, like your father sensed your mother in the water.” Luke said, knowing that Percy had inherited that from his father, Poseidon, being able to sense anyone and anything within their watery domains. “But I didn’t think you would come cause I was not calling for you, I never had before.” Luke assured, but he didn’t know whether for Percy or for himself. He didn’t feel assured of anything, but that is his life; unassured, restless, and exhausted. “I know that, Luke.” A semblance of anger flashed through his body, where the anger came from, he did not know. He turned to Percy, looking at the devastatingly handsome man of a God. “Then, why did you come?!” He seemed to yell, not really knowing why he was doing it, but went with it anyway.
Percy stared at him, sea-green eyes widened with shock at the anger that coursed through Luke. Those so familiar eyes only stared right through the demigod, like everything that Luke had been stripped away from him. His mental armor, his thoughts, all of it had been stripped away from him. It was almost like Percy was a magnetic and Luke was made of metal. It was like he was supposed to know everything about Luke, like their souls were so intertwined with each other that they were only one soul.
Percy took a step towards him, towering over the older demigod; those very familiar eyes staring down into his light blue ones. Percy saw the sky in those eyes and Luke saw the sea in the God’s eyes. He reached his hand out, letting his palm rest against Luke’s cheek. “Cause I have missed you, little traitor.” The God said, his voice dark and inhuman, more creature-like than anything. “And I let you get away once and I will not do it again; you are mine.” The son of Hermes knew in that moment that the Percy he knew (the loyal son of Poseidon who cared for everyone more than himself) was gone, and here stood a creature, a God of the man he once knew. Here and now; Percy was different and Luke could see that so flew at.
Percy had changed from the young boy that Luke once knew, and it felt as though Percy had changed for the worse and the best at the same time. He wonders if that was what it was like to become a God, to be human in the beginning and over time lose the humanity that you were once so alive with. Perhaps that is how Percy felt, but Luke knew better than to ask him that, knew better than to ask a God — who could possibly have the same temper, if not worse than his father’s.
He let the God caress his cheek, somewhat leaning into his cold touch. He let himself walk into the God’s embrace, letting Percy wrap his free arm around the older one’s waist. Luke felt him possessive gripping his waist with that one arm, not willing to let him go. He let himself lean into Percy’s embrace, not wanting to break away from the man (the God) that he learned to love. Although, it still felt as though they were enemies, meant to battle a war against each other. Yet, Luke did not feel like that between them.
Luke felt the tension, and hidden feeling that bubbled beneath the two of them. He saw the way that Percy looked at him, the hunger brewing just beneath his skin, those sea-green eyes darkening anytime they lock with Luke. The contradicting touches, rough and gentle that Percy was always giving Luke. It seemed like they were way more than friends, and definitely way more than enemies. It looked like they were lovers, but if anything Luke loved the God and the God was obsessed with Luke.
Though in that moment, it felt as though the were more than enemies and more than lovers; almost as if they were meant to be. It seemed to dawn on Luke that they were more than enemies, that the could be lovers. That they could fight on the same side, that they could fight against the corrupt rule of the Gods and bring justice to those that deserve it.
“Does this,” Luke gestured between the two of them with his hands. “mean that you won’t let me go?” He asked Percy, whose eyes darkened even more than before, making those eyes look as though the sea was angry. The God let out a dark chuckle. “You will never get away from me, little traitor. You have always been mine, since the beginning of this war. If you run from me, I will find you.” He said, taking his hand away from Luke’s face and grasping the other side of his waist with his other hand. “I will always find you.” Luke would have found that endearing, if it did not sound like a threat as it tumbled out of the God’s mouth.
Luke shook his head at the God, laughter tumbling from his lips as he threw his head back. His shoulders shook with laughter, his throat moving in time with his shoulders. Percy looked at the son of Hermes, amazed at the sight of him. “That sounds more like a threat than a live confession, Perce.” Luke admitted, laughter still riddling throughout his body. The shaking from the laughter made his blonde shake loose from the small ponytail at the back of his head, his blue eyes open wide and blazing beautifully at Percy, and his fair skin dotted with freckles from the sun.
”Well,” He started, rested his head against Luke’s forehead, locking eyes with him. “It can be both if you want it to be..?” The end of that sentence seemed to be more of a question than a statement. He seemed to want Luke’s approval of it though Percy was a God, not needing anyone’s approval for anything. Luke locked eyes back at him, they seemed to only have eyes for each other, not being able to pull away from the magnetic and dangerous connection that they had with each other. “I think I would like that, sea prince.”