Bianca di Angelo & The Olympians

Luke (Part 1)

Percy POV

It had been about three weeks since I'd met Nico and his sister.

At first, everyone seemed to edge away from them after discovering who their father was. But our group of 5 always stuck with them. With Piper came Silena and the Stoll brothers, with Annabeth came her brother Malcolm and occasionally Clarisse (although she still seemed miffed that I had defeated her father in battle), and with me came drawn attention.

Everyone got used to our irregular group, and began to treat us normally.

Nico had been training with me and Luke for sword fighting, but no blade would work for him. Chiron said that there should be a weapon forged in the Underworld in his grasp, but we couldn't find one.

Bianca held the same issue, so she focused more on training her powers. Her 13th birthday passed (biologically, of course) and she was happy to find that her father had discreetly sent her a sword made with 'Stygian iron'. It was black, but if the light hit it right it would look almost blue with an intricate golden looking guard leading into golden thin lined wrapping the blade. 

We found the blade worked better for her, and hoped Nico would receive a similar gift when he turned 11. Other than that, Luke ended up teaching him more theory than anything (the siblings were abysmal with archery and wrestling like me). Nico grew close to Luke in a brotherly bond, and they actually made a really fun duo when they wanted to.

Grover got his searcher's license through and through, seeing as he returned 3 more demigods, two of which were children of The Big Three. The goodbyes were sad, seeing as his mission was supposedly doomed, but we still had a toast in his honor every night.

I saw Piper approach me from my spot in the arena. "We need to talk." She said in an urgent tone.

I frowned, but let her lead me near the edge of the forest, where I saw Bianca waiting. "You got the guy, now what is it Piper?" Bianca asked.

"I was with Silena- I was training my charmspeak- when Luke pulled her aside and-"

"They're close," I shrugged.

She bit her lip. "I followed them, and they kinda hid around a corner, where no one would see them-" she put her hand up, preventing Bianca from mocking what I assumed would be Charlie's reaction when he 'finds out his crush is going out with someone else'. "They were talking about preventing deaths or something, and Luke asked her to keep an eye out for him when he was gone."

Everyone went silent.

"You're saying Luke's a spy." I accused.

Bianca hesitated, "It would make sense, the guy seems pretty pissed about the gods treatment of us. The shoes that dragged Grover to the edge of Tartarus should have been worn by you too, and Luke gave them away. He wanted you to die. And she's saying that there could be multiple spies, which is also why we didn't bring Ann or my brother. They might tell Luke, they are close to him."

"Who would he be a spy for?" Piper asked.

I had one idea, but it wasn't a good one. Not in the sense that it was unlikely, but that it was something I didn't want to even consider.

I asked tentatively. "What about the voice in the pit?" Piper looked confused while the Daughter of Hades was in deep thought. "Don't say his name. Names have-"

"-Power." Bianca finished. "That thing is what sent Nico the dream message. It wanted you to meet my father with The Master Bolt. Male." I didn't know what the Italian meant (Her and Nico turned out to be naturals with it, so they and Annabeth were learning/relearning it.)

"Luke's working with The King of Titans." I realised.

"Molto male."

Piper held her arms around her chest and began pacing back and forth. "There's no way. Luke wouldn't betray Annabeth like that."

"If he thought he was doing the right thing, he might." Bianca deliberated, "If he thinks Annabeth would agree with him- which she would never- then he'll do anything. Even lie, even destroy the gods."

That grim realisation is what confirmed it for me. Because- "My prophecy." the girls turned to me in question. "I lied to you guys a bit. The first 2 stanzas, 'You shall go west and face the god who has turned' and 'Yet angels reside in the land of no age' happened. But there were 2 more lines. They-"

Bianca cut in, "You lied to us?"

"No, I- I didn't want you to worry. The lines were," I hesitated, "'You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend' and 'You shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.'. The last one, that was about me leaving my mother in the Underworld, but she was returned later. I figured that the first one meant Ares but..."

"It was talking about Luke." Piper helped me finish.

I shook my head in disbelief. "I just can't believe he was our enemy his whole time."

Bianca consoled me, "Maybe he wasn't with them this whole time. Maybe he just joined the cause after the winter solstice, or-"

"Luke." the girls watched as I stood with an expression of panic washing over my face. "He's The Lightning Thief."

Everyone went silent again.

"What do we do?" Piper asked into the wind, "What can we do?"

"Keep him and Silena close, watch what she does and if she keeps lying we confront her. Lie." Bianca said, shrugging. "See if we can't get any proof that can be taken to the gods."

So we did. I made sure to do crowd control and never leave Nico and Luke alone together. I couldn't do the same for Annabeth, but I had faith that she would be able to fight him off if something were to happen.

Before I knew it, my birthday passed, and the decision of whether or not to leave camp or stay was slapped on my (or should I say Peter Johnsons) face.

I walked into the arena, not searching for anything in particular but just roaming, to find Luke decimating some straw dummies. "Oh, hey Percy." He saw me looking.

"What's wrong with that blade?" I spit out as soon as I noticed it. Stupid ADHD. The blade looked to be made with two different metals.

He chuckled. "Oh this? This is my new toy. Backbiter. Celestial bronze and tempered steel. Works on everyone."

My eyes widened. It wasn't definitive proof that Luke was the enemy, but it was as close as we had gotten in the last week or so.

"Cool." I said.

He smiled, and put his sword down. "Hey, I was hoping you could join me on a monster hunting date tonight, if you're free?" Luke asked in a sarcastic tone. "No but really, I think it would be lonely, and-" He pulled a six-pack of coke out of his bag, "-dinner's on me."

Us, alone, deep in the woods. Where no one could hear my screams. Not suspicious at all. I figured I should go along with it, after all it would seem suspicious if I turned down actual soda. Besides, I'll just have Bianca trail silently behind us. She would blend in well with the shadows cast by foliage.

"Sounds great!"

Ah yes. There will be 2 more chapters after this one. Also, (I think I'm supposed to do this) the next chapter will contain some descriptive violence. It's not too bad, but it's notable. Just let me know if I should tone it down or such.