Resurrected

Silena's POV

So, with Alex and Ethan resting in their respective cabins, I finally had some free time on my hands. I thought about hanging out with Charlie, relaxing for the first time since his quest had returned. But I realized that would be futile. I couldn’t waste a day when he only had five left.

Today is the 26th, I kept telling myself, he’ll be gone forever soon.

But I couldn’t think like that. I wouldn’t allow myself to. After breakfast and a quick change into fresh clothes, I walked out of the Aphrodite cabin, looking for something to do. As if on cue, Annabeth ran into me as she was bustling out of the Athena cabin down the way.

“Sorry!” Annabeth said, not even looking to see whom she bumped into. She could get that way sometimes: so lost in thought that nothing else mattered but the conversations she had with her own mind.

“Annabeth!” I said, “It’s me.”

“Oh,” She said, actually looking at me, “Hey, Silena, sorry, didn’t mean to—”

“Where are you going, Annabeth?” I chided.

She suddenly became very interested in her shoes.

“Visiting Luke?” I asked, and she nodded, but ever so slightly.

“I’ll go along with you,” I said, and Annabeth looked up at me hopefully.

“Really?” She asked, holding her breath.

“Yeah,” I said, “But first, are you going to be okay around him?”

“Yes,” Annabeth insisted, “He’s—he’s an enemy still.”

She looked down again, her eyes lost into space, and I got the feeling that she was both trying to convince me that she was okay, and trying to reason with herself that Luke in fact was an enemy.
So, we walked together to the Infirmary. Luke had been held in a sectioned off-part of Sick Bay, and Chiron had posted five guards around his bed. If Kronos were to come back into Luke, those five would die anyways, but we wanted to give ourselves a false sense of security.

The jury was still out for me on that question. I still thought, unfortunately, and like Annabeth, that Luke could still fight the Lord of Time. I didn’t really believe that Ethan could have actually seen Luke be possessed. I mean, Luke killed himself to drive Kronos out. How could the Titan still be inside of him? But then again, Kronos had brought Luke back himself. Kronos could do what ever he wanted with him.

When we reached the Infirmary, the guards let us have some time alone with Luke. They didn’t leave the Infirmary, though. They just stood outside of the curtains. I looked at all of their faces. They had all volunteered to guard the host of the Lord of Time. That had taken courage. They all were trying to hide it behind fierce looks of bravery, but their fear still showed through. They didn’t want to die.

Luke was awake when we walked through the curtains, and his face lit up when he saw us.

“Hey, guys!” He said, “Didn’t expect to see you here!”

“Hey, Luke!” Annabeth said happily, all pretense of sadness left behind.

“Hey, Luke,” I said glumly, trying to hide my pity and contempt for him.

“What are you guys doing here?” He asked, and Annabeth responded,

“Just checking up, I guess.”

“That’s good,” He said, smiling, “Hey, did they really have to post five guys on me?”

“Yes, they did,” I said, all pity gone from my voice. All that was left was contempt. “If Kronos possesses you again, they are all we have before you escape into the world again.”

“Oh, come on, Silena!” Annabeth said before she could stop herself. I gave her a look that reminded of her what she had just told me not five minutes earlier.

“I’m being serious!” I told her, “Luke, I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.”

“I’ve told you once, and I’ll tell you again!” Luke said, the anger starting to rise in his voice, “Kronos can’t take advantage of me anymore! I am in total control!”

But even as he said it, his eyes started to turn golden. His breathing started to become shallow and quick, and he forced himself to lie flat on his bed. He fought to control his breathing, and after a few long breaths, he sat back up again. Annabeth had called the medics, and I walked out of the curtains to explain the situation to two Apollo kids before they rushed in.

“Look,” I whispered, “Annabeth is delusional and Luke is too. Luke thinks he is in control of Kronos, and Annabeth believes him. Understand?”

“Yeah,” said Mike, a medic I had known before the Battle of Manhattan. He gave me a look of determination, and I nodded in respect. Even if Kronos was in control Luke, Mike was the kind of guy to go in and try to heal him anyways.

I walked back into the curtained-off area, and said to Luke, “You felt that, didn’t you?”

“It was nothing,” Luke said, more trying to convince himself than me, “Just a minor panic attack.”

“How long have been having those?” Annabeth asked.

“Since I woke up,” Luke admitted.

“Yeah, well those minor panic attacks,” I explained, “are most likely the Lord of Time trying to take you back.”

“How would you know?” Luke spat, “You’re not an Apollo kid!”

“That doesn’t matter,” I told him plainly, “Try to prove me wrong. You resurrected completely healthy. I was at the Infirmary when you did. Why else would you be having breathing problems and ‘panic attacks’ if you weren’t trying to fight him, Luke?”

Luke was silent for a while after that, looking angry and yet looking like he accepted my point. I wasn’t a daughter of Athena, but I could see through some things and explain them logically when I wanted to.

Then, he seemed to break down. He started tearing up, and then he got up, opening his arms as if he wanted a hug.

“I’m sorry, Silena.”

Then, even though I was still being cautious of him, I embraced him. I expected him to be painfully thin, but he felt strong, stronger than he was when Kronos was inside of him during the Battle of Manhattan. Then, he pulled away, and held me at arms’ length, gripping both my forearms.

Then, his eyes changed, becoming golden, metallic, lifeless, and evil. And when he spoke, his voice was like rusted metal scraping on concrete.

“If Luke wanted to be in control, Luke should have listened to you before he bathed into the Styx.”

Then, his grip tightened around my forearms. I screamed in pain, and I could hear the guards drawing swords. But Luke released his hand from my right arm and pushed out. I heard five bodies fly backwards and hit the back wall of Sick Bay. I heard Mike and his partner groan when the guards did.

“Luke could never control me,” Kronos bellowed, “he could only fight me!”

Then, he stopped pushing the guards against the wall and wrapped his hand around my neck. I gasped as I tried to breathe, and felt more than air escape my throat. Kronos was literally drawing out my life force with his hand around my neck.

“Luke!” Annabeth screamed, and for the tiniest fraction of a second, I saw his eyes change back to blue, sky blue. The blue I had developed a crush on before Charlie.

Then, Annabeth, with tears in her eyes and a murderous look on her face, punched Luke straight between the eyes. Instant K.O. Luke fell back, releasing his hand from my throat as I struggled to not crumple to the ground.

“There!” Annabeth screamed in my face, “Are you happy now? Are you satisfied? I hate you, Luke!” She screamed at his limp body, “There! Is that enough, Silena? When will you be satisfied?”

I was speechless. I couldn’t respond to her. I couldn’t say anything, and that wasn’t because of my having a lack of air. All of a sudden, the curtains ripped open. It wasn’t any of the guards, or any of the medics. It was Percy.

“Woah, what happened?” He asked frantically. He looked at Luke, unconscious, Annabeth in a rage, staring at me, and me, wobbling as I struggled for air. He rushed over to Annabeth and wrapped her in his arms. He must have heard some of the argument, because he said,

“You made the right choice, Wise Girl. I know it was hard. I know. But you can’t be mad at Silena.”
His soothing voice must have made both of us want to tear up, because Annabeth sobbed into his shoulder,

“I—I’m sorry, Percy.”

Then, I crumpled onto the ground, propping myself against one of the walls as I sat and breathed in. It was over. Annabeth had finally woken up. I was supposed to be happy, but I felt miserable. I had just turned a lifelong friend against me.

“What in Hades happened?” He asked, looking at me with a little bit of anger.

“Luke turned,” I explained wearily, rubbing the skin around my throat. I told him the whole story, and afterwards, he turned his angry look at Annabeth. This time she actually looked sorry. When he looked in her eyes, his angry look softened, and he pulled her in close once more. I was amazed at how forgiving he was.

“It’s okay, Annabeth,” he murmured, and I realized that I should probably leave, so I rose, shakily, and pushed aside the curtains. Mike and his medic partner had gotten up without injury and were healing the slightly dizzy guards who had been thrown against the wall. When they saw me, some of them looked angry that I had gotten them hurt, some relieved that I was alive, some indifferent to the situation. But I was happy to see them all alive. At least I didn’t get anyone killed.

Notes

So, Luke can't control himself, Annabeth forced to realize this, and the Four have only five days left.

Enjoy,
Grafon