I can’t resist.  I’ve been on Facebook looking at Percy Jackson pictures and the feels it’s giving me is urging me to write this so enjoy! 

Chapter Quote:

"Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?”

~Annabeth Chase in The Lightning Thief

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Chapter 6: I Get Challenged

Shiloh 

Luke and I left Camp Half-Blood right after breakfast.  I felt a certain amount of satisfaction when he had told me he wanted it to be just us going out to the city.  I don’t know why.  It wasn’t like anything was ever going to happen between me and Luke.  That’s not the way my life would work out.

Chiron had given us a credit card, telling us to not to go overboard with the shopping.  Unlike most girls, I actually didn’t like shopping for hours on end.  And the prices in New York City were ridiculously expensive.

Argus drove us there.  Luke asked me all sorts of questions about what he’d missed in the week he’d been absent.  I told him all there was to tell.  Annabeth had been assigned to redesign Mount Olympus and camp, Percy had been offered the position of becoming a god, the Hermes cabin emptied quickly due to the gods claiming their children after Percy made that part of his request for saving the world, and people began getting back into their old routine.

“And then I come back and screw everything up,” Luke muttered.

“It’ll get better, Luke.  I promise you,” I said sincerely.  He gave me a smile, but I saw the doubt behind it.  We fell silent, looking out the windows at the woods and cars passing by us.  It wasn’t long before we arrived in the bustling city.  I felt a smile spread on my face.  It was good to get out of camp.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Camp Half-Blood, but I love my freedom too.

“Pick us up here at five?” I asked Argus, opening the door.  He nodded.  Luke and I got out.  Luke banged the side of the van twice to alert Argus he could leave.  We watched the van disappear down the street.  Turning to my companion, I said, “You lead the way.”

“All right, uh… I have to admit, I suck at shopping.  Do you have any ideas about where we should start?” Luke replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

“Let’s try Abercrombie and American Eagle first.  We’ll work from there,” I suggested.  He looked relieved that I had an idea, unlike him.  I gave him a smile before beginning to walk.

“So, once we get all my clothes.  We’ll have a lot of time to kill.  What are we going to do?”

“It’s New York City.  We’ll figure out something.  If you don’t mind, I have to stop by Victoria’s Secret,” I said, blushing. “I want to buy some lotion.”

“I’ll just pretend I’m your boyfriend,” Luke joked, winking at me.

I wish. I thought.  The two of us continued walking down the sidewalk, maneuvering our way through the crowd.  It became hard for me to keep up with Luke due to the crowds.  They parted out of his way easily because he was tall.  I’m only five-seven, so they tried to toss me around like a rag doll.  It pissed me off to say the least.  I nearly flipped a switch when I felt someone grab my hand but then I looked up to Luke’s smiling face.

“Don’t want us getting separated now do we?” he said.  I smirked.  I let him lead me through the annoyingly big crowd.  We got to Abercrombie first, and we smelled the store before we saw it.

“Need a gas mask to go in here,” Luke joked, pulling me into the building.  I laughed.  It wasn’t overly crowded in the store, making it easy for the two of us to start searching for clothes.  Luke was a quick shopper and within thirty minutes, the two of us were walking out into the crowd with two bags each.  American Eagle went the same way, so did Victoria’s Secret, and by the time we were done, we had many hours to kill.

“How about we go for a walk in Central Park and then grab some lunch?” I offered.  Luke agreed that sounded like a good idea and I hailed down a taxi.  We crammed into the backseat with our stuff and I told the driver where we wanted to go.  Luke and I didn’t speak while the taxi driver slowly made its way towards Central Park, but it wasn’t an awkward silence.  We just wanted to watch the world go by.

“You two kids got in the wrong cab,” the driver said.  Luke and I whipped our heads to face the guy.  He took off his sunglasses, revealing nothing but hollow pits filled by fire.

Ares.

I swore under my breath before boldly asking, “What do you want Lord Ares?”

“I have a score to settle with this guy here,” Ares said, pointing at Luke who seemed frozen in fear in his seat.

“What is it?” Luke managed to ask.

“A battle.  Just you and me boy.  You’re going to pay for what you did,” Ares growled.

“What are the stakes?”

“Well I can’t kill you.  That’d give you an easy way out.  How about this?  You win, I let the both of you go and I put in a good word for you with my kids.  If I win, Miss Blue Eyes dies.  Got it?  Good.  Now get out of the car punk.  You too, blondie.”

We obeyed.  Leaving our stuff in the car, we stood side by side, facing Ares.

“Blondie-”

“The name is Shiloh,” I retorted. “If you want me to listen, call me by it.”

“Children of Poseidon always have been a pain in my butt.  Fine, if I have to do everything myself,” he grumbled.  With a flick of his hand, golden chains wrapped around my body starting at my ankles and ending at my neck, nearly choking me.  I would’ve toppled to the ground had Luke not caught me.

“Thank you,” I said gratefully.  He set me down gently on the ground so that I could lean against the taxi.  Just as he was about to leave to face the god of war, I added, “You’ll do fine.  I have faith in you.”

Luke gave me a smile, but he didn’t seem convinced.  He walked over to Ares and elongated the sword he’d taken from the camp armory.

“They say you were one of the best fighters at camp.  Show me what you got kid,” Ares challenged.

Luke growled before lunging at the god.

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What do you think is going to happen?  I know it was short but I, admittedly, didn’t know what to write and I completely winged this chapter… Please review! :)