Hey guys, how are y’all?  Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

Chapter Quote:
"Most times, it's just a lot easier not to let the world know what's wrong."
~Chuck Palahniuk
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Chapter 13: Don’t Come Back

Luke 

Luke slept fitfully the next few nights, a bad thing considering he had football practice every day and a bowl game today.  He had definitely regretted not being able to sleep before the game.  However, once the game began, adrenaline coursed through him and he was rearing to go.  His team was winning by a landslide.  It was just past the fourth quarter, the score 45-14.  There was no way they weren’t going to win this.  There was nothing that could go wrong.

And naturally, he thought too soon.  An explosion rocked one of the VIP boxes, halting the football game.  Panic surged through Luke when he realized that was the one his parents were in.  He started running over to the bleachers.  There was a gaping hole in the window and…

“Are those rocks?” Derek asked, sliding to a stop next to him.

“Did those cause the explosion or try to stop it?” Luke added.

“Let’s find out.”

Before they even moved, the rocks disappeared.  And now, things were dropping into the stadium.  Things with swords and bows and arrows and armor: Monsters.  And that could mean only one thing: Hannah.  Whether she was here or not didn’t matter.  What mattered was that Luke and Derek had to protect everyone from getting hurt.

“Plan of action?” Silena queried, popping out of nowhere.  How had she even gotten onto the field?

“Uh, attack?” Luke suggested.

“Works for me.” His sister let out a war cry and charged the nearest monster, slicing him in two.  When a dracanae  tried to shoot her with an arrow, Derek yelled, “THAT’S MY GIRLFRIEND YOU NUMPTY!”

Derek chased after the serpent-like monster.  Luke unsheathed his sword and joined the fight.  He’d already destroyed two when something hit him in the back of the head.  He rolled away from the spot and not a moment too soon because a pike embedded itself in the ground where his head had just been.  It belonged to a Laistygonian who was currently stalking over to Luke.  It lifted the spear up from the ground and lifted it back to get ready to impale the Jackson boy.  Before it could do anything, an arrow sprouted from its throat.  It disintegrated, revealing a masked figure.

“I thought I told you to avoid more trouble!” the girl snapped. 

“Who are you?” Luke demanded as he scrambled up and stood with her back to back.

“I thought I told you to avoid any more trouble!  You’re going to give my boss a coronary if you keep nearly getting yourself killed.”

“It’d help if you knew who your boss was!  And it’s not like I find trouble- trouble typically finds me!” Luke yelled as he stabbed another monster.

“You already know it!”

“Penn?”

“Bingo.”

“So Bryn.”

“Here we go again…” The girl yanked an arrow out of the ground, twirled it between her fingers, before shooting it at a thing that looked suspiciously like an actual vampire.  As if reading his thoughts, the girl confirmed, “That was a Lamia.  They’re vampiric demons.  Nasty suckers.”

“You didn’t answer me.  Is Penn the same person as Bryn?” Luke asked.

“Gods you have such a one track mind.  Listen up Jackson, we shouldn’t be here.  None of us.  My boss especially.  The only reason we’re here is because we need you alive.  So shut up and get out of here and let us buy you time.”

His nostrils flared.  He grabbed the girl by the shoulders and demanded, “Where is she?  Tell me.  Now.  Hallie Argent.  Yeah, I saw what you did up there.  There’s only one other person who can do that and they wouldn’t.”

“If you tell anyone I was here, it will lead them to my companions, meaning one of them is Penn.  And if you ever want to have a chance to talk to her, you will act like you never knew who I was.  But if you say a word, Penn, the people who saved your lives on the bridge, me, we’re all going to die.  So what are you going to do?” Hallie questioned.

“I’m going to find Penn.” Luke dashed away before Hallie could stop him.  He got stopped by a massive monster with three heads: one a lion, one a snake, and one a goat.  It had lion claws and looked pretty ticked off as its eyes, all six of them, glared at the Jackson boy.

“Hey there kitty,” Luke said, slowly backing up. “Want a cat treat?  I can get you some.  Or maybe a mouse?” The chimera lunged.  He jumped out of the way and swung his sword at it.  The metal cut into the thigh of the monster but it wasn’t near enough to slow it down.  Making use of the distraction, and avoiding the snake head, Luke jumped onto the back of the chimera and stabbed his sword down.  The lion head let out an agonizing roar, the snake head let out a hiss, and the goat head let out a very unintimidating bleat before the entire monster disintegrated and Luke dropped to the ground in a crouch.

Derek shouted his name before sliding next to him while simultaneously firing an arrow at a sphinx that had been following him.

“Got some moves there Legolas,” Luke laughed.

“Shut up.  So how are we going to get out of this?  I mean, I’d catch myself on fire and run through the ranks but I don’t want Hannah knowing who I am just yet.”

“Find Penn.  She has answers and I want them.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Derek said.  A few moments later he shouted, “There!”

Luke turned his head.  Far in the distance, in the middle of the field, dark-haired Penn fought a manticore that was showering projectiles at her.  She dodged them but it was obvious by her movements that one had hit her in the leg and was causing her evident pain.

“We need to help her,” Derek stated, running towards the location.  Luke followed.  Just as they reached Penn, she back-flipped over the manticore and sliced his head off before he knew what she’d done.  She yanked the stinger from her leg and tossed it to the ground.  Penn looked up and for a brief second, Luke’s heart soared at the sight of her.  He’d been right.  It was Bryn.  But that momentary elation disappeared when she bolted away.  Luke chased after her, Derek keeping pace with him.  He heard Silena call out to them but he ignored her.  He wanted answers and the only person who held them was running away from him.  She was aiming for the tunnel where the football players ran out of and if Luke and Derek didn’t speed up, she would make it.  They were gaining on her as they ran into the tunnel.  Penn was going so fast that she had to bound off the wall to avoid crashing into it.

“She’s heading for the gates,” Derek observed.

“SHUT THE GATES!” Luke hollered.  The security guard heard him, pressing the button.  The door started going down.  Penn put on a burst of speed before she slid to the ground and under the door just before it slammed shut.  The boys skidded to a stop, the door shutting fully right when they got there.  Luke banged his fists on it, swearing in Greek.

“Hang on,” Derek said, resting his hand on the Jackson boy’s shoulder.  The world went black and Luke felt nauseous for a few brief seconds.  When the black disappeared, they were on the other side of the door.

“Did we just shadow-travel?” Luke asked.

“Yep.  Sorry, didn’t have time to warn you about the side-effects.”

“At least tell me we’re about to.  I feel like I’ve been in a washing machine.”

“First off, you don’t know what that’s like and second, let’s find Penn.  She couldn’t have gone far.”

The two boys started jogging into the parking lot. “You saw her too right?  I’m not just imagining it?”

“That it looked like Bryn with dark brown hair?  No, you’re not.  We’ll tell Silena but I think Penn and her friends are right: we can’t tell anyone about her real identity until we know what’s going on.”

“Unfortunately, I agree with you.  Come on.”  They started to search the parking lot when a sharp, short whistle caught their attention.  Turning around, they saw a Pegasus, solid black, fly past the roof of the stadium.  A figure leapt unsteadily onto it.

“That would be Penn,” Derek said.

“What about her com- never mind.” Sixteen more pegasi shot up into the air, following their leader.

“What are we going to do now?”

“Wait for our next opportunity.  She can’t evade us forever.”
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Upon getting back into the stadium, Derek and Luke found everyone still in pandemonium.  Ambulances had arrived and were taking care of people who’d been injured which wasn’t too many but enough that the EMTs felt understaffed.  Silena was one of the people being taken care of although she was adamantly arguing with medics that there were people in more need of help than her.  They must’ve believed her because they left.  She quickly pulled some ambrosia out of her pocket and started nibbling on it.

“Are you okay?” Derek asked.

“I’m fine.  What about you two?  Did you catch Penn?” Silena responded.

“Don’t you think we’d have her with us if we did?” Luke snapped.  When his sister glared at him, he added sheepishly, “Sorry…”

“Jackson!  Michaels!  Where the devil did you two go?” Coach Matterhorn barked, running up to them.

“We’ve been here, sir,” Derek said.

“Why the hell couldn’t I find you then?”

“There was so much commotion, you must’ve lost us.”

The coach groaned. “Why is it, whenever something happens, it’s always you two at the scene?”

“Trust me, sir, we’ve been trying to figure that out for a while now,” Derek answered in amusement.  The coach shook his head, warned them to be in the locker room in fifteen minutes, and left.

Glancing around to make sure no one would overhear them, Luke whispered, “Silena, promise me you won’t tell anyone else what I’m about to tell you.  You can only talk to me and Derek about this.”

“You know you can always trust me,” Silena said.

“Derek and I got a good look at Penn, and our hunch has been right.  It’s definitely Bryn.  I don’t know what her game is, but it’s her.  We know it is.”

“But if she’s working for Hannah, why is she protecting us?”

“Hallie said she needed us for something.”

“What’s that something though?”

“More questions.  No answers.  This is why we need to find her.”

“We will.  Now get going before you get in trouble with coach again.”
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Typically sitting on a beach would calm almost anyone down.  However, it could not calm down the angry grandson of Poseidon whose emotions were causing the waves to crash against the beach.  Luke was walking along the shoreline, muttering to himself about all the crap going on and wondering why the gods couldn’t go a century without pissing off some strong and powerful.  Why couldn’t he have one normal day?  Hey, even five minutes would be appreciated.  But no.  Demigods didn’t get that luxury.

“Hey you,” a girl greeted.  Luke stopped in his tracks.  Bryn stared up at him, hands clasped behind her back.

“What are you doing here?” he asked gruffly.

She seemed taken aback by his tone but replied kindly, “I told you I’d come see you again.  Obviously something is bothering you.  What can I do to help?”

“You can give me some answers and stop lying to me,” he told her bluntly.

“What are you talking about?  I’m not-”

“Yes!  You are!  I know you’re Penn.  I saw you today.  I-”

“I thought I told you to stay away from her?!”

“I’ve tried but it’s hard when you keep coming to save us and when I have questions for you that you refuse to answer!”

“I’m dead, Luke, why can’t you get that through your head?” Bryn demanded.

“Because I saw you!  I don’t know why you’re lying to me but how long did you think you could pull it off?  I was your best friend Bryn.  I’m pretty sure I knew more about you than Derek.  I mean I even started to recognize your perfume.  After all the battles we’ve been in, after all the secrets we shared, why have you decided to lie to me now?  Did I do something?” By now Luke’s anger was being replaced by exhaustion and confusion, and he just wanted answers.  He turned away from Bryn and clasped his hands behind his hanging head. “Just… tell me what’s going on with you.  I’ll leave you alone.  I promise.”

“Please don’t make me do this… I once knew you better than I knew myself, and if I told you what was really going on, you would not leave me alone.  In fact you’d probably want to find me even more.  But believe me when I say I’m dead.  I’m dead and there’s no way for me to escape that no matter how much either of us wish it wasn’t true.  I- I have to go but I’ll come see you again and-”

“No,” Luke interrupted.

“What?”

He turned around.  Bryn stared at him with wide eyes. “Until you decide to tell me what’s going, don’t come see me again.  I can’t deal with it.  Physically I’m fine, but mentally I’m a wreck.  I can’t get you out of my head.  I see you getting impaled every time I close my eyes.  When I’m not thinking of a plan to defeat Hannah, I’m thinking of you and what you’re doing.  I’m able to hide my problems from everyone but knowing you’re alive, knowing you’re lying straight to my face, it’s another addition to my current list of problems.  I have many problems, half of them caused by me overthinking and overanalysing things, but this… this is one of the few I think I can solve for just a little while.”

“You think me staying away from you will solve it?” Bryn asked quietly.

“It won’t solve it, but it will help.  Just until you decide to tell me the truth.”

The daughter of Zeus stared down at the sand, kicking it.  Looking back up, she said, “Then I guess this is goodbye.”

“I guess it is.  I’ll see you when you want to tell me what’s going on.”

“Yeah.” Bryn gave him a sad smile and deep down, he knew he wouldn’t be seeing her again. “Take care of yourself Luke.  Tell Silena and Derek to take care of themselves too.”

Then, with a snap of her fingers, Bryn was gone.
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The next day, Luke stayed unusually quiet.  Derek picked up on in almost instantly.  He tried to get it out of his friend but nothing worked.  Silena attempted to do the same but it didn’t work either.  Derek had just left to go downstairs.  The boys were catching rides with their parents back home.  Luke was finishing packing when someone knocked on his door.  Thinking Derek had forgotten his key to get back in, Luke opened the door.  Annabeth stood there, staring at her son with concerned eyes.

“Hey mom,” Luke said.

“Can you talk?” she queried.

“Uh, yeah.” He moved aside so she could enter.  Shutting the door, he faced his mother.

“You’re not okay.  I know that look of yours.  It’s the same look I had when your father disappeared and I was sick with worry over him, constantly wondering if he was dead.  You’re thinking the same thing about Bryn, aren’t you?”

It was times like these when he really hated how his mother could pick up on all his emotions.  Knowing it was futile to resist, he plopped down on his bed. “She visited me last night.  I told her I know she’s alive, she told me she was dead, I told her to stop lying to me and not to come visit me until she decided to tell me the truth.  She… she just gave me a smile and told me to take care of myself, told me to tell Silena and Derek the same thing, snapped her fingers and disappeared.  I’m not going to see her again.  Her smile said as much.  I act like I’m okay but I’m not.  It’s driving me crazy not knowing what she’s doing and I… I miss her.  I miss her so much, mom…”

A knot formed in his throat.  He tried to push it down.  Annabeth sat next to him. “It’s okay to be upset.  You don’t have to hold it in, sweetie.”

“But I have to be strong for Silena and Derek.”

“You don’t have to be strong for anyone.  They’re going through the same thing you are.  If, for any reason, you couldn’t reach me or your father to talk to, you could always talk to your sister and Derek.  They’d understand.  Come here.” Annabeth pulled her son into a hug.  He let himself cry.  He’d been holding it in for a long time now.  The moment was incredibly nice until someone banged on the door.

“Who’s that?” Annabeth asked.

“No idea,” Luke said, hurriedly wiping away his tears.

“You go get ready.  I’ll see who it is.”  The Jackson boy nodded and headed to the bathroom.  He left the door cracked so he could listen in.

“Percy!  What’s the matter?” Annabeth asked, sounding befuddled.  Luke poked his head out of the bathroom.  His father stood in the doorway, eyes wide.

“We need to get to Camp Half-Blood.  Peleus.  He’s missing.”

“Peleus?  You mean-” Annabeth began.

Percy nodded. “Yes, I mean the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece.  He’s missing.”
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Do you think Bryn will be able to stay away?  Review :)