[ Luke pov ]
The unmeasurable amount of pain on his palms was not the worst part, nor was it then burning sensation on his lungs that prevented him from breathing properly... the worst part was having to see her like this.
As Luke made his way out of the burning room with Christina on his shoulders, he was met by the sight of a burning hallway that promised a lot more pain as well, still Luke gritted his teeth and began making his way through it. His shoes had been removed by the cyclops since they were planning on eating him first, so he could feel the skin from his feet being ripped apart with each step he took, the greedy fire insisting on taking more form him every time they came in contact. Still, he endured it and kept going.
After going through the burning hallway without passing out from the pain, he took a turn and was met by another hallway, equally filled with fire.
The smoke on the air kept him from breathing and the pain kept him form moving, so he did something he had already promised himself not to do... he prayed. He prayed to his father, he prayed to Christina's father, he prayed to Thalia's father and to Annabeth's mother, he prayed to every single god he could think of. He prayed to the god of death to allow them to live a bit longer, he prayed to the god of the sea to allow them to reach the shores of Long Island together, he prayed to the god of the skies and storms to send some rain and put the fire out, he prayed to the goddess of wisdom to show him a path out and to the god of war to grant him the strength to keep going, he prayed to the god of fire and inventions to take pity on his child and make this flames disappear, he prayed to the god of travels to grant him a way to take this journey through the flames, yet none answered. Looking into the raging inferno in front of him, Luke already knew he would have to cross it by himself, no god would take pity on them.
Regardless of how much they prayed, no god would come to save them.
Tightening his hold on Christina, who was currently passed out on his shoulders with blood coming out from her nose and mouth, Luke's expression grew more determined as he swore himself to get her out. Gritting his teeth he took the first step across the new hallway while tears of blood began to flow out of his eyes.
"I swear... I swear I will get you out of here." said Luke while coughing, pushing himself to keep going forward. "I swear I will save you, even if it kills me!"
Once he finished going across the hallway, his feet were nothing more than burnt muscles with bones visible in certain parts. His face darkened because of the smoke that cringed to his skin while fire devoured his clothes and skin. Reaching the end of the hallway, he pushed open the door in front of him and saw the stairs... stairs that were being consumed by the fire, just like the rest of the building.
His expression remained unmoving, unfazed by the sight that greeted him."I pray for aid and none arrives, I pray for help and none comes, I pray for strength and my body grows weaker, I pray for water and the inferno grows bigger..." said in a low tone Luke, while unmeasurable rage grew on his eyes.
Taking the first step down the fire, Luke continued to make his way downstairs. Every time he took a step, the rage inside him grew bigger, every time the the fire touched his skin, the hatred grew deeper, every time the sound of a wooden board crashing with the floor was heard, the resentment grew larger. By the time he arrived at the bottom of the stairs he had ran out of cruses, forcing himself to repeat them over and over again.
As blood started trailing down from his nose, he looked at the hallway in front of him. He felt it in his bones, this was the last one he would need to go through, though perhaps he was trying to convince himself, since he knew that he wouldn't make it any further after finishing this last hallway and would most likely die from exhaustion and pain.
Step after step he continued to go through the burning wood, his hold on Christina still tight. As he was finally getting to the door that separated him from whatever layed beyond this tunnel shaped hell, he began coughing uncontrollably, blood splashing on the floor and feeding the flames.
"I... won't... stop... here..." he said between coughs, turning his head to take one last look at Christina. "I... swore... you... that..." while he continued coughing, he fell to his knees, the weight of Christina combined with the pain was proving too much to handle, and the smoke which hadn't allowed him to take a good breath since he went to the room where Christina and the dead cyclops where at was already bringing the scythe of death closer to his neck.
Pulling himself up again while mustering all the strength he had left and more, he pushed open the door in front of him and dropped to the floor.
From his half-opened eyes he saw an unmistakable black hair and the blue electric eyes he was so familiar with, a small smile formed on his now scarred face.
'It seems your big brother didn't completely fail you, Christina...' where his last thoughts before passing out.