#⑅ ˚ kronos ♡ ⁺

[telugu-girl-13]

percy jackson is not dumb guys !

[nockstormbringer]

I FINISHED THE FIFTH PERCY JACKSON BOOK TODAY. I CRIED SEVERAL TIMES TODAY. NO. I AM NOT OKAY.

Why is everyone to tragic?

[stellarwaffles]

(Insert OVA scene where Yugo creates the eliotropes here)

Haha when you get reminded that you're a copy of someone else and you experience both their life + your own at the same time and their life feels more real also you know when + how you'll die as well as that you're doomed to be forgotten (which happens to be your biggest fear)

[gaygirldoodles]

When you're in the middle of class and have to stop yourself from yapping about your special interest

[who-tf-eats-their-children]

Kronos's head turned just the slightest as he started to hear labored breaths gasp behind him, but that was the only indication he heard something. It wasn't one of his children nor immediate nieces or nephews, so he decided to wait a little bit. To see how this plays out. He shifted his weight just under him and brought his head back just perceptively to the left, where it originally stood watching the fields. The wheat whistled as he waited for what's next.

Open Starter - Meeting Kronos

You were running. There was something chasing you and you were running. You had been separated from your quest-mates and you did not know if they were alive or dead, but you were still running. Regrouping. Trying not to think of all the things you've lost on this quest you never asked for, and you are running.

You burst into an open field, the vines declaring the boundary nearly tripping you but you kept running. You are crying, but you kept running. There is nothing in your sights, but you keep running. And running. And running.

A root trips you up and you are terrified. You look behind you to see if you will die tonight, but there is nothing. Just sights of grain. You take a deep breath, dust off your knees, and wobble your way up again. The plain is still vast, but you see someone standing between the fields, tall and not noticing you. You want to think it's nothing, but you've gone too long and too far just to give up now. A close look makes your breath hitch as you stare at the form of your history books. Kronos, Tyrant of the Titans and Once-King of the Cosmos stood before you. A man who killed a primordial--a man only defeated by the greats before.

He feels something staring at him and he turns around. What do you do?

@vicious-daughter-of-zeus @aura-of-the-winds @least-favorite-hades-kid @littlest-sunbeam-of-hermes @sophia-hunter-of-artemis. Tagging the people I've interacted with various blogs before just because idk how else to get out there/do this 🤷‍♂️. Please tell me if you want to be added or removed from the tag list!

[blondejellykitty]

₊ ♡ ˚⊹ I'll be there on their side ₊ ♡ ˚⊹

୨୧ multi demigod x goddess reader ୨୧ the goddess of heroes and the protector of demigods was thought to be a mere myth and that was how she preferred it to be, until the time came when she could no longer stay away. a/n: (1.8k words) my first fic posted !! the title is from 'i bet on losing dogs' by mitski. the ending isn't exactly how i wanted but that's okay :)

Mortal children are told myths just the same as demigods. Usually mortal parents will tell them said stories to help themselves parent them like Jack Frost, to remember to put your jacket on or Santa Claus who won't show unless you behave well.

Parents of demigods however tell them for the child's benefit. Many legends aren't told but are taught at camp, once again to protect the demigods. Very few stories are able to be told without alerting any unwanted attention.

The entirety of the fall of Kronos from Zeus' beginning to his victory and the story of his earliest children. All revolving around Zeus in his prime, probably to keep himself ego inflated and unfaded.

Nevertheless this is another story that circulates the young ears of all demigods. The legend of the protector of demigods. Much is lost to time of the story but not even time himself can rip the hope that the lost goddess can give to the young heroes.

Very few things shocked the Olympians anymore, not in this century anyway. Of course Kronos and Gaea rising was one thing and Percy Jackson himself was another but the whispers from their children that after two titan wars sightings of their lost protector was becoming more frequent seemed to truly shock them.

After a few millennia of no contact from the goddess more than a few gods had assumed she simply faded quietly but now it seemed that wasn't the case at all.

It started as a mistaken identity.

With the son of Poseidon, Percy Jackson had thought she was nothing more than a helpful nymph.

Although the poison from the pit scorpion that Luke Castellan gave him was more than enough of a reason for Percy to not fully take in the figure in front of him.

He could faintly make out the outline of her dress but even that went blurry as quickly as he could blink. After struggling to get to the river in the middle of the deserted forest, he called for help, anyone's help.

So she answered.

In a daze of pain he recalls the feeling of being carried much like his mother used to do when he’d trip and hurt himself. He would have felt embarrassed but with a fading pulse he just mumbled best he could thanks to the tender nymph before his vision was lost to darkness.

After he’d recovered, Chiron told him if he'd been found any later he'd have been dead.

Thirty seconds, he thought.

After he had told everyone, everyone meaning Annabeth about Luke, he went back out to said woods to find the nymph who had helped him.

All he found was a few river spirits nearby who told him that no nymph went that close to the border that day. He’d made the river spirits promise to let him know if the mysterious nymph came back, she never did.

But nonetheless Percy remembered, and held thanks to the helpful nymph.

Mistaken identity shifted to a hallucination.

The son of Hermes, Travis Stoll had sworn himself to secrecy under the impression he'd have imagined the whole encounter.

An embarrassing thought he often let himself drift back to on more than one occasion. It had started when he and Connor had been setting up traps in the woods for the next capture the flag game.

They'd been out there all afternoon, they decided to turn back for curfew, best to not tempt the harpies when he'd tripped on a lodged rock in the ground and managed to roll down and crash into a further down tree.

A thick root from the tree he'd fallen against impaled his side making his shirt and the dirt around him to turn a dark red colour. The sight of the root appearing out his side Connor ran towards camp faster than he'd ever seen him run during their pranks yelling for healers and for Chiron.

When he'd think back on it he wasn't sure if it was the quiet of the forest or the numbness of his body but dark spots began to invade his vision and he couldn't help but embrace them without caution.

Until the most beautiful woman came out from behind a nearby tree, rushing towards him in a fuzzy blur. Her elegant hair falling past her face almost making a blanket of warmth and safety around the two of them.

She was the most stunning thing he'd ever seen. Better than the full moon, the sunrise and sunset. Better than the ocean or a flower. He could hear her softly speaking to him but he couldn't make out the words.

He didn't know how long he'd been staring in awe at the woman. Travis was sure he'd be red with embarrassment if all his 'red' wasn't currently bleeding out of him.

He looked over towards where he heard his brother's frantic voice getting closer to him. The sight of him and a few cabin 7 campers not far behind him did well to ease his own worry. He looked back for the woman but she was gone.

He doubted if he'd seen the woman but shook it off as nothing more than pain induced illusion.

Then from a hallucination to a mortal.

The son of Hades, Nico di Angelo should've known better than to assume that anyone who approached him was 100% mortal.

After spending more time in the demigod world he realized that mortals don't ever come over to talk to demigods, or maybe that was just his problem.

Nevertheless even mortals can see some kind of underworld aura around him even if they don't understand what they're seeing.

Which makes it all the more irritating that his younger self didn't realize the woman who helped him was probably not entirely mortal. He could still remember it so clearly, she was after all one of the few at that time that had been kind to him.

He had spent the night searching for an entrance to the underworld, his father had told him in a dream a few nights prior that it was in the area. He also mentioned that it was supposed to be easier to find for children of his.

Well that turned out to be crap.

Nico had spent all day and now late into the night walking around New york city trying to find a specific street corner. He was tired and hungry but most of all angry.

He called off his search once his eyes started to sting. Finding a bus stop bench to rest at. He pulled his knees to rest his head against. Tears stung his eyes more than his fatigue when a smell of food wafted near him.

Lifting his head he saw a woman, dressed in a cozy cardigan, the beige kind a mother would wear. She was carrying a bag, he could faintly make out the logo of the logo of a restaurant he remembered passing on the contains inside.

She never spoke but her eyes almost made him cry, a look of care and worry. one he'd imagined his own mother having from the stories Bianca would tell him.

She leaned over and rested the beg softly on the bench next to him, he could feel the heat from it warming her leg. He asked her who she was and why she'd given him her food but all she did was smile and ruffle his hair like Bianca used to do.

He could feel his tears roll down his neck as he watched her keep walking down the street until she eventually walked out of vision. He was just glad someone was kind to him.

Even if it was just a friendly mortal.

Then from a mortal to a mother.

The son of Hermes, Chris Rodriguez couldn't believe he could see his mother in the middle of the haunted Labyrinth.

It had been Luke who ordered him to go into the traumatizing maze and he'd done it willingly, so eager to help his older brother for the cause of getting revenge, justice, to be noticed.

But as most things in Chris's life it had gone horribly wrong. He couldn't even remember most of the horror he'd seen in there, the human brain forcing him to forget just so that he can move on from it all.

But one of the few things that stuck with him was the memory of his mother. Now, he knew it was completely impossible his mother, who'd died just helping him to get to camp, was in the labyrinth with him but his vivid recollection of those moments left little doubt.

He remembers leaning against one of the ever shifting walls, ready to give up on getting out for good.

When he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, he recalls not even flinching from it because of the calming ease it put him in, he could feel himself slurring his word and frantically almost magically speaking but it wouldn't reach his ears.

He had a light aura around her, and a gentle smile as she carefully lead the way through the twists and turns of the darken maze.

He relives the memory as best he can, he could still hear the faint whispers from her mouth, promising she wouldn't let him go and that it would be alright soon.

In hindsight that was something his mother would never do, his mother cared for him not was anything but emotional.

Part of him likes to think that Thanatos had lost her soul for a moment and she'd come to help when he most needed her.

He was just glad that someone had helped him because he hated the thought of what had happened to him if they hadn't.

Finally from a mother to a mourner.

The son of Jupiter, Jason Grace was the lost goddess' last straw.

Too many had already lost their lives in wars fought in seemingly vain. No matter how she felt for them nor how she longed to help them, rules were rules as the King of Olympus loved to remind everyone.

But when the fate meddled day approached and her sweet kind hero had perished, some rules were to be broken in order to do some good.

The day Jason Grace died was a day every demigod remembers, they felt the sadness draped over both camps and everyone in them.

Even demigods who had never even met the fallen hero were mourning him with such intensity.

The lost goddess knew it was because of her her grief was spilling into their own lives, her sadness swallowing them up with it.

Part of her wanted to stop, knowing it was affecting the little heroes but another darker part wanted it to spur them into action, she wanted it to make them want change.

But look how that had turned out the first time. As much as she wanted to change she settled for a medium, she’d change and she'd do what she was meant to.

Help the young heroes live and thrive, no matter the cost to any other immortal in her way...

[liesmultixxx]

this is an appreciation post for annabeth chase

the girl who held the sky, played a large part in ending the war against Kronos, single handedly retrieved the athena parthenos while unapologetically giving sass to minor and not so minor gods

thank you for teaching us that we aren’t invisible

that we’re loved

and brave and strong

and wise

and worthy of happiness

your impact will never be forgotten

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃

[kamaluhkhan]

COMPLICATED

LUST — part iv of we'll write sins not tragedies

pairing: luke castellan x nemesis! reader (afab) word count: 8.9k summary: the lives of demigods are never simple. why would your relationship with luke be any different? or: four moments of tension + one moment of release. featuring a trip to montauk with percy, grover, and annabeth warnings: a decent amount of reader backstory (mention of dad having cancer); multiple POVs (percy, grover, annabeth, luke, reader - obv nothing suggestive/smutty until luke and reader POV); luke + reader get into arguments and are v stressed so their relationship is a bit strained; reader has tattoos; reader is on birth control; rough smut (protected + unprotected p in v, oral f+m receiving, biting, scratching, slight choking, slight breeding kink, etc...); also slight dark + possessive luke! (18 + MDNI); major angst — we all know how this story ends ;( author's note: this was meant to be a blurb but...here we are! this is basically another chapter of my spill ur guts series lol. i've been gone for much longer than i planned to, but hope u enjoy possibly the angstiest, smuttiest thing i've written so far ♡

♪ "complicated" by avril lavigne

i. 

in the span of a few minutes, percy went from pure joy — being greeted with cheers from all the campers was great, sure, but truthfully the hug from annabeth alone sent him to elysium — to feeling like his heart dropped all the way to tartarus.

which is definitely not a place percy ever wants to visit again. he was happy to be back at camp with his friends, knowing that his quest was completed, his mom was safe in new york, and a war between the gods was prevented.

it should be over….but there’s something in the back of percy’s mind that’s telling him it isn’t. seeing a certain someone in the crowd earlier didn’t do anything to ease that feeling.

"can someone explain to me why clarisse is still here?" 

you raise an eyebrow at luke, and he shrugs in response.  it seems neither of you had decided who should break the news, and neither of you seem particularly excited to do so, even after dragging percy, along with annabeth and grover, into the empty hermes cabin for some privacy.

after another beat of silence, you take the lead.

“look, kid, i know you and clarisse got off to a rocky start —”

“she tried to drown me, and then basically kill me during capture the flag,” percy points out. he hears an ocean roaring at the memory, but that could have also been from his duel with clarisse’s dad, the god of war, more recently.

a duel that percy had won, for the record. luke trained him well.

“and i’m not defending that,” you clarify. “i’m just saying that we’ve known clarisse for much longer. she’s not perfect, maybe a bit aggressive sometimes — trust me, she and i have had some major disagreements, too — but i can’t see her doing something like this.”

“why would anyone at camp want to steal the bolt? to join kronos’ army against the gods?” annabeth wonders. to herself or to the group, percy isn’t sure, but he has a feeling that the wheels in her mind are turning.

“revenge, maybe?” grover suggests. 

almost instinctively, grover glances at you, and so does annabeth. percy wants to kick himself for doing the same. 

with you being the daughter of nemesis, he imagines that it's not the first time you’d been blamed for something just because of who you are. it’s a feeling percy knows all too well. and, for better or for worse, like percy, it seems like you’re not one to accept these things without a fight.

you straighten your shoulders, ready to snap back, but before you can, luke declares:

“it’s not her.”

he then knocks the toe of his shoe against your combat boot. you smile and return the gesture. the tension eases out of the room.

for a second, percy wonders if he’ll ever have someone like that: someone to defend like it’s second nature, to share that sort of secret language with, to smile at him like nothing else in the world matters. 

according to annabeth, the two of you weren’t technically dating — but percy is pretty sure that aphrodite is swooning over you. 

“see, grove? if camp half-blood’s golden boy can vouch for me, then i’m in the clear.” your tone is playful enough — no hard feelings — but the tips of grover’s ears still turn red. “i didn’t steal the bolt. sure, the gods and titans can tear each other apart for all i care — " 

annabeth stiffens at your bold statement, and grover starts to nervously chew on an empty diet coke can he had stashed in his pocket. luke watches you with the hint of a smile on his face, and percy —

well, percy can’t help but admire you even more. 

"— but it's everything else that i have an issue with.”

“everything else?”

you look at percy like the answer is obvious. 

“when have the gods ever fought their battles without us as collateral damage? doesn’t seem worth it to me, to betray my friends.” 

that itch in the back of percy’s brain gets harder to ignore.

“the oracle warned me, betrayed by a friend.” 

“prophecies don't always come true,” annabeth reminds him. “at least not in the way we expect them to.” 

“annie is right,” luke adds, nodding at his sister. “mine didn't. the oracle said i would die a hero.” 

you turn to luke then, your eyebrows furrowed. 

“what? you never told me that.” 

“it doesn’t matter,” luke insists. “my point is that i came back from my joke of a quest, alive and a definitely not a hero —”

“fuck what the oracle said.” you roll your eyes. “dead or alive, you are a hero, tiger.”

you move to place a hand on luke’s arm. to percy’s surprise, though, luke brushes you off.

“i’m not a hero. at least not the one my dad expects me to be.”

again, percy is taken aback by how luke snapped, at you of all people. you huff, and percy can tell that you’re a bit agitated now, too. 

“okay, but that doesn’t mean —”

“my point is.” luke turns to percy, effectively blocking your presence for the time being. “you completed your quest, fought a god, and stalled kronos’ plan. you’ve been through it — all three of you have — but now you’re back. let’s just enjoy the rest of our summer, yeah? whatever happened out there, whatever the oracle said, it’s in the past.”

percy wants to believe luke, he really does. one glance in your direction, and it seems like you do, too.

deep down, though, percy isn’t entirely convinced. there’s that dread in the pit of his stomach, that voice in the back of his head. something in him, warning that this isn’t quite over. the worst has yet to come.

he wonders if — or maybe just hopes — you feel the same.

—

ii.

if you of all people can’t get luke’s attention, grover is pretty sure that the world is ending.

“luke,” you try again, foregoing your usual nickname for him. your arms are crossed and you tap your foot against the floor. it makes grover slightly anxious, feeling your frustration threaten to boil over.

“i’m busy,” he grunts, and flips over another page, scribbling something on the other side. 

“grover wanted to talk to us about something.”

“i-it’s fine, we don’t have to —”

“no, it’s a good idea, grove,” you insist. you smile at grover then. he remembers that, despite the deadly glares you can deliver, like the one you were just giving luke, you have a gentle core. you just guard it behind sharp edges. 

“tell him that i’ll talk to him later.”

“or, you could tell him yourself,” you huff. grover waves awkwardly, even though luke doesn’t realize what’s happening. “he’s right next to me.”

luke looks up briefly, and then back down at the pages in front of him just as quick. he looks tired, exhausted even. 

“sorry, man. didn’t see you there. i gotta finish these reports.”

“no worries. i tend to be quiet on my hooves.”

in the moment of silence that follows, and with luke still not giving you the attention you’re asking for, you walk over to the desk where luke is working. what you see seems to make you even more annoyed than before.

“these reports are for september. why in the name of nemesis are you filling them out now?”

“i just want to be prepared.”

“prepared for what?”

luke hesitates. “just….the future.”

“oh!” you laugh, sharp and sarcastic. “i didn’t realize that the future required you to neglect your friends.”

“i’m trying to help my friends,” luke huffs. he taps his pen impatiently against the desk. “if you didn’t keep interrupting me —”

“oh my fucking gods — ”

grover watches the two of you argue. it had been easier to step in whenever something bubbled up between annabeth and percy, because they were just kids. but you and luke — you were adults. 

when grover met luke for the first time, he was already taking on way too much responsibility for a kid — keeping thalia and annabeth alive, protecting them from monsters, taking care of them. in a lot of ways, those responsibilities didn’t go away: as a senior counselor and resident older brother, a hero for the older campers to admire and the younger kids to aspire to be. camp half-blood’s golden boy, as you liked to call him. 

and, like you, luke is good at hiding. for him, its heavy burdens behind easy-going smiles. 

lately, though, those smiles seem to be strained, his shoulders slowly bending under the weight of it all. the other day, grover asked you if everything was okay with luke. you had looked back at him sadly, shrugged, and said you didn’t know.

that’s when grover decided that everyone just needs a break — an escape. he had been sensing that things weren’t quite right with the others, too. percy seems a little on edge, and so does annabeth.

then, of course, there was you and luke. finding out that the two of you had actually started dating was huge news for someone like grover who had painstakingly watched the two of you dance around your feelings for years. so, it was more than a little weird that you’d barely been speaking this past week. the rare occasion you did was tense at best, and explosive at worst. 

like now, when you pick up one of the reports luke was working on, and threaten to burn it. luke dares you to do so, even suggests, albeit sarcastically, that you use it as your next offering to the gods. 

“oh, a handwritten document from luke castellan himself? they would love that,” you snort. “admit it: you’re doing all of mr. d’s work just to suck up to some gods who don’t even give a shit about any of this. you’re practically olympus’ lapdog.”

luke, blushing a furious shade of red, gets up and yanks the paper from your hand.

“at least my parent is important enough to actually have a seat on olympus and an actual cabin for his kids to stay in.”

you look like you could just about throw luke into a fire, and vice versa. grover had never seen the two of you like this, but it made sense: each of you knowing just where, and how, to hurt the other.

and, he thinks it’s about time to step in before the damage is irreversible. so, grover starts slowly clapping. the clapping gets faster, and he manages to get through the first few lines of the consensus song before you stop him.

“alright, alright,” you sigh. you push past luke, steal his chair, and put your feet up on the desk. luke scowls at you, but you put your hands up in surrender and jut your chin out towards grover. “just listen to what grover has to say and then we’ll let you get back to your precious reports.”

grover tells luke his idea. luke actually agrees, and grover can’t help but feel a little bit of a victory. 

he’s a protector, after all. it’s his job to make sure you’re all alive and happy and thriving. and not burnt to a crisp over some petty argument.

—

iii. 

annabeth had missed home when she was away on their quest, but being back and seeing everyone being taught to worship the gods without question, to believe that the only things that matter are power and glory….well, after everything that happened, after percy, annabeth can’t just go back to doing the same. at least not entirely. 

all this to say, she was totally on board with grover’s idea: the five of you, renting a cabin in montauk to get away from camp for a bit.

unfortunately, the trip starts off less than ideally. you and luke bicker the entire way here — and not the playful jabs you usually throw at each other. 

annabeth remembers the first time she saw you together. it was during breakfast, their first morning at camp half-blood. annabeth had spent the night trying not to cry over thalia, and already missing luke even though he was only a few cabins away. she was still a kid, surrounded by strangers, told that she was safe now, but didn’t quite believe it yet. one look to luke at the hermes table, and annabeth could tell he felt the same way, too — not quite settled in this new place that was supposed to be home, and with these people who were supposed to be family.

she watched as the hermes table went to burn offerings to the gods. when they sat down again, luke looked even more unsettled than before.

but then, you leaned in and whispered something in luke’s ear, and he actually laughed, just a bit, which was a nice change of pace. luke was always the one making annabeth and thalia laugh when they were running from monsters, always the one trying to keep everything together with a smile or a joke.

as she devoured her breakfast, annabeth couldn’t help but keep glancing at the two of you. she heard warnings from her half-siblings, about your mother being the goddess of revenge, and you living up to that name. 

luke either didn't know, or didn't care about whatever reputation you had. sitting there, next to you, annabeth didn’t think she’d ever seen luke so, genuinely happy, so at ease.

all these years later, neither you nor luke seemed particularly happy. you’re obviously avoiding each other, and annabeth doesn’t understand why.

you and luke are a new puzzle that she can’t wait to solve. 

annabeth had finished constructing the most elaborate sandcastle in history, just for percy to accidentally splash it when he was trying to surf a wave; so she decides that playtime is over. it’s time to figure out what exactly is going on between you and luke.

luke is in the cabin doing gods know what. you're on the deck painting your nails, so annabeth decides to start gathering information from you, first. 

“hey." you finish painting your pinky a dark purple, and set the bottle down next to you. "having fun?”

annabeth nods once and sits next to you. she asks if you could paint her nails, and you pull out a bottle of silver polish you said you thought she might like. 

as you work, careful with each stroke of polish, annabeth surveys the tattoos on your skin. you’re wearing a bikini top, so there are some that she’s seeing for the first time. there's one of a knife on your sternum, and annabeth distinctly remembers seeing a similar one peeking from underneath the collar of luke’s shirt. she wonders when you got it, if you had to travel to a tattoo parlour in the city, how many other adventures you'd gone on without having to consult the oracle beforehand. 

maybe that’s a good place to start. 

“have you ever thought about leaving camp? like, long term?" 

"sometimes," you admit. "it would be nice to have some normal early-twenties experiences."

"would you go to school?"

you smile as you keep painting annabeth’s nails. “maybe. i might have seen legally blonde too many times, but i think about law school sometimes.” 

“what about luke?”

your smile fades at the question. “i...i don’t know." your once precise nail-painting falters, and you mumble a curse when a drop of silver lands on annabeth's skin. you swipe it away before continuing. "luke's one of those people i can't really see away from camp half-blood for too long; pretty sure it would burn down without him. there's a reason he feels responsible for everyone there...in a way i respect, obviously, but, it's not the same for me. nobody needs me."

"luke needs you."

you sigh, and annabeth wonders if you even realize how you shake your head slightly. she thinks you're about to disagree with her, but instead you ask: 

“what's this about, annie? are you thinking about your dad’s offer?”

and annabeth’s completely thrown off her line of inquiry. 

“how did you —”

“perce told me that you’ve been talking about staying with him for the year,” you explain. you gesture at annabeth to give you her other hand, and she complies. the silver polish on the hand you just finished glitters in the sun. 

“well, nothing’s confirmed.”

you look up at annabeth, one eyebrow raised. “it's okay, you know — if you just wanna….be a kid for a bit.”

annabeth is silent, prompting you to ask another question.

"what's holding you back?"

“well….at first, i thought it would be a definite no,” annabeth admits. “obviously, it didn’t work out last time. i don’t know if i want to risk it again — if i can trust him, you know? how do i know he actually cares —  that he’ll be there for me when i need him?”

“you don’t.” you pause for a second. “but i’m gonna tell you a story that i think might help.”

you're done painting her nails, so you put everything away. you sit cross-legged next to annabeth, looking out at the ocean.

“my dad never wanted me to go to camp. he wanted to raise me in the city, just like he’d grown up. he’d take me to rock concerts all the time. i was so young, he’d make me wear earmuffs and carry me on his shoulders so that i could still see the band.” you smile softly at the memory. “and then….my dad got sick, he couldn’t take care of me, and monsters started to show up, so he brought me to camp for safe keeping." 

"you've told me all this," annabeth remarks. 

you start fiddling with your camp necklace. annabeth isn't used to seeing you so unsure, so nervous; it throws her off even more. 

"what i haven't told you is that even when my dad got better, he….he didn’t give me a choice of where to stay.”

"oh," is all annabeth can say. 

“yeah, oh," you scoff, but there’s not really any malice behind it. you seem…sad. defeated, almost. your fingers move to play with the hem of your shorts, which causes the fresh nail polish to smudge. you don’t seem too concerned about that at the moment, though. "i told everyone that i chose to stay. the truth is that i stayed because my dad didn't want me anymore. he said that the universe gave him a second chance, so he wanted to live his life without having to worry about monster attacks or taking care of his teenage daughter."

annabeth wonders if luke knows the truth about this; though, considering how difficult it seems for you to admit, she doubts it. 

before, annabeth had a theory that you decided to stay at camp because of luke.

luke was away when you got the news that your dad was in remission. annabeth remembers how happy you were, how excited you were to be back in the city and living with your dad again. you started packing right away.

when luke came back from his failed quest, you had just gone into the city the day before, having promised to visit in the summer and stay in touch. someone – chris maybe, or beckendorf — must have called you, told you what happened, because you came back to camp right away, your bag still fully packed. you never left again. 

"that sucks."

“yeah.” you let out a hollow, breathy laugh. “and, i was angry at first. of course i was. but now, i don’t know. i think that maybe my dad does care about me. like, he still sends me mixtapes with old punk rock songs he thinks i’d like. he actually calls me on my birthday, and we have a 3 minute conversation about nothing important." 

"right…" annabeth furrows her brows. this conversation had definitely not gone as planned. "no offense, but what's —"

"i'm getting to the point," you tell her, bumping your shoulder against hers.  "i realized that sometimes people can only love us in a way that works for them — and it sucks. it really, really sucks. but then sometimes…. sometimes people do actually try. and, i don’t know, it seems like maybe your dad is willing to try.”

“so you think i should take him up on his offer.”

the sun starts to set. you get up, brush sand off your legs. 

“i think it's time for a swim. i also think that you’re smart enough to know what’s best for you, and who deserves a second chance. just know that whatever you decide — we’ll be there for you.”

you leave without another word, but with the return of your usual confident smile, off to the shore to take advantage of the last bits of daylight. 

"she's right, annabeth." luke appears a few seconds later, takes the spot next to annabeth you had just occupied.

annabeth hums.

"how much of that did you hear?" 

luke doesn't answer. he just stares at your form, disappearing in the distance and diving under the waves.

—

iv.

you clear your throat and luke turns around to see you freshly showered. you’re wearing a pair of shorts and one of the oversized band tees the two of you constantly exchange. you've lost track of whose is whose at this point.

luke resists the urge to shamelessly check out your legs, and turns his back towards you once again. that bikini top you were wearing earlier was bad enough. thankfully, the heat from the stove was enough to cover up his blushing cheeks at the sight of your exposed skin. 

“i thought we were ordering pizza,” you say, moving to peer over his shoulder, chin hovering just above. luke had the sense that you were avoiding physical contact, and as much as it drives him crazy, he knows that he’s the one who’d dug his own grave. pushing you away and whatnot. 

“didn’t know that you knew how to cook.”

“not much,” luke shrugs. he keeps stirring the vegetables — broccoli and carrots and baby corn. he’ll add the red peppers once the broccoli turns green so that they don’t become too soft. he’s pretty sure that’s how he remembers it going.

“i could have helped you.” you reach over and hand him the peppers right on time. you shift to lean your back against the counter next to the stove, arms crossed over your chest and eyes following luke. 

luke throws in the chicken he cooked earlier, and then the sauce he had also mixed. he waits a few seconds, lets the sound of everything sizzling fill the space between you. 

“it’s an easy recipe.” luke turns off the stove to punctuate his point. 

and it had to be. something quick he’d make with his mom after she had one of her episodes, before waking up and realizing that she had a son to feed. the sounds, the colors, the smells — it all, overwhelmingly, reminds him of a childhood he once had. one that was never as simple as the food he just made.

none of the bitterness in his throat is caused by his mom, of course. just his father who calls himself a god, and left them both alone to fend for themselves. 

you start getting out plates from the cupboards as you ask: “where are the kids?”

luke checks the pot on the stove to see if the rice is cooked. “told them to go rent something from the video store.” 

“they went alone?”

“they’ve literally been to hell and back,” he replies and sits down at the table. “i think they can handle a blockbuster.”

“i don’t care if they get attacked by monsters,” you state, setting down the last plate in front of him. “i know they can handle themselves. they just better choose a good movie.” 

luke doesn’t mean to snort, but he can’t help but remember all the arguments you’d gotten in with chris over your tastes in movies. 

 “don’t laugh, castellan. i’ve saved movie night on more than one occasion and i’ve never gotten so much as a thank you.” you roll your eyes, but luke notices the ghost of a smile.

it fades just as quickly as it appeared, and luke already misses the small moment of levity that’s passed. 

“what’s been going on with you, tiger?”

you hold his gaze, and luke knows that you’re hoping for a real answer, for the truth he can’t give you. 

“nothing,” he answers instinctively. 

“don’t give me that,” you sigh and turn away from him, returning to your position against the counter. 

“i said it’s nothing,” luke insists, a bit more assertively. “why can’t you just believe me?”

“because you’ve been distant, moody.” your tone is sharper now, too. “you’ve been avoiding me. you’ve barely been eating. the side of your bunk has been empty, which means you haven’t been sleeping, either. gods, i can’t even remember the last time you kissed me —”

“you’re really mad at me because we haven’t fucked?” 

it’s a low blow, and he delivers it as if he hadn’t missed seeing you underneath him. or on top, or beside. luke isn’t picky. 

“you’re impossible!” you groan, and cover your face with your hands. you take a deep breath  before returning to glare at luke. “do….do you not want to be together, anymore? because if that’s what’s happening, i’ll survive. we can go back to being friends.” you clench your jaw to make up for the tremble behind your question. always a tough face, even in the face of potential heartbreak.

of course, luke knows you’ll be fine without him. he’s the one who might have difficulty surviving when you part ways.

“that’s not —” luke sighs and runs a hand through his hair, avoiding your gaze. “that’s not it.”

“then what is it?”

“noth—”

“i will send you to elysium if you tell me it’s nothing one more time, because i know it’s not!” you’re shouting now. “i might not know what it is, but i know you well enough to tell that something is bothering you. so i’m asking you, one more time, what is going on?”

the thing is, luke can’t tell you — about what he’s done, about who he’s aligned himself with. he can’t lie to you, either, at least not to save his life.

so, he’s basically stuck in whatever the greek mythology version of limbo is. 

for now, he’s saved by percy, annabeth, and grover, who walk in with a stack of DVDs and armfuls of movie snacks. 

dinner is fine, especially with the kids providing a good enough buffer. luke even catches you smiling and laughing along with them a few times. you approve of their choice in movies, starting with mulan. it’s one of luke’s favorites, too, but he can’t help but let his attention wander. 

the two of you have known each other for a long time. luke has felt your anger. he’s felt your frustration. you’ve been on opposing sides of explosive arguments, of brutal sparring matches. 

but, despite everything, luke’s never been hated by you. it’s unavoidable, given what he’s done and the path he’s on; it's just not something he's particularly eager to feel.

working for kronos….luke won't pretend he regrets it. something had to be done, to take back the poisonous world the gods created. 

he did it for you, even if you won't understand.

he'd do anything for you.

so, for now, he’s willing to endure the daggers you stare at him from the other side of the couch. 

—

v. 

in another life, you might have taken advantage of the queen bed and private room. both hard to come by at camp half-blood, if you’re not willing to risk zeus’ wrath for the latter.

gods, it feels like forever since you and luke snuck into cabin one because couldn’t keep your hands off each other, curses and lighting strikes be damned. 

you almost wish lightning would strike — at least then the bed would be warm. 

“i can feel you being mad at me,” luke whispers. 

“sorry, thought you’d already be gone by now,” you respond, sarcasm dripping through your words. “off to see whoever else you’d rather sleep with.”

“so, you are mad because we haven’t fucked in a while.”

a stupid slip of the tongue. you can practically hear the smirk in his voice, and your entire body feels on fire for giving him any leverage on you. that was definitely not the warmth you were hoping for. 

“whatever,” you mumble, shuffling closer to the edge of the bed, your back still towards luke. 

for the record, you’re mad because of whatever distance luke was forcing between you, or whatever wall he was putting up, for a reason you don’t understand. you’d always known luke well, but lately you haven’t been able to read him. 

and, sure. maybe you are…. frustrated. the two of you hadn’t been intimate in a while, yes, and your fingers are nothing compared to luke’s, but more than that: you just miss actually feeling him close to you. in any sense. 

you’re not sure how much time passes, and there’s nothing but silence. then, you hear his voice again, gentler than before, no cocky attitude laced through. 

“you never told me about your dad.”

ugh. of course, luke had overheard your conversation with annabeth earlier. damn those sly hermes’ genes.

you stay silent to give off the illusion that you’d fallen asleep, but luke doesn't fall for it. 

“we’ve shared a bunk for years, karma. i can tell when you’re not sleeping.” 

you pause for a few more seconds, but you know that luke is persistent.

“it didn’t matter,” is all you offer before he asks again.

“it did,” luke insists. “why didn’t you tell me?”

“it’s not like we tell each other everything,” you scoff. “like, why didn’t you tell me about that prophecy? and why won’t you tell me whatever’s going on with you now?”

“that’s….that’s different.” 

“not really. i bet that it’s all for the same reason.”

“which is?”

 you debate telling luke the truth. 

it was no surprise that you had a certain reputation around camp: cunning, hot-tempered, brash. you were fine being the angry girl whose mother wasn’t enough of a god to warrant a cabin, but enough of a threat to be wary of. you didn’t want to be the one who was also dropped by her father, unwanted and too much of a burden. so, you swallowed the reality of the situation; pretended that nothing broke your heart, and that nothing ever would.

“i didn’t want you to look at me differently,” you admit. 

another pause, this time from the other side of the bed. 

“if it makes you feel better, i was glad that you stayed.”

you can’t help it; you let out a sardonic laugh.

“that’s not much of a comfort, since you haven’t seemed very thrilled with me lately.”

“that’s not….” luke falters. “i just mean that i don't know who i’d be if you left.”

in spite of the situation, the ongoing tension between you, you find yourself smiling. 

“always so dramatic,” you tease.

deep down, you know you’re not much better.

luke was part of the reason you might have stayed at camp, anyways. he was the reason why you didn’t fight harder to get back to your old life, and you always did like a good fight.

it was scary though, that one person had so much power over you and didn’t even know it. you tried to convince yourself that you stayed because luke had needed you, after his quest and everything. but, once you’d known how it felt to have luke in your life, you didn’t want to go back to a time you didn’t. 

truthfully, it still scares you.

“i don’t like fighting with you,” you admit softly, swallowing a lump in your throat. “especially when i don’t even know why we’re fighting in the first place.”

you wonder if you’d just thought that instead of saying it out loud because luke doesn’t respond, until you hear the sheets behind you shuffle, and feel luke position himself behind you.

"i'm sorry that we're fighting. it's my fault."

he settles a tentative hand on your exposed hip, where your shirt had ridden up. luke starts to trace circles onto your skin with his thumb, the way he sometimes does when he's nervous or having a bad dream.

"i’ve just been so….in my head. i don't want you to worry about what's going on with me, okay?

"luke —"

"i have to sort it out on my own.”

"you don’t, though,” you insist. “if you just tell me what’s going on, instead of pushing me away.”

another pause. you can feel him breathing down your neck, and in turn you inhale the spicy citrus of his body wash. it’s all so excruciatingly familiar as you wait for him to say something, anything. 

eventually, luke sighs, deeply, and confesses:

"it's just….we've known each other for so long, but this — us? so much of it is new. i don't want to fuck it up." 

"well, congratulations," you quip. "you're one step closer to getting there."

you meant it as a joke, something to lighten the mood, but you feel luke stiffen at your words, his grip on your hip becoming almost painfully tight as if he's worried you'll slip away.

"i'm kidding, tiger." you weave your fingers through his to loosen his hold on you, and reassure him even more that you're not going anywhere, any time soon. "for better or for worse: you’re mine, and i'm yours. no matter how much either of us might fuck it up."

luke shuffles closer, and you melt into him even more. 

"do you really mean that?"

his voice is soft, surprisingly timid. you crane your neck back to look at him; luke stares at you, his gaze heavy enough to take your breath away. 

“of course.” 

you're so close, and you hadn't been in so long. luke's leg is somehow lodged in between your thighs, and you bite back a whimper as he brushes against you. you feel him behind you, already half-hard, and you rub your ass against him slightly, causing a groan to vibrate through his body. 

neither of you have to do much to crash your lips together.

you can sense how luke’s been unraveling, from the kiss alone. his lips are chapped, rough against yours and already bleeding from the pressure; his stubble scrapes against your cheek, and you’re dizzy with anticipation, imagining how it will leave a stinging sensation on other areas of your skin when luke has his way with you later. 

for now, you focus on your mouth on his: teeth clacking together, your tongue laving over the cut on luke’s bottom lip and tasting copper. luke brings a hand up to your jaw, pushing you into his mouth even more. 

it’s like the first time you kissed. all consuming. messy. urgent — like you've already run out of time. 

eventually, you have to pull yourself away from his grasp, your neck straining at the uncomfortable angle. luke takes the opportunity to suck bruises onto your neck while he presses his thigh harder against your cunt. he slips his other hand further underneath your shirt, cupping your breast and pinching your nipple between his fingers.  instinctively, you start rutting against him. 

“f-fuck,” you groan, relishing in the muscles of his naked thigh underneath you, defined and strong. 

luke chuckles, and you feel his breath warm against your skin. 

“you missed me that much, hm?” he taunts, encouraging you to go faster, harder. “you’re gonna cum before i even have a chance to undress you. doesn’t seem fair to me.”

“who —” your breath catches when luke’s hand settles around your throat, pulling you impossibly closer to him. you feel the outline of his abs against your lower back, and his length, hard and waiting. it’s difficult to finish your thought, but you try your best. “who says i only have to cum once?”

“that sounds like a challenge,” luke decides. “what’s our record — three? think we can beat that tonight?”

you laugh, already out of breath. “i think we can do it.”

“good girl.”

your thighs clench at the nickname, and it's one down, a few more to go. 

you maneuver luke so that he lays flat on the bed, your legs on either side of his hips. your hands fumble with the edge of his shirt, and he lets you remove it without any more hassle.

it's a little ironic, really, how much you and luke hate the gods — because looking at him underneath you, you're sure that something divine must have created him, and you have to thank them for it. sharp jaw, deep scar, flushed cheeks; curls slightly askew, and skin glistening with a thin sheen of sweat; that cocky smile — you'd worship luke castellan over any of the olympians. 

secretly, of course, you pretty much already do.

"like what you see?" luke smirks up at you, hands firmly on your ass.

you roll your eyes to save face. "come on, tiger, like you're not seconds away from tearing through your boxers." 

luke clicks his tongue, locks his calf around yours to switch your positions. you grunt as your back hits the mattress, but you very much appreciate the force and weight of luke above you. he practically rips off your shirt, then starts to nip and suck down your body. he kisses the fabric still covering your cunt, and you can feel his chuckle vibrate through your body when he encounters the wetness there. 

"i'm not the one who already ruined their underwear," luke teases as he finishes undressing you. he pauses at the sight of you, bottom half completely exposed. you're about to tell him to hurry the fuck up, but then luke spits onto your already soaked cunt and says: 

“i need to clean you up, baby.” he gives you another cheeky grin, teeth glowing like the cheshire cat, before diving in.

luke is skilled at everything he does, so of course he's quick to unravel you once more, this time with a persistent combination of tongue and teeth, lapping at your cunt like it's his last meal. 

as soon as you're done riding out your high, you yank luke by the leather cord around his neck to collide your lips with his again. 

you reach down to return the favor, snake your hand underneath the fabric of his underwear, and you're deeply satisfied to find him already sticky with his release.

“you already finished,” you tease, stroking his v-line. "and ruined your underwear without me even touching you." 

in the dim light of the moon, you can barely make out luke blushing. he hides his face in the junction between your neck and shoulder. 

“guess we’re both desperate, huh.” luke’s teeth graze your skin, his curls tickling your neck. “i need to be inside you, now, so how about you get on your hands and knees for me? i’ll get the condom.”

sometimes, luke tries to be gentle — but not this time. 

this time, he fucks you, hard and fast and deep. 

you love it, even if you might not be able to walk properly tomorrow.

with so much power behind each thrust, and the overwhelming pleasure, your arms threaten to give out, but luke catches you before you fall. he wraps a hand around your neck, bringing you flush against his chest as he continues to plunge his length into you. 

"listen to me," luke growls. he snakes a hand down to rub harsh circles on your clit. "the one thing the gods did right is make this perfect, tight little pussy of yours. you were fucking made for me, weren't you?" 

all you can do is whimper, closing your eyes at his filthy, sinful words. 

you aren't used to luke being so possessive, and certainly not in these past few weeks. it's making your head spin in the best way. you can feel your orgasm build in the pit of your abdomen.

"were you made for me?" luke asks again. he squeezes your neck slightly, and you gasp at the pressure. "answer me, or i'll stop." 

you don’t think it’s likely he’ll stop; you’re sure he’s just as lost in the sound of your cunt squelching and the feeling of you sucking him in. but, he does slow down, only a little bit, and it's enough for you to start whining.

"y-yes, luke."

"are you mine?"

you don't answer fast enough. luke stills his hips completely and you almost burst into tears.

you moan, trying to move against him in vain. luke keeps a firm grip on you, making it hard to cause any sort of friction between your bodies.

"i'm yours," you promise.

luke plants a firm kiss behind your ear. “that’s my girl,” he whispers darkly.

satisfied, luke resumes his pace. he moves the hand around your neck to your chin, angling you accordingly so he can crash his lips onto yours. 

it doesn't take long to feel the tension in your abdomen snap, wetness gushing out of you. exhausted, you collapse onto the mattress. luke slips out of you.

the next few seconds consist of you trying to bring yourself back down to reality after such a high. 

luke turns you around just to face him as he hovers over you. he lodges his hand behind your ear and taps your cheek to get your attention. your eyes flutter open.

“did you just —” 

the dampness between your legs, and on the sheets underneath you, is enough evidence: you just squirted.

"i….” you gulp, feeling yourself flush. “i’ve never done that before."

luke stares at your glistening cunt. you wonder if you should be embarrassed, but then he locks eyes with you. you've never seen them so dark, pupils almost fully blown, just a sliver of brown showing through.

"you’re so fucking hot."

your heart flutters. 

“you’re not too bad yourself, tiger, or i wouldn’t be in this mess.” you wink at him, still trying to catch your breath. your eyes wander lower. you note luke in the current state he’s in; you realize that the scales are nowhere near balanced. “that’s three for me, and only one for you. let me taste you.” 

he doesn't need to be told twice. you get on your knees once more, this time facing him as he kneels in front of you. luke rips off the condom, something to deal with later, and you take him in your mouth, cheeks hollowed and tears brimming your eyes feeling him fuck your throat. when he finishes, you swallow him whole, savoring every drop. he pulls you up for a kiss; you can still taste yourself on him, and it mixes with his new release, a combination that is more than a little intoxicating.��

“fuck,” luke mumbles as he pulls away. he swipes his thumb over the corner of your mouth where some of his cum dribbled out. “i know that was intense, but would you be up for another round? "

"yeah," you reply without a second thought, reaching up to thread your fingers through his curls to ground yourself. 

maybe you should thank artemis for the full moon tonight, giving you just the right amount of silver light to illuminate the sculpted curves and edges of luke's body. his skin is also littered with bruises and bites of your design, chaotic and beautiful. luke looks like a mess, just as you're sure you do. 

you want more. you need more.

"we gotta go for four, remember? but...maybe we, uh…"

"....slow it down this time?" luke finishes your thought. 

you nod, grateful that you and luke are on the same page. he scrambles off the bed to get another condom.

"shit. i don't have another one.”

"check my bag, too," you tell him. luke complies, but comes up short once more.  

you’re sitting up against the headboard now, and luke returns to kneel in front of you. 

"i can use my fingers,” luke offers. “or eat you out again —"

“or we could just do without a condom this time?” you suggest. luke raises an eyebrow at you, so you think through the possibilities out loud. "we both got tested before our first time together and haven’t been with anyone since.” you find yourself pausing for confirmation on that, and luke nods once. “i’m on birth control. obviously there’s still a risk that something happens, but maybe just this one time? you can just pull out whenever you’re ready….if you're okay with that."

luke waits, almost like he thinks you might change your mind, before finally answering:

“yeah, i’m okay with it if you are. i’ve always wanted to fuck you raw. i just didn’t think you’d be into it — and didn’t want you to feel pressured.”

you have to kiss him then. because how is it that the boy who just gave you three jaw clenching, toe curling, heart pounding orgasms be so sweet and considerate?

before you know it, you’re flat on your back, sheets slightly scratchy with stray sand. you don't care much because luke hovers above you; he presses his forehead to yours, curls falling in front of his face. 

"just so you know," luke starts, just as you feel him enter you once more. "i must have been made for you, too. i'm just as much yours as you are mine."

you smirk, bite your lip to keep from moaning so that you can keep up the arrogance, just a bit longer. 

"always so dramatic," you mock, as if your cunt isn’t squeezing around him at his sweet nothings. 

luke grins at you sheepishly, his cheeks flushed. 

"guess that means the gods did two things right," you joke, exhaling when you feel luke brush against that gummy spot deep within you. "maybe we've taken them for granted. maybe we should - " he hits that spot again, and your breath hitches. you dig your nails into his shoulders as he rocks back and forth. “maybe we should thank them.”

luke clicks his tongue, grips your hip firmly. "not a chance, sweetheart. the gods’ll get what they deserve."

you don’t care enough to ask luke what he means. you care more about him going faster. you’re about to tell him to do so, and to throw your legs over his shoulders, but he does it himself before you get the chance. you feel him slipping deeper within you, the force and passion behind each movement, his body molding to every curve and crevice of yours. 

made for each other.

you’re so sensitive that your orgasm approaches quickly. as he helps you ride it out, his thrusts get sloppier, and you know he’s almost reached his peak, too. 

“fuck,” he grunts. “i’m close.” luke starts to pull out, but then you lock your ankles behind his neck. 

“don’t,” you command. 

“a-are you sure?” he looks at you, wide-eyed.

“i just want to feel you this once.”

he nods and brings you in for one more bruising kiss. he finishes inside you, warm and wet. 

luke leaves once he catches his breath, and comes back with a damp towel to clean you up. he knows your body, recognizes how sensitive you are, and presses kisses on the inside of your thighs, where the same lips had made bruises before. 

even completely fucked out, your mind starts to unpack everything that’s wrong in your life. like how luke has always been a little too good at pretending, with everyone else at least, and something serious must be going on if he's trying to fool you, too.  

this luke with you now, the one who gently wipes his cum from between your legs after fucking you so relentlessly, is your luke. it feels like your luke is slipping right through your fingers, and you’re wracking your brain trying to figure out how this can stop before losing him completely.

wait….did luke say something about getting revenge on the gods? your mind is still a bit cloudy, but you could’ve sworn —

 “are you okay?” 

his question puts pause on your spiraling. he’s done cleaning you up, throws the towel on the floor and settles back on the bed, next to you. you’re close enough for the softest whisper, your limbs intertwined beneath tangled sheets.

you watch luke carefully as he waits for an answer and surveys your body, tracing his fingers over the marks he'd left underneath your jaw, across your shoulders, over your collarbones and down your stomach. 

"i didn't hurt you, did i?"

“i’m okay,” you assure him. luke’s hand stops to gently rest on your cheek. your other worries are pushed to the side for the time being: for now, it's just you and luke. “do you think we could pick up a plan b pill tomorrow though, just in case? i love you, but i’m not ready to have your babies.”

luke widens his eyes like a minotaur in headlights. he drops his hand.

 “you’ve never said that before.”

“that i want to have your babies?” you jest, slightly amused at how panicked luke seems.

luke blushes and clears his throat. “well, that too. i meant the whole ‘i love you’ thing, though.” 

your amusement evaporates. you swear your heart stops beating momentarily.

“oh, shit.…” 

you’re not quite sure what to say; you’ve felt this way for a while, truthfully. 

of course you love luke. you can't remember exactly when you realized it, but you just….know.

because if what you felt for luke wasn’t love, then you were foolish to have secretly bought into what silena beauregard had been on about for years, and aphrodite herself might just be out of a job. 

“i know we’re kind of in a weird place, but, yeah, i mean it. you don’t have to say it back —”

luke leans forward to kiss you. gentler this time, but just as firm. “i love you."

"you do?" your heart resumes its beating. 

"of course i do. i have ever since my first morning at camp.”

“yeah right,” you chuckle in disbelief, feeling your cheeks heat up. “it’s not a competition, you know, over who loved who first.”

“karma, i’m serious,” he insists. “someone taught me to burn offerings, and with everything that happened with thalia, i obviously wasn't in the worshiping mood, but then you leaned over and whispered —"

"they like the smell of begging." 

luke grins at you, and you reach up to brush your thumb against the dimple in his cheek. 

"exactly. somehow, that was what i needed to hear. it was nice to know that i wasn't the only one who didn’t want to just accept things the way they were….” he loses his train of thought. luke grabs your hand in his. “i wish i had told you earlier. after all this, i don’t want to lose you.”

“you won’t —”

“whatever happens,” luke continues, somewhat ominously. “i love you, y/n.”

you hadn't heard luke use your real name in a while. you fall asleep, heart full with the memory of him weaving it together with those three magic words. 

the next morning, you wake up — you actually sleep in, for the first time in years — and decide that if you could stay here forever, you would. 

the morning sun stings your eyes through the sheer curtains. the sticky heat of summer sits heavy in the room, and stray grains of sand tickle your skin underneath the sheets. waves wash gently on the shore outside, and an ocean breeze mixes with the smell of burnt cinnamon. you can hear annabeth, grover, and percy crashing dishes and bickering and causing chaos in the kitchen as, you imagine, they scramble to surprise you with breakfast. 

luke is next to you, on his stomach. his curls are a mess, covering most of his face. 

evidence from last night: scratches from your nails prominent on his back, his neck decorated with purple bruises in the shape of your lips. you shift slightly and feel a dull ache between your legs, so you'd call it even.

outside, something clatters on the floor, and you hear percy swear.

luke's eyes flutter open, ever so slightly, and he starts to move. "we should get up before they burn down the place." 

you press your hand to luke's shoulder blade, barely, but in his half-asleep state, it's enough to keep him in bed. luke moves to his side, facing you. you bring your hand up to brush curls away from luke's eyes, even if they're still closed.

"they've literally been to hell and back," you recall his sarcastic words from last night. "i think they can handle pancakes." 

the corners of luke's mouth curl upwards. 

"you're such a smart ass," he mumbles.

you lean forward, plant a kiss underneath luke's chin. his stubble scratches against your lips. 

"don't pretend you don't love it, tiger."

luke breathes steadily. you think he might've fallen asleep once more until he presses his lips to your forehead, pulls you towards him, and quips:

"i love you."

your heart quickens as you echo his words. something churns in your stomach, too.

because this peace isn't something that feels permanent.

you're the children of gods, and there's always a catch. some inevitable plot twist where lovers end up separated, where heroes end up dead or cursed. 

it's nauseating — dangerous, even — that you want a happy ending, a desire buried in you deeply like a knife to the gut. it's cruel that the fates keep twisting, taunting you with what can never be.

no monsters; no gods or titans; no prophecies.

just this.

[nana-luvy]

. 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 (𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐫) .

warnings: angst, before TLT, violent!Luke, mention of reader being harmed (lightly), harsh language, basically a verbal fight

In which you can't recognize the one you love, locked on the other side of the door, anymore.

(i'm sorry it's very angsty but ummm... i had an idea. <3)

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

The air was fragrant and cool at camp, the nights starting to get warmer as the summer was coming closer, carrying the smell of blossoming strawberries and cedar wood. It was this kind of quiet night when you’d tuck yourself to sleep and fall into a deep slumber in no time, lulled by the sounds of the insects hiding in the wild grass. But tonight, Luke wasn’t in his cabin, he was in yours.

Your eyes fluttered open as you caught the noise of the door creaking open, a faint noise clear in the stillness of the empty cabin, all your half-siblings leaving for the year while you stayed at camp, knowing it was the only trusted place for you, the only warm place. Luke slipped inside, closing behind him softly, and you could see him stand there for a moment, the moonlight filtering through the window casting it's eerie glow on his features.

“Luke?” You asked, voice hoarse as you tried to wake up. “What-” But you didn’t get to finish your sentence as you heard his quiet sob, the faint light reflecting on the single tear rolling down his cheek.

“I couldn’t sleep…” Luke simply said, his voice, strained and brittle, cutting through the silence as he walked towards the bed. You immediately shifted on the mattress, making space on one side and opening the comforter. He quickly laid next to you, face buried in your neck and arms wrapped around your waist while you tucked him under the covers.

“The nightmares again ? Do you wanna talk about it…?” Your voice was soft but hesitant, knowing how sensitive he must've been in this moment.

It wasn’t the first time that he’d come in the middle of the night, tears staining his cheeks as he cuddled against you for comfort, but these past few weeks it had only seemed to intensify. And you couldn't help the worry that was bubbling in your chest when you’d hear him sniffling, vulnerable at your side, while you couldn't do more than just try to comfort him.

You brushed a few wild curls out of the side of his face, caressing his cheek softly as he hesitantly spoke, his strained voice muffled against your skin. “I… It’s getting worse…”

It was kind of a ritual now, for the both of you: when his dreams were becoming too dark, too unbearable, he’d come to you, day or night, and you’d help him get through it. At first, he’d hide the nightmares behind cocky smiles and flirty words, but as time passed by, the cracks in his walls deepened and he finally let you in.

But this night felt different, though.

Luke let out a shaky breath against your skin. “I can’t- I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna be able to take it…” he admitted, the whisper of his voice tainted in helplessness, and it broke your heart.

“Do you wanna..tell me about it ? Let it out ?” you asked, trying to keep your voice soft and soothing through the worry that troubled your mind, combing your fingers through the boy’s curls fondly.

But his breathing was still shallow in the crook of your neck, feeling him tighten his hold on your waist as he spoke. “It’s him. It’s Kronos…”

“What.. what do you mean, Luke?”

“It’s… he’s- he’s speaking to me, talking to me in my dreams, bringing monsters with him and images of chaos, telling me things…”

You rested your head on his, trying to keep grounded, but your breath felt stuck in your throat. You’d heard stories, Kronos turning former campers mad, even cast down in Tartarus, getting in their mind and turning them against themselves… But they were stories, that’s all they were.

“It’s not real, Luke.” you said softly, turning his face to make him look back at you, pushing his curls away and resting a chaste kiss on his forehead. “He’s not here, it’s just a bad dream. I’m here.” you continued, cupping his cheek.

“It feels real, too real.” His voice cracked, his eyes watering. “It’s like… like he knows everything, everything I’ve ever thought, every doubt I’ve ever had. He’s showing me things, visions, showing me what it could be like if-”

“Luke.” Your tone was firmer, trying to stop his spiraling, his eyes covered in a veil of confusion. “Whatever he’s showing you, it’s not real, it’s a lie, you know it right ?”

Luke shook his head, like trying to banish the thought, furrowing his eyebrows as he answered. “But what if it’s not ? What if it was possible ? A world without them, without the Gods ? Kronos might be right, about how the Gods don’t care about us, how we’re just pawns..” His teeth were gritted harshly, pain and anger clouding his vision. “It’s always them first, their rules, their wars… They’ve proven it, over and over agai-” His voice broke in a low sob, a single tear rolling on the side of his face to land in his hair at the memories flooding his mind. “What about us…?”

You exhaled shakily, feeling his breathy words tugging at your heart like a mirror to the injustices you were reminded of everyday, yet trying to keep your voice steady and your mind out of the black waters that threatened to engulf you. “It’s not you talking, Luke… It’s him.”

He didn’t answer, instead closing his eyes and pulling you closer to rest his head on your chest, his hands gripping your shirt. “I’m scared..” he admitted in a breath, so soft the wind could’ve carried it away.

You could only hug him back, laying your head in his soft curls and breathing in his comforting smell. “I’m not going anywhere, Castellan, you don’t have to go through this alone. I’m here, always.”

None of you said anything after that, only hearing the noises outside the cabin to lull you back to sleep. But as Luke’s breath steadied, your eyes stayed open, your expression grim and pained. Because you didn’t know if you could save him this time.

The following night didn’t hold the same calm as before, grey clouds covering the stars and darkening the atmosphere. Few birds were still singing, the insects had stopped buzzing… You felt uneasy, the feeling creeping up your back as you went to bed. But you realized it wasn’t just the weather that had changed, the stormy clouds finding echo in the eyes of Luke, standing once again at the foot of your bed. He had been distant all day, face pale and eyes rimmed with dark circles, and you couldn’t help the discomfort you felt.

You didn’t say anything when since he’d come in, only shifting on one side of the bed and opening the covers like you were used to, but he only sat at the edge, turning his back on you. And you didn’t have anything to ask, because you could feel it too: the storm brewing inside of him.

He was the one to break the silence.

“I’m done pretending.”

A look of hurt flashed in your gaze, not that he could see it, hearing his voice hoarse and.. cold, it made the blood beat at her temples. “Pretending ? What do you mean ? What is it, Luke ?” You sat straighter.

He swallowed hard, and you could see the tightening of his jaw from the side. “I’m done acting like I can ignore it, pretending like I can fight it. Kronos isn’t going to stop, and I’m tired of convincing myself he’s wrong in what he shows me.”

Your breath caught in your throat, carefully extending a hand to lay it on his shoulder, squeezing gently. “Luke, calm down a second. This isn’t you, you don’t have to-”

“Except I do.” His tone was firm, cutting like a knife through your words. “He’s offering me everything I could ever want : power, control, a way to finally over overthrow the Gods and their dangerous games where they use us as they please. He’s giving me a chance to make them all pay.”

“Luke, stop, you can’t possibly-” As you spoke you tried to come closer, he shook your hand away, standing up in a swift movement, cutting you off in a gasp of surprise.

“I can make everything better, we can make it all better..” he replied, starting to pace the small space between your bed and the one next to it.

You stood up from the bed too, making a few steps in his direction until he stood right in front of you, looking down into your eyes, and you could almost see the storm raging behind his eyes. “What are you talking about…” you breathed out, almost confused as to how he could even be considering the idea. “You can’t just give up and join Kronos.”

“Why not ?” he asked, louder than intended. “Why can’t I ? I mean, you hate the Gods too, how can you not get it ? Kronos could mean the end of an era of pain and suffering, the end of those we despise so much. I hate them just as much as you, you even said it yourself, how it disgusts you the way they use us and discard us like we’re nothing to them. Now is our chance.” he stepped closer, taking your hand in his, “You said it yourself, we deserve more.”

You shook your head, eyebrows furrowing as your throat tightened. “I said that because I was angry, Luke. But it’s not the right way to change things, we can’t bring more chaos to banish another one. You can’t just wish to destroy everything that’s ever been to bring peace.” You squeezed his hand, hoping it’d bring him back to you.

But he only snapped, escaping your grasp. “You don’t get it !” His eyes widened at his own reaction, taking a deep breath before continuing. “It’s the only way. You should be on my side, you should want this… Think about it : if we take down the gods, we can do whatever we want. We can make the world ours. No more suffering. No more wars. Just us.”

“No, Luke.” you said, trying to sound firm and definitive through the tremble of your voice, the emotions taking over you as you felt like you were watching your boyfriend slowly go crazy. “It’s not as simple as Kronos is making you believe. If chaos is brought to the world, if you bring it, people will be hurt, caught in crossfire, people who have no part in this war, people who don’t deserve harm over a fight that’s not theirs to begin with.”

The boy ran a frustrated hand through his curls, messing them up further more, looking to the ground, before taking a step back. “You don’t understand ! Listen to me !” he spat. His eyes were wild now, dark, like all the amber in them that made it him had been swallowed by a black pit clouding his judgement, and his voice was only getting louder, his tone harsher. “They’ve always been the problem, the ones pulling the strings. They’ve been using us for their war games and petty squabbles for as long as anyone could remember, and they never cared about us in the littlest.” He gritted his teeth, trying to swallow the anger he could feel bubbling up his throat.

You took a step back, a wave of worry and fear washing over you at the sight of his knuckles, turning white from how tight he as clenching his fists. Was this in front of you a controlled version of his emotions? “Please, Luke. Think about this. Think about the people we know, the ones who have nothing to do with this fight. Think about your mom-”

But you didn’t get to finish your sentence.

“Don’t you fucking dare speak about my mother!” His voice thundered through the cabin, making you flinch. “Who the fuck are you to bring her up? You think you know so well, huh? Always wanting to have the last word, but what do you even know, in the end?”

You swallowed hard, backing up again, fearing the anger you saw consuming his will behind his eyes. You could see the struggle in them, the conflict raging, torn between the man you knew him to be, and the monster Kronos was starting to shape. “I”m just trying to help..” you whispered, all the voice you could muster as you looked down to your feet, feeling tears starting to blur your vision.

You flinched again when he shouted. “I don’t need your help! I don’t need you to try and save me, I need you to stand by me. To fight by my side and do what needs to be done, for all of us.”

His eyes were full of a craze you couldn’t see through at this point, and before you could react, his hand shot out and grabbed your wrist, tugging you roughly towards him. “Come with me.” His voice was raw and desperate, demanding. “We could wake things better. Together.”

But the more he spoke, the harsher was his grip on you, and you gasped as a sharp pain shot through your arm, folding you forward with you head hanging low. “Luke!” you cried, trying to pull away but to no avail, his grip only tightening as his desperation bled into his every movement. “Stop, you’re hurting me!”

The boy’s face immediately twisted in confusion, in pain when he looked down at your wrist and in remorse when he hastily let go and saw the red mark on your skin. For the first time since the beginning of the night, you saw a flicker of realization in his eyes.

“I’m- I didn’t mean to-”

“No, Luke.” You cut him off, gritting your teeth, taking a step back as he tried to reach out again but stopped just short of touching you. Your voice broke, tears threatening to spill from your eyes with every word. “This isn’t you, you have to put yourself together, please. Come back to me…”

But when he didn’t move, only standing there with this crazed gaze in his eyes, you turned on your heels before a tear finally tumbled from your eyes, heading for the door. “I can’t do this. Not like this.” But behind the tremor in your voice, there was a determination Luke only understood too late, when he heard the clicking of the lock behind the door.

Another tear fell on his face, but it didn’t hold sadness this time, it was full of rage, his teeth gritting and his jaw clenching hard. And other tears followed, like a tangible version of the emotions bubbling inside him, forming a lump in his throat as he took careful steps towards the door. He shook the handle, seeing it was indeed locked, trapping him inside.

His voice was soft as he spoke, tentative, trying to hide the shake in it. “Love, why would you-”

“You’re in no state to have a conversation Luke. Not with me, not with anyone. I can’t-” You choked out a sob, trying to muffle it behind your hand. “I can’t just let you go like this.”

On the other side, you heard him collapse against the door, his sobs muffled but still raw. But what you couldn’t see was the frustration and rage filling his eyes along with the tears, his expression hardening through his pleads. “Please, love,” he begged, his voice barely audible through the wooden door, “we can talk about this.”

“No, we can’t, that’s what you don’t understand.” Your own voice was a breath you couldn’t be sure he’d heard.

“Please, open the door. I can’t- I didn’t mean to hurt you, believe me I- I’m sorry. Please just… open the door, sweetie.”

A shiver ran up your spine at his words, like spoken from another, the nickname sounding so familiar yet so foreign in this instant. You stayed silent, tears streaming down your face as each of his word went tugging at your heartstrings, and you knew you couldn’t do as he wanted, he’d only succeed in pulling you into his madness. And you couldn’t let him do that, not when it could hurt him, you, or anyone for that matter.

“Can we just forget about it?” he whispered. “Can we not fight anymore?”

Your heart shattered as you rested your head back against the door, cold wood against your back, only letting out a pained sigh: you wanted to let him out, you wanted to stop the nonsensical fight, but you just couldn’t. Because this time, you didn’t see a way to save him, not when the storm brewing inside of him had already started to destroy everything.

For a minute there was no talking, no words exchanged, only your ragged breathing and the rustle of Luke’s movements on the other side of the door to fill the heavy silent of the night. Your pulse raced at your temples, the weight of the fight still hanging in the air like a stormy cloud, ready to burst again.

“Babe..” His voice broke the silence, even as just a faint whisper. “Babe, please… Open the door.”

You could hear it, the sound of his forehead hitting the door to rest on it, his uneven breathing his quiet sobs and over everything — the anger, the pain filling the space between you two. You could almost feel it, the insidious, dark, suffocating kind of pain that was slowly consuming him. You closed your eyes tightly and held your breath, like shutting him out would make it easier, but it only made his voice the only thing you could focus on, and you truly didn’t know what could make it easier anymore.

“I’m scared, Luke…” you said, the words slipping out of your mouth quicker than you could hold onto them. “You’re scaring me.”

On the other side of the door, the brunette’s breath hitched.

“I’m sorry I- I didn’t mean to scare you. I just… I don’t know what to do anymore, I can’t…” he trailed off, like the weight of his emotions had shattered him.

The last thing you wanted was to feel this distance between you two, on each side of the door, to hear him this way, to hear the desperation in his voice and know that the one person who made you feel home was being pulled into the darkness.

“Luke, just calm down, breath.” you said, your voice shaking, as you tried to follow your own instructions. “You have to think straight, get the control. He can’t make you do what you don’t want to do.”

“I’m trying,” he responded, his voice thick with emotion. “I can’t… It’s too much. You don’t get it. You don’t understand how much it hurts, how much it—” He cut himself off with a jagged breath. Luke felt like his anger from earlier had been replaced with something quieter, more broken, and it almost felt worse. He was falling apart right there, on the other side of the door, like trying to claw his way out of himself but only falling deeper in what was taking over.

“I get it, Luke,” you said, your voice a little stronger this time, though it still cracked in a quiet sob. “I know you’re hurting. But this isn’t the way, you can’t just give in to him. You’re stronger than this.”

The boy’s answer shot quick and quiet, tinged in finality. “Maybe I’m not,” he started, sounding even more resigned and distant than before. “Maybe I’m not as strong as you think i am, maybe I’ve just been pretending to be someone I’m not for too long.”

Your hands clenched into fists at your sides as you slid down the wood panel, sitting on the cold door-step, tears still cascading down your cheeks and wetting your pajama shorts. “That’s not true. You’re so strong, Luke, believe me. If anyone can resist, it’s you, and you have to resist. Because I’m here for you, but I wont be able to stand by and watch you burn everything to the ground if you let Kronos get in your head.”

Your whole body shook at the sharp ‘pang’ sound when he slammed his fist on the other side of the door, all your senses back in alert as you kept your own fists clenched to keep yourself from trembling. “But i don’t want you to ‘stand by’, I want you to join me!” he shouted, the words cutting. “I don’t want you to stay out of this, I want you to come with me. We can do anything if we’re together, we can lead the rebellion and get our life back, if we work together. Take this step with me.”

His voice was hoarse and you could clearly the frustration, the fury, the brokenness all tangled up together in it.

“No.” You shook your head, dismissing any thought that might go his way. “No Luke, I won’t be part of that. Not like this. I won’t let you tear everything down just to build something out of chaos. Think about it, about everything we’ve worked for, about the people we know. We’ve all already lost so much, and you want to shake this fragile peace. You want to destroy everything, but that’s not the answer. It’s not.”

There was silence, for a moment, only the pounding of your heart in your chest to fill your ears, before you heard a soft scraping sound on the door — his nails dragging over the wood, desperate, like trying to claw at the door from frustration.

“Please,” he whispered. “Please, love, just open the door. I… I can’t breathe. I can’t think straight. I need you.” His voice cracked on the last word, and you felt your chest tighten.

You got up again, resting your forehead against the wood, along with your hand, spreading your palm over where you thought his was. “You’re not yourself, Luke, you know I can’t..”

“Can we..” he immediately continued. “Can we just..not fight anymore ?” To you his voice sounded so fragile, like glass shattering in slow motion in front of your eyes, and the thought of how he must’ve been feeling, torn between himself and this darkness that slowly ate at his resolve, had your tears pouring faster on the ground below you.

And you didn’t have it in you to answer. The silence stretched again, and you event thought you heard him walk away from the door, which would only make it clear that he had given up, and the idea twisted your guts.

But then, you heard a soft knock on the door from the inside.

“Babe..”

Another knock, softer, quieter.

“Please, I can’t loose you…” he whispered, his voice almost completely muffled by the door between you. “I can’t lose you, I’m sorry, so sorry... I don’t know what’s happening to me, I swear I never wanted to hurt you. Just… just please, can we forget about this? Can we just go back to how it was before?”

You took a deep breath in, your free hand hovering over the lock, the temptation undo it pulling at you. Any possible word you could speak was stuck in your throat, only soft sobs getting past your lips, and you were torn with doubt.

“Sweetheart, please…” he sighed softly, with an edge of urgency, and you couldn’t see the way he gripped the latch on the other side. “I can’t… I can’t do this without you. Just open the door, okay? I promise, I’m fine. I just need you.”

The sweetness laced in his voice almost had you, but the cold, empty-sounding promise, the fake calm the dripped from his words had a chill run up your spine. “I don’t think I should, Luke, understand m-”

“What do you mean you shouldn’t ?” His tone sharpened immediately, a hint of frustration, cutting through. “Don’t you trust me ? After everything we’ve done ? Everything we’ve been through ?”

You tried to control it, but your voice was trembling again, eyes shut tight to focus through the tears. “Luke… This isn’t you-”

“You keep saying this like it makes sense!” he finally snapped, slamming his fist on the door and you yelped, startled, taking a step back as a reflex. But luck wasn’t on your side: you stumbled back, tripping over yourself as you forgot you were on a small step, and fell back on the porch, twisting your ankle in the process. “What the hell does that even mean? You don’t know me, not really. If you did, you’d understand why this matters! You’d see why I have to do this, why we have to do this.”

“I do understand!” you cried out, the pain shooting at your ankle as you tried to smooth over the skin, like it’d help with the forming bruise. “And I fucking know you, that’s what terrifies me! Because now I see clearly how Kronos uses you, twisting you into this thing you’re n-”

“Kronos is not twisting me! He’s opening my eyes, he shows me the truth, about the gods, about this world, about everything. And you’d see it too, if you weren’t so blinded by your trust.”

You covered your mouth with your hand, bringing your legs closer and pressing your knees to your chest, and you could feel the anger bubbling inside of you, the feeling of this unfair words thrown at you burning in your mind. But you couldn’t be mad, because you knew it wasn’t him talking, it couldn’t be.

“Luke-” you choked out, immediately cut off.

“You think you’re so much better than me, yeah?” You could practically hear the venom dripping from his voice. “Sitting there, judging me from the other side of this door like you’re some kind of saint. You have no idea what I’ve been through, what I’ve sacrificed…”

You carefully pulled yourself up, wincing with each step taken towards the door. “I’m not judging you, I’d never-” Your voice cracked, a sob escaping the seal of your lips. “I’m trying to help you, please let’s just.. Let’s calm down, we can talk-”

“No!” He roared, hitting the stone wall at his side. “You know what, I don’t need you. But know that if you’re not with me, you’re choosing to be against me. No more talking now, no more lies. Just open this door, or I swear I’ll-” He stopped abruptly, and, for a moment there, the silence was deafening. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I just… I need you, okay? I can’t do this without you.”

You squeezed your eyes shut, hand reaching to the wood of the door between you two, trying to ground yourself. Because as sweet as his words were, you could hear them clear as day: the manipulation, the sugarcoated words he knew you’d fall for, the weakened voice he was luring you in with. And it took all your resolve to not open the door and tell him you’d follow him anywhere. Your blood ran even colder at his next words, low and sharp as a blade.

“Don’t make me wait, babe. You don’t want to see what happens if you keep me out here.”

“Stop!” you shouted back, for the first time of the night that felt like eternity. “Do you even hear yourself? You’re throwing nonsense in your words, you’re contracting yourself, your speech i conflicted- Get a fucking hold, Luke! Hear what you say, you’d never say that, it’s just ideas he’s putting in your head. Just think, for the gods’ sake!” But you immediately regretted, leaning your forehead on the door with your hand clutching the handle. Knowing you couldn’t get yourself to open anyway.

There was a long pause, the air thick with tension. Then came the sound of something heavy hitting the door, a loud, bone-chilling thud that made you jump, eyes shut tightly again.

“Let me out!” he shouted from the other side, his voice raw and furious. “I said let me out!”

You slightly stumbled back, this time minding the step, your chest heaving as panic set in. He was relentless now, pounding on the door with a force that made it rattle in its frame.

“Luke, stop!” you screamed through the loud banging, pressing your hands to your ears to try and shut it all out: it was getting way too much for you to take in. The banging continued, each impact like a hammer to your heart. You could hear him on the other side, his breath ragged, his words slurred with anger and desperation.

You eventually came back closer, turning around to sink back against the wall next to the door, knees tucked to your chest with you hands still firmly pressed on your ears. “I’ll wait,’ you said softly, not knowing if you said it for you or for Luke, “I’ll wait until you’re back to your senses, Luke. I’m not leaving you, don’t worry…”

The banging slowed, the impacts growing weaker, but the tension in the air was still suffocating. You could hear him breathing on the other side, harsh and uneven, like a storm refusing to pass.

“You’ll see,” he muttered, his voice low and bitter. “You’ll see that I was right. And when you do, don’t come crawling back to me.”

You pressed your hands to your face, tears streaming freely now as his words echoed in your mind. This wasn’t him, and you could only hope he’d win the fight that was raging inside his mind.

You must’ve had fallen asleep at some point, because when you lifted your head, you saw the first rays of the sun hitting your eyes, painting its orange hues in the now perfectly clear sky, and the events of the night quickly came back to you. You quickly turned towards the door, reaching for the lock, moving your ankle and hissing in the process as a sharp pain shot through your leg.

“Shit, forgot about that one…”

Carefully, this time, you got up, unlocking the door before twisting the handle, opening the door. The light was filtering through the windows, the early morning atmosphere always your favorite as it cast this eerie glow inside the cabin, but what really caught your eye was the figure sat on the floor, head resting back against a hard wall: some of his dark curls were sticking to his dark forehead, his eyes were lined with dark circles, half open in what looked like a sleepy daze, and his arms rested limply over his knees, loosely drawn up. And you could only imagine you looked just as rough.

Luke’s eyes fluttered as you came into his field of vision, and for a moment there was silence, just staring at each other as neither of you found it in yourself to speak first. You could see now how his eyes, wild and taken over with madness hours ago, were now bloodshot, full an aching sorrow, their usually mischievous glint dulled.

“I…” His lips parted but the tightness in his throat only grew, and he dropped his gaze, ashamed. “I don’t.. don’t know what to say…” he only whispered, not daring to look back at you.

Your heart sank low in your chest at his tone, and you carefully took a few step closer, hissing as pain throbbed in your ankle, which immediately caught his attention. His eyes shot to your swollen ankle, then up your wrist, lined in a faint purple where he’d grabbed you earlier, panic and remorse etched on his face.

“Gods.. I did that.” His voice was breathy, weak, as he reached for your hand only to stop halfway, shuffling away from you a little. “I don’t know what- I hurt you.” Tears threatened to spill from his eyes, twinkling in the faint morning light. “I hurt you…”

“Luke, look at me.” you simply said, keeping him from spiraling as you took a seat next to him, laying back on the wall, your knees short of touching. “My ankle ? I’m just clumsy, okay ?” you lied, trying to ease his burden. “As for the rest… I need you to know it wasn’t you, okay ? Even if you remember, even if you feel like it was you, know it was Kronos. I would never blame you for what happened…”

And it was true, you could never have it in you to hold it against him, because in the end he had just been a puppet in someone else’s game, Kronos’ twisted game.

You reached for his hand, squeezing it between yours as you rested them on your knees, wanting him to really feel the sincerity of your words.

“But it was my hands.” His voice cracked, his emotions pouring in the tears that started slowly rolling on his cheeks, and you only wished you could kiss his troubles away like you did his tears, softly planting your lips on each pearl of salty water as one of your hands reached to cup his jaw. “I feel like a monster I- I didn’t mean to, I swear. I could never mean to hurt you…”

“And I believe you, Luke.” you whispered, voice trembling. “I know you were in there, fighting him, and now you’re here, not him, and you’re not hurting me. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, and you might have to work on it not happening again, for the sake of my wrist,” I continued, joking —though he did not take the joke, only growing gloomier, and my heart ached—, “but you can do this, I know it.”

A wry smile etched itself on the boy’s features, bitter laugh escaping his lips through the tears that had began to stop, and in this light, you’d never seen him look more exhausted. "I don’t know if I can fight him anymore," he admitted, his voice barely audible. "He’s… he’s always there. In my head. Whispering, pushing, pulling. I don’t even know where he ends and I begin anymore.”

You shifted closer, carefully resting your head on his shoulder, and, if he tensed at first, his body quickly relaxed, leaning back into yours. “Well, I am here to tell you, then. I want to help you, Luke, okay? I’m not leaving. We can figure this out, together.”

For a long time the two of you just stayed there, the warming rays of the sun filtering in the cabin, curls falling on your forehead when he laid his head upon yours. To you two it was more comforting than talking, somehow, sharing a moment and giving you both this feeling of belonging, even after a night you probably would never forget, like this soothing silence was a proof you could go through anything and remain like this, together.

Eventually, Luke shifted a little, gently brushing his cheek against your hair. “Do you think Chiron might be… able to help ?”

“I think it’s worth trying.” you whispered back, nuzzling his shoulder. “You’re not the first demigod to go through this, and he’s seen more of the worlds than we could ever fathom… Maybe he’ll even give you some wise centaur metaphor about life and balance ~”

And you couldn’t contain your smile at the sound of his small laugh, like a hug to your heart.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right…”

“More seriously, I’m sure he’ll listen to you, he’ll do the best he can to help.”

He nodded slowly, his eyes drifting back to the bruise on your wrist. His hand hovered near it, but he didn’t dare touch it. "I’m so sorry," he whispered, his voice breaking. "For everything.”

"I know," you said softly. "But it’s going to take more than apologies to fix this. You need to fight, Luke. Not just for me, but for yourself, okay ?” I pulled my head away, cupping one side of his face to look back at me. “It’s probably not gonna be easy, but it’s okay. And if you get lost trying to find your way back, I’ll get lost with you and we’ll make it out, I promise.” You finally said, eyes fluttering close and resting your forehead on his.

Hey people ~

Hope y'all enjoyed it, i do feel like i wrote the same thing in different fonts for most of the story but.... yeah... anyway-

Have a nice day lovess <3

[atheneum-of-you]

18. Hymn to Hermes

I sing to Kyllenian Hermes, Slayer of Argos,

Guardian of Mount Kyllene and Arcadia, rich in flocks,

Luck-bringing messenger of gods, born when Maia,

daughter of Atlas, joined in love with Zeus.

Shunning the crowd of blessed gods, the revered goddess

lived in the shady cave where the son of Kronos used to lie with her in the dark of night

(while sweet sleep held white-armed Hera)

unnoticed by immortal gods and mortal men.

Son of Zeus and Maia, rejoice in this:

I began with you and will turn to the rest of the hymn.

Hail, Hermes, guide who gives joy and good fortune!

Homeric hymn of Hermes

I wanted to post both Hymns but the other one is 15 pages long so for now please accept this one ♡

[lady-ashfade]

All For Us

Day 16 of celebration marathon

Luke Castellan x Apollo!reader

-♡ ask: this might be a lil confusing idk but can u write something where it's the scene that luke's scorpion thing stings percy and like luke is trynna convince reader to come with him

-♡ words: 700

-♡ good thing I read the book- and posting this 20 minutes early

-♡ warnings: short, angst, betrayal, percy literally dying, book spoilers? Idk if they still counts here

maybe you should have paid more attention.

there were times were you saw the look in his eyes while he talked about the gods to the younger kids. you knew him, you could hear the venom in his voice when he tried to hide it. you also knew how his cheek creased when he smiled, how his eyes looked with tears stinging them, how his face tightened when he was mad. after all that you may have not knew him like you thought you did.

he had taken percy alone at his celebration and you wanted to join them so you looked for them. never did you think you’d hear what you did, see what you saw.

“luke?” you whisper and step out from the tree you hide behind. both pair of eyes turn to you, one with surprise and widen, the other panicking and scared. the scorpion was crawling up percy’s leg and you tried to not spook them.

“what are you doing here?” just a few seconds ago luke was smirking but now his face fell. how could he be so cruel and acted worried?

“let percy go, he’s just a child.” your feet slowly moved forward while your hands stayed in front of you. “I understand, you know I do— but this isn’t the way to get back at the gods.”

“and what is? should we sing a song?” his growl set shivers through you spine. he’s never snapped at you like that. his eyes never looked at you like that. you take a deep breath and glance down at percy as he tries to stay still.

“kronos? luke really?”

“I have to do this, like you said— you know. come with me and I promise it will be better then what it’s like now.” you try and move back when he walks towards you with his eyes going back to love. even know he was just as beautiful, he was yours.

“I can teach you. we can command a army together, can’t you see I’m doing this for us? our future can be better then what they promise us. stick by my side.”

once he is in front of you his hands reaches up to your cheek. it’s so hard to not pull away from his touch. “you know I’d never lie to you.” tears pooled in your eyes as you look along the face you knew. the scar along his cheek, the smile he tried to give you, but the guilt and sadness was new.

“I love you,” you lean in to press a kiss to his lips which he was glad to expect. you pull away and pain captures your heart and makes it ache. “but I will never turn my back on camp.” you push him away and reach for your own weapon, tears now spilling from your eyes.

luke stands there with a sour look and his chest falls heavily. the look you both shared was twisting the fate you once shared, lovers no more.

you turn when percy groans and moves. the scorpion laid sliced by his side but his hand injured by its bite. you rush to him, you look up at luke with anger. “you’re a monster.”

“you loved that about me once, just because it’s towards him now shouldn’t change anything. goodbye, my love.”

his sword spilt open a portal and he hopped into it without saying anything else. you cried and forced yourself to pay attention to percy for now. his life need to keep you going. so you dragged him to the creek as he still held some strength to move with you. you hoped it would heal but the water did nothing to him so you screamed for help.

in the end chiron come and took him from you. you sat in the creek and let the water flow around you and soak your clothes as you sobbed. was it in anger? was it sadness? you had no idea what you felt in that moment. in times like these he would wrap his arms around you and tell you everything was going to be okay, that he would never let anything happen to you.

what were you supposed to do with him gone.

Taglist: @maria699669 @purplerose291 @itzmeme @ravenmedows @repostingmyfavs

[thornnii]

Saw that you request open so: show!percy jackson x daughter of Eris!reader set just after battle of the labyrinth?

⎯ ☆ chaos in the rain

genre: brief angst to fluff wordcount: 1.1k pairing: percy jackson x fem!reader tags: daughter of eris!reader (she/her pronouns), reader hiding out to avoid doing work to rebuild/repair camp after the battle against luke/kronos' army, set after the events of botl, established relationship, probably some inaccuracies summary: what started off as hiding from chores turns into a conversation about oranges notes: I AM SO SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!! I hope really hope you like this anon ♡♡

↳ return to masterlist

camp was alive with activity after the battle between camp half-blood and luke, or rather kronos's, army. there was a fair amount of damage done to the camp and mr d and chiron had delegated jobs to fix the camp to the different cabins. [reader] sat with her feet dangling off the edge of the cliff by the netball court. technically she was meant to be helping the rest of the hermes cabin and the other unclaimed kids that she bunked with- not that she was unclaimed, she was claimed by her mother a while ago, but there was no cabin for eris at camp half-blood.

'it was like staring out over a beehive' [reader] concluded as she watched the rest of camp from her perch. she pulled her feet up to sit cross-legged before tugging her small satchel bag, filled with snacks she'd been storing up throughout the year, into her lap. it was odd, usually the girl would revel in chaos and destruction, but this time all she could feel was this weird hollowness that seemed to weigh her down as she munched on her stolen goodies. maybe it was because it wasn’t chaos by her hand, or that it had affected the people and the things she had grown to cherish. oh well, it wasn’t going to come to her now, maybe in hindsight whatever she was experiencing would be more obvious.

as [reader] ate and watched the activity of the camp below her a soft mist began to envelop camp half-blood. [reader]’s fellow campers stopped to look up at the sky, embracing the cold patter of rain compared to the humid air that still permeated the area post the violence it had just experienced. [reader] couldn’t imagine the immeasurable pain some campers may be feeling, losing a sibling in such a brutal way. with the negative thoughts swimming around her head, she reached for the golden apple keychain on her bag. a golden apple was one of eris's symbols and it always helped to calm [reader], to make her feel connected to her mother.

[reader] stiffened slightly at the almost indiscernible sound of light footsteps against the wet grass of the volleyball courts. almost as soon as her ears caught the sound, the rain that had been splashing down on her stopped. a small smile graced [reader]’s features. “hi percy.”

“how’d you know it was me?” she could hear the pout on his lips without even needing to turn around and see it.

“percy,” she finally turned around to face him, “there are only two children of poseidon at camp, and only you have been training to try and stop the rain. ever since you saw katara do it in avatar.” [reader] mumbled the last part. percy gave a laugh and landed a playful slap to [reader]’s shoulder as he sat down beside her. she just smiled.

[reader] pulled her hoodie closer around her. even though percy had created a small rainless bubble for them, the wind was still cold as it swept through camp. percy must’ve seen the chill run through [reader] as he pulled her closer to him, resting her head on top of his shoulder. “some agent of chaos you are.”

the two sat there for a while just watching their fellow demigods flitter about. the dark sky of the early morning began to be tinted with dusty pinks and vibrant oranges as the sun made its first peak over the horizon. it was a stupidly peaceful moment considering all that had just passed, but, nevertheless, it was welcomed.

the relationship between [reader] and percy had many raising their eyebrows, wondering how anyone could possibly feel stable with a child of eris. but percy accepted [reader]’s chaotic nature with open arms. and while [reader] encouraged percy to be more impulsive and reckless (than he already was), percy helped to ground [reader]. yin and yang.

“orange slice?” [reader] offered.

“got a blue one?” percy joked as he took the slice presented to him.

“if I find a blue orange, I promise I will get it for you.” [reader] grinned, placing a chaste kiss to the blond’s cheek.

“do think it’s actually possible to turn and orange blue?” percy’s eyebrows were now scrunched in thought as he genuinely considered his question. yet it fell on deaf ears. the sun was continuing to rise as it washed camp half-blood in its soft glow, but all [reader] could focus on was the way it illuminated percy’s features, how it made his eyes sparkle. it wasn’t until percy turned to face [reader] properly that she realised he was waiting for her to reply.

“sorry, what’d you say?” she blushed.

“I was wondering if a blue orange was actually possible.” percy repeated.

“I doubt it. besides you wouldn’t really be able to call it an orange anymore if it wasn’t orange.” [reader] grinned toothily at the absurdity of the question. “also I’d be kinda concerned about the taste.”

“what d’you mean ‘the taste’?”

“well aren’t you putting, like, food colouring or whatever in it to change the colour?”

percy shook his head, “no, I’m talking about a naturally occurring blue orange.”

[reader]’s eyebrows creased in further confusion. “I think naturally occurring is impossible, perc. it’s gonna have had to been changed magically or artificially or something, y’know. and even if you did find this infamous blue orange anyway, what would you call it?”

“a blue.” it was said with such confidence that it caught [reader] off-guard for a second. not that she was really sure why she should’ve been expecting anything else.

“a blurange.” she countered.

“blurange?” percy repeated, his previous confidence replaced with confusion.

“sure. if we are setting this in a world where blue oranges aren’t the norm then it makes sense to brand it as something that people already know, so you take ‘blue’ and ‘orange’ and smash ‘em together: ‘blurange’.” as [reader] explained her side of it percy couldn’t help but nod along. what she said made sense, but…

“but ‘blue’ is funny, cause it’s, like, ironic and shit.” percy crossed his arms and pouted like a toddler that had just been told ‘no’ to a new toy. it made [reader] smile at her boyfriend’s silliness. she gave him another quick kiss to the cheek which only seemed to cause his pout to deepen and her smile to widen.

“agree to disagree?” she held the final slice of orange out towards him like a peace offering.

percy took the slice, stuffing it in his mouth in one and muttering a muffled ‘agreed’.

© thornnii.tumblr.com 2024

[stellarwaffles]

Céline: *jokingly suggests relying on transphobia to not die*

Céline like 2 seconds later: wait no I wasn't serious

(Osamodas is @thebluelittlewitch2-thesequel 's oc Leaf :D)

[astradreaming]

So a luke castellan x Apollo!reader

Idek how this would work but I had this idea after I read your ‘My Sweetheart’ blurb-

So tlt and Luke’s betrayal has occurred and the reader was in a relationship with Luke, pretty much exactly like ‘My Sweetheart’.

So ofc she’s still really offended and traumatised from that debacle. But she still loves him deep down. Anyway (at any point during the series, you decide) they’re going to use her as bait for Luke to come here. She agrees bc she doubts he’ll come, if he betrayed her surely he didn’t love her that much. But he does.

Anyway the campers give them some privacy and they have a really deep conversation, and she accepts that she still loves him. And then they all jump out and attack him and he realises she betrayed him, and he gets grievously injured.

But somehow, before they can realise she isn’t back yet, she goes back and heals him, bc she can’t leave him for dead, and she leaves him healed but hurting.

If you wanted to be evil you could even end it with ‘if you’d only been there to heal him that night in Manhattan.’ Feel free to change anything this is just a very long thought, xxx

house on a hill

this is a part two but it can be read separately :)

a/n: so sorry this took so long love, exams have been kicking my ass but i hope you enjoy this anyways ♡

masterlist

Luke Castellan admitted it.

He admitted it all, betraying camp to help rise Kronos, poisoning Thalia's tree, stealing the lightning bolt... Everything they said he did. He openly admitted.

He proudly admitted.

When you'd followed Annabeth into the woods after hearing Percy yelling for help, you didn't expect it to end you up at a Miami beach on Clarisse's quest.

After dealing with pirates and sirens, fighting a cyclops and a hydra you'd had your fair share of scares during this quest. But your biggest horror stood with a sword pointed at Percy.

Luke Castellan.

You'd thought long and hard about what you'd say to him, if you'd ever got the chance. Something along the lines of why? how dare you. why would you ever do this? or at the very least, was everything a lie?

But all your heartache and rage got stuck in your throat like a bad cough. All you could do was stand frozen and hope that it was all a bad dream.

He had the audacity to meet your eye. He stepped forward in your direction.

"Y/n I-" His voice broke as he quietly spoke.

Every single bit of shock in your body vaporized in a second, being replaced by lover's rage.

"Y/n? Y/n what? What do you possibly have to say to me" Your voice laced with venom.

He staggered froward, eyes shining with guilt. He tried to say something but you cut him off again.

"Do you know how long I defended you? Do you have any idea how stupid- no pathetic i felt when i got your letter telling me I was wrong about you. Do you know what it was like having everyone in camp thinking I'm a traitor too. Do you even care?" Your lip quivered as you leaning into yourself.

No matter how much you willed yourself not to, you felt the tears fall down your face. You were too blinded by emotion to notice the others regrouping behind you both.

"Of course I care y/n. I'm doing all of this because I care!" With each step he took towards you, you took stepping back.

"No! You're doing this because your spiteful!"

"I have every reason to be and you know it" He yelled his face contorted with fury. Flinching back you find what's left of your voice.

"You're being manipulated to start a war! And you're too hurt to see that. Luke, please. You've broken my heart but I still love you, don't play into the Titan's hand, come back to camp and right your wrongs. Together." Your voice a broken whisper, only to be heard by him and the Fates.

You swore to the Fates you saw a flicker in his eyes, a break in his warpath.

"All I want is the house we talked about, the one on the hill. With the trees out the front. With as many animals as you want, with the stupidest names we can come up with." His eyes fixated to the floor. He cleared his throat and looked so deeply at you it was like he was speaking to your soul.

"To get that life, a life with you. The gods must die. Their way is broken and wrong. It's just our turn, and only then will we be able to have peace y/n. Together.

While you stand frozen, appalled at the man in front of you, gone was the version on Luke you made those plans with, instead stood a pawn of a Titan.

Unbeknownst to you both Percy had finished summoning an Iris message to camp.

Luke finally noticed, ordered the monsters his army to attack in retaliation. You and your friends outnumbered when suddenly The Party Ponies narrowly come to the rescue. However you'd stayed stunned throughout it all.

Centaurs, half bloods, Cyclops' all fought one another. The loud sound of battle didn't render, instead silence ringing through your head.

You wanted to believe the old Luke was still in there somewhere, but as your focus zeroed in on him. Watching him fight without mercy. You saw no resemblance of the boy you love.

Perhaps if you kept hope, kept faith in him. You could have helped him long before Manhattan. Maybe there was another universe where Annabeth wasn't the only one who could see the old Luke buried down below. And maybe in that universe you both got that house on the hill...

[scott-pilgrim-irl]

heres rhe fic guys

The hands of a villian.

2.somethingk words idk

first fic who dis?

*^♡^*

you were sitting in your cabin with your best friend, annabeth. she was talking about percy, whilst you were drawing a portrait of a tree. she then stopped talking and looked outside, worried about her you put down your pencil and paper and looked where she was looking, but you saw nothing. you started to draw again and she started talking again.

^~♡~^

later that day, you and annabeth went down to go to dinner, and you were shocked because sitting right across from you was luke castellan, which he wasn't supposed to be there. after everything he did, he was supposed to be dead. cause a titan war, become kronos, die while being kronos? how is he still here? you wondered to yourself, then you thought back to you and his relationship before he turned on the camp, you both were so loving to eachother. you dont really understand what happened.

^*~*^

after dinner, you went back to your cabin still in a state of constant confusion and shock. seeing your ex, who is supposed to be dead, still at the camp? after he betrayed the whole camp? after all of that? he wasn't even supposed to be alive. you went to your bed and settled down for the night, but of course. soon enough you heard a knock on your cabin door, you pretended to be asleep. but of course curiosity got the best of you. you decided to walk to the door and open it. and standing right in front of you, was luke castellan. still as handsome as before. maybe a little paler but still handsome.

^*✪*^

! smut!

you told him to come in, he spoke to you. "hey, y/n. im sorry about everything and what i did. i wanna continue what we had before this, please." you looked at him in a state of shock. you couldn't believe what he just said, but you took the pleading,wrongly you could say. a few minutes later, he was on his knees infront of you. choking on your cock and moaning around it. "good boy." you spoke loudly. thrusting your hips onto him. each time he tried to take his mouth off your cock or stop bobbing, you smacked his face. then with one final thrust in his mouth, you came down his throat. then you said "we're not done yet, slut."

;**;

!SMUT!

you pulled him over to your bed, signaling for him to be on his back, you took some lube out of your drawer. you took it and put it on your fingers, slowly to teased around his rim circling it, then slowly you pushed in. he let out a sharp moan and you took your other hand and put a slap to his ass. then he whimpered. then you slowly pulled your finger out and put two in. you started curling them and making him let out little pleads and moans, such as "please y/n,go faster." "nggh- please!" and others. you quickened the pace, as he was near his orgasm from just your fingers you pulled them out. you heard a slight whimper from the sudden loss then uncapped the lube and spread it on your growing cock. then you teased him again, you put only the tip in. waiting for him to plead and beg for it, he did, when you were satisfied, you pushed in. slowly, you inched yourself in, until you were fully in then quickly pulled back out then in again. till you were steadying a pace. making him moan loudly with little nghs and ahs here and there you quickly fastened your pace, making him eager. making him spit out little "oh!"s and "ngh!"s. you started getting sloppy with it while you were nearing your orgasm, you leaned down and put your hand on his cheek and started to kiss him, not politely but hungrily. you were touch starved, for his lips. you felt his hands find their way around your neck and you swallowed his moans. then with one final thrust you came, deep inside him, riding out your orgasm, he came right after, spurting out long streams of cum, knowing it was probably the hardest you made him cum. after, you pulled out and layed beside him.

+**+

you got up while still sore, you asked him if he wanted to shower and wanted to get cleaned, he said sure. after the shower, you both cuddled until you fell asleep, the next morning you both woke up, sore as ever. but still, went to breakfast, annabeth kept asking you questions about why you were limping, if you were hurt, if she should get will, and other things but you just told her it was just some pains from getting older. luke as well, got asked those questions. you both looked at eachother all day and giggled while being asked questions. after today, he was gone again. probably forever, but he did leave a note, "wanna do this again sometime?".

hmmm yeah the end

[blondejellykitty]

₊♡ ˚⊹ it's all too familiar ₊♡ ˚⊹

୨୧ percy jackson x unclaimed reader ୨୧ after meeting a talking centaur, life couldn't get much stranger. a/n: (1.2k words) sorry this took so long! x this is part two - series masterlist -

It took you a while to adjust to Camp Half Blood. The greek styled cabins, the unruly forests that surrounded the place, the sword wielding campers. It was very different from New York.

Percy had brought you to where Chiron, a wise centaur, stood waiting for you both. A grumpy looking man in a horrendous Hawaiian shirt sat at a small table reading a strange magazine written in an unfamiliar language.

It was then that you were told of the rules and whatnots of the Camp.

Unfortunately Chiron took it quite personally when you called the place a cult. The other man snorted from behind his magazine.

"That's Mr D, don't worry about him. He's always grumpy after the solstice." Percy leaned over to whisper an introduction.

You barely heard the rest of his explanation. Another whirl of visions raced through your mind. Sights of a tall handsome man, nothing like the one that sat in front of you. The memories of curses inflicted on those he despised and blessings on those he deemed worthy. The scent of wine, sweet grapes, salt and copper pinched your nose. The looks of the mad, the crazy. Their eyes blended together into one purple set. Dionysus. God of wine and insanity.

The after effects dimmed better than the previous time. A small thudding headache and a wave of dizziness affecting you. You brushed it off and let Percy continue showing you around.

You were placed in the Hermes cabin. Glimpses of a fluffy haired brunette man wearing a winged helmet. In other flashes he wore winged sandals. You saw entire lineages cursed by his hand, thieves being guided by his hand. You were overwhelmed with the amount of fast paced movement that flooded around him. Hermes. God of travelers, messenger of the gods.

As you entered,you placed the little belongings that you had left, ones you didn't particularly care if they got stolen, on the spare bed in the far left corner of the room.

The entirety of Cabin Eleven seemed to be uncomfortable about your presence there. When you'd enter the cabin or sit with them at meal times, their eyes would watch you as if they were waiting for you to do something. What it was they were waiting for, you didn't know.

You asked Percy what their problem was a week into your stay. He had said not to take it personally, they just had bad memories about having an unclaimed person staying with them. He briefly mentioned something to do with a war against Kronos.

Flashes of a blonde dark eyed man. He wore imposing armor and stood tall. Glimpses of brutal, grotesque murders, lies and schemes for revenge filled your head. You saw each of his children, one by one 'disappearing' by his hand. A burning madness and painful grief echoes harshly in your mind causing you to fall to the ground. Kronos, Titan of Time, King of the Titans.

Percy had forced you to the infirmary even after you insisted you were fine. He sat you down on an empty cot. He introduced you to their best healer. Will Solace, Son of Apollo.

Flickers of a curly haired blonde blue eyed man. You saw warm teachings of instruments. Beautiful melodies rang through in your ears. You saw plagues sweeping entire cities and guided arrows under his guidance. Flashes of oracles and prophets blessed by him. A blinding light overcame you, the sun itself you realized. Apollo, god of prophecy, archery and the sun. (among many other things, your brain reminded you)

You felt your nose trickle blood down your chin. You felt overwhelmed and your brain felt fuzzy.

"Yeah, you'll have to stay overnight. At least." Will had said as he looked closer at you. You still remember the concern that filled his eyes.

You'd stayed in the infirmary for a full week before you were returned to Cabin Eleven. However when it came to your Camp activities and meeting more people. You'd had your weird 'sights' of Iris, Athena, Ares and Nike while trying to socialize with your new peers. Which all in one day was too much for you.

So you wound up back inside the familiar infirmary. After a few more days there, you knew you should have told someone about what you were seeing. After the 'party centaurs' had visited for the day you were sure your visions weren't the strangest thing in the world. But every time you went to tell Percy, or Will, a deep feeling of dread would fill your chest and your throat would tighten. You just... couldn't do it.

Percy had been traveling to Olympus the longer you stayed unclaimed. He'd been getting more and more frustrated at the gods not keeping their promise but many of them assured him that you truly weren't their child... Which didn't make you feel much better.

After a few months had gone by you decided to move out of Cabin Eleven and permanently stay in the infirmary. As terrible as it sounds it really wasn't that bad. You were friends with Will and not that many campers actually spent long there, they usually just got the Nectar or Ambrosia that they needed and were off on their way.

You'd had visions of almost every Greek god you could name. However they seemed to continue, no longer were they brief introductions, now they were smaller memories of the spoken gods. You'd see faces of their children, their lovers' deaths. The people they'd cursed, the ones they'd bless. You'd seen their arguments with each other. Their sharing of secrets. You've seen them on Olympus, in the Underworld, in Atlantis, in the Mortal World. It left you bedridden when you saw particularly important memories of theirs. Which was the main reason Chiron allowed you to stay in the infirmary.

Percy had been so sweet and kind the entire time. He'd visit you for hours every day. He'd tell you about the activities you missed, the plans for capture the flag games. He made sure you shared your meals with him at his table. And when you weren't lying in bed you were in his cabin with him. You'd read the books he could never finish out loud together. He'd bring you his mothers famous blue cookies to share with him.

And on his birthday he'd spent the day with you. You'd given him his gift, wrapped in fishes and sea creatures with a blue ribbon. Inside was a number of different hand crafted jewelry you'd made for him when you laid bored in bed.

You remember apologizing to him, saying that you wished you could've gotten him more. You'd felt guilty you couldn't go out to the mall to buy him proper jewelry or even just a fancier gift. But you remember the way he softly told you to shut up and the way he'd hugged you as if you'd disappear.

After that day he'd taken you down to the bottom of the lake. You were scared at first but you trusted Percy with everything. It soon became a weekly event. The two of you sitting at the bottom of the lake watching the fishes swim closely to Percy, sometimes letting you touch them. It was calm under the sea, or at least it was with Percy by your side.

It wasn't until the next solstice where you were specifically asked to attend that you realized how you never wanted to leave Percy's side. It was also at that solstice that you realized that you didn't have that option anymore no matter how much you wanted it.