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Chapter Text

During Luz’s eighth birthday, she and her mother were walking through the streets of Manhattan. She’d just gotten the newest book in her favorite series, The Good Witch Azura . Some would say her fondness for the series was more like an obsession, and that led to her peers avoiding or making fun of her. Third graders were ruthless. From school plays gone wrong, to strange stalkers, to even stranger happenstances, it didn’t help that Luz would also frequently find herself in the middle of several incidents that would lead to her expulsion, even if she was not at fault. Luz was the awkward, weird new kid every year. This worried Camila, but Luz didn’t seem to be bothered at all.

The two kept walking along when the sound of shifting garbage piqued Luz’s interest. She turned her head towards an alleyway.

“... that’s why we gotta enroll you in a new school Mija,” Camila said. An incident involving snakes and firecrackers had prompted the parents of students to angrily petition the elementary school to have Luz expelled. No response.

“Mija?” Camila turned to see Luz running into a dark alley on her own, “Mija!”

When Camila caught up to her daughter, she screamed, “Mija! Get back here now; it’s dangerous!”

Luz looked up from the little puppy she found digging in the trash, “But Mamí! It’s just a lost puppy! We gotta help him!”

To Camila, the “lost puppy” was actually much larger than even some adults of larger breeds, and it had a menacing red glow to its eyes. To Luz, it was a small Alaskan malamute puppy with a tear in its left ear. Camila pursed her lips in thought and sighed — Luz had been getting better with her puppy dog eyes.

“Fine, but you have to take care of him.”

The child squealed in glee and hugged the puppy close to her, which prompted the puppy to lean into the embrace. She held the puppy out in her arms.

“I’ll name you, King!”

Since then, the weird stalkers had stopped following Luz around school, but that didn’t mean Luz’s involvement with the coincidental stopped. Every year until freshman year of high school, Luz would find herself in trouble some way or another.

After one particularly messy game of dodgeball in the eighth grade, Luz was diagnosed with ADHD and social anxiety. Service dogs were offered, but Luz wouldn’t take any.

“I’m not replacing King!” Luz raised her voice in argument with her mother, “And we’re not giving him up for adoption. You know how he gets with other dogs!”

Camila held her hands up to her temple, “Then what do you suggest we do?”

“I don’t know, register King as my emotional support dog, or something? I’m not giving him up!”

What Luz never told her mother, or anyone else for that matter, was that she could speak to King. Literally. Camila had to work at the hospital late that night, so King and Luz were left to their own devices at home.

What’s an emotional support dog, and why do I gotta be registered as one? King asked, tilting his head in confusion as Luz paced her room back and forth.

“They’re special dogs that are trained to help people relax ‘n stuff, and you gotta be registered as mine or we’re going to have to replace you with another dog.”

Weh? But I am the King of Demons! You can’t replace me! I’ll get along with the new dog, I promise!

“We both know that you can’t stand when my attention’s divided,” Luz responded bluntly, “Besides,” Luz ruffled King’s neck and patted his head, “you already do such a good job of helping me chill out. You’re smarter than other dogs.”

Heck yeah, I am!

“And that’s the story of how I met King, and how he got registered as my support dog!” Luz ended the story happily, “Though, not many people believe the last part.” Luz frowned.

Luz Noceda, aged fifteen, was what you could call a social outcast. Outcast for her obsession with books and shows, she eventually gave in to the bum image many had impressed upon her. A magenta beanie nestled on her head with two pins depicting a ring of fire and a bisexual pride flag. She wore an olive-green overcoat and a striped T-shirt with dark blue-grey skinny jeans and white Vans.

Augustus “Gus” Porter was the one person Luz had ever encountered that genuinely wanted to be her friend, though they didn’t share a lot of interests or classes. They were dorm-mates, at least.  Gus wore a pale-red beanie and a blue hoodie over a black T-shirt. He had blue jeans and wore grey sneakers, and had crutches set aside. Gus was born with what he had called a lame leg, but that didn’t stop him from being at the front of the lunch line when pizza was on the menu. They were sitting next to each other on the bus while they drove to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a trip set up by their Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner.

Gus waved his crutch dismissively, “Ah phooey, don’t worry ‘bout others, I think it’s sweet you talk to your dog. Though, where is he? Didn’t you say he was an Alaskan malamute? Those dogs get pretty huge.”

“Oh!” Luz shifted and brought out her satchel, “Here he is! He’s actually got some rare disorder that stunts his growth, ain’t he a sweet lil’ guy!”

King woke up from inside Luz’s bag and barked an angry I am NOT a sweet lil’ guy! I am the KING of DEMONS!

Gus chuckled.

“You can understand him, too?” Luz’s eyes widened in excitement.

Gus stopped chuckling, his eyes widening, “Oh, no! I just think his barking when you called him sweet was really good comedic timing, and he’s super cute!”

King started growling at Gus. Luz, your friend kinda smells funny. His eyes narrowed.

Gus gulped, “Hey, Luz, King doesn’t seem too happy with me.”

“Aw, he don’t bite.”

King started barking a bit louder.

“YES, HE DO!” Gus backed up against the window.

“He’s just cranky I woke him up from his nap,” Luz dismissed Gus’ panic and closed her bag.

“Ah, well, let’s just hope he’s a bit calmer when we’re in the museum,” Gus laughed nervously.

“Keep it down, back there!” A large, beefy man at the front of the bus barked.

“Eugh, why did Mr. Dodds have to come on this field trip, we already have to deal with her ,” Luz grumbled, jerking her head in a girl’s direction ahead of them, “Doesn’t he have, like, some stupid P.E. stuff to teach, or whatever.”

“Hey, don’t let Nancy or Mr. Dodds get to you. It’s the last week of classes, then we’re home free, y’know?” Gus comforted.

“ I heard it’s because the school didn’t trust only Brunner to supervise. Since, he’s, like, y’know a crip,” Nancy said, having overheard part of their conversation. Luz started to get up and opened her mouth, but a hand and a look from Gus stopped her from doing something rash. Luz did not want to disappoint Mr. Brunner.

The bus stopped and the students filed out of the bus slowly. Mr. Brunner was a middle-aged Latin teacher confined to a wheelchair, but the amount of energy he had to keep up with a rambunctious class would say otherwise. It was the one class, aside from art, that Luz excelled in. Mr. Brunner seemed to be able to teach anyone, and make it fun while he was at it. If a kid was struggling with dyslexia during a small group or independent reading, he’d help them read through it slowly and kindly. He made sure to frequently engage the class in games as a means of teaching hyperactive kids like Luz learn the material. You would think that for a school for troubled kids, Yancy Academy would have more of its staff trained to help with kids dealing with ADHD, dyslexia, and/or other disorders that would land them in the school. But nope, only Mr. Brunner was mentally equipped to work with troubled students. As if he had been doing it all his life. 

If Luz had to put a name on it, Mr. Brunner was like the father she’d never met.

Every time Luz asked her mother about her father, Camila would frown and simply say that he had to leave far away for business and was incredibly busy. Luz supposed it was a kinder way of saying he was a deadbeat. Piece of — 

Luz was jerked out of her thoughts by Gus who’d pulled her back from bumping into a few of their classmates. King poked his head out of her bag, grumbling at the sudden movements. Luz smiled and patted his head, fixing his mask. 

When Luz was younger, she had gone through a huge Pokémon phase, and had begged her mother to let her dress as Ash Ketchum for Halloween. They dressed King up as a Cubone, but Luz told her mother that King demanded that they add horns to the bone mask because the dog had wanted it to be more demon-like. King only ever took the mask off for baths. At some point, King had come home from a walk with Luz with one of the horns broken. Luz had been distraught, but King metaphorically waved off her worries, saying that it just meant he could get “ear scratchies” without taking off the mask.

The class walked into the museum and Mr. Brunner acted as their tour guide. He brought the students to a column of stone that held a carving of a sphinx. As Mr. Brunner opened his mouth to begin his lecture, he was interrupted by an enthusiastic Luz.

“Ooh! A stele! It’s a pillar most commonly used as a grave marker, but also is used for dedications, and commemorations, and… stuff…” Luz trailed off when she noticed the other students staring at her.

“Excellent, Luz!” Mr. Brunner praised before silence could set in. He went on to talk about how this particular stele was for a young girl who’d died. 

Students began to chatter amongst themselves when they lost interest in the lecture. The embarrassment from her outburst and the background chatter made it difficult for Luz to focus on what Mr. Brunner was saying. Among anime, fantasy books, video games, and art, ancient mythology was also very high among her interests. But, every time Luz shushed or quieted the students around her so she could listen, she could feel Mr. Dodds glare at her.

Ever since the first few months of the second semester, Mr. Dodds has subbed in the for P.E. class and seemed to already have a vendetta against Luz and Gus from the get-go. He had a thick Canadian accent, but that was the only thing that indicated he was from Canada. He was the furthest thing from kind or polite, and disliked anything that wasn’t meat. They were always forced to run more laps, or to clean up the gym equipment, were never the team captains for games. Even though Gus had crutches, Mr. Dodds had said that it was no excuse to not be able to get physical exercise. Luz always kept pace with Gus’ walking.

One particularly rough day of class, a few months ago, Luz told Gus that Mr. Dodds was a monster, in reference to forcing him to do three extra laps.

Gus had looked at her, and said, “Oh, he’s a monster for sure.” King had given a bark of affirmation and leaned into Luz’s hand for belly rubs.

Nancy made a comment about there being a naked guy on the stele and started giggling at her joke.

Luz turned angrily, and she could have sworn the room got a few degrees colder, “¡Callate la boca! Some of us are trying to learn here, so could you just shut your goddamn mouth for once?” Her account came out more pronounced than it usually was. For the second time that morning, Luz had the spotlight on her. The room seemed to get even colder. Luz thought that Gus started to shiver out of the corner of her eye.

“Did you have something to say, Ms. Noceda?” Mr. Brunner asked, a small smile on his lips. Immediately, the room warmed again upon seeing the smile.

“I, uh—”

“Perhaps, you’d like to tell us about this particular carving that Ms. Bobofit pointed out earlier?” Mr. Brunner gestured to the carvings.

Luz perked up, “Oh! That’s Kronos voring his kids because he was the king of the Titans, but he didn’t trust his children, who were the gods. So, every time a new one was born, he ate them to keep them—”

“Eeeugh,” the class groaned.

“—from overthrowing him. But his wife, Rhea, had hidden Zeus and replaced him with a rock, which Kronos somehow didn’t realize, so eventually, Zeus grew up, gave Kronos some wine and stuff, causing Kronos to vomit his kids out, who weren’t harmed since they’re immortal, and so the Titans and the gods fought. And the gods beat them,” Luz finished.

“What’re we gonna use this for in the real world?” Nancy muttered.

“And, Ms. Noceda,” Mr. Brunner asked, “to paraphrase Ms. Bobofit’s question: How does this apply to the real world, and what use does the information from this class have for you?”

Nancy flared a shade of crimson so deep, Gus thought she was going to pass out, or start turning blue. Luz began to fumble for her words, immediately starting to pet King.

“I-I, uh, I don’t know…” Luz answered finally.

“Well, mostly correct, Ms. Noceda,” Brunner said, “Zeus specifically used a mixture of mustard and wine to have Kronos disgorge his siblings. Though ‘vore’ isn’t the word in particular I would use to describe what happened to them, it is accurate enough. When the gods defeated their father, Kronos was diced by his own scythe and tossed into Tartarus. Well, with that bright tidbit, I believe it’s time for lunch! Mr. Dodds, would you lead us outside?”

The class shambled outside after the P.E. teacher. Mr. Brunner wheeled up to Luz and Gus. “I hope you learn the answer to my question, Ms. Luz.” With that, he continued outside after the class.

Luz frowned. That was certainly the most vague and cryptic Mr. Brunner had been. He was usually straightforward with people. Not afraid to call out anyone on their bullshit. He seemed to be the only one to ever call out Nancy, that was for sure.

Luz and Gus walked out to the fountain to eat their lunches. Before they could unwrap their food, Nancy and her gaggle of goons walked over and dumped their lunches on them. 

That was it. 

Gus yelled something, probably to get Luz to stop, but she didn’t hear. Her vision turned red. She was tired of her and Gus being picked on by literally everyone but Mr. Brunner. Something blurred up from the ground and the next thing everyone knew, Nancy had been dunked face-first into the water. The other kids scattered, and, in an instant, Mr. Dodds was at the fountain.

“What happened here, eh, Ms. Noceda and Mr. Porter?” He asked.

“Noceda pushed me!” Nancy shouted from the fountain.

“Tch. Come with me, Ms. Noceda,” Mr. Dodds commanded, “Quickly, now.”

Gus looked more freaked out than he usually was around Mr. Dodds. 

“Hey, it’s gonna be alright, Gus. Just watch my bag for me,” Luz reassured her friend. She didn’t want King anywhere near Mr. Dodds. She didn’t trust him around her dog, and King meant the world to her, as well as her mother and friendship with Gus, of course.

Gus grabbed her bag and ran off towards Mr. Brunner, probably to tell him about what happened. Luz turned to follow Mr. Dodds, who was impatiently waiting inside the main hall of the museum. Luz was too busy worrying about what to say and about what could possibly convince the teacher to let her off with a lighter punishment, whatever it was going to be, to notice that Mr. Dodds was growing in size.

“Let’s skip the pleasantries, godling. You have a strong smell, which means you’re going to taste extra good,” Mr. Dodds growled.

Growled?

Luz looked up to see a grotesque, muscular Mr. Dodds. Almost like a caveman.

“Wh-what?” Luz began to back away, but the door was locked shut.

“You have an exquisite smell, I’m gonna have to eat you fresh. No time for marinating,” Mr. Dodds(?) muttered to himself, not even paying attention to Luz.

The thing about having ADHD is that even the littlest distraction can come to the forefront of attention. Out of the corner of her eye, Luz sees a black blur rush Mr. Dodds from behind.

Stay away from my human, filthy Laistrygonian! King growled. Except it wasn’t King. King was small, and fluffy, and adorable. And King’s Cubone mask was definitely not the same length as Luz’s guitar. King had seemingly come out of nowhere and ripped the monster’s head from its body before it could harm Luz. She shielded her eyes in anticipation for the spurt of blood, but only felt a coat of dust float down on her. Luz opened her eyes and slowly let down her arms to see some golden dust blow away into nothingness. Luz looked around only to find King — normal-sized — in her lap, napping. She pet King absentmindedly as she felt herself nod off.

Gus rushed with Luz’s bag slung over his shoulder over to where Chiron was eating his salad. Panic was written all over his face.

“The Canadian has Luz.” That was all Chiron needed to hear.

“Gus, open Ms. Noceda’s bag.” Gus did as he was told.

“King, wake up. Luz is in danger. I trusted you because Luz’s mother said I could. I better not be wrong.”

“Chiron?” Gus asked, “What do you mean? King’s just a dog.”

Gus looked down at the bag to find the dog gone with wisps of shadow billowing up from his resting spot on top of Luz’s favorite book.

“King had a very thick layer of Mist over him, Gus, and has been Luz’s sole protector up until this year,” Chiron answered. 

Gus’ eyes widened and rushed towards the museum entrance, flashbacks becoming unburied. He would not let it happen again. Gus arrived at the door to find Luz unconscious with King in her arms napping away as if nothing happened.

Luz woke up in her dorm’s common room with King curled up in her lap. Gus reading their Latin textbook, nervously and very conspicuously sneaking glances at her.

“Gus?” Luz asked, “What are we doing here? I thought we were at the museum? And Mr. Dodds, what happened to him? I—”

Gus hesitated before answering, Luz took note of that, “Who’s Mr. Dodds?”

“C’mon Gus, don’t pull my leg. Nancy dumped food on us and then she ended up in the fountain, and then—”

“We’ve never known a Mr. Dodds, Luz.” Gus quickly looked back down to his book.

Luz looked down to King, “Come on, King, you were there, only you were huge, and you ripped off his head!”

King opened one eye and yawned. You sure you didn’t just dream it, Luz? I mean, me? Being any larger than this? I’d like that, but I’m stuck being this small. But if you need someone’s head bitten off, just come call me and I got you covered. King closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Luz sighed in defeat.

“Hey, Luz, maybe you should get some sleep. You’re probably just stressed out about finals and Nancy and her gang being bullies.”

“Yeah… you’re probably right.” Luz got up and carried King to her room and shut the door.

That night, Luz dreamed. Except, instead of finding herself in a fantastical world of witches and magic, or anime, or Dark Souls hurling fire at monsters, she found herself on a beach to see two birds and a horse fighting as a storm raged and waves crashed against the shore. Luz ran towards them before being blown back by a fierce wind. Upon looking closer, and shielding her eyes from the biting rain, Luz made out the two birds to be a barn owl and eagle scratching their talons at each other as the horse whinnied at the both of them. Luz yelled out, trying to get them to stop. A blinding flash of lightning and a crash of thunder ended the dream swiftly. 

Luz sat up in her bunk with a start, breathing heavily. She heard some shuffling come from the common room and moved King to the side without waking him up. As blustery as the dog was, he slept like a rock. Luz opened the door quietly and followed the noise towards Mr. Brunner’s office. Through the door’s window, Luz could see Mr. Brunner’s and Gus’ silhouettes by the former’s desk. Luz leaned her ear close to the door to hear what they were talking about.

“... not safe for her here anymore. She needs to go to camp, Gus.”

“But what if she’s not ready, yet? What about King? From what she’s told me, she’d never, ever leave King behind, but monsters can’t get past the border.”

“Not without permission they cannot. If monsters are starting to become brave enough to risk encountering a hellhound to go after Luz, she needs to get to camp fast.”

Shuffling could be heard and Luz snuck as fast as she could back to her room and crashing onto her bed to return to the dark embrace of sleep once more.

The week passed by filled with misery. Luz became more irritable and got into more fights with bullies. It was like every instance, minor or not, that she remembered being or witnessed someone being bullied exploded within those last few days of school. Her grades had even begun to slip in art and Latin. Her friendship with Gus began to suffer, much to both’s dismay. Eventually, she snapped at a math teacher, landing her in the dean’s office. That meeting left her with her eighth expulsion slip. Kindergarten and first grade were the only times she had been at a school for more than one year.

On the last day of school, Mr. Brunner pulled her aside at the end of class.

“Look, I understand this isn’t your idea of a good last day of school,” Mr. Brunner began, uncertainly, “But, perhaps it was for the best.”

“You mean it was only a matter of time before I got kicked out, don’t you,” Luz said flatly as she scratched King’s back in her bag. “You’re just like everyone else who claims they’re on my side.”

“No!” Mr. Brunner denied Luz’s claim, “But, that is to say, I can only accept your best, Luz.”

Luz left the classroom shortly after that and quickly packed her belongings. She hadn’t seen Gus all day. Maybe that was also for the best. Her first and only friendship ruined because Luz’s curiosity got the better of her. Luz turned and walked out, heading towards the bus stop back to Manhattan.

Luz stumbled into someone, startling her out of her thoughts, “Oh! Sorr—”

Gus righted himself, “Luz! Oh, thank the gods you’re here!”

Luz drew her lips into a tight-lipped smile, but it probably came out as a scowl if Gus flinching was any indicator. “What do you want, Gus?” Luz asked dejectedly.

“I,” Gus started, a bit nervous, “I was wondering if, maybe, I could ride home with you?”

Luz quirked an eyebrow. “You’re not mad at me?”

“I thought you were mad at me!”

“You called King a monster!” Luz flung her arms out, screaming out the last word. Fortunately, no one else was at the bus stop to be bothered by the outburst.

Gus’ face paled. “How much of that conversation did you hear, Luz?”

“Just Mr. Brunner saying Yancy wasn’t safe and that I needed to get to some camp,” Luz answered. The two of them got onto the bus as it pulled in before it began the drive to the subway station leading to Manhattan.

Gus sighed. “Look, I’ll tell you everything when we get to your place, okay? Promise. I didn’t mean King was a monster in a mean way… it’s just… Well, you’ll see.”

They rode until the next stop without much more word. When the bus stopped, Luz realized something, “Wait, does this mean—”

“Yes, I can understand King, and yes the field trip happened. Can we please save the talk for when we meet your mom?” Gus answered nervously, looking around.

Luz opened her mouth to ask another question before King’s voice spoke up  Save the questions for later, Luz. Luz closed her mouth. Luz let King out from her bag and the three walked in silence.

They were about to walk onto a train when a loud snip turned all three of their heads toward a fruit stand.

Three elderly ladies seemed to be knitting some brown scarf, or something.

“Oh no,” Gus’ face was the palest Luz had ever seen it, “Why is it always freshman year?” Gus pulled Luz along and King jumped into her bag as they got on the train. “Oh this isn’t good, we gotta go as soon as we get your mom.”

“Gus, what’s going on? Who were those ladies? Why were those scissors so easy to hear over everything else?”

Everything can be explained when we get Mom and on our way to camp.

“You, too, King?”

Gus hailed a taxi and they made their way to Luz’s apartment. The drive was tense. King tried to make small talk.

Sooo… what’s up with airline food? King joked.

King poked his head out of the bag, slightly cringing at the tension in the air. The rest of the drive continued in silence as buildings blurred by. 

Eventually, they pulled in to stop in front of Luz’s apartment. Gus paid the fare and tipped the driver the change. Luz huffed, adjusting the shoulder strap of her bag before ringing up her mother to let them in. 

“Mija! You’re home!” Her mother’s voice rang out from the buzzer.

“ Sí, mamá,” Luz replied, “I brought Gus over, you know, my friend from school? Can you let us in?”

Her mother squealed on the other end and a bell rang to signify that the door was unlocked. Gus followed Luz as they walked into the small apartment. It wasn’t cramped though, just cozy. Hung on the walls were various pictures of Luz and her mother, many featuring King being held in the arms of one of the two. 

“How was the ride home, Mija?” Camila asked, “You haven’t texted home much for a week now!” 

Luz set her bag down and sighed and looked at Gus. “It’s been rough, Mamí, Mr. Brunner said some weird stuff.” Luz saw her mother frown slightly out of the corner of her eye, “And, there was Mr. Dodds, but he turned into some giant, but then King was there to save me, only King was big—”

Gus put a hand on Luz’s shoulder and King leaned into her side after climbing out of the bag. Slow down, Luz, Camila’s not gonna understand what’s happening unless you slow down.

“What?” Her mother asked, “Gus, was it? What’s going on?”

“Ma’am,” Gus started, “Chiron says Luz needs to come to camp now. Monsters are starting to get past King’s presence.”

“What are you guys talking about!” Luz stood suddenly, causing King to scamper off her lap, “Everyone keeps talking about me and monsters and camp, and, and— It’s not like I’m right here, or anything!” 

Camila paled before rushing up to grab her keys. “We need to get in the car, now. I’ll explain on the way to camp.”

“Don’t I get a say in this? I’ve been gone for a whole year, and I’m not home for ten minutes and I’m already being sent away again? Am I just too much trouble, or something?” Luz whispered the last question before falling back onto the couch hugging herself.

Camila’s eyes welled with tears before rushing back to hug Luz. “No, no, no es eso Cariño,” Camila wiped the tears from Luz’s eyes, “It’s for your own safety. What you saw with King and this ‘Mr. Dodds’ wasn’t a dream. Now, vamanos niños we have to go before another one attacks.”

Luz grabbed her bag, “If—” she sniffed, “If I’m gonna be gone again, let me grab some things.” Luz ran up to her room without further word and was back down in an instant. Her bag looked to be stuffed with more books and an acoustic guitar was strapped to her back. 

Without further word, the four of them left the apartment and buckled into Camila’s station wagon.

Gus and King both sat in the backseat while Luz sat in the passenger seat. A few minutes into the drive, Luz broke the silence, “So, is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?” 

Camila turned onto a street. A sign passed. “Montauk 120mi,” it said. Luz thought she could see tears threatening to fall from her mother’s eyes. She thought it’d be better to ask King and Gus what was going on and turned to look back at the two.

Gus started, “The gods are real.”

Like, the Greek gods. The pitter-patter of rain began to drop on the roof of the car.

“All those people and monsters and myths we learned in Mr. Brunner’s class are real.”

Mr. Brunner is actually Chiron, the guy who trained Heracles. I’m a hellhound.

“A hellhound?” Luz asked.

“Out of all the things we just told you, that’s what catches your attention?”

“Well, I just expected the dogs of the Underworld to be bigger.”

“That’s because of the Mist, Mija,” Camila answered. “It changes what you see to make it easier to understand. Though some people can see through it, most mortals can’t.”

“Mortals? You mean people?” Luz tilted her head, “What, am I some demigod or something?”

“... Yes,” Gus answered slowly, “your father is actually a Greek god, though we don’t know which.” Gus scrunched his face up, “You’re taking this awfully well, Luz.”

“Oh no I’m freaked out as all Hell, but I’m also super excited because that must mean magic and stuff’s all real right? Like Hecate and stuff.”

Of course that you’d be exci — King was cut off when a loud stomp shook the ground. Luz looked up from King and saw a large mass begin chasing after them through the now-pouring rain. Gus turned and cursed, “Di immortales!” He turned back to Camila, “We  gotta floor it, Ms. Noceda!”

The engine revved and Luz could see a sign pass by. “Montauk 3mi.”

“What is that?” Luz panicked, “Mamí?”

Camila began to speak quickly, “That,” she said, glancing at the shadow approaching in the rear-view mirror, “is the Minotaur. Once we get to camp you’ll be safe, it’ll ignore mortals like me, and it shouldn’t attack King since he’s also a monster. Mortals and monsters can’t pass the camp border.”

“I can’t leave you and King behind! What if it turns to attack you guys?”

“We can ask for help from the campers Luz!” Gus answered. Lightning struck down and blinded everyone in the car. The vibrations from the thunder caused Camila to flinch, and the sudden jerking of the wheel, the high speed and slippery road, and the rumbling from the Minotaur caused the car to flip over and roll off the road onto a field.

Dazed, Luz slowly got up, grabbing her bag and guitar, surprised to find that the instrument had miraculously survived the crash with only a few scratches and dents. Dents? Before Luz could look closer to see why her wooden acoustic guitar had dents in it, she felt her mother shuffling beside her and heard Gus and King groan in the back of the car, having also regained consciousness. The rumbling got heavier and louder as the Minotaur approached. Gus took off his pants. 

Normally, Luz would have looked away instinctively, but she wasn’t only too concussed to realize what was going on at first, but Gus also happened to have goat legs instead of human ones.

With the tearing of metal off its hinges, Gus kicked the door down while King ripped the backs of the two front seats from where they were fastened, having grown larger in size though not quite as large as he had when he tore off Mr. Dodds’ head.

C’mon dizzybones! King’s voice echoed in Luz’s head, startling her out of her stupor as the hellhound pulled her mother from her seat. Luz shouldered her bag and guitar and jumped out the hole Gus had made. And almost slipped before Gus’s arm shot out to stop her from cutting her head open on the mangled car door.

A roar echoed across the fields, cutting through the storming wind and rain. The Minotaur was gaining ground on them. King had now grown to the same size as an SUV and had Camila draped over his back unconscious. 

Come on! King commanded. Gus and Luz hopped on his back and King began to sprint towards a lone willow tree on the horizon.

“There!” Gus pointed, “That’s the camp border. Once we get past that, we’re home free!”

A loud roar cut again through the storm and, suddenly, Luz found herself dazed and on the ground again. Her ears are definitely ringing now if the thunder hadn’t already ruined her hearing. The Minotaur had batted King to the side, Gus, now hidden completely under the mass of fur save for his legs, wasn't getting up any time soon. The Minotaur had Camila in its grip.

“No!” Luz sobered up instantly and her senses felt like they were on overdrive. Her body must have been pumping gallons of adrenaline through her blood, Luz figured. She grabbed her guitar by the neck, as if she’d used it like a bat all her life, and sprinted for the bull monster and her mother.

But she was too far away. The Minotaur held Camila up as if to choke her, and a sudden bright flash of light and clap of thunder later, she was gone. Blinded by rage and grief, Luz redoubled her efforts and found herself from running to falling a few feet in the air above the monster. Luz steeled herself and grasped her guitar with her other hand, twisting her whole body to bring the body of the instrument down on the Minotaur’s head with a resounding crash of metal on flesh and bone and an echoing thrum of strings. One of the Minotaur’s horns had cracked underneath the force of the impact, which Luz then tore off in a fit of anger and stabbed right into the neck of the beast.

The Minotaur collapsed into the same golden dust, as when Mr. Dodds had died, with a roar — leaving behind only the broken piece of horn that Luz had broken off. Luz rolled over onto her back in the wet grass, and as her consciousness faded, she thought she could make out a bright orange shirt and teal blur and what appeared to be a man on a horse run towards her. Then black fuzziness took over.

Luz would temporarily regain consciousness and look up to see either the worried face of Mr. Brunner or a girl with wild hair the same shade of teal from before Luz blacked out look down at her with concern and furrowed eyebrows before losing consciousness again. Other times she’d see a later-middle-aged woman with a wild mane look down at her with a frown. Otherwise, she would relive those horrible last seconds of seeing her mom in her dreams. Over, and over again.

Chapter Text

When Luz finally regained consciousness, she found herself in a lawn chair on the porch of an old townhouse overlooking what she guessed were the campgrounds Gus, King, and… her mother were talking about. Beside her, Luz had a glass of orange juice and some golden brownies. An odd combination of flavors, to say the least, Luz did find herself to be very thirsty and hungry, and the pounding headache wasn’t helping anything anytime soon. She felt a weight on her lap shift as she reached for the glass and was relieved to find King snuggled up in her lap, having become small again. He had some bandages wrapped around his waist, confirming for Luz that the previous night really did happen, and her mother was gone… 

Luz took a long sip from the glass only to recoil in shock when it tasted like Chocolate de Mani. Memories of when she used to drink this with her mother flooded her memory, and before long, the glass was drained. Luz’s headache seemed to disappear, as if by magic. She reached for the brownies, but before she could snatch one, someone came by and took the platter from her.

“Oh no you don’t. Eat too much godly food, and you’d spontaneously combust!” An elderly lady, who looked to be somewhere around her late fifties, though she had a wild mane of grey hair, large gold earrings and a gold fang peeking out from under her top lip, and wore a dark crimson dress had taken the plate of brownies. “That stuff, ambrosia and nectar, make for a great recovery fast, but too much will make ya burn up! Literally! Early trip to the Underworld.” The lady chuckled at that, “Wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

Luz sunk back into her seat, “I dunno, maybe I’ll get to see mi Mamí if I do.”

Luz felt a hand placed assuringly on her shoulder. “Look, kid, no one wants to watch their parents die,” Luz winced, “But our parents ran so we could jump. Or something. I’m not really the best at pep-talks, I’ll be honest. The name’s Eda. Daughter of Athena, and I have been cursed to be the Oracle of Delphi for the last seventy years.”

“What?” Luz tilted her head, “You don’t look a day over fifty!”

“Ah, that’s the trick, isn’t it?” Eda twirled a finger, and suddenly the front door of the house sprouted a bird-tube-thing that began speaking in an obnoxious voice, “HOOTY HOOT HOOT. BOY, EDA, AM I GLAD TO EXIST AG—” As quickly as the owl demon had been poofed into existence, it had disappeared. “As a follower of Hecate, I can manipulate the Mist much more than making mortals see differently. Like magic,” Eda grinned, “If not for the Mist, I bet you I’d be some decrepit old mummy stowed away up in the attic until a quest is called for. Normally Mr. D and Chiron would give you the introduction to camp, but Chiron’s got an early class today, and Mr. D’s at Olympus on some godly business. And when they’re gone, I’m left in charge. For better or for worse.” Eda shrugged.

“Godly business?” Luz asked, “which god is he that he’d have business on Olympus, but he’d be here at camp usually?”

“Ah, that’s Dionysus, be careful using names by the way — they hold power, and people don’t like them being thrown around all willy-nilly — he got grounded for a century by Zeus by fraternizing with one of old Thunderpants’ favorite nymphs. So for, like, the next eighty or so years he’s the camp director.” Thunder rumbled in the distance.

“Well, I’ve talked your ear off for too long, welcome to Camp Half-Blood, kiddo. Where the children of the gods find themselves training to fend for themselves and do the gods’ dirty work. Good food, though.” Eda handed Luz her bag, guitar, and a box, “I think you’ll do just fine here. I should also point out that King was allowed through the border on the condition that he stay small and mostly in your bag with you. I think it’s kind of dumb, since he seems to be an Alaskan malamute hellhound, or some other working dog breed at least, so he definitely needs his exercise.”

Luz nodded absentmindedly and opened the box to find the broken piece of horn she killed the Minotaur with. She’d avenged her mother, but failed to save her. The crashing boom bang of thunder echoed in her mind.

“Think of it as a way to prove you single-handedly defeated one of the most notorious monsters from Greek mythology, kid,” Eda smiled warmly, trying to console Luz, “The Apollo and Hephaestus cabins tried their best to fix your guitar, but it’s still a bit dinged up. Good thing you brought it with ya, though. It’s made of one hundred percent pure Celestial Bronze. An overly flowery name for a metal that can hurt monsters. Can’t hurt mortals though. Passes straight through ‘em” Eda swept her hand in front of her.

Luz strummed “Eight Melodies” briefly before adjusting the tuning until the notes sounded gold. “Mamí had this guitar specially made for me, so she said… She must have known all along.”

“Smart woman. Did she ever tell you who your father was?”

“She always dodged the question.” Luz stood up from the chair, startling King awake. Weh!

“Ah phooey,” Eda pouted, “Well, not much we can do here to find out which cabin to sort you into. I’ve gotta get back to practicing magic and figuring out my own personal stuff, but Amity here can give you the tour of camp.” 

A girl Luz’s age stepped out from behind the older lady. She wore a choker and two studded bracelets along with a bright orange T-shirt and a multicolored bead necklace. She had jean shorts and wore brown ankle boots. 

“Oh! You must be the girl that’s been taking care of me while I was zonked out!” Luz said, recognizing the teal hair. Taking a closer look, Luz could see auburn roots peeking out from the pouf Amity had her hair tied back in. 

Luz stuck out her hand for a handshake, her bag and guitar hanging at her side.

“You drool in your sleep,” Amity responded before briskly walking past.

Warm welcome, huh? King commented as he hopped into his spot in Luz’s bag before making himself comfortable. Wow! None of your stuff got damaged! King sounded as bubbly and blustery as usual, but Luz could tell he was grieving too. Luz ambled along after Amity.

“Hey! My name’s Luz! Luz Noceda,” Luz caught up to Amity who had stopped by a fire pit. 

“Blight. Amity Blight.”

Luz could see a small redheaded girl in a brown hoodie stoking the embers of the dwindling fire. Luz gave her a small wave when the girl looked up upon hearing the commotion she’d made.

The tour was quiet, save for when Luz would try to make smalltalk or when Amity would explain about each place Luz was shown. Luz held her most of her questions — she figured it’d be better to ask someone like Eda. 

They circled back to where the cabins were after heading towards the archery range where Chiron was holding an archery class. They stopped at a cabin that held a caduceus and a brass ‘11’ above the door frame. 

“This is where you’ll be staying until your godly parent claims you,” Amity explained, “It’ll be a bit crowded, and I recommend keeping all your valuables well hidden. Especially around Edric and Emira.”

“What about them?” Luz asked.

“They’re my step-siblings, and absolutely unbearable.”

“Hey, I know that there’s a cabin for every major Olympian, but why isn’t there one for Hades? He’s one of the three eldest sons of Kronos, isn’t he? Zeus and Poseidon both have one.”

Amity paused, “Hades… isn’t exactly welcome on Olympus save for the winter solstice, so his children aren’t exactly… welcome by association, either.” Amity pursed her lips before walking off towards the fire pit at the center of the cabin area. “Come with me.”

Luz followed suit and sat down on a log adjacent to Amity. The gentle glow of the embers lit the latter’s hair a pretty shade— No, Luz, now is not the time to be a bisexual disaster . Luz could still feel her cheeks warm considerably. She chalked it up to the fire.

“What’s up, Amity?”

“Throughout history, the gods have had lots of demigod children outside the ancient mythos. Some even went on to be famous. George Washington, Kurt Cobain, Alex Hirsch.”

“One of the most infamous demigod children was Adolf Hitler, son of Hades. In context of the demigod world, it was Zeus and Poseidon against Hades. It wasn’t pretty. Because of that war, the Big Three promised an oath to never have a child again. Except there was a prophecy, the Great Prophecy, that named the arrival of a child of the Big Three who survived to the age of nineteen as being the catalyst to setting it in motion.”

“But trying to avoid a prophecy is pointless!” Luz interrupted, “I mean, the whole thing with Oedipus’ family kind of is centered around that, isn’t it?”

Amity shrugged, allowing herself a small, sad smile, “Exactly. Several years ago, it was revealed Zeus had broken the oath and sired a daughter, and some years later a son, though a freak accident led to both dying in a car crash their mother caused.” Luz winced. Amity continued, “Poseidon had broken the oath as well, so Zeus struck the plane the would-be mother was on out of the sky. The only one yet to break the oath is Hades. But this makes sense— Hades values oaths and promises very highly.”

“Morbid.”

“Most of the demigod life is like that,” a new voice said. A green-haired girl leaned on Amity’s head, much to the latter’s annoyance. Following behind was who Luz assumed to be the newcomer’s twin.

“Mittens here likes to think every newcomer is a child of Zeus or Poseidon so that we can all start sifting through the Great Prophecy together. The name’s Emira, and that’s Edric, we’re the counselors of the Hermes cabin,” Emira introduced herself and her brother.

Amity’s face flushed a shade of crimson that made her appear sunburnt, but just sighed, her shoulders sinking as the tension left her body. “Look, I just got a good feeling this time.” She looked to the horn Luz was holding in her other hand as the newcomer pet her hellhound. She frowned, “Not everyone has the Minotaur chasing after them as they enter camp. And she at least knows a thing or two rather than being completely clueless.”

“Hah! You think this newbie’s Big Three material?” A new voice spoke up from behind them, “The only thing surprising is how that hellhound of hers is about as small as a kickball!”

“Ugh, Boscha, not now,” Amity grumbled, “Luz literally just woke up an hour ago.”

Boscha wore a letterman jacket over her camp T-shirt, blue-grey jeans and combat boots, and had magenta hair.

“Hey! Just cause he’s small doesn’t make him any less of a good boy!” Luz stood up, defending King. A couple of other campers walked up behind the twins and Amity, and grabbed their arms to restrain them.

“I think we should give this ‘Luz-er’ the camp initiation, Boscha,” one of them said as Edric struggled against their grip.

“Excellent idea,” Boscha said. She then grabbed Luz’s bag and pulled her into a headlock as they dragged her and the others to the nearest bathroom. King gave a squeal from Luz’s bag, but another camper took the bag from Boscha and clamped it shut. Boscha tore open a stall and began forcing Luz’s head towards the toilet seat.

Luz could feel her anger rising. Not even in a world where being weird was the least weird thing about you, was she safe from people who were just awful for no reason. She put her arms out to keep her from taking an untimely dive through the plumbing. Edric and Emira were struggling to get out of the grip of their fellow campers as Amity grappled with her captor. There was nothing that Luz hated more than bullies. The bathroom definitely dropped ten degrees this time. With a yell, Luz smashed her head backwards into Boscha’s face before blacking out momentarily.

Luz found herself behind Boscha who was still reeling after having her nose broken. She readied her guitar again like she had against the Minotaur. She sent a silent apology to her mother and any music gods watching as she clubbed Boscha in the back sending her into the toilet stall face-first.

“Nothin’ personal, kid,” Luz said flatly.

Luz glared at the other campers, and all her death glare practice must have paid off because they immediately let go of the Blight siblings and sped off. King gave out a muffled bark as the camper holding him dropped Luz’s bag onto the ground.

“You. Are. Dead. Luzer,” Boscha groaned as threateningly as she could from the floor of the toilet stall, “Watch your back in Capture the Flag this Friday.”

After checking the others to make sure everyone was okay, Luz asked, “What’s up with Capture the Flag?”

Edric perked up. “Oh! Oh! Lemme answer this.” Edric grabbed Luz by the arm and pulled her towards the other end of camp she hadn’t been shown yet, as Emira, King, and Amity followed in tow. King grabbed Luz’s bag in his jaws and trotted along after the humans.

“Capture the Flag is the absolute best, Luz. Good job on showing Boscha who’s boss, by the way, that was seriously epic,” Edric slapped Luz on the back.

“Aw, thanks,” Luz chuckled.

“Anyways, two cabins are selected as the team captains every week: the winner of the previous week’s game and a random cabin, save for the ones that elect to sit out of Capture the Flag that week. This week, it's Athena versus Ares, that’s the cabin Boscha and her gang are in.”

“Figures, she seems kind of like an assholish meathead,” Luz shrugged.

“Hah! You got that right. But the reason I love Capture the Flag is that us Hermes kids are free to let loose all the tricks and pranks we like, as long as no one dies. Aside from maiming and straight up murder, pretty much almost anything goes. The monsters that reside in the forest,” Edric pointed to the treeline, “are free to show up whenever they want.”

“So, whaddya say, sis? Wanna ally with us Hermes kids this week?” Emira elbowed Amity good-naturedly, “Luz seems to be quite the natural with that guitar of hers.”

“Hmm…” Amity held her chin, and Luz could swear she could see gears turning behind her eyes, “I think I’ve got a plan.” She shook hands with her step-sister. “Would King be interested in joining?” She turned to Luz.

A fight for domination and power! Count me in! King poked his head out of the bag.

“King says yes.”

Amity left to go teach a Greek literature class to some of the younger kids who’d fortunately made their way to camp while Edric and Emira guided Luz inside the cabin. “You can understand hellhounds?” Edric asked. 

Luz was about to answer yes, but a gut feeling made her think otherwise. “Nah, I’ve just lived with him since we were super little. He’s like my lifelong buddy.” Edric shrugged and they continued walking, making small talk about camp and getting to know each other.

“So, when do I get claimed?” Luz asked.

“Whenever your dad remembers to,” Edric shrugged, “the gods aren’t exactly the best parents. Sometimes they claim as often as they can, like Apollo, or after a specially crowning achievement, like Ares. Sometimes never.”

The Hermes cabin was much bigger on the inside than its exterior had implied, as if through magic, but, despite its extra space, the cabin was crowded. There were several sleeping bags and cots on the ground, with belongings strewn about and kids sitting on the edge of their bunks playing cards or board games. Emira cleared her throat, catching everyone’s attention.

“This is Luz Noceda, she’ll be staying with us,” she placed a comforting hand on Luz’s shoulder. The girl in question just nervously adjusted her bag.

“Undetermined or claimed?” a kid from the back asked.

“Undetermined,” Edric answered, much to the exasperation of his half-siblings , “Hey now, as children of Hermes it’s our job to show hospitality to travelers and the unclaimed, and stuff,” Edric responded more sternly after a large collective groan. He turned to Luz and pointed out an empty spot in the back of the cabin at the foot of a couple of bunks, “You can set up your stuff over there,” then spoke up again, “And don’t think about pranking and stealing from Luz because, one, that’s not cool, and two, she has a pet hellhound that she can sic on you for messing with her. And if that doesn’t stop you, she’ll bonk you with her guitar, and it’ll hurt ‘cause it’s made of Celestial Bronze.”

Luz felt her cheeks warm, not only from embarrassment, but also because the Blight twins were being so friendly toward her. Murmurs from the other Hermes kids began to pick up at the mention of a pet hellhound.

“What kind of demigod befriends a hellhound?” One kid, in particular, asked, “That’s pretty suspicious, considering what happened.”

“Can it, Mattholomule,” Edric narrowed his eyes.

A taller kid with a scar running down the side of his face and cheek had been the one who asked the question. Aside from the usual Camp Half-Blood attire of bright orange T-shirt and jeans, he wore a brown leather duster and had a lot of colored beads on his necklace. Like, six to nine, from what Luz could make out from where she stood by the door. The rest of the kids went back to their business.

“What’s he talking about Emira?” Luz whispered to Emira while Edric chewed out Matt, dragging him out of the cabin, “And what’s his deal?”

“Sometime around last Christmas, like a day or two before the winter solstice, the camp had a field trip to check out Olympus, which is above the Empire State Building by the way — something about moving with Western Civilization, and Zeus’ Master Bolt got stolen. There was a huge manhunt for the thief that stole it. Zeus and Hades are in a huge argument, Poseidon’s trying to get them to stop but he’s losing his patience. You’ve noticed how horrible the weather’s been lately? It’s probably the Big Three having a huge argument again. Fortunately, the camp’s borders only let in good weather, unless the gods have a particularly heated argument.”

“Yeesh,” Luz said as she set down her bag and guitar by where Edric pointed out.

“Yeah. Mattholomule’s an older year-rounder — you can choose to go home at the end of each summer, or say here year-round — and he’s just stand-offish because he failed a quest. Lost a bet with Ed and I as a result, so we’re the counselors of the Hermes cabin now. He was kind of a power grubber, amazing at swordplay though.”

“Wouldn’t a quest have been called for by now to retrieve the Master Bolt?” Luz tilted her head, “I mean, isn’t that what the gods have kids for?” She asked the second question with a slight bitterness in her tone. Some god had her as a kid and didn’t claim her as his own right away? Or be an actual father? She set her things down on the ground and rolled out a sleeping bag one of the nearby kids had handed her.

Emira sighed before sitting down next to Luz. “We would’ve, but Chiron’s called off quests since Matt came back from his quest. Everyone’s just antsy, but just give it time. A quest for the Bolt is bound to be called for soon. The summer solstice is coming up in a few weeks.”

Emira stood up and gestured for Luz to follow. Not trusting the others, save for maybe the kid that gave her the sleeping bag, Luz grabbed her bag and guitar and followed suit. The rest of the kids got up and followed after them as well.

“Where’re we goin’?” Luz asked.

“Dinnertime,” Emira answered, “Come on.”

Luz followed Emira up to the dining pavilion where the other campers were filing in slowly. Luz looked around, “So… where do we get the food from?”

“Oh, you’ll love this, check it out,” Emira grabbed a plate and glass from a counter that had dishes stacked up. One moment there was nothing, the next there was the most delicious Amatriciana pasta Luz had ever seen. The glass had begun to fill from the bottom up with Coca-Cola and began to fizz as it settled.

“What the hell? That’s fucking sick!” Luz’s eyes had widened, “How’d you do that?” She looked up to Emira.

“Just think about what food you want, then poof! It shows up,” Emira, “Pretty neat, huh?”

Luz grabbed a plate and glass. She closed her eyes and envisioned her mother’s homemade chimichurris on the plate, and more chocolate de mani (lactose-free, of course) in her glass. Upon opening her eyes, her eyes watered as the magic chinaware had even gotten the type of bread they would bake at home right. “Nice,” she said, choked up. Luz went to sit at the Hermes table to take a bite of her food when Emira put a hand on her shoulder, balancing her glass on her plate.

“Woah there, cutie,” Emira cautioned. Luz blushed slightly at the nickname, “Gotta scrape some food as an offering to the gods before we can chow down.”

“Oh! Right,” Luz said sheepishly before moving to scrape a slice of her burger into the brazier. She sent up a silent prayer to whoever her father was, asking to be claimed soon and for help to save her mother. Luz knew the myths regarding rescuing loved ones from the Underworld. She knew they pretty much always failed. That didn’t stop her from wishing for a chance to save her mother.

Dinner passed by without much more happening. A couple of campers would pass by and congratulate Luz on fighting the Minotaur and winning single-handedly, or say how cool it was that she tamed a hellhound.

Luz walked out of the pavilion, and planned on walking to the willow tree at the border of camp, but stopped when she noticed the same girl from earlier that morning by the firepit. Luz walked over, setting King down near the fire to keep him cozy, and took a seat beside the girl. She couldn’t have been more than seven.

“Hey, whatcha doin’ here all alone?” Luz asked the girl, “My name’s Luz, you?”

“Just tending to the fires,” the girl said. The fire changed colors subtly as other campers passed by, reflecting their moods, “People call me Hestia, like the goddess of the hearth.”

“That’s a pretty name,” Luz responded. She unstrapped the guitar and started to play tunes from various games and anime she liked.

The two made idle chit-chat for a while, until curfew was called. Luz sighed, and reached over to pick up her bag without waking King, and slung her guitar over her shoulder.

“It was nice talking with you, Luz,” Hestia said with a smile, “This place may not seem like it, but it can be home for you.

“It doesn’t have my mom,” Luz said wistfully, “Even if she is alive, she’d want me to stay year-round, I bet.”

“Home doesn’t have to only be one place or people,” Hestia responded, before getting up and walking away with a wave goodbye.

Luz unslung her guitar and stared at her reflection on the face of the body, the soundhole cutting off most of the left side of her torso as she held it. The firelight glinted off the metal warmly by the where the bridge was. The abuse it had seen the last two days was apparent by the few dents in the sides of the body from where it had been slammed into the Minotaur and Boscha. The paint that made the guitar look wooden had almost all chipped away. Miraculously, the guitar still stayed perfectly in-tune despite the damage. Even the strings were still in near-perfect condition.

“Home…” Luz slid the guitar around her back again before heading to the Hermes cabin to turn in for the night. Mondays were the absolute worst , Luz decided, but they weren’t all that bad.

Throughout the next few days, Luz found that she absolutely sucked at most of the camp activities aside from rock climbing, anything related to arts and crafts or music, and sneaking around. She supposed she was pretty handy at first-aid, but her mother was a doctor, so of course it was drilled into her head as a kid. Especially more so after adopting King. Edric suggested that maybe she was a daughter of Apollo, and the god was simply too preoccupied with his many other spheres of influence and all the Olympus drama to claim her. Her name was Spanish for ‘light’, after all, it should make sense that the god of the sun (and many other things) would be her father.

Luz found herself spending her Wednesday afternoon searching through an old shed behind the Big House, as it was called by the campers for being, well, a big house. A few people who knew Eda would call it the Owl House, for…  less pleasant reasons. Chiron had sent her, along with Mattholomule and Emira, to go find a weapon she felt comfortable with before sword fighting lessons. Luz would give a couple of experimental swings with a sword and then toss it into a pile behind her when it didn’t feel right. Either too heavy, or too light, or too long, or too short, or wide, or some other thing was wrong with the blade.

“Ugh,” Matt groaned as another sword clanged against the pile, “We’ve been here for hours Luz, just pick one already.”

“Would you rather she accidentally slice someone because the sword feels off to her, Matt?” Emira deadpanned, “Just be happy this is what Ed and I are having you do for being an ass to Luz on her first day here, instead of fixing the bathrooms.

Matt grumbled to himself.

“Woah!” Luz gasped before pulling out a katana and its saya. The saya, or sheath of the katana, was black leather with Celestial Bronze caps at the sword tip and where the sheath met the hilt. It also had a line of Celestial Bronze running along where the edge of the blade would be. The handle of the katana was a wrap of white cloth that showed a pearlescent metal underneath it that shone either blue or lavender in the right light. She unsheathed the katana, expecting another bronze blade, and instead found a blackened reflection staring back at her. The dim shed seemed to get slightly darker. “What’s this?”

“It’s a katana, stu— Ow!” Matt started before being slapped on the back of the head by Emira.

“That’s,” Emira started, “Stygian Iron. Very dangerous metal. It can hurt both monsters and mortals. It also absorbs the life force of monsters instead of turning them to dust. That thing’s probably been in here for centuries, Stygian Iron’s incredibly rare.”

“Well, I hope no one minds me using it, the weight on this thing feels just right!” The only other weapon Luz wielded that felt even close to this right was her guitar. But it was hard to swing around swiftly since it had such wide surface area, and could only be used as a bludgeoning tool.

“You are not using that blade in training or camp events, Luz,” Matt said sternly, “Stygian Iron is extremely dangerous. Even a touch to the flat of the blade can drain your life force.”

“I’ll keep it sheathed then! Sheesh.” Luz clipped the belt attached to the saya to her waist, leaving no room for argument. “You wanna stay here for another four hours?”

Matt frowned before heading out of the shed, muttering something about how girls took forever when picking things out.

Emira shrugged before motioning for Luz to follow, “Don’t worry about him, Luz. Just make sure to be extra careful and pay close attention in sword class.”

Luz and Emira met Matt and the Hermes and Apollo cabins at the sword fighting arena. Matt was demonstrating some slashes and jabs on a dummy, which the campers would clumsily replicate on their own dummies in front of them. Luz held one hand on the handle and the other at the base of the sheath to keep it from flying off, and mimicked the downward swings Matt had shown her.

“Katana bladework is a lot different than traditional Greek styles,” Matt lectured, “You want to still be fluid and quick, but you must also have grace when you swing.” Matt paced back and forth by Luz, “You aren’t bashing a bulky monster’s skull in with your guitar. You are making calculated strikes to take down a nimble opponent as quickly as possible.”

Luz’s only experience with blades was cooking. She was a damn good cook, but that didn’t help much with picking up the art of the katana. She was clumsy and slow. She kept swinging the sword more with force than precision, causing the sheath to slip slightly. Matt left her to practice with the blade to help other campers with their bladework.

After another botched slash attempt, Luz walked over to a bench to rest and rehydrate. She leaned back in her seat, throwing her head back as she sighed, more like groaned, her tension away.

“Luz!” Luz perked up to see Gus trotting over with Amity in tow. “Luz! How are you doing!” Gus from several feet away.

“Gus!” Luz ran to meet them and gave Gus a hug, “I haven’t seen you since we got here!”

Gus rubbed the back of his neck, “Sorry, had to report to some satyr duties. Amity told me the Hermes cabin was doing sword fighting class right now.

“Hey,” Amity greeted Luz, “Have you seen Em? Chiron needs to talk with her.” Luz pointed over to the other end of the arena, where Edric and Emira were sparring. “Thanks! Oh, and could you meet me by the Athena cabin later? I got some strategies I wanna run by you and the twins for Capture the Flag.” 

“Oh, sure!” Luz said. Luz watched Amity jog over to her siblings, her wild mint chocolate chip hair flying in the wind behind her.

When Amity was out of earshot, Gus elbowed Luz.

“Hey!” Luz protested, softly punching Gus’ shoulder back.

“You’ve got it bad, Luz,” Gus chuckled.

“Wh—” Luz started, “What? I don’t even know her that well!”

“I’ve seen how you look at her and the twins,” Gus wiggled his eyebrows, “You were literally just staring at her.”

“How am I friends with you, Gus,” Luz joked as she slid back down into her seat.

Luz and Gus were catching up with each other when Matt called the attention of the class.

“Okay! Class is about to end, but there’s one last technique I want to show everyone first.”

Luz sighed, “How come Matt’s always an asshole, except for when he’s teaching swords?”

Gus quirked an eyebrow, “Well, one, would you act like an asshole to someone, even untrained, who had a weapon in their hands? And, two, he just really likes sword fighting.” Gus and Luz packed into the group and stood by the Blight siblings.

“Okay, so this is a particularly complicated technique, and I’ll need a volunteer.”

No one raised their hands. Matt sighed, “Fine, I’ll pick one of you.” Matt scanned the crowd until he met Luz’s eyes. “Luz! Come up here, if you could.” 

Luz walked up hesitantly. “What’s up?”

“I need you to swing your sword at me,” Matt stated bluntly. “This is a seriously hard technique to pull off. It involves getting in close and using the flat of your blade to twist the opponent’s sword out of their hands. We’ll do it once, slowly, then once in real time. After that, we’ll spar until one of us is disarmed.”

Luz swung her sword down, which Matt caught with the hilt of his sword, twisting the blade, causing the katana and its sheath to fall to the sand of the arena with a soft thwap . They repeated the demonstration in real time. Luz was feeling exhausted from having to swing her katana in such an awkward way all afternoon, since she had to keep the sheath on.

The two campers danced out and in as sword met scabbard. As they kept dueling, clouds passed by above. The sun had been particularly brutal within camp the last couple of days, so the border had let in a few clouds. As the shadow of a cloud passed over the arena, Luz could feel some energy find itself in her arms again. She wasn’t going to win a battle of endurance, so she figured she would have to make a play right then, when she still had energy. She poised, as if to strike at Matt from below, holding the scabbard of the katana at her side. Matt swung downwards when Luz unsheathed her katana at the last second, parrying Matt’s swing, before resheathing her katana and lunging close to disarm Matt with the technique he had demonstrated earlier.

“Guess all those hours dying in Dark Souls paid off,” Luz joked, breathing heavily.

Everyone was stunned into silence. No one had beaten Mattholomule in a duel since he was a young teen. Matt’s sword plunged down from the sky into the sand behind Luz.

The clouds passed and Luz suddenly felt exhausted again. She clipped the sword back to her side before reaching down to help Matt up, as the latter had lost his footing when he was disarmed.

“Not bad, huh,” Luz panted.

“That,” Matt started, as he pulled himself up with Luz’s help, “was excellent Luz, though I would prefer you not unsheath your katana like that again until you get more used to wielding it.

The rest of the week flew by quickly. Before Luz knew it, it was Friday evening. Luz was strapping on a chestplate and some leather bracers when Amity walked over on King.

“Hey there Ams, King,” Luz greeted. Amity raised her eyebrows at the nickname, but conceded that it was definitely better than being called Mittens.

Hiya, Luz!

“Hey yourself, Luz,” Amity replied, “You’ve got it on backwards,” she added after looking Luz up and down. It was hard to tell in the firelight, but Luz flushed slightly, “Ah right, whoops.” 

Luz readjusted the straps. She had set King’s mask, her guitar, and bag aside by where Gus would be watching from the bleachers. “What’s the point of the bleachers if the forest ends up hiding a lot of the action?” She had asked. “Since Ares is one of the cabins leading the teams, there’s definitely gonna be a brawl in the clearing over there,” Gus had answered.

It was the Athena cabin leading the Apollo and Hermes cabins against Ares and the rest of camp, save for the Aphrodite cabin that had decided to sit out the Capture the Flag game.

King stood at his full size, which was around the size he had been when they were running from the Minotaur. Luz bet he could hit like an SUV too, if given the chance. Amity had proposed to Luz and the twins that King, Matt, and she would have King shadow travel them into the opposing team’s backline while Emira and Edric would lead the rest of the team to cause a mass diversion. Luz and a few Apollo campers would guard their backline from any would-be infiltrators.

“Why am I part of the rear-guard,” Luz asked, confused.

“Don’t worry about it,” Amity assured, “Athena’s always got a plan. Though, if you see Boscha, don’t get hit by her spear. It’ll shock you numb.”

Mr. D had returned a few hours ago, but opted to skip the game to go nap in the Big House, not caring really for the athletics of the game. Chiron blew a whistle, signifying that the game was about to begin. Amity rode on King to go find Matt, while Luz took point by a creek at their team’s flank. Cheers and the clatter of blades could be heard in the distance.

“Woo…” Luz fake-cheered in a flat tone, bored out of her mind as she sat by a rock, drawing figures in the sand with the tip of her katana. “‘Athena always has a plan’, huh? I didn’t think I’d get a boring part of the plan if she was gonna fill me in on the plan details like that.” Luz examined her katana. The black metal glowed a faint purple and reflected the moon and stars above with a startling clarity. She resheathed her katana, remembering Matt’s warning about touching the metal. The others didn’t know it, but Luz noticed all the looks they had when she’d shown them the weapon she’d picked. Sure, it was made with a more dangerous and doubly rare metal, and definitely belonged in a separate culture, but at the end of the day it was still a sword. There was something she wasn’t being told. Maybe she’ll go ask Chiron. Luz could hear a quiet growling coming from the forest. Probably some forest monster. As long as I’m not loud, or stupid enough to wander the forest on my own, I should be fine Luz thought to herself.

“Oh, we can make it more exciting for you, if you’d like,” a voice cut through the silence and Luz’s thoughts. At the edge of the clearing, illuminated by torchlight, were two beefy Ares campers being led by Boscha. That’s when it clicked in Luz’s head. 

I’m fucking bait. Luz had to admit, it was a smart play. Having humiliated Boscha in the bathrooms earlier that week, Luz had painted a target on her back. By distracting Boscha with revenge, they would be able to have an easier time not only stealing their flag, but also there would be a lack of leadership in the main skirmish.

Boscha brandished a spear and pointed it at Luz, “We’re getting our revenge on you for making our cabin look stupid.”

“I bet you did that before I even got to camp,” Luz retorted. In hindsight, that wasn’t the wisest thing Luz had said, but she didn’t have the foresight to know that.

With a throaty yell, Boscha and her goons rushed her all at once. Luz vaulted off the rock over the three campers and rolled into a defensive stance, placing herself between the treeline and Ares kids. The two campers that came with Boscha rushed Luz in an attempt to pin her against the trees, but she sidestepped them. 

“I should be a matador,” Luz bantered, “Dodging bulls like you is quite easy, honestly.”

The larger of the two campers that rushed Luz roared and swung his torch down at Luz, which the latter parried with ease. She stamped out the fire before it could spread to the forest, then kneed the kid in the gut. They let out a grunt, before collapsing to the ground. The other camper kicked up dirt into Luz’s eyes, blinding her, before rushing to grab her from behind. Luz struggled against her captor, kicking and punching to no avail.

Boscha walked up slowly and laughed, “What was that? A matador were you? How did you even kill the Minotaur?”

Luz growled at her.

“I bet you it died by laughing too much to breath!” Boscha said as she thrust her spear down into Luz’s leg. Luz let out a guttural shriek as electricity coursed through her thigh. She was released by the other camper, as they had been too slow to realize that Boscha was going to stab and electrocute Luz, and by association, them as well. Boscha picked up one of her fallen siblings’ swords and traced a slow cut along Luz’s uninjured leg. Luz gasped in pain. “No… maiming, you… fucker,” Luz cursed.

“Oops, there goes my dessert privileges.”

Luz grabbed her katana and flung dirt into Boscha’s eyes before rolling over  to escape. Boscha cursed and dropped her spear to get the dirt out of her eyes. Some of the dirt had fallen and put out the other torch, bathing the two kids in the darkness of the night once more, only the light of the moon illuminating the creekside. Luz could feel her strength recover until she felt well enough to stand on her feet using her saya as a walking stick.

Boscha had recovered from the temporary blindness and grabbed her spear from the ground. “Don’t you run away you coward!”

Boscha looked around to see Luz standing across from her by the water with little support from her scabbard now. The Latina had her katana drawn and took a low stance, holding the sword up to her face and so that the point was aimed towards the daughter of Ares. Luz shifted her stance so that her right leg was behind her, and her left leg was forward.

“Who’s running?” Luz was breathing heavily. She could feel herself regaining more strength as she stepped closer to the shade of the trees, “Just who the hell do you think I am?”

Boscha let out a yell before running for a spear thrust. Her spear missed. Luz must have sidestepped.

“Behind you,” Luz’s voice whispered into Boscha’s ear. Boscha yelled and swung the bottom of her spear at Luz’s head. Luz ducked and sliced Boscha’s spear in half. Cheers could be heard coming through the trees. Boscha’s eyes widened as she realized she had been duped. In her anger, she grabbed Luz in a chokehold. Her thoughts clouded by rage, Boscha was not ready for the sudden vertigo she felt when the world around the two girls melted to darkness.

Suddenly Luz and Boscha found themselves in the middle of the clearing, staring back at a crowd of shocked faces. The shock slowly turned to horror, and campers began backing away from Luz and Boscha. Boscha looked up and she too scooted away from Luz quickly.

Amity and King dropped in from the shadows with Matt carrying the now-changed flag.

“Luz! What are you doing here? King sensed you were in danger, so we shadow traveled to help you…” Amity’s voice trailed off as she realized that they weren’t at the creek they had assigned Luz to guard. She realized that Luz had also shadow traveled.

“Amity! What’s going on?” Luz looked around, “I got something on my face?”

“Y-your father…” Amity whispered, “ Oh no. ”

“My father?”

Look up, Luz King’s voice spoke gravely in her mind.

“Up?” Luz looked up to see the now-fading black and purple symbol. It kind of looked like a female gender symbol.

Chiron trotted up, his face of concern melting into a solemn grimace.

“All hail Luz Noceda, daughter of Hades, Lord of the Underworld.”

No one knelt, except for Chiron and King.