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Hermes leaned against the wall of his castle, his eyes shut and taking deep breaths. Kronos had lost. They had won the war. But at what cost? He only felt deep, numbing pain. So many of their children were dead and the others hated them. Luke was dead. His talk with Percy had eased his mind a little, but had not taken the entire burden from his shoulders. He had known Luke's fate. If only had he told him, helped him out in his quest and showed Luke that he cared. He let out a deep sigh and shook his head. He couldn't think like that, dwelling on what-ifs would drive him crazy.
Summoning his caduceus, Hermes flashed to the Underworld. Out of all the jobs he had, he hated this one the most. Not only because it was hard to keep your spirits up among the gloomy dead, but also because before the war, so many of their children died every day because they sneaked out to search for monsters and make their Godly parent proud. At that time he hadn't wanted to acknowledge how bad parents they had been. He had been too proud to realise that yes, Gods also made mistakes. Seeing where the dead had had gathered to wait for, he sped up, quickening his pace, and froze.
For there, among the dead, looking very uncomfortable was a male with sandy-blond hair, bright blue eyes and mischievous features.
Luke.
Luke had evidently seen him too, but he fixed an unconvincing smile on his features and turned away, not catching his eyes. Hermes pretended that he hadn't seen Luke either and beckoned the other dead to follow him. When they reached Charon's ferry, he shot out a hand and pulled Luke away to a private corner.
Luke looked down at his shoes, shuffling his feet. Hermes sighed.
"Luke, look at me," Hermes said to him calmly, which surprised him, because there was a whirlwind of emotions inside him. When Luke continued to take an interest in his sneakers, Hermes spoke a little more firmly.
"Lukas (I'm making Luke's full name Lukas, Luke is only a nickname people use) Castellan, look at me." When Luke still didn't respond, Hermes put his hand under his chin and pushed his head up. What he saw shattered his heart. Luke had so much pain, misery and guilt swirling around inside his eyes. He looked as if he expected to be hit.
Hermes let out a breath.
"Luke, I am not angry at you," he told him softly. "I am so, so very proud of you." Luke's head jerked up in astonishment. He tried to say something, but the only thing that came out was a whispered "Why?"
Hermes cupped his face with a hand. "Because you did what you thought was right. You wanted equality for every demigod. And I am so very, very proud of you for that."
He raised a hand as Luke tried to protest.
"Yes, you made mistakes. You went about it the wrong way. But you are human, Luke. You atoned for your mistakes. You realised what was right in the end." Hermes brushed a tear from Luke's face with his thumb as a sob tore itself from Luke's throat and Hermes wrapped his arms around Luke as Luke wept into his shirt. The two stayed like this for some time before Luke finally pulled himself away, wiping his eyes.
"Thanks," he muttered. Hermes smiled at him, and began to say something else when George and Martha whispered something in his ear.
"I have to go now, my son," he told Luke softly. "I might see you again soon, as all the heroes who died fighting for Olympus in the war have received free passage to Elysium. And always remember that I love you and am proud of you."
Hermes touched Luke's face one last time with his fingers, and Luke turned away as Hermes began to glow. Then he turned and walked to Charon's ferry, ready for the 'next great adventure'.