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Luke busies himself with searching the cave system they’ve found themselves in.
He doesn’t say anything to the others, who stay together with Arepo insisting he’ll watch over them as they heal.
They should be moving. They should be leaving the cave system and getting out of here. Now.
(Except they have nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. Arepo's home is miles away, and so is any chance at normalcy.)
He thanks the man and quickly leaves. Ignoring the guilt thudding in his chest.
~~~
When he had first found Jason, he almost didn’t recognize the boy Thalia would describe when they were on the run together, years ago.
But there, in plain view, was the stapler bite Thalia would always talk about.
He stared at the sleeping baby, and silently cursed himself for being such a dick to everyone he cares about.
He took Jason out of the crib, held him to his chest, and immediately bolted off of Olympus.
He tells himself that he’s just rescuing the boy from a life with the Gods.
But when he handed the toddler to Thalia, he saw the confusion in her eyes.
Then realization. Shock. Disbelief.
Relief, as she cradled her baby brother to her chest and tried not to cry.
Luke had immediately left after that, not wanting to deal with the conflicting emotions in his chest and the thoughts in his head.
‘Thalia hasn’t looked at me like that in years…’
He didn’t deserve it. He did not deserve to be looked at the way Percy and Annabeth look at him.
The way Thalia had looked at him with complete shock as she realized that Luke had gone back to Olympus, risking capture by the Gods, just to save her brother and reunite the two siblings-
Luke trips over a rock and glares at it angrily for interrupting his train of thought.
He… He knows he messed up. He knows he’s made mistakes.
But gods dam it all to Hades, it was gutwrenching to see Thalia look like she’s about to sob over being reunited with her brother.
Why the hell did he listen to Kronos from the start? Why, actually, why? Why did he betray his own family, his friends, dragged hundreds of demigods into a war just to satisfy his own desires-?
“Lord.” Squiggles whispers. “Are you alright?”
Luke lets out a sharp laugh. “HA!”
“Am I alright?” He repeats, leaning his head back to stare at the rocky ceiling. “Aaaaahhh…”
He lets Hermes’ cadeceus dangle from his right hand. “...No.” He says finally. “No, I’m not alright.”
Luke stares aimlessly at the ceiling, as if he could pierce the heavens with his gaze.
“...Gods.” He murmurs softly. “What the hell do I do?”
He reaches up with his left hand and drags it down across his face. Right where the scar should be.
Instead there is scales and faint feathers, and he is still a godsdamned child.
“This is bullshit.” He voices. “I… I don’t deserve-”
‘I don’t deserve to be looked that way. I don’t deserve their kindness, their attention. Any of it. After everything I’ve done, I can’t…’
He trails off. Tries to focus on something else. ‘I know they hate me. It’s better if I give them some space.’
Luke stares into the dark cave in front of him.
“Fuck.” He says quietly.
“Lord, what does fuck mean?”
“Don’t worry about it, Squiggles.”
The snake falls silent as Luke begins to search for another way out.
Hello His instincts suddenly chirp and he nearly trips over yet another rock.
‘Gods, I need to figure this out.’
Instinctively, he reaches out his right hand, searching for… for something. Whatever got his attention just now.
It… hisses.
Over here. His instincts whisper- hiss. Like a snake. Over here. Follow me.
He looks back at the direction he came from, back where the others were staying.
Over here.
Follow me.
He sighs, curses under his breath, and steels himself for whatever he's about to see.
~~~
The only light in the dark room he enters is from the one torch on the wall, casting orange light just against that one spot. It's practically pitch-black, and he can't see a dam thing in this place.
Luke lifts up the torch from the wall, turns around-
And jumps back with a childish scream as he locks eyes with his father.
‘What?! How?!’
The torch shakes in his grasp.
‘Are you serious?! After all this time, he's been HERE?! Well, thank you for standing aside as we all struggle with understanding what the Hades is going on here. I don't want to be your son, I don't want to be a son of Hermes-’
Except.
His father hasn't said a word.
Except his father's eyes are filled with shock and disbelief and confusion and they're filled with tears of relief and joy.
Except as Luke takes a step closer, his father flinches away, and a sound of metal scraping against the dirt and rocky floor fills the air.
The sound of… of chains.
‘This… isn't my father.
This is… the other Hermes.’
~~~
What are you?
Who are you?
Are you… mine?
~~~
Luke stares at Her- at the figure with his father's face. His body's covered with golden ichor, scars and wounds far too open, and the metal chains around his neck, wrists, and ankles almost look melded to his skin. The wounds are so bad that Luke can't tell where the ichor ends and dark iron ‘Almost like Stygian Iron?’ shackles begin.
Luke's head begins to pound, like someone slamming their fists into the side of his skull, and he presses his fingertips into his temple.
‘I- ahhhh- I could come up with a better description than that-’
The stranger- ‘who isn't saying a thing, who isn't my Father, this isn't my father, my father is not here’ stares at him with a look of… Luke can't tell if that emotion is relief or hunger.
It's.
It's just-
How… how many times has he imagined this? How many times has he imagined his father, mortal, facing the same dangers he and so many others do?
…How many times did Kronos take that imagination and twist it into fuel for his plans?
Sure, he’s wanted his father to hurt. To understand the pain of a demigod.
But… Kronos wanted the Gods dead.
When did the two merge into one?
…When did he start wanting the Gods dead? Yes, they had so many problems… but did he actually want the Gods dead? Or did he just want them to understand what their children felt?
Neglected. Abandoned.
Without any hope.
‘Like this Hermes…’
For a brief moment, he looks into this not-Hermes’ eyes and sees a look of pleading.
For a brief moment, he wonders if this Hermes knows who and what he is, what he- and everyone else- have been through.
For a brief moment-
But no. Here he is, the traitor son of Hermes, standing over his father and holding his sacred object like it’s a weapon to bring down.
But this Hermes is not his father.
Luke sighs.
“...You don't deserve this.” He told the figure.
Then he hands the torch to Squiggles, raises the caduceus high into the air, and slams it down on the chains, hard enough to shatter them.
The figure with his father’s face flinches, winces from the pain of something hitting him (Luke’s felt that plenty of times), and then blinks. He stares at his still shackled wrists, slowly brings them- and the loose chains- in front of his face, then gazes up at Luke with… confusion. Disbelief.
…adoration-
‘I am not touching that-’
“Pollux! Castor!” He yells for the twins. “Help me carry this person outside!”
It takes them a minute, but they both run in, see the stranger, and freeze in shock.
“That's-” Castor begins.
He doesn't have time for this.
“Do either of you want to get captured again?!” He snaps.
Their eyes widen and they frantically shake their heads.
Luke exhales and pinches his nose. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that.”
“No, you're right.” Pollux says quickly. “We've got to get away from here.”
~~~
Undoing the chains is easier said than done.
It takes all three of demigods yanking on the chains and snapping them before the twins help this Hermes to his feet.
“You got him?” Luke asks.
They both nod as they exchange a glance and let Hermes lean on their small shoulders. The God visibly frowns while looking at them and Luke, but he stays quiet, only resting his hands on the twins’ shoulders briefly before letting them drop.
“Alright.” Luke says finally.
He can't address this copy of his father right now. They've got to get out of here. Maybe they can find somewhere nearby where they can all figure out what is going on-
The rocks above him start rumbling and Luke hisses angrily. ‘Gods Above-’
“Alright, we're leaving!”
He starts backing out of the room, making sure that the twins were behind him and could stay behind him (he's not losing anyone else again), and running out of the room, Castor, Pollux, and this alternate Hermes right behind him.
The cave system shakes as they sprint for an exit, the rumbling behind him growing louder ‘and that's impossible, we would all know if there was something else down here’ and the three demigods start coughing as the air begins to fill with dust.
As his eyes scan the long tunnel for any sign of the others, any sign of an exit, they drift down to the caduceus.
‘What if I could use this to get the four of us out of here? I could come back for the others…
No. We're all getting out of here. I'm not leaving anyone behind again.’
He slows down long enough for the twins to catch up (they're somehow right behind him, and he briefly wonders if Hermes is stable enough to grant them all his extra speed to get everyone out. He doesn't linger on it. Why would this Hermes want to help them? His dad never did anything-)
‘No. I can't think about this now.’
He thrusts the caduceus in their direction. “Grab onto this!”
The twins grab onto the caduceus with one hand each. Luke closes his eyes and concentrates all his power on that weird ability from earlier: slowing time down enough for the cave to stay stable while they make their escape.
‘Please let this work. Someone, anyone, please.’
The caduceus burns hot in his hands and Luke swears he hears his ears pop as air rushes past them, but the rumbling quiets.
He looks behind them, for a brief second, and sees rocks slow to a crawl as they fall to the ground.
Castor gasps. “Since when could you do that?!”
Luke hisses as he slowly lets go of the caduceus with his right hand. “Since now.” He forces out. “We need to move.”
He leads them down the tunnel to where the others are waiting.
Clarisse looks up from where she's sitting next to Thalia. Her eyes narrow as soon as she sees Luke, but when she sees the twins and the Hermes they're holding onto, she immediately reaches for a small spear.
“What's going on?” She asks, her eyes flickering over the group.
They land on the open, bleeding chest of Hermes and widen.
“Is that-?” She breathes, her face pale.
“There's no time!” He takes a deep breath.
“EVERYONE!!!” Luke shouts as loud as he possibly can. “GET TO THE EXIT!!! NOW!!!”
The others waste no time, grabbing hands and makeshift weapons and bolting for the large opening at the end of the tunnel. Clarisse stares at him, then the version of his father warily. Then she sighs, regrips her spear, and runs after Thalia, Nico, and Will.
“Let's get out of here, please.” Castor whispers.
Luke nods and adjusts his grip on the caduceus to let the twins keep holding on to it, then all three (plus Hermes, he has no idea what to do next, they just need to get out of here) sprint down the tunnel toward yet another entrance he somehow knows is-
Is right ahead of them.
Just a few feet away, he can see figures gathered near a large opening in the wall, just wide enough for a small group of children to sneak through.
The darkening blue sky seems to cast large enticing rays of warm sunlight, not much to light up the whole tunnel.
But it's enough to get everyone out.
“Go!” He tells the twins. “Now!”
Before they can stop him, he peels their fingers from the caduceus and shoves them- and his father- through the large opening in the walls.
The three stumble on large rocks near the ground, but land on shaky feet on a patch of green grass lit only by sunlight.
They turn around, mouths wide open, as Hermes lays his hands on the ground and stares down at it, then- slowly- looks up at the sun.
Far behind Luke, something snarls.
Screams something he can not make out (and for a brief moment, he's glad this Hermes is not facing whatever creature made that guttural noise of pure rage) and starts hitting the walls.
Loudly.
bam bam bam bamBamBAM-
Something else, something older, ancient, as old as the Gods themselves suddenly shouts “MOVE, LOUKAS!”
He jumps, startled, and leaps through the opening as the rocks, finally, crash down where he was standing.
He lands on his feet and the warm sunlight hits his skin, seeps deep into it, and makes him feel alive again.
‘Oh Gods…’
Luke turns around to see the cave that the others had been trapped in- that this version of his father had been trapped in- collapse in on itself until the opening is covered by brown and gray rocks.
‘That… that was too close.’
“...Luke?”
‘Oh.’
He forces himself to turn around at the small sound of Annabeth's voice.
Thalia's got her brother in a makeshift harness on her chest, and she's leaning heavily on Clarisse. Will's leaning on Nico, who's holding Percy's hand while the 7 year old clings to Annabeth. Castor and Pollux are right behind him, both holding this version of Hermes that Arepo is eyeing strangely. Nico also stares at Hermes, an odd look in his eyes as if he's seeing something else there with the God.
Then everyone turns to look at him.
Under the light of the sun, he feels like everyone can see him now.
Him and his new appearance.
He can feel his hair and feathers move in the breeze and his scales refuse to leave his face.
Will, Nico, Castor, Pollux look pale.
Clarisse looks angry.
Thalia looks terrified.
‘Shove it in the box.’ He thinks idly as he bends over and gasps for air. ‘Shove it in the box, Luke, we need to get away from here-’
“Is everyone alright?” He gasps out. “Is everyone safe?”
“...yeah.” Clarisse says shakily.
Thalia manages a nod while Percy and Annabeth look up at him, eyes wide.
He wonders if his new appearance will trigger anything.
He hopes it doesn't.
“What.” Will begins. “The HELL. JUST HAPPENE-”
He breaks off into a coughing fit and Nico glances at him worriedly.
“I'm fine.” He murmurs to Nico but glares at Luke.
“You.” He hisses. “Have got a lot of explaining to do.”
“Might I suggest we get off the mountain?” Arepo holds his weapon down by his side. “I should be able to create something for the ailments you are facing.”
Will's gaze drifts from Luke to-
To Hermes.
A god covered in his own ichor.
“...Yeah.” The healer agrees quietly. “Let's get off the mountain.”
~~~
A few hours later, they are still on the mountain.
Clarisse watches Luke and the stranger- Arepo, as they attempt to lead everyone down the mountain side.
While she knows Nico could teleport everyone down, everyone is severely injured and/or not able to fight. She glances at Jason, the toddler having fallen asleep attached to his sister's chest, and then to Percy and Annabeth, now holding hands while staying with Thalia.
Ahead of herself and Thalia are Nico and Will, along with Castor and Pollux and the strange Hermes.
Everyone's together now.
Everyone is shaken, injured, tense, a second away from a fight breaking out between everyone who's able to fight.
Thalia, Jason, Percy, and Annabeth can't fight. Thalia's seizing, and Jason, Percy, and Annabeth, some of their best fighters, are too young. Will's… possibly hallucinating, so Clarisse doubts he can do much. Unless he inherited another part of his father's powers, but Will… is mainly a healer.
Which leaves Castor, Pollux, Luke, Arepo, and herself.
The Chiavin twins are drugged but stable enough to fight, she has a wound in her side (in all the chaos of what's happened, she has no idea if it's healed or not).
A quick look confirms that yes, it is not healed, only bandaged, but it's still tender, and she does not want it to get ripped open again.
Arepo and Luke are the problems.
Well, not as much of a problem as figuring out how to get home, but she is still incredibly suspicious of Luke. Arepo keeps to himself while still looking out for them, and he's older than they are, and she…
She wants to go home.
She wants her brothers and sisters, the fellow demigod children of Ares. She wants to be at Camp Half-Blood again and put all of this mess behind her.
‘I just want to go home. I don't even know what's going on there. I just hope that Chris and Sherman and everyone are okay. I hope everyone's staying alive.
I hope I don't come home to everyone dead because I was too late to save them.’
She takes a step forward and feels something crack under her foot.
She looks down, shifts her foot to the right, and sees a faint sliver of white peeking out at her under the dirt and sand.
A bone.
(Leg, if she has to guess, but from the way Nico tightens his grip on Will's hand as the two boys look back and see her hesitate, she might be wrong.
She shouldn't be hesitating. She should be up there, with her spear, leading them down the mountain herself.
Dam Titan.)
She swallows her sudden spike of panic and looks up at Arepo and Luke, both having silently grabbed their weapons and raised them in the air in defense.
They've noticed something.
Somewhere down in front of them, something growls.
Thalia and Clarisse curse in unison.
‘Not another monster. Not now.’
The two girls push themselves to the front, past Luke and Arepo, because even though they are more injured, Clarisse needs to fight something that isn't Luke or a group of mortals wanting them dead.
‘I just want to know why.’
Just down the path, a manticore crawls into view.
Its dark brown fur glistens in the sunlight, along with its dark purpleish black scorpion tail.
Its eyes are different colors, one a bright blue, and the other a dark brown.
Thalia gasps.
Next to her, Percy frowns. “Wait…”
He shakes his head and inches closer to Annabeth, who visibly pales as if she's seeing a ghost.
The manticore lifts up its head from looking at the path to see the group of ten demigods (plus one injured God and one mortal man) standing its way and snarls wordlessly.
Clarisse immediately raises her fists.
Though she is injured… so is everyone else. They are all injured and uncertain and unable to make a run for it.
So she has to fight, just so everyone can get away.
Clarisse closes her eyes and steels herself for the most brutal fight she's ever fought in her life.
She briefly thinks of the God calling himself Ares, calling himself her Father, the God she had called for in a moment of pure panic and weakness, the God now lying on the floor of Olympus's halls.
In another moment of panic and weakness, the words string themselves together before she can stop herself.
‘Dad, I know you're out there. Somewhere. All I'm asking for is that you get us through this, please.
I'll... I'll do anything. Just please.
If you claim to be my Father, then.
Give me your blessing. Give me a sign.
Do something.
Help us.
Help me.’
~~~
Several feet away, another figure kneels in prayer, a spear stabbed into the dirt.
‘Lord Ares, I don't know if you can hear me.
I ask for your blessing. I ask for your anger, so I can use it to save the people I care about. To save the girl I care about. All I want is to bring my family home. So please, Lord Ares.
I ask for your blessing. I ask for a sign.
I ask for something.
I beg of you, Lord Ares.
Help us. Help me save the people I love, and I will slaughter our enemies in your name.’
~~~
The manticore growls and before Clarisse can blink, lunges toward the group.
She squeezes her eyes shut and the word tears out of her throat.
“FATHER!!!”
There is a flash of red in her vision. Familiar flames run up her arms, causing Thalia to gasp.
And in that moment-
“HEY!!!” A familiar voice screams, and her eyes snap open.
She knows that voice.
She looks up in shock as a small boy in a red hoodie holding a glowing red flaming spear leaps off the cliff, lifts the spear high above his head, and with both hands, plunges it down into the manticore’s head.
Skin and bone crack under the weight of the boy's attack, and the creature drops to the ground, dead.
The boy lands feet first on its neck, still holding the spear in its skull, and moves his left hand off of the spear to tug on the red backpack he had on.
Clarisse stares at the boy.
She knows that voice, she knows that hoodie-
His curly brown hair sweeps across his soft brown eyes, and his skin tans under the sun. He wears dark green khaki cargo pants, and orange peeks out at her from under his hoodie.
The boy stands up, sighs, and yanks the spear out of the creature's skull.
“Well.” He says finally. “I should have expected that…”
He looks up and makes direct eye contact with her.
“...Clarisse?” The boy in the hoodie says, looking at her with wide brown eyes.
She knows his voice, she knows her hoodie, she knows her spear, she knows those eyes.
Clarisse nearly trips over herself, gasping in disbelief because that's-
“...Chris?”
‘He came for me.’
Shock freezes her in her tracks as she stares at her boyfriend, now years younger, who looks at her as if he hasn't seen her in years.
‘He actually came for me.’
Percy and Annabeth both grab Thalia's arms and let her lean against them.
“Go.” Thalia whispers. “They've got me.”
‘They've got me. Not the other way around, not I've got them, because they're young and don't remember a thing. They've got me.’
She lets go of Thalia's arms, gives her one last look to see if she's okay-
Thalia sways on her feet. Clarisse's hands automatically shoot out and grab her right shoulder to steady her. Percy and Annabeth grip her wrist like vices and look worriedly at each other. On her chest, Jason startles awake, looks around at the group, then places his hand on his sister's shoulder wordlessly.
Thalia sighs and slowly rests her left hand (the one Annabeth is holding onto) on his head. “I'm fine.” She tells her brother. “They've got me.”
Jason frowns, but says nothing.
Clarisse takes a step back, lets go of Thalia's other shoulder, turns to look at her boyfriend.
‘...He came for me.’
And runs.
She runs, faster than she ever has before, and tackles him, arms flinging around her boyfriend in a moment of pure relief.
Tears begin to flow as she clings to him, gasping for air, for some sense in this-
The air blows on her face and Chris's body is warm and full of life. She can feel the blood pumping in his veins, hear the way he exhales as he, finally, calms down from the sudden explosion of rage that rushes through him.
The flames that burned on her arms are now embers, refusing to burn either of them. Her hands curl up in his hair and she buries her face in his neck and sobs.
“You're here. You're here. How- why-”
“I came for you.” Chris tells her. “I came to bring you home.”
Clarisse tenses up, because she can imagine how her father must have reacted to her disappearance: with anger that his warrior daughter was taken with such ease. She should have fought. She should have been stronger, she shouldn't have been caught at all-
She can already hear her father's words echoing in her mind: she's weak, she's pathetic, she should not show this kind of emotion-
And yet.
Her father's words are different, this time.
She's fierce.
She's powerful.
And as she sobs into her boyfriend's chest, she feels warmth rise in her own.
Because she's beautiful.
(You are mine, Clarisse La Rue. May your battles end in glory, your fire never cease, and your Courage burn like stars.)
~~~
In another world, Ares will reach for a daughter who will no longer hear his words.