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Waking up was almost as disorienting as stepping out onto the hill had been. He didn't startle awake, he took a deep breath and was suddenly aware of the world around him. The birds chirping outside was the first thing he was aware of, hitting him first because of how long it had been since he'd heard birds. He laid there with his eyes closed, just listening while he got his breathing under control.
He could hear a few people talking in the field outside, and he was almost tempted to go help them pick strawberries, remembering the mornings he would walk into the fields and pick some just to hide under a few of the bushes and eat them in peace. He got caught a few times, but no one told him off for it back then. He hadn't eaten strawberries in years, the taste reminding him too much of camp, of the home he had given up. He sighed, forcing his mind to focus on the present.
The weather was much cooler through his window compared to the night before, still warm from the breeze floating in, but more like spring then what the day before had been.
He'd pulled the quilt up in his sleep, it fell off his shoulders as he rolled onto his back from where he had been sleeping on his side, and rubbed his eyes before he opened them to stare at the ceiling. There were rainbows cast across it from the sun rising, and he watched them dance in the breeze for far too long.
He hadn't had any nightmares to pick apart, or to wonder if they had any meaning. He had dreamed of standing on the beach, watching the sunset as Percy sat in the sand next to his legs, it silent except for the sound of waves but peaceful. He sighed, and tried to think of anything else.
He settled on taking apart every little bit of the day before, picking pieces and tearing into them; trying to figure out Percy's motivations, and why Rachel, the Oracle, seemed happy he was there, even though it almost felt like everyone was on their toes around him, but not because it was him. There was something else they weren't telling him.
He just wasn't sure he wanted to press and find out yet.
He didn't need to press, as soon as he was downstairs, he was meet with Percy holding a plate with a breakfast burrito, which was handed to him along with both a bottle of water and a bottle of Olympus branded black coffee. He tried not to make a face at it, but Percy huffed a sound like a laugh under his breath and he knew he didn't succeed.
"There's fresh hot coffee and creamer in the kitchen if you'd rather have that," Percy said, "just meet me in my office after you get it."
Luke walked into his office behind Percy, sitting in the chair and opening the water first. Percy waited for him to take a drink and close the bottle back up, shoving it next to the other bottle, between his leg and the arm rest, before talking.
"There's a lot I have to catch you up on," he said, his voice jaded. Luke took a bite of the burrito, and made a motion he hoped conveyed casual interest and not like he was about to jump out of his seat to find it all out.
He wished Percy hadn't told him.
He worked backwards, in a way. Roman aspects, a whole demigod city, a war with Gaea (which was skimmed over. Luke wanted to know more about that, but it seemed like Percy was just giving him details that had to do with the camp, which was fine he had insisted it was why he was there). And ending with just after he killed himself, and Percy asking the gods to acknowledge their kids for his war prize, giving up godhood for it.
His plate was in the other chair when Percy was done, and he regretted eating while Percy was talking. He wasn't nauseous, he wouldn't throw up, but it sat heavy in his stomach.
He opened the bottle of black coffee finally, as Percy said, his voice almost venomous,
"It took until three years ago and me taking over the camp for them to get that I was serious about that."
Luke rolled his eyes, but spoke into the bottle,
"Well, that's a drop in the ocean for them."
He took a drink and almost made an unsavory noise at how good the coffee was. He didn't manage to hide the sigh.
Percy smiled, and Luke just shrugged, in an okay mood despite the conversation,
"It's been a long time since I've had a good coffee."
Percy just shrugged his shoulder back at him, smile still ticking up the corner of his mouth even as his eyes turned a little stormy,
"Your dad will be by tomorrow, he brings any demi-gods recently claimed to camp, but he also takes every other Saturday to at least come cay hi to his kids. Him, Apollo and Mr. D are the best at trying. I wouldn't say anyone is making parent of the year, but for the most part kids will see them once a month."
He didn't know what to say, didn't know why there was a sudden since of fear in his chest. He had figured the gods still ignored them until they had need of them, even if they where claiming their kids now.
Percy watched his face, and then continued when he realized Luke wouldn't say anything about it,
"Annabeth just finished the designs for the permanent cabins a couple years ago, I'm glad you showed up when you did honestly, would have been embarrassing if all we had were the mobiles still."
Luke laughed through his noise, and then hummed, his hands suddenly clammy.
"And, uh, where is Annabeth?" His voice was too soft still, and Percy leaned back,
"She's in New Rome, she took up an architecture teaching position at their college, and then she helps build in her spare time. They are constantly expanding." Percy brought a hand up and rubbed at his face, but his smile was fond,
"She'll be by in the summer to ask me if we are expanding Camp Half-Blood this year, and I still don't have an answer." Percy mumbled it too himself almost, but Luke was stunned. His little sister, his pseudo daughter, teaching at college at 26. And then he remembered something, making him cringe hard, his eyes squeezing shut.
"Uh, brain freeze?" Percy asked softly, but Luke shook his head, admitting,
"Gods I really asked her if she loved me as I was dying, huh." He mumbled sitting forward, pushing his hands over his face and into his hair.
"Oh," Percy whispered, and he didn't need to look to know Percy was awkwardly rubbing his hands together, could hear it.
He looked up, hands dragging over his face again, said, "I don't expect you to believe me, but I didn't mean it romantically. I just couldn't get the breath to…" He trailed off, but Percy paused. He titled his head in thought, but nodded his head, a grimace falling into his face,
"I believe you. I uh," he paused and took a deep breath," Chiron put your journal from when you were on the run in the attic. I only read a couple pages, and I think I'm the only one who has. I'm sorry."
Luke shook his head, finding his words to be genuine even in his embarrassment,
"you don't have to be sorry, I was dead."
Percy nodded, and shrugged,
"You can take it back, obviously. I don't know if you had any others, but they aren't up there."
Luke smiled a little sadly, took a sip of his coffee again,
"I've had a lot of journals, but the rest of them I took with me. Probably at the bottom of the sea by now."
Percy frowned, his brow furrowing, his shoulders falling. The temperature in the room dropped a couple degrees.
"I regret helping with that," he mumbled, his hands gripping at the edge of the desk.
Luke rolled his neck, sighing as it popped once,
"Percy, it was a good strategy, probably helped in the long run."
Percy shook his head,
"Doesn't matter, so many demi-gods I didn't know lost their lives, Beckendorf right along with them."
Luke took a deep breath. He knew Charlie had died, he had been a few places in line behind him for a little while. It still hurt to have recognized him then, be reminded of it now.
They sat in silence after that until the lunch horn rang out through the valley, and they both got up in sync.
When they got to the table, Percy's staff were standing there, huddled together, a few of them mumbling, and then one girl threw her hands up in the air, turning and saw them. Her cheeks went a little flushed, but she marched right up to them, to him, thrust her hand out.
Luke looked at it for half a second before taking it, and going along with the firm shake she gave. He felt Percy walk away from him then, off to the rest of his staff.
"I'm Isabell, but you can call me Bell." She said, pulling her hand back and putting it on her hip. She was grinning but there was an uncertain look to the set of her eyes.
Luke smiled back, though he knew it didn't reach his eyes.
"I'm Luke, and that's all I got for you to call me."
She snickered, and then said,
"If you have any questions you can ask me!"
Luke nodded, and then asked cause it hadn't come up with Percy,
"Yeah, how often do you guys do school days?"
Her smile brightened considerably, like maybe she hadn't thought he would take her up on it.
"We do four days of school each week, Monday through Thursday. Fridays, so today, are for art, smithing, and sports; football this week. We do archery and swords on the weekends for the younger kids, teens rotate that in the afternoons by cabin."
She paused, catching her breath while leading him over to the staff table, talking again as they got seated,
"Though, for the kids it's more like a sport than defense. But they just get cranky if you try and leave them out." She said with amusement in her voice.
He chuckled, remembering what that had been like, though back then they just went ahead and taught them defense, and nodded.
"And," she said though her voice was guarded, "if something does attack the camp, all the older teens know at least two of them need to get anyone under 14 to the safe spots. There's three cabins, Apollo, Hermes, and Demeter, that are safe, and the Big House of course."
"Safe spots?" he asked, picking up a glass that filled with Dr. Pepper before it got his mouth. The night before it had just been water, and he tried not to sigh as the flavor flooded his mouth.
She nodded, "it takes a lot of magic, so it's just those four, but it's been enough for the three times we needed it."
He nodded, the explanation making sense. He was also filled with relief that they weren't sending anyone under 14 to defend camp anymore.
They stayed seated together, and she tried her hardest to include him in the conversations, though most he couldn't really participate in, life outside of camp hadn't existed for him in a long time, even being in His army he hadn't had much of a life besides getting his GED. They did ask him if he was looking forward to the start of summer. He had surprised himself by saying yes, because part of him was, but mostly he was overwhelmed by the idea.
It wasn't until the bell rang and kids started getting up for their afternoon activities that one of the other staff asked him something directly.
"So, Luke" the guy said, turning to him and Luke sat up a little straighter. He knew Percy had basically ordered them the night before to go to Percy with complaints about Luke being there, but Luke knew how people really worked.
He didn't know this guy, he didn't even look familiar. Luke waited for him to continue, though, didn't say anything, just met his eye.
"How'd you get Percy to give you the job? He wouldn't take on a manager for the last two years," he said with disbelief in his voice.
Luke blinked a couple times, opened his mouth but the guy continued,
"I mean, I've heard rumors, but I wasn't here for that and I trust Percy."
Luke's eyes searched around for Percy and found him talking to some kids. He had his hand up over his mouth, thinking, and Luke couldn't help the fond smile on his face at the sight.
"I don't know," he said, looking back down to the guy who had a disbelieving look on his face. He just shrugged,
"I didn't ask for it, I'm just here to help."
The guy was silent and then he thrust out a hand and Luke took it, giving one firm shake as the guys said,
"I'm Gav."
After that the rest of the staff introduced themselves. He hoped he could remember them all.
None of them told him who their parent is.
Rachel showed up as the staff got up to help kids find where they were going that day or to join their own groups. She took his arm and pulled him away, and he was grateful for it, already overwhelmed by having been included. They walked around the perimeter of the groups, not speaking. She stopped and pointed and he followed with his eyes. A kid was crying silently at the back of a group. He patted her arm and walked over, ignoring all the other kids he bent down to one knee,
"Hey buddy, what's wrong," he said softly, the kid couldn't be more than 7. The kid looked up at him, and then around at the other kids who were standing there awkwardly, not sure what to do either.
"I can't find my art project," he whispered, and Luke barely heard him. He noticed from the corner of his eye as a few of the kids sighed, and a few of them relaxed.
"Your art project?" he asked, the kid nodded using the toe of his sneaker to poke at the dirt.
"Well, I'm pretty good at finding things, does it have your name on it?" He asked as he stood, shaking the dirt off his knee with one hand and holding out his other to the kid. The kid looked at it for a second, and then grabbed it with both of his small ones.
"Yes," he whispered, "Aiden."
"Well Aiden, I'm Luke, lets go find your art project. What table where you sitting at?"
It didn't take long, it was under the table that he had been eating at, the Demeter table, though he couldn't be sure if this kid was hers. If the way the dirt moved for him earlier was anyway to go by he might be. It didn't seem to matter anymore except for where kids slept, and he didn't know why he immediately was trying to figure it out, except that it used to be his job to try and help kids out with it. Comfort them when they had no where to go. That wasn't a problem anymore, though.
"Do you want to go back to your group now?" He asked as he dusted the popsicle stick house off very gently, and handing out.
Aiden took the little house from him, and looked back to the group they had just come from. He nodded, taking Luke's hand again as they walked back over. The oldest kid walked up to him after Aiden got back to a few people who patted his shoulders gently and tried comforting him.
"Thanks, Aiden is a new year rounder and he doesn't talk much to me yet." She said, pushing her hair out of her face, she had to be younger then 15, "We thought he was hurt and wouldn't tell us."
Luke nodded, crossing one arm over his chest he asked, "does he do that often? Not tell you if he's hurt?"
She hesitated, but then nodded once. She looked around and Luke did too, noticing how everyone else was going off to do activities, she sighed and Luke looked back down at her,
"Your the new manager? You can read all our files if you really want to know." Her brow was set in confusion, like he couldn't believe he was talking to her.
He quirked a brow at her, "I'd rather get to know you all myself, but thanks."
She looked surprised, shaking her head slightly, and then turned to her group of kids,
"Ok, lets get to arts and crafts!" She said and the kids all cheered. He stayed back and watched them walk off, waving back when Aiden shyly waved at him, an older kid has their arm gently around his shoulders and Luke knew he'd be ok.
Luke wandered around after that, walking a slow circle around the path he knew like the back of his hand. There where more stops now, more branching off, then he was used too, but the main path remained the same.
He's first stop was new to him; a part of the fields now set up for soccer and flag football, and he watched the kids play. He watched until they switched teams, and then he continued on his walk.
He paused at the forge, and watched a few kids trying to make nails while the instructors looked on with fond smiles of watching new kids trying. He left again when they started to bring in a different group.
He walked past the sword arena, only taking one look. He heard a few swords crossing, but it seemed to be older teens and a few young adults. Percy was there, correcting footing. He smiled at the sight, before looking ahead of himself again.
The one place he paused the longest, cause it was empty at the time, was the school house. It didn't look like much from the outside, a short, but large, building passed the cabins. Stepping inside he saw the single room divided up in groups of chairs around tables. There were stacks of books on the tables, and the walls lined with bookshelves where there weren't windows, and under them where there were windows. A chalk board almost covered the entire back wall. Someone had drawn cartoon-like versions of some monsters on it, making the corner of his mouth tick up in a smile. The decor was the same as the Big House, and he wondered what made Percy go with it, or if he was the one to make that decision. There were rainbow light catchers hanging from the windowsills, different shaped from the one in his room, which were on the east and west so light would almost always be filtering in. The place felt welcoming, warm, and inviting.
He turned and shut the door behind himself as he heard the kids start moving groups again in the distance, having stayed there an entire rotation.
He didn't pause at the arts area, it was crowded, and it seemed like either a few groups had combined during the day or maybe they didn't stick to a structured schedule on off school days, and so there was more kids there then he expected.
He let his feet wander instead of stopping or heading to the Big House, watching the path in front of him instead of actually seeing where he was going.
By the time his brain caught up to where he was headed he was already on the step of the Hermes cabin. He paused and listened, not hearing anyone inside, he peeked in the open door, sighing at the sight. He turned around and walked back to the pavilion.
Rachel found him again after that, or maybe he found her since she was sitting at one of the tables, sketching. When she saw him, she closed her sketch book, putting it back into her slouchy shoulder bag. She got up and met him on the path, she didn't take his arm, but she walked close, steering where they went.
"What did you mean," he ended up asking, as they walked around the path back towards the Big House, "that you have a good feeling about me?"
He was watching the paving stones and their feet again.
She sighed, and his eyes snapped up to watch as she almost danced out in front of him before turning back to him, walking backwards so they where face to face.
"Well, I just do? There's this feeling I get, about you being here." She trailed off, and then grinned, "Sometimes I can tell when, usually one of your siblings by the way, is about to pull a prank. Or I can tell if someone is going to start some shit. I don't always let people know, of course. I can feel Fate, I don't always feel the need to do something about it, you know?"
He didn't, but he nodded anyway. She smiled like she knew, which she probably did. She was The Oracle, a blessing of Apollo, she probably got the same lie detecting ability most of his kids got.
He pointed behind her, a kid coming down the path, and she turned and walked in front of him normally for a moment, until the kid passed them, smiling big at Rachel and giving him a kind smile, but the kid obviously didn't recognize him. He nodded with what he hoped was a kind look on his face, and with the way the kids eyes sparkled he thought he succeeded.
She got into the spot next to him as the kid skipped down the path, taking his arm again, and steering them towards a different path as they got close to the Big House.
"That," Rachel said after a few moments, "is the good feeling."
He didn't know how she saw their exchange, but he wouldn't question her.
"Percy is doing the best he can, and he really is doing a good job even though he feels inadequate," Luke scoffed at Rachel's words, making her pause and make a quizzical sound at him.
"He's doing an amazing job." He said, confidently, even though he was embarrassed at his reaction.
"Don't let him hear you say that," She said, grinning up at him, "he'll tell you all about how the Stoll brothers almost destroyed camp his first year in charge."
He sighed but it turned into a fond laugh, rolling his eyes. They passed over a little bridge, it was wooden and obviously hand made but sturdy, over part of the creek that ran through the forest down to the ocean. On the other side of it, he could see a cave entrance. It had a door, that was propped open. It looked like a house built directly into the side of the cliff.
Rachel let go of his arm, and then ran up to the door, turning and spreading her arms wide.
"Welcome to my witches cave."
The inside was beautiful, for a cave. Carpets overlapping on the floor, paintings and tapestries on the walls, an actual cauldron in the middle, thought it wasn't creepy feeling, instead it had the vibes of a giant cooking pot, comforting. There were cushions around it, placed back away from the fire, which had flickers of magic in it and he wondered if it could even burn anything or if it just put out warmth.
She motioned for him to follow her, and led him into a sitting room behind one of the tapestries on the wall. He wondered how many of the tapestries led to rooms.
"Sit, please." She said, as she walked back out. He did, though he decided against the couch, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed under the coffee table. This room was even cozier, blankets piled everywhere, a TV with a VCR on the other side of the room. When she came back in with a tray, holding a pot of tea and two mugs she placed on the coffee table he sat up right. She sat on the floor next to him, un-phased by his choice.
"How can you have that?" He asked, taking the mug when she handed it to him, using it to point at the TV.
"Oh, VCR's and old TV's are the least likely thing to attract monsters. Especially cause I am the only one to touch it."
He nodded at that, forgetting again that she is still mortal in all her importance.
"Lets talk about why you're here," she said, pulling a pack of playing cards from under the table.
He held out his hands and she gave him a look, before nodding,
"It's tarot, but yes you should shuffle them, get your energy on them. I'll cleanse them later."
He raised a brow, but took the cards from her. He didn't look as he cut the deck and shuffled them a couple times with a flourish, ending in on a spring flair. Rachel clapped as he handed them back. He smiled easy at her, and she pulled three from the top, laying them out side by side.
He didn't know what they meant, their pictures staring up at him, but she hummed at them, and then pointed to each one as she spoke.
"Death, is about new beginnings, the end of cycles." She said, and while her words where fine, good even, he couldn't help but feel a little queasy at the sight of a skeleton on the card.
"The knight of wands, action and fearlessness." The knight on the horse did indeed have a wand, though he held it upright instead of out to fight.
"Three of swords, reversed. It came out of the deck upside down, usually giving it a different meaning." She explained touching it, "though, sometimes if your good at reading, you can tell is something is meant to be reversed or not."
"And it's meaning," he asked, taking as casual a sip of tea as possible.
"In it's current position? Forgiveness, moving on." She took a sip of her tea, and held the mug between her hands, "Together, I'd say your ending cycles, with courage, and moving forward."
He nodded, keeping the cup near his mouth as he breathed in the scent of ginger and turmeric.
"I could have told you all that." He said with heavy sarcasm and it worked to make her laugh, her hair falling over her shoulder as she leaned against the couch. Her smile was bright,
"Yes, you probably could have, but sometimes it's good to have the universe tell you what you already know."
He didn't know what to say to that, but the silence they settled into was comfortable, sipping tea until the horn blew for dinner, distant this deep in the cave.
They walked down to dinner slowly, Rachel holding onto his arm. She had thrown on a crochet cardigan, it was chilly now that the sun was low in the sky, although not just yet setting; but it felt refreshing to him. It had been hot in line.
As they neared the tables, he sighed. He didn't want to, but it felt it was best to rip the band-aid off. He patted her hand, and she didn't seem surprised when he walked away from the path to the staff table they were on, and walked over towards the Hermes tables.
He was nervous, and Travis's head snapped up when he noticed him walking their way, and nerves lit up in the pit of his stomach as he got closer and closer. He paused near Travis and tilted his head at the table, everyone around them was background to him.
"Can I-" He didn't get to finish before he was being tackled in the legs by the girl who first found him.
"Hi!" She said, and then held her arms up. He didn't hesitate just picked her right up, and placed her on his hip like he would for any of the younger kids.
"I'm Clara, I'm 6 and Travis says you're our brother but you left and he's pissed," She had a slight lisp when pronouncing her s from a missing front tooth, but she tried not to let it stop her.
"Don't curse!" one of the older kids said across the table, while a few of the others giggled.
He looked back to Travis who was looking at them with a pinched expression. He raised a brow at him, and Luke sighed.
"I did leave," he said looking back to her, "and he can be as mad at me as he wants to be about it."
Travis sighed, and stood up. He was slightly taller than Luke now, and Luke was struck with how much loss he felt in that moment, feeling just how many years he had given up. He shoved it down, but it threatened to climb back up his throat and choke him.
"Clara, why don't you let Luke put you down and we can all eat, ok?" He said, and then Clara scrunched her nose up, and put her head on Luke's shoulder.
"You won't tell me anything," she said, softly. It wasn't whiny like a normal 6 year old, and he grinned at the top of her head before schooling his expression, knowing the trick she was playing because Travis and Conner had pulled it on him so many times when they had been younger. He watched Travis's stern mask start to crumble, and decided to be a little shit, a taste of his own medicine.
"Can I sit with you guys tonight, or should I go back to the staff table?" He asked, putting the same emotion into his voice, and frowning with one side of his mouth. Travis sighed, his head falling back, but he turned sitting back down and pointed to the spot next to himself. Luke was honestly a little shocked, not expecting it to work.
He sat and Clara climbed between him and Travis.
Him and Travis didn't talk to each other, but Clara talked about her day to them, what she colored and how she was the best at hide and seek that day, having not played football.
"Where's your favorite hiding spot?" He asked her softly, but she pouted up at him,
"If I tell you, you'll be able to find me!"
He laughed softly, not telling her he would be able to find her, or anyone else in camp, without trying. Travis rolled his eyes.
"Go with Echo, the camp fire is starting." He said as he picked her up and put her back down on the other side of the bench. She pouted and kicked the grass, but followed a teenager who waved to Travis on their way off.
"Will you be joining us tonight?" Travis asked.
Luke sighed, and shrugged.
"Percy said it's normal for me to be this tired after coming back." He said, twirling his fork while keeping one end of it on the table. The prong dug into his finger, but he used it to ground himself in the conversation.
"Right, I wasn't there for Jason."
His brow furrowed, mind racing though he was sure he remembered right, "I thought it was Hazel who was brought back?"
"Her too, though that was before the giant war, and Nico did it himself."
He sighed, dropping the fork. He turned then, looking at Travis who was watching the campers walk down to the fire.
"I'm sorry Trav, I know I can't make up for-" Travis placed a hand on his shoulder without looking at him, eyes still on the campers, his face thoughtful, but his mouth running,
"No one calls me that anymore. It hurt too much after you left." His voice was full of grief. Luke swallowed around the lump in his throat again.
"Sorry." He settled on, voice meek.
Travis sighed, pulling his arm back and crossing them, looking him in the eye finally.
"We know why you did it. It took a while, but eventually we did all forgive you. It's just harder, having you here now."
Luke blinked a couple times, and then nodded, not trusting his voice, himself, to ask why the fuck would any of them forgive him. Percy, he could understand somewhat, he'd only really known him for a few weeks before, even though they did get attached to each other pretty fast. Rachel, he'd never known, so what would she hate him for. The new campers obviously, didn't have anything to forgive him for. It should be easier for them.
He moved to get up, but Travis threw an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. He froze, and then very hesitantly wrapped his arm around his brothers back.
"It's good to have you back. Don't fucking leave us behind again."
Luke could only nod, the lump in his throat finally choking him, his eyes watering. He hated it.
"Conner is gonna punch you in the nose when he gets here this summer, I told him already."
Luke scoffed, but didn't say anything, relief hitting his chest like a kick at the acknowledgment that Conner was alive. Travis gripped tighter.
"I don't know if he'll actually be able to go through with that though. He's missed you too."
Luke took a deep, shuddering, breath his mind racing around 'missed you too' and Travis finally noticed his silent tears.
"Oh," he mumbled and then his other hand was up rubbing Luke's back. It was exactly what he would have done to comfort a sibling, and it made it worse as much as it made it better, his hand clenching in the back of Travis's shirt.
They sat there in silence until Luke pulled away, rubbing at his face,
"You should go, have fun."
Travis scoffed, knowing him and knowing Luke wanted to be alone, but stood up ruffling Luke's hair as he walked off and spoke, his voice full of amusement,
"Oh yeah, fun, Brick is leading songs all this week, and he's on a GVF kick. Again."
Luke didn't know what to say, what was GVF; as he watched his brother walk off towards the fire.
He turned and almost jumped out of his skin, finding Percy standing on the path, watching Travis leave.
He stood up, and Percy's eyes found him. His face blank for a moment, and then smiled, gently, genuinely, at him. Luke walked up to him, and then Percy turned and they started walking to the Big House. Percy only took a few steps before speaking.
"How'd your day go?"
Luke took a deep breath, tired,
"Fine, for the most part. Helped a kid find his missing art project. Aiden. Then I walked around, trying to get familiar with everything again. And then Rachel kidnapped me for a tarot reading and tea."
Percy laughed softly, "of course she did."
They where almost to the house then.
"Any concerns, questions?"
Luke sighed, shrugging even though Percy probably couldn't see him do it.
"Just trying to figure out what I'm meant to do here."
Percy hummed under his breath, shrugging as he folded his arms, hands tucked away,
"Do you want your old job back?"
"Swords? No, I don't want to touch a sword ever again." He said it too fast, but it was true and Percy needed it to know it.
Percy paused then, as Luke got to the steps, and Luke turned back to him. There was almost a disappointed look on his face, and Luke crossed his arms, this was the one thing he would be defiant about,
"Look, I just-"
Percy shook his head,
"Nah, it's ok. I was kinda hoping you'd want to spar some day, but it's fine. I'd like to see if you can still kick my ass," he said with a grin, though his brow was still furrowed. Luke sighed. And then shook his head,
"I don't want to fight you, ever again."
Percy blinked, his brow finally settling, his face back to that smile, though his eyes were a storm,
"Okay. Never again."
Luke nodded, feeling like he could breath again,
"Travis said everyone's forgiven me, is that true?"
Percy lifted a brow though his smile didn't fade, titling his head to the side and nodding, not saying anything.
Luke frowned, wanting to press the issue. How could they have forgiven him, just like that? After everything he'd done. And then he took a deep breath.
"I know you guys found Chris, but I don't know what happened to him." His voice was wavering. He didn't like how nervous he was.
"Him and Clarisse have two kids, and they'll probably visit in the summer." Percy said, his voice fond, "he forgave you as well, and while Clarisse gives him shit about it, it's good natured."
He blinked. And then did it again, sighing and rubbing his brow before pushing his hand back into his hair, trying not to pull, his voice higher pitched then he wanted but he couldn't help it,
"Clarisse? He fell in love with Clarisse?"
Percy laughed, hard, his head thrown back and his grin bright, sunshine reflected on the ocean.
"Goodnight Luke." He said, taking a step backwards, his laughter fading.
"Goodnight Percy." He said automatically, though he was still wrapping his head around it all, watching Percy turn and walk away before going into the Big House.
He sighed, and then turned to the kitchen. It was weird not seeing Mr. D there, but Luke still hadn't asked where they were. He turned to one of the cabinets, opening it to find a stack of legal pads, right where he expected them to be. He took one from the bottom, and then a bic pen from the pack next to them, before shutting the door quietly, though he was the only one in the house to hear it anyway.
He knew his new journal wouldn't get there for a couple more days, but he didn't expect the need to write to hit him this badly.
He took it up to his room, sitting it on the bed and turning the lamp on.
On the chest at the end were his pajamas from the night before, freshly folded even though he had left them on the floor. He sighed, grabbing them and heading into the bathroom. He had a weird thought about the fact that the house would pick up his stuff, but the cabin would always be a mess. Maybe it was a warning though, he mused with a grin as he got the shower started, don't leave your stuff on my floor.
If he wasn't at camp again, he'd be the type of person to take a shower in the morning. But since he was at camp again, he was always sticky with something at the end of the day, no matter the time of year. That evening, it was just sweat, but he wondered how long it would last, if Travis was willing to welcome him back into his life, at least a little.
Getting in the shower was easier this time. He didn't feel the need to scrub his skin raw, or even to rush. The water on his scalp was actually soothing, when he took the time to think about it. He still couldn't look himself in the mirror until he was dressed again. He avoided looking at his eyes, as he rubbed the cream into his face.
The note pad was right where he left it when he got out, the sun fully set, the only light in the room the lamp he'd turned on. He sighed at it even though he wanted it, had taken it for this reason. It was daunting to pick a pen up again, but he forced himself to pick the paper and pen up.
He sat at the head of the bed, folding his legs under himself and putting the paper on his knee. He sighed, dated the top, and began writing.
He started with a recap of the afternoon before, and that day, everything he did in as much detail as he could remember, two rows of writing per line on the top half of the page to get it all to fit. He had trained his writing to be small, and he didn't care about mistakes; if he read it back later he could decipher it if he tried hard enough. As soon as that was done, he started writing about his emotions, and anything he thought of, going in circles until he got to the end of the page, finally capturing it in the last couple sentences of messy writing,
'I have missed so much, but I don't believe I deserve to grieve it all. I now have to live with the consequences of my actions, which is probably the most fitting punishment Hades could have made for me.'
He tossed the note pad onto the chest at the end of his bed, hoping no one would read it until he could get his journal, but he had written in English not ancient Greek, to hopefully deter anyone who tried. He had picked a journal with a back pocket and he hoped all the papers he used would fit in there when he folded them. He could figure something else out if they didn't.
He didn't bother turning off the lamp as he curled under the quilt, the window still open from the night before. He wished he could have stayed awake longer, but it felt like the second his head hit the pillow he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.