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Luke was convinced he was going mad.
If Dionysus hadn’t locked himself up in Olympus with the other gods, Luke would’ve sworn this was his doing, but in reality, Luke was antsy.
There was nothing for him to do in finding out where Percy had disappeared to. Annabeth had left camp a few hours ago to follow a dream she’d had. She was certain it was from Hera, but told Luke not to say anything. She’d gone and left him behind too, imagine that. Luke needed to do something.
So while he waited, he played with Mrs. O’Leary and even managed to rope Pollux into a sword fight. Pollux only agreed because Luke said he’d steal some liquor for him the next time he left camp. Dionysus kids were too easy to bribe if you knew what they liked.
Plus, Pollux actually liked Luke, so he agreed to keep his friend busy while they waited for Annabeth’s return. Luke also knew that Pollux felt lonelier than ever after Castor’s death, and now his father, who he’d seen every day of his life at camp, was gone.
“Again,” Luke grunted, pushing himself off the floor. Pollux had, somehow, put Luke on his ass twice.
“Luke, I'm tired!” Pollux whined, using his last dregs of strength to haul his friend up. Their chests bumped as Luke tried to catch himself in the momentum. They were both exhausted, but Luke had too much on his mind.
By now, there was a small group lingering, watching them fight. Chris sat beside Clarisse and he offered a small smile and a wave. Clarisse elbowed him.
“It’s okay, buddy.” Luke patted Pollux’s shoulder. “I think I found my next opponent.”
“Thank the gods,” Pollux sighed, dropping onto the grass like dead weight. “You’re a fucking machine, Castellan.”
Luke winced at the use of his surname, but Pollux was the only one who used it.
He said nothing and turned to the daughter of Ares, a sly smile on his features. “Care for a round or two?”
Clarisse considered him for a long moment, before shaking her head. “I’ll take you down when the time is right, Castellan .” She flicked her tongue at the end, her own smile forming.
“I’ll do it,” Chris offered, scrambling off the grass before his girlfriend could say no.
“You will?” Luke’s eyes widened at the offer. He and Chris were okay, but he wouldn’t say they were back to being friends yet.
“Yeah, ‘course I will.” Chris caught the sword from Pollux and walked over. “It’s what brothers are for, right?”
Luke felt his heart do a leap. “Right.”
“Just go easy on me, yeah?” Chris rolled his shoulders. “I haven’t fought anything since the Labyrinth.”
Luke faltered at the mention of the Labyrinth. He hadn’t even asked Chris how he’d been nursed back to life from being trapped in there. Hades, he hadn’t even apologized for throwing Chris in there all on his own in the first place.
“Fuck, Chris, I’m s-”
Chris swung his sword at Luke’s, offering him a warning look to not bring it up in front of all these people. They were brothers, they’d get past it.
Luke blocked the hit just in time and twisted their swords above his head and his body moved with the motion, throwing Chris off balance. Chris righted himself fairly quickly and blocked Luke’s next hit. Luke managed to raise his sword, jabbing it down towards Chris’ collarbone, who blocked by grabbing his wrist with his free hand.
For a split second, Luke didn’t see Chris anymore.
He saw Percy.
That night in the forest when everything changed.
“You did get better,” Luke had said in this exact mirror position.
“Dude!” Chris called out, making Luke blink, snapping back into reality. Luke was on his back, sword strewn a few meters away. “What the hell was that?”
“Sorry, I’m just-” Luke blinked a few more times, forcing himself to sit up before Chris helped him stand.
“You good?” Chris had his hands on Luke’s shoulders, shaking him slightly. Luke felt dazed. Had this just happened with Pollux too? Was that why he kept losing?
“Yeah,” Luke forced out a chuckle and squeezed his brother’s shoulder in return. “Just… distracted. Are you… Are you good?” He lowered his voice at that question and Chris chewed on his lower lip.
“Yeah, man, I’m good.” He reassured just as the same chariot that left this morning with the pegasi landed at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill. “Looks like Annabeth and Butch are back.”
“With three others,” Clarisse stood up, craning her neck. They’d situated their little hangout fairly close by, near the volleyball courts, so Luke would know when they got back.
“And there’s a blonde,” Pollux added with some hope in his voice.
Luke saw the back of the blonde kid's head and shook his own. “Too tall…” He moved in between Chris and Clarisse and jogged over to Annabeth. There was a small crowd now, all waiting to hear any updates on where Percy had ventured off to and if he was okay. But by Annabeth’s grim expression, Luke knew she had hit a dead end.
“She lied, didn’t she?” Luke asked as soon as they were in earshot of each other. He didn’t exactly want to say Hera’s name out loud. The gods might be locked away, but they were still omnipresent.
Annabeth didn’t answer. She just gave a nod and dropped into Luke’s arms for half a moment, who let out a sigh of relief that at least she’d come home safe. Surveying the group now, and the blonde with a missing shoe, it seemed as if they hadn’t had an easy time getting here.
“Hey Butch,” Luke clapped their hands together.
“Hey, Luke.”
“What the hell happened?” Will Solace, a son of Apollo, came rushing over. “Where’s Percy?”
“No idea,” Annabeth shrugged. The group visibly deflated at the news.
“I don’t even want to know what happened to the chariot,” Will pursed his lips, fighting off annoyance.
“We’ll get it fixed,” one of Will’s brother’s sighed, moving around the newcomers to survey the damage.
Blackjack whinnied and Luke allowed her to come closer when the Apollo kids freed her from the chariot along with the second pegasi. She nudged his shoulder and he sighed. He wished he knew what she was thinking. He had an inkling though. “We’ll find him,” he promised.
“So new demigods, huh?” Clarisse asked, crossing her arms. “They all look older than thirteen. You guys been claimed yet?”
“Claimed?” The boy with curls asked, seeming shocked at the question.
Drew stepped forward next and Luke and Clarisse rolled their eyes in unison.
“Well,” the girl said, “I hope they’re worth the trouble.”
Leo snorted. “Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?”
“No kidding,” Jason said. “How about some answers before you start judging us—like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?”
“This is Camp Half-Blood,” Luke spoke up, putting on his authoritative voice. Taking control when newcomers arrived was second nature, even Drew let him speak now. “You three are demigods. Half mortal-”
“Half god,” the blonde boy answered, frowning as he said it. As if he didn’t know how he knew that.
“Yeah, exactly…” Luke waited for the boy's name.
“Jason,” he replied, to which Luke mimicked it. “That’s Piper and Leo.”
“I’m Luke, son of Hermes,” he replied, feeling all eyes on him.
“Hermes?” Jason frowned. “Mercury?”
“Uh, yeah.” Luke frowned, eyeing the blonde. Most demigods were wired for Ancient Greek. Maybe the dude was just a history geek. “We call the gods by their Greek names here.”
“Would somebody tell me what claimed means?” Piper asked.
Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away.
Floating over Leo’s head was a blazing holographic image — a fiery hammer.
“That,” Annabeth said, “is claiming.”
“What’d I do?” Leo backed toward the chariot. Then he glanced up and yelped. “Is my hair on fire?” He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.
“This can’t be good,” Butch muttered. “The curse—”
“Butch, drop it,” Luke said at the same time as Annabeth said, “Butch, shut up.”
“Leo, you’ve just been claimed—” She continued.
“By a god,” Jason interrupted. “That’s the symbol of Vulcan, isn’t it?”
All eyes turned to him.
“Jason,” Annabeth said carefully, “how did you know that?”
“I’m not sure.”
Luke and Annabeth locked eyes. There was something seriously weird going on with the blonde kid.
“Vulcan?” Leo demanded. “I don’t even like Star Trek. What are you talking about?”
“It’s alright, Leo. Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus,” Luke said, “the god of blacksmiths and fire.”
Leo kept going, but Annabeth had Will steer him off towards the rest of camp. Luke allowed one of the satyrs to take Blackjack away from him and he moved over to Annabeth’s side. It felt good to be doing all this with her again. Well, almost all of it.
Luke looked at Jason again. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d seen those eyes somewhere before. He’d never met Jason, but someone like him.
When Jason took his jacket off, Luke’s eyes widened. A dozen straight lines like a barcode, and over that an eagle with the letters SPQR.
“I’ve never seen marks like this,” Annabeth said. “Where did you get them?”
Jason shook his head. “I’m getting really tired of saying this, but I don’t know.”
Neither of them might know, but Luke certainly did.
Senātus Populusque Rōmānus or the Senate and Roman People.
Suddenly, he had a sinking feeling that this might not be something he could tell Annabeth, or anyone for that matter. It was like something was nagging at his mind, pleading with him to shut up. For once, he listened.
Annabeth sent Drew off with Jason to Chiron and Luke internally cursed. Chiron was about to have a nasty wake up call.
Luke knew so much about the Romans thanks to Paul, Percy’s stepfather. During their year living with Percy’s parents, Paul loved to ramble about the Greeks and Romans and the godly counterparts. Luke had found it fascinating, though he never dared to ask his father about Rome. After the mess of battles Luke had learned about, he thought it might be best to keep them separate but now here one was, right on their territory.
Jason seemed kind enough, though, and Luke had a feeling the poor kid truly knew nothing about who he was, which made him feel a little safer.
“I’m gonna take Piper around,” Annabeth lightly touched Luke’s arm, who realized he’d zoned out watching Jason retreat. “You wanna come with?”
“Nah,” Luke squeezed her hand. “I’m going to follow Drew and Jason. Make sure she doesn’t scare him half to death.” He turned to Piper and offered her a small smile. “Welcome to camp, Piper.”
Luke wasn’t allowed in when Chiron saw Jason. Drew was sent out too.
He sulked in Dionysus’ usual chair on the porch, twisting an abandoned coke bottle cap on the tabletop, waiting for Jason to leave the cabin. He wasn’t sure how much time had flown by until footsteps reverberated against the porch and Luke lifted his head. He felt stiff, as if he’d been frozen like that. He really needed to stop zoning out.
Annabeth and Rachel were rounding the corner dragging Piper between them. Luke shot up and pushed the doors to the big house, stepping inside so they could haul Piper in. Luke helped Rachel, swapping places.
“What the hell happened to her?’ Luke grunted under the shift of weight.
Jason bounded over. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Hera’s cabin,” Annabeth gasped, like they’d run all the way. “Vision. Bad.”
Rachel looked up, and Luke saw that she’d been crying.
“She’s breathing,” Luke said, pressing two fingers under Piper’s nose and Rachel let out a quiet sob. She must think this was all her fault.
It was chaos from then on out for a short while. They put Piper on the couch while Annabeth rushed down the hall to get a med kit. Piper seemed to be in some kind of coma.
There was all this talk about Hera again, with a prophecy, a vision from Jason with a strange woman, which would explain why Luke had lost so much time sitting out on that porch. His entire body shivered at the thought that he’d been near a time freeze like that again. Chiron shot Luke a glance in between helping Piper at that, as if to think that Luke might have been working with the strange woman on this.
“This wasn’t me, Chiron.” Luke held his hands up defensively.
Jason looked confused at that, but he gave a small nod. “You’re right. It wasn’t you. I saw you frozen outside too.”
Luke was suddenly this guy's biggest fan. “Thanks.”
“Don’t trust her,” Annabeth shook her head, going back to the woman who’d visited Jason for a moment.
Jason kept that look of confusion. How much did this guy actually know? “If she were my enemy, why would she be asking for my help? She’s imprisoned. She’s worried about some enemy getting more powerful. Something about a king rising from the earth on the solstice—”
Annabeth turned to Chiron. “Not Kronos. Please tell me it’s not Kronos.”
Luke couldn’t help the grunt that left his throat, though it seemed to have been more of a growl with the way Annabeth and Rachel looked at him like he might rip their throats out with his bare teeth.
“I can’t be here,” his voice was involuntarily hoarse.
“Luke, wait-” Annabeth reached for him, but Luke pushed her hand away and stormed out of the big house. He kept walking. He walked and walked until he was deep in the north forest, with no sword. He didn’t care what came at him at that moment. Sword or not, he itched for a fight to let off some steam. But instead of searching for anything dangerous, Luke dropped to his knees and gasped for air as the sobs came.
He had felt the panic attack rising the moment Chiron had looked at him with that accusatory expression. His hand flew to his heart and he pressed down, hoping to ease the pain as his chest tightened.
“Oh Gods- ” he wailed, folding over, his free hand pressed flat against the dirt. Was this why his dreams had gotten worse again? Had Kronos somehow come back now that the ‘Doors of Death’ from the prophecy were opening and taken Percy instead, like he’d always wanted?
This could all be his fault. Again.
Luke sank against the dirt, curling himself up into a ball and allowed the sobs to wrack his entire body until sleep eventually consumed him.
When he woke, it was getting dark. He heard something rustle in the bushes further back and his instincts kicked in faster than his brain had time to wake up. He sprinted back towards the mess hall, huffing at the sudden exertion.
Just as he ground to a halt, the conch horn blew and Luke knew he’d missed dinner. It didn’t matter, he wasn’t all that hungry. But what he was interested in, was finding out who Jason’s godly parent was and he had a gut feeling he’d be claimed at the campfire.
When Luke approached, Annabeth looked more than relieved. She probably thought he’d run off, away from camp. He was close to. Maybe he should go home to Sally and Paul.
She patted the seat next to her, but he dropped beside Pollux instead, his head resting on the boy's shoulder. Annabeth looked away, trying not to show her hurt, but Luke had seen it. He couldn’t be near her again if Kronos really was coming back. He couldn’t let her get hurt too. He suddenly felt terrible for sitting next to Pollux. No one here was safe with Luke around.
Luke eyed Jason, who looked antsy, and kept glancing over at Luke. maybe he’d heard the story. He found Leo with the Hephaestus kids and winced. Beckendorf would’ve loved the kid, Luke thought. Leo had energy, spunk.
Everyone was dancing, singling, playing the lyres and giggling, but Luke kept his gaze on the flames the entire time. He was still half asleep, and Pollux made no move to shrug Luke away.
Chiron trotted over, eagerly spearing a marshmallow. “Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I’m happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we’ll get to the s’mores, but first—”
Naturally, no one let him finish. Questions were being thrown around, talk of capture the flag, the dragon, anything the campers needed info on, really. Chiron always took it like a champ. Whenever questions used to get thrown at Luke’ he’d have to turn around, count to ten, and start one by one.
Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stones—bang, bang, bang—and the campers fell silent. Finally. “We will have to be patient,” Chiron said. “In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss.”
“Percy?” Will asked. The fire dimmed even further, but Luke didn’t need the mood flames to sense the crowd’s anxiety.
Luke zoned out until the mention of the Great Prophecy. His head snapped up in Rachel’s direction when Drew asked her if it had begun.
“Yes,” she said. “The Great Prophecy has begun.”
Pandemonium broke out and Luke saw Chiron close his eyes in defeat. He deserved a holiday.
“Easy,” Luke raised his voice, taking over as always, and whistling loud enough to silence the group. Ever the big brother. Ever the one to keep things together even when he was falling apart. Ever the servant. “Let Rachel talk.”
A few campers muttered apologies and Rachel stood up.
“For those of you who have not heard it,” Rachel said, “the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this: “Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—”
Jason shot to his feet. His eyes looked wild, like he’d just been tasered.
Even Rachel seemed caught off guard. “J-Jason?” she said. “What’s—”
“Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus,” he chanted. “Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem.”
An uneasy silence settled on the group and Luke felt his heart drop.
“You just… finished the prophecy,” Rachel stammered.
“—An oath to keep with a final breath/And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you—” Luke translated, and now everyone looked at him as if he was the crazy one. Okay, so he and Rachel had a powwow about the Great Prophecy and Paul had taught him Latin, but that didn’t make him crazy.
“I know those lines.” Jason winced and put his hands to his temples. “I don’t know how, but I know that prophecy.”
“In Latin, no less,” Drew called out. “Handsome and smart.”
“Shut up, Drew.” Luke and Clarisse snapped at the same time, and the girl closed her mouth.
“Anyway,” Rachel continued, still visibly shaken, “we don’t know what the Great Prophecy means. We don’t know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad.”
“Or worse,” Chiron murmured. He must not have anticipated so many people to hear that, but everyone stared at him in shock.
“What we do know,” Rachel said, “is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken.”
Shocked silence. Then fifty demigods started talking at once.
“Enough!” Luke snapped, standing up to catch everyone’s attention. “Let. Rachel. Speak.”
“Oh because you started and ended the Titan War, you think you have some sort of say in the matter now?” Clarisse snapped back, standing too. Piper, Jason and Leo looked at Luke with a new found fear. Great.
“Shut up!” Annabeth jumped up, stamping her foot. Her expression was dark. “We can’t work like a team if we keep doing this! Let Rachel talk, please .” No one fought her, and she eventually sat down, followed by Clarisse and then Luke.
Rachel explained everything that Luke already knew about Hera, and he found himself staring over at Annabeth, who was already watching him. The flames licked in the air and she gasped softly when they flickered over the reflection of his eyes, turning them gold. Luke shook his head slowly, and Annabeth eased when she realized it was only the flames. Luke would be miles away if he knew Kronos still had power over him. Luke would be driving himself mad somewhere in the Labyrinth, really.
“Jason,” Rachel said. “Um… do you remember your last name?”
He looked self-conscious, but he shook his head. Those eyes… Luke had a strange feeling that he knew the boy’s surname.
“We’ll just call you Jason, then,” Rachel said. “It’s clear Hera herself has issued you a quest.”
Rachel paused, as if giving Jason a chance to protest his destiny. Everyone’s eyes were on him; there was so much pressure, Piper thought she would’ve buckled in his position. Yet he looked brave and determined. He set his jaw and nodded. “I agree.”
“You must save Hera to prevent a great evil,” Rachel continued. “Some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don’t yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now.”
“That’s the council day of the gods,” Annabeth said. “If the gods don’t already know Hera’s gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They’ll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That’s what they usually do.”
“The winter solstice,” Chiron spoke up, “is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things… stir.”
“Why hasn’t he been claimed?” one of the Hermes yelled. “If he’s so important—”
“He has been claimed,” Chiron announced. “Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration.” How did Chiron know? Had he known Jason before this?
At first, Jason didn’t seem to understand. He stepped forward nervously. He glanced at Luke, and he nodded encouragingly. He then looked at Piper, who mimicked flipping a coin.
Jason reached into his pocket. His coin flashed in the air, and when he caught it in his hand, he was holding a lance—a rod of gold about seven feet long, with a spear tip at one end.
The other demigods gasped. Rachel and Annabeth stepped back to avoid the point, which looked sharp as an ice pick, but Luke had a strange inkling to step forward and he did.
“Wasn’t that …” Annabeth hesitated. “I thought you had a sword.”
“Um, it came up tails, I think,” Jason said. “Same coin, long-range weapon form.”
“Dude, I want one!” Yelled somebody from the Ares cabin.
“Better than Clarisse’s electric spear, Lamer!” One of his brothers agreed.
“Electric,” Jason murmured, like that was a good idea. “Back away.”
Annabeth and Rachel got the message, but Pollux had to haul Luke back by his shirt. Jason raised his javelin, and thunder broke open the sky. Lightning arced down through the golden spear point and hit the campfire with the force of an artillery shell.
When the smoke cleared, and the ringing in Luke’s ears subsided, the entire camp sat frozen in shock, half blind, covered in ashes, staring at the place where the fire had been. Cinders rained down everywhere.
“Jason lowered his lance. “Um … sorry.”
Chiron brushed some burning coals out of his beard. He grimaced as if his worst fears had been confirmed. “A little overkill, perhaps, but you’ve made your point. And I believe we know who your father is.”
“Jupiter,” Jason said. “I mean Zeus. Lord of the Sky.”
Luke stared at the blonde, mouth hanging open. He couldn’t be, it wasn’t possible, but Luke knew.
“Jason Grace.”