Magnetism • Luke Castellan

II

"THALIA LOOK OUT!" I screamed in a hoarse voice, desperately trying to be heard over the chaos. It had been too late, and I watched as her body crumpled to the ground, bleeding out from multiple wounds that covered her stomach. She had somehow become lifeless, like a ragdoll that never had a soul at all. I blinked hard but she remained there as the fury that delivered the final blow roared in triumph.

I didn't think I'd be able to look away, but something appeared in my peripheral vision and pulled my gaze to it like a magnet. There was a lone girl, around my age with deep skin and black locks. Despite the magnificent sword she held in her hand, the most startling thing about her was her eyes. I didn't really know how to explain it, they were like a rainbow emerging from a storm cloud. Upon first glance they were gray, but on further inspection there was a trifecta of color around her pupil.

After her gaze locked with mine, I remembered where I was... What had happened... I was so angry; angry at my mother and father for forcing me into this life; angry at all the gods for the way they neglected their half mortal children; angry at this random girl who had obviously shown up too late to be of any use; angry that she was dead. Thalia was dead.

" Hey Luke." My eyes widened as I was pulled from my memories and back to the present. I looked over to my right to see Silena taking a spot next to me. I threw her my standard charming smile before greeting her back. With that out of the way, my gaze wandered back to its previous target, which I soon realized was Nikita, sitting with other Ares kids.

" It's going to catch up to you one day, you know?" Silena spoke again as I tore my eyes from the grey eyed girl. My brows furrowed and my brain began to wake up. She couldn't possibly know I-

" Repressing your feelings." I internally sighed in relief, nearly laughing that I'd almost taken the Aphrodite girl seriously.

" I've got no clue what you're on about Silena." I told her as I leaned down to retie my loose shoelace.

" You're good at hiding it Luke, but not as good as her." I finished tying my lace and sat straight to look at the girl, confusion painted on my face at her cryptic words. I watched her blue eyes blink twice at me, in a sort of disappointed disbelief before she let out a huff.

" Her? Silena-" she cut me off by placing a finger over my mouth.

" When you know, you know." She said simply with a shrug before excusing herself and walking off to join friends she'd spotted. I was left to mull over my thoughts as my eyes wandered until they had found the Ares girl again.

My experience with Nikita Stormund was never pleasant. The first time I saw her was after Thalia had died, and I couldn't help but resent her for letting it happen. It was even worse when I found out that she'd neglected her duties to guard the boarder cause she was too busy sharpening her sword to perfection. Meanwhile Thalia, Annabeth, and I were fighting for our lives against a herd of monsters on the other side of the hill.

She was arrogant, opinionated, and had a ego that could go toe to toe with any of the Aphrodite kids. She was also an incredible fighter. I'd never use that word to describe her out loud, but she seemed to be the only one in camp who could give me a real challenge in the ring, and was the master of just about every other combat related activity.

I respected her abilities, but I didn't trust her one bit. How could I after that night. She's part of the reason I trained so hard at sword fighting. I couldn't trust her or anyone else to protect people when it actually came down to it. I wasn't just going to watch from a hill when all hell broke loose.