PHILOXENIA ➸ Percy Jackson¹

δεκατρία

"Some flowers have the ability to give off positive energy," Quinn said as he touched the petals. "I hope these will let him know that we're thinking of him."

Meanwhile, Lou Ellen pulled her aside to cite theories on how Ciaran could have escaped from the Underworld.

"Shadow travel?" Lux echoed.

The daughter of Hecate nodded. "It's how the Underworld deities are able to freely travel between the land of the living and dead. They slip into the shadow and arrive at where they want to go. It's the only way I can think of that could allow Ciaran to show up at camp like that."

"It does sound plausible," Lux said. It did seem like her brother had appeared out of thin air.

"If Ciaran's able to do it, that means he's a very powerful demigod."

"Are you able to do it too, Lou?"

She shook her head. "I inherited many cool powers from my mom, but shadow travel wasn't one of them. But I think this confirms that Ciaran has very strong ties to the Underworld."

In a later conversation with Annabeth, Lux asked for more details on what exactly happened in Hades' throne room.

"I never want to go back there ever again." Annabeth shuddered. "If nightmares had a nightmare, that would be it."

"Sounds on brand for the Lord of the Dead."

"But we were wrong about his motivations." She then relayed everything that transpired between them and the God of the Underworld.

"Gods, my brother is an idiot." Lux slapped her forehead with her palm when she heard about how Ciaran had made a promise on the River Styx so he could sacrifice himself for his friends.

"He had courage, I'll tell you that. Blind courage, but it took guts to stand against a god like Hades."

"Do you think he could be bluffing when he declared Ciaran wasn't his son?" Lux asked. "I mean, from what you guys have been telling me, the signs seem to point to him."

"It's possible Hades is keeping his cards close to his chest," Annabeth said, furrowing her eyebrows. "But I think Ciaran could also be the son of any number of Underworld gods. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see."

Lux fell back into her chair. There were still so many questions, and the people who held the answers were unwilling to reveal them. She glanced at her sleeping brother and let out a groan. "This is all so confusing. But thanks for telling me, Annie. Now I feel bad for lashing out at Percy yesterday."

"Lux, you were in shock, and you didn't know all the details of what happened."

"That's exactly why what I did was wrong. I put the blame on him when I shouldn't have. I made him feel bad when it was clear it wasn't his fault, and he also had to make the difficult decision to leave his mom behind." She sat up straighter as her eyes flashed with determination. "I'm going to make it up to him."

"Well, as long as you're sincere, he'll forgive you. He's not the type to hold long grudges."

Lux raised her eyebrows. "I see this quest has helped to warm him up to you."

"He might have a brain filled with seaweed, but he's a good person." Annabeth lightly jabbed Lux's ribs when she noticed the person standing in the doorway. "Speak of the devil."

Percy shuffled his feet as he held Ciaran's sketchbook. He had fought against monsters, went to the Underworld, faced gods and dueled with one, and yet here he was, unable to take another step inside.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. She then walked over and gave Percy a push on his back before announcing, "I have things to do. I'm going to leave you two alone to talk."