Tidal Wave (Luke Castellan)

The Side Quest

Over the next few days, I kept a secret for the two of them. We knew Annabeth was a child of Athena, but to keep her with Luke for a few more days, I promised not to tell anyone. Luke and I wanted Annabeth to get settled into camp before she got sent to the Athena cabin. Surprisingly, Athena didn't intervene and claim Annabeth before we were ready. She was known not to like anything that Poseidon was involved in. Eventually she had to be put in her usual cabin though. Luke was claimed as a child of Hermes a few days after his arrival. He didn't seem to be phased by that for some reason. I didn't push the matter though. I knew enough about him to know he had a dark past. We had made a silent pact about that. He didn't ask about my past, I didn't ask about his.

Two years later, Luke was given a quest and I was one of the demigods sent to go with him. It didn't go well. Our third member ended up dead and our quest failed. After we'd come back, Chiron had forbidden any more quests. Most of the camp blamed our failure for this. They didn't know the truth behind Chiron's decision and Luke and I didn't tell anyone the real reason. Annabeth was heartbroken that she wouldn't get a quest of her own. She begged and begged Chiron for a quest but she was always denied. Eventually, Chiron gave her a sliver of hope. He told her that someone very special would come to camp and she was destined to go with them on their journey. I suspected Chiron had just told her that to get him off of her back, metaphorically of course. The chances of some big hero coming during our lifetime were very slim. I didn't have the heart to tell Annabeth that though.

The day after my 16th birthday, there was a rumor in the wind. I hadn't heard any details beside the fact it had to do with a child of the Big Three. That led to many whispers and stares my way. I was the only child of the Big Three up and running which meant to most that this prophecy had to be about me. I didn't like that idea one bit but I had to admit that they had a point. Thalia was the only child of the Big Three that I knew of and she was currently spending her day as a home for birds, bugs, and squirrels. Luke tried to tell me to ignore the whispers and the stares but it wasn't easy. I could feel them everywhere I went. As the days went on, they eventually lessened and faded but I knew this prophecy was always in the back of everyone's minds.

The rumors stirred up again when a new kid arrived. It didn't help that the first thing he had done was kill the Minotaur.

"So what do we know about this kid?" I asked Luke as he and I made our way to the infirmary.

"Not much. From what I've heard, he just lost his mom. He killed the minotaur and dragged a half unconscious Grover up the hill before passing out himself. All in the rain," Luke answered.

I let out a low whistle, "Pretty impressive. How old is this kid again?"

"I don't know, younger than us I think?" He held open the infirmary door for me. I thanked him and walked over to where Annabeth was keeping watch over the boy.

"Are you stalking another one Genius?" I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at the young girl.

"No, I'm just... watching over him," Annabeth avoided my eyes.

"So stalking. You know, that's pretty creepy. Do Luke and I need to have an intervention with you? Do I need to change your nickname from Genius to Stalker?" I asked.

"No! I just... I think he might be the one," she said softly.

Luke and I exchanged a look. She'd said that about the last three demigods who had come through here. I could tell she was slowly losing hope that she'd get her quest. But each time someone new came in, she'd perk up again. She'd get to know all she could about them and then she would get disappointed again. It happened every time. I wanted to give her a reality check. I wanted to tell her that she couldn't keep investigating every single demigod that came through here. It wasn't good for her health.