Tidal Wave (Luke Castellan)

The Death Pigeons

 I loved Tyson, I really did. But the backlash from others finding out he was a son of Poseidon was horrible. Campers had already been giving me looks and talking about me behind my back due to what happened last summer. At least then they tried to be sneaky because I was injured from it. Now, they were doing it openly and the comments that I was hearing were not nice. It took a lot of willpower not to retaliate.

The whole situation made me miss Luke again. Despite how upset I was that he poisoned Thalia's tree, I knew if he were here, he wouldn't have been treating me the same way everyone else was. He would've found a way to make me feel better, just like he had when the mysterious prophecy was spoken the day after my birthday. Part of me wanted to send him an Iris Messsage again. But I had to give him time. He had to think about what path he really wanted to take.

Percy was also having a hard time with everything going on. He was getting even worse comments than I was. Annabeth was doing her best to cheer him up. She had even suggested they enter in the chariot races together. That had helped his mood somewhat... until they got into a fight and decided to do it with their own cabins instead. Percy tried to convince me to join him so he wouldn't have to do it with Tyson, but I refused. I didn't want any part in any of the camp games right now.

One night, I sat by Thalia's dying tree, trying to think of any way to help it. It was getting sicker and sicker by the day. Luke had said there was a cure and that he'd give it to us, but I didn't think the tree would live long enough to see that day. So what did he know that I wasn't thinking of?

"Hey Cass," Silena Beauregard, head counselor of the Aphrodite cabin, came and sat next to me. She was one of the few who wasn't currently making fun of Percy or I.

"Hey Silena," I shot her a weak smile.

"I've been meaning to ask how you've been with everything since... well, you know. I know you and Luke were close and I'm sure being back here hasn't been easy with him gone."

"It's been alright, I guess. Part of me feels good to be back here since it's my home. But part of me just feels... I don't know... empty?"

"You miss him. You miss what you two might have been," I opened my mouth to argue but she just gave me a knowing look, "Cass, I am my mother's daughter. Diana always agreed with me that there was something between you two. I know something changed before he left and I know what you're feeling now isn't just because he betrayed you."

I didn't make eye contact with her. Silena wasn't someone I knew very well. She was nice and I knew her as one of Diana's sisters, but we'd never really had deep conversations before. For her to sit here and pry about my relationship with Luke felt a bit invasive.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, my tone a bit snippy.

She raised her hands up in defense, "Sorry, I guess we're not on that friendship level yet, are we?"

"No, we're not."

Silena stood up, "I shouldn't have been prying. I'm sorry about that. I've noticed that you've been really distant from others lately. Now I don't know if that's because you miss Luke so much or if you never really felt connected to the other campers here. But I want you to know that if you need anyone to talk to, I'm here. I know we don't know each other too well but I've always thought you were pretty cool. I want to be your friend if you'll let me."

"Thank you for extending the offer. I'll definitely consider it," Despite me not liking her prying, Silena had always been kind to me. I was down a few friends this year and I honestly would've liked someone new to talk to. She could never replace the friendship I had with Luke or Diana, but it was worth giving her a try. Who knew, we might have a lot in common that we didn't know about yet.