Equilibrium

Chapter 10: Luka's POV

Do I believe in love at first sight? Nope. But I do believe in hate at first sight? Of course I do. This Bitch. Throwing me into the freezing cold water? I can't even deal with this girl I swear.

At least lunch was good, I had a ham sandwich with apple juice. The people who were sitting at my table were cool... Will Solace, who was introduced to me by Jackie, was explaining everything to me in greater detail, and it was all starting to fall into place now.

"So all of you are my siblings?" I asked, sipping my juice.

"Yup! We all have the same Dad," Will looked happy to be able to explain all of this to me. I looked over at the Hermes table and noticed that Jackie was staring right at me. Huh. I just raised an eyebrow and turned back to Will. I really hope that this quest turns out okay and everything goes well.

After lunch Will took me to the big house again to talk to Chiron. Jackie was already there and she was picking at her nails, her hair falling wildly around her face. It took everything in me to not walk over to her and try and tame it.

"You will leave first thing in the morning, make sure to get a good night's sleep," Chiron was back in his wheelchair, talking sternly to Jackie. When he saw that I had walked into the room, he nodded and gave me a tiny smile.

"I have to address some other urgent matters right now, but Jackie knows what to do. Jackie, fill Luka in on anything he may have missed and make sure he has all the supplies he needs. I'll see you two in the morning." With that, Chiron wheeled himself through another door and disappeared without another word.

"Well, you two have fun, I'm going to find Nico!" Will exclaimed. Jackie and I were alone now. She was giving me a death stare. Amazing. We're definitely going to be best friends.

I decided to break the silence.

"Who's Nico?"

"His boyfriend," she muttered without changing her expression. She really brightens the room with that dazzling scowl.

"Alright, well maybe you should do what Chiron said and make sure I have the right equipment," there was a hint of humor in my words, and she really didn't seem to like that.

"Don't give me that attitude," she snapped, storming out the door. What a ray of sunshine, really. I couldn't wait to frolic through the sunflowers with her- I really need to tone down the sarcasm. I followed her out, jogging up beside her.

"Why are you so pissed?" I asked, already done with her shit.

"I'm not." What an angel. Ok yeah I really need to hold back the sarcasm, it was not helping my case. But of course, I'm a dumbass so I said, "You seem to be in a good mood today Jackie, everyone must love to be around you." Welp. Not a good idea. She turned right around and shoved me to the ground yelling insults at me that I probably should not repeat. Then she stormed off, leaving me on the ground a little surprised, but knowing damn well I deserved it.

"Sorry about that," A voice behind sighed, "She can get a little emotional sometimes. Are you hurt?" I shook my head. Jackie was so tiny that I doubted she could hurt me. "I'm Connor Stoll, by the way," the boy who spoke appeared in front of me and stuck out his hand.

"I'm Luka, nice to meet you." Connor helped me up and took me with him to get my gear for the quest, since Jackie decided against helping me.

The rest of the day was a complete blur. I don't remember much, but I do remember that I was exhausted by the end of it all. Connor eventually took me to a cabin that was for all the kids of Apollo. Will was already there, and he showed me where I would be sleeping. I crashed. That night I thankfully had no dreams. I slept like a literal rock, and by the time morning rolled around, I felt well rested and ready to go on a quest, and possibly even die. Fun times, am I right?

At around 6:30 that morning I found myself at the same pine tree that I had landed at with Hazel and Frank the previous afternoon. They had gone back to Camp Jupiter late last night, wishing me luck before heading off. Jackie and Chiron were already waiting at the base of the tree.

"Hey loser, you ready?" She muttered. At least she was talking to me after yesterday's episode.

"Yeah," I replied. I figured I'd better stay cool to avoid her losing her shit again. Chiron trotted over to us, looking concerned.

"I wish you both the best of luck. Jackie, take care of Luka. He has not trained nearly enough and this is all very new to him."

Jackie nodded her head, giving me a sideways glance that clearly said that if I got in her way she would murder me. Chiron sighed. "Then off you go. Luka, Jackie is aware of where you need to go first, so no need to worry."

No need to worry? It's not like we were going on some deadly mission to fix other people's mistakes by recovering some dusty relics. I sighed, and turned to look at Jackie, who glanced back at Camp Half blood with a little smile. We started walking down the hill, into what would probably end in our imminent deaths. How fun... I really couldn't wait.