GHOST OF YOU, luke castellan

¹⁶I can't believe it 𝘪𝘴 betrayal!

"You idiot," Annabeth said. "You were turning green and turning grey when we found you. If it weren't for Chiron's healing ..."

"Now, now," Chiron said. "Percy's constitution deserves some of the credit. How're you feeling?"

"Like my insides have been frozen, then microwaved."

"Apt," Chiron said, "considering that was pit scorpion venom. Now you must tell me, if you can, exactly what happened."

Between sips of nectar, Percy told them exactly what happened—explaining why they went out to the woods in the first place to everything that led up to the moment he started dying.

Alaska felt an immense pang of guilt—had she spoken up sooner, maybe this wouldn't have happened, but if she spoke up about it now, more people would get hurt. 

"I can't believe that Luke ..." Annabeth started, her voice faltering and her expression turning angry, then sad. "Yes. Yes, I can believe it. May the gods curse him ... He was never the same after his quest."

Chiron exchanged a glance with Alaska and the guilt seemed to multiply after seeing his worried expression.

"Luke is out there right now," Percy said. "I have to go after him."

Chiron shook his head. "No, Percy. The gods—"

"Won't even talk about Kronos," he said.

He said something else, but Alaska wasn't able to catch it. The mere mention of the name Kronos made her vision slightly blurred—the air turned cold, fog filling the room and filtering in through the walls with a hissing sound, and the feeling of nausea filling up inside of her.

"I need air," Alaska said, not waiting for a response as she walked out of the room, her hand placed steadily on the doorframe as she walked out, not wanting to crash into the wall.

She stumbled out of the Big House and once she stepped off the porch, she immediately threw up her lunch. Dispelling her foods seemed to make the fog and cold air go away, and she could vividly feel the natural, cold air bringing goosebumps onto her skin.

She couldn't go back in—if he was mentioned again, that might happen again, and she wasn't sure what she could say without the others getting hurt because of it. So, she made her way back to the cabin.

It was pretty much empty; none of the other Hermes campers had stayed year-round—except Luke, of course—so she had the cabin all to herself. Her stuff was already tidied up from the ground and placed onto the bunk bed that had used to be Luke's.

Alaska laid down on the bed, releasing a big sigh, and looked up at the wood holding the top bed in place. She should've suspected something sooner—Luke was acting differently and the very fact that he was packing and planning on leaving without telling anyone was strange enough.

She knew that Kronos was "him".

The guy that Luke and the other girl had said was coming in the dream, the deep voice in her other dreams, and the person possessing Luke—it was all Kronos.

He's coming back, she thought. He wants revenge on the gods.

"A life in exchange for a soul," she murmured. She thought about it before swinging her legs back out of the bunk and going to grab the paper where she and Annabeth had been figuring out the prophecy.

"My life was brought back in exchange for Luke's soul—a deal; a sealed deal with the old," she said to herself, writing it next to the line.

She knew there had to be something else that made Luke want to do this, but she couldn't help but feel guilty that this whole thing was her fault. If he hadn't brought her back to life, this whole thing wouldn't have happened.

Maybe Luke would still hate the gods, but he probably would've just moved on with his life—actually getting a job and living in the mortal world instead of trying to destroy it.

Placing the paper back into its hiding spot, she rubbed her eyes tiredly and fell back onto the bed. Trying to clear the intrusive thoughts from her head, she looked up and stared at where their names were scratched into the wood.

Reaching up, she ran her finger over the small sun before she noticed something sticking out from in-between the wood and the bed above.

She pulled it out to find a small white piece of paper and flipped it over. The rushed, messy writing along with her dyslexia made it hard for her to read the note, but she figured it out.

Meet me by the creek during free time tomorrow.

　　•°.　·　　　　　•　·　　　　　　　　　　☆·　　
　　　　　·✦.☆　★　　　　.　　°°　　　✷*　••　　
　　°　　　　　✵　　　　·　　　·　　　　　　　.*　　　
　　　　　·　.　　•　　　　　✵　✧•°✸°°　☆•　*°
　☆.°·　.　•　　　　　　.✵°··　✸°　✯•　　　　
　　•　　　　　　　　　　*°•　　　*　　　　°　✦　　　
•.　✦.　　　　　　　*°　　☆*　　　　　　　**　✸　
　　　　.*　✷*　　°　　　　　•　　　°°*　•　　　　
　　　　　　　　•　　　☆　.　　.·•*　.　✸　　　　　
　·　　　　　　　　✶　　　　•　　　　✵*　　　　　*

author's note!

wowowow, we're basically done with the first book

next chapter's kinda short, but also kinda very important, so buckle up kiddos