A/N Chapter song: "Tainted Love" by Marilyn Manson
I have totally neglected this fanfic unintentionally. School and work have abducted all of my free time. o,o
I'm in the process of trying to get this book finished, so I apologize for the delay in not finishing sooner. :o
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Time passes slowly when you least want it to. At least that's how the next week seemed to go......Things started to slowly morph back to normal, with Luke being kidnapped becoming nothing more than a bad memory.
Even though things started to return to how they were, Nico was still a no-show.
I can't figure out what happened to him. According to Hades, he never sent Nico to camp Jupiter. But Percy explained there was an Iris message detailing Nico told him the opposite........I even questioned Percy again after Hades revealed he never told Nico to represent Jupiter, but Percy held his ground saying he got an Iris message from him saying otherwise.
I didn't hold any distrust in Hades. Contrary to what many may think, the God of the Underworld doesn't seem like he would randomly lie....Even if there was, there doesn't really seem to be a reason for him to lie about Nico's whereabouts. There's nothing for him to gain about lying over such a thing.
Something weird is going on.
It's definitely not uncharacteristic of Nico to not care to go to classes, but it doesn't feel right that he wouldn't have tried making contact with me by now.......Not to mention I still haven't heard from Hazel.........Something else also hangs gloomily over my head. I've yet to find Eros's golden bow thief. But that's not the frightening thing....It seems that both Ares and Aphrodite now have lost interest in the missing bow altogether. I tried calling to both of them because I thought Darryl could be the bow thief, but I was ignored. Even Cupid hasn't been answering my calls, and that has me more worried than I already was.
It's mid day after classes right now, and I can't focus on my History homework before me. Truly, I could really care less about the difference between a demon and a daemon. I wanted to go to college for a writing degree....I don't really care about knowing the differences of the not-so-mythical.
"Something wrong, Red?" Luke asks with a frown, coming over to sit beside me on the dark couch. We spend most of our time in the Hades dorms, because it's the one place we're nearly always alone....No one enjoys going to the scariest dorm on the whole campus, including the hunters of Artemis.
"I just have a really bad feeling something happened to Nico." I mutter, rubbing my eyes wearily. "Not to mention, it's really freaky how Aphrodite and Ares seemed to have just stopped caring about Eros' bow."
"Damn...This must be serious." Luke nods, using a finger to tilt my chin up to look at him. "Your eyes are glowing red." He winks, before pressing his lips softly against mine. I grin against his mouth as he continues kissing me, pressing hip lips harder against mine, ultimately causing me to abruptly pull away.
"You're distracting me..."
Luke nods seriously, before he proceeds to kiss along my jaw line. "Well really, how devoted were you to homework anyhow..." He questions lightly, kissing down my neck before returning to my jaw.
"I wasn't thinking about homework......I...." But I trail off as soon as Luke's arms wrap around my waist to hoist me up on his lap.
He presses a kiss on my collar bone before staring up at me, his blue orbs dancing with amusement. "What were you going to say...?" He asks playfully, cocking an eyebrow.
"I don't remember." I grin, bringing my lips back to his.
"Didn't think so." He sighs against my mouth, before hoisting us around so he's hovering over me on the couch. He trails kisses along my neck and across my collar bone....I move away as he starts to gently peck at my neck with sweet kisses.
"Something's wrong...." I mutter abruptly, sensing something strange all of the sudden. A part of my Cupid senses can tell me when someone's feeling amorous, and part of those senses can also feel when someone was obviously hit by a love arrow.......
Luke's currently throwing off a very strange vibe to him, that doesn't feel normal. I know what it feels like around him due to all the time we spend together, but this new feeling around him gives a very strange vibe.
Looking over at his eyes, they seem completely absorbed in watching me.
"What happened?" I ask suspiciously, looking around the room as if for a sudden reason to show Luke's been struck by a child of Cupid.
"You're...Really beautiful when you make that face..." Luke grins, pulling me in closer to him before bringing his mouth to mine.
He starts feverishly planting kisses against my lips and then down my neck, before I use a hand to gently push him away. "What happened?"
But Luke ignores me as he attempts kiss me once more. It isn't that I don't want to kiss him; but I can tell he was hit with a certain kind of magic that only comes from something Cupid related. He's under a spell of some sort...
"Did someone hit you with an arrow?" I ask cautiously, watching as Luke's eyes lustfully travel down my body as he presses himself closer to me.
He shrugs lightly, a playful grin on his face.
"Er....Stay there." I say cautiously, pushing his chest forward to wiggle out from underneath him. Hurrying, I head out the front door to look around.
Maybe this is some kind of weird prank Aimee or someone else is playing........But it's not particularly funny, and also unnecessary......Luke's already in love with me.....Why strike him with an arrow?
I can't find anything out of the ordinary once outside. People are making their way across campus, while I spot a group of Demeter's children gardening. A familiar group of Ares guys are running shirtless around campus, there's even a group of Hecate daughters practicing magic, but there's really nothing that stands out as bizarre.
I'm about to head back inside before I notice a familiar person wave at me. "Hey Carys, everything okay?" Leo asks with a yawn, jogging over to greet me.
"Yeah." I bite my bottom lip, wondering if I'm just being paranoid. "What's up?"
Leo looks unsure of how to talk about whatever's on his mind. "Have uh....Have you heard from Nico, yet?"
"No...So I take it you haven't either." I frown.
He shakes his head. "Nah....So, do you find it weird he didn't tell anyone how long he'd be gone?"
I'm glad I'm not the only one finding this bizarre. "Extremely....I find it even weirder he'd tell Percy before me." I frown.
Leo nods. "See, that's what I was thinking, too. Percy isn't someone he'd share that info with before other people...Like he'd tell you, he'd tell Hazel, styx, he'd even tell me...But nothing." He shrugs. "It doesn't make sense....I can't get anything from Hazel and Frank either."
I rub my forehead, feeling tired. "Hades said he never sent Nico to Camp Jupiter...So...either's he's being un-honest...."
"Or Percy's lying." Leo finishes for me, before frowning. "But he wouldn't lie about that....I mean...Why would he?"
We stare off into space, trying to make sense of this entire thing. Percy Jackson doesn't just randomly lie. That's not his personality. I could probably come up with a couple dozen people who would lie randomly, but he's not one of them.
After a few moments, Leo yawns. "Well, I just wanted to check if you've heard from him." He sighs before coming over to pat me on the back. "I'll see ya later, Car......aaaaaaahhhhhgh!"
He's cut off as a sandy-blonde blur rushes out and tackles him to the ground roughly. It takes me a few seconds of watching the strange shuffling to realize what's going on and who the mystery blur is. "Luke...?"
Luke lays wrestling with Leo on the ground, seemingly determined to keep him pinned.
"Luke! What are you doing?!"
"SHE'S MINE!" Luke barks, before slugging Leo to the face with force.
"Luke!" I howl, trying to get over to him before he seriously harms Leo.
Luke's doing a very good job keeping poor Leo trapped in place, unable to move. Leo meanwhile stares up at the sky, looking dazed and confused, before Luke's fist connects with his face once more. Blood immediately begins to gush as it seems his bottom lip has been cut pretty badly.
Running over, I grip Luke by the shoulders in a bid to pull him off Leo, only for Luke's hands to roughly turn around to shove me over.
I go tumbling, before roughly smacking my head against the hard ground. Having already felt nauseous today, this does nothing to help my uneasiness.
Sitting up, I find Luke's staring at me with wide eyes, before narrowing them angrily at me.
"Dude what's the matter with you!?" Leo yelps, using my fall as a way to get away from under Luke. As soon as he's away from him, he brandishes a ball of fire at the ready. "Come at me again." He barks, showing that he means business by throwing the fireball a few feet from Luke's feet.
"Why were you letting him touch you??" Luke growls, getting up to approach me in a frightening way. He looks...Menacing.
Rubbing the spot where my head connected with the ground, I shrug lightly. "What's wrong with you??"
"You let HIM touch you!" Luke sneers, his blue eyes turning very cold. "I thought you loved me!"
Leo and I exchange looks of utter bewilderment, before I begin to back away slowly. "Luke...Who hit you with an arrow?"
It's obvious that's what this scuffle if about. Someone hit Luke with an enchanted arrow, causing him to come violent with jealousy over me.
"No one hit me with anything! I can see the way he was all over you with my own two eyes!" Luke growls, advancing towards me.
The strange part, is this seems a lot stronger than your average love arrow. The effects shouldn't be this extreme to cause Luke not to see reason.
Leo's sporting a massively confused look, while looking quite unsure what to even do in this strange situation.
"Er...Should I get Percy and Annabeth...?"
"OH! More people for you to cheat on me with!" Luke sneers at me with annoyance. He continues advancing towards me some more, looking quite angry.
"Luke....Who hit you??"
"You can't even defend yourself, can you?" He growls angrily. "You can't even say you're not cheating..."
Taking a hesitant step forward. I gently grip his shoulders in a bid to hear me out. "Luke...This isn't you...It's okay...It's going to be okay..."
"STILL! You can't even say it!" He howls in annoyance. "You can't even say you're not screwing around behind my back!" He growls, shoving me away from him.
Leo throws me a frightened glance; obviously unsure what to make of this exchange. Should I get help? He mouths at me quietly, obviously unsure what to do in this given situation.
I give the slightest nod of my head where Luke doesn't even notice I was nodding at Leo behind him.
Leo runs off, but a low growling sounds as a hellhound runs out of the dorm from behind me to come closer.
The beastly dog stands beside me, a low growl issuing from him as he looks to Luke with distaste.
"Hey...I'm not cheating on you." I say calmly, throwing my palms up as if to show I-come-in-peace. "You were hit with an arrow..."
Luke glowers at me, clenching his fist. "Don't lie to me, you..."
"I'm not lying...I'm not lying...Something's happened to you...It's okay, we'll fix it...You just need to calm down..."
But Luke's jaw clenches as his fists tighten. "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO..."
But he's cut off, a loud clank of metal sounds, as someone holds an end of a sword in their hands as they stand behind Luke.
Meanwhile, Luke develops a dazed look in his eyes before collapsing to the ground.
"Yeah...Little sister, when someone is stuck with strong love arrows, don't try and reason with them." Elmo snorts, watching Luke's crumpled form in amusement. He lowers the sword he's holding, smirking slightly.
"You didn't have to hit him!"
Elmo rolls his eyes. "Well, would you have liked if I had waited until he was consumed with ultimate rage and attempted to kill you?"
"He would never do that!" I hiss, dropping to my knees to help the now-unconscious Luke. He looks to be fast asleep at the moment.
"He would never do that when he was rationally thinking." Elmo corrects. "When you're hit with an enchanted arrow of the golden bow, you lose all your rational senses you'd normally have. Have you not read up on father's history?"
If I'm honest, I definitely have never read up on the history of Eros or his magical bow. Considering Cupid's missing bow is my quest, I probably should've...
"Got someone!" Leo shouts happily, finally catching up by running over to join us. He frowns once he spots Luke unconscious on the ground. "Is it wrong I don't feel too bad he got knocked out?"
But a harsh glare from me causes Leo to look away sheepishly.
"The golden bow....You mean you think Luke got hit by Cupid's missing bow??"
"Not think." Elmo frowns. "I know it. Feel the atmosphere....There's something strange at large...this isn't the right type of feeling that comes from any type of arrow....It's a part of the strongest magic attatched to Cupid's arsenal. His golden bow. That's why the boy here would have no control over his actions...It's because you don't have any when the golden bow comes into play. Haven't you heard the story of how Cupid fell for Psyche?"
As I waver my hand back and forth to indicate I know very little, Elmo scowls.
"Well, let's get him to the infirmary. It's time for a history lesson."
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