The Trial's Of Many
Luke walked silently to the dining pavilion and was soon greeted with the sound of laughter and everyone chatting about how the game went today, when Luke made it towards the Hermes table Darla and Chris jumped up to greet him. "There he is! Our victor of capture the flag for the fourth time in a row!" Chris cheered making the Hermes table come to life in cheers as other tables from the opposite team grumbled and playfully booed him.
Luke laughed softly as Chris wrapped his arm around Luke's shoulders, "and you got a present from dad!" Darla said excitedly which made Luke's smile falter. Luke hesitantly took the present and was pushed to sit down so everyone at the table could watch him open his gift, he gently tore off the wrapping paper to reveal a shoe box. He looked back to Darla in confusion before he continued to open the box that revealed a pair of basketball shoes leaving the boy even more confused, "when we surpass a certain age or get issued a quest dad sends us a pair of shoes that enables us to fly" Darla explained happily.
Luke smiled softly as he quickly pulled out the shoes and slipped his off in replacement of his new shoes, he ran out onto the grass with the Hermes cabin kids following closely behind him. Darla smiled broadly, "now all you have to do is say Maia and off you go!" She said excitedly.
Luke nodded slowly, "Maia" he said softly and was quickly amazed by watching his shoes sprout wings and propelled himself into the night sky, he sores into the air and went above the tree tops. He looked over the new view of camp and let out a holler of joy as he felt the wind blowing around him, he could hear everyone laughing down below him and felt a smile spreading across his own lips. "How do I come back down?" Luke called down to his siblings and fellow campers.
Darla laughed, "right sorry! All you have to do is say Maia again and you'll slowly come back down!" Darla shouted.
Luke quickly followed her instructions and felt himself slowly gliding back down towards the ground, when his feet touched the ground everyone from Hermes cabin surrounded him in excitement. Luke smiled broadly when Chris patted his shoulder after Darla released him from her bone crushing embrace, he tried to keep smiling but when he scanned his cabin mates faces he couldn't help but feel alone in that moment when he didn't catch Pandora's gaze or see her bright eyes and warm smile that always made him feel at home.
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Hyria sat crossed legged next to Pandora's unconscious body, waiting for the girl to come to. It had been a few minutes since she had passed out and Hyria had taken to gently brushing Pandora's hair back and out of her face, she watched as Pandora's face contorted briefly before her eyes snapped open and she shot up startlingly the other girl. Pandora's head snapped around until she met Hyria's gaze, "that seemed like a nasty fall, you okay?" Hyria asked softly.
Pandora blinked a few times before slowly nodding, "I'll be fine but what I wanna know is how you're here? Chiron said Zeus killed you 50 years ago before you could turn 16- why did he kill you?" Pandora's words came jumbled out as she held a deep look of confusion.
Hyria laughed softly, "I'm here because Artimis took pity on me and turned me into a goddess of peace when that was the last thing on my agenda" the girl laughed bitterly before rolling her eyes, "and I was killed because I was like you- well, I was the daughter of Poseidon and Artemis" Hyria started as Pandora's jaw dropped again. "Yeah that's how everyone felt- to be honest I'm still surprised Zeus let me live as long as I did" she laughed. Pandora continued to sit with her mouth open as Hyria began to laugh a little bit harder, "calm down baby sister, Zeus wants you dead for a different reason but I still think he's full of shit" she clarified as thunder boomed over head drawing the two girl's attention to the sky. "OH SHUT UP YOU KNOW WHERE I STAND ASSHOLE!" Hyria yelled before raising her middle fingers towards the sky as thunder struck again.
Pandora started laughing at the other girl's actions, "no wonder we're sisters" she muttered as Hyria playfully looked at her.
"Yeah I saw what you did when you saw Zeus in the woods, I would have never had the courage to do that when I was alive" Hyria said with a proud smile as she lightly nudged her. Pandora's face pulled in confusion when she didn't see her sister's elbow go through her, Hyria looked down and made an 'o' shape with her mouth in understanding. "I can make myself solid and when I want I can phase through things, it's weird and hard to explain but it's a cool ability" Hyria explained with a soft chuckle.
Pandora nodded with a small smile, "so the goddess of peace? What does that all entail?" Pandora asked as she brought her knees to her chest.
"I try and keep peace between the gods and try to keep Nemesis in line but that's a challenge in itself" Hyria mused as she rolled her eyes.
"What's it like- being a god I mean?" Pandora asked while she moved her head down so she could rest her chin on her knees.
Hyria smiled softly, "it's not all it's cracked up to be, I mean immortality is cool and everything but it gets lonely after a while when mortals come and go and Olympus gets new hero's. It's like a non stop spinning door, no matter how hard you try the cycle just won't break and you're stuck living forever but not actually living. Don't get me wrong I love having the power to protect people but all of my friends are dead, there's nothing really left for me so I just stay isolated in my cabin" Hyria said as her eyes glazed over.
"Why do you stay on earth? Isn't Olympus a better placed to be?" Pandora asked softly.
"I actually stay not too far from here and I stay here because it's a lot better than having Zeus down my throat 24/7, he didn't like me when I was alive and he definitely doesn't like me now but he always tries to suck up to me when he needs me to back him in one of his stupid fights" Hyria said as she moved to have her legs outstretched in front of her and crossed her legs at her knees while her arms held her up from behind herself.
"Why doesn't he like you now? I mean he's the reason you're dead and became a goddess" Pandora muttered under her breath not expecting Hyria to hear her.
Hyria scoffed lightly, "he doesn't like me because I don't fall in line like everyone else, he hates that he can't control me but he can't afford to lose me just like he can't afford killing you" Hyria stated bluntly.
Pandora's face pulled in confusion,"what do you mean?" She asked the girl. Hyria's face fell, "Hyria what do you mean? Why can't he kill me?" Pandora questioned as she moved to stand. Hyria quickly followed as she pressed her lips together in a firm line and regret flooded her eyes, "Hyria answer me! Why can't he afford to kill me?! Is it because if he does he'll start another titan war?!" Pandora asked frantically as Hyria began to walk away from her. "HYRIA!" Pandora yelled but watched as she disappeared into the night, Pandora stood shocked as rage started bubbling inside her. She turned towards the nearest tree and started punching it as hard as she could, she watched as the wood began to splinter but she couldn't stop beating the same spot. She yelled out in frustration and hit the tree one last time before turning away from it and starting back towards her cabin with anger boiling within her.
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Pandora decided to stay far away from everyone the next day, thankfully it was Saturday so she wasn't forced to be around anyone while training. She was stood in the arena taring her way through her third dummy this morning, she was so sick of being left in the dark. Pandora thrusted her foot forward and watched as the dummy snapped in half at the force of her attack, she groaned to herself as hay littered the ground. She pulled the dummy off to the side with the rest of the broken ones and walked towards the storage shed to retrieve a new one, when she finally managed to set the new dummy up she barely got a hit in when she heard someone approaching the arena. Pandora ran over towards her hoodie and struggled to put it on in a hurry but somehow managed to trip herself with her own foot, when she fell to the ground with her arms in the sleeves she heard the person approaching quicken and rush to her aid. Before she could manage to say she was 'fine' and to 'leave her alone' Luke kneeled down beside her head and hovered closely above her, he watched her with a soft smile which surprised her because she'd thought everyone would be mad with her ditching them almost all day. "Hey crescent" Luke whispered as he continued to hover over her with her head pressing against his knees.
"Hey warrior boy" she muttered out and turned her head away from his.
Luke frowned softly and gently turned her face back towards his and cupped her left cheek, "what's wrong? No one's seen you all day- I was really starting to get worried princess" he whispered as he brushed his nose against hers.
Pandora let out a soft breath as closed her eyes she nuzzled into his warm hand, it had been frigid all morning but Pandora didn't really care once she got to mutilating the training dummy's. Luke smiled softly before he leaned down to gingerly kiss her lips, she miles against his lips but before she could lose herself in the moment Luke pulled back with a small smirk.
"I'm sorry I just wasn't feeling too social this morning" Pandora offered softly.
Luke smiled and nodded, "I get that" he said with an understanding smile. "I just wanted to check on you because when I came back from campfire your lights were out and since you didn't make it to breakfast and just missed lunch" Luke explained softly. As if on que her stomach growled making him laugh, "the food today was very festive seeing as tomorrow is Christmas" Luke said as he pulled her head onto his lap when be moved to sit cross legged.
Pandora hummed lightly, "yeah? What was so special about it hmm?" She asked with a smile.
"Oh we had all the normal things but they made it look more festive with bows and sprinkles" Luke stated with a proud smile.
"Sprinkles huh? Sounds like I missed out on the feast of a lifetime, what ever will I do" Pandora said dramatically.
Luke smiled and rolled his eyes, "you just had to have been there" he joked, "it was almost as good as finding out about the gods are real" he continued with a smile.
Pandora laughed loudly and slapped her hand over her mouth, they sat in silence for a second trying to keep straight faces before they burst out laughing. "That was a good one" Pandora gasped out while trying to catch her breath after laughing so hard. Their laughter slowly died down until they only held grins as they stared at each other.
Luke brought up one of his hands and gently traced the outlines of the bruises that had over taken the side of her face, his eyes didn't change as they still held the same warmth but she could see the anger burning behind his eyes. She finally pulled off what she had on of her hoodie and moved to cup his face, he shifted his gaze from her face and towards her wrists. She managed to roll over and sit in front of Luke while he inspected her wrists, the bruises got impossibly darker but when he flipped over her hands his eyes widened in surprise. Her knuckles were bruised with dried blood on her knuckles, "what happened?" He asked softly.
Luke held no anger in his eyes only confusion, Pandora silently debated on telling him the truth but decided it was better to just tell him the truth knowing the truth would come out eventually. "I-I met my dead sister last night— and before you think I'm crazy! She was turned into a God for her wrongful death and came to visit me last night" Pandora quickly explained. Luke looked like he didn't believe her but when he searched her eyes he knew she was telling the truth so he nodded silently, "we were talking when she said Zeus couldn't afford to kill me too and I asked what she ment but she just left without saying anything other than having a regrettable expression" Pandora explained softly. "I think something bad will happen when I die" Pandora whispered.
Luke's face contorted and reached out to cup her cheeks, "Hey! Don't say that! You're never going to die not if I have anything to do with it" he declared before letting one of his hands slip behind her neck so he could pull her into him. Pandora almost face planted into Luke's collar bone but managed to turn her head sideways before she made contact, he moved his hand that was still holding her cheek to her lower back. The moment was a little awkward until they readjusted themselves so they were both comfortable, Pandora maneuvered her head so she could rest her head on his shoulder but felt a cold chill wrap around her spine. She opened her mouth in surprise when the sound of Luke's heart beat pounding in her head started, her eyes burned slightly making her blink crazily until she felt like everything was amplified. Her sight became clearer and more enhanced and she could feel her breath quicken when she felt an abundance of love and affection wash over her with an underlying feeling of fear, Pandora turned her head slightly towards Luke. He had his eyes closed and held a small smile as he held her tightly against himself, Pandora felt herself calm when Luke opened his eyes and met her gaze. His mouth fell open in surprise, Pandora's eyes widened too and pulled back from him slightly. Luke lifted his hands and gently brushed his thumbs under her eyes, "your eyes-" he muttered softly.
Pandora felt herself beginning to panic and tried to pull away from him, "I-I should go-" she whispered quickly and continued to try and pull away from the boy. Luke gently grabbed her wrists before he dipped his head slightly and captured her lips in a gentle kiss, Pandora stopped her struggle almost immediately making Luke smirk into the kiss. His tongue slipped out and glided along her bottom lip before he took it between his teeth making her gasp softly, he pulled back slightly and pulled her lip with him before releasing it.
He smiled softly as he opened his eyes slightly, "you're not going anywhere pretty girl unless I say you can, you hear me?" He stated seductively. He quickly pecked her lips and reached behind him, when he pulled away from her she was met with the sight of a bowl of an arrangement of fruits. Pandora opened her mouth but Luke gave her a soft glare, "I'm not letting you go or do anything until I see you eat something" Pandora groaned and rolled her eyes. Luke smiled when she picked out a piece of pineapple and bit it in half and gave a mocking smile, Luke rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around her waist. He guided her to turn around and pulled her back into his chest, she smiled and leaned back into him as he picked up the bowl and placed it between her legs. Pandora put the other half of her pineapple into her mouth before reaching for a strawberry, she inspected it for a moment when Luke rested his chin on her shoulder. She turned her head towards his making him look towards her, she lifted the strawberry towards his lips. He smiled and gently took it from her and pressed a loving kiss to the side of her face, she groaned as she felt the juice from the strawberry slowly drip down her cheek.
"Asshole" Pandora muttered about to wipe the juice off when she felt Luke catch her wrist and saw him sake his head with a dark look in his eyes. Pandora's eyes widened when she felt his tongue dart out and slowly lick the juice off her face, Pandora yelped out in surprise when he lightly bit down on her pulse point of her neck.
She wiggled against his hold but made no attempt to escape when she felt his lips traveling up her neck and towards the shell of her ear, "mmmm" he hummed as she gasped lightly. She looked flustered and quickly covered her face in embarrassment. Luke laughed softly and kissed her temple before letting his head return to its spot on her shoulder.