𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐒 - luke castellan.

v, oh golly luke

o h  g o l l y  l u k e
venus.

━━━━━━━

Venus had fallen asleep when the bus ride started. She had been thinking of Luke before falling asleep. She was never away from him. Never since she came to camp.

She was always with him. Always holding onto his arm. Always having him stand for him. Always having him speak for her.

She was terrified of the campers when she was new. He was the only one she felt comfortable around.

She followed him around like a lost puppy and he never complained, never said that it was annoying, or never said that she should stop.

Many months later, she grew confident and started less depending on Luke. She would speak for herself and stand up for herself.

Even if she started becoming independent, she was never away from him.

And now going on this incredible quest without him, made her feel anxious almost... abandoned.

"There's no way this is what sacred smells like," Percy said as Venus covered her nose with her hand.

"We're soldiers on a mission. It's not a vacation," Annabeth said.

"Thank you for clearing that up," Percy said, "But if this is so important, why didn't Chiron spring for plane tickets?" He asked

"This seems kind of low priority, doesn't it?" He asked.

"Sorry, I assumed someone had told you," Grover said.

"Tell me what?" Percy asked.

"Percy, it isn't just the monsters who are gonna be trying to stop us. You're a forbidden child. Zeus might decide to take a shot at you himself." Grover said. "The sky is his domain. We'd be serving you on a silver platter to try to travel through it."

"Yeah, no one mentioned that."

"We're gonna go get us some snacks," Annabeth said as the two girls stood up.

"I'll come with you," Percy said about to stand up but Annabeth pushed him back down.

"No, you'll stay right there," She said.

"Why? It smells terrible back here." He said.

"The monsters can't smell you through that so that's where I want you," Annabeth said.

"I wanna vote," He said, "Who thinks we should all go get to breathe fresh air and buy our own snacks?" he asked.

"There's no voting," Annabeth said after he raised his hand. "Chips and sodas okay for you guys?"

"I don't think you should just get to decide we don't vote," Percy said making Venus sigh.

"Percy, can you just listen once?" Venus asked.

"No!"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Annabeth said sarcastically.

"Okay, I wanna vote on whether you get to decide we don't vote," Percy said making both girls roll their eyes.

"Grover, please, can you help your... friend?" Annabeth asked as Grover started clapping.

"I really don't wanna be a tiebreaker," Grover said, "I have a better idea," 

Their faces turned down at the same time as he started singing "Oh, golly, the road's gettin' bumpy 'cause I got me some friends,"

"Please stop," Venus said, her voice quiet as she ran a hand down her face.

"Who just can't get along. Oh, dear! When the team's gettin' grumpy, the trick to gettin' through it is singing this song--"

"Dude, what are you doing?" Percy asked.

"It's the consensus song. Verse two encourages us to say nice things about each other. You get a few rounds in and you'd be amazed at how disagreement just kinds of..." Grover trailed off as both Annabeth and Venus raised their brows and then he looked at Percy "fade away."

Annabeth was the just to break the awkward silence that engulfed the bus, "chips and sodas okay for you guys?"

"Whatever,"

"Yes, please,"

"Okay," She said and the two left the bus.