TONGUES & TEETH; Luke Castellan [ 1 ]

< BURY A FRIEND >

Sweat lined her brow as she jolted awake, almost screaming at the sight of a girl in the corner of the room. "What the—" The girl in the corner of the room, eyeing her cautiously.

"You're powerful but you're not the one." The girl huffed a sigh beginning to descend the stairs. Pandora was surprised Reaper hadn't torn the girl to pieces, fortunately the dog asleep at the foot of the bed slumped against the floor.

"Wait— Wait!" Pandora's voice was hoarse having only just woken up, the teen clambering down the stairs after the younger girl. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The darker skinned girl stopped turning to face Pandora, a step away from the door.

"I'm Annabeth, Pandora Walker." The small girl smiled softly, her braids tumbling down her back. "I was seeing if you were the one to begin my quest but you aren't. That's Alright." She shrugged her hand gripping the door. "I like your dog, he's scary." She left the room silently leaving Pandora rather confused.

As she stared around the room she noticed a pile of clothes had been left on one of the tables in the room. After retrieving the clothes, she quickly explored the house, finding a bathroom attached to the outside of the cabin. The shower was outdoor of course leaving Pandora extremely nervous as the water trialled down the stall.

She spent at least half an hour trying to tame her matt of brown curls on her head before a knock sounded at her door. She was quick to open it, her hands intertwined with her curls, the girl from before fidgeting nervously.

"Luke told me to ask you to come get breakfast." Annabeth rehearsed swaying in her feet as Pandora eyed her curiously.

"Who told you Annabeth?" Pandora questioned tying her hair up quickly in a loose ponytail, "Didn't think you'd take orders from anyone." Pandora taunted knowing the younger girl would react.

"I don't." She snapped eating patiently as Pandora finished inside the house shutting the door leaving Reaper inside, "He just thinks of stuff before I do.. sometimes." Annabeth stated moving towards the large outdoor area on one side of camp.

"How old are you Annabeth?" Pandora questioned following the small girl towards the smell of food although Pandora was hardly hungry, "And whose kid are you?" Annabeth held her head high as she walked.

"I'm 10, my mother is Athena." She said it with so much pride, Pandora couldn't help but smile. Annabeth led her on a particular path leading her straight to a table on the fair corner.

"This is Luke." Annabeth nudged her head towards a boy speaking to everyone, his back facing the pair. Once he had noticed Annabeth was talking to him he was quick to stand up offering his hand.

Before even shifting her hand from her side she analysed the boy. He looked similar to her age, tall, dark curls not as dark as Pandora's near black curls. The most noticeable thing was the scar across one side of his face. It looked old similar to the one Pandora now spotted on the left side of her face.

"I'm Luke, I'm sure Annabeth's introduced me." He retracted his hand once he realised she wasn't going to take it, "How you liking camp Walker." She grimaced at her last name, the one she shared with her mother.

"Splendid." Sarcastic dropped from her tone as she looked to the rest of table, surprised Luke hadn't introduced them.
"I'm Dahlia, nice to meet you Pandora." A girl across the table introduced, a row of flowers braided atop her head fidgeting excitedly or anxiously she wasn't sure.

After examining the flower crowns further Pandora came to a solution, a daughter of Demeter. Pandora shuffled awkwardly in her spot, beside Dahlia two boys seemingly argued.

Twins, both boys sharing the same red hair.
"Boys." Dahlia snapped shoving one of them as they both turned their attention to Pandora, "That's Micheal, and Jerry." Dahlia nudged her head towards both boys who were now sporting a cheesy grin.

"You're the daughter of Hades, I bet my brother you could murder us all with the snap of your finger, yes or no?" Pandora narrowed her eyes rather confused as Annabeth pushed the girl on the bench beside Luke, before seating herself down.

"Micheal." Dahlia scolded the boy shrugging towards her, still holding Pandora's attention.

"I could try." Pandora held a smug grin on her lips as the other boy she assumed was Jerry punched his brother, who pulled a few loose coins from his pocket.

Suddenly a tugging at Pandora's sleeve brought her attention to the left, a small girl leant over Luke's lap to get her attention, "I'm Rhea." Pandora smiled softly at the small girl, no older than 7.

"Nice to meet you Rhea." Pandora had noticed the boys across the table had gotten into another argument. She racked her brain thinking of the goddess Rhea belonged to. The more she stared at the little girl she realised she didn't have any imperfections, her blonde hair rested just above her shoulders. Aphrodite's daughter.

"I heard you fought a dragon, true or false." It was Jerry this time questioning her, Pandora's feet shuffling against the floor.

"True. Have you fought a dragon Jerry." She over-pronounced his name, a small snicker from Annabeth beside her. "Well, have you." It shut the twin up for a moment before he smirked.

"Haven't had the chance unfortunately, children of Apollo, not as high maintenance." A small laugh left Pandora's lips as Dahlia and Micheal broke into a conversation.

"Have you eaten yet?" A voice beside her sounded, Pandora meeting his eyes for the second time that day. She narrowed her eyes at Luke for a moment confused at his concerned tone till Annabeth beside her grabbed her hand.

"Watch out." She hushed before Pandora turned her attention to the girl now striding towards her furiously. Pandora swung her leg off the bench ignoring the table that had grown silent. The girl stopped a few feet away from Pandora who stood meeting her face.

"Hade's daughter was it?" The girl spat her arms crossed, gaze hardened. This was the girl Grover had mentioned, Clarisse. Pandora wasn't scared. But she sure hated bullies stepping closer to the angry girl.

"You must Clarisse". Pandora scoffed a smug grin on her face, "I've heard so many good things about you. Daughter of Ares, God of..  what was it again." Pandora knew how to get under people's skin, her mother used to call it her gift.

"War." Clarisse tone sharpened before Luke moved from the table standing between the two girls, the significant height difference giving him an advantage.

"Clarisse, it's her first day give her a break." He exhaled calmly, sending Pandora a pointed look, the girl refusing to stand down.

"Watch your back death." Pandora's laughed dryly at the nickname as Are's children backed off, leaving Luke and Pandora alone.

"Now, how about breakfast." Pandora narrowed her eyes at the teen again, reluctantly returning to the table, Luke's eyes never leaving the daughter of Hades, God of Death.