Fallen Daughter: Luke Castellan X OC

5 - The one where I help a boy in the rain

My new cabin is number Thirteen, right next to the Hermes cabin. It's beautiful, made of dark stone and glowing purple green flames that cast cool shadows on the walls. I dump my bag in the corner of the room, by the small dark purple coffin shaped bed in the corner. There's two other beds on the other side, but I doubt anyone will ever fill them.

I laugh, sitting on the bed and dropping my head into my hands. Gods. So much has happened to me in- I choke. Less than three days ago I was going to high school, and now I'm a demi god, daughter of Hades and both my mom and stepdad are dead.

Hades is my dad. The one who is always the bad guy. The lord of darkness. King of the Underworld. Ruler of the dead. That Hades.

Breathing slowly, I just let myself sit as I try to accept everything. Oh, and I'm always weakened now, I frown, pulling out my hilt from my pocket. I extend the sword, slicing it through the air. It's sharp, smooth, and shining in a way that almost inverts the light, instead of reflecting it.

"Huh." I switch it out to the scythe instead, standing to start swinging it around my head. It's perfectly balanced, and the blade is sharp enough to slice through an old looking candelabra on a table. And I mean literally sliced. Like, the top half topples off, shining purple. I tap the handle, and practice my slices and stabs at the support beam in the middle of the room. This feels so normal, so natural that I almost start to cry. I slam the staff harder and faster, smacking into the post, fury raging through my veins. Strike. Strike. Strike-

The scythe clatters out of my hands, skidding into the corner from the force of my hit. I reach for it, but my legs slips out from under me, the force of a lightning bolt shattering through my leg. I scream, slamming to the floor onto my elbow. Hissing, tears slide down my cheeks as my hands wrap around my knee. Ow. Ow. Ow. Shit. I wince, but shift, reaching across the floor to brush my fingers along the bottom of the scythe. The pain instantly disappears, and like a rush of cold air, energy surges through me. I grab the staff, pulling it down until I can hide the scythe, placing the hilt back into my pocket.

BANG BANG BANG! The door shudders as Luke's voice dimly filters through.

"Lana! Come quick!" I stand, and rush to the door, opening it to reveal both him and Annabeth standing there, eyes wide.

"What?"

"All counselors have been called by Chiron."

"Counselors?" I raise my eyebrows. "What do you-"

"Now that you're in your own cabin, you're the only kid, so you're officially the counselor of the Hades cabin," Annabeth explains quickly. "Come on!" I grin as she runs off, Luke and I following.

The main house up the hill is empty, and Annabeth runs straight past it, over towards a hill with a massive pine tree. Something changes in Luke's expression but I'm more focused on Chiron and two other figures standing by the tree, staring down at something beyond.

"Chiron, what's going on?" Luke asks. The centaur only nods down past the tree. Shit. I can see two boys running up, or well, limping up. One of them looks like a satyr, and the other has curly blonde hair.

"Help them!" I say, lurching forward, but one of the girls who was already there grabs my arm.

"Watch it Hades." She smirks, and I shove her off me.

"Don't fucking touch me!" I snarl and she raising her hands in defense. Her dark curls bounce, eyebrows raising.

"Clarisse lay off," The boy says, laying a hand on her shoulder. He's maybe sixteen, with blond hair and bright green eyes.

"Shove out flower boy," Clarisse hisses, wrenching away. I snort, but turn back to the two boys, who are now stumbling up towards the tree. The satyr is unconscious, and the blonde boy is sobbing, calling out for his mom. A pang of guilt rings through me, but I run out past the tree, Luke following me to grab the satyr as I pick the blonde kid up, carrying him to lay him on the ground by Chiron.

"He must be the one," Annabeth says, standing over him.

"Hush Annabeth," Chiron says, "He's still conscious." Well, for that second anyway. Because the boy's sea green eyes flutter shut, and I reach down to pick him back up.

"We'll bring them to the house," I say, the boy's body not actually that much of a weight on my arms.

"Grover's hurt as well," Luke says, and starts to bring him towards the house. Annabeth grabs Clarisse, who lunges for me before she hits me, and Chiron leans down to berate them as I walk away.

"Hey!" The green eyed blonde boy rushes up to walk next to me. I look down to him, and notice that he's actually got more beads on his necklace than I've ever seen, even on Luke and Annabeth. Ten, I think, each a different bright color. "I'm Don, counselor of Demeter's cabin."

"Elana," I reply, and I smiles.

"Oh I know who you are. You're the talk of the camp, you are."

"Thanks?" I say, and he grins.

"You're going to do great here, don't worry." I snort.

"OK,"

"Just stay out of Clarisse's way and you'll be fine."

"I can handle Clarisse," I say. "Trust me." He laughs.

"Oh I don't doubt that. Just don't start a war, she's literally the daughter of the god of war."

"Ares? Huh." I say, and he nods.

"Well, nice to meet you," Don says, and walks off, flowers sprouting behind where he walks.

"You too," I say, staring at him oddly as I walk up the porch steps, into the house to put the twelve year old on a bed, placing him under the covers. I stand there, watching him for a beat, until Luke appears at the door.

"We should let them rest," he says. "Chiron'll give them some ambrosia, they'll be fine."

"But ambrosia doesn't fix everything does it?" I say, and he shakes his head.

"If we get it to them fast enough it will."

Right. And they didn't get to me fast enough. I bite my cheek, staring down at the blonde boy on the bed. He's not going to die.

"Hey... Is your elbow OK?" He asks, and I look down to see it dripping blood. The impact of me slamming to the floor echoes in my mind, and I do remember falling on my elbow. I study it, but it's only a graze, nothing bad.

"It's fine," I say. "It'll just scab over."

"Alright. Come on then," Luke says, and I nod, following him out the door into the setting sun. It's oddly almost the same situation as two days ago, except it seems like so much has already changed. Luke places his arm over my shoulders and I loop mine around his waist as we walk down towards the cabins, the icey feeling that had been hovering between us melting into a small glow.