Hey there! I know that I said that the next story that I wrote was going to be an Adventure Time one, called 'Flame Princess', but I got the idea for this story and I knew that I just had to write it first. And speaking of the Adventure Time story, I couldn't really think of anything after the first chapter, so I decided that I was just going to scrap the idea and go ahead with this one. Luke is still alive in this story, of course, so I would say that it's probably in between… the Sea of Monsters and the Titan's Curse…ish. There's some things in the story that happen later in the series, but I included them anyway, so we're just going to ignore that detail. And I did change his timeline a bit, too, because it made more sense for the story. In this, Luke ran away when he was eleven/twelve. He's not older – everything else still happened the same way it had, but he was just older when he ran away. Now, this story does mention some things like emotional-parental abuse, and relationship abuse, so that is why I added the 'T' rating. And I don't want to romanticize any type of abuse in the slightest, but I have my own reasons for writing this story, and I want to focus mainly on the relationship between the main character and Luke, not anything else. But anyway, this story has gone through four re-writes in total, this being the fourth and most likely final, so I hope that you'll enjoy what it has become. I own nothing, other than Chelsea and Sarah.

I sat alone in the large throne room upon the Princess Andromeda, deep in my own thoughts. The golden casket, which sat only feet away, taunted me. The prophecy is fast approaching… I had to admit, that scared me a bit… and we were getting so close to Kronos, it would only be a matter of time before…

No. Stop. I shouldn't think about that now. I've made my choices.

I glanced around the room, despite knowing that I had ordered to be alone only an hour earlier, before pulling out my wallet. The old, small, frayed picture was still there to greet me, and I almost immediately felt my muscles relax. The picture always had such a strange way of soothing my nerves.

It was taken so long ago… Mom was alright, I hardly knew (or cared) about being a demigod, and my life has just been so much easier. She made it easier…

"Master!" a monster exclaimed, rushing into the room. "My apologies for disobeying your order to be alone, sir, but there are two new campers arriving without a satyr at Camp Half-Blood! We have a hellhound in the area, so would you like it to intercept them?"

My mind immediately shot to a million things at once, but at the same time, I knew that none of it could be true. It was never true. I did this to myself every time someone new arrived at the camp – I would get myself all worked up, convincing myself that it just had to be her, but I would only ever be let down in the end.

Fuck, I didn't even know if she was a demigod. I had always just assumed, because she was just so different, she had to be one. But maybe that was just the only conclusion that I could come up with to make sure that the thought of never seeing her again wouldn't drive me insane.

How old would she even be, now? Would she have a boyfriend? Could she have gotten married? Could she even remember me? Was she even still alive?

If she was a demigod, and she hadn't gotten to the camp by now, would she even still be alive?

"They're both girls, sir." the creature repeated, snapping me out of my thoughts. "And it appears that only one of them has any weapons, and the other one is already wounded. They'd be easy targets."

I was about to simply nod and give the order, but something held me back. I couldn't resist my thoughts any longer. "Hold back any attacks for the moment, and show me the girls first." I ordered, and it nodded quickly.

A shimmering image soon appeared in front of my, and I saw the two newest half-bloods approaching the camp. All of the air caught in my throat, and I stared at the older girl. No… it can't be her.

I desperately tried to remember the last time that I had seen her, and how long it had been since then. It's been nine whole years… she'd be turning eighteen this year.

The girls looked about a year in the difference; the oldest looking about eighteen or nineteen. While she looked like she would've only came up to about my shoulders, she was still taller than the other girl, whom she was holding up due to an injury on the other girl's side. She was very pale, and had bright, light green eyes. Her long dark hair was pulled up into a loose bun.

There had been rumors about Artemis falling in love with a man and having his child for years, and most people simply dismissed them, but right now as I looked at her, I felt like they couldn't be any truer. I had seen the goddess in person before, and right now, she looked so much like her it was unbelievable. She even had a long white bow around her shoulders, and a quiver on her back. Maybe that was how she survived all these years. I knew that she couldn't be a Hunter, though, because she wasn't wearing their uniform. Instead, she was wearing a dark red shirt underneath a dark brown hoodie, and a dark jacket, with ripped skinny jeans, black fingerless gloves, and worn black converse.

I almost cursed my eyes, thinking that they must've been tricking me. Or Iris, thinking that the message had to be faulty. It just couldn't have been her. It had to be fake.

But it wasn't.

Her smile managed to curl the corners of my lips into a small smile. For a moment, I forgot that it was only an image, and my hand subconsciously went out to touch her. The image flickered, before disappearing. I had to bite back a sob.

I hadn't seen Chelsea in years. She had grown so much, and I couldn't help but wonder if she could remember me. I wondered if she thought about me as much as I thought about her.

Before I had run away, Chelsea was, realistically, my only friend. After my mother had chosen to take on the Oracle, and her mentality eventually reached the breaking point, I couldn't really bring myself to get close to anyone, anymore. It gave me trust issues, but Chelsea had always been the exception. She was about two years younger than me, and even though we were young when we knew each other, she always managed to know how to calm me down, and she always managed to make me smile, no matter what was going on at home. I thought she was incredible, but I knew that she had her own issues, too. Her father had disappeared a little over a week after her mother told him that she was pregnant, and her mother had become an alcoholic soon after she was born. At first, everything was fine, just like it had been with my own mother, but I could always remember the days that I'd see Chelsea being taken out of school by her mother, who worked at the local carnival. Chelsea had always been really quiet, and she had also always been very observant, so her mother used that to her advantage with the carnival and marketed her as, ironically enough, the 'Oracle.' It brought in extra cash for her mother, but I knew that it made her upset because one of her biggest fears was that that was going to be her life. Her great grandfather was John Dillinger, so one of her biggest fears was that she would turn out like him, and that was all she would ever be. But, she always had to go along with whatever her mother said, because it was really the only thing that she had ever known. I could remember so many days that we'd run out into the woods behind my house and hide for hours and hours, and I'd promise her that someday, we'd run away together and I'd take her away from all the bad people in our lives. But then… my mom got bad, and I ran away… and I left her behind. I just couldn't handle it anymore, but it has killed me with guilt ever since.

And look at yourself now, Luke. She would be so disappointed in what you've become.

"Leave me." I ordered the creature, suddenly remembering the presence in the room.

It nodded quickly and rushed away, and I went over to the fountain. Another image soon shimmered into the air, and I saw that the younger girl was gone this time, and Chelsea was in the cabin that I recognized as none other than my old home – the Hermes Cabin. Everyone else must've been gone to dinner, or something. She seemed frustrated, and I noticed that there was a guy behind her, who was much larger than her. He wasn't exactly my height, but he was still much taller than her, and he also had muscle that only made him look even bigger. They seemed to be arguing.

"Five." he said. "That's why I say you owe me, Princess."

She closed her eyes for a moment, biting her lip. "Anything else, Callen. I know what you did, but wouldn't that only mean ONE date?" she questioned. "Which, either way, I'm not doing!"

He chuckled. "So you think that you're only worth one date? Oh, don't sell yourself short, Princess." he laughed. "But, when I saved you, you said that you owed me. You never said what you owed me, and you never said how many you owed me. So, I say that you have to go on five dates with me, and then you'll get off the hook and I'll be out of your gorgeous brown hair forever."

"And what if I just refuse?" she asked, crossing her arms and raiding an eyebrow.

I knew that I didn't like this guy already, and I could tell that she didn't either. I noticed that he was slowly backing her up against the wall, but I also noticed her quiver was laying off to the side, and I knew that she did, too. With the look that she had in her eyes, I almost expected her to pounce at an arrow and fight this guy off.

"Then I'll just take back saving your life." he replied, smirking. "You're not entirely healed up yet, Princess. It's not that hard."

She looked down, making a face. "Is there any other way that I can repay you?" she asked.

He grinned wickedly. "Of course there is, Princess. Anytime that I call for you, you will do whatever I want. No matter what you're doing, not matter who you're with, you'll do whatever I say. And once you've done five, simple little things for me, you're off the hook, and I'll even leave the camp if you want me to. I swear on the River Styx." he said. "But if I call on you, you'll come."

She closed her eyes for a minute again, before sighing and crossing her arms. "Fine." she said, and thunder bellowed off in the distance at their deal.

"And, so nobody asks any questions, you're going to pretend that you're my girlfriend. So, that means that you have to let me put my arm around you, we will kill, and all of that other fun stuff, without complaining. Got it? And you're not allowed to tell ANYONE about our little deal." he said, and she made a face. He chuckled. "It's either you're my girlfriend or you pretend to be, Princess."

Her back hit the wall. He put his hand on the wall above her left shoulder, freezing her in place. He smirked, twisting a lock of her free hair with his other hand. She stared blankly at him, and I could see that she was nervous.

He forcefully slammed his lips against hers, and she gasped. His hands trailed down her body, and they rested too far down for my comfort. After a minute, he broke the kiss off, and looked back at her with a sick smile. "There," he said. "That wasn't so hard, now was it? And now, before I go, tell me that you love me. A princess has to have her prince, doesn't she?"

She frowned, looking at the ground and taking a deep breath, before mumbling out her response. "I love you." she said quietly, and he smiled, pecking her cheek.

"See? Now you only have three things left to do for me. Congratulations – it'll be done in no time." he said, before he turned and left.

She took a breath, before sinking down to the floor, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them to her. She ran her fingers through her hair, and I noticed that her eyes teared up a bit. She didn't cry, but seeing her like that made me angry.

I growled. "I'm going to make that fucker pay!" I yelled angrily, smashing the image, before I rushed out of the room. I only had one place in mind that I had to go.

Camp Half-Blood.

. . .

After I had collected myself, I stepped outside in the cool air to catch my breath. I needed some breathing room. I needed to clear my head and think about everything. About Callen… about everything.

I rubbed my hands together uncomfortably; the cold seeping into my fingertips and making them go numb. My stomach and side still pained, remembering the injuries that I had gotten only a few hours earlier. I felt weak, but Callen promised me that I was healing. I wasn't so sure.

A little bit through my walk, I noticed that everyone was returning to their cabins from dinner. I scanned the crowds to see if Sarah was there, and saw that the Aphrodite crowd was the closest group to me. Sarah was a daughter of Aphrodite, having been claimed the moment that she arrived at camp. That just made me lonelier in the Hermes cabin, despite all of the other campers that were there also. I had gotten a warm welcome, and while truth be told, it was probably where I belonged, the cabin didn't feel like a home. No one there felt like a family.

I had met Sarah when she was on her way to camp, and she was only about fifteen or sixteen, so I decided that I should go with her to keep an eye on her. She was hyperactive and wild, so I figured that somebody had to watch out for her. And in the short time that we've known each other, we've already become friends.

As I walked over to her, everyone around me stopped, and started staring at the space above my head. "What?" I questioned.

Sarah smiled, and pointed at me. "Look up." she said.

I looked up, and I saw the misty blue lightning bolt hovering above my head, and slowly fading. Chiron made his way through the crowds, before he knelt down in front of me. "Welcome, Chelsea Dillinger, daughter of the lord Zeus; king of the sky, lord of thunder." he said, and everyone bowed.

I noticed Callen amongst the crowds, and it was like my blood ran cold. He was kneeling, along with the rest of his cabin, but he was looking up and smirking at me. It was terrifying. After that, I had decided that I should get out of the Hermes cabin as quickly as possible, before Callen could make it back, so I wouldn't have to confront him. I hadn't really brought much with me to the camp, so I only had to grab my bow and quiver before I headed up to the tall building that loomed over all the others.

I stopped as I stood outside the doors, and took a breath. "Good to finally meet you, dad." I muttered.

I slipped in the front doors, and was immediately greeted by a large statue of Zeus in the center of the room. I frowned. It was the first time I had ever seen my father.

I stared at the statue for a moment, almost feeling an urge to yell or to throw something at it, but I held myself back. This was his cabin, after all – I'd probably get struck with lightning or something. Instead, I looked around at the cabin, and noticed that there was a bed sitting in the corner, but it looked like it had been there for a long time, and had never been slept in. That was probably there for Thalia, I told myself, remembering the other daughter of Zeus that Chiron had told me about. I noticed there was a sleeping back in the back corner, and there were pictures taped to the wall above it. I went over to it.

It seemed like the sleeping back was in the only place in the entire cabin that the statue didn't stare, and there was a thin layer of dust on it. There was a couple of pictures stuck on the wall above the sleeping bag, and while some of them had fallen off with time, I froze when I noticed one of them. The blond boy in the picture…

It can't be…

I turned, suddenly becoming even more aware of the whole cabin. I finally noticed a little note sitting by the door, as if it had just been slipped under the large doors. It had my name written on it in red sharpie. I cautiously walked forward and opened it, worried that it was from Callen. What could he want me to do for him now?

But it wasn't from him.

Chelsea,

I saw that you were claimed, finally. A daughter of Zeus, eh? I knew you were important. But I also saw what that guy is doing to you, and I know about your deal with him. I don't like it. Meet me at the beach at sundown. Please, Chels. Come alone, for both of our safety.

An old friend,

L.C.

Hey there! So, that was the first chapter! And sorry that it was kind of a smaller chapter, but I just didn't want to give away too much in the first chapter. Yeah. So anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it!

~Batman's Favorite Daughter~