Chapter 9: Homecoming (Not the Dance)
Thalia's POV
We walked inside the palace.
"Friends!" Bob yelled.
Then he crashed into us.
"Hi Bob." I said.
"Hey Bob." Luke smiled.
I almost thought I'd never see that mischievous smile again. Then we walked theough the palace, until we finally reached the throne room.. By this point, Demeter had turned Nico into a corn stalk (I could sense the deadly presence of the corn stalk), Persephone was drawing a picture, and Hades was looking at what I think was an old photo from around 70 years ago (hint, hint).
"So, you all made it back alive?" Hades said sarcastically.
"No. I fell in the Lethe, and Melinoe says my name's Kelli." I said sarcastically.
Luke flinched when I mentioned Kelli. Note to self, don't bring up Kelli unless absolutely necessary.
"Wouldn't surprise me." Persephone teased.
Demeter just smiled. Then she turned Nico back to normal.
"YOU TWO ARE A COUPLE?!" Nico screamed.
"So what? And from what I hear, you've got a girlfriend yourself." I teased.
He turned really red, but then he smiled.
"Did she really say that?! Did she?!" Nico asked in a hyper tone that I didn't recognize. He really is in love.
"Anyway, are we free now?" Luke asked without beating around the bush.
"Yes. And you'll be exactly as you were before, only hopefully less stupid when it comes to my father." Hades smiled.
Luke suddenly looked guilty, but happy. Oh! I almost forgot.
"Lord Hades? I made a promise to Perseus, and I kind of owe Lady Artemis now..." I said nervously.
"Don't worry. I'll speed up the process, they deserve each other. Besides, do you know long I've been trying to break Perseus out without breaking any rules? Just a bend here and there." Hades agreed.
"Thank you." I said.
"Youmay be the only child of Zeus besides Perseus who's said that, let alone meant it." Hades smiled.
Persephone gave us a couple of her pearls.
"Those are the only one's left, right?" Hades asked.
"Of course not. I always have spare pearls." Persephone smiled.
Hades just rolled his eyes. And then we left.
As soon as we rematerialized, we realized that we were at Camp Half-Blood. This should be an interesting reunion. We walked to the Big House, and as soon as Chiron saw us, he looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"K-Kronos?" Chiron stuttered.
"No. L-Luke." Luke teased.
Chiron was really pale white now. If his horse half could change color, I'm sure he'd be completely white.
"Hello nephew." Dionysus said.
"Mr. D." Luke greeted.
"Come to redeem yourself?" Dionysus asked.
"I was hoping you'd at least let me offer it." Luke answered.
Dionysus smiled. "Welcome back Mr. Castellin. You can take back everything you left behind, including being your cabin's counselor. I don't trust those Stoll boys."
I wasn't expecting that. Luke smiled happily, and Chiron looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
"What?! You can't..." Chiron started.
"If I remember correctly, you are only the activities director, and I actually run this camp. Besides, I understand why he did what he did. Some people will do anything for love. Plus, he's given us important information before, or are we still going to pretend you just found it Thalia?" Dionysus' word was final.
Sometimes he's very rational and very worthy of respect. Dionysus smiled like he knew what I was thinking. Then the horn sounded for dinner.
"Well, we might as well inform everyone while their all together." Dionysus decided.
So we followed him to dinner. When we walked in, no one really noticed us, they were all caught up in their own conversations. Probably about Annabeth and Percy's apparent engagement. Dionysus let us sit down in one of the seats next to him, instead of giving it to one of the satyrs. We sat there a few minutes in silence while the other campers talked. Then Dionysus stood up and said in an echoey voice (like Dumbledore in the Goblet of Fire), "Attention! I have some important news to share."
Everyone except Drew from Aphrodite went quiet. Piper elbowed her. I like Piper.
"Now, I would like to announce a change in cabin counselor for Hermes cabin..." Dionysus started.
All the Hermes kids seemed interested, but the Stolls looked confused.
"This new counselor wil keep the old counselors in check, just like how he used to, and he's the only cabin counselor from Hermes that I've trusted not to steal feom me, even after he stole my little sister's heart..." Dionysus teased.
Now all the Hermes kids looked confused except Chris, who gave me a knowing smile.
"So, I would like to have the honor of reinstating Luke Castellin as Hermes cabin counselor!" Dionysus finally finished.
Everyone looked around the room in shock, as if they were expecting Luke to pop out and attack somebody.
"He's sitting next to me, you idiots." I said loudly.
Everybody suddenly turned to look at Luke. They looked like they were a mixture of shocked, scared, and angry. Even Clarisse had a funny look on her face, but it didn't look like an angry face like her siblings, it just looked deadly calm. Chris put an arm around her and she looked down instead of at Luke.
"He's the enemy! Are you kidding me?!" Drew screamed.
"He killed Silena and Charlie!" Silena's ex-boyfriend Jack yelled.
Everybody started screaming accusations about Luke. Luke looked down in shame, and even though I was holding his hand to make him feel better, I was starting to get upset too. Then we heard an ear piercing whistle come from Clarisse. Half of the people got quiet, then Piper screamed out with charmspeak, "Be quiet!"
Everyone became silent. Piper sat down, but Clarisse stood up.
"Luke didn't kill Silena, the drakon that I should have killed in the first place did. And if you're speaking indirectly, Kronos killed her, not Luke. Luke didn't kill her anymore than I did, and anyone who says otherwise will get a thousand swirlies, which you won't escape, because you're not Jackson!" Clarisse said angrily.
Everyone stared at her in shock and fear.
"You heard the lady, and I won't get her in trouble for bullying you, I may even help her. Lets call it, organized crime." Dionysus threatened.
Everyone was deadly silent. I looked at Clarisse, but now she's in a less visible corner behind the crowd, and she's crying into Chris' shirt. Chris gave me a thumbs up, and tried to make her feel better.
Ah, the homecoming I always wanted. I thought sarcastically.
