Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.

Author's Notes: Hello, everyone! Not much to talk about today lol, just wanted to pop in and say that I laughed a lot while writing this chapter. Like, a lot a lot ha ha!

Next chapter will be posted on Monday, like always. So, until then,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~The Finding Home Saga~

~Finding Home~

~Chapter 24: I Make Good On My Promises Pt. 1~

Now, I know what you're probably thinking.

You're probably thinking something along the lines of, "Really, Percy? You just left the last chapter at that? But I wanted to see you actually become Demeter's champion! I wanted to read about how that actually works! But instead, you ended it with some silly little thing about how your life is going to change forever, which I already know!"

And yeah, I totally get that why you feel that way, if that is how you are feeling. But, the thing is...I kind-of-really-can'ttalk about it. Like, it's forbidden for me to, because in order to become Demeter's champion, I had to swear an oath on the River Styx (per Zeus's "request") that I wouldn't talk about the ritual that I had to go through...which completely and utterly sucks for the purposes of this story, but seeing as how I'll literally die and be forced to spend my time with Styx for all eternity if I tell you about it, I hope you'll forgive me for that.

Besides, there's plenty of other things for me to talk about that are much more interesting than that – like my relationship with Luke, for instance! Ever since we had gotten together, everything in my life had been great. Because while Luke was (understandably) nowhere near the point that he would be fully willing to open up to me – and thus, confess about his allegiance to Kronos, and divulge about what had happened between him and Alan and Thalia, because I had figured out the day I had gotten back from camp that he had most definitely been one of the two demigods that had been traveling with the daughter of Zeus when she died – he had opened up some. And, not to brag or anything, but even with the little opening up that he had done, I could already tell that he was perhaps the kindest, smartest, and funniest guy that I had ever met, and just the thought of it had me swooning all over him again.

...But, of course, that being said, things between us weren't perfect, because Luke didn't know that I knew he had sworn his allegiance to Kronos, or that I had basically sworn my own allegiance to Demeter. He also didn't know that I knew the reason why he had become so insistent on our relationship being "secret" for now (it was something he hadn't budged on, even after I had told him multiple times I was perfectly okay with becoming the gossip of the camp for the rest of the summer) was because of his allegiance to Kronos, and the promise that he had made to the Titan King to lure me over to his side by sometime during August.

But, that was fine with me, because I had a plan formulating in my mind about how to convince Luke to do the vice versa by the same deadline that Kronos had given him. And that plan was to gain Luke's trust in any way that I could (i.e. by listening to his problems, talking with him about pretty much everything that I could, and bolstering his confidence, because I had quickly realized in the very first few days of us dating that he was nowhere near as confident as he made himself out to be), to use that trust – and gods, does that make me sound awful, but it's the only phrase that accurately described what I was doing – to show him that the gods weren't nearly as bad as Kronos, and to finally confront him at the end of August and tell him that I knew what he had done while also ensuring that he knew he wouldn't get in any trouble if he came clean then, because of me being a champion of Demeter and all that.

...And yes, I admit that this plan was highly manipulative of me, and that when I came up with it, it made me feel all sorts of dirty inside. But, I knew Luke. I loved Luke. And I was not going to let him die – because, as Demeter had told me after the champion ritual, that had a very real chance of happening – if I could help it.

However, even if my plan was manipulative, it also seemed to be working. It had only been a week and a half or so since Silena, Katie, and I had come back from our quest, but Luke was gaining trust in me. He was talking to me and listening to me, and the only two times that I dropped subtle hints that the gods were good and Kronos wasn't, a thoughtful expression actually appeared on his face, as if he hadn't quite thought about them that way before.

And, like I said before, that made me happy, because it meant that I was keeping the promise that I had made to myself that I would do my best to save him.

But that wasn't the only promise that I was going to keep.

Because, you see, the Fourth of July was just around the corner at camp, and I had learned that it was kind of a big deal for all of the campers. Apparently, there was an even bigger feast than usual to celebrate the event, the Hephaestus kids made their own fireworks for it as well, and...well, it was also really common for some of the older campers to hook up, too. And while I wasn't all that interested in hooking up with anybody outside of Luke, I knew that there was a certain son of Hecate and a certain daughter of Aphrodite who desperately wanted to hook up with each other, but didn't because of a lack of communication.

...Which brings me to the "present" in this story.

I was in the arena again, my shirt covered in sweat as I gripped Riptide tightly in my hands, waiting for Luke to make the first move in our third sword fight of the day. Luke was staring back at me, a slight smile on his face as he held his own sword in his right hand. He was a little cocky from the fact that he had won the first two matches, but I was determined that this time, I was going to be the victor, because I really wanted at least one win against him for the day.

Luke certainly didn't make it easy, though. As soon as he saw me instinctively blink, he struck forward, his smile turning into a full-blown grin as I let out a yelp and dodged his blade. There was no mercy for me just because I had dodged his blade, though, because as soon as he finished his thrust, he turned and thrust at me again, causing me to have to narrowly dodge him once more, unless I wanted to surrender or get the shirt that I was currently wearing ruined.

"C'mon," Luke said. "Make your move!"

I did as I was told, but I angled my body so that I would have even more of an advantage with my short height than I did before. Luke grunted in surprise as I side-stepped him and hit him squarely in the left arm with Riptide, and again when I did the same thing to his back as well.

"Surprise move," he said. "Nice, but a little unfinished."

"You think?" I asked rhetorically as I avoided his thrust again.

Luke smirked. "Oh, yes, definitely."

Then, before I could even register what he had done, he had thrust again – except this time, he had performed the same disarming maneuver that he had taught me during our first sword training lesson together, causing Riptide to fall out of my hands and fall helplessly to the ground.

Luke pointed his sword at my chest. "Surrender?" he asked coyly.

"Oh, yes, definitely," I sighed in response. Guess it was three for three for him today.

Luke frowned at that and lowered his sword before he stepped closer and asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

I shrugged. "Just wanted to get a win in today, that's all," I said.

Luke smiled mischievously. "Really?" he asked as he stepped even closer. "Even though I've already told you, multiple times, that you're doing great?"

He was all up in my personal space now. Nervously, I gulped. "Y-yeah," I said. "I – I just wanted to have a personal win for today, I guess."

Luke hummed thoughtfully as he tilted his head down, towards me. I tilted my head up, desperately wanting to get that kiss that he was teasing me with. However, before I could, a very familiar voice shouted out, "Oh my gods, that was so cool!"

With a grimace, I backed away from Luke, before turning around and looking at the entrance to the arena where Nico, Ethan, and Alabaster were standing. Ever since Nico and Bianca had been claimed two weeks ago, the son of Nemesis and the son of Hecate had basically taken the son of Hades under their wings...which was both good for Nico – because besides Lou Ellen, Cecil Rogers, and a son of Apollo named Will Solace, pretty much every other kid his age at Camp had shunned him, and I felt really bad about it because of my own experiences – and bad for me.

Why, you may ask? Because, coincidentally, both Ethan and Alabaster (along with Silena, Katie, and Chris) knew about me and Luke being together, and they just loved cockblocking me to no end.

"Hi, Nico," Luke said humorously as he carefully stepped away from me, although I didn't really know why. The son of Hades was absolutely oblivious to gay romance, it seemed, although I didn't know if that was because of his age or because he was straight out of the 1930's.

...And frankly, I didn't really care. Or, at least, I wouldn't until that obliviousness stopped, anyways.

"Hi, Luke!" Nico exclaimed, with a wide grin. Then, he turned to me. "Hi, Percy!"

"Err...hey, Nico," I replied, while I tried to give Ethan and Alabaster the best "I'll-kill-you-later" stare that I possibly could. They both only grinned in response. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much," Nico said. "I was just wondering when I could start my sword training, too! I know that Bianca said she didn't really want you to teach me yet, Luke, but Ethan and Alabaster said that it's practically the first real lesson that everybody gets here, and I don't want to fall behind!"

"Oh, really now? They told you that?" Luke asked as he gave the son of Nemesis and the son of Hecate a very unamused look.

Their grins faltered.

Nico nodded enthusiastically, to the point where I was a little bit concerned that his head was just going to suddenly pop off.

"Well," Luke said as he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't want to get between you and your sister..." He trailed off, watching how Nico immediately drooped. "...But, that being said, I guess I can give you a few pointers, if you like."

Immediately, Nico perked back up. "Really?" he asked.

"Really," Luke confirmed with a smile.

Knowing that my time was almost up with him anyways – I was technically supposed to be going to the lake to canoe race with the naiads – I turned to look at him with a grin and said, "Guess I'll leave the two of you to it then."

Then, as non-discretely as I could, I put two fingers on my neck. It was a simple gesture that Luke and I had figured out how to do a few days ago, in order to display our affection so no one else except for Silena, Katie, Ethan, Alabaster, and Chris caught on to our relationship, since he wanted to keep it so secretive and all that. However, since it was still so new, Luke only looked blankly at me for a moment, before he blinked and his cheeks flushed ever so slightly from embarrassment. Quickly, he made the same gesture back.

I smiled in return, because while it may not have been a kiss (which I preferred) or an "I love you" (we were way too early in the stages of our relationship to say that, I knew, even though I desperately wanted to say it to him), it was still something between us that displayed affection. Something special.

"See you later, Nico," I told the son of Hades as I walked past him, all the while I not-so-subtly grabbed Ethan and Alabaster by the wrists.

"Hey!" they both protested.

Just as he was oblivious to the closeness between me and Luke, though, Nico was also oblivious to their disapproval at my leading the two other boys away. "See you later, Percy!" he said excitedly in response.

I waited until we were on the path leading down to the lake before I hit both Ethan and Alabaster in the arms.

"Hey!" Ethan protested. "What was that for?"

"Oh, you know what that was for," I replied with a scowl. "I mean, seriously? Again? It was funny the first time, and maybe the second or third time, but it isn't funny anymore. You know that Luke," here, I dropped my voice down to a whisper, "doesn't want anyone to know about our relationship, so there's only so many times a day we can get together. Sword training's one of them. And I thought that that would be the one time of day that's off limits."

Ethan, at least, had the decency to look ashamed. Alabaster, on the other hand...well, he just didn't look like he regretted what he and Ethan had done at all. And that made me angry. Really angry.

However, before the tug from behind my navel started up, I remembered a certain conversation that Silena and I had had about Alabaster, and a certain promise that I had made to her. What was it that I had said to her?

"...Tell you what," I had said as I stretched. "Assuming we survive this quest, I'll help you out with Alabaster like you helped me out with Luke, as thanks for both coming on this quest with me and helping me realize that Luke has feelings for me, too.

Despite how angry I was feeling, I couldn't help but grin viciously as I remembered the exact words I had told Silena.

"Uh...Percy?" Ethan asked me nervously, causing me to blink and look at him. "You alright?"

I blinked again, trying to make myself look as innocent as possible. "Oh, I'm just fine now," I said. "Especially because I know just how to extract my payback on one of you..."

I purposely trailed off for the dramatic effect that it would have, and I couldn't help but grin again when both Ethan and Alabaster paled.

"But I don't like Silena like that!" Alabaster protested vehemently a few minutes later, after I had successfully made Ethan all but run for his life.

"Oh, really?" I asked as I gave him my best disbelieving look. "Then why do you always blush when she calls you Ally? And why are you blushing now?"

"I'm not blushing!" Alabaster retorted. "I'm just...it's hot out here, okay? Of course my face is going to be red, 'cause I'm hot!"

"Mmhmm, sure," I said in response.

For several long, tenuous moments, Alabaster glared at me while I still stared back at him disbelievingly, because I knewthat he liked Silena romantically and I wasn't about to let him convince me of otherwise. Finally, though, when those several long moments were up, the son of Hecate let out a sigh and asked, "How did you even figure out I like her like that?"

I snorted in response. "Please, Al, you're not that subtle," I said. "Besides, it's not like that really matters...at least, not when I'm going to get you two together, whether either of you like it or not."

Alabaster's eyes widened. "What? You are? No, you can't do that!"

"And why not?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because Silena doesn't like me like that," he replied.

If he didn't sound as serious as he did in that moment, I would've thought for sure that he was joking. In fact, even though he sounded as serious as he did, I almost straight-up asked him if he was. Almost. Because instead of asking him that, I groaned, ran a hand through my hair, and said, "Oh my gods, I can't believe how dense you two are! It's like Silena was a pot calling the kettle black when she yelled at me and Luke for not realizing we liked each other sooner! Seriously, how can she not see that you like her, and how can you not see that she likes you?"

Alabaster blinked. "Silena doesn't like me," he said.

I snorted again. "Really? Then why did she ask you out at the beginning of the summer?"

He shrugged. "I thought it was a dare."

Okay, I couldn't help but think as I gave him another disbelieving look, that explained a lot. "Then why does she call you Ally? No one else does, do they?"

Alabaster shifted uncomfortably. "Well...no," he said. "But I always just thought that that was her way of teasing me."

"And why would she tease you?" I asked, and I very ashamedly admit that my voice may or may not have rose a few octaves as I spoke.

When he didn't immediately answer me, I sighed and ran a hand through my hair again. "Look, I know it may seem kind of hard to believe," I said, "but Silena really does like you, and I know that you like her. And since you can't stop cockblocking me, I'm gonna get you two together so that I can repay the favor."

...That, and like I had said before, I had made a promise to Silena that I was going to get the two of them together. But Alabaster didn't need to know that.

Not yet, anyways.

Word Count: 3,036

Next Chapter Title: I Make Good On My Promises Pt. 2