PREVIOUSLY:
I nodded as if it were obvious, sending both the men into wide eyed stares. "I'm Jason Jackson. Percy and Annabeth are my parents."
The man looked like he was about to cry, yet he was somehow happy. His head dropped to his hands, revealing a strange scar on his face. I gasped and grabbed Charlie's arm. I couldn't find myself able to speak. I knew who this man was. I knew how he knew my parents, why he was so adamant to save them. And I knew why he wound up in Tartarus. Kronos was inside of him when he died, so it made sense he would end up in Tartarus.
Ah, Luke Castellan. The hero of both sides.
Now:
"You're Luke?" I asked unbelievingly. "Luke Castellan!"
He hung his head shamefully. I couldn't believe it. I had seen a lot of strange things these past months, but this took the cake. I met Daedalus himself, I found Bob and Damasen, got my mother's dagger, fought monsters I didn't even know exist, but this was just too much to believe.
Then don't believe it.
"When I died, Kronos died with me. He went to Hades knows where, and I was stuck in Tartarus. The fates told me that Percy and Annabeth would fall into Tartarus, and I'm not sure if it was part of my punishment or them setting it up to find you, but they did. Then I made the deal with Daedalus, which I guess it's a good thing he didn't find them or else you wouldn't be here and whatever they did with the doors of death wouldn't have happened. I may not have saved them, but I can save you." He offered me a hand. "Maybe I can do one thing right."
I knew what had happened when my parents had trusted Luke in the past. But when it came down to it, he killed himself to end Kronos. He saved them. And the look in his eyes was the same one I saw in my dad's, and my mom's, and every other demigod that had seen too much and been through two too many wars. He was just Luke now. He was the man my mom trusted with her life, the man that welcomed my dad into camp when nobody else would. He was the man who had just saved me, who had just saved Charlie.
I shook his hand. "You're remembered as a hero," I told him. "You had a shroud burned after the war and were celebrated with honors. When my dad was brought onto Olympus after the war, he was offered immortality. He turned it down. A lot of the reason was my mom, but a lot of it was you too. Instead, he made the gods swear to claim their children by at least the age of twelve, and he broke the ban that kept the gods from seeing their children. My parents made sure you will always be remembered, as a hero. You killed Kronos, you ended the war."
"I started the war," he protested.
"But how you finished it is what counts," I said. Luke lifted his head and smiled.
"Your dad was offered immortality?" Charlie whispered hoarsely to me. I nodded and smirked at the look on his face. Luke was still smiling when I turned back to him.
"You can sleep here for the night. I'll take a look at your friend's leg and when you're fully rested, we will navigate our way out and get you two home," he suggested.
Home. The idea of home was like imagining how it would feel to touch the grass when you live in the South Pole.
You'll never be home.
Charlie hummed at the idea and I helped him get onto one of the three cots in the room. I assumed one of them was meant for me, but I sat down with Charlie instead.
"Get some rest, Chuck. I'll keep watch." I said gently. Charlie was too tired to argue. He laid his head on my lap and somewhat curled himself around me. He was more sick than he'd admit, and the River Phaethon didn't seem to have done anything.
Luke wasn't angry that I didn't trust him quite enough to go to sleep without Charlie keeping watch. He only nodded in understanding. Trust wasn't the only reason I was staying awake though. This had become kind of a routine that I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to break. It had been a long time since I'd slept without Charlie keeping watch.
Luke stared at me like he had a million questions to ask. He said nothing so I decided to go ahead and answer as many as I could. I started with, "My parents got together after the first war." Luke perked up at this so I continued, "They were happy for seven months, but that's when Hera got involved…" I explained everything that happened to my parents after the war, giving him a brief history of the Seven and the others that aided in the war against Gaia. He hung onto every word, much like Damasen but with a lot more emotion. I finished off my story when my parents finally got a house and started a family.
"So, is it just you?" he asked.
I smiled and shook my head as I thought of my siblings. "No, there's four of us. I'm the oldest. Next is Casey, she's thirteen. Or well, fourteen now." Guilt slammed into chest when I realized it. I had missed Casey's birthday. I had missed my own birthday, and Dad's, and Mom's. I'd missed Oscar's first birthday. I swallowed the thought, along with my tears, and continued.
He doesn't remember you anymore
"She's a lot like you actually. She's strong, quick-witted. She's always got my back in a fight, and she always speaks before she thinks, which has gotten her in some tough spots before. She's almost as smart as mom, but she acts like dad. Of course, mom's pride keeps her anger in check most of the time. My other sister, Adora, is five years old. I think. Depending on how long I've been gone, she might be six." I was ignoring my tears at this point. "She's a beautiful little ray of sunshine. She looks exactly like mom, but she isn't a lot like her. Books are annoying and math is stupider than putting coffins in the Hades cabin, according to her. She's happy about everything and always manages to keep a positive attitude. My youngest sibling is Oscar, he's over year old by now." I couldn't talk any longer without crying, so I stopped. Charlie wasn't awake, but his hand found mine anyway.
Luke could tell I was getting upset and changed the subject. "They sound amazing. So, who's this?" He asked, motioning towards the boy in my lap.
Nobody will remember his name.
I smiled. "Remember the story about Leo Valdez? He found his way back to Ogygia and saved Calypso. They settled down and had Charlie. This is Charlie, in case you haven't guessed." Charlie grunted in his sleep as if he knew I was talking about him.
Luke asked about my mom a lot. She'd changed a lot since he'd died, and it seemed like he was trying to get to know her again through me. Not that I was complaining, but the more I talked about her, the more I missed her.
Eventually, my eyes began to droop. I was going to let Charlie sleep, but he woke up anyway. His eyes were a bit brighter now, but I could tell the poison was still affecting him pretty badly.
"We're not in Tartarus," was the first thing he said. I smiled and bent down to kiss him a good morning.
"We're not," I confirmed.
Luke watched us with a mixture of surprise and amusement. It's not like we were hiding our affection, it was obvious there was something going on between us but I blushed anyway. It was going to take me a long time to adjust to having other people around.
"Jase, go to sleep. Now that I can see you in normal light I can see the bags under your eyes prove you're more tired than you say you are," Charlie chided. I rolled my eyes at his mother-hen attitude but didn't object.
You're weak
There was an actual pillow here, not a bloody crumbled flannel. I laid down behind Charlie and he sat up on the cot to talk to Luke. Maybe it was just because we weren't in Tartarus anymore, but I fell asleep quickly.
