Chapter 4, Luke
I was watching boy about the age of twelve or thirteen with sandy blonde haired and icy blue eyes running through a forested area. I could tell he was near Spokane because even in the forest there was still a faint light to bright for the moon to ever illuminate on its own. The boy was also holding a bronze sword that was illuminating a faint bronze light that gave me a more detailed look at him. He was wearing dark blue pants that had rips that appeared to have been caused by a large dog and green t-shirt that appeared to be a little torn by the shoulders.
"And I thought my clothes were in bad shape", I thought.
He was also wearing a black backpack that appeared to be half full. "Damn, Can't you just leave me alone", the boy whispered angrily. I heard a raspy laughter from the end of the forest.
"Hmm where are you little demigod I know you're here I can smell you", The unknown voice said with a twisted laugh. "Shit! Gotta move!," He whispered again.
He began to quietly run through the forest making sure not to step on any twigs or plants. I didn't know if the boy knew this or not but his sword's glow was probably going to give away his position because of the glow and might as well began to marinate himself already. He began to run closer towards the light of the city probably figuring there maybe people would at least see him and scare the monster off. But as the boy began to go towards the light it stepped into my view. The beast was the ugliest thing I've ever seen and by ugly I mean hideous. Its skin was a pale gray and looked like it had wiped dirt on itself because there were certain areas of it where there appeared to be large stacks of grim that seemed to be caked in deep because no matter what movement it took it didn't move an inch.
The beast had no shirt and its ugly fat chest was exposed and appeared to have a jagged scar that was as wide as my head and as long as my leg. The scar was also shaded a sickly pink and looked worse than the rest of the skin because of how out-of-place and unnatural it looked. It fortunately had the decency to cover its lower half with a loincloth; I think I would die from the mere sight of its nono area if it wasn't. Covered. The beast was at least ten feet tall and also appeared to be four feet wide. It was holding a club that looked like it just ripped off a big branch from a tree (it probably did) because it appeared to of had smaller branches attached to it and at the end it looked uneven.
Its most interesting part of the beast though was its head; Its teeth were sharper than the hound I fought earlier and had what appeared to be traces of blood and meat stuck inside its teeth. The beast only had one eye and yes you heard me right one eye. Its eye was a sickly yellow and it lacked a pupil. It then dawned on me what this thing was; it was a cyclops. I had read that most of them were sons of Poseidon and they worked for him crafting armor and weapons. But this thing did not appear to be working with Poseidon; it was obviously hostile and maybe even cannibalistic.
The cyclops swung its club up on its back.
"If you don't resist I promise I'll make it quick but if you don't I can't guarantee it either way I'm having some fresh meat tonight". The boy stopped running but took a swords' stance; I could see fear in his eyes but he still was able to put on a brave persona. "Well I see you still wish to struggle even though the net is already closed. I admire your bravery demigod but this is your last stand", The cyclops chuckled exposing his jagged rock like teeth.
The cyclops swung its club vertically trying to break his ribs and end the fight but the demigod rolled under the blow and stabbed the cyclops in its leg. It roared in pain and tried to kick him back but the boy dogged again and sliced its stomach leaving a scar almost as worse as the one it had to begin with. The cyclops swung its club at him and he dodged it again, But this time the cyclops was able to kick the kid knocking him to the ground and the boy lost grip of his sword which fell near the cyclopes. The boy was able to run but without a weapon he would be food in no time at all I had to do something but how. I felt my eyelids open slowly and I was on the old couch in the top of the building.
"Was it all a dream?", I thought to myself. I then heard a malicious laughter and turned towards the sound. I saw the forest; the same forest I had seen in my dreams. There was no time to lose. I ran off the building and flew towards the forest.
Soon I able to see the cyclops coming ever so closer to the demigod. I quickly descended to the forest; once I was passed the trees both the demigod and the cyclops were able to see me.
"Ah two for the price of one know that's a deal", The cyclops roared with happiness.
"Sorry buddy but your dinner arrangements are canceled." The cyclops laughed hysterically. "Do you honestly think you can take me? You don't even have a wea-."
I shot a bolt at the cyclops knocking it to the ground.
"I'm sorry what was that about not having a wea? I think I missed that part", I said as electricity bolted from my hands. It moaned with agony as the cyclops got up slowly. I could have killed it knows but considering the amount of lives this thing obviously took I decided to have a little fun with it. The cyclops swung its club directly at my ribs hoping to kill me quick but with some help from a little wind I leaped into the sky. The cyclops threw its club at me with furousious speed but flew out-of-the-way and it hit a nearby tree causing the entire tree to shake. Soon after I saw the tree fall down roots and all.
"Well, someone has some anger issues. I would suggest you see a psychiatrist." The cyclops expression turned from frustration to rage.
"You arrogant demigod I will eat the flesh from your bones I will", the cyclops screamed as it looked around rapidly to find an object to use. I then summoned a small amount of electricity in my hand waited. When I had a good shot I shot it directly in its one ugly yellow eye.
The cyclops screamed in agony and horror as it began to run around and flails its arms around in what appeared to be a desperate hope to hit me despite me being about six feet above his arms. I know you guys are thinking that it was pretty comical and believe me it was, but it was also extremely pathetic, and made me feel the slightest bit of sympathy for the monster. Though the Cyclops deserved much worse I couldn't find anything in my heart to make it suffer any longer. I shot a bolt at the squealing monster and the beast disappeared into a blazing golden light. Descending to the ground I shifted my attention to the boy with sandy blonde hair. From the boy's expression I could tell he was debating whether he should shake my hand in thanks or run for his life.
"Well that was definitely something", I said as I extended an arm towards him. The kid took my arm and pulled himself up.
"Yeah not everyday you see someone shooting black lighting out of there hands. I'm Luke Castellan son of Hermes." I was about to share my name but I stopped my tongue. I didn't know this kid and if I wanted to avoid what happened with the huntresses it would probably be a good idea to go incognito.
Luke noticed my hesitation. "And you are?", he said giving me an odd look.
"Sorry spaced out for a second. I'm Sirius pierce son of …. Zeus I guess." I had used my younger cousins name because he was always bragging about the fact that he was named after a star and Pierce just came to me. "Well then Sirius I thank you for saving me from the fate of becoming an entree."
"Yeah so where are you going anyway?" He looked at me strangely.
"Go where? We demigods have no place to go", he said grimly.
"Yeah but don't you have a mother or someone who takes care of you?" Luke's expression began to grow dark.
"I don't associate with my mother and would like to keep it like that", He said with hatred in his voice, but it wasn't directed at me though. It was more there was an invisible figure in the room and all the anger and hatred was going towards it.
"Sorry about that Luke I didn't know." Attempting to swallow the hatred he asked
"What about you and your mom? Are you trying to find her?" I grimaced in sorrow as the memories flooded back to me.
"My mom's no longer with us." His faced seemed to morph from that of anger to sympathy in a matter of seconds.
"Really? How did it happen."
I felt more more sorrow showing as I tried to form some sort of false sob story.
"Never mind man its obvious that wound still hasn't even scabbed yet. Sorry for bring back the memories." I forced the sorrow down my throat and quickly looked at his sword.
"What metal is that sword made out of?", I said trying to change the subject.
" You really have never heard of celestial bronze? I thought every demigod and there mother had a weapon made out of one." Luke went and picked the sword up from the ground and slid it back into its sheath.
"You realize that your sword glows like a neon sign and will probably attract any monsters in a one mile radius given the fact of how eye shatteringly bright it is so I would keep it in its sheath if I were you." Luke seemed to just stare awkwardly at his sword before slapping his face with his palm over and over silently saying "Stupid stupid". After luke snapped out of his self anger he asked "So anyway where are you headed Sirius?" I actually didn't think about that part. All that's been on my mind for the day or so is getting away from Seattle.
"Nowhere to be honest Luke."
"Well then how about you join me us demigods are safer when we're together." I thought about it for a moment. After about ten seconds I came to the conclusion that Luke was right. We would have a better chance of survival if we stick together and besides what other choice did I have. The huntresses were still close to the and it at least seemed that Luke knew where he was going somewhat.
"Alright then where are we going?", I asked curiously Luke pulled a map of the U. S out of his backpack.
"I was thinking of heading to Trinity California, then heading to Nevada."
"Ah yes and there's only about five hundred miles from Spokane and Trinity. That's practically nothing! I bet we could get there by nightfall if we start now", I said in a sarcastic tone.
"Yeah I know its pretty far from here but I'm planning on buying train tickets and we should get there in no time at all."
"Do you have the money for the train tickets?"
"Well no not yet."
"Well this is just perfect", I thought in my head. "Alright no need to worry about it right now we should probably get some shut eye", I said as I began to rub my eyes.
"Yeah I'm pretty tired to", Luke responded.
"Well come on then. I have a good spot where we can sleep." Both me and Luke began to walk to the building where I had slept earlier.
The sun looked like it was beginning to rise but the moon was still up in the sky causing a beautiful shade of violet to light up the sky. It was almost as if the sun and the moon were fighting for control of the sky and it appeared Artemis's victory would be short lived as Apollo came to reclaim the sky for himself.
"Well here it is", I said as I pointed towards the building.
"How are we going to get up?"
"That's simple my friend I'll just boost you up", I said while struggling to hide a devious smile.
I put both my hands together and he slipped his foot into the socket.
"Alright Sirius boost me up to that open window and then I'll help you up."
"Oh I thought I was going to use the winds to carry you all the way up there my bad but oh well can't back down now."
"Wait Sirius do-." I watched as Luke flew up in the air and gained just enough height to safely land on the roof. I floated up to the roof not even trying to contain my laughter.
"You're freaking face man. Oh just give me a second to catch my breath."
"Dude what the hell you could have killed me", Luke screamed. He looked so mad that I thought at one point steam may start to come out of his head.
"Alright I will admit it was pretty immature of me to do that do you forgive", I said still laughing.
"Only if you promise to never do that again."
"Alright but you have to admit it was pretty funny though." Luke grunted but I swear I heard him mutter "Maybe a little." I gave Luke the couch because according to him I almost gave him a heart attack. I took to the air to sleep and I will admit it was pretty comfortable not as comfortable as a regular bed, but it was still nice. my eyes soon gave into sleep. My eyes were greeted by the blazing sun's light and the cool spring breeze as my eyelids slowly opened.
I was still floating but I was barely an inch of the ground. Luke was still fast asleep. Know normally I probably would have woken him up to start the day but since Luke was up all night running away from a cyclops I think I can give the guy a break. After about an hour he began to stir.
"Morning sunshine time to get up we got work to do."
"Oh gods it's you I thought you were just some horrible nightmare I would wake up from, but alas the fates are cruel", Luke said in an over dramatic sarcastic tone.
"Your a freaking jackass you know", I said laughing. We may have only known each other for less than a day but I think me and him were getting along fine. "Alright I'm going to jump off the building wanna try?"
"As tempting as that offer sounds and believe jumping off a building and killing myself sounds very tempting I'm going to take the stairs", Luke said as he headed towards the door that led towards the stairs.
"The doors locked."
"They never made a lock that us sons of Hermes couldn't unlock."
'Alright suit yourself, I said as I jumped off the roof. It was accelerating to say the least. At the very last second I summoned the winds to slow me down, and to land with less force. So when I got down I landed barely making any noise. It took Luke about two minutes to arrive down.
"Damn that was a tough lock to pick but I got it", Luke said as he held the lock in his hands triumphantly. The streets of Spokane had lost their luster from the night before and now appeared as a plain city. We walked near an ATM and an idea burst into my head.
"Say Luke you're the son of Hermes right?"
"Yes I am."
"Which means you're the son of thieves right?"
"Well I prefer not to go by that but yes I am."
"Alright do you think you can get some money out of that ATM."
"Well I never thought of it but I guess I can try", Luke said as he stepped toward the grey machine. Luke began to type in odd sorts of number combinations and the ATM went blue screen about six times then the screen reverted back to its original generic state and it deposited a wad of bills.
Luke took the money and walked up to me. "This is about three thousand dollars. I looked at the money greedily. This was as much money I ever had access to.
"Well I know the first thing we're going to spend this on."
"What."
"Clothes its starting to look like you're a wearing trash bag", I said as I examined his clothes condition.
"Like yours are any better", he laughed. He was right I looked like I had been taking a leisurely stroll in no mans land. Fortunately there was an American eagle nearby. I began to browse the varied selections until I found a pair of black pants and a dark red t-shirt with black shoulder cuffs. Luke returned with an emerald green t-shirt and a pair of dark blue pants.
I noticed that there was a section for backpacks so I decided to pick one up. It was gray and made of cloth and appeared to be more for style over use, but hey beggars can't be choices. We both checked out items and changed into our new clothes.
"So, do you know how much money the train tickets cost"?
"I think there around two hundred bucks for each of us."
"Ah that's good we still have plenty of money left over." We went to the train station. It was plain looking station. Concrete floors that seemed to be chipped in some areas, a few metal benches with green rubber on them. The Train would arrive at 1:30.
I checked the large LED light cloak which read 1:00. "Great plenty of time". We both walked over to the man at the counter. "Two for the 1:30 train going to Trinity."
"Why are kids so young going to California by yourselves?", the man asked raising his eyebrow.
"Parents. Its kinda complicated." That actually technically was the truth. The whole reason we were even in this situation was because of our parents. Well technically for me it's because I exploded but my dad is somewhat to blame. The man nodded and handed us our tickets without another word.
We walked to where the train would arrive. I sat down on the metal bench and began to ponder our situation. It's probably a good thing I'm getting out of Washington after all the huntresses are probably hot on my trail and could reach Spokane in a matter of days and Artemis probably didn't appreciate me shooting her with a lightning bolt. But there's this part of me that can't help but feeling when I leave Washington behind my promise will stay there as well and I truly won't ever make it up to the people I killed to gain these powers. It's my fault that they were all dead. But what else could I do?
If I stayed in Washington I would be caught by the huntress. I could try to kill them. I probably could kill all of them if I wanted. It would make my life easier for a bit. But I would never do that the very thought of having another person's blood on my hands sickened me and besides I would just look like more of this abomination.
My best option would be to go with Luke and head to California. The huntresses probably wouldn't find me anytime soon and at least there it's a little warmer.
I looked at the LED cloak. It read 1:12 eighteen minutes to go.
I felt an odd presence staring at me. I looked towards my right to find two boys. One of them had light blonde hair cut short military style with electric blue eyes and a small scar on his upper lip. The next boy had light brown hair that was grown out a little unlike his blonde friend, light brown eyes and freckles. Know they would have seemed like ordinary kids except for the fact that they both were wearing golden breastplates that gave of a glow like celestial bronze, and the boy with brown hair had a short sword strapped to his waist.
Since nobody even noticed their armor I could assume that they were protected by the mist. They began to walk towards us. Luke began to notice their arrival and gripped the hilt of his sword.
"Relax we're not here to fight you after all we all are demigods here", The blonde boy with the scar said. Luke's grip on his sword loosened but he still kept it there.
"I'm Jason Grace and this is my friend Bobby Monroe", Said the blonde boy who I now know as Jason.
"I'm Luke Castellan and this is my friend Sirius Pierce", Luke said as his hand slid off his blades hilt.
"Nice to meet you guys", Bobby said cheerfully.
"So anyway, I'm a son of Jupiter and Bobby overhear is a son of Minerva. Who would your godly parents be?", Jason asked.
Luke grabbed my hand and pulled me up on to my feet.
"Well, Jason I think I have someone you'd liked to meet." Jason focused his gaze on me. I was going to speak but my jaw just seemed to freeze. Jason and I would have looked alike before the blast, but now are features were like opposites of each other. His short blonde hair conflicted with my long black hair and his electric blue eyes were the core opposite of my dark red eyes.
So to say the least we would never be thought of as cousins much less half brothers. In fact Luke seemed to look more like Jason then me.
"Hi, this may be kinda sudden but I'm a son of Jupiter too." Jason examined me for what felt like a minute. "Yeah, I know we kinda look nothing alike." Jason stopped staring at me and shook his head.
"No, its just that besides the red eyes you look almost exactly like my sister Thalia."
"Wait, we have a sister? Where is she?" Jason's expression seemed to speak a thousand words none of which I could understand except two words. She's dead.
The atmosphere in the room went dead cold and nobody dared open there mouth. I had never had any siblings before and now I was told I lost one. I would like to say I was grieving, but in reality I felt little to nothing. Yes it is somewhat sad that I've lost a sibling, but I never knew her and she never had any effect in my life. There was this little spec of sadness in my heart though.
It mainly came not from what we did but rather what we could of did. I had always wanted siblings now my wish had become half true.
"Hey ,Luke and Sirius we have a proposal for you", Bobby said trying to lighting the mood.
"What", me and Luke both said at once. Jason seemed to snap of his sadness and said
"The whole reason we came to talk to you guys is to ask if you would like to join camp Jupiter?" Bobby picked up where Jason had left off.
"Camp Jupiter is a place where demigods of all parents can come and have a safe place to live and hone their skills and powers." Their offer was very tempting. I had only been a demigod for about two days and I was already sick of it. At camp Jupiter I could probably find a place to relax and feel safe. Unfortunately my daydream was of course crushed by the harsh fist of reality.
I had barely escaped from the huntresses and there were only about twenty of them. If I was found out inside the camp I would likely be caught, tried, and executed faster than sonic can run. Luke's face seemed to light up at the idea of camp Jupiter. It was probably for the best that he goes anyway because he's been at this much longer and deserves a break. I heard the grinding of railways and felt the train pass by causing a gust.
"Well time to go."
We will discuss the rest of the details on the train", Bobby said.
I nodded and began to walk towards the train.