Chapter Text
The story of Hercules is one that inspires many, but it is quite dark. Once again, it was the gods that had caused his madness and yet they punish the victim instead of the goddess responsible. Hera, of course, was the one to blame. Maybe she was drunk, or just did it after her and Zeus had an argument.
There's a saying my mom used to tell me after I’d been sent home from school. “The ones in power think they have all the power but the ones who suffer from it are the only ones who actually hold the power.” I never really understood what she meant until she told me about Hercules. He should have died on his first trial. He shouldn’t have survived Hera’s madness. He could’ve been executed by the king, but instead pleaded for a punishment everyone else saw as far worse than death. When granted his request, Hercules held the power of his own fate in his hands. It was not under the gods control, nor the kings.
Hercules was given twelve impossible tasks, each with a higher mortality rate than the last. I’ve gone through some of his trials personally; most famously his fifth trial. To clean the Augean stables. To him, it was easy. All he had to do was divert the river. Not caring for the naiads living in the stream. Mine was more complicated. But also held more consequences because it was not my life in danger, but the lives of my friends and family.
I think it’s a curse. The gods find it funny to relive the past by forcing heroes to redo one of Hercules’ trials. If not more.
Luke faces the eleventh trial. To steal a golden apple from a hundred-headed dragon. The only good thing to come out of this is the fact this story has already been told. We know how to deal with Ladon, which is probably the hardest part of this quest anyways. I don’t know how Luke’s first attempt at this went. They called it a failed quest but Luke told me he had gotten the apple but never got the chance to deliver it to Olympus. He didn’t say anymore and it felt wrong to ask despite how curious I was. He told me about his quest when he found me after I snuck out of cabin eleven.
I was crying. I missed my mom and I was angry at my father. I didn’t even know he found me until he sat down. We stayed out there together until sunrise, no other words besides his story were exchanged. But nothing else needed to be said. I had fallen asleep at some point and somehow woke back up in cabin eleven. When I asked Luke about it, he just smiled and shrugged. But he didn’t need to say anything, I knew he was the one that carried me back. That was the moment I had what my mom called a ‘puppy crush’. Even then I knew it was dumb. But then he’d laugh at one of my dumb jokes and my heart would explode and nothing else mattered.
Even after his betrayal, nothing about my feelings for him really changed. There were times I hated him; times I envied his bravery for going against the gods; times I was angry he didn’t just … tell me how much he was hurting. Even though I knew he saw me as more of a nuisance than a friend. That’s what I told myself to survive the next four years of my life. I think that’s why Hermes was always trying to get me to bring Luke back. Not Annabeth or Thalia.
I didn’t know much about Luke’s past my first time around. What I did learn was from Krono’s ‘generosity’ and Nico. Hermes told me more at Luke’s funeral. When it was only the two of us left standing at his grave under a grey sky. He hugged me, told me it wasn’t my fault. I wanted to punch him. To kill him. Because none of this would’ve happened if he had been a better father. But I couldn’t move. I don’t remember how I got back to camp.
We stayed in the motel room the first day. I didn’t know jet lag could be a thing without flying. It’s called jet lag, not walk-across-the-word-lag. Every single muscle in my body was beyond tired, but we all helped each other stay awake until the sun started setting.
There were board games. Hermes was kind enough to leave us a Walkman, but it was obviously a gift for Luke considering the cassette had all his favorite songs on it. He played it out loud for us, murmuring the lyrics while Thalia destroyed us at Uno. At one point I had fifteen cards in my hand. Fifteen. Ten of which were the same color and unhelpful.
When the sun started setting, we packed our board games away and collapsed into bed. Thalia found a channel of older cartoons in English. We were running low on food but we ate a granola bar together on the beds. Thalia passed out the second her head hit the pillow.
I settled back onto the pillow, glancing over to make sure the door was double locked. “Thalia said something earlier,” Luke says. I turn my head to look at him, “She talks a lot.” He smiles, “Yeah. But it was … about us.” I frown, “That doesn’t narrow it down too much.” He tilts his head in agreement. “Okay but one specific thing,” he says, “Earlier … in the labyrinth. She said I was your … boyfriend.” I pause, “…She did.”
“And you said that I wasn’t,” he says slowly, not meeting my eyes, “So if we’re not … dating then what are we?” I look up, suddenly interested in the ceiling. “Percy,” he asks. I don’t reply. I don’t know how to. “We don’t have to be … something but could you answer me,” he asks softly. I take a deep breath, “I don’t know … I want to be something but there’s a lot going on. Your quest, me being hunted … I don't want you to be overwhelmed. A relationship can wait, can’t it?”
“And if I don’t want it to?”
Finally, I turn to look at him again. “What are you saying,” I ask. Luke takes a deep breath, “I’m asking if you wanna go out with me. Officially.” My breath hitches and my face floods with heat.
Oh.
Oh.
Luke Castellan just asked me out.
He just …
He frowns. And suddenly I realize I haven’t said anything for too long. It’s not my fault! I didn’t expect him to just … and so casually?
“If you don’t want to—“
I roll over and pull him closer, placing one hand on his waist. I reach up, combing my fingers through his hair and use that grip to pull him even closer, leaning down to kiss him. I’ve never kissed anyone. When Annbeth kissed me, it was on the cheek. So this is my first kiss. Luke Castellan is my first kiss.
He tenses but I can feel his muscles relaxing under my hands. I can feel the slight tilt of his head before our kiss deepens. It’s messy, uncoordinated and very obviously my first kiss but it is single-handedly the best thing I’ve ever experienced. My cheeks burn with heat. One of Luke’s hands holds the side of my warm face and his other hand finds my Achilles spot once more. It’s perfect. His lips are so soft. There’s something sweet I can taste but I don’t care to try and name it right now. I pull away. Very reluctantly, I might add. My eyes stay closed, but I press our foreheads together, taking a deep breath.
Neither one of us move.
“So is that a yes or…?”
My eyes flutter open and I lean back just enough to look at him properly. His blue eyes glowing in the soft yellow light of the lamp. His cheeks are pink. His lips slightly parted. Gods above I should’ve never kissed him. I should’ve never given into the temptation because I don’t want to stop.
“Luke,” I whisper, “I don’t … I’m not … good enough for you.” He frowns. I’m being incredibly selfish. I want him more than anything. I have for years. I could have him if I just …
“Why,” he asks. I swallow, “I’ve got a lot of … baggage. I don’t want someone else to carry that.” His thumb brushes across my cheek, “So you can drown in it alone? You refuse to let me carry my baggage alone. Why can’t I help ease your load?” I exhale softly, playing with his hair almost subconsciously. “It’s not fair to you,” I murmur. Luke scoffs, “Be greedy, Percy.” My breath hitches, “But—“
He kisses me again and suddenly I’ve forgotten my weak argument. I melt. It’s so soft but I can feel the reassurance he’s trying to give me. He pulls back. I let him.
“It’s dangerous,” I murmur, “For me to have what I want.” Luke sighs, “And what do you want?”
“You.”
His eyes widen and his face flushes dark red. “If I was to get what I wanted … I wouldn’t care about anything else,” I add, “And that’s dangerous.” Luke swallows, “You’re already a dangerous man, Percy.” It sounds like a good thing when he says it. “Be greedy,” he whispers, “Because I want to be greedy too. I don’t deserve you. Or this. Or life but I want it. I want it all. I want everything. So just—“
I kiss him again. Softer than the other ones, but shorter too. “Okay,” I whisper. Because I really suck at telling him no. Because if he asked me to take over Olympus right now, I’d have it for him by midnight tomorrow.
He said I was a dangerous man. But Luke Castellan makes me a dangerous man.
He smiles softly, “Okay.”
There’s a banging on the door that started me awake. I roll out of bed and groan when my face hits the hard carpet. I can hear Thalia’s laugh and a grumble from Luke. I groan softly and push myself up on my arms, peaking over to see Luke at the door.
“Are we getting arrested,” I ask softly. Thalia throws a pillow at me. Luke closes the door and turns, holding a tray in his hands, “Food delivery.” I blink, pulling myself onto the bed, “From who?” Luke shrugs, “My dad, I think. The note is signed ‘best dad ever’ so …” I snort softly, “Yeah. Definitely Hermes. What else does the note say?” He shrugs, “Basically that he wasn’t expecting us til today so he’s sorry there wasn’t dinner but we don’t have to worry about eating granola bars anymore.”
“Luke. Your dad is making it really hard to hate him,” Thalia says. Luke snorts and rolls his eyes, “Yeah. Yeah. Try hard.” He sits beside of me on the bed and Thalia turns to face us, picking one of the containers from the tray, “Pancakes? Oh I haven’t had pancakes in years. Thank you, Luke.” He gives her a weird look but doesn’t say anything else. We start eating in silence— the only noise is the soft sound of the tv still playing.
“So. We’re here. What are we doing,” Thalia asks, halfway through swallowing her pancakes. “Well, Hercules first had to fight the Hydra,” I murmur, “There are several different legends as to where exactly the Hydra is, but a lot of them say it lies on the edge of the world.”
“So … we think the Earth is flat now,” Thalia asks. Luke chokes out a startled laugh, coughing up his pancakes. I stifle my own. She grins, very obviously proud of herself. “Well,” I clear my throat, “Back then a lot of people believed the Greek monsters didn’t reside anywhere outside of Greece. So when they say the edge of the world, they mean—“
“Athens,” Luke says. I nod, “Yeah. That’s our best bet. And we’re already here so it doesn’t hurt to look. It probably won’t be anywhere too obvious but just keep in mind that some natives might have true sight, so we should be more discreet.” Thalia frowns, "What makes you think that?” I shrug, “They needed to see what was happening to spread stories, right? Just doesn’t hurt to be a bit more careful, is all.” Thalia raises an eyebrow, “So we’re supposed to fight a giant monster without being seen through the mist?”
“Pretty much.”
“I can manipulate the mist,” Luke says. I look at him, “Really?” He shrugs, “How else do you think we’ve been carrying around weapons without getting arrested?” I blink, “You were … holy shit, that’s amazing.” He waves a dismissive hand, “It’s not that hard.”
“I can’t do it,” I argue. “That’s not surprising, you can’t do a lot of things,” Thalia argues. I turn to her, smiling, “Can you do it?” She shoved another bite of pancakes into her mouth. Luke laughs, “Okay, so let’s make a plan. The smartest way would be to collect the blood from the body, so the heads don’t regrow and we get in deeper shit. Two of us distract the heads and one of us collects the blood.”
“Me and Percy can distract it,” Thalia says. I nod, “We’re here to help. So we’ll keep it distracted. I’ve fought one before.” “Without beheading it,” he asks. I purse my lips and look away. Thalia snorts, “I’ll keep him from beheading it. Just focus on not dying from the blood.” Luke nods, “Alright.” He leans over to grab his backpack, pulling out a book that was unfamiliar. “What’s that,” I ask. He shrugs, “A map. Snatched it from the brochure stand out front.” I smile. He unfolds it.
He examines it for a moment before pointing at the bottom right, “Were here. So the closest place to us would be the Hadrian’s Arch.” “Isn’t that also Zeus’ territory,” Thalia says. Luke pauses, “We can do that last.” She shakes her head. “No. We can go. Just don’t expect me to go in with you. Yell really loudly if you find it and I’ll go in.” Luke nods, “Alright. Fair enough. Let’s go.”
It’s only about half an hour walk and surprisingly empty. Then again, this is Zeus we’re talking about, I wouldn’t worship him either.
“Good luck,” Thalia smiles, patting my shoulder. “If anything bad happens in there, I’m blaming you,” I murmur. She smiles. The arch is hollow, nothing but trees and roads on the other side. “Call it,” I ask. “Wait, Percy—“
I step through the arch and suddenly the ground give out under me and I start to fall. “Percy,” Luke shouts, but I can’t do anything to stop myself from falling. Well. This isn’t how I imagined I’d die. I thought it would be more badass. Maybe an explosion— even if I’m resistant to fire. Not falling. That’s embarrassing.
Something hits my back, wet but solid and I stop moving. I’m not falling anymore but I don’t feel any ground below me either. “Percy,” Luke calls out again. “I’m okay,” I shout back, “I think? I can’t see much. Can Thalia get me out of here?” There’s no response for a moment before Thalia’s voice echoes down to me, “I … don’t know how to fly. Can’t you … I don’t know do something else?” I scoff, “Starve to death!” I can’t really see anything other than their silhouettes but Luke turns to Thalia whispering something to her. She groans, “Luke—“
“You’re not going anywhere high. You’re going lower if you think about it,” he argues, “Thalia, please. I can’t do anything against dirt.” She hesitates. “Fine. Percy, close your eyes. This is going to be quick.” I squeeze my eyes shut, “Okay. I’m ready!” A few seconds later, there’s a gust of wind and then Thalia grabs my arm and I’m yanked into the sky. I yelp softly but Lee my eyes closed until my feet hit solid ground.
“Thanks—“
Luke hugs me. I smile, wrapping my arms back around him, “I’m okay. What was that?” “A trap,” he murmurs. “Figures,” I scoff, rolling my eyes. “Well the Hydra definitely isn’t here,” Thalia says, dusting off her clothes, “Next one.” I nod. Thalia starts walking— I don’t even think she knows the direction she’s supposed to be going in. Luke pulls back, “Sorry.” I frown, “For what?” He shakes his head, “I should’ve seen it sooner. What … did you land on? You look perfectly fine.” I shrug, “It felt like moss, but I couldn’t see to check. I don’t think it was supposed to kill me. Trust me, Zeus would never do that with a hole. It would probably be violent. Like with a lightning strike or—“ He kisses me quickly, “Don’t give him any ideas.” I smile, “Yes sir.” He shoved my chest, “Shut it. Let’s go. She went in the wrong direction.” I snort, grabbing his hand, “Thanks.”
“For what,” he asks. I shrug, “Convincing Thalia. I know she has a thing for heights. And flying. And anything related to her father.” He raises an eyebrow, “How do you know that?”
“Apollo.”
He blinks, obviously confused. I smile, “The last four years of my life could be a book series. You got the short and sweet version. I’ll tell you anything you wanna hear when we get back to camp.” He smiles and nods, “Alright.” I glance back at the arch. It didn’t feel like a trap.
When Zeus threatens me I can feel down to my very core. The anger. The hatred. The disgust.
But it felt weirdly calm. I couldn’t see anything around me but it didn’t feel menacing. It felt … safe? Granted, I don’t think he was expecting me to be the one in his hole, but I’m still alive so it’s definitely weird. I could sneeze and he would be mad, so the fact I walked into his territory and walked out without so much as a scratch is baffling.
Zeus would never try to protect me.
Would he?