Daughter of Cupid (Luke Castellan fan fic)

Broken friends and hearts

"Good Gods, you're doing it again..." Nico mutters, toying around with his bowl of oatmeal in front of him.

"Doing what?" I question, re-checking my homework for any mistakes.
After staying on the cliff with Asclepious, he snuck back to his dorm, and I headed into the Hermes dorm to shower and change.
Since I was still too buzzed with excitement to sleep, I went to get myself breakfast while I looked through class assignments.
Nico joined me, still prowling around campus before he heads back to bed for the afternoon. I love his work ethic....The guy actually got himself only morning or night classes so he can dedicate the afternoon to napping.

Nico scowls. "Smiling....." He gives a nauseated grimace.

I set down my pencil to stare at him. "OH, so it's a crime now to smile?"

He shrugs.
"You're just doing it a lot lately...it looks like you went to sleep with that boomerang of yours stuck in your mouth." He smirks.

I have a feeling he's right.
Everytime I come across something that reminds me of Asclepious, it brings me to smile.
"Well I'm sorry to be smiley instead of all doom-and-gloom like you." I reply with a roll of eyes.

Nico lets the comment bounce off of him effortlessly.
"I'll try to forgive ya." He shrugs thoughtfully. "Hey, did you ever talk to Cupid and ask about that shield thingy you experienced when the bull attacked?"

I release a snort. "Shield thingy?"

He waves his spoon at me airily. "You know what I mean..."

I frown, remembering that odd shield mist that had come from my hands as I had defended Nico and the little girl......I still don't know what that was about.
"No, I tried contacting Eros the other night through Iris messaging....I got Ares to show up instead. Told me to leave Eros out of my annoying and pathetic problems." I grimace, remembering the awful attempt.
It's a mistake I wont be making again..

Nicos face scrunches up in pity. "Bummer."

Loud footsteps are overheard, and Leo has come out of nowhere, completely out of breath. "Guys...." He pants, reaching our table. "Percy needs..."
Leo takes another breath. "Percy needs..."
He inhales another mouthful of air.

"C'mon man, get it out already!" Nico scolds.

Leo takes a deep breath. "Sprinted everywhere looking for you Carys! Percy needs your help...Annabeth had a nightmare."

I nod, bolting up to have Leo lead the way.
Nico follows us. "What the hell is Carys gonna do, hold her and tell her a bedtime story?"

"Not now, Night of the Living Dead!" I scold lightly, as Leo leads the way to the Athena dorm.
I can understand why Percy would look for me, especially if he couldn't find Piper. My charm touch ability.
"What happened Leo?" I ask as we head up towards Annabeths floor.

Leo shrugs. "Dunno, Percy found me heading out to breakfast and he told me to find you because of Annabeths nightmare."

I nod, pausing as we reach her dorm door.
"Guys, I think you should wait out here."

Leo nods respectfully, but Nico looks appalled.
"I'm not a sidekick, Carys! You can't just command me to sit still." He scoffs, looking at me in disbelief.

Leo looks offended. "Hey! And I am one??"

"You are compared to me." Nico sniffs, crossing his arms. The resemblence between him and Hades is somewhat frightening.
Leo not seeming to have a better comeback, nods.

I sigh.
"We all know you're going to go in there and not be able to help yourself by throwing out sarcastic commentary....If she's in a bad place, she doesn't need that."

Nico still looks annoyed and disappointed with me.

"We both know I'm going to be telling you anything that's happened afterwards...I practically tell you everything!" I reply scowling.

Nico nods appreciatively.
"Except for what you see in the cyclops..." He mutters bitterly.

I cross my arms to glare.
He groans. "Fine....We're goin'. C'mon man, let's get some more grub."
And with that, the two depart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Allowing myself into Annabeth's room, I feel I already know what the cause of Annabeths nightmare is without even having to hear it.
As I watch Percy sit on her bed holding the crying Annabeth, I'm guessing it's exactly what I'm thinking it's about.
Rather....Who it's about...
This isn't the first time Percy has called me or Piper to help calm Annabeth down. Ever since the war, she's been having dreams, usually about someone that was lost in the battle.
Usually they're about.......Him.


"What was it about?" I ask, making my way to sit in front of the two of them.

It's Annabeth who answers me.
"L-l-luke......H-he was there....H-he was there!! He had my d-dagger...He u-used it...It's m-m-my fault he's gone." She cries softly, tucking her head into Percy's chest.
Percy immediately tightens his hold around her.

I close my eyes, feeling nothing but sympathy for my friend. Ever since Castellan used her dagger to kill himself and Kronos, she's been plagued with nightmares replaying his death.
In a way, she blames herself because it had been her weapon Luke had used.

I grab ahold of Annabeth's hands.

"It is NOT your fault." I say in a low tone. "Luke made a choice....It was his choice. It wasn't your fault." I murmur, watching as Annabeth gets a glazed look to her eyes.
"Not my fault." She whispers back, seemingly hypnotized by my words.

I pause, before thinking of something more.
"You don't remember the nightmare....Instead....You dreamed about Percy. You two were training...And you beat him." I smile, as Percy tosses me a grin.
"You had nothing but sweet dreams Annabeth." I say, as she nods along with my trance.

Annabeth calms herself, and immediately she starts smiling.
She frowns once looking to me and Percy.
"What the Tartarus just happened?" She questions confused.

Still holding onto her hand, I have an idea. "You were about to shower and dress, so we could go to class later this afternoon."
She nods, and proceeds to grab a change of clothes and a shower kit, leaving Percy and I alone.

Percy releases a deep sigh once she leaves the room. He collapses on her bed, covering his eyes.
"Thanks for throwing that last bit in."

I nod.  "How bad have the nightmares gotten?"

Percy sits up, grimacing. "They come and go. What I think happened, was she saw a guy who looked like Luke talking to Nico the other night, and it just got in her head." He shrugs.

"A guy who looked like him was talking to Nico?"

Percy nods. "Yeah, when she was coming back from training, she saw Nico and a Luke-alike talking, and she just started thinking about him." He looks sad for a moment.

I press a finger to his arm. "You wont feel sad." I say quietly.

He nods.
"It just....Still effects her....I know it does. She told me....That she wonders if there was something she could've done differently to save him. Maybe, he didn't have to die."
Percy grimaces.

"Hey...There is nothing more you guys could've done. You guys are heroes!"

Percy smiles slightly. "Have you ever noticed you talk about the war like you weren't even with us?"

"Well.....I wasn't there for what you guys went through at the end...All I really did was help Thalia get that Hera statue off of her so she didn't die." I shrug.

Percy chuckles. "I bet Thalia's thankful you stuck around."

"Maybe a little." I smile. "I just wish I could've been there for you guys when you defeated Kronos."

Pain returns to Percy's face.
"We didn't defeat him...Luke did."

I shrug.
"You know what I mean."


Percy nods, still looking sad.
"Just be thankful you weren't there when I handed Luke her dagger....I don't think I'll ever be able to not think of the broken look on her face when he used it on himself."
He says quietly, staring into space.

I release a heavy sigh.
"Just chalk it up as yet another reason to hate Luke Castellan." I remark bitterly.

Percy though, shakes his head.
"Believe it or not, I truly can't hate the guy."

"Of course not..." I reply seriously. "The guy only tried to kill you a couple dozen times...Helped get a lot of our friends killed off...Hosted an evil titan.....Guy seems like he was just a total sweetheart."

"He...."

"Went wrong.....I know" I sigh, knowing if I don't drop the Luke subject that I would get another lecture how he was the hero of the prophecy.
Even though he's dead, the guy's still an asshat in my book.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After my Hieroglyphics class, I make my way across the busy campus, lost in thought.
I can truly say I have no clue how I managed to get an A out of that midterm.
For me I thought I had been even weaker with Hieroglyphics than changing drachmas to dollars.

"Carys!" Someone calls from behind me.

Turning around, Triton is jogging into view. Wearing sweatpants, but nothing else. His bare chest visable to the entire campus, and his hair is soaking wet.
He must've just climbed out of the ocean.

"Hi Triton..." I say awkwardly, just now remembering that near kiss we once shared.

"I need to speak with you regarding something of great importance." He says firmly, holding his hand out for mine.