Back To Black | Luke Castellan

02

The next day Nadia woke up and got dressed. She stopped was about to walk about of the cabin when she noticed Percy sleeping.

He was having a nightmare.

Percy's first night here and he was having a nightmare. She felt bad for him. Nadia also noticed Luke, Chris, and the others were talking.

After three years of knowing Luke and living with him, she felt like something was off with him. She didn't exactly know what it was but she would figure it out sooner or later.

Luke must have felt her stares and looked over at her. They stared at each other for a few moments before she turned around and walked out of the cabin.

Nadia walked over to the fields where everyone was training for the game. Since she was the only child of Hades she didn't have cabin mates. So she didn't have to lead a cabin.

But Chiron had her and Luke be co counselors.

Luke for Hermes and Nadia for Hades. Luke would try to talk her into ideas but she ignored them. Even though they didn't like each other, he still tried to talk to her.

But Nadia would always say she's busy and hang out with Clarisse. It wasn't always a lie, her and Clarisse were really close and became good friends. They had common interests.

Capture the flag was different. Even though her and Luke were co counselors, they were on different teams.

She spotted Annabeth over by the Athen kids and she headed over to talk to her. "Annabeth." She called out and the girl looked over and smiled and waved at her.

"Hey, Nadia." She said back to her.

"How's it going?" She said walking next to the girl and they watched the kids. "They're looking good. Almost ready for the game." Annabeth told her.

"That's good. It's going to be different from last year." She said and Annabeth looked at her. "Hope so." She said quietly.

Nadia looked down at her and smiled. "Don't worry. I won't do anything that bad. I have strict instructions from Chiron to make it not be like last year otherwise I won't be able to participate in any tournaments or games." She said.

She nodded. "Chiron really talked to you about last year?" She asked and Nadia nodded. "Yep. After everything with Luke and getting claimed by Hades, Chiron talked to me if there was any problems he would have to inform people about me. Whatever that means."

"I don't think Chiron would do that. He would never do that, even if you're the daughter of the most hated god." Annabeth said.

"Thanks." Nadia muttered.

"Anyways how's your team looking?" She asked, changing the subject. "They're pretty good. Stronger than last years." She said looking around.

Her eyes found Luke and Percy. They were talking about something and looked over at them. The two girls just stared at them.

Nadia's stare was more mean when looking over at Luke. She saw them look away and walk over to the archery set up.

Annabeth looked between the two of them. "You really hate each other that much?" She asked and Nadia looked at her. "Yep." She said.

Annabeth shrugged her shoulders. "Why?"

She sighed. "There's something about him that I don't like." She said but shook her head. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. I'll talk to you later. Good luck." She said and Annabeth smiled.

"Yeah, you too." She said and Nadia walked away. She walked towards Percy and Luke as Percy let go of the arrow and fell to the ground. Nadia saw the arrow fly past her face.

Percy looked at her with horror on his face. "I'm so sorry Nadia." He said to her. He looked over at Luke and the others on the ground. "Should I try again?" He asked.

Everyone shouted no at him.

Nadia walked over to him and held her hand out to him and he took it and she pulled him up. "Thanks." He muttered and she smiled at him.

"Let's go make a sword. I need to pick mine up." Nadia said and they headed over there. She picked hers up and Luke wanted Percy to try to make one. They helped him into the gear and her guy gave him the tools.

The first two of Percy's hits were good and then he hit it wrong and it flew onto sheets nearly hitting a kid and it started on fire.

Luke grabbed him and they ran from the scene.

They grabbed food and Nadia joined them for once and Luke was shocked but she sat next to Percy. "Is there a Greek god of disappointment? Maybe someone should ask if he's missing a kid."

"Oizys...but she's a goddess. And her whole thing isn't really disappointment, it's more like failure." Chris told him. "So that's Luke's mother." Nadia said looking at him with a smile on her face.

He glared at her and she shrugged her shoulders and put her head down playing with her food. "Where going to find the thing that you're good at. I know it." Luke said to Percy.

The bell chimed and they got up. "Our turn."

"Our turn for what?" Percy asked. "Burnt offerings. The gods like the smell, so it gets their attention before you say a prayer." Luke explained.

"They like the smell of burnt Mac and cheese?" Percy asked. "They like the smell of begging." Chris said and turning to walk away. "Hey, I was going to say that!" Nadia said as the two walked away.

It was now night and Nadia was sitting on her bed reading a book. She heard footsteps approach her and saw someone standing there.

She looked up to see Luke and rolled her eyes. "What do you want?" She asked him, turning the page. "Can you help me out with Percy tomorrow?" He asked her.

"Why do you need my help? Ask Chris?" Nadia said.  "He's busy." Luke answered. "And? I'm not a good babysitter." She said looking back at her book.

"Not like you have anything to do tomorrow before the game. I know Chiron talked to you, said you can't do anything in the game." Luke said, crossing his arms.

"I can't start the fight but I can defend myself." She said with a smile looking back at him. "Just this once, for Percy. I think he needs someone else there for him." He said.

"What do I get in return? I don't do things for free." Nadia said and Luke sighed.

_____________________________

Authors note:

The comment about mama May
was foul. I felt bad even for writing
it. No May slander will be tolerated.

We love her and Sally's baking.🫶