Tidal Wave (Luke Castellan)

The Talks

I sat on the cliff, skipping stones off the water. It was after curfew so I wasn't supposed to be out here, but I had too much on my mind to sleep. Between the memories from the hellhound earlier and Percy now being confirmed as my brother, things were a bit overwhelming at the moment. I didn't know how to feel about the whole situation.

"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" a certain Hermes kid sat down next to me.

"I could say the same to you," I glanced over at him.

"Well, I knew my favorite girl couldn't sleep so I couldn't either."

I looked down, a small smile and a blush crossing over my face. He knew it always got me when he called me that.

"So, how're you feeling about the whole Percy situation?" Luke asked.

I looked back up at the stars, "That's a good question. Obviously this whole situation is really bad. I mean, a child of the Big Three being discovered always leads to chaos. It happened with Thalia and it happened with me. It's scary to think what sort of things will happen now that Percy's been discovered. And... I'm kind of scared for another reason too," I hesitated. This had to do with something I'd never told him about. But I'd known him for 5 years at this point. It was time for him to know, "It has to do with my mother."

"Cass-" Luke began but I cut him off.

"No, I want to tell you," I took a deep breath, "There's a reason I ran away when I did. It wasn't because of the monsters or the gods. It's because my mother died. She was murdered, actually. The last thing she'd given me was my knife. She knew the monsters were coming after me and gave me some protection. We were going to go to camp in a few days anyway. But someone broke in and killed her. I don't know who or what it was. I just know I came home one day to find her dying on the ground. Her last words were to run, to get to safety."

I closed my eyes, "This is going to sound stupid. But finding out Percy and I share the same blood scares me. The only other person who shares my blood whose not a god was murdered. What does that mean for Percy? Being a child of the Big Three automatically puts a target on his back. I know, I lived it. I don't want to lose someone else like my mother but he and I, we're bound to live dangerous lives."

Luke was quiet for a moment. He didn't look at me. I wanted him to speak, to give me a reality check. I wanted him to tell me I was overreacting. But instead, he didn't say anything. I knew I had just dumped a lot of information on him but I was slightly panicking here.

"I know how you feel," Luke finally said.

"What?" my head snapped towards him.

His brown eyes raised to meet mine, "I felt the same way too when I got here. My mom... she tried to become the next Oracle of Delphi. Only it didn't work. Instead, it drove her mad. Some days she would be okay. Others she would become this person I didn't recognize. My dad, he didn't help her; he couldn't cure her illness. So I ran away. When I came here, I was worried at first. The only family I'd known had gone crazy. But when I got to know them more, I knew that wouldn't happen to them. What happened to your mom won't happen to Percy. They're not the same people. Okay?"

I nodded, "Okay."

Luke reached out and grabbed my hand. He laced our fingers together, "I know the whole sibling thing is scary. But it will be okay. Percy's a tough kid and he can handle anything that comes his way."

I squeezed his hand and laid my head on his shoulder, "Thank you. I really needed to hear that. And thank you for telling me that about your mom. I know it's not something you like to talk about."

"You told me about yours. It was only fair," he laid his head on mine, "I'm sorry about your mom, by the way."

"You didn't have to. I would've understood if you hadn't, you know that. But thank you for telling me your story. I'm sorry about your mom. That's... that's why you don't like the gods, isn't it?" I paused, "And... thank you. I really miss her. Sometimes I still have nightmares about the day I found her."