Tidal Wave (Luke Castellan)

The Switch

 I woke up with no recollection of where I was. Taking a look around, the memory of last night came flooding back to me. Luke. Where was he? A plate of untouched food sat on the nightstand with a note. I rubbed my eyes and picked it up. It took my eyes a few minutes to adjust before I could actually read it.

I had business to take care of early. I'll be back soon. Eat up! XOXO- Luke

I couldn't help but smile. He had to be busy being the boss of this place but he was still taking care of me. I put down the letter and grabbed the plate. Waffles with a side of raspberries, my favorite breakfast food. My heart flipped with the idea that he still remembered. He'd even given me orange juice to drink with it. My stomach grumbled and I dug in.

The door opened when I was just about in. Luke walked in and shut the door behind him. He looked troubled but put on a smile when he saw me awake, "Hey, how'd you sleep?"

"Really good actually. Thank you for the food," I shot him a small smile.

"You're welcome. They're still your favorites, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are," I scanned his face and my smile faded, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just..." he sat down next to me, "We found Percy, Annabeth, and a Cyclops on the ship. But you already knew that, didn't you?

I looked down at my hands, "I boarded with them."

He nodded, "I thought so. I would ask why you didn't tell me but I think I already know the answer."

"They're my brothers Luke. And Annabeth is like my little sister. This is what it means for us to be on opposite sides of this eventual war."

"I know but- did you say brothers?" his head snapped to look at me.

I hesitated, "Yeah, Tyson is a son of Poseidon too. Believe me, I didn't expect that either but he's been claimed."

Luke let out a low whistle, "I guess children of Poseidon are more common than we thought."

"You're telling me. I thought I'd go about life being the only one. So what are you planning to do with them?"

"I was about to go talk to them but I figured that you'd want to come with me. They're probably worried about you considering you disappeared in the middle of the night. And you're probably worried about them considering the company I've been keeping," Seeing my confused look, he added, "I have an army of monsters on this boat. That's why I have to be so rough with them. They know who I'm trying to raise and they have the same goal as me. That doesn't mean I trust them though. Actually, you're probably the only one I do trust fully, even if that's not reciprocated."

"You still trust me that much even though I didn't tell you about Percy and Annabeth being here?"

"Of course. Like you said, he's your brother and you're on his side. I know you don't agree with my actions but I also know that I can talk to you about anything and you won't judge. You're my best friend Cass, that hasn't changed," he stood up, "We should probably go so we don't keep them waiting too long. I do have to warn you, you're not going to like the way I talk to them. And I mean you're really not going to like it. You might start questioning what my real personality is but I swear to you it's what you've been seeing in our moments alone. But being mean is what I have to do to- "

"Keep your credibility, I get it," I stood up too and we faced each other. We took in each other's features as we usually did before we knew we wouldn't see each other for a while. The dread started setting in. I always hated this part but everytime we saw each other, it was fated to happen again. Maybe one day we'd get our happy ending. But today was not that day.