Till Sunrise┊Luke Castellan

23 .·:· Into the Heart of Deceit

Dicksee, Frank. 'Romeo and Juliet'. 1884

Words: 1,136

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Everyone was cheering as they made their way down the hill, the sounds echoing off the trees and resonating through the very earth beneath their feet. And Phoebe as she walked down arm bushing with the boy next to her, secretly, even though she hated thinking this, wished she could melt into the crowd or at least have others by her side to diffuse the spotlight that seemed to blaze on him alone. She was happy for him, of course, she was happy. But it was hard not to feel inadequate next to the chosen one, even if he wanted nothing to do with the title.

She mustered up a smile and patted him on the back, thoughts swirling in her head about how she was six years older and wouldn't ever compare.

But then, through the sea of faces, she saw him.

Luke.

And his smile instantly made her forget about how she was feeling, and when his eyes locked onto hers, and the world seemed to fall away.

"Hey," she said, looking down at Percy, her voice tinged with both excitement and nervousness. "Would you be okay if I left you?" she asked, smiling shyly.

Percy squinted his eyes and then looked ahead of them, seeing what she was looking at before a knowing smile rose on his face.

"Yeah, go. I've got to talk to you guys later though," he said.

"Yeah, okay," she replied, smiling, before jogging ahead of them. Towards Luke. Towards the boy who made everything else disappear.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Didn't miss me too much, did you?" She smiled widely up at him, cheekiness radiating from the apples of her cheeks.

"Oh, it was lovely with you gone." He nudged her side gently. "I got so much done."

"Oh, I'm sure," she said sarcastically, laughing as they fell into step together behind Percy.

"Don't I look pretty today?" She fluttered her eyes up at him.

He just grinned down at her. "What's happening right now?" He laughed.

She tangled her fingers together behind her back and took extra long steps, throwing her head back to look at him, a smile bright on her face. "I dunno..." she said slowly, "I just think I look really pretty."

He jogged up to her, poking her sides as his chest crashed into her back. She giggled in response. "Fishing for compliments, are we?" He teased.

"I very much am fishing for compliments. I'm just waiting for the hook to pick some up." She laughed out.

"Well then," he said, resting his chin on her shoulder, "you look gorgeous."

She tried to fight off the blush rising in her cheeks. "Reallllyyy?" she asked slowly, still trying to tease him even though her voice was soft and her eyes twinkled as she looked up at him, smiling.

"Really," he confirmed, his smile widening as he gazed at her. "You always do." Their faces grew closer together.

"Can we not do this?" a voice called from ahead of them.

They turned their heads to see Annabeth, a grin instantly growing wide on Phoebe's face.

"Annabeth!" she said gleefully, trying to run forward, but Luke's arms snaked around her waist, pulling her back to him.

"Oh, I hate this," Annabeth said, making a face as she walked forward.

After failing to untangle herself from his arms, Phoebe swatted him a few times. "How are you? Have you been checked out by—"

"Yes, I've been past the medbay," Annabeth said, cutting her off. "That doesn't matter, we need to talk," she said, looking seriously at the pair.

Phoebe's smile faltered as she noted the urgency in Annabeth's eyes. "What's going on?" she asked, her tone shifting to match Annabeth's seriousness.

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"Clarisse stole the master bolt," Percy said, bewilderment colouring his voice as he looked around at the group. Confusion gnawed at him. Why was she still at camp? Why hadn't Chiron done anything?

"It's complicated," Annabeth replied.

"How is it complicated?" Percy exclaimed, his frustration evident.

"Everyone was ready to join the war here. To start fighting each other," Luke explained, shaking his head. "And most of our best supporters had left for Olympus to actually start fighting each other. An accusation against Clarisse-"

"Without proof," Annabeth added.

"Exactly. Without proof, it would have lit this whole place on fire," Luke concluded, his expression grim.

Phoebe, deciding she had been silent for too long, spoke up, "How sure are we that it's Clarisse?"

Percy snapped his head to her, frustration clear in his eyes. "How are you still questioning this? Ares was in on it."

"That doesn't mean Clarisse is," Phoebe countered.

"Who else would it be, Pheebs?" Luke interjected, his tone gentle but firm as he looked down at her. Phoebe averted her eyes, guilt pooling in her gut as she stared at the ground. She couldn't answer him, even though she hated to admit it, Clarisse was the obvious answer.

Luke took a deep breath, continuing, "Everything is different now that you're back. You've stopped the war. You saved the world. Now, it's safe to tell Chiron and finish cleaning up this mess." He looked around at everyone, determination etched on his face. "I told him we needed to meet him away from the celebration so we can talk without any of Clarisse's supporters noticing"

"We keep an eye on Clarisse while you're gone," Annabeth added, tilting her head towards Phoebe. "Make sure she isn't going anywhere," she said, her gaze shifting to Luke as Phoebe nodded.

Luke looked at Phoebe, his face blank. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me and Percy?" he asked, prompting her.

"No, it's fine. I want to catch up with Clarisse anyway." Luke looked like he wanted to press further to change her mind, but stopped himself.

Luke put his hand on top of Annabeth's shoulder. "Okay, great. You two with Clarisse, us with Chiron. When everything is done, we'll meet back here." He turned to Phoebe. "Make sure you grab your travel med bag, okay?" She gave him a nod.

"Ready?" he asked, looking at Percy devoid of emotion. Percy just nodded back at him and turned to leave the cabin, Annabeth following closely behind.

Phoebe quickly grabbed Luke's hand as he turned away.

"Luke, I disagree that it's Clarisse..." She looked almost pained as she decided what to say, "but if you... if you have to," she led his hand to her lower ribcage, "aim here," then she led it to her upper abdomen, "or here.
It will be easier for me to fix up later." He looked at her and gave her a small nod.

"Be safe okay?"

"Always," he replied. And the boy who understands her heart as if he carries it in his own body gifted her a small smile and left.