ʟᴜᴋᴇ ᴄᴀsᴛᴇʟʟᴀɴ // take my eyes to guide you home :
❛ thalia —- ❜ name catches in his throat ; three syllables he chokes on. TA. LEE. UH. they were best friends once, kindred spirits, self-made BATTLE BUDDIES ( what a stupid fucking name, battle buddies. trust the usa to make something so important in the army sound like something for kindergartners ). they’d been extensions of each other — what was it plato said ? soulmates : when zeus tore the four-armed four-legged human in half & forced them to spend their lives looking for their other half. thalia was his soulmate, platonically or romantically or seething with hate, they were two sides of the same coin. they knew each other’s strengths, each other’s weaknesses ; they were equally matched in battle. but he’d gone & severed that connection irreparably, & he’d died for it.
LUKE CASTELLAN, SON OF HERMES - A HERO ? no. luke castellan, son of hermes, an angry, hurt boy facing his demons alone. he didn’t deserve anyone’s forgiveness or sympathy. looking into thalia’s eyes, he knows that for certain. & he’s sorry. so completely, absolutely sorry. part of him will always wonder if any of it was inevitable ( if not him then who ? chris ? ethan ? silena ? SOMEONE ELSE ? ) someone else hurting, someone else sure they’d lost everything ; that it had been the only solution ? SOMEONE ELSE SYSTEMATICALLY BROKEN DOWN BY THE TITAN UNTIL THEY WERE A FORMER SHELL OF THEMSELVES ; UNTIL THEY FINALLY GAVE IN ? but it doesn’t matter. hypotheticals are useless. he’d done it all. he’d been the instigator. the blood was on his hands ( out, damn’d spot ! ) & his cross to bear. why he’s been brought back, he’s unsure ( his soul pulled back so uncouthly from hades’ domain — he’d had plans there, ways to try to atone for his mistakes ! ), & seeing her in front of him just makes everything so much worse. HE DIED & HAS BEEN BROUGHT BACK AGAIN, & SHE’S IMMORTAL. oh yes – he was conveniently fed that information whilst still trying to piece together the idea that he was corporeal once more. swallows thickly ; tries to say something around her name which sticks so completely in his throat he can barely breathe. can’t. i’m sorry.
she wants to keep walking ; really , there’s nothing the huntress wants more than ignore the oh-so-familiar voice echoing from not so far away . after everything that’s happened , from leaving home to turning into a tree , to coming back , to becoming a huntress , to the war , it wouldn’t surprise thalia if her mind had finally decided to lose it’s way , to throw the brunette off the rails && let her spiral down into whatever deep , dark hole would make her think that luke was calling for her . he wasn’t . he was gone , gone , gone --- && she didn’t say goodbye . she wants to keep walking , but her feet refuse to go anywhere . it makes her angry , makes her fingers curl into a fist , nails light dig into her palms && blue eyes shut out of pure frustration . was this really what she deserved ?? after everything that happened , after all tricks her mind could possibly play on her , did it really have to be luke ?? with eyes now open , she takes a deep breath && gathers as much COURAGE as possible only to quickly turn around towards where she assumed the voice came from . oh no .
&& just like that , she found herself unable to react to the sight , which resulted in no more than slightly furrowed eyebrows matching parted lips while thalia stared at the one person who once was her whole family , then a part of it , then merely a stranger . he looked ... fine . just fine , alive , && nowhere near as distorted as he did when she last saw luke . her head tipped to the side while the curiosity of a child washed upon the huntress’ ivory canvas . how long had he been back for ?? does annabeth know , does anyone know , or is she the first to see him ?? does he even want to be seen at all ?? the daughter of zeus never thought there’d be so many questions to ask , && also so little courage to ask them all . a foot dared move forward , but nothing happened except for the awkward yet comforting silence that filled the air . after a couple of seconds , thalia finally spoke up . ❝ --- is that really you ?? ❞ she questioned , though there was more to the question than merely the physical aspect .
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