slightly trembling fingers combed through his messy hair, and he let out a heavy sigh as james began to speak. he rolled his eyes and scoffed once again, shaking his head in disbelief. â of course he did. he didnât tell me that, though, did he ? so i am going to worry, i am going to go after him. even if he had told me not to⌠i would. but you already know that. â his eyes remained focused on jamesâ face as he began stitching up the wounds. it was easier to ignore the pain that way. he shook his head slowly when james asked if he knew about his brother, teeth digging into his lower lip. he couldnât even IMAGINE losing his sister. â letâs face it, olympus was never lukeâs favorite. iâm not entirely surprised he was on the other side. what surprises me is that he could put all of his loved ones at risk. his brother was the whole reason behind all of his resentment, because he feels like the initiative took him away from him, and he basically put a target right on his back. thatâs what i donât understand. i know he cares about me, about you. so why would he still do something like THIS ? it just doesnât make sense. which is why i need to find him, james. donât you want answers ? â of course, that wasnât the only reason hades wanted to find his old recruit. heâd been an absolute WRECK without him, and he yearned to be close to him again. luke CLEARLY didnât want to be found, but hades knew that it was only because he was trying to push everyone away. it was easier that way. he knew that game far too well not to recognize it. â l i s t e n. luke isnât someone you can just⌠let go. i canât just give up on him. i know thatâs probably what he wants, but he only wants it because he thinks thatâs what he deserves. and itâs NOT. thatâs why i canât fucking do it. and neither can you. i wonât let you. â
    listening to hadesâs insistence that he would still go after luke, NO MATTER WHAT, james couldnât meet his eyes. itâs hard to imagine life without the olympus initiative, now ( theyâve changed everything, even his name ). his entire life is here, from the friends that heâs made to the profession heâs now dedicated himself to completely. but what was equally as hard to imagine, maybe even h a r d e r, was continuing on without luke. leaving it the way they had after the explosions, even though theyâd made some sort of peace, just didnât seem right. and, yeah, hades wasnât wrong. james wanted to know WHY. â what, youâre just going to... leave olympus? i donât get what you think youâre going to a c c o m p l i s h here. heâs not going to come back. maybe, if the shithead cooperates, youâll get some answers. maybe. but beyond that? what are you gonna do, drag him back here by his hair? â james tied off the last suture on one of hadeâs wounds, moving to start on the second, smaller injury. â i donât want to go on some wild goose chase after someone who made the CHOICE to leave us, hades. itâd be different if he was forced to, but he chose to join ICHOR. â he paused, quieting. â and if we donât find anything, or maybe we do, i donât know if iâd be able to handle it. iâd rather spare myself. â
