Dear son

Tenth chapter

Hiii!

Sooo, part two of the interesting chapters. I hope you liked the first one and are ready for the second.

This time will be focused on two other idiots (which I hope you like).

Btw what do you think about Silas? He'll make another appearance in this chapter too.

Todays TW's are: violence (again), mentioning of death, mentioning of guns

Thank you so much for reading!

I hope you have a great day,
Your huso

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Dear son,

Do you remember the accident I was in when you were a baby? You know the one where my leg basically fell off and I had to get my uterus removed... Yeah, that one.
Well, I just found out from Ares himself that he was the one who caused it! He told me so casually that I first thought it was a joke. I even laughed. But no, dude, he was fucking serious. He said it was to prevent me from getting knocked up again. Of course he pretended that it was because he cared about me and he knew how traumatising it was for me to get pregnant even though I didn't want any kids... yada yada. But I know the real reason!
He's still embarrassed that a son of Athena managed to trick me into having his child and that it actually worked. He is such a dick.  He didn't even bother to get to know you. He just sees Athena in the family tree and that's all he needs to know.
Anyways, fuck the gods and peace out.

With all my heart,
Your mom

I was staring at my phone, running through the forest. Only after stealing team yellows' flag and bringing it back to our base did I check my phone. I was met with about then messages all from Gaia. The first ones started off calm, but the last three were written in all caps and within the span of then seconds. So I made my way to where the snapmap led me in the hopes that it wasn't too late (Luke was there too apparently, so I wasn't too worried).
When I was close enough I put away my phone, trying to find my own way. There had to be some clues like blood, fighting noises...
"Come on, man! Let her go!"
Or voices. And that was definitely Luke. I followed the sound and walked up to a clearing. So I wouldn't be seen immediately, I stayed hidden behind some trees. It was better to first access the situation before doing anything stupid.
A guy was standing with his back turned to me, but it didn't take me long to recognise him. The dark messed up hair and the bronze longsword on his back screamed Jason. Of course this dickhead had to be involved in whatever was going on. He was holding something in front of him. I had an idea and as soon as I spotted some strands of long grey hair sticking to Jason's shirt my theory was proven.
Jason had somehow found Gaia and was now using her for something against Luke (at least according to the pissed face he was making). His eyes were fixated on Jason, but something kept him from attacking.
"I said, if you surrender I will let her back to you. If you don't I will kill her, right here and now." Jason said. He was trying his best to sound all rough and tough, but there was that desperate tone in his voice. He needed this, because he was one of those kids that really, really wanted the approval of their godly parents and the only way to win Ares affection was through winning tournaments, which Jason never did. Thanks to Luke and me.
Oh, now this started to make sense. Jason was using Gaia as leverage against Luke, so he would give up and with one of the two strongest competitors out of the game, Jason would have a way bigger chance at winning this thing (it would probably be best to not tell him that two of the three teams were already pretty close to losing).
And Luke wouldn't give up. His pride wouldn't allow it. Winning these tournaments was almost sacred to him. For me they were fun and a good time to show off my skills, but for Luke they were so much more. It got him status and honour at this school, two things that were very important to him.
Good thing I was here. I could stop all three things in just one move: let Luke keep his pride, make sure Gaia didn't get killed and get Jason off his power trip.
So while Luke was still trying to find a way around surrendering, looking more and more frustrated by the second. I took my bow again, putting in my last arrow. With a steady hand I aimed, double checked and then fired. While the arrow was still cutting through the air, the closing alarm sounded, declaring the tournament to be over.
The arrow reached its target and dug its way into Jason's back. His scream was drowned in the shrill alarm. Slowly he fell to the side, exposing Gaia, who had turned around in confusion and was now staring down at Jason. Luke seemed just as puzzled. He was looking around, trying to find the shooter. To make it easier for him I stepped out onto the clearing, holding up my bow. "Hey, guys! It seemed like you could use some help."
All the tension washed off Lukes face and he hugged me quickly. His body was shaking a little, but it was probably from an adrenaline rush. "Perfect timing."
"Yeah!" Gaia, who had been smiling at me right until now, stepped over Jason's body with a frown on her face. "Thank you, Percy! I thought he was going to let me die."
Only then I noticed the bloody stab wound on Gaia's shoulder, probably caused by Jason. It didn't look life threatening, but it had to hurt like a bitch. No wonder Gaia was lashing out (well lashing out in her term, still pretty calm in normal people terms).
"I wasn't going to let him kill you... I was just weighing out my options." Luke put on his wry smile, which usually got him his way. Not this time though.
Gaia's face went dark and she looked like someone just punched her in the face. It didn't take her long to recover and as soon as she did she jumped at Luke like a wild animal screaming: "Weigh your options? Weigh out- You fucking dick, I will-"
Before she could do anything she might regret later, I pulled her off Luke, who seemed a little disturbed by the sudden attack. I made sure to bring some distance between the two of them before letting Gaia stand on her own two feet again, because she might be smaller than me, but that also gave her an advantage in escaping.
"Guys, that was enough violence for a day." And I let go too soon.
Gaia kicked herself free and hopped back on Luke, yelling something about him being an ass. This time he managed to get off on his own. He put her down in front of him, holding her wrists so she wouldn't be able to almost beat him a third time.
"Gaia, I am very, very sorry. It was selfish of me to wait even a second and not surrender immediately. Something like this will never happen again." Luke looked at her the entire time with his puppy eyes. I knew those all too well, but I also knew that he did not use them a lot. So he did feel really bad.
Gaia didn't say anything, but she did relaxed her body, showing that she would stop jumping on Luke now. I took that as my sign to start leaving. In one fluid motion I picked up the passed out Jason and threw him over my shoulder. He was not as heavy as he looked, so I could easily carry him back to the medi tent.
It was only a ten minute walk to the open field, since we had been almost at the edge of the forest. Most of the demigods were back there already, a lot of them waiting in a line in front of the medi tent. There were people with various injuries, ranging from stab wounds and broken bones to bruises and sunburns, the healers (aka the children of Apollo) could deal with anything.
"I'll just drop Jason off." I said and just let the guy roll off my shoulder down to the grass. Some kids turned around to see what I was doing, but when they recognized Jason, they gave me smiles and approving nods. "Gaia, do you want the healers to take a look at your shoulder?"
"No, it's okay. I have some pretty good stuff at home, so we don't have to wait in line." Gaia said with a smile.
Luke glanced down at her shoulder which was still bleeding, then disappeared in the tent. No comment or explanation. Gaia looked up at me confused but all I could do was shrug. At that moment I had just as little of a clue of what was going on in Luke's brain as she did.
"Hey, Percy!"
I turned around to see who it was and was met by a flashing smile and glowing brown eyes. Before I had fully caught up with what was happening, Silas had pulled me into a hug. A quick but strong one. When he let go of me, he left on hand on my shoulder, keeping me close.
"We won! And all thanks to you!" Silas was so enthusiastic about it he hugged me once more, before really letting go of me. He seemed to be in a hurry, because before I could even say anything about it, he already turned away again. "Talk to you later!"
For the second time today I was left speechless, only able to stare after him. Why did he alway have to disappear so fast! Like stop walking away and let me say something, so I don't have to look like a complete idiot every time!
"Who was that? He looks cute." Gaia glanced up at me with a grin, raising one eyebrow suggestively. My mouth dropped. I had no clue why she would think something like that after such a short interaction. And I barely ever talked to Silas. There was nothing between us that would deserve such an eyebrow raise (and I definitely didn't need another weird "sexual" encounter with anyone, I was still processing the last).
"Silas. A son of Apollo."
"Mhm..." Gaia hummed, but was distracted by Luke coming back out of the tent, carrying a white bandage with him. He held it up to show us, Gaia was smiling already.
Well, they made up quickly...