Would've, Could've, Should've - A Luke Castellan Story

Chapter 2

There's a new kid at camp. Grover brought him in yesterday, said he killed a minotaur. Eurydice has been dying to see the kid, but he's been in the infirmary and she doesn't want to overwhelm him with new people. That's why when Luke comes by and finds her telling her he's awake and staying in the Hermes cabin for now, she doesn't hesitate to run over there with Luke's hand in hers. 

Some of the kids stand towards the back of the cabin looking towards the kid and whispering about what happened. Luke and I approach the kid. 

"Look, if you want to give me a hard time, just do it tomorrow." He sighs at the two of us, "I can't do any more today."

"Heard what happened to you on the hill. And I just... wanted to say I'm really sorry." Luke speaks up.

"I know what you're going through. Believe me." Eurydice adds on nodding sympathetically at the kid. 

"I'm Luke. That's Eurydice." Luke introduces us.

"Percy." The kid responds holding out his hand. I shake it first and then Luke follows. 

Later that night Eurydice heads back to her cabin leaving Luke and Percy in the Hermes cabin. 

The next morning Eurydice decides to go for a walk. She takes a stroll through the flower fields laying in the grass, watching the sun rise over the hill. The wind blowing Thalia's leaves. She walks slowly back to camp seeing Percy and Luke talking and Clarisse storming away angrily. She rolls her eyes at the daughter of Ares, before moving over to Luke and Percy. 

"Well, she seems nice." Percy quips as Clarisse walks away.

"Ares kids." Eurydice says approaching them, "They come by it honestly." 

"Why don't they mess with either of you?" Percy asks the couple. 

"They know better," Luke responds honestly. 

"Luke's the strongest swordsman at camp." Charlie comments from behind the group.

"So, they leave you alone because 'glory?'" Percy asks, "So if I get glory, Clarisse wouldn't mess with me either?"

"Exactly," Luke says. 

"And people think I'm a big deal?" Percy asks hopefully.

"Well yeah but-" Eurydice starts before he cuts her off.

"And my dad's got no choice but to claim me."

"You can't force the gods to do anything." Luke says sympathetically placing a hand on Percy's shoulder.

"Well, yeah, but... it would make it harder for him to pretend I don't exist, right?" 

Eurydice frowns at Percy, understanding his need to be claimed. 

All Luke says is, "Maybe."

"Well, great." Percy responds determined, "Where do we start?"

Luke leads Percy and Eurydice to the training centers. "A good source of glory are feats of skill. So, we gotta figure out what you're good at." He explains to Percy as we walk.

"I wanna be very clear about this, I've never done anything like this before, and it looks super dangerous." Percy protests.

"And you'd never killed a minotaur before. Until you did." Eurydice teases the younger messing up his hair. 

We decide to start with archery. Luke and Eurydice each take a turn. Luke hits the bullseye and Eurydice hits the target, but not dead center. She was never great at archery, she was much better with a blade. Then it was Percy's turn. He loaded the bow shakily, before pulling back the string. He releases the arrow and it somehow shoots straight up into the air. The campers run out of the way of the arrow and Percy stands there sheepishly.