all's fair | l. castellan

three

"Dad?" I asked, completely shocked of the man standing above me. He looked down at me, his dark eyes not showing any emotion.

"Arabella, I don't have much time. You know how  dangerous this is. I have come to give you a warning." He says, urgently.

"A warning? About what?" I question, feeling a pit of concern in my stomach. My father hasn't visited me in years. Hell, he hasn't even claimed me.

"There's a storm coming. Be careful with who you trust. That's all I can say." His warning sounded so dark, but his face remained calm. My father then left as quickly as he came.

"Nice seeing you, I guess." I sighed, and decided that was enough of this forest for today.

Why would my father need to warn me? It's obviously important if he felt the need to talk to me. He could've gotten me killed.

I have only ever seen my father twice before. Once, a long time ago, when I was alone on the streets. The other time was when he came to me in a dream. A dark dream. The ground was disappearing under me, and I was running to save someone. I was going as fast as possible but it seemed as if they only got farther away. The more I chased them, the further they got.

As soon as I got close enough to see their face, I fell. I kept falling, eventually landing in a pitch black room. The room was empty, but I could feel the souls that had been there before. It smelled like death. Then, my father came. Only for a second. Just so I could see his face. He was letting me know he's there. Watching, helping.

My father could never claim me. The idea of it was funny. If I were claimed, I bet the world would end. All of the souls would fall into that dark room, full of death. I could always feel death. The lost souls surrounding me. I didn't fear them. How could I? They were calming. They communicated in a way greater than talking. I could understand them. They reminded me of the truth. The truth that I could never admit.

The truth that my father was Hades.
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Walking out of the forest, I didn't know who to go to. I couldn't talk to Luke, especially after what happened. He wouldn't like to hear about my father. He's upset I still care for him. If he knew who my father was, maybe he'd understand.

Still in the forest, walking slowly so I could think, I heard voices.

"We need to recruit. That's the reason we're still here." A boy whisper-yelled, clearly talking to another. That's weird, it sounds like Luke. Who's he talking about? What's this about recruiting?

"You sure that's the only reason you're still here, Luke?" The other boy taunts, obviously joking. Chris. Chris Rodriguez. Luke's friend. What were they doing out here?

"Oh shut up, Chris. When the time comes, she'll go with me."

"I'm sure you'd like that, Luke." Luke was silent, choosing to ignore his comment.

"We need to get the new kid on board. I don't know why, but it feels as though he's a strong ally."  Percy? What in the world are they talking about? Should I make my presence known? "Wait. Do you feel that? Someone's here." fuck, never mind. "Who's there?"

Well, nothing else to do now. "Luke?"

"Ara?" He said, now approaching me, followed by Chris. "What the hell? I thought you were someone else!"

"Yeah, nope, just me." Okay, so we're just ignoring what happened an hour ago.

"Chris, you should go check on the other kids. I'll take Ara back." Chris wiggled his eyebrows at Luke, causing him to roll his eyes. Chris then smiled at me, almost nervously, then left.

"Um.. you don't need to take me anywhere." I said, looking up at him. "What were you talking about so... secretively?"

"How much did you hear?"

"Just that you were trying to recruit or something? Whats that about?" I question, suspicious on why he was sneaking around. Obviously he'd tell me, right? He's my best friend.

"Oh, we were planning for capture the flag," Lie. "We were planning on recruiting Athena cabin." Truth, but that wasn't what they were talking about. Why's he lying to me? What's he hiding? Whatever.

"Okay..." I say, obviously not convinced. I can never hide my emotions from him.

"Ara, I'd never lie to you..you know that, right?" He seemed so genuine. He was totally lying.. but it's Luke. He probably has a good reason. I hesitated, and he slowly took my hand.

"Yeah. I know you wouldn't. I trust you, Luke."

"That's my girl." His girl? He doesn't own me... but if he wanted to..

"We should go back," I say, "it's almost dinner time."

"Can we stay here for a little longer? I need to talk to you." I really didn't want to stay, I wanted to take my hand out of his and run away, but the way he looked at me was so convincing, what was I supposed to do? I nodded at him, not sure what to say. "Look, Ara. I'm sorry for earlier. You're my family. I shouldn't try to force anything. You're just.... I like you a lot. We've been through everything together and now I can't imagine doing anything without you."

Wow. That's... sweet.

Now, I know I said earlier that this was never going to happen, and that I would rather stay alone than risk losing him. But in that moment, it was just us. It's Luke. I'd do anything for him. I should've just ran away, or told him I hated him, but the way he looked at me, there was only one thing I could do. So I kissed him. Like, a lot. He grabbed my waist and pulled me closer, and my left hand found its way through his hair, the right on his neck, pulling him down to me.

This felt right. Of course it did. I've loved him since I was 12. This was exciting. I knew it would always be him.

No matter what.