Serendipity
noun
/ˈsɛrənˌdɪpədi/
The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
OR
In which a son of Hermes and a daughter of Aphrodite find love in the least expected way.
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June 15, 2016, 4:00 am
In the depths of the night, Luke Castellan lay beside his little sister, staring outside into the darkened velvet sky. Hours had passed since he and Annabeth stepped inside the camp’s borders, but the memory of what had just happened was still fresh, flashing in his mind again and again, haunting him.
June 14th, 8:30 pm
“Luke, I’m tired,” Annabeth whined, tugging on the hem of his shirt. They had been walking for hours, unable to find a place to stay for the night without monsters finding them.
Luke sighed. Despite being tired as well, he knew stopping wouldn’t do them any good. “We’ll stop soon, I promise,” he managed to say, giving the girl a small smile. “Just hold on, okay?”
“But I’m so tired,” Annabeth whined once more. “My feet hurt from all the walking!”
Thalia stopped in her tracks, hearing the younger girl. “I’m sorry, Annie, but we have to get going or those bad monsters will catch up on us.”
Annabeth looked up at the older girl, electric blue, meeting hers. “But, I’m so tired….”
“I know, we all are, kid. But stopping won’t do us any good, the monsters we faced just hours ago? They’ll find us, and we’ll be too weak to fight. Grover said we’re almost there, so we need to get going,” Thalia explained, hoping to convince the little girl to tread just a little further.
“Thalia’s right, Annabeth,” Luke said, backing up the raven-haired girl. “Come on, you can ride on my shoulders, so you can rest for a bit.”
Annabeth stared at the ground, and eventually, after a few seconds, she nodded. “Okay.”
Thalia patted her on the shoulder before ruffling in the back pack she had in her arms. “Here you go,” she said, passing Annabeth the last granola bar. “Eat up; you’ll need it, kid.”
Luke smiled at the sight of Annabeth taking the granola bar from Thalia, relieved that she wouldn’t be whining again anytime soon and they could resume their journey.
“Come on,” Luke chuckled, taking a look up at the dark sky. “I think it's gonna rain soon, we better get a move on. We don't want the flying witches to catch up on us with their ugly dogs.” Despite being so drained and worn out, he picked up Annabeth and placed her up on his shoulders, continuing their journey towards Camp Half Blood.
If Luke had anything he was thankful for, it was the fact that he found family regardless of the circumstances.
“No, no, no!” Annabeth screamed, snapping Luke out of his trance. “Monsters!”
Luke whips his head around almost immediately, reaching for the little girl and wrapping his arm around her, pulling the screaming child close to his chest. “Shh, Annie, it’s okay,” Luke whispered, hoping to soothe the younger girl. “I’m,” he said, taking a deep breath. “...here.”
