RETROGRADE - luke castellan.

three.

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CHAPTER THREE

LINGERING HOPE

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"WHAT'S GOING ON?" I asked, catching a shuddering girl before she fell to the ground, "Is it a monster?"

The girl was unfamiliar. Perhaps she hadn't lived long enough to fight in the war. Her face was flushed red, but whether it was because of her tears, the force of her screams, or anger, I couldn't tell. She looked up at me with a glare, "Are you dumb?"

I blinked.

She pulled away from me sharply before muttering something under her breath and storming toward the Hermes cabin.

What was that about?

I turned to Luke, whose brows were furrowed with worry. It didn't seem like he'd caused this, judging by the look on his face. This was far before Kronos had begun recruiting demigods for his cause. I'd been too quick to judge. I needed my head to be absolutely clear and unbiased before I went on this quest, or I could possibly ruin everything before it even began.

I followed Luke's gaze. Among a few of the older Athena children, he'd spotted Annabeth, crying. He'd disappeared in a flash, flying toward her. I wanted to follow, but a large crowd had formed around Annabeth, and I couldn't get through. The older Athena children were glowering down at me, furious. The campers from the Hermes cabin had been herded outside by the same Athena girl who'd called me dumb earlier. She lined everyone up and began screaming at them like she was some evil dorm supervisor.

"Alright, which one of you did it?" She looked almost hysterical. "You better hope you confess before we make you."

Most of the Hermes campers looked at her with disdain and irritation.

"What in the Hades are you talking about?" Eve asked, clearly not pleased to be screamed at out of the blue.

"You think you're sooo funny, don't you?"

"Cass," Luke appeared through the crowd before defensively standing between her and the Hermes campers, "Calm down. What happened?"

"One of your little twerps released tarantulas in our bunks." Cass spat with such venom that it was clear she wasn't going to back down before finding the culprit.

"You woke us up for this?" Wesley Burch crossed his arms before continuing with a mocking smirk. "Do the widdle Athena babies want someone to sing them a lullaby?"

A ripple of stifled laughter emerged from the Hermes campers. My heart hammered in my chest. Of all the cabins to provoke the night before the quest...

Travis Stoll couldn't seem to resist adding fuel to the fire. "You should have bothered the Apollo cabin for that." He snickered.

The Athena campers exchanged seething looks, and Mateo Vargas, the head counsellor of the Athena, cabin stepped forward, placing a hand on Cass's shoulder before she started an all-out brawl. His other siblings didn't look satisfied but stood down as well. "Someone from your cabin did this." Mateo said before tossing a crumpled piece of notebook paper to Luke. "Any clue who it could be?"

Luke gave him a skeptical glance and unfolded the paper. His eyebrow arched as he drawled, "'From the Hermes Cabin'? Really?" He shook his head. "Because Hermes kids don't have better things to do than leave calling cards. Must be a slow day in the Athena cabin if this is what you've got."