wrath - percy jackson

28

It was a quiet Thursday morning in Westport, Connecticut, the breeze was especially gentle and Perseus couldn't help but wonder if this was a sign. Maybe the meeting was destined to go well. 

Luke's hands were shaking, however, and his breathing was uneven. With his head brimming with endless possibilities and his chest tightening like it was trying to suffocate him, the young adult wasn't sure if he could walk inside. Leaving his mother all alone, to deal with her mental illness all by herself as she made peanut butter sandwiches and burnt cookies every day, it made him feel horrible.

Perseus looked at him and recognised the look on his face. The tension and regret was clearly written on his face, cold sweat glistened on his furrowed brow. He spoke in a low, soft-spoken voice. "You were just a child, Luke, you couldn't handle her. You were scared, her fits were something that terrified you. But you can handle her now, you're here now, and that's all that matters."

He looked hesitant, like if he believed those words it would make him more of a bad person for justifying his actions. But Perseus was right, he was here now and he was going to fix it, the best he could, anyway.

Luke turned to Perseus, searching for some sort of sign that this was the right thing to do. The son of Poseidon smiled reassuringly and Luke could feel his nervousness wash away, into a sea that swallowed it up to make sure it never reached the surface again. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door twice. 

The sound of shuffling feet could be heard and the door slowly creaked open. Luke's breath was caught in his throat at the sight of his mother. She looked slightly better than the last time he had seen her, but age did not do her well. Her face was littered with wrinkles, like each one was engraved into her face for every vision she was cursed with. White, thin hair sat on her head, newly washed but it didn't seem to fully get rid of the age. Her eyes-- oh, her eyes. They looked so broken, hollow, like they were haunted by terrible sightings. This May Castellan looked like a mere shadow of her past self, and it broke Luke's heart. His expression became pained, almost shameful.

He smiled weakly as his mother broke out into a grin, looking more like a grimace than anything. Her hoarse, quavering voice spoke, it sounded like she had been screaming for years. "Luke, dear, how was school?" 

That one sentence was enough for Luke to break down sobbing. His body wracked with an onslaught of tears as he pulled his mother into a remorseful hug, crying into the crook of her neck. He sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, like he hadn't cried for an eternity. 

The reunion was bittersweet, Perseus thought. 

"I take it you didn't have a good day?" May smiled warmly as she pulled away from her weeping son, his cheeks stained with tears. "Why don't we go inside? I'm sure you're hungry after such a stressful day." Luke didn't even bother to correct her as he walked inside, the nostalgia hitting him like a truck.

"Come in as well, dear. You must be Luke's friend." She said to Perseus, who smiled. He didn't say that they had met before, it would only confuse her. The poor lady walked into the kitchen, humming a small tune.

"Thank you, Ms Castellan." Perseus said, shutting the door behind him when he walked in. He noticed that nothing had moved, nothing had changed except for the fact the room didn't smell like overburnt cookies.  Sitting down next to Luke, he put his hand on his knee in comfort.

"You doing okay?" He asked quietly, rubbing his hand on Luke's knee. The older boy smiled weakly and nodded slowly. The son of Poseidon sighed and took out a handkerchief, walking to the kitchen to dampen it with water. He saw May making a peanut-butter sandwich, he remembered her saying that it was Luke's favourite when he was a kid. 

Perseus walked back and slowly wiped Luke's face, his motions gentle and welcoming with care. The son of Hermes looked at him, enamoured, his blue eyes lighting up with a gorgeous, love-stricken gleam. He wiped the tear stains off of Luke's cheeks carefully, not wanting to dampen his face too much tot he point where his face would be dripping with water. 

The only reason Perseus was so calm was because of the damp cloth in his hands, it served as his comfort measure, like how he was Luke's. 

He got up from his crouched position of the floor and pocketed the cloth while he sat down onto the sofa, sinking into its softness. May walked back into the room carrying a blue plate of peanut butter sandwiches and a Kool-Aid drink in her left hand. She sat down opposite them, setting down the plate and the drink on the glass table and landing on the sofa with a thud. 

"Mom," Luke began. "I-I haven't been to school in twelve years, I haven't been home for five years. I left you on your own for over a de-decade." He said, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

May raised her eyebrow. "That's not right, dear. You were here yesterday when you asked if you could go swimming in a river." Perseus could practically hear Luke's heart breaking into a million pieces. Now that he wasn't actively planning the destruction of Olympus, Luke could clearly see how messed up his view of life was. 

Luke looked at Perseus hesitantly, like the sudden reminder of the Titan War would make Perseus remember what he did to him and Camp Half-Blood. Instead, he merely sent him a tight-lipped smile, and the son of Hermes got the message. Heal her.

He hesitantly walked over to his mother, who looked at him curiously. Placing his hand on her forehead, he could feel the soggy wrinkles under his skin. He looked back at Perseus for confirmation and the latter nodded. 

Luke took a deep breath and closed his eyes, remembering Kamala's voice while they were training. 'If you want to cure someone of their madness, you need to be able to wash away their pain. Think of Dionysus, the god of madness and wine. You need to focus on driving the pain away, lifting their curse, freeing them from suffering. Focus on the reason why they went mad, and drive the suffering related to that memory away.' 

He focused on an image of the Oracle of Delphi, the green spirit trying to enter his mother, recognising her as a potential hostess. He materialised Hades' curse into a purple enigma circling the green spirit and entering his mother's body before the spirit does. He grabbed the purple enigma and tightened its hold, crushing it in his palm.

Luke opened his eyes and saw his mother's eyes glowing green as a purple enigma, much smaller than the one he had seen exit her mouth, dissolving in the air like it was acid. Her eyes began to soften and become a cloudy grey again. She blinked. 

"Luke," her voice cracked as a hot tear rolled down her cheek. "I missed you so much, my baby boy." She sobbed and Luke embraced her tightly. His sobs were muffled against her neck as the mother and son cried sorrowfully.

"I'm so sorry, Mom."

~ ~ ~

lmao percy reminds me of zuko, how people go on life changing missions with him and suddenly feel free as a bird bahahah

the next chapter's going to be the beginning of a new arc

thank you for reading<3