Two.      lucky charm

Eli Lennox was not very happy.

Somebody was speaking, but it must not have been anyone she really cared about, because she couldn't find it within herself to care very much. Their voice was a dull drone in the faraway corner of her mind, just a backing track to spit on while she gazed around the ping-pong table meeting of head counselors.

She wasn't happy, of course, for a good deal of reasons, the first being an aura that had surrounded her since she'd left Cabin Ten's friendship bracelet masterclass. Silas had tracked her down in her cabin (in the safety of her own home) and informed her that the Aphrodite campers weren't out of pink string for Eli—they had found an extra spool at the bottom of their trunk—and that Eli was perfectly welcome to join Silas and Luke, if she wanted. And who was Eli to say no to Silas Whitlock? She felt like she'd be telling the poor kid Santa wasn't real.

So she attended an aforementioned hour-long info session on the dynamics of making friendship bracelets. She left with three adorning her slender wrists: One from Luke and two from Silas, who had enjoyed making them so much that he made a grand total of fourteen within the sixty-minute time period. Eli made one. She gave it to Silas.

Saying she had enjoyed her time in the amphitheater with the Aphrodite cabin would be like saying Kronos enjoyed being banished to Tartarus—an absolute lie.

It left her, unfortunately for everyone, in a dejected sort of mood, the kind where she would sit silently for half-hours at a time, not listening to anyone or anything except her own mind. Lucky for her, she was in the perfect place at the perfect time to be doing so: A senior council meeting at the Big House.

When she reentered the conversation within the Rec Room (albeit, rather begrudgingly), she remembered the next reason she was in a bad mood: Listening to Clarisse's ranting about how her cabin was bigger than all the others and therefore deserved more time between cabin checks, so as to give them more preparation to get tidy.

"As if your cabin is ever tidy, Clarisse," said Castor, curling his lip. "You can just say you don't want to do cabin checks on Five anymore."

Clarisse clenched her jaw, her fists tightening atop the green top table. "I wasn't talking to you, punk. Shut your trap and let me talk to Chiron—"

Eli shut her eyes, inhaling a long breath of Cheez-Whiz-flavored air, unsure if she could handle another argument breaking out over this stupid ping-pong table. Gods, how she hated council meetings.

This time, Chiron seemed to sense a room-wide discomfort and annoyance. He raised a hand to quiet Clarisse and Castor's arguing, raising himself from his wheelchair to his full centaurian form. Eli sat up in her chair, wide awake now; he must have finally decided to discuss Luke's quest. Everyone else noticed, too—even Beckendorf seemed mildly interested. Lux and Silena—who shared counselorship over Cabin Ten, out of true Aphrodite fashion, claiming coming to a decision over who decided it more was impossible—cut their whispered conversation (likely over how to dive-bomb Clarisse with a hair comb) to an abrupt end and perked up. Lee Fletcher and Katie Gardener exchange a glance, like they were expecting some tension to enter the room.

It was only Luke that didn't seem to be interested. He swallowed and kept his eyes on the table, two fingers tapping nonsensically on the faux-grass. Eli watched him for a moment, wondering, wistfully, what was going on in his head.

Chiron cleared his throat. He soared over the heads of the senior counselors, contemplating them all from above. Then he spoke.

"It seems... a quest has been offered to one of our counselors."

Nobody commented on the grave tone of his voice, nor how he avoided looking in Luke's direction.

"This quest," Chiron continued, casting his pensive gaze down over the table, "should he choose to accept, will prove to be of the utmost importance. He has been chosen by the Fates to embark on a journey that will challenge both his courage and resolve in the face of darkness."

Eli inhaled sharply, focusing solely on her hands, hating the chill running down her spine at Chiron's gravity. He wasn't saying it directly, but Luke had a dangerous quest, more than most—to retrieve the Golden Apple of Discord was one thing, but to steal it from the Garden of Hesperides during their season was a suicide wish. Why would Luke's father even consider sending him out on such a risk? Eli shut her eyes, suddenly feeling a wave of nausea.

The table fell silent, a tension as thick and cold as ice settling over all of the senior counselors, almost like there was another presence in the room with them. Nobody seemed to want to meet anyone else's eyes. Eli shot a glance to Luke, but he wasn't looking at her—his eyes were still on the table, his face cast with darkness and consternation.

Look at me! she wanted to scream. She needed to see him—to meet his eyes—to know what he was thinking. Just look at me, Luke. Please.

He kept his eyes on the table. Eli lowered her head.

Finally, Chiron looked to Luke, eyes swimming with unspoken secrets and wisdom. Eli hated his eyes. They were too scrutinizing—too knowing. She felt like he could see right through her. Often she avoided his gaze, if she had the chance.

"Luke Castellan," he said, in that horrible, grave tone. "If you accept this quest, you understand the risks and responsibilities that accompany it. Your journey will test many things, among them being your strength, cunning, and your courage in the face of formidable opponents."

It felt like the Rec Room had turned into an airplane—the air in the room was too thin, the silence too loud and heavy, the pressure too strong. Eli was sure something was about to pop. Perhaps her, if Luke kept looking away from her for a moment longer.

He lifted his head to Chiron, that godly ambiance surrounding him like a cloud. Typical—Eli lived with a storm of bad luck shrouding her, wrapping around her like a blanket, and Luke existed with a glowing aura of godlihood around him. Of immortality. If one mortal person could live forever, Eli thought then, just one, then she knew for a fact it would be Luke Castellan. The gods would equate him with themselves. This quest would shroud him in honor and glory, like he always deserved.

"I accept," Luke said. Lux let out a little gasp. He ignored it, eyes zeroed in on Chiron—and Eli might have been crazy for thinking it, but she could have sworn she saw a glint pass over his face, like a sliver of immortality had already unleashed itself upon him just for accepting. "I will take this quest. I will travel north to the Garden of Hesperides and I will retrieve the Golden Apple of Discord."

Somebody around the table started clapping. Eli let her eyes flutter shut as the weak applause picked up, each of the senior counselors praising Luke's courage simply for taking the quest. She exhaled a little breath, though whether it was of relief or worry, she wasn't sure.

Chiron wasn't clapping with the rest of the campers. He nodded once, stiffly. "Very well. Luke, you may head up to the attic. The rest of us will meet you in the amphitheater."

One thing about Silas Whitlock: When he was excited, nervous, scared, worried, eager, or even hungry—really, when he was anything at all—he had a talent for asking about a hundred questions a minute.

Eli and Atlas sat on either side of him in the amphitheater, sitting on the second row from the front over on the left side. Luke hadn't returned from the attic yet. Campers were still filing in, muttering and casting curious glances to the trio seated at the front. Eli could easily ignore their eyes and voices, but trying to tune out Silas was basically like trying to avoid one of her dad's jokes—they always tracked you down and were stuck in the back of your mind until you addressed them.

Atlas was no help, of course. He kept his fur-lined jean jacket pulled up to above his mouth, so when he spoke, his voice was muffled. "Silas, I heard that if you don't stop talking, the Easter Bunny is gonna skip camp this spring."

"Shut up," said Eli, punching his shoulder over Silas's head. "Look, Silas, I don't know much about the quest. His dad showed up in his dream and told him he had a quest."

To any normal person, that sentence would have sounded mental, probably. But demigods weren't normal people.

Atlas proved such point when he summoned Tyche's Cornucopia and willed an order of French fries to tide him over while they waited for Luke to reappear from the Big House attic. Eli curled her lip; Silas picked one out of the boat and munched on it.

"But where is he going?" Silas instead through a full mouth, flinging the bottom half of his fry around like it was a pointer. "I get it's to the Garden of Hesperides. Is that somewhere that moved with civilization? It's here?"

Eli shrugged, her stomach swimming with nerves. "I guess so. Somewhere north."

"Further north than Long Island?" Atlas looked at her like she was crazy, French fry hanging from his lip like a dejected cigarette. "In the dead of winter? It's freezing!"

She gave him an unimpressed look. "I'm from Vermont."

"Jeez." Atlas shivered. "Cold-blooded."

He laughed with Silas. Eli rolled her eyes. They continued snacking on their boat of fries, but Eli was such a wreck, just the thought of eating made her sway with nausea. She pursed her lips.

Lux rolled in with the crowd, sliding into the stone seat beside Atlas, gazing up behind them at the campers as they filed in. Eli sat up in her seat.

"Is he back?" she asked, hating the hope that filled her voice and choked her with childish wonder. "From the attic?"

"Hm?" Lux's eyes danced over the crowd until they fell on Eli, and she broke into a smile of serenity, flashing her perfect teeth and angelic glow—literally. "Oh. Luke. Yeah, he was coming down while Silena and I were picking up the remains of her hairbrush—we tried offering it to Clarisse to borrow, and I think it hurt her feelings... Anyway, I think Luke stopped to talk to Chiron before he was going to come down here, but Silena and I stopped to give her brush a really proper send-off, so he should be here s—Oh. Here he is."

Eli's stomach seized with anxiety. She sat on the edge of her seat, clutching the stone with her fingertips, following Lux's gaze to the path downhill from the Big House. He and Chiron were not speaking to each other, and even from however many yards away she was, Eli could sense the tension hanging between them. She wondered what they had spoken about, alone in the Big House. She never would find out.

At the approach of Chiron, the whispers among the campers lulled to a hush like a wave of silence had passed over them. Everyone watched as he and Luke took the stage before the campfire. It was roaring with gold flames, reflecting the excitement of the campers. A few orange sparks popped off into the air like bubbles of curiosity bursting out of the minds of everyone in the amphitheater.

Chiron cleared his throat, and the sound echoed across the anxious crowd like he was wired with a microphone. Eli's knuckles were white with strain from clutching her seat.

"Luke Castellan," he announced to the campers, "son of Hermes, senior counselor of Cabin Eleven... has chosen to accept the quest bestowed upon him by the Fates. Hermes himself offered the opportunity. He will travel to the Garden of Hesperides, accompanied by up to two questmates, and retrieve one of the golden apples from the tree guarded by Ladon."

The words washed over Eli like a cold wave. She'd recounted his quest like it was a script in her mind for hours now, anxious and waiting for the truth, and now she'd gotten it. She clenched her jaw to stop herself from calling out and asking why Luke had to have such a quest when it could have gone to someone like Clarisse. Even Castor or Pollux.

Chiron inhaled a heavy breath. He turned over his shoulder. "Luke, if you please..."

A shell of Luke Castellan took to the center of the stage, his face guarded and deadly, his eyes skimming the crowd to take it all in. It was a small, weak number; only the campers who stayed yearlong. But Eli knew it was enough to unsettle him.

"I visited the Oracle of Delphi," he announced, his tone low and thick, like how Eli always imagined Zeus would sound. "She told me... my prophecy."

A ripple of whispers passed over the amphitheater, but Chiron silenced them again with a daunting look. Eli hadn't been one of the voices; she wasn't sure she could pry open her mouth from how tightly she was pursing her lips.

Luke cleared his throat. He recited:

"In the land where immortality beams,

the fire of life faces the son of thieves.

A balanced scale, your integrity will guide,

but beware the path glowing in pride.

Judas's Kiss bestowed in love's weak ashes,

and soul ties sever beneath fireworks' flashes."

The words hung in the air for what felt like an eternity. Even the trees and wind had stopped to listen, their rustling hushing to a silence to gauge what Luke had said, what had been prophesied of him and to come. Nobody moved a muscle. The air grew taut, like someone had taken all the oxygen around the camp and turned it into tension. A quiet curiosity lingered through the crowd. Somebody in the back of the crowd sniffed.

Eli felt like every breath had been sucked from her lungs. She stared down at Luke in shock and awe, unable to tear her eyes from him for even a second, thousands of thoughts and worries coursing across her mind and chilling her blood.

Then Lux broke the silence with her whisper that echoed almost comically across the dreadfully silent amphitheater: "Who's Judas?"

Some campers tittered in nervous laughter. Silas flashed Lux a smile, and Atlas gave her a sideways sort of glance from behind his high-riding coat.

Chiron hesitated, slowly moving back toward Luke. "Yes, it is... definitely a prophecy that will require hours of articulating and analyzation. Nothing we haven't done before. Anyways—the reason we're all gathered here in the first place: Luke says he has decided on his questmates." He looked to Luke and gave him a terse sort of nod. "Go ahead."

Without so much as a moment's hesitation, not even a split second of thought or indecision, Luke's eyes met Eli's in the crowd. Finally. She saw many things behind his gaze, even from across the arena: Reluctance, worry, pleas, insecurity, need. He nodded, the movement just barely perceptible, a question without words. No chance for it to be lost in translation.

Eli drew in a breath to steady herself, then nodded back, an answer without words.

A breathless smile flickered across Luke's face, like he was startled, for some reason. Then his face shifted from that cloud of emotionlessness, changing him to an entirely different person. He straightened his back. His face glowed like the sun had come out from behind a cloud.

"Elizabeth," he announced. Nothing else.

Chiron glanced at the crowd, then leaned in toward Luke slightly, opening his mouth as if to whisper something. "Is that—?"

"That's it," Luke confirmed with a stiff nod. He ripped his gaze away from Eli with what looked like difficulty, turning back to Chiron. "She's all that I need."

Faintly, Eli registered Silas and Lux making kissy noises beside her, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Luke.

For hours now, her mind had been racing nonstop, spewing thoughts and opinions and concerns at her like it was on fire. Now it was virtually silent. She couldn't think a single thing beyond I love him. He thinks I can do it. I love him.

"Very... well, then," said Chiron, following a short sigh. He nodded, clearly a bit taken aback but trying his professional best not to show it. "I suppose that concludes this meeting, then. Everyone remember cabin checks will begin in twenty minutes, under direction of Silena and Lux."

Everyone rose, suddenly in a hurry, rushing back to their cabins to try and get them Aphrodite-level ready. Lux shot out of her seat with a little gasp.

"Why are you worried?" said Atlas dryly. "You don't have to try and meet an impossible standard."

Lux put the back of her hand to her forehead like an old-timey movie star. "I forgot I have to run those! Silena and I haven't made a playlist for cabin checks. Excuse me, I have to go."

As she flounced off, Atlas let out a little scoff.

"Do you think she knows none of us ever particularly enjoy hearing those playlists?"

Silas frowned. "I like them."

"Yeah." Atlas shoved him. "'Cause you're in love with her."

A deep red tinge overcame Silas's cheeks, and he shoved Atlas in return. "Am not!"

"Are too." Atlas punched at his shoulder.

"Am not!"

Neither of them noticed much when Eli slipped off.

The sun was setting by the time Luke found her at the lakeshore.

She heard him coming, his feet crunching he dry leaves and ice that had overtaken the grass, then shifting to soft padding as he made his way across the sand. She knew it was him—for one reason, because who else could it have been? And for another, because she had grown familiar to his footsteps, the speed in which he walked, the airiness that he carried himself with—almost like he was perpetually floating, only pretending to take steps to get somewhere. He had quiet feet, but not quiet enough to get past Eli's senses.

She melted into him when he took his spot next to her.

"You're freezing," he told her, whispering the words into her hair. "How long have you been out here?"

The words were past her lips before she could stop them; the cold must have rendered her unable to keep her mouth shut. "Luke, why would you choose me?"

She didn't turn to look at him, but she felt him look at her, his head turning down, curious. "What?"

"Why would you choose me?" she tried again. "Do you know how big this quest is?"

"Of course I do," he replied, and he went to say something else, but Eli pulled herself off his chest to meet his eyes.

"I'm going to be bad luck," she informed him, giving him as earnest a look as she could muster. "I will always be bad luck. I don't understand why you would choose to bring that with you on the quest that could change your life."

"That's nonsense, Ellie."

She rolled her eyes. "Right. It's nonsense that I want you to succeed."

"It is if you think the only way I'm going to do so is if I don't bring you with me," he argued. In the back of his voice, though, was the beginnings of a laugh, like he couldn't believe he was having this fight. "You've got it backwards, Lennox. I hate to tell you."

She let her head fall back, exhaling a sigh, pulling her knees to her chest. "Come on, Luke. You gotta admit it."

This time he actually laughed, the a disbelieving smile taking over his face. "What is this? What are you doing?"

"I'm telling you the truth." She pursed her lips in an unamused line. "That's what we do, Luke. Isn't it?"

"It's not the truth," he insisted, taking her hands and unfurling her from her little ball of self-protection. "You're all sorts of twisted right now, Ellie. You could never be bad luck. Not to me. All you do is make me better than I am. I want you on my quest because I need you there. You asked me if I know how big this quest is—of course I do. That's why I asked you. There's nobody else that can match my skill with a sword with their dagger. Nobody else that knows literally every last one of my thoughts. You're..." He exhaled an exasperated sigh like he was searching for the word. Then he seemed to find them. "You're my lucky charm, Elizabeth Lennox. I can't do this quest without you. I can't even win Capture The Flag without you."

A small smile appeared on her lips. She tipped her head to the side, meeting Luke's eyes. "I did save your ass last week."

He laughed, probably too quickly, but he must have been waiting for her to smile because now he was beaming at her. "I'm literally toast without you."

She rolled her eyes, accepting as he slid his arms around her and caught her back against his chest. "We're awfully romantic today, Mr. Castellan."

"Well, honestly," he said, resting his chin on her shoulder, "I've got the most beautiful girl on camp in my arms. Can you blame me?"

She laughed, her head lulling back to land against his shoulder, and together they stared at the sun setting over the rippling water of Camp Half-Blood's lake like it was their last time seeing it.

Funnily enough, it was.

Via Chatter!

Feeling so normal about Eli Luke ship name pending. So normal. I can be trusted around them.

AHhhabefahf finally got to introduce Lux.. she is my babydoll best friend and wife all in one? So. She's very Luna Lovegood esque if Luna was best friends with Silena Beauregard. God. She means so much to me. Silas so real for crushing.  Bailey flayedcrank our baby son Silas is getting so old so fast ❤️

Anyways. Funnily enough, it WAS 💜