Chapter Text
Luke Castellan slouched in the passenger seat of the Delphi's Strawberries delivery van, his cheek pressed to the cold window. The dark night and the tall pine trees crowded in on the van in a suffocating way that the headlights couldn't soften. The digital clock on the dashboard read midnight. Their delivery route had taken longer than usual.
In the driver's seat was Argus, the giant with a hundred eyes all over his body. He was both head of security at Camp Half-Blood and the delivery driver. He drove with confidence down the familiar road that led to Camp, seeing everything from every direction all at once. Argus was so skilled at driving that he's never been in an accident. He barely even had to tap the breaks because he knew the road so well.
Which was why it came as a surprise when Argus slammed on the breaks. The tires squealed.
Luke was thrown forward, nearly hit the dashboard with his face before the seat belt locked, and stopped Luke dead in his tracks with so much force it knocked the air out of his lungs.
Argus tried to swerve but the van still hit something.
Luke's head bounced off the window. He doubled forward, groaning and clutching his head. "Argus, what the heck?" he asked.
Argus signed, hands moving quickly, "There's somebody in the road. They came out of nowhere." He put the van in park and hurried out into the road. When he passed in front of the van's headlights, all of his eyes lit up like animal eyeshine, showing that he could even see in the dark.
Luke peered out the window.
There was someone lying on the side of the road, knocked there by the impact of the van hitting them. They were on their stomach, faced away from Luke so all he could see was black hair. They were kinda small…and they weren't moving. A backpack and a stuffed animal were a few feet away from them.
Seeing those two items was more heart stopping than anything, because it meant the person they hit was young and probably on the run. "Oh shit," Luke hissed. He unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed the door open. It creaked loudly. Luke slid out, hurried to where Argus knelt beside the person they hit. The moment that he was out of the van, Luke could smell the ichor in the person's veins. "You didn't see them?" Luke asked, incredulous.
Argus saw everything. No one could sneak up on him. He shouldn't have accidentally hit anybody or anything. Argus shook his head, his brow furrowed. Some of his eyes were on the unconscious boy and some were on Luke. "He wasn't there and then he was," Argus signed.
Luke frowned. He knelt by the boy and put his fingers over the boy's pulse point on his neck. His pulse beat strongly beneath Luke's fingertips. There didn't seem to be any injuries either, but maybe he was hurt beneath his skin. Or maybe he was in shock from getting hit by a speeding van. "Well he's still alive," Luke observed.
Argus rolled his eyes all at once, a dizzying effect for anyone watching. "I know that. I can see him breathing."
Luke leaned over the boy, gave his neck a good sniff even though he knew the moment that he got out of the van that this boy was a demigod. Secretly, Luke was hoping to be able to pick out the boy's parentage. If he belonged to one of the more fertile Olympians, then Luke would recognize their trademark scent and be able to determine who he belonged to. But aside from a faint salty scent, Luke couldn't pick up anything concrete. Looking at Argus, Luke said, "He's a demigod, Argus. We've got to take him back to Camp with us."
Argus nodded without hesitation. He wasn't the type to leave a demigod lying unconscious by the side of the road. Argus stood and scooped the demigod boy into his arms, closing the eyes that would touch the boy just before contact was made. He was not the biggest giant ever, but Argus towered over Luke by a solid four feet. Holding this boy in his arms made the boy look like a doll compared to Argus. He carried the boy around to the back of the van.
Luke scooped up the boy's stuffed animal and backpack. The stuffed animal was a soft tabby cat with white paws and a blue ribbon tied around its neck. Luke brushed the dirt off the plush. Then Luke followed Argus and opened the double doors. He climbed into the back of the truck and shoved some pallets out of the way so that Argus could lay the boy down. "I'll stay back here with him and make sure nothing falls on him," he said.
Argus nodded. He set the boy down, closed the doors, and walked back around to the front of the van.
Luke sat beside the boy and tried to make sure that the ride was as smooth as possible for him. He tucked the plush under the boy's arm.
Unconsciously, the boy snuggled the cat plush closer, holding it tight to his chest.
Now that Luke could see the boy's face, it was clear he was a teenager, probably around sixteen like Luke was. They shared the same nose, Luke noted, and they both had long curly hair. Definitely a demigod. The boy wore a hoodie and tight joggers. His shoes were Nike brand…but they had little wings embroidered on the sides.
A trickle of unease curled down Luke's spine. The boy didn't smell like Hermes' line, who carried the scent of hot wax everywhere with them. As a son of Hermes, Luke should know. Luke brushed the hair from the boy's eyes. His black hair was soft. Aloud, voice quiet, Luke asked, "Who are you?"
He didn't answer.
Alright. Luke could wait to ask his questions.