Chương 38: Compass leads the way

2 weeks later

{Scotland, April 3rd 2000}

I checked the compass once again it was still pointing north, as I read the sign, tough my vision did let me read it was a little hard since it was just a darker or lighter shade of black.

The sign, read Galloway Forest Park, I finally thought I was getting closer as the compass's needle which before stayed resting i one position started moving slighlty from east to west, meaning that the deer was moving.

"Gotcha." I said aloud as I ran into the forest wanting to be done with this quest as soon as possible.

{USA, April 3rd 2000}

Thalia POV

Annabeth, Luke and I stood before a rundown house which looked as if it were about to fall apart at any moment, a horrid smell coming out of it, something our demigod senses didn't seem to like if the looks on Annabeth and Luke's faces were anything to go by.

"I swore never to come back here." Luke sighed as he got closer to the door and knocked on it, soon a raspy, voice yelled from inside the house "LUKE, LUKE!".

A woman with straw like gray hair sticking upwards, grey lifeless eyes and a maniac smile opened the door. "Luke you are back!" The woman yelled as her maniac smile stretched even further from ear to ear at the sight of Luke.

"We need to go in." Luke replied coldly as a piercing pain, escaped from my side as the wound I had been given spurt even more blood, staining my orange shirt even further.

Annabeth helped me stay up, as Luke walked into the house while leading both of us carefully. If the woman who had greeted us weren't weird enough inside the house stacks of peanut butter sandwich jars all of them spoiled and rotting, burnt cookies displayed on trays and boxes of Kool-aid lay sprawled on the ground, shelves and walls. It was a hoarding like nothing I had ever seen.

"Come on Thalia lay here." Luke guided me to a sofa which he cleaned in a quick manner which allowed me to lay down.

"Uhm, Mrs? Could you please leave us alone for a while?" Annabeth our newest addition said in a polite manner probably seeing that the woman was putting Luke on edge.

"Of course, you are Luke's friends I will go make some cookies and peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches." she exclaimed frantically as Inoticed a picture of a man hanging on her arm by two lines of Scotch tape.

"Well your mom is something." I couldn't help but say to Luke as the mad look in the woman's eyes reminded me of when my own mother went crazy after being abandoned by my father.

"You can say that again." Luke replied "I am gonna go to the bathroom see if there are any bandages in this place." He continued, as he started walking through the pile of jars and burnt cookies.

"Doesn't it seem like he is more distant?" Annabeth the cute seven year old which had joined us asked me as she looked at the direction in which Luke left. A small smile formed on my face as I saw how worried she was over him, not that I wasn't but it did remind me of a certain someone.

"He probably does feel distant, imagine this is what you left and what you come back to." I replied to Annabeth's query, since I could simpathize with him because my circumstances were almost the same as his, just that I was able to reach camp on my first year after I ran away while Luke hadn't.

My words didn't seem to lessen her worries as she still looked with her characteristic puppy dog eyes. "Come on Annabeth, try to take your mind off it and help me take my jacket off." I said to the little girl.

She ran over to me and helped me sit up, slowly she took of my leather jacket something which felt weird not having on, after that we rolled up my camp shirt revealing the wound which had been done by a dragon which we had encountered after the haunted mansion.

It was a long semi-shallow cut that stretched from my hip up to my ribcage, I had applied nectar as first aid after the battle but a small amount of blood still seemed to be pouring out, a drop of blood staining the sofa.

"Hssh." a noise escaped from Annabeth at the sight of my wound, she quickly regained her composure saying "Sorry." Soon Luke came back from the bathroom, bandages, alcohol, betadine and cotton.

He got close to me, the things almost spilling from his hands at the sheer number he was carrying. "Didn't know what I should get so I just got all of it." Luke said as he looked at my deadpan face.

Annabeth with a confidence that seemed unnatural to her said "I, know."

Soon the little girl with slight assistance from Luke, provided some minor healing to my injury, but if I were to have something against her is that she didn't go easy on the alcohol,goddam that stung.

As I was more or less finished with my basic aid, Luke and Annabeth started gathering supplies since sadly we didn't have much to go off and while I could use the Mist for certain things I wasn't as proficient as Ozzy as of yet.

We continued gathering supplies, time by time inconvenienced by Mary, I had learnt her name was Mary kept giving us burnt cookies, which weirdly enough Annabeth seemed to enjoy.

A sudden knock then reverberated across the house, "Luke did anyone aside from your mom leave here?" I asked the blond haired boy.

"No there isn't." Luke replied as he unsheathed his sword, Annabeth grabbed the knife Luke had given her and I drew my spear and transformed my spear into my Aegis shield.

I started producing electricity at the tip of my spear, the pommel of the door turned, the door creaking open. I stood still and sent a bolt of lightning at the door, the door burst into a thousand pieces, yet what stood behind it seemed to be udnamaged.

A middle-aged man with an athletic figure slim and fit with salt-and-pepper hair, as a jogger, blue eyes, elfish features, and a sly grin, stood behind the door.

"Now sister you should be careful what you throw at people." The man said his sly grin never disappearing from his face. "You are a god." I realized as I figured out whi the man before me was.

"Indeed I am." He replied once again with a sly grin. "Why are you here?" A distinct raspy voice came from one side of the living room, it was May Castellan. "Hello May, I just thought that maybe you would need some help." The bid replied back in a loving smile.

Luke then sheathed his sword, walking towards the figure who while the god didn't tower over him it did feel like he did. "Are you my dad?" He questioned a hopeful expression on his face.

"Yes." The god replied once again, before any of us (maybe not the god) could realize Luke threw a punch at the god's face, which didn't seem to affect him much.

"Guess I deserved that." The god replied scratching his right cheek, he perhaps not was expecting that to be his and Luke's first interaction, though can't say I blame Luke.

"Why didn't you come before, when I prayed to you, when I suffered? WHY!?" Luke yelled at his father.

"Luke I couldn't interfere after learning about your fate I was mandated by the gods to leave you and your mother I didn't want to, but it was what I was ordered." He replied.

"You know about my fate?" Luke questioned suddenly averted by the fact his father knew his future, Luke ran up to the god and grabbed the collar of his T-shirt "If you weren't there for me before, at least be here for me now tell me what happens to me."

"I can't." The god replied, Luke then let go of his collar and asked a question once more "Then can you at least tell me what god you are?" "I am Hermes god of messengers and thiefs." Hermes replied.

"Good at least I know which god to hate!" Luke spat out in anger as he stormed out, Annabeth looked between Hermes and Luke as she quickly came to my side and helped me up, we started following Luke.

"Wait LUKE!" I heard the distant, desperate yell of May, Luke's mother and Ai turned backwards to see that Hermes was grabbing onto her arm whil shaking his head.

Hermes POV

"Well that went even worse than I imagined." I sighed aloud after being able to calm down May and led her to the sofa. Without warning May's normally greyish eyes started lighting up in an eerie green.

"Great, just what I needed." I said "Fucking Hades why didn't you tell us about the curse in Delphi."

May started speaking in a commanding tone similar to that of the Oracle itself, "Two sons of primordials will clash, one cursed and one possessed."

[Greek Mythos Fact: Today's fact is different facts about Hermes.

As a new-born infant Hermes snuck out of his crib, stole the cattle of the god Apollo, and crafted the first lyre from a tortoise-shell. Zeus was so amused by the young god's antics that he granted him a place as one of the twelve supreme gods of Olympos.

Hermes transformed the tell-tale, herdsman Battos into a stone as punishment for reporting his theft of Apollo's cattle.

He was sent by Zeus to slay the hundred-eyed giant Argos Panoptes who had been commanded by Hera to guard Zeus' paramour Io.

He assisted the hero Perseus in his quest to slay the Gorgon Medousa, providing guidance and gifts from the gods.

Hermes seduced the beautiful princess Khione (Chione) on the same night as his half-brother Apollon.]