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thegoodgayshit · 4 years

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Luz’s mother really doesn’t want to send Luz to camp. She knows once she leaves, there is no going back. But Luz has a knack for getting into trouble, and one day she stumbles into the same type of people her mother would have preferred she avoided. After helping Luz dissolve her high school bully into dust, Eda and Lilith know right away that this kid is just like them - a child of the gods. So Luz hops on a Pegasus and heads to Camp Half-blood, where she embarks on a dangerous quest that makes her both friends and enemies... and she might even save Olympus along the way.

Chapter Eight: The Twins Get Us a Way Out of New York

Luz thankfully didn’t have any nightmares before she left. She woke up nice and early, changing into her clothes she wore right before she came to camp. The cat hoodie felt nice and comforting, and it was a lot more lowkey than the bright orange camp shirt. She packed her toiletries and a change of clothes in her backpack and tucked away her wallet and phone. She left her sketchbook in the chest, figuring she wouldn’t have tons of time to use it anyway.

Viney and Jerbo saw her off before she went to meet Willow and Gus.

“How are you feeling, Luz?” Viney asked her, and Luz shrugged her shoulders.

“I had real sleep for the first time in two weeks, so I think I’m off to a good start.”

Thankfully, the two of them laughed. Luz felt a smile pull at her own lips. She had already found this whole camp to be like a second home to her, the first real place she belonged. Her new siblings were a part of that, and she was going to miss them on her quest.

“We wanted to give you something,” Viney said softly, keeping her voice down. “Hopefully it will help you on your quest.”

Jerbo reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small leather pouch, handing it gently to Luz. She took it and went to open it, before being stopped by both their hands being held out quickly.

“Not here!” Jerbo exclaimed, and Luz retreated quickly. He exhaled and tilted his head, giving Luz a smile. “These are a bag of Hermes pocket pranks. If you’re ever in a pinch, just throw them out and run. It should buy you some time.”

Luz was touched by the gesture, looking up at her siblings, her eyes misting with emotion. Viney just grinned, wrapping her arm around Luz’s neck.

“You’re one of us troublemakers now, so you get access to all of our secrets.”

Luz made a squeak of excitement. “I love secrets!”

“Just try not to get yourself killed on this quest,” Jerbo said with a sly smile. “We don’t get new sisters all that often, we don’t want to have to replace you.”

“You just don’t want to have your own bunk again,” Luz teased, and her siblings both laughed again.

“Take care of yourself, Luz,” Viney said, and she nodded, promising them she would see them again when this was all over.

She pocketed the leather pouch and headed up to the top of Half-Blood Hill. She took in the peaceful smells and sounds as she left, her stomach turning anxiously as she realized she probably wouldn’t be back here for some time. When she got to the top of the hill, Willow and Gus were waiting for her, along with Eda, Lilith, and King.

Willow had changed into a pastel yellow sweatshirt with dark orange sleeves. A white collar was poking out underneath it, her camp necklace likely tucked underneath it. She had grey vertical striped pants and calf-high brown boots, and there was a grey backpack slung over her shoulder. Her sword was strapped to her belt, and when she saw Luz she waved, tucking a strand of her hair behind her glasses.

Gus was wearing a long-sleeved grey shirt under a teal button-up. His spear (which was retracted to being less than a foot long) was clipped to his belt around a pair of dark blue jeans and ankle-high brown boots. Luz could see his camp necklace resting over his shirt, and she also noticed that he had a new watch on his wrist Luz had never seen before. It had a brown leather strap that went well with his boots like he’d coordinated the outfit. He had his own black backpack that was so stuffed with stuff it stuck out like a turtle shell.

“Good morning, Luz,” Willow said as she approached them, and Gus waved his own hand excitedly.

“Ready to go save Olympus?” He said with a smile, and Luz tilted her head with a playful smile.

“Maybe I won’t have too, I think you’ve packed enough stuff to do the job on your own.”

“It’s always good to be prepared,” Gus said seriously, making Luz laugh.

“Speaking of prepared…” Luz said, looking back at Eda and Lilith. “I don’t have a lot of money left. I don’t know how we’re going to get across the country and to Colorado.”

“I gave the responsible kid a pack of camp supplies,” Eda said, gesturing to Willow who pinked in embarrassment. “You should have three hundred dollars between you… some golden drachma, and I gave her some ambrosia and nectar too in case anything goes wrong.”

“I have asked some of the stables Pegasi to give you three a ride to Penn Station,” Lilith added, looking much more serious than Eda, who was grinning at the three of them like they were about to have the adventure of their lives. Which they probably were.

“Luz, will you finish this quest soon so we can spend the rest of the summer together?” King asked, running up to him to sit at her feet. Luz chuckled and leaned down to pet him, which he pretended not to enjoy.

“Sure, King. But it won’t be until after I’m done battling monsters and saving Olympus.”

“Maybe I can come!” He said looking up at Luz hopefully. “Eda and I have destroyed hundreds of monsters together before. Why not go another round?”

“No King, this is her quest,” Eda said. “Three is the lucky number, and the ancient laws would argue the safest number of companions.”

A slow smile started to spread on her face, and Luz immediately knew Eda was about to bend some rules. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t get in on the action once in a while…”

Eda reached around her neck and pulled a bronze whistle off of a chain, handing it to Luz. When she took it tentatively, King squealed in excitement.

“If you ever need a hand, just blow this,” Eda said to Luz, winking at her. “King will hear it from wherever you are. But it’ll only work one time, so don’t waste it.”

Luz didn’t really understand why that would help if they were across the country, but Eda had never let her down before, so she took it with a smile.

“Thanks, Eda.”

She just huffed and waved her off. “Thank you, kid. You’re the one heading off on the dangerous quest to save Olympus.”

“Speaking of leaving, those Pegasi should be here by now,” Lilith added, pinching her brow nervously. “Maybe I should go check on them…”

“No need Lilith!”

The group turned, and Luz blinked in surprise when she saw the Blight twins standing on the edge of the hill. They both had their signature crooked smiles on their faces like they were up to something, but Luz thought that despite their efforts to stay cool and composed they looked a little rattled.

Emira’s hair was pulled back and she was wearing a little makeup, but it looked like she had covered up under her eyes with more concealer than usual. Edric’s hair was ruffled, and he also looked like he hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep.

“We dismissed the Pegasus, and found a faster way to get Luz and her friends to Colorado.” Emira finished, and Eda and Lilith shared a look.

“Why would you do that without asking one of us first,” Lilith said slowly, and Luz exchanged glances with Willow and Gus who were now looking nervous.

“Because the quicker they get to Boulder, the faster they find Amity,” Edric replied quickly, and Luz noticed that Emira’s eyes were locked onto the sky.

“We asked our mom last night to help on your quest,” Emira continued, and this shocked Luz. Their mom Aphrodite? Just by the way Eda, Lilith, and her friends were looking at them in surprise, Luz figured this was a big request out of the love goddess.

“She said she would send help to the pine tree at dawn,” Edric finished.

“The gods are not supposed to interfere with mortal business,” Eda said in wonder. “You must have given her some offering for such a request.”

She was watching the twins carefully, and Luz figured she knew why. It was near impossible to ever tell what the twins were thinking. While she didn’t think they would trick her with her sister's life on the line, Luz wasn’t one hundred percent sure they didn’t have another motive up their sleeve.

“Amity is our little sister,” Emira said impatiently. “We bicker and fight, but at the end of the day, we have to look out for her and do everything we can to help. Our mom promised she would get Luz and her friends going at a god’s speed.”

Eda and Lilith winced.

“You better hope she doesn’t mean that literally,” Eda whispered to them. “That would peel the skin right off your face.”

Willow and Gus shared a panicked look. The twins must have been able to tell that this wasn’t exactly reassuring to them, and looked crestfallen. Luz felt a pang of guilt and could tell they were only trying to help. So, she steeled her expression and tried to sound optimistic.

“Hey, if we’re going to be getting help from an actual goddess, that has to be a good omen,” Luz said encouragingly. A thought struck her, and she genuinely smiled. “Maybe she’ll send us a flying car or something, like from the Harry Potter books!”

“I think it might be that chariot actually…” Eda said, pointing up at the sky.

Luz looked up and gasped, her mouth dropping open. Flying down towards the pine tree she caught a glimpse of a massive golden chariot with silver and bronze etchings twisting along the sides of it. But what shocked Luz wasn’t just how it was probably worth more than her and her mom’s entire apartment complex in Manhattan, but that it wasn’t being pulled by Pegasi. It was being pulled by a dozen beautiful white doves.

“Look at all that gold!” King squealed loudly, and Eda shushed him with a stern finger.

The chariot landed right next to the pine tree, Eda and Lilith straightened up in shock.

“Holy Zeus, kids,” Eda said to the Blight twins, who were also standing there shell shocked. “That must have been some prayer.”

“That’s Aphrodite’s chariot,” Lilith said in awe.

“But Aphrodite hasn’t lent her chariot to heroes in centuries,” Gus said in awe, and without even realizing they had done it, the trio and the Blight Twins had walked to the chariot and were close enough to touch it. “The last demigod who was fabled to ride it was Aeneas when he fled Troy.”

One of the doves, who seemed to be commanding the chariot, cooed at Luz and blinked its eyes at her. Luz stepped forward gently and the dove flew towards her, settling itself on her palm. She reached out and gently stroked it, and it cooed again and closed its eyes in delight.

“You better get on,” Eda said, eyeing it distrustfully. “It’s not wise to keep a goddess waiting, especially when you’re borrowing her chariot.”

Luz gently lowered the dove and it chirped, heading back to the head of the reins. “Alright, let’s go. We have a long way to Colorado.”

She stepped on the back of the chariot first. There was plenty of room for her and Gus and Willow to sit on it, and even sleep if they needed to. It was way bigger than she thought it was originally like the chariot was meant to hold a giant. Luz began to wonder just how big the gods were. There was a step ladder in the back that Luz imagines was added for the three new human riders, so when she climbed it she could see over the edge of the chariot.

Willow seemed uncertain, but Luz extended her hand with a smile, and Willow sighed and took it, getting into the chariot and taking a seat near the front. Gus boarded next with a much less hesitant smile, clearly excited to be on something that was so important to a goddess.

Luz grabbed the reins, which were so thick she had to just pray she would be able to pull them. As she turned around to say goodbye, she locked eyes with the Blight twins, who were still so shell shocked at what had just happened they didn’t know what to do with themselves, which was a first. Luz shot them the most confident smile she could manage.

“Thanks for the ride, you guys. I’ll find Amity, I promise.”

That seemed to shake them out of their surprise. They exchanged a look, before nodding and smiling back at Luz.

“We know you will,” Edric said.

“If you need any help at all, send us an Iris message,” Emira added, and Luz didn’t know what they were talking about, but Willow seemed to, and she nodded.

“We will. We’ll send one to camp when we find her too.”

That seemed to put the twins and ease, and they stepped back to let them take off. Luz was going to tug on the reins, but it seemed like she didn’t have to and the doves responded to her like they’d read her mind, lifting the chariot off the ground and slowly building up speed for a full take off.

As Luz turned back to look at camp one more time, she locked eyes with Eda, who was watching her wistfully. Luz waved with her right hand, and Eda smiled.

“Good luck, kid. May the gods be with you!”

The last look of camp Luz got was Owlbert cooing on her shoulder, and the pine tree on Half-blood Hill before she was jerked against the side of the chariot, letting out a loud cry of surprise as the chariot accelerated so fast Luz lost all control of her bearings. She heard Willow and Gus cry out in alarm next to her, and felt Willow grab her arm while she scrambled to keep her hands on the reins before the chariot gave another massive lurch, and they were shooting through the sky at a speed that would have given her Mami a heart attack.

“This is definitely faster than a Pegasus!” Luz yelled in alarm, and she saw Gus, who was on the other side of the chariot and grabbing the sides of it in terror, nod.

“We’re already out of sight of camp!” He yelled, and Luz noticed that his face was getting pale. She prayed to every god she could think of that he wouldn’t throw up. She figured Aphrodite wouldn’t be too happy about having demigod vomit in the chariot she graciously let them borrow.

“Where are we even going?” Willow asked next to her. She seemed to be doing a lot better than Gus in the motion sickness department, but she was using the hand that wasn’t wrapped around Luz’s arm to keep a tight grip on her glasses.

Luz thought that was a pretty stupid question, but considering they were flying through the sky at speeds that felt faster than most airplanes, she got why Willow was panicking. “I don’t know! I didn’t ask the doves to go anywhere they just took off on their own!”

“Aphrodite will have some plan for the chariot,” Gus said reassuringly. “If Emira and Edric prayed to her, then she’ll know where Amity is and what our mission is. We just have to trust that we’ll get there!”

So the three of them had no choice but to wait. They ended up being able to move closer to the front of the chariot by shuffling along the sides and wedging their way between the step stool and the curved sides, sitting together in a close huddle while the chariot rocked and shook in the wind. While they did eventually realize that the chariot was pretty steady and that they didn’t have to hold the chariot to not fly out, they kept their grip on each other’s arms.

“So what’s our strategy?” Luz asked the two of them when they all seemed calm enough to talk. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed since they left camp, maybe an hour or two? Regardless, they needed to know what to do when the chariot would inevitably land and take them no further.

“We were supposed to take the Pegasi to Penn Station and then take a train as far west as we could,” Gus said, his brow furrowed with thought. “I guess we’ll need to figure out exactly where we are when we land and then find the nearest bus or train west.”

“Ideally, we figure out how to make sure we aren’t being tracked by monsters,” Willow added. “Now that we’ve left camp, our scent as a group will be strong. We need to blend in with the mortals and stay inconspicuous.”

Luz was glad the two of them had come with her. She wouldn’t know which way was up without them, never mind how to complete a quest as dire as this one. Gus had the strategy, while Willow was sensible and calming. Plus, they worked well as a team. Luz tried to always stay optimistic, but right now she didn’t need to. She knew that the three of them together were a great team.

“Let’s stick to our strengths,” Gus said, slamming his fist confidently into his other palm. “If we try and camp in the forests, Willow can use plant magic to protect us from monsters that try and get in. I’m pretty good at detecting monsters in a crowd, so I’ll keep an eye out when we're in public spaces.”

“What about me?” Luz said with a frown, starting to worry that she would be the weak point in the group. “The only thing I can do is cheer us on.”

“That’s all we know you can do right now,” Gus said pointedly.

“He’s right, Luz,” Willow said comfortingly, putting a hand on her arm. “Hermes is the god of more than just orators.”

“Maybe you’re a really good pickpocket!” Gus said with a smile, but Luz’s frown just deepened.

“I’m not going to steal, Gus. That’s wrong.”

“If it’s to save our lives it can’t be that bad…” He retorted, but Luz shook her head stubbornly.

“Alright let’s move away from stealing,” Willow said, ending that conversation. “The point is that Hermes has always been kind of a jack of all trades when it comes to magic and abilities. You’re pretty good with your sword, so if we run into trouble and we have to fight, you should lead us.”

She didn’t know how to feel about that. “Lead? But you guys are way more experienced than I am. Don’t you think it’s better if one of you take charge?”

“It’s your quest, Luz,” Gus pointed out. “If Willow and I didn’t trust you to lead us, we wouldn’t be here.”

Luz opened her mouth in surprise and looked back and forth between her friends. She was so moved by what Gus had said, and the expression on Willow and Gus’s faces, she wasn’t sure what to say.

A sudden jerk of the chariot cut off whatever conversation they could have. The trio yelped in surprise as the chariot made a sudden jerk left, and Luz’s heart leaped in her chest as it made a quick drop in the sky.

“What’s happening!” Luz exclaimed, keeping a tight grip on the stepstool to see if she could look over the chariot.

“I think we’re landing!” Gus called back, and Luz felt her fingers tighten against the stepstool as the chariot made another jerk. She heard Willow and Gus once again make alarmed noises below her, and she looked down quickly to see them hanging on tightly to the bottom leg of the stool.

Luz pushed herself forward and climbed, finally managing to look over the edge of the chariot. Her eyes widened in shock. The doves were, in fact, preparing to land, and in the distance Luz could see a huge bridge spanning over a river, leading into a city skyline she could see in the late morning sun. She had never been outside New York, so she wasn’t quite sure where she was, but she didn’t have time to think about it before the chariot jerked again and they began a descent into a forest outside the city.

The trio watched as the chariot landed in a safe nesting of trees. The second it touched the ground, Luz, Willow, and Gus raced off, all sighing in relief when their feet touched the ground.

Willow was the first one to gather her bearings. “Where are we?”

Luz told her and Gus about the city they’d flown over, and the forest they’d landed in. When she finished, Gus hummed.

“Well we’ve gone a significant distance west, I bet that chariot was just as fast as an airplane. But I doubt we’ve made it all the way to Colorado, based on what you told us.”

Luz noticed the doves pulling the chariot ruffling their feathers like they were considering taking off. She gave Willow and Gus a wistful smile.

“But it won’t take us any farther. That’s why it dropped us here.”

So Luz walked over to them, and held out her hand for the lead dove, stroking its feathers again.

“Thank you for the ride,” Luz said earnestly. “We’ll figure the rest out from here.”

The dove cooed and flew out of Luz’s hand. She and her friends watched as the chariot ascended back into the sky, and disappeared. Luz watched it go with a smile on her face, Willow and Gus staring in awe one more time after it.

“Thank you for treating the doves so kindly. My lady will be pleased.”

The three of them jumped at the sudden voice behind them, and out of instinct they all drew their weapons and pointed them.

Standing a few feet away from them was a woman who couldn’t be older than twenty. She was skinny and small, not that much taller than Luz, wearing a flowy green skirt and a cropped white shirt. She had shiny light brown hair that flowed gracefully to the small of her back, and her head was wrapped in a wreath of flowers, in varying shades of white, yellow, and blue. Her green eyes sparkled humorously at them like she found the idea of being threatened cute.

Behind her, there was a little cabin that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. It was cute and made out of stones, with a chimney billowing smoke. There were flowers of all varying colors and sizes outside and a sign above the door that simply just read “The Flower Shop” in flowing elegant cursive.

“Stand down, little heroes. I don’t mean to harm you.”

Luz tensed at that, the way she said that reminded her a little too much of the man in the mountain. The woman seemed to sense that because she turned her head to eye Luz sympathetically.

“You poor thing, you could use a good cup of Chamomile tea.”

Luz wasn’t sure if she was being insulted or not, and she gripped the hilt of her blade tighter. But before she could say anything, she felt a firm hand on her sword arm, and Gus slowly lowered her blade.

“It’s alright, Luz. She isn’t an enemy,” he said quietly, and Luz looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Next to Gus, Willow had also lowered her sword and was now watching the woman with undisguised excitement.

“How do we know that?” Luz asked, but the tone of her voice was now more confused than tense.

“My apologies, I have not introduced myself,” the woman said with a light smile, extending her hands out to look at the three of them.

“I am Antheia, the goddess of flowers. My lady told me to expect you here today.”

#the owl house #lumity #luz x amity #Percy Jackson AU #shelby speaks

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