[ the bundled rage inside her melts away easily when luke laughs like that. it reminds her of chris, honestly, which almost makes her sad, but at the same time reminds her of all the good times they had. she'd had good times with luke, too, though chris always could get her to laugh when no one else could. maybe it's a hermes thing, the ability to calm the raging bull. usually luke only does the opposite, but maybe it's just because she'd never given him a chance to do anything else.
she raises an eyebrow at him in return, questioning his challenge merely with her expression. ]
You of all people should know I never run from anything.
[ as he may recall, she attempted to taunt the titan lord into facing her in battle after she'd slayed his nasty little pet. also as he may recall, the pet that killed her best friend. she's still bitter about it and she still harbors a deep-seeded hatred for the one responsible, but she might be more willing to redirect her blame of luke fully to kronos. she still needs time to process her own guilt before she tries to process anything else.
it helps being able to banter with him like this again, without the underlying threat of violence. it helps her forget just as it helps her remember. luke castellan is the last person she ever thought she could be friendly with again, but she once thought the same thing about chris right after she'd learned of his betrayal. it wasn't surprising that he'd gone to luke's side — they were brothers. she tries to imagine if one of her brothers had been in luke's place, if she would have betrayed her family to support his cause. she can't say for sure, and hypotheticals seem irrelevant at this point, anyway.
the point is, she forgave chris, she let him in and she loved him. sure, he hadn't tried to bring about the destruction of an entire pantheon, but he'd defected to luke's command — he probably still would've been at luke's side if the labyrinth hadn't driven him mad. (if luke had cared more.) if chris can forgive him, she should too, right? she trusts his judgement more than anyone else's, more than annabeth's or thalia's. she's giving him a second chance just by letting her guard down like this, and that's at least a start. ]
no subject
she raises an eyebrow at him in return, questioning his challenge merely with her expression. ]
You of all people should know I never run from anything.
[ as he may recall, she attempted to taunt the titan lord into facing her in battle after she'd slayed his nasty little pet. also as he may recall, the pet that killed her best friend. she's still bitter about it and she still harbors a deep-seeded hatred for the one responsible, but she might be more willing to redirect her blame of luke fully to kronos. she still needs time to process her own guilt before she tries to process anything else.
it helps being able to banter with him like this again, without the underlying threat of violence. it helps her forget just as it helps her remember. luke castellan is the last person she ever thought she could be friendly with again, but she once thought the same thing about chris right after she'd learned of his betrayal. it wasn't surprising that he'd gone to luke's side — they were brothers. she tries to imagine if one of her brothers had been in luke's place, if she would have betrayed her family to support his cause. she can't say for sure, and hypotheticals seem irrelevant at this point, anyway.
the point is, she forgave chris, she let him in and she loved him. sure, he hadn't tried to bring about the destruction of an entire pantheon, but he'd defected to luke's command — he probably still would've been at luke's side if the labyrinth hadn't driven him mad. (if luke had cared more.) if chris can forgive him, she should too, right? she trusts his judgement more than anyone else's, more than annabeth's or thalia's. she's giving him a second chance just by letting her guard down like this, and that's at least a start. ]