CHAPTER ONE

[𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 18, 2003. 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘳𝘬]

❝𝗗𝗢 𝗜𝗧...❞

the tall man with sand-like blonde hair was able to croak out those simple words, that despite their modesty and oridnarity held such enormous meaning behind them. the pain she could hear in his voice did nothing to coax her nerves, make her a ruler of her feelings again. it was as if her body was reduced to nothing more than a statue with her being a mere guest in the marble. a soul trapped just for a few more seconds to finally fly away into nothingness without her having any say in that matter.

she couldn't do anything else than just stare at the man who she proudly called her father once.

"luke..." her voice croaked.

hope beckendorf cringed internally at the sound that she made. she didn't want to sound weak in his last moments. after all he and mother were the ones that taught her to be strong even if she was anything but. the least she could do was to make sure that he knew that his lessons and the time he spent with her didn't go to vain. that he should be proud to have a daughter like her.

luke castellan was a damned son of hermes, the one who failed and kept failing the god of messengers, thieves, and more. but luke castellan was many more things and his being couldn't be reduced to a failure. he was also a brother, a friend and a pretty good boyfriend.

but the greatest title he held was 'father'.

despite not having a male role model, he did an amazing job at raising hope beckendorf with his girlfriend amara dean. hope was his pride and joy. if anything had happened to her he would make sure that the entire world felt his pain and never again experienced happiness. even if she wasn't his biological daughter, she was in every other sense. blood wasn't needed to form their family of three, but he sure would spill his own to ensure his daughter's safety.

he blinked but his eyes were so tired. he wasn't sure if he didn't close them for more than a second. yet his daughter was looking at him with her eyes betraying her struggles whether to kept and eye contact or look down on her trembling hands.

"hope... p-please..."

the girl couldn't help it. she shut her eyes the moment she heard her name falling from his dry and bloodied lips.

"end this."

the man didn't seem fazed by her indecisiveness.

his striking blue eyes were looking at the girl as if he was staring into her soul reading her like an open book. as if he was already on the other side of life and could see things that the living couldn't.

hope swallowed the gulp in her throat.

she looked to the left at her brother, charles, who was nodding vigorously. clearly not sharing her pain or torment. the boy wanted her to hurry up and end the misery of the man across them. he suffered enough. the least she could do was to end it all quickly.

"i knew it made no sense... why did i get into this?" luke said but his words sounded more like a ramble of a mad man. he shook his head in disbelief at himself and his actions.

"luke... i'm-... sorry."

she was so grief-stricken that he failed once again. he just wanted to make things fair. but it was an unfair match. he thought that he could change things but he was just a doll on a string of fate, and now, also of a few teenagers who experienced so much in their short lives. even with higher beings connected to the sad and pitiful events, who watched the scene with cold indifference in their eyes that was a stark contrast to the way they voiced their opinions on the matter, she was the one who had to end his suffering.

the daughter ending her father.

how devastating was that?

luke castellan smiled gloomily and nodded. he knew that it wounded her, but it was necessary. with one last encouragement from her father, the girl decided on his fate.

hope placed the 'plus four' card on a group of other cards on the table between them. immediately her expression changed from a miserable frown to a sly smirk accompanied by her sparkling eyes full of mischief.

"uno." she said failing at cointaining her joy. her body betrayed he once again and soon she was giggling like a lunatic.

"HELL NO!"

luke threw the five cards he held in his hands onto the table. hope and charlie laughed seeing how angry he was. soon others followed.

"you cheated! and you cheated! and you!" luke hissed and pointed one by one at all the teenagers sitting at the table. then he turned to his younger brothers, who were counting the money given to them by the other demigods sitting or standing around them and watching their game. "and you, little shit-heads... just wait 'till i get my hands on you two."

"who? us?" connor asked with a look of innocence on his face and yet he was everything but that.

he put the money into a bright pink purse slung around his arm and chest then reached his hands out in front of him to take the cards from the table. luke smacked his hands before he could take them.

"never, brother. a scout's word, honour or whatever." travis finished with a wide grin on his face.

travis and connor were to smiliar to everyone's liking. they had the same hightened level of mischeviousness and with hermes being their father it only meant one thing. trouble.

"you just - can't - play, lukey." hope added with a small smirk on her face and a faked innocence, a similar look to the one that 'the twins' sent him.

they spent too much with her for his liking too, shaping her into being a prankster apprentice of theirs. luke castellan was only nineteen, which in demigod years was considered a retirement age and he sure felt like it when he practically felt the gray hairs on his head.

hope reached for a glass of coke and brought her mouth close to the metal straw, but it slipped away from her. she reached with her other hand for the straw, but silena, who was sitting next to her, prevented her from doing so and pulled her hand close. after that, she continued painting hope's nails with green nail polish, a colour that she graciously let her pick after she basically kidnapped her hand.

luke rolled his eyes at his daughter's words and caught connor's hand, who again tried to steal the cards. from the sleeve of his younger brother's denim jacket, luke pulled out several different-colored cards and threw them on the table.

"yes, i certainly can't play." the blonde replied and leaned back in his chair putting his muscular arms over his chest.

"hey! i wasn't cheating!" charlie shouted in defense and shrugged off his denim sleeveless jacket to show that he wasn't hiding anything.

"yeah, but you're sitting next to hope and she's hanging out with these half-wits." luke nodded at his brothers. "check her pockets and you'll find at least three plus four cards."

"not true!" hope shouted while wrestling with a straw.

"it's not possible for you to have such luck with cards. four times in a row." he replied.

luke sighed and leaned toward hope. he grabbed the straw with two fingers and slid it up to her lips. hope caught it with her mouth and took a few sips. luke waited patiently while still holding the metal tube like the tired dad that he was.

"i just know how to play it. and i don't have to ask every now and then what the arrow card means. not like some people." hope said once she had stopped drinking and luke went back to leaning back in his chair. he ignored her comment and side eyeing knowing that it was true.

luke turned toward the small blonde girl who was sitting next to him with a book on her lap.

"and what do you think about it, annie?"

the girl looked up immediately as if she was atunned into his voice. hope wouldn't be surprised, really. the blonde child of athena blushed and backed him up even though she wasn't even interested in the game.

"annabeth's opinion doesn't count. she - was - reading!" travis shouted.

before they could start arguing for like a million times in two hours, chiron approached them with a short woman at his side.

there was something about chiron that always made people know he was nearby. his presence had this amazing aura that calmed people and made them more aware of their surroundings. the mystical thing only failed when someone was up to something. then suddenly he could be standing next to you and you wouldn't know until it was too late.

hope's eyes involuntarily fell on the woman who accompanied him.

she had long brown hair that seemed to be shining in the sun, looking better and more luscious than the waves of many children of aphrodite despite her not having any hair-care routine or relations to the goddess of love. 

her brown eyes were similar to the chocolate filled with the same warmth and coziness. she looked at her surroundings with a motherly smile that suited her so well and seemed to be a permanent part of her. 

truly, hope couldn't remember a time that amara dean had a bad-looking frown on her face (other than when she was worried sick about one of her kids).

people referred to her as just dean. hope found it strange at the beginning of her stay at camp half-blood but over time she realized that calling her something other than mom or dean was simply impossible to do.

dean was a caring young woman. the oldest one in the camp and having been there for the longest time. with demigods coming and going (or dying) it wasn't hard for her to form motherly instincts and guard the ones that were still alive. since many of them were homeless, not loved or properly taken care of before coming to camp half-blood, amara dean was a breath of fresh air, a parent and role model that loved each and one of her kids unconditionally.

with older kids, the bond was more sibling's like. but for youngsters, she was their mother. and no one in camp minded that.

on the 18th september the only thing that amara dean had in mind was making her (adoptive) daughter happy on the day of the anniversary of her birth. and with a camera around her neck, balloons tied to her hand and a determined look on her face, she certainly looked like it.

all conversations quieted down. everyone, out of respect for the centaur and the camp's mom, put down their food and everything they were occupied with. they looked at the newly arrived who made their way to the table.

dean took a few more steps and as the kids surrounding the table moved out of her way like the sea for moses, she was able to reach hope and place a kiss on her cheek. immedietly after luke's strong hands guided her onto his lap which she didn't mind at all.

"i thought that after the last battle after the game of uno-" he said the last words very seriously like he meant a real battle. "-we agreed not to play it anymore?"

"well, when the incident hapened we were playing with mr. d." hope said and waved energetically her hand with freshly painted nails wanted them to dry quicker. "he's not here now."

dean waved her hand around which a green mist appeared, muttering a spell in her mind. soon hope's nails were dry enough not to smudge the nail polish. hope sent dean a grateful smile. now she could drink the soda freely.

"well, yes, that explains everything now." chiron laughed. after a moment, however, he became more serious. a small smile still wandered on his lips in amusement. "hope, dear, could i trouble you for a moment?"

hope nodded and got up from her chair, not yet knowing what the topic of the conversation would be, but hoping that it was what she was thinking about for the past few days.

today was the 11th birthday and according to her biological mother's diary, it was the day that she would receive her hogwart's letter. that's why hope has been waiting impatient for the owl (yes, owl. that was still strange) to arrive with a piece of paper that would make her so life pretty much fulfilled.

the teenagers, who were circling the table, moved away from hope's side so that she passed freely without stepping on them.

dean and luke exchanged glances. without even saying a word, since they seemed to be reading each other's minds (or they just knew each other so well), they got up and followed after the girl. while holding hands they stood next to her looking like proud parents.

"will! play in my place!" hope shouted to the small blond-haired kid with blue eyes, who jumped onto her seat with a smile.

the centaur and the teenager headed toward the big house passing other campers who greeted them and wished hope a happy birthday. the girl thanked everyone with a smile, even the children of ares with whom she didn't get along too well. luke and dean were a little in the back whispering to each other quietly with soft smiles on their faces and gazes full of love.

honestly, the second greatest gift that she could receive for her 11th birthday was for luke to finally propose to dean. it was tiring to watch him stressing over whether she would say yes or no to him when everyone in camp knew that dean was aware of the ring currently lying in his pocket and waited to be asked the damn question so they could finally be a real family. but luke castellan seemed to lose all of his brain cells when it came to amara dean and hope was certain they had to wait a few more months for him to find a courage. or by that time dean would be the one to get on one knee.

finally they arrived at the big house. on the porch mr. d. was lying on a lounger, sipping coke from a can. hope greeted him with the respect the god of the wine deserved, which was a simple "'sup." apparently, he was in a good mood because seeing the birthday cap on her head, with a wave of his hand he conjured up a carton of coca cola, which appeared in her hands. hope surprised by the sudden weight, stumbled, but quickly regained her balance.

she smiled broadly at the god, who no longer bore any attention to her, and said "thank you!". luke let go of dean's hand and took drinks from the teenager's hands. in his own, they seemed to weigh nothing. hope got reminded once again of her (adoptive) father's strength.

they walked inside the house behind chiron and headed to his office leaving dean on the porch. she placed a hand on the god's arm and sent him a smile of gratitude. the god just waved his hand and got back to playing solitaire not wanting for her to see the way the corners of his lips lifted in a small (barely there) smile.

amara dean was a lot of things. she was kind, empathetic and had a ton of love to share. she made the whole camp feel like one big family with her as a mother, luke as a father, chiron as a grandpa and mr. d as that one weird uncle. everyone knew that.

but she also had something in herself that just made people want to spend time with her and be, just for once, the center of her attention. it wasn't surprising that she of all people got the wine god to like her. they were each other best friends. and if god being friends with a mortal wasn't surprising enough, if you had heard the stories of the two together, you would be astounded. and maybe a little flabbergasted.

inside the house as per the centaur's permission, luke put down the carton of drinks on the table. dean quickly followed after her loved ones. hope walked over to the desk where chiron was standing and clapped her hands.

"soooo... what's the deal, boss?"

chiron was used to the nicknames she was giving up to people. it reminded him of someone else he knew and he made sure to send a look to that person (dean only smiled sheepishly). he did not react to how she called him. instead, he took something from the desk and turned to her. hope lowered her gaze to his hands, which held a bright gold envelope with a gold seal.

"is this...?" hope whispered surprised by the view.

she turned her head to the wall by which the couple was standing. they were looking at her with proud expressions and soft smiles. hope didn't miss the camera that was pointed in her direction. she was sure that her mom would put the photos in the album. she just hoped that she wasn't looking like a mess.

"happy birthday, darling." amara dean said. the tears were glistening in her eyes but she was firmly holding the camera not caring about her clouded sight.

"ms. h. beckendorf. the big house. half-blood hill, farm road 3.141. long island, new york 11954." when chiron finished reading he handed the teenager an envelope, which she accepted gratefully.

hope read in her mind, with difficulty as the dyslexic girl should, what was written on the envelope, then she squealed loudly. she jumped up several times around the room and did a strange happy dance at which chiron laughed.

"shush there!" mr. d. shouted from the porch.

"sorry!" she yelled with a smile.

hope turned the envelope over and the smile disappeared from her face.

"ilvermorny?" hope raised her gaze to the centaur. "not hogwarts?"

the centaur smiled apologetically at her.

"only this one letter came."

"huh..."

hope opened the envelope and took out two letters. she started to read one of them but after a moment she gave up and handed them to dean who already had a hand snuck out in her diection. now luke was holding the camera slightly confused about whether or not he should click something. he sent some pleading looks into his girlfriend's direction but she was more focused on their daughter.

the woman read the letters aloud blessed with not having a trouble reading. hope listened carefully to every word she said.

"...please respond by september 5." when dean finished, she handed the letter back to the teenager, who sat down in a chair as she listened.

"i was hoping to get a letter from hogwarts." hope admitted though she didn't have to say it. everyone could see it by her sad look and the slight pout on her lips.

"maybe it's because you're in new york." the cenatur voiced