The forge had woken before Lucas did.
When he emerged from the tent, the air still smelled of dew, but there was already heat rising from the far end of the station. Tekto, apron fastened over his chest and soot up to his elbow, was stoking the fires. The makeshift forge sat in the rebuilt coal shed, glowing from within like a heart slowly learning to beat again.
Lucas pulled his cloak around his shoulders and moved through the overgrown platform toward the center of their makeshift camp. Already, the land felt different compared to when they first came, though nothing noticeable physically, the place truly felt like it had begun to change.
A soft sound drew his attention. Beyond the forge, in the shadows of the birches, a dryad stood half-faded into bark, watching Tekto work. Another, younger one, peeked from behind the tree, but her eyes were on Lucas.
Lucas raised a hand in greeting. The dryad didn't answer, instead her face scrunched in panic and she vanished into the tree, followed by the other dryad.
He wryly smiled to himself and made for the firepit, hoping to get some breakfast to start the day ahead.
At the fire pit, Hestia was already there, tending to the flame, beside her was a plate filled with eggs and bacon, another topped with toast and a cup with what seemed to be tea, steam rising from it.
Lucas joined Hestia in sitting by the flames and she handed him the food and drink, encouraging him to try it. She sat there as he ate and lost herself in her thoughts before a coughing brought her back to reality.
"Thanks for the breakfast, Hestia," Lucas said, seeing her attention return. "Tastes just like my fathers."
"Thank you, it has been a while since I have made other people food, it is nice to know I still have the ability." Hestia smiled, her smile warming Lucas more than even the fire beside them.
Tekto passed by, rolling a cart of timber toward the edge of the platform, destroying the atmosphere and the morning silence with his stumbling and grunting.
Ignorant of this, Tekto asked. "What should we start with first, the Temple or the new camp?"
Lucas thought about this for a few minutes before coming to a resolution, looking at Hestia. "The Hearth."
That seemed to catch both of the listeners off guard, so he explained. "The Hearth is the symbolic centre of what this place is meant to be, a home to all. So we should build it first, have it central to our construction."
He got up and led them to a circle of cleared stone. There, between the pillars of the station, he planted the first stone of what would become the common hearth, a place for all to gather, a place to warm the bones from the cold nights and bring light to the darkness.
Lucas left the place to Tekto and Hestia, knowing this was their expertise, and instead decided to go train his abilities. Last night's talk with Hecate caused some digestion of his current Sequence six potion. He didn't understand what was the exact reason and didn't understand why only a part of the potion was digested but he believed that by better understanding and exploring his abilities, it may help gain insight.
...
Outside, near the cabins in camp halfblood, Ethan Nakamura sat at the edge of the forest with several campers around him. He wasn't loud, but his voice carried conviction.
"He's not building another Olympus," he said. "He's building something that doesn't need gods to rule, a home for all."
A younger camper, a child of Hebe, frowned. "But he's still a demigod, right? A powerful one if he can survive Poseidon's wrath. Doesn't that make him a ruler anyway?"
Ethan shook his head. "He doesn't want to lead like a king. He wants us to lead ourselves. Olympus expects loyalty. Lucas wants accountability, there you won't be oppressed, you will have freedom of choice and you can truly reap the rewards or consequences fairly.."
"But what if Olympus attacks," asked a Hephaestus girl with grease on her brow.
Ethan smiled faintly. "The location is set to be protected by many gods and goddesses, warded to rival even Olympus in terms of safety, and that's just the present, overtime the defences will grow and more immortals will join strengthening the place."
...
The light in the Hermes cabin had long since dimmed, but Luke hadn't moved from his bunk. The others were asleep in their own rooms, but he sat there with a half-filled bowl of water resting on a crate and a rainbow prism scavenged from Butch.
Across from him, Thalia leaned against the window frame, arms folded, the sleeves of her jacket tugged over clenched fists.
"You sure about this?" she asked, her voice low. "If they catch you..."
"They won't." He sounded more tired than confident.
"He should know what they're doing to you," Luke muttered. "They lock you inside the camp, cut you off from everyone. Like you're already the traitor they fear you'll become."
Thalia didn't answer. Her eyes held something between fury and grief. She'd never said it aloud, but they both understood, Olympus had already made their choice. They just hadn't spoken the sentence yet.
"Didn't you need a location for this to work, where did you get it? We only recently found out he survived."
Luke started setting up the ritual before speaking, "Ethan told me the location he most likely is."
Luke tapped the water's surface. It rippled faintly. He shone a flashlight onto the prism to create a rainbow, and dropped a golden drachma into the water.
"Iris, goddess of the rainbow," he whispered, "accept this offering. Show me Lucas Thorne - Upstate New York"
For a second, nothing. Then a shimmer began to form, a faint silhouette taking shape just beyond the surface.
Bootsteps.
The sound came from outside the cabin.
Luke's hand hesitated over the bowl, just as the door creaked open with no knock or warning. In stepped Zelus,and beside him, the enforcer herself, every inch of her posture iron-willed, Bia.
The image in the water dissolved into scattered light. Thalia stiffened. Luke didn't move.
Bia glanced at the little set up and seeing the disappearing motes of rainbow, understood what happened.
"You've broken the standing rule," Bia said, voice devoid of emotion. "No communication beyond camp boundaries."
Luke didn't look away. "She didn't break any rules, and neither did I for that matter. I am not restricted from communicating beyond the camp."
"While true" Zelus said, stepping forward. "What you were doing was an act of defiance and against the heart of the policy. That counts in our books."
There were no raised voices. Only the quiet press of weight in the air, the kind that made even silence feel loud.
Thalia stepped between them, voice cold. "So what? You think cutting me off from the world will make me obedient? Or maybe you're just hoping I'll go mad quietly just to give you an excuse to kill me."
Zelus' face twitched. "You speak like a rebel."
"And you speak like lap dogs," she snapped.
Bia's expression didn't shift. Her gaze turned to Luke instead.
"Perhaps it is not her we should question," she said softly. "Perhaps it is you."
Luke met her stare. "Meaning?"
"Meaning," Bia murmured, "how do we know you haven't already been manipulating her? Lucas Thorne could have tasked you into connecting with her. Perhaps you're merely acting as a boyfriend to control her, and this relationship was never real from the start."
Luke had to grab Thalia to stop her from attacking Bia.
Feeling the restraint, she stopped forcing herself and instead barked a laugh, sharp, bitter and filled with growing wrath. "SAY THAT SHIT AGAIN AND I PROMISE EVEN YOUR MASTER WON'T PROTECT YOU FROM MY THUNDER!"
The room stilled. The raw fury Thalia emitted caused both gods to freeze.
Zelus stepped back. "Our purpose is fulfilled. Any morempts to communicate with the outside will be punished, you have been warned."
Bia turned without flourish. "You are being watched. Do not forget it."
They left without closing the door.
Luke didn't speak, simply embraced Thalia from behind, helping soothe her rage and quietly tell her that he truly does love her. Thalia understood and calmed down herself, turning and returning the embrace.