I have to admit, falling through the universe is pretty.
As I descended, the sights around me did get more beautiful, I can't deny that.
The colours changed from violent ones that my eyes could easily distinguish to one's more subtle, colours I'd never even thought about combining toghether. Most of them were beautiful enough for someone to spend their life exploring them.
Unfortunately, I had no such luck.
I was there, just plummeting through space, trying not to fall too hard or too slow, and not to start cussing the guy out.
I mean, what is this? Am I going to fall into the world? Is this how you plan to reincarnate someone?
Besides, how am I even falling? There's no gravity, and it's not like his snapping can change the laws of nature.
Okay,maybe it can. But that's still no way to treat a guest not form your world!
So rather than beat myself up in what was happening and why was happening, I focused on where I was falling, which resulted in me streamlining myself.
And what I saw really shocked me.
A series of golden lights were below mentioned, which steadily grew larger as I grew lower. Only that as I came closer, I realised they weren't really lights...
They were a cluster of galaxies.
Okay, I thought, this isn't even the weirdest thing you've seen so far. Why the fuck are you that surprised?
But there was a major difference between being surprised and acting surprised. And this time, I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen to me.
The only positive thing, I prayed as I tumbled down the galxy, is that he wouldn't bait me that much only to realise that I wasn't going to reincarnate.
Right?
And before I knew it, I was in the Milky Way.
Now, look guys, if you were considering on a god throwing you into a random galaxy that's not the Milky Way, and you were about to use me as proof like, Hey look! That guy did it! , you're all out of luck.
Which is a relief for me, because I really don't wanna find out whether the Nine World's exist in a complete different version of the universe.
The white spiral band of light swallowed, which is the last thing I remember before I woke up-
Not.
Heh. What were you thinking? I'm not that stereotypical.
Still, as I spotted the solar system, my body shivered involuntarily with excitement. Almost there.
The planets sped by like F1 cars, with me barely having time to register their features before I hurtles like a meteor towards North America.
I sighed. At least it wasn't peak ragebait.
Which is also when I realised something else. I hoped sincerely with all my being that friction didn't treat deceased souls sent by creators of universes the same way it treated solid objects hurtling at it at hypersonic speeds. Otherwise, needless to say, I was cooked.
I sailed into the atmosphere, eyes closed tightly, and making Binding Vows to protect my sorry butt.
If you let me survive this and wake up as Luke Castellan, I won't cuss you out unless there's a extreme reason. In fact, I'll even throw in some thanks on arrival and whenever things go really good for me.
Apparently, Chaos heard my prayers. When I opened my eyes again, I had already crossed the troposphere, and was steadily heading for Long Island.
Hey, did he actually take my advice about falling into the corpse seriously?
Because at this point, I couldn't see any other way out for me.
I continued falling which I was getting bored of at this point, but then again, there wasn't really anything else I could do. I just watched downwards, and wondered whether this was how skydivers felt when they jumped out of a plane with a parachute. I hope their parachutes failed.
I'm evil that way.
Until a couple of seconds ago, I couldn't see anything except a vast stretch of serene forests, which made me frown, especially considering I was heading dead center for the middle of this place. But as I grew closer, my eyes were able to discern something weird. Something off.
Because about four metres above the ground, instead of the air being plain and normal, it seemed to be shimmering.
Ever seen how light behaves when it crosses into glass from air? It was kinda like that, like someone put a mismatched lens around the region, which made me see cross eyed. But I already knew this wasn't some hallucination or illusion or something.
Rather, it was the force field around the camp established by either the gods or Thalia's pine tree. I don't remember.
I was worried about whether the borders would detect me or not, and as I got closer, I held my breath, anticipating a massive Boom! following which the gods would spot it, panic thinking someone was attacking their kids, and blast me back to smithereens.
Actually, it went far more smoothly.
Suddenly my vision changed, and where there had been an expanse of grass and trees a milisecond ago, there was a whole other place. I only had time to spot a big house, another forest, and twelve cabins arranged in a semi circular manner.
And then everything went black.
***
In the Hermes Cabin at Camp Half Blood, all was at peace, and everyone was snoring without a care in the world.
Until one certain teenager woke up gasping as if he had a bad dream.
His hands flew immediately to his own face, where he checked everything. He then looked down at his clothes and arms.
"Holy shit," he muttered, turning his arms over. "So it really wasn't a hallucination."
He cracked his neck, before spotting a makeup mirror at the other end of the room. He leapt out of bed, careless of anyone around him. The bunk creaked, and a nearby camper turned in his sleep.
The boy looked to his right, petrified. But the bunker just turned on his back and continued snoring, causing a sigh of relief.
"That was close." He shook his head. "I can't believe this."
He crept carefully to the mirror, where he checked his reflection.
A sandy blonde haired boy peered back at him, uncomfortable with the situation. He could easily tell that he was handsome, and would look nice if he smiled.
"So I really am Luke Castellan now, huh," he remarked, going into minute details like eye colour, hairstyle, the rest. "But at least one good thing's there..."
He suddenly turned his head to the side, focusing on his right eye and chin. And against his expectations, his cheek was slightly tanned and had a tiny scar near the bottom of his chin. Otherwise, it was unmarked.
"That means Luke hasn't travelled to the Garden of Herispedes yet."
He could work with that. After all, it was after this quest that Luke really started going down the dark path and became an enemy of Olympus. And it was all due to bitter resentment about the sins of gods.
Sins of gods. Sounds like blasphemy when you put it like that, but at least in this world, it was true.
However, by far, the worst thing hadn't happens to Luke yet, he hadn't made contact with the Titan Lord Kronos.
In the original story, Luke has been cleverly manipulated, tricked and played by Kronos, who had turned him from a promising demigod to a vessel of evil. Especially in his last couple of years, despite all his dreams about a better world, in ten end, Kronos had simply lied and convinced him to give over his body, and used it to try and regain the 'Heian Era' of cannibalism.
Not happening this time.
He frowned at his reflection. But first...
1st POV
Damn I look good. Best face I've seen in my last life.
I checked my face in the mirror again.
Yeah,the girls of this world should definitely watch out.
But isn't there something off about me?
I frowned at the realisation. I had been in this body for less than two minutes, and I already knew what was right and what was wrong about me. And the lack of a dragon scar had been very comforting.
However, there was still something off about him, I mean me.
And that's when I heard a catious voice behind me.
"Luke?"
I whipped around faster than you could say Peekaboo! and stared at the girl rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
She was around 14, had dark skin like she spent her life in the Carribean, dark, tanned and athletic. She had honey blonde hair that was currently extremely messed up, which I would have forgiven had it not been for my perfect morning locks. Hey, if I can't have bed hair, no one can have bed hair.
I have a feeling that came out very wrong.
Did I mention I didn't retain the original Luke's memories and had no clue who this zombie was.
I was already formulating some kind of excuse or rizz to this girl when the pain hit.
And it hit me like Truck- kun.
I let out a gasp of pain, collapsing on my knees as it drilled into me like a knife. I clawed desperately at the side of my skills, trying to make it stop. But like all things in my life, the pain didn't know how to take a hint.
And that's when weird things started appearing in my mind.
I mean, I've seen weird, I know weird and I feel weird.
But at the same time, there's nothing as weird as life clips from someone else's life unfolding in your brain.
I would have described it, but the pain was unbearable enough for me to let go of all sanity and simply roll about on the floor in agony.
Wow. I am never recovering from that.
Finally, it decreased enough for me to stand. I got up, still clutching the side of my head in extreme pain.
Now listen, I'm not that much of a people's person. It's a problem I've always worked to fix, but somehow I'm never getting close.
And I absolutely loathe attention. One person focusing on me I can take, two is bearable, three makes me twitch.
But a cabinful of members staring at me even in concern and worry is far far more than I bargained for.
So yeah, it took a lot of self control not to shout and run out.
Okay, I took a deep breath. New beginnings. Work on the people skills, dude. People skills.
So I put on the most confused expression Prince Charming here would have, combined with a bit of fear in my eyes and went, "Huh? Oh that, I'm fine."
"But Like, we saw you-"
"I said I'm fine, Chloe," Fortunately I recalled her name from "my" memories. "It was just a nightmare that's all."
She flinched at my harsh voice, which made me feel a lot worse, so I tried to soften it. " I'll be okay. I need to talk to Chiron about my dream..."
I made my words falter intentionally to make them think I'd seen something horrible, and it worked, as they exchanged looks. "Besides, if you insist," I put that mischievous smile, which the previous Luke has seen so many girls fall prey to. "I'll even drop by the infirmary."
Chloe gulped, clearly not convinced, but still deciding to let the matter rest. "If you say so..."
And of course, I acted inconspicuously.
***
Half an hour later, everybody had forgotten the scene.
Or at least, it wasn't nearly so visible as before.
The campers chatted, talked and argued with each other. Not exactly your usual summer camp, but yeah, close.
Until I heard a voice shouting from outside.
I looked at how it was, and gave a sigh. "Seriously Clarrise? Again."
Naturally, the big hunk of a bully sneered. "Looky looky at who it is. Prince Charming himself."
She had a body of Mini Hulk and corresponding height. A permanant ugly smile on her fat face, and my desire to punch her lights out completed the image.
Oh, did I forget the newbie camper who she had in a headlock?
My bad, I should really start focusing on the canon fodder instead of a canonical character who plays a major role in PJO.
I sighed. "Give the guy a break, Gorilla Arms. He doesn't know how to fight."
"Oh yeah?" Her sneer grew even wider, and I was seriously contemplating getting my sword out. "So you're going to save his sorry ass now, huh?"
She released the guy who was thrashing desperately like an eel, picked him up, and threw him into a nearby bush.
Yeah, that's right. A ten year old just picked up a guy above her head and threw him into a bush.
The crowd which had gathered around us laughed. Some cheered, while others watched on in silence.
I exhaled, clearly at the end of my patience. "So that's how this is gonna be, huh?"
Clarrise looked genuinely happy. "You trying to start a fight, Castellan?" And before I could accept or decline, she went, "Well then, a fight it is."
She looked to her right, where a kid tossed her a spear. She grabbed it, and the tip buzzed with electricity.
Of course, I thought bitterly, drawing my own weapon. I get a sword I don't know how to use, while she gets an electric spear.
I don't know what would have followed, probably the biggest humiliation Luke Castellan ever had, but luckily someone unexpected arrived to save my dignity at the last second.
"Stop!"
I grinned, checking my side. Standing in midst of the campers was the big horse, the director himself, Chiron.
AN-
Another chapter down.
A bit longer than planned with 2300 words, but who cares?
Expect next one the day after tomorrow, or after that.
Skit-
Luke:Drop the guy, Clarrise!
Clarrise: Okay.(drops him)
Hades:I'll take that, thank you very much.
(Hole opens to Tartarus on the ground)
Guy: NOOOO!