Luke's still not really sure what a "quest" is, or why Malcolm wants the three of them to be the ones to go on it, but he had to admit he liked the attention it gave him.

Everyone in the house kept coming up to him and giving him advice, or wishing him luck, or even just gazing after him jealously.

"He's only been here a week," said a daughter of Hephaestus enviously. "And he's already been chosen for a quest!"

Needless to say, going on a quest in the mythology world is a big deal. A dangerous, fantastic, special deal that Luke feels excited to be chosen for.

Calum gets both Luke and Ashton up and awake at seven in the morning the next day, Luke getting up easily while Ashton grumbled and threw his pillow in Calum's direction.

Once Ashton was up and dressed, looking no happier than before, the three of them head off towards the weaponry room.

"So, the house carries lots and lots of weapons. Monsters used to attack here a lot before we had the gods' protection, so we had to stock ourselves up pretty well," Calum informs them as they walk down the hall. Luke listens with interest. "Each demigod here has a weapon that suits them well. It's like a fitting-- you try them all out and the best weapon for you is the one you'll keep."

Luke knits his eyebrows together. "How do you know which one is the best?"

Calum gives him a half-smile. His eyes twinkle from behind his glasses. "Oh, you'll know. It's like a feeling."

Ashton yawns loudly. "Sounds like a blast."

Calum shoots him a look before stopping in front of two double doors, wooden with drawings of greek symbols carved into the surface. Calum grips the metal handle and pushes the doors open, stepping inside. Luke hurries after him.

The room is about the size of a large auditorium, the ground flat and hard. Hanging on the walls are about every single size, shape, and design of shields known to man. The round, metal aegis's line the walls, different figures and designs drawn into the metal. Luke shivers at the sight of a particularly scary Medusa one.

Ashton's frown slowly turns into a grin. He runs his hand over a shield closest to him, one dark and black, nothing carved into it but one circle framing the shield.

"Nice," he says approvingly. Calum smiles at him.

"I thought you'd like this room," he says. "Before shields, though, weapons are first. Follow me."

Calum leads them past shelves and racks of swords, blades, curved knives and all sorts of metal weapons Luke has never seen before.

Luke stops by a particularly wicked looking blade, short but curved downward, scarily sharp.

"What about this?" Luke asks Calum. Calum looks at the blade shortly.

"Ah, you don't want a blade. You have to be really skilled if you want such a short knife as your weapon. Since you're a newbie to this whole thing, I think a sword would be better. Better distance, anyway."

Ashton furrows his eyebrows together. "Where are the guns?"

Calum looks utterly confused. "Guns?"

"The only things here are swords and blades. If you're trying to kill monsters, wouldn't a gun be more efficient?" Ashton asks.

Calum draws a long sword from one of the racks, watching the metal glint in the flourescent lighting. "Actually, monsters can only be killed by two types of metals: Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold. So no, bullets wouldn't do much to hurt them. Probably would just make them angrier."

"So which one is that?" Luke points to the sword Calum is holding.

Calum grips the hilt more firmly. "All of these are Celestial Bronze. You might find a few Imperial Gold, but we don't use them. Greeks use bronze, Romans use gold. Both do the job."

Silence stretches between them as Luke absorbs this new information. Ashton doesn't appear to be listening, off tracing his finger over some of the shields in the corner. Calum sighs and offers the hilt of the sword to Luke.

"Here. Take a shot at this one."

Luke tentatively takes the sword. It has a silver hilt, the bronze sword seeming to glisten in the light. Luke frowns at how unnaturally heavy the sword feels in his hands, but before he can say anything, Calum picks up a different sword.

"This one's mine," Calum says proudly, wielding a sword with a blade almost the length of his arm. It's hilt is gold and carved with intricate designs. He raises it and holds it with ease. "Let's duel, shall we?"

Luke must look petrified, because Calum laughs and says lightly, "No worries, Luke. I'll go easy on you."

Calum raises his sword again. Luke raises the heavy sword in his hands, with effort. Calum swings his sword down on Luke's and the sword immediately falls right out of Luke's grip, dragging his arm down with it. Luke winces at the pain in his shoulder.

Calum picks up the sword Luke was holding and replaces it. "Not the right one. Hm... Try this one."

He hands Luke a different one. A shorter one with a bronze hilt. Luke picks it up, but it has no weight to it in his arms, feeling oddly light as a feather. It feels like it would break if he tried it against Calum's.

Calum reads Luke's expression. "Not it either?" He turns around, rummaging through piles of swords. "Maybe one of these..."

Behind him, Ashton walks up holding a particularly shiny sword, the blade long and glimmering. He holds it easily, poking Calum with the side lightly to get his attention.

"Ouch! Be careful, will you?" Calum scolds. Ashton ignores him, smiling.

"Duel me. I think this is mine," Ashton says. Luke sighs unhappily as Calum and Ashton take their positions. How did he find one so fast? Luke feels drained from the couple of swords he's already tried.

Luke leans up against one of the sword racks, hilts uncomfortably digging into his back, and he crosses his arms stubbornly.

"Ready? I'll go easy on you," says Calum. Ashton scoffs.

"No need. I got this," he says, holding up his sword. Calum shrugs and makes the first move, stepping forward and swinging down on Ashton's sword. Ashton barely reacts in time, but manages to block the hit. They smack each other's swords for a while before Calum takes off his glasses and wipes them on his shirt, nodding approvingly.

"That's the one, alright," he says, and places the glasses back on his face. Ashton grins proudly, swinging the sword through the air.

"Awesome. I'm gonna go find a sheath and shield," Ashton says, whistling as he walks away. Luke crosses his arms tighter across his chest as Calum catches his breath, flicking his hair from his eyes. He looks at Luke and sits down in front of him, hugging his knees to his chest.

"You okay?" Calum asks. Luke groans, burying his face in his hands.

"Ashton just found his sword in, like, two seconds. And now he's off finding his shield which will probably be fast too," Luke says. "And he's been claimed. Why is everything so hard for me? I haven't found anything at all."

Calum sighs. "It's easier when you've been claimed. When you know your strengths. Ashton has that on his side, so he knew exactly what kind of sword would benefit him best."

"Well, there's nothing special about me. I'm just me. I'm not good at anything in particular," Luke says. Calum just smiles.

"You are. You just don't know what yet." Calum gets to his feet, looking even more determined as he scans the different swords. "We'll find out who your dad is, and we'll find you an ass-kicking sword. Just you wait."

Luke slowly gets to his feet, watching Calum rummage around. Finally, Calum pulls out a sword completely different from any other one he's seen: the hilt is silver with a deep blue lining, the sword completely white instead of bronze. It doesn't seem to glisten or catch the light like any of the other swords. In fact, it's the opposite. It glides smoothly through the air like a ghost as Calum picks it up.

"Is it still Celestial Bronze?" Luke asks as he takes the sword. It feels right in his hands. Like it belongs there.

"Yeah. Some of the swords have different coloring. It just means they are a bit older than the others," Calum says. He picks up his own sword. "Ready?"

Luke takes a deep breath. "Yes." He raises the sword easily and watches Calum do the same. Calum, as always, makes the first move. His swing downward is smooth and precise, a mastered skill. Luke's block is a tad clumsy, the sword quivering under Calum's, but the hilt stays firm in his grip.

The more Calum strikes his sword against Luke's, the more Luke grows used to the moves. He starts anticipating what Calum might do next, his muscles tightening and growing sore as the two swords smack together.

Calum takes off his glasses halfway through, tossing them to the ground to focus on the sword-fighting. He lunges forward slightly to the left, and Luke takes the advantage to strike his right.

Calum's sword clatters to the ground. For a moment Calum stands there surprised, and then a grin spreads on his face. He picks up his sword and puts in his sheath, putting his glasses back on.

"Not bad, Luke," Calum says. "You're a natural."

"Really?" Luke says.

"Really." Calum starts cleaning up all the swords that he made a mess of when looking for the right one for Luke. "Don't get too cocky, though-- I was going easy on you, after all."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Luke mumbles, unable to hide his smile. Sword-fighting. He's good at that. A natural, according to Calum.

What does this mean for who his father might be? A fighter, probably. Maybe Ares?

Ares has been known to keep a temper and Luke certainly doesn't have that... but Ares is the god of war, and Luke is good at fighting. It fits, doesn't it?

Ashton suddenly appears, wielding a golden shield with what looks to be some kind of hurricane design carved into the top. The top of his sword peaks through a sheath on his hip, a steady smile on his face.

"I'm totally diggin' this weaponry thing," Ashton says. Calum smiles, turning to Luke.

"Do you want to pick out a shield, too?" he asks. Luke glances at all the shields lining the walls, feeling uninterested.

"I don't think so," he says. Ashton raises an eyebrow. "None of them look right to me."

Ashton pushes past him, poking him with the hard exterior corner of his shield. "Suit yourself, Blondie. You're missing out."

Luke watches Ashton head back towards the double doors. Calum calls after him, "We leave tomorrow! Don't forget!"

"Tomorrow?" Luke repeats. He takes a sheath and he hooks it to his belt. Calum nods. They both walk to the doors behind Ashton.

"Might as well get a start now. It might take a long time," he says. Luke's breath shudders with nerves.

Calum doesn't miss a beat. "I know all about the mythology world, Luke. I'll help you both during this quest. Promise. You'll never have to be on your own."

Luke nods, closing his eyes. "Thanks."

"What are friends for?" Calum says with a smile, and then seems to realize what he said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to assume that--"

"Friends. I like that," Luke says, giving Calum a reassuring smile. "Friends is good."

Calum lets out a breath. "Okay. Good." He clears his throat, straightening his glasses. "Seven o'clock sharp tomorrow, we're leaving. Don't sleep in."

Luke watches him run off in the direction of his room. Luke releases a breath.

"Seven o'clock," he repeats quietly to himself. He touches the sword at his side, feeling cold but familiar against his skin. "Seven o'clock."

---
A/N: luke's a worrier who can relate (me)

planning on updating this weekly now that i'm back on track, unless you guys don't like weekly updates? do ya'll like it more often or is that cool

what are you reading right now?? either wattpad or paperback lmk

i'm reading uglies by scott westerfeld & it's very interesting

hope you enjoyed this chapter. i love reading your thoughts so pls vote or comment :) if u want i mean no pressure lol

k love yall forever & ever to the moon goodbYe