Castiel
“So you’ve been here before?” Chiron asked, looking confused. “Forgive me but I don’t quite recognize you.”
“Oh, I recognize you alright,” Castiel growled, “You sent me and my friends to our deaths. I have no idea what happened to them, but I died. All because you didn’t want us in your precious camp.”
His eyes widened, “You’re… Castiel?”
“Yeah, I am. And now I’ll do whatever it takes, hell, I’ll travel to the land of the dead myself to bring my friends back. After that, you’re going to be horse meat.”
“Oh, I remember them,” Dyonisis drawled, looking up from his game of cards. Percy was leaning on the back of a folding chair, holding a hand of cards that Dionysus had forced him to hold. “I visited that Norse Training camp; forgot what it’s called, but I heard about you,” he pointed a crooked finger at the demigod. “You’re the Loki kid who almost destroyed the whole camp.”
“Loki?” Annabeth interrupted, leaning in from the edge of the room. Castiel took a deep breath. They were used to this kind of interaction.
“Yes,” they sighed, “I’m a child of Loki. But before you hate me, just know that I didn’t choose my parentage.” They picked at a hole in the cuff of their sweatshirt. “And the camp was being destroyed anyway.”
“I guess you’ll be staying in the Hermes cabin then?” Chiron asked after an uncomfortable silence.
“What? No. There is no way I’m staying here. Not with the likes of you.”
“You’re too powerful to go out in the world on your own. You’ll attract all kinds of monsters. At least let us train you,” he protested. “Just for a short time, a month or two-”
Like a flip of a switch, Castiel grew irritated again.
“Do I look like I give a shit?” they snapped, glaring daggers at Chiron. “You don’t get a say in anything anymore. You abandoned two children out in that supposedly monster-infested world. Why the fuck have you suddenly decided that now it’s too dangerous?” Objects in the room started to wobble dangerously at the edge of Castiel’s vision, but they were too incensed to connect it to the building anger in their stomach. “I’ll tell you what I think you’re doing. I think you’re trying to keep me from my friends. I think you wanted me to spend eternity in Valhalla or in hell, wherever was fine as long as it was out of sight. You want me to forget about them because you know that if they came back, they’d be just as pissed as I am.”
A lamp flew off a table and smashed at Castiel’s feet. Percy yelped and drew his sword. Other objects fell too; a painting on the wall flew past Castiel’s ear, the chair Dyonisis sat on creaked ominously at its hinges.
Castiel clenched their fists, seeing the fear on Percy and Annabeth’s faces. They consciously fought to stop the outburst. This wasn’t a good way to make friends. At least, that’s what Alex always teased them about at the hotel.
That’s fine. I don’t want to make friends with these people.
“I will stay here until night, and then I will leave. I will travel to the underworld, to the very pit of Tartarus, and I will find my friends. And then they can both have a go at you too.”
“You know I can’t let you do that, Castiel.” Chiron watched them mournfully.
“You can try to fucking stop me.” Cass hissed in response. They spun around and marched out to the porch of the Big House.
The fresh air helped their temper. They glowered at the strawberry fields and volleyball pits with happy campers all around. Soon they would return to this stupid camp with backup. They weren’t satisfied with Chiron’s lack of remorse. They were going to make him regret sending them all away.
**
10:00. That was the time when Castiel got ready to leave. They had it all planned out. They would find the entrance to the Underworld. It was rumoured to be somewhere near the camp, back when Castiel had been at the camp, so they figured it wouldn’t take them too long to find it. They would ask, bribe, or threaten Hades into giving their friends back. Then they would finally get to see their friends. They would have people in their life who cared about them again. And, most importantly, they wouldn’t need to go back to Hotel Valhalla again.
Castiel had been to the camp store, a new addition since their time, and grabbed an emergency blanket and a large array of random food items. They hadn’t paid much attention to the packaging, most of the food was unfamiliar anyway. They’d also snatched some medical supplies and a map of the city.
The only issue was weapons. Castiel had brought their knife from Hotel, but Chiron had insisted on taking it when they’d arrived at camp under the pretense of checking it for malicious magic. The old horse had definitely been lying, but Castiel hadn’t realised it then. So, their only weapon was stored away in the Big House. Which meant that, naturally, they had to sneak in and grab it. Going to the underworld unarmed was more than even Castiel was willing to risk.
They crept up to the front door, opening it slowly to avoid creaking. The living room was dark, and the house was eerily quiet. Castiel let the door shut gently and made their way toward the study in the back of the house. They felt along tables as they went, hoping that Chiron hadn’t decided to store their knife in a secure location.
Luckily, as they ran their hand across the top of a dresser, they felt the sharp edge of their blade. Castiel snatched it up, feeling the hilt with its Hotel Vallhalla logo sticking up. Satisfied that it was truly theirs, they turned and made their way silently back to the front door.
They stopped dead when they saw the lights outside the front window. They heard voices. Their hand was already on the doorknob.
Castiel decided quickly that they didn’t have time to hide. They also decided that if anyone tried to stop them, they would just leave anyway. And as long as they were prepared, they may as well act like they were supposed to be here.
They swung open the door and came face-to-face with a group of girls.
“Who are you?”