Chapter Text
They said you would know it the moment you fell in love, but Lucien called that absolute bullshit.
Then again, if anyone was qualified to be called a blockhead, it was probably him.
It all started on a bright, sun-drenched day at Camp Half-Blood.
Lucien and his siblings from the Apollo cabin were going through their usual routine.
Archery practice, music lessons, and the endless chore of keeping their cabin annoyingly radiant.
And when Grover suddenly stumbled through the camp entrance.
The satyr looked exhausted, panting hard as he half-dragged, half-carried a boy who appeared to have personally fought the entire underworld and lost.
The kid was covered in mud, streaked with dried blood, and bruised badly enough to make several campers wince.
Naturally, curiosity exploded through camp like wildfire.
Lucien, along with the rest of his siblings, drifted closer to investigate.
Honestly, who wouldn't? Camp gossip was practically a survival necessity at this point.
Then came the part that stunned everyone.
Apparently, that scrawny little kid had killed a Minotaur.
Alone.
That was the first time Lucien really saw him closely.
Small, skinny, filthy, and completely out of place, the kid looked less like a monster slayer and more like someone who should've been recovering in the infirmary.
And somehow brave enough to stand against a monster capable of crushing a car like a soda can.
The crowd eventually dispersed, though not without endless whispering.
Lucien lingered for a moment, wanting to help somehow, but there wasn't much he could do.
Chiron had already assigned Annabeth to look after the newcomer, effectively sealing him away from the rest of camp.
Still, that night, Lucien found himself sneaking toward the Big House anyway.
Because apparently, his survival instincts had taken the evening off.
Of course, but who would think, in true Lucien fashion, he got caught almost immediately. (Insert sarcasm here.)
A wild Mr. D appeared to battle the brave challenger.
"Well, well, well," Mr. D drawled lazily. "Looks like there's a little lamp trying to sneak around."
Lucien kept his face carefully blank, though internally, he couldn't help thinking that Mr. D would make an excellent third-rate villain in a daytime soap opera.
All dramatic entrances and unnecessary monologues.
Apparently, the camp director either had mind-reading powers or simply knew how to read his expression too well.
"I can't help but feel you're thinking something highly insulting," Mr. D continued, narrowing his eyes. "Should I turn you into a dolphin? I think a son of Apollo would be something in the sea."
Oh no. Mr. D had activated his ultimate move.
What would Lucien do now?
Fight. Catch. Or run.
Time to deploy his secret move.
Baby Doll Eyes. The user stares with cute eyes to harshly lower the target's Attack stat, and it always goes first!
"I just want to help," Lucien said pitifully, lifting his glowing hands. "Look. I can heal him."
The final boss scrutinized him for a long, painful moment before dismissively waving a hand like Lucien was an annoying mosquito.
"Do whatever you want. Just don't come crying to me when the harpies decide you look edible."
Challenge won.
Once again, At the end of the day, daddy's genes saves the day!
Without further obstacles, Lucien quietly slipped into the room where the mysterious kid was sleeping.
Thank gods (ehem, thank Apollo), the room was empty except for the sleeping boy.
Lucien paused beside the bed, studying him carefully. (He swears he's not an Edward!)
The first thing he noticed was how tiny the kid looked up close. Frail, almost and definitely smaller than him.
Honestly, Lucien had no idea why he was even here. He usually followed the rules.
Well, Mostly.
Maybe the kid just looked too pitiful lying there battered and exhausted.
Or maybe Lucien was simply curious.
...Whatever the reason was, he decided to label himself a good Samaritan tonight. It sounded heroic enough.
So he did what he came for.
He placed a hand carefully against the boy's chest. (He still didn't know the kid's name)
Warm golden light bloomed from Lucien's palm, soft and steady, wrapping around the boy like sunlight.
Ever since Apollo had claimed him, Lucien's healing abilities had been among the best in Cabin Seven. Not the absolute best, maybe, but definitely near the top.
Well... aside from some of his other strange talents.
And unlike the bright gold and sunshine-blond hair shared by most of his siblings, Lucien's hair was a deep chocolate brown.
He was literally the brown sheep of the family.
Once the glow faded, Lucien pulled his hand away and quietly muttered his assessment.
"No permanent damage. Mostly just bruises, exhaustion, and a lot of pain."
As he took one final glance at the sleeping face (He swear! He's not creepy!), Lucien noticed something interesting.
The kid was drooling.
Lucien couldn't stop himself from snickering.
Then suddenly...
The boy's eyes twitched.
Slowly, his eyelids fluttered open, revealing a vivid sea-green so striking it almost caught Lucien off guard.
The two stared at each other for a moment.
Well, Lucien stared.
The boy looked half-conscious, eyes glazed with exhaustion and sleep.
Then, just as suddenly, his eyes drifted shut again.
Lucien immediately clutched his chest.
His heart was pounding so violently he swore it was trying to escape his ribcage.
But obviously, that was just nerves.
Yeah.
Definitely nerves. He's just nervous.
After quickly checking over the boy one last time using the medical procedures he'd learned from his older siblings, Lucien quietly slipped out of the room.
Back at Cabin Seven, he headed straight for his bed.
And if he may or may not have walked directly into a wooden support pole on the way there, nobody needed to know.
Once lights-out arrived, Lucien fell asleep with the memory of sea-green eyes lingering stubbornly in his mind.
That night, without warning.
He dreamed of a completely different life.
In that world, he wasn't a demigod. There were no monsters, no gods, no quests hanging over his head.
The details were blurry, though. Names, places, faces.
All shifting like fog whenever he tried to focus on them.
It felt like watching another version of himself through frosted glass.
A peaceful life.
An ordinary life.
But like most dreams, it refused to stay clear.
The only thing that remained vivid was a book.
A story about the son of Poseidon.
Even within the dream, Lucien read eagerly through every page, the quests, the tragedies, the victories, the adventures.
And somehow, reading it filled him with an overwhelming sense of joy. A strange satisfaction that settled deep in his chest.
Then someone rudely nudged his shoulder.
Lucien groaned and cracked an eye open as sunlight streamed mercilessly through Cabin Seven's windows.
The dream immediately began slipping away, sinking back into the corners of his mind until only fragments remained.
Lucien didn't think much about it.
Demigod dreams were weird.
Sometimes they were useful prophecies.
Sometimes they were complete garbage.
Nothing unusual there.
His half-sibling Rio nudged him again, harder this time.
"Wakey wakey," Rio chirped cheerfully. "Time for breakfast."
Lucien immediately face-planted back into his pillow with a dramatic groan.
Unfortunately, the nudging continued without mercy.
"I'm awake, I'm awake," he mumbled into the pillow. "Please stop assaulting me."
Satisfied, Rio finally left him alone.
Lucien slowly sat up and stretched with a massive yawn.
He had never been a morning person, which honestly made him a complete anomaly among Apollo kids.
He was like chocolate dropped into a bowl of honey.
Maybe Apollo's genes had mutated when they reached him.
Or maybe his father had accidentally thrown him into Cabin Seven by mistake.
Could demigods request refunds on their claiming?
Because Lucien would very much like to sleep until noon.
Unfortunately, breakfast existed.
Then came the usual routine. Morning activities, archery practice, healing lessons, music, everything painfully normal.
The next morning. The boy woke up.
And suddenly, Camp Half-Blood had fresh gossip material.
The new camper staying in Hermes Cabin.
The scrawny kid who supposedly killed a Minotaur.
The rumors spread through camp faster than wildfire.
Some campers believed he really had killed it.
Others claimed it was pure dumb luck.
A few stubborn people insisted the story was completely fake.
Everyone had their own theories.
Lucien, however, barely cared about any of them.
Instead, he found himself watching the boy at the center of all the attention.
The kid kept fidgeting under everyone's stares, looking uncomfortable and completely overwhelmed.
And despite his better judgment, Lucien's gaze kept drifting back toward those unforgettable sea-green eyes.