(Untitled)

[red_ponytail]

Once Bill had discovered people had woken up with powers they'd not had yesterday, he'd not been able to help the surge of excitement as he dug out his wand - it had been so long, he'd long since stopped carrying it. When it proved to still be in effect a rather useless, albeit nice-looking, piece of wood, he'd shoved it back in its place in

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[luke_castellan]

[percy_jackson]

I'd gotten tired of waiting, or hiding, or whatever you wanted to call it. And, besides, I'd gotten hungry. So I left my hiding place and went in search of food.

I'd found that, with practise, I could ignore all of the flesh around me. Just about. Sort of. Or, at least, not make a big deal of it. Remembering Coraline's admonishment, I kept my eyes front, entered the Compound, and got dinner from the kitchen. Returning to the rec room, I was suddenly struck by the sight of Luke.

I registered two things. One, he'd been working out. And, two, he looked like he was in a bad mood. Leaving aside one (please!), I decided to offer him some sympathy. Gods knew he could use it. I was also kind of curious.

"Hey," I said, sitting down across from him. "You look like you've had a bad day."

[luke_castellan]

[percy_jackson]

"Every power can be a curse," I said. That was true even before we came to the Island. "But, yeah, it got me too." I felt my cheeks redden. "I got X-Ray vision."

[luke_castellan]

[percy_jackson]

Without a word, I leaned forward and covered my face in my hands. "It's not funny," I groaned. "It's embarrassing! I mean, you think it's a fun power to have, but when you can't turn it off..."

[luke_castellan]

[percy_jackson]

"Well..." And this is where it became really embarrassing. But I'd started this conversation and now I had to finish it. "I mean... how would you feel if somebody could see what you looked like under your clothes? What would you say to that person? You know? And... the way some people looked at me, it was like they knew that I knew, and I didn't want to be seen as some kind of pervert peeping tom. And..." All of this was true. It wasn't the clincher, though. I lowered my head to the table, and got a good look at my shoes through it. "Coraline almost killed me. I kinda don't blame her."

[luke_castellan]

[percy_jackson]

I looked up at Luke, frowning. I'd been so focused on my problems, I'd almost forgotten about Luke's curse. Even as he explained it to me, it was a little hard to take in. After all, he seemed to answer me quite naturally, no apparent compulsion about it.

And we'd all been given powers. Well, most of us, anyway. I had X-Ray vision. Coraline had the ability to blow objects up with her voice. Luke's power was... to obey people without question? That was a power? Getting people to obey you without question, I could see, but... Then again, Luke had called it a curse.

"Let me get this straight," I said. "If I said to you something like... 'go jump in the ocean', you'd--"

[luke_castellan]

[percy_jackson]

I stared, bewildered as Luke got up out of his seat and started for the door. He was serious? He was actually going to go jump in the ocean?

Yes, he was, if I didn't stop him.

I stumbled out of my seat and got caught between two tables that I couldn't see. "Luke!" I shouted. "Stop!" But he'd already stepped out the door. I shoved the invisible tables aside and pushed past ghosts that shouted angrily as I barrelled into them. But I finally cleared the restaurant and took off after Luke at a run.

"Luke!" I shouted again. "Stop!"

[luke_castellan]

[percy_jackson]

I had been tempted to see if he'd actually have jumped in the ocean, but I've already had my own problems with this power, I'm not about to inflict pain on others using theirs. In fact, maybe there was a way that I could help somebody deal with their trouble. "Okay," I said, massaging away the headache that was pressing up against my forehead. "There's got to be some way to deal with this. How about this: Luke, don't ever be compelled to do what I tell you to do." I paused. "Did that work?"

[luke_castellan]

[percy_jackson]

I stared at him. It's just becoming clear to me how much trouble Luke is in, and how much trouble I myself might have put him in, just with a stupid turn of phrase. "Oh," I said. "Oh, crud. Uh... Luke, be normal!" How's that?"