Half-Blood Means Two Things || Marauders Era | Percy Jackson ||

|| 20 - Centaurs Named After Cookies Don't Like Jokes ||

I haven't met a lot of centaurs in my life. I've met Chiron, obviously, and one of his cousins, one of the Party Ponies (some wackos who cheat horribly at Nerf Gun wars) who stopped by when I was seven. Chiron is stoic and a nerd and fatherly. The Party Pony, Gregius (he goes by Greg) was insane and hyper and more like a toddler. But Firenze didn't seem to fit either of those categories.

"Okay, yeah, but who are you?"

The centaur flashed me a look of confusion. "You can call me Firenze." His tone was laced with exasperation. If he was anything like Chiron, he didn't have any patience for my stupid questions.

"Yes, I understand. But I mean, like are you a Party Pony? I don't think there are any chapters in Scotland. Unless Greg lied to me. That little jerk -- I knew he was a good for nothing -- "

"What are you talking about?"

My eyes snapped back up to the young centaur, realizing I was rambling. He seemed around my age. A few years older, maybe, but he had a rebellious spark in his eyes that I could work with.

Instead of answering his question, I posed my own. "What am I doing here?" I looked around. I was leaning against a tree trunk and I had a bunch of weird leaves plastered on my arms and neck. I could still see the stars, but I felt well-rested despite almost drowning. I was in the middle of a forest and I could hear talking in the distance. My body felt heavy like it was full of water and my head was pounding, yet I felt surprisingly better than earlier.

"I dragged you out of the river," Firenze told me proudly.

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at his body. "You?" I said dubiously. "But you -- can you even swim?" I'd always wanted to ask Chiron but the conversation had never come up.

Offense flashed across Firenze's face and I suddenly remembered that I'd passed out and had no idea what part of the forest I was in and Firenze hadn't killed me yet, so I probably should reel it back.

"I, uh, sorry, man, er, horse." I cringed. "Alright, this is awkward for all parties involved, so if you could just point me in the direction of the castle, it would be much appreciated."

Firenze, the offense still lingering in his features, stared at me. "You cannot. You are a daughter of Jupiter, Aurelia Myers."

I blanched and sat up straight to stare at the centaur's face, glad that moonlight was pouring through the branches. I could see the flickering of fire some distance away, but as much as I wanted to warm myself, I didn't want to head over there if there were more oversensitive horse-men.

"Call me Charlie, please. Thanks. Now, what the Hades do you mean I cannot?" I started to peel off the weird leaves and watched as Firenze's face contorted in irritation.

"Please leave the herbs."

"What -- why? Who are you -- not your name. Like, what are you doing in the middle of the forest? And why did you save me? Can I go back now? I'd like to get an hour of sleep in my own bed before breakfast. If I miss breakfast again, the girls are going to kill me."

Firenze raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to speak but before he could, a deeper voice interrupted. There was a tingle of familiarity, but I couldn't place it.

"Firenze, do not talk to the human." His voice rumbled and I swear I could feel it in the ground. Though, as pretty as his voice was, I couldn't ignore the hint of disgust when he said human.

"Alceithes, I was merely making sure she was alright -- "

"You can leave now. Unless you want to speak to Bane?" Alceithes shot Firenze a look I couldn't decipher. He hung his head and trotted away toward the fire and voices.