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THIRTY SIX, thalia's tree
❀ ✿ ❀ ✿
THAT AFTERNOON WAS HECTIC, but in the best possible way.
Grover announced that he'd be able to spend the rest of the summer with them before resuming his quest for Pan. His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders were so impressed that he hadn't gotten himself killed and cleared the way for future searchers that they granted him a two-month furlough and a new set of reed pipes. The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills hadn't improved. He played "YMCA," and the strawberry plants started going crazy, wrapping around their feet like they were trying to strangle them. It took all of Aster's power to get the distressed plants to finally calm down.
After everyone went off to their regular classes and activities, Aster spent her free time talking with Steve. She hadn't gotten a chance to see him since she had arrived at and left camp so suddenly, and she had missed her brother dearly throughout the school year. They were able to write letters to each other, but it wasn't the same as talking over the phone or face to face, and because demigods were only allowed access to electronics under select and emergency circumstances, there was none of the former. Currently, they were sitting on top of cabin four's roof, which was covered with soft grass and all kinds of plants that other Demeter campers had been experimenting with while she was gone. Aster admitted that she missed the cabin itself just as much as her siblings.
Steve was laying down a few feet away from Aster, soaking up the warm summer sun. Aster was in a sitting position next to him, her knees pulled up to her chest while she relayed every detail of the quest to him. She was in the middle of explaining what had happened on Polyphemus's island when she remembered the new power she had discovered. She still didn't understand it, and she wasn't sure if she should tell Steve about it. They did tell each other everything, but this was so new, and apparently dangerous if Luke wanted her that badly for it. When she hesitated, Steve looked over to her, his gaze a mix of confusion and concern.
"What's up, Aster?" he asked. "You stopped in the middle of your sentence."
Aster tightened her grip on her knees. "Yeah, I just... something strange happened to me on this quest, and I'm not sure what it is."
Steve gave her a soft grin. "Well, go on, don't be shy."
"Don't tell anyone this, okay? I haven't told Chiron yet, and it could be dangerous if it got out because of traitors and stuff."
"I won't tell a soul." Steve clapped a fist to his chest. "Scout's honor."
Aster rolled her eyes, but continued anyway. "In the cave, Polyphemus dropped Annabeth and... and she died. No heartbeat, nothing. But I could sense that her life force was gone, depleted, which I used to only be able to do with plants. Never with people."
