no matter how many times a snake shed its skin, it would always be a snake. no matter how hard kit dempsey tried to prove he was no longer a traitor, camp half-blood would always view him as the boy who betrayed them for kronos. but not leo valdez...
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CHAPTER FOURTEEN: MONSTERS AND MEN
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COACH HEDGE'S TREE CLUB smacking againstKit's shoulder was not how he expected to wake up the next morning.
"What the fuck?" he groaned, clinging to the stinging patch of skin as he blinked confusedly around the room. "Who...?"
"Coach is awake," Leo informed him just a minute too late. He was grinning obliviously in the face of Kit's glare, a hand shrouding his eyes from the sun that bathed into the room from a nearby window.
"You don't say," muttered Kit through gritted teeth.
Leo went to respond but was interrupted by Gleeson swinging his club through a delicate china set that laid on the table. "Die," the satyr shouted, then whirled around to where Kit was sitting. He swung again, Kit narrowly dodging the hit as it landed on the cushion he'd been lounging on.
"Would you stop it?" he hissed like he was speaking to a toddler throwing a tantrum.
In response, Gleeson narrowed his eyes and raised his club higher.
"Coach," Jason shouted then, having been woken up by the yelling. He was clearly in some kind of sleepy daze, but was coherent enough to command Gleeson into silence.
If he'd slept another moment, Kit would've lost his head.
For a moment, Hedge's wild eyes tracked the room, searching for some kind of enemy. When nothing stood out, he turned to point his club at Jason's nose, glowering at him like he was a monster in disguise.
"You're the new kid. Jason."
When Jason merely raised his hands in surrender, his gaze flickered to Leo and Piper.
"Valdez, McLean, what's going on?" he demanded. "We were at the Grand Canyon. The anemoi thuellai were attacking, and--"
Kit made the slightest movement and almost immediately, Gleeson spun around and smacked his other shoulder with his club. "Die!"
"What is wrong with you?" Kit spluttered as both his shoulders throbbed. "It's me, Gleeson, it's Kit Dempsey."
Gleeson didn't respond, though, for he'd noticed the cage of storm spirits and was fully prepared for a fight. He surged forward, but much to Kit's surprise, Leo chose to step in his path.
"Whoa, Coach," he exclaimed, raising his hands to catch the club as it swung through the air. "It's okay! They're locked up! We just sprang you from the other cage..."
"Cage? Cage? What's going on?" he growled, teeth bared like a rabid animal. "Just because I'm a satyr doesn't mean I can't have you doing push-ups, Valdez."
Leo, affronted, turned to Jason with a stare that screamed 'wanna help me out here?' Jason looked like he wanted to do anything but; however, with Leo focusing on him, he didn't really have much of a choice.
