𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐇 》 LEO VALDEZ ¹

―twenty-three. satyr x wind spirit (an unlikely love story) ((not a lemon))

◤                                                       ◥
𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔
𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐁𝐄 𝐀 𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐀𝐊𝐄,
𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐋𝐒?
◣                                                        ◢

ONCE AGAIN, LEO WAS VERY AMUSED. Sure, the random lady who had appeared out of no where had scared them all, most of them had only flinched, with the bonus of Jason's hand enwrapping around the hilt of his store. Charlie's reaction, however, was, well animated. As all her actions often were. Her hand was on his shoulder as she bent down slightly, taking deep breaths, her other hand holding her clothes tightly just above her chest, where her heart was sure to be beating a thousand miles a minute.

Raccoon Leo was copying her actions — genuinely or mockingly, it was hard to tell. His little paw clutching his fur and the other leaning on the side of Jason's head head, from where he had decided to ride on his shoulder, panting.

The woman didn't seem to mind, perhaps she got this reaction often. She floated up to them. Literally floated. She was pretty in that elfish way Leo had learned to associate with the nature spirits at Camp Half-Blood — petite, slightly pointy ears, and an ageless face that could've been sixteen or thirty. Her brown eyes twinkled cheerfully. Even though there was no wind, her dark hair blew in slow motion, shampoo-commercial style. Her white gown billowed around her like parachute material. They couldn't tell if she had feet, but if so, they didn't touch the floor. She had a white tablet in her hand. ''Are you from Lord Zeus?'' She asked. ''We've been expecting you.''

Jason tried to respond, but it was a little too hard to think straight, because he'd realised the woman was see-through. Her shape faded in and out like she was made of fog.

''Are you a ghost?'' He asked.

Right away, he knew he'd insulted her. The raccoon on his shoulder squeaked, as though he was talking, and lightly hit the side of Jason's head with his paw, as though a mother scolding his child as he crossed his arms.

Mellie's smile turned into a pout. ''I'm an aura, sir. A wind nymph, as you might expect, working for the lord of the winds. My name is Mellie. We don't have ghosts.''

Piper came to the rescue. ''No, of course you don't! My friend simply mistook you for Helen of Troy, the most beautiful mortal of all time. It's an easy mistake.''

Wow, she was good. The compliment seemed a little over the top, but Mellie the aura blushed. ''Oh... well then, so are you from Zeus?''

''Er,'' Jason said, side-eyeing his friends. ''I'm the son of Zeus, yeah.''

''Excellent! Please, right this way.'' She led them through some security doors into another lobby, consulting her tablet as she floated. She didn't look where she was going, but apparently it didn't matter as she drifted straight through a marble column with no problem. ''We're out of prime time now, so that's good,'' she mused. ''I can fit you in right before his 11:12 spot.''

''Um, okay,'' Jason said. ''Thank you?''

The lobby was a pretty distracting place. Winds blasted around them, so Charlie felt like she was pushing through an invisible crowd. Doors blew open and slammed by themselves.

The things Charlie could see were just as bizzare. Paper airplanes all different sizes and shapes sped around, and other wind nymphs, aurai, would occasionally pluck them out of the air, unfold and read them, then toss them back into the air where the planes would refold themselves and keep flying.

Charlie slowed her pace, moving to the back of their small group, where she, too, took one out of the sky — almost as elegantly as the aurai. She unfolded it, frowning when she saw the chicken-scratch handwriting. She reached forwards, tugging on the back of Leo's sleeve, who turned almost instantly. ''Hey, Leo, your handwriting's pretty shit, can you decipher this?''