¹On This Spring Day, percy jackson & the olympians

005.

ON THIS SPRING DAY
━━━━━ chapter five

━━━━━ THE NEXT MORNING, after breakfast ( and surviving one of the Stoll brothers' 'pranks' ), Violet tried her best to find someone to tell. She couldn't tell Nico, he was too young and she didn't want to put that kind of image in his mind. She couldn't tell AJ, he wouldn't know what to do, either. And there was no way she could tell Connor or Travis; as cute as Connor Stoll was, he was not reliable when it came to problem-solving.

And if Violet was honest, Connor created more problems than he ever solved.

It proved to be difficult to find anyone to tell after Nico insisted she showed him the meadow. Nico had only got the idea in his head after he heard the Stoll brothers mention how the satyrs chase after wood nymphs.

So she, Nico, and AJ stopped on one of the tall hills around Camp Half-Blood, watching satyrs chase wood nymphs through the blinding snow. The nymphs had promised to kiss the satyrs if they got caught, but they hardly ever did. Usually, the nymph would let the satyr get up a full head of steam, then she'd turn into a snow-covered tree and the poor satyr would slam into it head first and get a pile of snow dumped on him. It was no longer entertaining anymore for Violet, but Nico seemed to be finding it hilarious.

The daughter of Eros crossed her arms over her chest, letting out a sigh. AJ looked at her from the corner of his eye, raising his eyebrows in a questioning manner. They'd known each other for two years now, and Violet had never been good at having a poker face, so reading her was like reading an open book.

"Don't give me that look," Violet told him.

AJ smiled to himself. "I didn't even get to ask yet. You worried about Annabeth?"

Violet nodded.

The blond stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "Don't worry. Annabeth's smart. She'll find a way to get out."

The girl furrowed her brows. If that dream was anything to go by, the daughter of Athena may not have much time left for trying to think of a way to get out alive.

Violet, AJ, and Nico looked behind them as the sound of crunching snow came up the hill. Grover and Percy seemed to have had the same idea as them, and the two looked as bad as the black-haired girl felt; heavy eye bags, dull skin, and bedraggled hair. ( Although, Violet's hair looked much more presentable than theirs. ) Grover's lips were bloody and scabbed, as if he had been chewing on them for the entirety of last night.

Grover smiled at them, pulling Percy twenty feet away. The two started whispering to themselves, watching the satyrs and nymphs chase each other. Violet watched them silently for a minute. If there was anyone she could tell about the dream, they would understand best; Grover and Percy had been there when Annabeth had been taken by Dr. Thorn.

"Hey," the daughter of Eros turned to AJ and Nico, "I'm gonna go talk to them. See you later?"

Nico had lost interest in the free entertainment, pulling out his deck of Mythomagic cards from his pocket. "Sure." He nodded. "I'm going to teach AJ how to play Mythomagic."

"Oh—great," AJ said sarcastically. Nico didn't seem to pick up on the sarcasm, waving Violet goodbye enthusiastically.

"Hey," she said, stopping beside Grover and Percy. The two glanced up at her, looking shocked to see her. They looked as if she had just interrupted a super-important meeting or something. Their looks made her ask; "What?"