ichor - jason grace

XIX

Nell woke up, confused. She heard a bang, as though someone bumped their knees against the table. It must've been what woke her up. She looked around, they seemed to be in the middle of some cafe, and clearly, everyone else was awake too.

"What?" Hedge demanded. "Fight who? Where?"

"Falling!" Leo grabs the table. "no - not falling. Where are we?"

Nell focused on her friends, and for the first time, she noticed the change of clothes. She heard Jason make a little choking sound from next to her. "What are you wearing?"

She didn't look to see who he was talking to, she was too busy staring at her new outfit. She had on a pair of denim shorts with black tights and a rainbow stripe ringer tee. She still had on her jacket and her boots, thankfully. Even her hair had been neatened up, half up in a bun, and half still down.

She looked over at Piper. She was wearing a turquoise dress, with black leggings and black leather boots. She had on a silver charm bracelet, and an old snowboarding jacket, which amazingly went with the outfit pretty well. She pulled out her knife and had a look at her done-up hair.

"It's nothing," she said. "it's my -" she stopped herself, but everyone knew what she was going to say. "It's nothing."

Leo grinned. "Aphrodite strikes again, huh? You're gonna be the best-dressed warrior in town, beauty queen."

"Hey, Leo." Jason nudged his arm. "You look at yourself recently?" Nell stifled a laugh.

"What... oh."

Leo was wearing pinstriped pants, black leather shoes, a white collarless shirt, and his tool belt, Rayban sunglasses, and a porkpie hat.

"Dude, you look like you came straight from the 1920's." Nell laughed.

"God, Leo." Piper looked like she was trying not to laugh. "I think my dad wore that to his last premiere, minus the tool belt."

"Hey, shut up!"

"I think he looks good," Hedge said. "Course, I look better."

The satyr was a pastel nightmare. Aphrodite had given him a baggy canary zoot suit with two-tone shoes that pit over his hooves. He had a matching yellow broad-brimmed hat, a rose coloured shirt, a baby blue tie, and a blue carnation in his lapel, which Hedge sniffed and then ate.

"Well," Jason said, "at least your mom overlooked me."

She wasn't sure that was true. Looking at him, she felt butterflies in her stomach, and a blush creep on to her face. Jason was dressed simply in jeans and a clean purple t-shirt, like the one he'd worn when he arrived at camp. He had new track shoes on, and his hair was newly trimmed. His eyes were the same colour as the sky. Aphrodite's message was clear: This one needs no improvement.

Nell had never agreed with anything more.

"Anyway," Piper said uncomfortably. "How did we get here?"

"Oh, that would be Mellie," Hedge said, chewing happily on his carnation. "Those winds shot us halfway across the country, I'd guess. We would-be been smashed flat on impact, but Mellie's last gift - a nice soft breeze - cushioned our fall.

"And she got fired for us," Leo said. "Man, we suck."

"You can say that again."

"Ah, she'll be fine," Hedge said. "besides, she couldn't help herself. I've got that effect on nymphs. I'll send her a message when we're through with this quest and help her figure something out. That is one aura I could settle down with and raise a herd of baby goats."