𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 》 JASON GRACE ¹

ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ˢⁱˣᵗᵉᵉⁿ

''AHHGHHH!''

Noelani practically flung herself out of Jason's arms and was on her feet within seconds, her sword drawn as she spun wildly, searching for a target, her tired eyes and sudden brightness not helping much. Drool was down the side of her mouth, her hair sprawled out everywhere and dried clumps of it hung in front of her eyes.

Her eyes locked onto a screaming satyr and she froze, blinking hard to make sure she was seeing what she was seeing.

''Coach is awake,'' Leo said, which was kind of unnecessary. Gleeson Hedge was capering around on his furry hindquarters, swinging his club and yelling, ''Die!'' as he smashed the tea set, whacked the sofas and charged at the throne.

''Coach!'' Jason yelled, hand on the flat of Noelani's blade as he lowered it from its defensive position, trying his hardest not to get distracted by her bed hair and cute confused expression.

Hedge turned, breathing hard. His eyes were so wild, Noelani was afraid he might attack. The satyr sas still wearing his orange polo shirt and his coach's whistle, but his horns were clearly visible above his curly hair, and his beefy hindquarters were definitely goat. Could you call a goat beefy? Noelani put the thought aside.

''You're the new kid,'' Hedge said, lowering his club. ''Jason.'' He looked at Leo, then Piper, who'd apparently also just woken up. Her hair was worse than Noelani's, it looked like it had become a nest for a friendly hamster. Hedge then used her club to gesture to Noelani. ''And you, you're new too.''

''Uh, my name's Noelani?''

''That a question or a statement, cupcake?'' Noelani side glanced Jason, wondering what you were meant to say to such a weird satyr. But before she could say anything, the Coach turned away from her again. ''Valdez, McLean, what's going on? We were at the Grand Canyon. The anemoi thuellai were attacking and-''

He zeroes in on the storm spirit cage, and his eyes went back to DEFCON 1.

''Die!''

''Whoa, Coach!'' Leo stepped in his path, which was pretty brave, even though Hedge was six inches shorter. ''It's okay. They're locked up. We just sprang you from the other cage.''

Jason cleared his throat. ''Coach - Gleeson - um, whatever you want us to call you. You saved us at the Grand Canyon. You were totally brave.''

''Of course I was!''

''The extraction team came and took us to Camp Half-Blood. We thought we'd lost you. Then we got word that the storm spirits had taken you back to their - um, operator, Medea.''

''The witch! Wait - that's impossible. She's mortal. She's dead.''

''Yeah, well,'' Leo said with a casual shrug of his shoulders. ''Somehow she's not dead anymore.''

Hedge nodded, his eyes narrowing. ''So! You were sent on a dangerous quest to rescue me. Excellent!''

Noelani cleared her throat after a few moments of silence. ''Awkward,'' she sang under her breath, just loud enough for them all to hear.

''Um.'' Piper got to her feet, holding her hands out so Coach Hedge wouldn't attack her. ''Actually Glee- can I still call you Coach Hedge? Gleeson seems wrong. We're on a quest for something else, we kind of found you by accident.''

''Oh.'' The coach's spirits seemed to deflate, but only for one second. Then his eyes lit up again. ''But there are no accidents! Not on quests. This was meant to happen! So, this is the witch's lair, eh? Why is everything gold?''

''Wha- Oh.'' Everything was, in fact, gold. The others gasped too, she guessed they hadn't noticed either. The room was full of it - the statues, the tea set the coach had smashed, the chair that was definitely a throne. Even the curtains - which seemed to have opened by themselves at daybreak - appeared to be woven of gold fiber.