𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 》 JASON GRACE ¹

ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ˢᵉᵛᵉⁿᵗᵉᵉⁿ

''OH GOD. HE TURNED ME INTO GOLD!''

Piper had woken up cold and shivering after having a horrible dream about a donkey chasing her around and shouting 'you're it!'

''You're okay now,'' Noelani leaned over and tucked a warm blanket around her, but Piper still shivered and when Noelani placed the back of her palm against her friend's forehead she realised she was beyond freezing still.

Piper blinked, trying to figure out where they were. Next to her, a campfire blazed, turning the air sharp with smoke. Firelight flickered against rock walls. They were in a shallow cave, but it didn't offer much protection. Outside, the wind howled. Snow blew sideways. It might've been day or night. The storm made it too dark to tell.

''L-L-Leo?'' Piper managed.

''Present and un-gold-ified.'' Leo was also wrapped up in blankets like a burrito. He didn't look great, but better than Piper felt. ''I got the precious metal treatment too,'' he said. ''But I came out of it faster. Dunno why. We had to dunk you in the river to get you back completely. Tried to dry you off... but it's really, really cold.''

''You've got hypothermia,'' Noelani informed her with a frown. ''I risked as much nectar as I could and Coach Hedge did a little nature magic-''

''Sports medicine.'' The coach's ugly face loomed over them. ''Kind of a hobby of mine. Your breath might smell like wild mushrooms and Gatorade for a few days, but it'll pass. You probably won't die.... Probably.''

''Thanks,'' Piper said weakly. ''How did you beat Midas?''

Noelani grumbled to herself, shuffling away from Piper and crossing her arms over her chest, huffing. With a fond roll of his eyes, Jason turned away from Noelani and towards Leo and Piper's curious eyes and told them the story. He put most of it down to luck.

The coach snorted. ''Kid's being modest. You should've seen the two of them. Hi-yah! Slice! Boom with the lightning!''

''Coach, you didn't even see it,'' Jason said. ''You were outside eating the lawn.''

But the satyr was just warming up. ''Then I came in with my club, and we dominated the room. Afterward, I told him, I did, I said, 'Kid, I'm proud of you! If you could just work on your upper body strength-'''

''Coach?'' Said Jason.

''Yeah?''

''Shut up, please/''

''Sure.''

The coach sat down at the fire and began chewing his cudgel. Noelani moved forward again, placing her hand on Piper's head again, double-checking. ''Leo, can you stroke the fire?''

''On it,'' Leo summoned a baseball-sized clump of flames and lobbed it into the campfire.

''Do I look that bad?'' Piper shivered, Jason and Leo winced at the question, diverting their eyes in a not-so-obvious manner.

''Nah, I've seen worse, trust me.''

''You're a terrible liar.''

Noelani smiled, rolling her eyes. ''Ha ha. But I'm not lying. The things you see at that camp are unbelievable. One tiem Travis thought it would be funny to carry a new kid's mattress and put it on the lake, sending it off. Only thing was, the kid was still on it. Poor guy couldn't swim, Percy went after him. They were both practically blue by the time they got back to me.''

Piper smiled, feeling better after the story. She had glanced down at her hand in the middle of it and she wasn't blue so she figured she'd be fine.