Flowergirl, Percy Jackson

004. The Beginning of the End

After the memorial, Lila heads into the woods. She's been tending to her garden; well, she's been digging it up. She's begun to learn that as a child of Persephone, she has an affinity for certain plants that she never realised before. She always tended to follow what the Demeter kids grew - strawberries and daffodils and roses. But now Lila has begun to tend her power like it is a plant, and that means allowing it to bloom with the right flowers. So she's spent her time digging up the stupid flowers she doesn't really like anymore, and replacing them. 

Asphodel, narcissus, poppies, even hyacinth. It's a little sad that all her favourite flowers seem to have been borne from a tragic story and a god. Apollo's lost many lovers for her garden to bloom. 

Lila never makes it there, however. She reaches the glade of the Council of Cloven Elders, planning to avoid it, but the sound of raised voices drifting through the woods draws her toward it. There in the centre of the clearing stands Juniper, Grover's girlfriend, and one of the Elder Satyrs. 

"What's going on?" Lila steps in. Juniper looks pale and slightly faint. "Is everything okay?"

The satyr seems to recognise her, for he calls her by her name. "Lila!" his tone is too familiar. She tries not to physically recoil. 

"Lila!" Juniper runs over and drags her to the centre of the glade. "Please, tell Leneus that Grover - " 

The satyr huffs. 

"We need to find Grover!"

Lila nods. The Council of Cloven Elders is pretty much useless, anyway. They may as well find someone useful. "I agree with Juniper." 

He looks scandalised, rocking back on his hooves. "But - but you're a nature - nevermind. But I'm not wasting resources on -" 

"What resources?" Lila asks. 

He glares at her. "I have a great breadth of resources at my disposal, should I deem it necessary to use them. Which I have not."

"So... what are you using them on?"

He huffs. "Finding the great god Pan, of course! When he returns, he will sort out this silly tale you and your friends have been spinning." 

Lila narrows her eyes at him. Her patience is running very thin; she can feel it wearing down inside her, slowly fraying. "Pan has faded. I saw it myself. Maybe you should put your resources into something more - " 

"Lies!" he shrieks, flailing his hands. "Pan is waiting for us, and Grover is a traitor." 

Juniper literally trembling, her voice cracking. "Grover is not a traitor! Stop saying that!" Her eyes are suspiciously green, the whites growing greener with every word as chlorophyll tears gather there. Her gossamer dress is torn and frayed at the edges, like she hasn't been taking care of it, while there are dark circles under her eyes. Do dryads sleep? If they do, Juniper hasn't been getting enough.

Lila takes a deep breath. She is not going to lose her temper again. She is not going to snap at the satyr. Everything is fine. Totally fine. "Leneus," her voice is fragile in it's calm. "Even if you think Grover is a liar, he can still contribute to the war effort ... why don't you leave your fight with him until after we fight - after we defeat Kronos?" 

He hums, though she can tell he is slightly placated at her sweet tone. 

"Wouldn't you want to be known as the satyr who saves the camp?" she adds. "Or the satyr that rescued Grover?" 

She may have convinced him. However, at that exact moment, the shadows behind Leneus thicken and darken, cloaking something within. They morph into the shape of a familiar figure, slowly gaining shape, until in the space of a second, Nico stumbles into the clearing.