𝐎𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒༄ • Jᴀsᴏɴ Gʀᴀᴄᴇ

Chapter 18

She only woke when the yelling started.

"Ahhhggggggh!"

She leapt up so fast, her and Piper both tumbled off the couch they were sleeping on. She wasn't sure what was more jarring- the sunlight that now bathed the whole room, or the screaming satyr.

"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.

Freya groaned as she and Piper got up and made their way to where Jason and Leo were.

"Coach!" Jason yelled.

Hedge turned, breathing hard. His eyes were so wild, Freya was afraid he might attack. The satyr was 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 all goat. She still wasn't entirely sure who this random satyr was- but her friends knew him, so she figured he was alright.

"You're the new kid," Hedge said, lowering his club. "Jason. " He looked at Leo, then Piper, who's hair looked like it had become a nest for a friendly hamster.

"Valdez, McLean," the coach said. Then his eyes slid to Freya. "Who are you? An attacker! Impostor!" He hefted his club, and then bravely tried to smack her with it. Freya would of laughed and probably blocked his move, but Leo intervened.

"Woah! Easy, coach." He said. "That's our friend, Freya. She's a demigod like us, from Camp Half-Blood."

At that, the satyr seemed to calm down a little, but then he remembered where they were. "What's going on? We were at the Grand Canyon. The anemoi thuellai were attacking and—" He zeroed in on the storm spirit cage, and his eyes went back to DEFCON 1. "Die!"

"Whoa, Coach!" Piper 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. "

"Cage? Cage? What's going on? Just because I'm a satyr doesn't mean I can't have you doing plank push-ups, Mclean!"

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 the storm spirits had taken you back to their—um, operator, Medea. "

"That witch! Wait—that's impossible. She's mortal. She's dead. "

"Yeah, well," Freya said, "somehow she's not so dead anymore. "

The coach narrowed his eyes at her, as if he didn't think she was trustworthy just yet. Then he nodded and lifted his chin.

"So! You were sent on a dangerous quest to rescue me. Excellent!"

"Um. " Piper got to her feet, holding out her hands 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 a 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?"

"Gold-?" Started Freya, and then looked around her. From the way Leo, Piper and Jason caught their breath, she guessed they hadn't noticed yet either.

The room was full of gold—the statues, the tea set Hedge 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.