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When Percy finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about his surroundings, except instead of the bed he'd remembered being in, he was now sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance.
The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over his legs, and a pillow behind his neck that smelled distantly like vanilla perfume, like it belonged to a girl. A horn, the minotaur horn, sat comfortably on his lap.
Percy would've thought that was great, he liked vanilla as much as the next guy, but his mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest.
On the table next to him was a tall drink that almost looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry. Percy began to reach for it and almost dropped the glass once his fingers closed around it.
Percy recoiled at the taste, expecting apple juice. The memory of Sage's question reminded him it wasn't that at all. It was chocolate - chip cookies.
Liquid cookies.
And not just any cookies — Sally Jackson's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting.
Drinking it, Percy's whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. His grief didn't go away, but he felt as if his mom had just brushed her hand against his cheek, and given him a cookie the way she used to when he was small. It felt like Sage was smiling with him, telling him everything was going to be okay.
Before he knew it, he drained the glass.
"Was it good?" A voice asked from his side.
Percy nodded as Grover bounded towards him.
"What did it taste like?"
"Cookies, right?" A new voice sounded from around the porch.
Grover and Percy turned as Sage Lapointe came into view. Except she looked different now. She seemed well rested and more alive than she had covered in rain on the hill. Her hair was dried, little braids streaking them and the rest of her hair was curled behind her ears, showing off all the piercings she had on both ears. Percy took note that she was dressed in black, despite it being the beginning of June. And her eyes — her big doe eyes — were a teal, almost cyan color, like a light blue gemstone. They were one of the first things Percy had noticed about her appearance at the hill, but he'd never gotten the chance to look at her in detail now. Despite the rugged look, she looked poised and elegant like a young royal would.
Beautiful, Percy's first thought rang through his mind. Sage Lapointe was beautiful.
A black leather jacket with an engraved helmet on the back was wrapped around her dark baggy jeans, a sleeveless dark tank top exposed her bare shoulders and arms. When the wind whipped her hair to the side, the vanilla smell from the pillow was back.
