Aligned: A KOTLC and HoO crossover {SLOW-ISH UPDATES}

Chapter 11

Biana's POV:

The sound of plastic bags hitting the floor made me look up.

"Oh my god, what happened?" Linh's face was one of horror and shock.

Mine was probably the same.

Keefe and Sophie were both bleeding in several places. They looked to only be surface cuts and scratches, but what kind of shopping trip had people coming back bleeding?

"You're bleeding," I said, my eyes trained on the scratch on Sophie's arm.

Keefe looked down at his forearm in surprise. "Oh, we are. Didn't feel that when the fight was happening."

"Fight?! You were supposed to go grocery shopping, what happened?" Linh repeated. She was up and rummaging through cabinets, probably looking for Elwin's healing balms.

"A harpy and a Minotaur attacked," Sophie said, taking the damp towel that Linh handed her. Shifting her crutches to one arm, she started gently scrubbing off the blood that had dried on her arms.

Confused, I paused. "Wait, those are the monsters from Greek mythology, right? How did they find you?"

"We met Mother Dearest too," Keefe said, rolling his eyes. He looked tense, though, so I didn't push the subject.

Linh frowned. "You beat both the harpy and the Minotaur? They won't terrorize the humans?"

Sophie nodded. "Well, more like Percy and Leo destroyed the monsters, Keefe tried to attack Gisela, and I just stood there." She sounded guilty, and her eyes were downcast.

Keefe put an arm around her, rubbing her shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about it, Foster," he soothed.

Linh furrowed her brow. "Maybe we should get the others and debrief," she suggested.

About ten minutes later, the nine of us were sitting around the coffee table in the center of the living room. Keefe and Sophie had a handful of visible Band-Aids on their arms, and there were also some on Sophie's side and Keefe's back.

"So two monsters attacked you, the demigods killed them, and Lady Gisela is immune to weapons?" Wylie summed up.

"She's also resilient to inflicting," Sophie added, tugging on her eyelashes.

"She wasn't before... what changed?" Fitz wondered aloud.

I frowned. "You think this has something to do with the demigods' side of things?"

"It's possible," Keefe agreed. He kept fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

"I got Leo's number, something about seeing who could summon the most fire," Marella offered.

Sophie's eyes lit up, the way they often did when she had an idea. "Could you text them to meet with us?"

Marella nodded and pulled out her phone, her thumbs flying over the screen. A few chimes later, she looked up. "He said to meet them at the fro-yo place a few blocks from here in fifteen minutes," she reported.

"What's fro-yo?" Tam asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Sounds like a dance," Dex commented, tilting his head.

Sophie opened her mouth but paused, probably debating on how to explain. "Remember the gelato that we had when we left a few years ago?" When Dex and I nodded, she continued, "It's like that but with dairy, and it comes in more flavors."

"Oh, I loved that stuff," Keefe grinned.

Tam's POV:

Twelve minutes later, the nine of us stood in front of a colorful shop. Through the big window, I could see that the inside was even more colorful. Almost colorful to the point of blinding.