madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-barbecued goat-

Teqi was actually enjoying her sleep thank you very much, before she was rudely awakened by a noise that could on come from a screaming goat. Her suspicions were sadly, correct. 

Leo must have finally unlocked the cage, as a screaming goat was running around breaking things with his bat. What a lovely way to wake up. Her head had previously been in Leo's lap, and he was still holding onto her as they ducked behind a very shiny couch when Coach swung at them violently.

Jason was frantically trying to catch the mad goat, while Leo and Piper held Teqi back from making goat curry. "Coach!" Jason yelled hoarsely from where he was holding his arms out towards Coach, like he was trying to tame a feral dog.

Hedge turned, breathing hard. His eyes were so wild, Teqi wouldn't be surprised if he bit Jase or something. Like a vampire, Sparkle sparkle. "You're the new kid," Hedge said, lowering his club. "Jason." He looked at Leo, then Piper, and then the furious Teqi who was still grieving her sleep.

"Valdez, McLean, Teqi's last name." The coach said. "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, what a joy this guy was. "Die!"

"Whoa, Coach!" Leo 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, Valdez!" Jason cleared his throat, trying to stop the threats. "Coach—Gleeson—um, whatever you want us to call you. You saved us at the Grand Canyon. You were totally brave, very."

"Of course, I was!" Coach stated.

"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," Leo said, finally letting go of a still mad Teqi. "Somehow she got not dead anymore."

Hedge nodded, his eyes narrowing conspiringly. "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 wth a renewed spark. "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?" Jason questioned, looking around. Piper and Leo gasped at the incredibly shiny room, Teqi just groaned at sat down on the couch grumpily. She just wanted to sleep, and Leo had been a very warm pillow. She was tired and her face was throbbing again.

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 fibre. It all seemed a bit overkill to be honest, like, we get it, you're rich. It did explain the death traps called security though.

"Nice," Leo said, voicing her thoughts. "No wonder they got so much security."

"This isn't—" Piper stammered, obviously stunned. "This isn't Medea's place, Coach. It's some rich person's mansion in Omaha. We got away from Medea and crash-landed here."