ANTI-HERO, j.grace

TWENTY

There has been no dreams dancing across the backs of her eyelids, no soothing memories circling in the back of her mind, but Klein Maddox still found herself asleep. The pure exhaustion had overrun her system the very moment she returned to the couch with Jason following shortly after, and Leo couldn't help but laugh at how the Maddox girl looked vehemently less hateful while unconscious.

And maybe it had taken hours for the rest of the night to grow into day, but Klein felt like she had only just shut her eyes when the yelling started.

She shot off the couch so fast she would have tripped over herself had she not jumped directly into Jason, who was turning in the source of the ruckus with his eyes wide in alarm.

Gleeson Hedge was tearing around the room, taking the club in his hands to just about everything he saw: a tea set, each of the sofas, a statue, the coffee table, and after narrowly avoiding Leo's kneecaps, the satyr charged at the throne.

"Coach!"

The satyr turned to the demigods with such wild eyes it would have been safe to assume he was going to attack them next. He assessed the group, recognition on his face when he spotted Piper and Leo, confusion upon seeing the daughter of Apollo, and surprise at the sight of the son of Zeus, "You're the new kid - Jason." He didn't seem overly impressed, turning to the other two demigods from the Wilderness School, "Valdez, McLean, what's going on? We were at the Grand Canyon. The anemoi thuellai were attacking and-" Hedge's eyes zeroes in on the giant cage that held the storm spirit and he immediately went DEFCON 1. "Die!"

Klein let the other three give the satyr the run down of the quest thus far, stepping away to finally surveil the room that was now bathed in sunlight. The only word that came to mind was gold. For a moment the girl was sure she was losing her mind, thought maybe it was just a result of the beaming sun creeping through the curtains, but no.

Everything was golden.

The statues that lined the walls, the tea set that Coach Hedge had just shattered, the coffee table, the throne that sat in the opposing room, even the curtains and the couches seemed to be woven by golden thread.

"Jason," She called over to the boy, "Take a look at-"

Klein cut herself off at the sound of a door opening at the far end of the room, revealing a rather pudgy man in a white bathrobe and an old-fashioned sleep cap. When his eyes fell on the intruders the golden toothbrush fell from his mouth and to the floor, turning over his shoulder to what the group guessed to be yet another room.

"Son? Lit, come out here, please. There are strange people in the throne room."

Coach Hedge did the obvious - he narrowed his eyes, raised his club, and shouted "Die!".

Lit charged into the room donning a pair of pajama pants, a t-shirt that said 'cornhuskers', and holding a sword that looked like it was used for a hell of a lot more than just husking corn. His arms were covered in scars, and his eyes immediately zeroed in on Jason like he had just found the biggest threat in the room.

"Hold on!" Piper's eyes were wide as she tried her best to act calm, "Thus is just a misunderstanding! Everything's fine."

Contrary to Piper's words, everything was most definitely not fine.

"Coach, they may be friendly." Jason said to the alarmingly belligerent satyr. Though given the way Lit was still tossing his sword in his hands as he eyed the Grace boy, Klein had to disagree. "Besides, we're trespassing in their house."

"Thank you!" The old man let out a breath, "Now, who are you, and why are you here?"

"Let's all put our weapons down - Coach, you first."