ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

19

AFTER GETTING THE hell out of that mansion, dunking Leo and Piper into a river to make them not gold statues anymore ( which was something Kat enjoyed doing a little too much ), Jason used the storm spirits to bring them to Pikes Peak, in which they almost crash-landed into a mountain in the middle of a storm. Instead of staying in said storm, Kat found a cave nearby and went in it, looking around for threats.

The cave was shallow, so it didn't offer much protection. But it was better than being outside. Outside, the wind howled. Snow blew sideways. It must've been midday, yet the storm made it too dark to tell. But they set camp here for now because they had no other choice.

Kat was scrambling, getting them a campfire as Jason took blankets out of their packs ( Kat's because she was the smartest of them all, obviously ) and wrapped them around Leo. Hedge healed Piper from hypothermia she got after dunking her into the river. Kat didn't trust his nature healing abilities, but she had bigger things to worry about.

Her head was starting to pound again, but she wasn't focused on that as she was making a campfire, Cortana nearby with the blade emitting a four foot high fire for warmth. After she'd lit the fire aflame with her sword, she extinguished Cortana and threw it to the ground beside her, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. She sat and fished in her bag for the leftover nectar when she heard Piper's voice.

"Oh, god." She shivered. "He turned me to gold!"

"You're okay now." Jason looked at Kat, who took out another blanket and yeeted it at him, nearly catching on fire before he reached out and caught it. "Whoops." She glanced at him apologetically, but she couldn't muster a half-good apology. She'd apologize later or something.

"L-L-Leo?" Piper managed.

"Present and un-gold-ified." Leo was also wrapped in blankets. He didn't look great, but better than Piper did. While they were freezing to death, Kat meant. "I got the precious metal treatment too," he said. "But I came out of it faster. Dunno why. We had to completely dunk you in the river to get you back. Tried to dry you off, but . . . it's really, really cold."

"You've got hypothermia," said Jason. "We risked as much nectar as we could. Coach Hedge did a little nature magic—"

"Sports medicine." The coach's ugly face loomed over Piper. "Kind of a hobby of mine. Your breath might smell like wild mushrooms and Gatorade for a few days, but it'll pass. You probably won't die. Probably."

"Thanks," Piper said weakly. "How did you beat Midas?"

Kat stiffened as she felt Jason's gaze on her. She hadn't said anything about it since they'd left the house. Conveniently, she'd also barely spoken since leaving the house.

"Rina?" he asked.

"You've been really quiet," noticed Leo. "Like, I've never heard you shut your mouth for that long."

"I can stay that way, if you wanted," Kat said quietly, glaring holes at her backpack as she organized it. For fun. Also because she couldn't find any of her shit between hers and Piper's.

"She's just shy," the coach said. "You should've seen her. Hi-yah! Slice! Control those bastards!"

"Coach—" started Kat.

But the satyr was just warming up. "Then I came in with my club, and we dominated that room. Afterward, I told her, 'Cupcake, I'm proud of you! If you could just work on your upper body strength—'"

"HEY!" yelled Kat, her throat instantly becoming dry, so she grabbed the first canteen and downed whatever was in it. It was only a few drops of nectar, the leftovers from what they'd given to Piper, but it helped her throat and her head. "You weren't even there. Let me explain what happened."