ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

24

KAT WOKE UP to a yell and a loud noise.

"What?" Hedge demanded. "Fight who? Where?"

"Falling!" Leo grabbed the table that was in front of them. "No — not falling. Where are we?"

Jason blinked, trying to get his bearings. He focused on Piper and made a little choking sound. "What are you wearing?"

Kat looked at Piper and whistled lowly. She was wearing a turquoise dress with black leggings and black leather boots. She had a silver charm bracelet and her snowboarding jacket that she wore all the time ( though not during the quest, strangely ), which amazingly went with the outfit pretty well. Her hair was done and she had the lightest touches of makeup on.

"It's nothing," she said. "It's my—" She cut herself off, but Kat knew what she was about to say. "It's nothing."

Leo grinned. "Aphrodite strikes again, huh? You're gonna be the best-dressed warrior in town, beauty queen."

"Hey, Leo." Jason nudged his arm. "You look at yourself recently?"

"What . . . oh."

All of them had been give a makeover. Leo was wearing pinstriped pants, black leather shoes, a white collarless shirt with suspenders, and his tool belt, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a porkpie hat.

"God, Leo." Piper stifled a laugh behind her hand. "I think my dad wore that to his last premiere, minus the tool belt."

"Hey, shut up!"

"I think he looks good," said Hedge. "'Course, I look better."

The satyr was a pastel nightmare. Aphrodite had given him a baggy canary yellow zoot suit with two-tone shoes that fit over his hooves. He had a matching yellow broad-brimmed hat, a rose-colored shirt, a baby blue tie, and a blue carnation in his lapel, which Hedge sniffed and then ate.

"Well," Jason said, "at least your mom overlooked me."

Kat knew that wasn't exactly true. When she looked over, her eyes widened. Jason was dressed simply in jeans and a clean purple T-shirt, like he'd worn at the Grand Canyon. He had new track shoes on, and his hair was newly trimmed. His eyes were the same color as the sky. Aphrodite's message was clear: This one needs no improvement.

But did Kat?

She looked down at herself. She wore skin tight ruby red boots, a thick white strapless dress that made it down to her mid thigh. She didn't have a jacket, but she had a strap around her that led to a sword belt that held Cortana. When she took it out of its scabbard, she looked at her reflection and saw that she was wearing her ruby pendant and her seashell necklace. She was wearing makeup and she had flowers in her hair that matched the color of her boots and her pendant. Sunglasses were perched in her hair, and she put them over her eyes for a second, flashing a peace sign at herself before putting her sunglasses back on the top of her head.

"Thanks, Lady Aphrodite," Kat put her sword away, and when she put it away she looked back and Jason and Piper were staring at her. She gave them a smirk, putting an elbow on the table and leaning her head on her hand, kissing her fingers on her other hand and saluting the air.

"Anyway," Piper said uncomfortably, "how did we get here?"

Kat looked around her, not realizing that they were at a sidewalk café. Whoops. It was a sunny morning. The air was brisk but not unpleasant for sitting outside. At the other tables, a mix of bicyclists, business people, and college kids sat chatting and drinking coffee.

She could smell eucalyptus trees. Lots of foot traffic passed in front of quaint little shops. The street was lined with bottle-brush trees and blooming azaleas as if winter was a foreign concept.