¹𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 ━ 𝗽. 𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗼𝗻

044

⋆ ˚｡⋆ʚ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 ɞ⋆ ˚｡⋆
─── ❛ the first time you ever saw me cry ❜ ───

THE NEXT MORNING AFTER breakfast, isabella told percy and grover about her dream. it turned out that percy had dreamt the exact same thing. they sat in the meadow, watching the satyrs chase the wood nymphs through the snow. the nymphs had promised to kiss the satyrs if they got caught, but they hardly ever did. usually, the nymph would let the satyr get up a full head of steam, then she'd turn into a snow-covered tree and the poor satyr would slam into it headfirst and get a pile of snow dumped on him.

when percy and isabella told the satyr their shared nightmare, he started twirling his finger in his shaggy leg fur.

"a cave ceiling collapsed on her?" he asked.

"yeah. what the heck does that mean?" the boy said.

grover shook his head. "i don't know. but after what zoë dreamed—"

"whoa. what do you mean? zoë had a dream like that?"

"i... i don't know, exactly. about three in the morning she came to the big house and demanded to talk to chiron. she looked really panicked."

"wait, how do you know this?" isabella asked.

grover blushed. "i was sort of camped outside the artemis cabin."

"what for?" now it was percy.

"just to be, you know, near them."

"you're a stalker with hooves."

"weirdo."

"i am not! anyway, i followed her to the big house and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing. she got real upset when argus wouldn't let her in. it was kind of a dangerous scene."

"grover, that's so freaky." the daughter of aphrodite said it with a disgusted expression.

"what did she say?" percy asked.

grover grimaced. "well, she starts talking really old-fashioned when she gets upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. but something about artemis being in trouble and needing the hunters. and then she called argus a boil-brained lout... i think that's a bad thing. and then he called her—"

"whoa, wait. how could artemis be in trouble?"

"i... well, finally chiron came out in his pajamas and his horse tail in curlers and—"

"grover!" isabella reprimanded the satyr.

"he wears curlers in his tail?" percy asked with an amused face.

grover covered his mouth.

"sorry," percy said. "go on."

"well, zoë said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. chiron refused. he reminded zoë that the hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from artemis. and she said..." grover gulped. "she said 'how are we to get orders from artemis if artemis is lost?'"

"what do you mean lost? like she needs directions?"

"no. i think she meant gone. taken. kidnapped."