Melpomene (PJO)

31. A sad little mess

TW: Discussion of intense scarring from past injury . I've put *** at the start and end of the scene if anybody wants to skip it.

Adela was already regretting this.

Mainly because Lou Ellen seemed to have mentally translated 'You can stay here until the next morning so the harpies don't catch you, but after that you're out' into 'I love you and totally want to spend time with you, let's have a sleepover'.

After ten minutes of bickering about it, Adela had finally convinced Lou Ellen to take the bed. Adela herself had curled up on the floor, which wasn't too bad. Lou Ellen had made Adela take all the pillows, and the room was still warm. Adela had slept worse on the streets, when she was on the run from Mason. Still, a part of Adela couldn't help but remember those two weeks she'd spent on the Hermes cabin floor, before she snuck off to the underworld. The memories were foggy, but still unpleasant. She wondered if this was how Lou Ellen felt all night. Every night. The thought made her guts twist up. Eventually, Gladys the cat rolled down the side of the bed (she hadn't quite learned to crawl yet) onto Adela's lap with a squeal.

Adorable at the cat was, Adela had barely slept a wink.

Chiron had been very confused that morning when he found a wrecked-up grappling hook hanging off the side of the big house. He'd been even more confused to find Lou Ellen in Adela's room, but it turned out, Lou Ellen was a pretty good liar. One sob story about having a nightmare and not wanting to wake Chiron up, and the centaur was nothing but sympathy. He smiled at Lou Ellen and left with a flick of his tail, promising to bring back breakfast.

"So..." Lou Ellen fiddled with her hands, staring out of the window. "You ready to do this?"

"I don't even know how to do this."

Adela avoided answering Lou Ellen's actual question, mostly because she was a ball of nerves - what if Marion didn't want to talk about it? What if she was so upset at Adela for bringing it up, that she didn't want to talk to her?

"I've got that covered."

Lou Ellen ruffled through her backpack and pulled out the same huge leather-bound book that she'd dropped on the floor yesterday, when she overheard Adela calling her a problem. "I have the enchantment in here. It's, uh... it's the last thing my father left for me, before he died. That's why I carry it everywhere, so please be careful when you use it."

"I will," said Adela. Lou Ellen might be a little bit annoying, but if there was anything Adela could understand, it was that.

"I, uh, yesterday I was going to ask if you wanted to practice a little sorcery together." Lou Ellen gave Adela a nervous laugh. "I tried to get Alabaster to hang out with me on the ship, but he always thought I was annoying. I figured..."

"Oh." Adela looked away. "I'm bad at that. Sorcery, I mean. People too, but mainly sorcery."

"We can learn together," Lou Ellen told her. "And maybe if I manage to find a way to visit Circe, she can give me some tips and I can feed them back to you."

"Open your father's book, now," said Adela. "We're calling Marion. Or whatever the sorcery equivalent of an Iris-message is."

"Right."

Lou Ellen flicked through the old pages, holding it open to Adela once she'd found what she was looking for. It looked like the same kind of drawing Marion had sent to Adela when Lou Ellen was trying to teleport to Camp. But this time, the edges were different - more abstract, ending in soft swirls instead of bulky blocks.

They got to work, clearing out the pillows on the floor. Well, Adela cleared up all the pillows - she made Lou Ellen stay on the bed, safely away from her dangerous hands. Gladys helped by staying on one of the pillows and refusing to move until Adela flicked a cat treat onto the desk. Then, Adela got out of the way as Lou Ellen drew the enchantment onto the wood floors with a piece of old chalk Adela had scrounged from the cupboards.