carousel|| a. chase

―vi| the council of cloven elders (and hera)

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THERE WERE SO MANY GOODBYES.

Aurelie hadn't know anyone of the dead- which honestly didn't help and just made her feel worse.

The next day, she helped the others treating the wounded, which was almost everybody. Over the years on the battlefield she'd learned quiet a few things- not that the Apollo cabin needed help or anything. She didn't mind if she had to talk someone and distract them from the pain while some Apollo kid healed them.

At noon, the Council of Cloven Elders held an emergency meeting in their sacred grove. The three senior satyrs were there, along with Chiron, who was in his wheelchair form, since his broken horse leg was still mending. The grove was filled with satyrs, dryads and naiads up from the water- hundreds of them, anxious to hear what would happen. Grover's girlfriend Juniper, Annabeth, Percy and Aurelie stood at Grover's side.

Aurelie honestly had no idea what she was actually doing here, but Annie had asked her to come with them to support their satyr friend.

The fat satyr from before the battle (Silenus if she remembered correctly- what a shit name honestly) wanted to exile Grover immediately, but Chiron persuaded him to at least hear evidence first, so they told everyone what had happened in the crystal cavern, and what Pan had said. Then several eyewitnesses from the battle described the weird sound Grover had made, which drove the Titan's army back underground.

"It was panic," Juniper insisted. "Grover summoned the power of the wild god."

"Panic?" Percy repeated.

"Percy," Chiron explained, "during the first war of the gods and the Titans, Lord Pan let forth a horrible cry that scared away the enemy armies. It is- it was his greatest power- a massive wave of fear that helped the gods win the day. The word panic is named after Pan, you see. And Grover used that power, calling it forth from within himself."

"Preposterous!" Silenus bellowed. "Sacrilege! Perhaps the wild god favored us with a blessing. Or perhaps Grover's music was so awful it scared the enemy away."

Was this satyr blind or something? Or dumb?

Probably both.

"That wasn't it sir," Grover said calmly. "He let his spirit pass into all of us. We must act. Each of us most work to renew the wild, to protect what's left of it. We must spread the word. Pan is dead. There is no one but us."

"After two thousand years of searching, this is what you would have us to believe?" Silenus cried. "Never! We must continue the search! Exile the traitor!"

Aurelie was for renewing this council as well as the nature. This satyr was definitely too old and completely dense as to be in charge.

Some of the older satyrs muttered assent.