𝙰𝚖𝚘𝚛 𝚅𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚝 𝙾𝚖𝚗𝚒𝚊 》𝙿𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚋𝚞𝚜 𝙰𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘

1.10

IT DIDN'T TAKE Kyra long to pack all of her belongings. In fact, considering how she never unpacked her things to begin with, it didn't take her any time at all. She actually just spent a majority of her time counting how much money she had saved from the past few years, which for insight, was just above one hundred and thirteen dollars.

It wasn't much, but considering how Percy had told her the camp store had only given him one hundred dollars, it was definitely better than nothing.

She also made sure to eat and drink ambrosia and nectar, respectively, to help the throbbing of her ankle. Thankfully, it worked. It wasn't completely better, but at least it didn't hurt to take every step.

Regardless, as the quartet finished packing, they joined each other on the hike up the Hill and to the tall pine tree that stood atop it (Kyra still found it weird that it was technically a person, by the way). Once they had made it, they found Chiron waiting for them in his wheelchair, alongside a surfer-looking man who Kyra was sure she had seen wandering about the camp before. And according to Grover, he had eyes all over his body.

It made the girl wonder both if Grover meant all all over (in that case, how uncomfortable was it to sit down?) as well as if the man could see through all of them at once.

"This is Argus," Chiron introduced. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

Kyra forced herself to hold back a snort. There was nothing she loved more than a pun, even if it was unintentional.

"Hey!" Luke yelled as he jogged up the hill. He had a pair of basketball shoes in his hands, which the girl found a little weird. He didn't seem like the type of guy to play basketball. "Glad I caught you."

"Just wanted to say good luck," he started, once he caught his breath. "And I thought...um, maybe you could use these."

The blonde boy handed Percy the sneakers. "Maia!" Luke exclaimed, causing white wings to sprout from the heels. Out of surprise, Percy dropped them to the ground. The wings flapped for some time before folding up and completely disappearing. That was new. Kyra so wanted to try them on.

"Awesome!" Grover said.

"Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..."

"Hey, man," Percy said. "Thanks."

It wasn't long before Luke left, leaving the previous group remaining. As it turned out, Percy would not be able to use the shoes, due to his...flight problems, so he had given them to Grover.

To say the satyr was ecstatic was an understatement. Kyra didn't think she had ever seen him so excited in his entire life. The girl did the honors of lacing them atop his hooves, and even kissed his hand in the process.

"There we go, Princess Grover." She said jokingly. "Off to get married, are we?"

"Only if it's to you," Grover replied, his cheeks pinkening in embarrassment. This was one of the things Kyra liked best about Grover. Even when in the most embarrassing point of his life, he would still keep up with a joke for her.

Kyra grinned and stood up, patting him on the back. "Let's see what you got."

He nodded and shouted "Maia!"

Initially, he got off the ground fine—good, even—but then he fell over sideways and started to get dragged across the floor. Kyra held a grimace at the sight of it, but expecting him to stand back up, she didn't do anything.

That was until he started to get flung down the hill.

"Aaaaaa!" He yelled, making the girl's face drop.