The Shadow Summoner | Book Three - PJO Universe

nineteen

A FAMILIAR SATYR

The next morning, Meg kicked Apollo awake. "Time to get going."

His eyelids fluttered open. He sat up, groaning.

Meg stood at his bedside in her pajamas and red high-tops (good gods, did she sleep in them?), her nose running as always, and a half-eaten green apple in her hand.

Ariana stood beside her, wearing joggers and a black cropped top.

"I don't suppose you brought me breakfast?" Apollo asked.

"I can throw this apple at you." Meg suggested.

"Never mind. I'll get up."

Meg went off to take a shower. Yes, sometimes she actually did that. Apollo dressed and packed as best he could, then headed to the kitchen.

While he ate his pancakes, Emmie hummed and banged around in the kitchen. Georgina sat across from them coloring pictures, her heels kicking against her chair legs.

Josephine stood at her welding station, happily fusing plates of sheet metal. Calypso and Leo
-who refused to say good-bye to Ariana on the assumption that they would all see each other soon-stood at the kitchen counter, arguing about what Leo should pack for his trip to Camp Jupiter and throwing bacon at each other.

It all felt so cozy and homey, Ariana wanted to volunteer to wash dishes if it meant getting to stay another day.

Lityerses sat down next to Apollo and her with a large cup of coffee. His battle wounds had been mostly patched up, though his face still looked like the runway system at Heathrow Airport.

"I'll watch after them." He gestured at Georgina and her mothers.

Ariana doubted Josephine or Emmie wanted to be 'watched after,' but Ariana did not point that out to Lityerses.

He would have to learn on his own how to adapt to this environment.

"I'm sure you'll do well here," Apollo said. "I trust you."

He laughed bitterly. "I don't see why."

"We share common ground -we're both sons of overbearing fathers, and we've been misled and burdened by bad choices, but we're talented in our chosen ways."

"And good-looking?" He gave Apollo a twisted smile.

"Naturally that. Yes."

Ariana rolled her eyes at the pair of them as she ate her own breakfast.

He cupped his hands around his coffee. "Thank you. For the second chance."

"I believe in them. And third and fourth chances. But I only forgive each person once a millennium, so don't mess up for the next thousand years."

"I will keep that in mind."

Behind him, in the nearest hallway, Ariana saw a flicker of ghostly orange light. She and Apollo excused themselves.

Agamethus hovered in front of a window overlooking the roundabout.

His glowing tunic rippled in an ethereal wind. He pressed one hand against the windowsill as if holding himself in place. His other hand held the Magic 8 Ball.

"I'm glad you're still here," Apollo said.

He had no face to read, but his posture seemed sad and resigned.

"You know what happened at the Cave of Trophonius," Apollo guessed. "You know he is gone."

He bowed in acknowledgement.

"Your brother asked me to tell you he loves you," Apollo said. "He is sorry about your fate. I want to apologize, too. When you died, I did not listen to Trophonius's prayer to save you. I felt you two deserved to face the consequences of that robbery. But this... this has been a very long punishment. Perhaps too long."

The ghost did not respond. His form flickered as if the ethereal wind was strengthening, pulling him away.

"If you wish," Apollo said, "when I attain my godhood again, I will personally visit the Underworld. I will petition Hades to let your soul pass on to Elysium."

"Or I can probably scare my father into doing it," Ariana said, "I could probably visit him very soon."

Agamethus offered them his 8 Ball.

"Ah." Apollo took the sphere and shook it one last time. "What is your wish, Agamethus?"

The answer floated up through the water, a dense block of words on the small white die face: I WILL GO WHERE I MUST. I WILL FIND TROPHONIUS. TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER, AS MY BROTHER AND I COULD NOT.

He released his grip on the windowsill. The wind took him, and Agamethus dissolved into motes in the sunlight.

*•*

The sun had risen by the time Apollo and Ariana joined Meg McCaffrey on the roof of the Waystation.

She wore the green dress Sally Jackson had given her, as well as her yellow leggings, now mended and clean.

All the mud and guano had been scrubbed from her high-tops. On either side of her face, rainbow-colored pipe cleaners twisted through her hair-no doubt a parting fashion gift from Georgina.

"How do you feel?" Ariana asked.

Meg crossed her arms and stared at Hemithea's tomato patch. "Yeah. Okay."

By which Ariana think she meant: I just went insane and spewed prophecies and almost died. How are you asking me this question and expecting me not to punch you?

"So...what is your plan?" Apollo asked. "Why the roof? If we are seeking the Labyrinth, shouldn't we be on the ground floor?"

"We need a satyr."

"Yes, but..."

Ariana looked around. shw saw no goat men growing in any of Emmie's planting beds. "How do you intend-?"

"Shhh."

She crouched next to the tomato plants and pressed her hand against the dirt. The soil rumbled and began to heave upward.

For a moment, Ariana feared a new karpos might burst forth with glowing red eyes and a vocabulary that consisted entirely of Tomatoes!

Instead, the plants parted. The dirt rolled away, revealing the form of a young man sleeping on his side.

He looked about seventeen, perhaps younger. He wore a black collarless jacket over a green shirt, and jeans much too baggy for his legs.

Over his curly hair flopped a red knit cap. A scruffy goatee clung to his chin. At the tops of his sneakers, his ankles were covered in thick brown fur.

Either this young man enjoyed shag-carpet socks, or he was a satyr passing for human. He looked vaguely familiar.

Grover Underwood. Ariana instantly grinned.

Apollo turned to Meg in amazement. "This is one of the more important satyrs, a Lord of the Wild, in fact. How did you find him?"

She shrugged. "I just searched for the right satyr. Guess that's him."

The satyr woke with a start. "I didn't eat them!" he yelped. "I was just..." He blinked and sat up, a stream of potting soil trickling from his cap. "Wait... this isn't Palm Springs. Where am I? Ariana?"

"Hello again, Goatboy."

Apollo smiled. "Hello, Grover Underwood. I am Apollo. This is Meg. You already know Ariana I assume. And you, my lucky friend, have been summoned to lead us through the Labyrinth."

*•*

A/N:

And that's Part Two coming to a close (finally!)

Thank you for reading so far and chapters for part three will be coming out very very soon!

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