The Shadow Summoner | Book Three - PJO Universe

two

HELP

Ariana quickly grew tired of waiting around in the underworld but she had no other choice.

However after begging her father, he reluctantly agreed to let her watch her body being transported to Camp Jupiter.

Morbid, perhaps, but Ariana was the daughter of the God of the Underworld and so she thought she had an excuse.

The girl also vowed to herself that the moment she left the underworld she would not be returning for a long time.

There was only so much of time she could cope with her father - especially considering half the time he was pestering her on gossip amongst the demigods.

It probably didn't help that Persephone was still on Olympus. For once she felt a sense of empathy for Hades - he had nobody to talk to when Persephone was gone.

Perhaps that was why she had tolerated his constant annoyance and pestering.

*•*

How many nature spirits does it take to carry a coffin?

The answer is unknowable, since all the dryads and fauns except one scattered into the trees as soon as they realized work was involved.

Ariana took personal offence to that, after all she had done for that Camp and this is how they treated her?

The last faun would have deserted them, too, but Lavinia grabbed his wrist. "Oh, no, you don't, Don."

Behind his round rainbow-tinted glasses, Don the faun's eyes looked panicked. His goatee twitched -a facial tic that made Ariana nostalgic for Grover the satyr.

(In case you're wondering, fauns and satyrs are virtually the same. Fauns are simply the Roman version, and they're not quite as good at... well, anything, really.)

"Hey, I'd love to help," Don said. "It's just I remembered this appointment-"

"Fauns don't make appointments," Lavinia said.

"I double-parked my car-"

"You don't have a car."

"I need to feed my dog-"

"Don!" Lavinia snapped. "You owe me."

"Okay, okay." Don tugged his wrist free and rubbed it, his expression aggrieved. "Look, just because I said Poison Oak might be at the picnic doesn't mean, you know, I promised she would be."

Lavinia's face turned terra-cotta red. "That's not what I meant! I've covered for you, like, a thousand times. Now you need to help me with this." She gestured vaguely at Apollo, the hearse, the world in general.

Ariana wondered if Lavinia was new to Camp Jupiter. She seemed uncomfortable in her legionnaire armor.

She kept shrugging her shoulders, bending her knees, tugging at the silver Star of David pendant that hung from her long, slender neck.

Her soft brown eyes and tuft of pink hair only accentuated Ariana's first impression of her-a baby giraffe that had wobbled away from her mother for the first time and was now examining the savannah as if thinking, Why am I here?

Meg stumbled up next to Apollo. She grabbed his quiver for balance, garroting him with its strap in the process. "Who's Poison Oak?"

"Meg," he chided, "that's none of our business. But if I had to guess, I'd say Poison Oak is a dryad whom Lavinia here is interested in, just like you were interested in Joshua back at Palm Springs."