Sunflower ✵ Percy Jackson

were in..utah?

"Mel?" A distant voice called yet she ignored it, rolling her head to the side.

"Mel!" It called again.

The blonde girl confusedly opened her eyes, "Percy?"

"You're awake!" He weakly reached over and threw his hands on her head, "Oh my god Melissa I thought you were dead!"

She rubbed her eyes, preparing them to adjust to the environment,  she was sitting on a deck chair atop a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze softly pulled her hair, it smelt like strawberries, making her realize how hungry she was.

"Where are we?"

Percy shifted underneath the blanket draped over him, "I dunno, Utah?"

"Hm, those are nice hills." Missy agreed. Swallowing hard her eyes landed on two drinks sat on a small table between her and Percy.

They looked like tall iced apple juice, with a green straw in one and gray in other, a paper parasol stuck through the maraschino cherry.

Her hand was so weak she alsmost dropped the glass once she got her fingers around it.

"Careful!" A familiar voice said, causing both friends heads to snap back.

Grover was landing against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week. Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box and sported a vibrant orange t-shirt reading "camp half-blood." And he was just plain old Grover. Not goat-boy

Thats when it all started coming back to Melissa. The barnyard smell, the bull-man...

"You two saved my life," Grover said. "I...well, the least I could do...I went back to the hill. I thought you guys might want this.

Reverently, he placed the shoebox on Percy's lap. Missy and the boy shared a spectical look before she carefully pulled the lid off.

Inside were two black and white bull horns, the bass jagged from being broken off, one of which's tip was splattered with dried blood.

"The Minotaur." Percy said.

"It isn't a good idea—"

"But that's what they call him in the myths, isn't it." Missy sighed, "The Minotaur."

"Half man, half bull." Percy finished.

Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You two have been out for two days. How much do you remember?"

"My mom. Is she really.."

He looked down and Missy frowned, moving her gaze over to the meadow, there were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly infront of them, was the one with the huge pine tree on top.

"I'm a failure. I'm—I'm the worst satyr in the world." Mel could hear Grover's muffled cries.

He moaned, stomped his food so hard she and his foot jumped.

"Oh Styx!" He mumbled, struggling to get his hooc back inside his fake foot.

Thunder rolled across the completely clear sky, which wasn't even the weirdest thing about the last three days. The odd apple-juice drink that was sitting next to the girl tasted nothing like apple juice, a fresh strawberry and banana muffin filled Melissa's mouth instead.