𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

xxvii ━━ even statues crumble if they're made to wait

01. chapter twenty-seven

━━━━━━━━ ( 💫 ) ━━━━━━━━

IT TOOK ALL FOUR OF US to hold back the satyr.

"whoa, coach!" jason said. "bring it down a few notches."

a younger man charged into the room. i guessed he must be lit, the old guy's son. he was dressed in pajama pants with a sleeveless t-shirt that said cornhuskers, and he held a sword that looked like it could husk a lot of things besides corn. his muscular arms were covered in scars, and his face, framed by curly dark hair, would've been handsome if it wasn't also sliced up.

lit immediately zeroed in on jason like he was the biggest threat, and stalked toward him, swinging his sword overhead.

"hold on!" piper stepped forward, trying for her best calming voice. "this is just a misunderstanding! everything's fine."

lit stopped in his tracks, but he still looked wary. it didn't help that hedge was screaming, "i'll get them!
don't worry!"

"coach," jason pleaded, "they may be friendly. besides, we're trespassing in their house."

as much as i wanted to, i highly doubted they were friendly. the same feeling i had when i met medea, i had seeing this man in the bathrobe and his muscular son. they reeked of death as if they had crawled right out of the underworld. and after the encounter with medea, that wouldn't surprise me.

"thank you!" said the old man in the bathrobe. "now, who are you, and why are you here?"

"let's all put our weapons down," piper said. "coach, you first."

hedge clenched his jaw. "just one thwack?"

"no," piper said.

"what about a compromise? i'll kill them first, and if it turns out they were friendly, i'll apologize."

"no!" piper insisted.

"meh." coach hedge lowered his club.

piper gave lit a friendly sorry-about-that smile. even with her hair messed up and wearing two-day-old clothes, she still had that child of aphrodite charm.

lit huffed and sheathed his sword. "you speak well, girl—fortunately for your friends, or i would've run them through."

i scowled at him.

"appreciate it," leo said. "i try not to get run through before lunchtime."

the old man in the bathrobe sighed, kicking the teapot that coach hedge had smashed. "well, since you're here. please, sit down."

lit frowned. "your majesty—"

"no, no, it's fine, lit," the old man said. "new land, new customs. they may sit in my presence. after all, they've seen me in my nightclothes. no sense observing formalities." he did his best to smile, though it looked a little forced. "welcome to my humble home. i am king midas."

"midas? impossible," said coach hedge. "he died."

we were sitting on the sofas now, while the king reclined on his throne. tricky to do that in a bathrobe, and i kept worrying the old guy would forget and uncross his legs. i tried to avoid looking at him.

lit stood behind the throne, both hands on his sword, glancing at piper and i while flexing his arms. i wondered if he knew how stupid he looked. yes, he was muscular, but i just totally did not like it. at all.