RECLUSE - (n) a person who lives a solitary life and tends to avoid other people.
MAISIE ELLIOT WAS ANGRY.
Angry at the world.
Angry at the Gods.
Angry at the demigods who seemed to move on too fast.
And when forced onto a quest with three stranger...
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MAISIE SAT BY THE ROARING FIRE
She could only stare at her own hands in disbelief. She watched them tremble and twitch, but not from the cold air around them. She could feel the power coursing through her veins, the soft hum of the gold now entangled in her blood.
Piper was still unconscious, but Leo had unfrozen not too long ago. Jason was quick to fill him in on everything, including Maisie's newfound abilities.
"So you control gold now, cariño?" He asked. shivering from under his bundle of blankets. "That's pretty cool. Wait, does that mean you can turn people into gold as well?"
"No." Maisie said. "It's like the gold is a part of me, but I can't summon it out off of my body."
She demonstrated by encasing both her arms fully in gold.
"Cool. So I can still touch you and not die, right?" Leo asked.
"Touch me and I'll rip your arms off your body."
"Well that didn't seem to apply to last night, did it?" He mumbled.
Maisie whipped her head over to glare at him.
Jason looked back and forth between the two confused.
"What—"
Piper shot upwards, stopping Jason from questioning.
"Oh, god." Her teeth chattered. "He turned me to gold!"
"You're okay now," Jason leaned over to tuck another blanket around her.
"L-L-Leo?" Piper managed.
"Present and un-gold-ified." Leo spoke from his pile of blankets next to Maisie. "I got the precious metal treatment too," he said. "But I came out of it faster. Dunno why. They had to dunk you in the river to get you back completely. Tried to dry you off, but ... it's really, really cold."
"You've got hypothermia," Jason said. "We risked as much nectar as we could. Coach Hedge did a little nature magic—"
"Sports medicine," Coach leaned over Piper. "Kind of a hobby of mine. Your breath might smell like wild mushrooms and Gatorade for a few days, but it'll pass. You probably won't die. Probably."
"Thanks," Piper said weakly. "How did you guys beat Midas?"
Maisie let Jason do the talking, putting most of their fight down to luck.
Coach snorted. "The kids being modest. You should have seen them! Hi-yah! Kick! Slice! 'I control gold' 'Not anymore'! Boom with the lightning!"
"You didn't even see it, Coach." Maisie called out. "You were too busy eating."
The satyr was only warming up. "Then I came in with my club and we dominated that room! Afterwards, I told them, 'kids, I'm proud of you! If only you would both work on your upper body strength—"
