Shattered |Leo Valdez|

Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Erikka's P.o.v.

When I finally came around, I was outside on a long porch sitting in an old rocker. "Here you go. Drink this." It was Grover, handing me a glass of the same stuff he'd given me before.

Slowing my sips, I asked him again. "What is this stuff?" He sat on the porch steps leaning up against a pole.

"Nectar. It's the drink of the gods." Oh. Right. Forgot about those guys. Setting the half full glass on a small table beside me with a clink, I looked at him.

"Am I delusional? Did my mom take me to be checked out and they found out I'm clinically insane? Because last time I checked, demigods, Greek gods, and satyrs were just stories made up by crazy people." Thunder shuddered in the distance as I looked up in the clear sky. No reason for thunder what so ever.

"Careful!" Grover scolded. "You have to be extremely careful when talking about the gods. They are...touchy." He'd hesitated, and my guess was that he'd wanted to call them prissy little wimps, but lost the nerve. "But you're not delusional. If you were, Chiron might not have let you stay." Forgot about him, too.

"Where's that coach guy?" I asked, wanting to talk to someone without getting glared at.

Grover shrugged, his eyes narrowing. "I don't know. Off talking with the Seven I suppose, since you and everyone else loves him soooo much. He survived the second Titan war, he survived the war with Gaea, and he has three kids." I could tell I'd touched a nerve. "Meanwhile, I've kept the camp together, brought in a hundred new campers, found Pan, led nature in the Titan war, negotiated with the Romans, AND saved Percy's sassy butt multiple times! He let them drop into Tartarus!"

He was ranting so hardcore that his rasta hat fell off, revealing some weird looking horns sprouting from his head. "Um, I just wanted to talk to someone who wouldn't glare at me. He was the only one I could remember." Grover's face softened.

"Oh." He fiddled with an odd instrument, refusing to look at me. I could tell that the tips of his ears were pink.

"Do you, er, wanna talk about it?" His eyes glanced at me out of the corner before he sighed and started talking.

"Well, my girlfriend Juniper, she's a tree nymph, has been babysitting coach's kids while his wife works. He's been out there searching for new half-bloods while I'm stuck here keeping bushes in line and saytrs clean! Ever since the war ended, he's been the Seven's go-to-saytr, and I've been ignored. Even my best friend prefers him."

His eyes were sad and downcast, but I couldn't help myself: I laughed. "Ok, I'm sorry," I said as he glared at me. "But really? If you feel like that, shouldn't you talk to your best friend? Not glare at people you've just met?" The glare lessened so that he almost looked normal, with a little bit of sadness.

With a sigh, he replied, "Yeah. You're right, but it's not really all my fault. You remind me of him. You both smell the same."

I gave him an odd look. "Excuse me?" He laughed which sounded a lot like bleating.

"No, I mean like you both have a lot of power. Saytrs can smell half-bloods and monsters." My lips pursed and I kicked some dust on the ground.

"I thought you didn't like me because I murdered your enchilada." Grover shrugged and took out another one out of his pocket.

"That, too."

A half smile drifted across my face. Maybe this saytr isn't that bad, I thought. Besides, I would probably hate someone, too, if they killed my food.

Killed.

Death.

Mom.

"Grover," he looked up at me from the delicacy, "I have to go back to Michigan. My mom, she never had a proper burial. I have to-"

"No." I was cut off, but it wasn't by Grover. Looking in front of me, my eyes traveled up the front of a horses body. Except, the horse stopped at the chest, morphing into the torso of a man. It was a centaur.

More importantly, it was Chiron.

"Holy curdled milk." I mumbled under my breath. "Thaaaaat's why your name sounded familiar. Dude, I was you in third grade for halloween. I was supposed to be the horses aaa-pple bottom jeans while my bff, Courtney was the head. Well, she ended up ditching me for Mackenzie Zales (a/n: 2 MPGiS references in one paragraph!!!) who was a pretty pretty fudge nuggety princess. So, long story short, I told everyone I was Chiron, our horse buddy here. Some people gave me extra candy out of pity." I paused. "It looked pretty lame on me. But you are makin it work, girlfriend!" I snapped my fingers as Grover did a face-palm.

Chiron cleared his throat and tugged on the collar of his white shirt. "As, er, amusing as that was, I have a message for Grover from Percy." He handed a sea blue envelope to Grover before turning to leave with a "feel better" thrown my way.

After Chiron left, Grover opened the envelope. A frowned flitted quickly across his face before it faded into his usual annoyed expression. "Listen. I gotta go, but coach Hedge will show you around. He's by the cabins. Just pass the volleyball court, make a left and walk straight, after you finish that." He pointed to the drink in my hand. "You'll be fine. Bye, Rikki."

I gave a half smile and a little wave. Across from the porch was a volleyball net where a few satyrs were playing with some campers. Sipping the last few sips out of the cup with a swirly pink straw, I stood up, surprised to have my legs supporting me. Following Grover's instructions, (not very well) I ended up by some fire wall. Noticing it didn't really look like any cabins, I turned quickly around.

The sun shown bright in the sky, blinding me for a second. As I continued to stumble forward, I obviously didn't see anyone. That, however, doesn't mean they weren't there.

"What the heck?"

"Eeep!"

I fell onto the person in a tangle of limbs and the sound of metal on metal. My temporary blindness disappeared and I rolled over, landing on something I would be willing to bet was going to give me a large bruise. Groaning, I stared up at the blue sky, cursing the sun brightness under my breath. "What the heck do you think you are doing?!" The angry, gruff, male voice caught me by surprise. My neck snapped up, my eyes meeting with a beautiful brown pair; a pair that were glaring at me.

Why does that always seem to be happening?

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What did you guys think? Picture of Rikki's mom in the beginning. Comment your thoughts and ideas!!! -Brie