MELANCHOLY [1]

EIGHTEEN

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eighteen
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"ARGHHHH!"

Via leapt to her feet, and immediately winced. The sunlight poked her eyes, and there was a screaming satyr in the middle of the hall.

"Coach is awake,"Leo pointed out. Gleeson Hedge was capering around, his hooves in full sight, swinging his club and yelling"Die!" as he smashed the tea set, whacked the sofas, and charged at the throne.

Via stepped in front of him. "Coach, hold up!"

Hedge stopped in the middle of his tracks, breathing hard. His eyes were so wild, Via was afraid he'd charge at her.

"Jackson," Hedge said, lowering his club. "Didn't you go back to camp?"

"Yeah, but— Are you okay?"

He turned around and pointed at Jason. "That's the new kid. Jason." He looked at Leo, then Piper, who'd apparently also just woken up. Her hair looked like it had become a nest for a wild bird.

"Valdez, McLean," the coach said. "What's going on? We were at the Grand Canyon. The anemoi thuellai were attacking and—" He zeroed in on the storm spirit cage, and his eyes went back to Angry Birds. "Die!"

"Whoa, Coach!" Leo stepped in his path. "It's okay. They're locked up. We just sprang you from the other cage."

"Cage? Cage? What's going on? Just because I'm a satyr doesn't mean I can't have you doing plank push-ups, Valdez!"

"Oh, he's fine," Via smiled, shaking her head.

Jason cleared his throat. "Coach—Gleeson—um, whatever you want us to call you. You saved us at the Grand Canyon. You were really brave."

"Of course I was!"

"Via and Annabeth came and took us to Camp Half-Blood. We thought we'd lost you. Then we got word the storm spirits had taken back to their—um, operator, Medea."

"That witch! Wait—that's impossible. She's mortal. She's dead."

"Yeah, well," Leo said, "somehow she got not dead anymore."

Hedge nodded, his eyes narrowing. "So! You were sent on a dangerous quest to rescue me. Excellent!"

"Um," Piper got to her feet, holding out her hands so Coach Hedge wouldn't attack her. "Actually, Glee— can I still call you Coach Hedge? Gleeson seems weird. We're on a quest for something else. We kind of found you by accident."

Via winced. That must have been a punch to Coach's ego.

"Oh," The coach seemed disappointed. "But there are no accidents! Not on quests. This was meant to happen. So, this is the witch's lair, eh? Why is everything gold?"