╔═══ -ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ- ═══╗
CHAPTER TEN
a fools king
╚═══ -ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ- ═══╝

-ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ-

IT TOOK ALL four of them to hold back the satyr.

"Whoa, Coach!" Jason said. "Bring it down a few notches."

A younger man charged into the room, sword at the ready, his strange clothes had Dorothy tilting her head as she pulled the satyr back as best as she could. His shirt, which read "cornhuskers" cut off at the shoulders, his pants were fuzzy and dark, making Dorothy wonder what other people wore to bed in this day and age. His long sword glittered in the sunlight as he held it up, ready to tear into anything. His muscled arms were covered in scars, and his face, framed by curly dark hair, had a certain appeal to it despite the scars that covered it.

The young man— probably Lit— immediately focused onto 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. At least her charmspeak worked... unlike Leos fire. 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."

"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 an apologetic smile. Despite her messy hair and rumpled clothes, Dorothy thought that this girl was still beautiful, and she was grateful for the girls ability.

Lit huffed and sheathed his sword. "You speak well, girl—fortunately for your friends, or I would've run them through."

"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. Dorothy remembered a time when noises like that would startle her and make her jump. She wasn't that little girl anymore.

"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 was easy to see it was a bit forced. "Welcome to my humble home. I am King Midas."

"Midas? Impossible," said Coach Hedge. "He died."

"It explains all of the gold though," Dorothy said as she looked around.

They were sitting on the sofas now, while the king reclined on his throne. He was struggling to remain decent in his robe, which upon further inspection, was made of the same material as Lit's pants. Hopefully he was wearing golden boxers under there.

Lit stood behind the throne, both hands on his sword, glancing at Piper. Dorothy made eye contact with him only once and she swore it was like he was flexing his muscular arms just after that. Dorothy, wide eyed, stuck to keeping eye contact with the king.

Piper sat forward. "What our satyr friend means, Your Majesty, is that you're the second mortal we've met who should be— sorry— dead. King Midas lived thousands of years ago."

"Interesting." The king gazed out the windows at the brilliant blue skies and the winter sunlight. In the distance, the town looked like a small cluster of blocks that Dorothy faintly remember playing with as a small child.

"You know," the king said, "I think I was a bit dead for a while. It's strange. Seems like a dream, doesn't it, Lit?"

"A very long dream, Your Majesty."

"And yet, now we're here. I'm enjoying myself very much. I like being alive better."

"But how?" Piper asked. "You didn't happen to have a... patron?"

Midas hesitated, but there was a mischievous look in his eyes, one like Leo's, only Dorothy didn't feel the adrenaline rush of a threat when Leo gave her this look.

"Does it matter, my dear?"

"We could kill them again," Hedge suggested.

"Coach, not helping," Jason said. "Why don't you go outside and stand guard?"

Leo coughed. "Is that safe? They've got some serious security."

"Oh, yes," the king said. "Sorry about that. But it's lovely stuff, isn't it? Amazing what gold can still buy. Such excellent toys you have in this country!" He fished a small flat box out of his bathrobe pocket and pressed a few buttons on it.

"There," Midas said. "Safe to go out now."

Coach Hedge grunted. "Fine. But if you need me..."

He winked at Jason meaningfully. Then he pointed at himself, pointed two fingers at their hosts, and sliced a finger across his throat. Dorothy wanted to put her head in her hands.

"Yeah, thanks," Jason said.

After the satyr left, Piper tried another diplomatic smile. "So... you don't know how you got here?"

"Oh, well, yes. Sort of," the king said. He frowned at Lit. "Why did we pick Omaha, again? I know it wasn't the weather."

"The oracle," Lit said.

"Yes! I was told there was an oracle in Omaha."

The king shrugged. "Apparently I was mistaken. But this is a rather nice house, isn't it? Lit— it's short for Lityerses, by the way— horrible name, but his mother insisted— Lit has plenty of wide-open space to practice his swordplay. He has quite a reputation for that. They called him the Reaper of Men back in the old days."

"Oh." Piper tried to sound enthusiastic. "How nice."

Dorothy didn't like the way Lit's smile hinted at something cruel and dark inside. There was something sinister in this home and it wasn't spirits. No, they had curly hair and an evil look in their eyes.

"So," Jason said. "All this gold—"

The king's eyes lit up. "Are you here for gold, my boy? Please, take a brochure!"

Dorothy looked at the glossy paper brochures, picking one up that read: GOLD: Invest for Eternity. The paper felt soft and smooth and it was cool to the touch. She was entranced at the photos bright color.

"Um, you sell gold?" Jason asked.

"No, no," the king said. "I *make* it. In uncertain times like these, gold is the wisest investment, don't you think? Governments fall. The dead rise.
Giants attack Olympus. But gold retains its value!"

Leo frowned. "I've seen that commercial."

"Oh, don't be fooled by cheap imitators!" the king said. "I assure you, I can beat any price for a serious investor. I can make a wide assortment of
gold items at a moment's notice."

"But ..." Piper shook her head in confusion. "Your Majesty, you gave up the golden touch, didn't you?"

The king looked astonished. "Gave it up?"

"Yes," Piper said. "You got it from some god—"

"Dionysus," the king agreed. "I'd rescued one of his satyrs, and in return, the god granted me one wish. I chose the golden touch."

"But you accidentally turned your own daughter to gold," Piper went on. "And you realized how greedy you'd been. So you repented."

"Repented!" King Midas looked at Lit incredulously. "You see, son? You're away for a few thousand years, and the story gets twisted all around. My dear girl, did those stories ever say I'd lost my magic touch?"

"Well, I guess not. They just said you learned how to reverse it with running water, and you brought your daughter back to life."

"That's all true. Sometimes I still have to reverse my touch. There's no running water in the house because I don't want accidents"— he gestured to
his statues —"but we chose to live next to a river just in case. Occasionally, I'll forget and pat Lit on the back—"

Lit retreated a few steps. "I hate that."

"I told you I was sorry, son. At any rate, gold is wonderful. Why would I give it up?"

"Well..." Piper looked truly lost now. "Isn't that the point of the story? That you learned your lesson?"

Midas laughed. "My dear, may I see your backpack for a moment? Toss it here."

Piper visibly hesitated, but nobody was ready to offend the king. She dumped everything out of the pack and tossed it to Midas. As soon as he caught it, the pack turned to gold, like frost spreading across the fabric. It still looked flexible and soft, but definitely gold. The king tossed it back.

"As you see, I can still turn anything to gold,"Midas said. "That pack is magic now, as well. Go ahead—put your little storm spirit enemies in there."

"Seriously?" Leo was suddenly interested. He took the bag from Piper and held it up to the cage. As soon as he unzipped the backpack, the winds stirred and howled in protest. The cage bars shuddered. The door of the prison flew open and the winds got vacuumed straight into the pack. Leo zipped it shut and grinned. "Gotta admit. That's cool."

Dorothy opened up her satchel and quickly grabbed everything Piper dumped. She figured that angry wind spirits would probably make a mess of her things in there out of revenge.

"You see?" Midas said. "My golden touch a curse? Please. I didn't learn any lesson, and life isn't a story, girl. Honestly, my daughter Zoe was much more pleasant as a gold statue."

"She talked a lot," Lit offered.

"Exactly! And so I turned her back to gold." Midas pointed. There in the corner was a golden statue of a girl with a shocked expression, as if she were realizing that her father was putting her back into her metallic prison.

Horror crept down Dorothy's spine, sending all her hairs to stand on end, something prickled at the base of her skill as if her senses were slowly heightening. Something twisted in her heart at the mistreatment of the golden princess.

"That's horrible!" Piper said.

"Nonsense. She doesn't mind. Besides, if I'd learned my lesson, would I have gotten these?"

Midas pulled off his oversize sleeping cap, and Dorothy couldn't pull her stare away. The king had long, fuzzy, gray ears sticking up from his white hair. They were taller than a horses, a tilt of her head and a squint of her eyes and she realized that they were the ears of a donkey.

"Oh, wow," Leo said. "I didn't need to see that."

"Terrible, isn't it?" Midas sighed. "A few years after the golden touch incident, I judged a music contest between Apollo and Pan, and I declared Pan the winner. Apollo, sore loser, said I must have the ears of an ass, and voilà. This was my reward for being truthful. I tried to keep them a secret. Only my barber knew, but he couldn't help blabbing."

Midas pointed out another golden statue—a bald man in a toga, holding a pair of shears. "That's him. He won't be telling anyone's secrets again."

The king smiled. Another wave of goose flesh washed over Dorothy's body at the way his expression unnerved her. This was a man who had filled embraced his madness and delusion. "Yes, gold has many uses. I think that must be why I was brought back, eh Lit? To bankroll our patron."

Lit nodded. "That and my good sword arm."

Dorothy hoped that her friends were on edge as well, it would make it easier to get up and get out faster. She just hopes she doesn't meet the business end of Lit's sword.

"So you do have a patron," Jason said. "You work for the giants."

King Midas waved his hand dismissively. "Well, I don't care for giants myself, of course. But even supernatural armies need to get paid. I do owe my
patron a great debt. I tried to explain that to the last group that came through, but they were very unfriendly. Wouldn't cooperate at all."

Jason slipped his hand into his pocket and grabbed his gold coin. "The last group?"

"Hunters," Lit snarled. "Blasted girls from Artemis."

Dorothy wanted to ask about the hunters, the name of the group sounded familiar, as if she heard stories about them before, but she couldn't quiet remember it in full. Jason seemed to know about this group better than her, because the storm in his eyes and the arc of electricity that ran down his back made her jump and scoot away from him, not wanting to get shocked by just being in his vicinity.

From the way he looked, she could tell that he maybe knows one of Artemis' hunters. Does he remember something from his past?

"When?" he demanded. "What happened?"

Lit shrugged. "Few days ago? I didn't get to kill them, unfortunately. They were looking for some evil wolves, or something. Said they were following a trail, heading west. Missing demigod—I don't recall."

Dorothy's attention snapped to lit.

"Percy Jackson?" She asked. Lit only grunted and nodded.

If Dorothy wasn't on edge about her surroundings, she would try to connect the events that she's been witness to for the past three days. For now, all she can focus is the way Lit's sword reflects the sunlight when the edge is turned.

Midas scratched his donkey ears. "Very unpleasant young ladies, those Hunters," he recalled. "They absolutely refused to be turned into gold. Much of the security system outside I installed to keep that sort of thing from happening again, you know. I don't have time for those who aren't serious investors."

Jason stood up and glanced at Dorothy in the others. She, like the others, got the message.

"Well," Piper said, managing a smile. "It's been a great visit. Welcome back to life. Thanks for the gold bag."

"Oh, but you can't leave!" Midas said. "I know you're not serious investors, but that's all right! I have to rebuild my collection."

Lit was smiling cruelly. The king rose, and Leo and Piper moved away from him. Dorothy took a protective step closer to them, her eyes never leaving the king. She wouldn't be able to draw her guns in time, he was too close, and her new ax was still strapped to her hip. She carefully lifted it from her sheath, she would cut that man's hands off before he touched anyone.

"Don't worry," the king assured them. "You don't have to be turned to gold. I give all my guests a choice—join my collection, or die at the hands of
Lityerses. Really, it's good either way."

Piper tried to use her charmspeak. "Your Majesty, you can't—"

Quicker than any old man should've been able to move, Midas lashed out and grabbed her wrist.

"No!" Jason yelled.

But a frost of gold spread over Piper, and in mere seconds she was a statue, just like Midas's daughter. Dorothy gasped, she moved to swing the ax around but a strong, icy grip wrapped around her forearm. She yanked her arm out of his hand.

Seconds after, darkness consumed her vision.

Her nightmare was strange and off, nothing like the ones she would normally have. She was riding Prudence again, pushing the poor horse to her limits as she tried escaping the king who was slowly closing the distance on a horse made of darkness and evil. It seemed that no matter how many times she kicked the heel of her boot on Prudence's sides, the horse seemed to running slower and slower, as if she was in a deep puddle of mud.

Dorothy had dug her nails into the arms of whoever had their hands on her waist. Her lungs were on fire and she felt frozen down to her bones. Whether it was the curse or the icy river she was submerged in, she didn't know. Another pair of hands plunged into the water and grabbed her by her shirt, yanking her out of the river.

"Ow, gunslinger!" Leo complained, holding his arms with a glare. His curly hair stuck to his head, still dripping wet, leaving small rivulets of water to slide down his face and neck. She could hear the cackling laughter of Coach Hedge from somewhere on her right. Leo looked bad, almost as bad as when he crashed with Festus. But not as bad as Dorothy considering Leo was upright and getting color back to his face. It was slow, but still noticeable.

Dorothy was too busy coughing all of the water out of her lungs to care. She could smell fire smoke in the distance and the air was freezing. Her whole body violently and involuntarily shook. Her clothes stuck to her like a second skin and she wished for that giant horn from camp.

"W-What the f-f-fuck," Dorothy managed to stutter out over her chattering teeth.

"Midas got you after he touched Piper, he got Leo too," Jason explained between grunts, he was dragging a golden Piper to the water that lapped at Dorothy's feet. "So I used lightning to blow up his house."

Dorothy finally noticed the rain that poured down on them. Apparently it wasn't fast enough for the curse to deteriorate seeing as patches of Piper's tan skin still blended in with the golden curse.

She moved to help Jason as he pushed Piper underwater, but her legs shook too violently. Leo held his hand up, a motion to tell her to stop and she did. He joined Jason and actually had to dunk Piper a couple of times in the water before she started breathing again. Jason dragged the girls limp body over to Dorothy and sighed as he took a step back to rest.

Dorothy noticed water trailing out of Piper's nose. Her hands were freezing to the point of being numb, but she still managed to force open her fist and place an open hand on Piper's chest. If she wasn't so focused on making sure her friend didn't drown on land, she would cry at the sight of her fingers being such a dark purple, it was like she had dipped her hands in snow and didn't move. Purple mist enveloped her upper body. Dorothy could feel the power vibrating and rippling through her hand as she pushed a wave of power through Piper's lungs. Water shot out of the girls mouth and nose.

Dorothy sighed in relief at the sound of Piper's faint breaths. Exhaustion washed over her from the use of her powers, as if one single rush of magic pulled all the energy from her body.

The next few hours were a blur for Dorothy. She spent most of it in and out of focus as her head spun and ached. She couldn't stop shivering, even with Leo's use of his own powers. She almost didn't register the flames of the newly made fire making the light dance along the walls of the shallow cave they landed in.

Her vision was getting dark again as her body trembled on the floor. She tried scooting closer but she was so cold that being too close to the fire felt like she was sidling up next to the pits of hell.

A dark figure, she thinks it was Jason, had pressed the lip of a bottle to her mouth. She assumed that it was maybe nectar and so she allowed the drink, closing her eyes and sighing in relief at the warmth that covered her bones and coated her muscles. Her body still ached, she was still cold, but she could scoot closer to the fire. Her clothes still clung to her body and she knew then that she needed to change.

It was like the rest of them knew that too when she looked down at the cotton shirt that clung to her body.

"We'll let you get changed but you're paler than death," this was the first time she saw Coach not be violent, "I'll have to kick your ass if you die from hypothermia on my watch."

Dorothy nodded and