◤                                                    ◥
𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎
𝐏𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄?
◣                                                    ◢

COACH HEDGE BELCHED. He's already had three espressos and a plate of doughnuts, along with two napkins and another flower from the vase on the table. He would've eaten the silver-wear, too, if Piper hadn't slapped his hand when he reached for it. Charlie hid herself behind a menu, slowly sinking in her chair as a group of normal teenagers walked past their table, side-eyeing them.

''Now—what's our game plan?'' Jason said, picking up his plate to place it on top of Leo's, sliding it into the middle. Piper did the same with hers, Charlie's and placed Little Leo's napkin on the pile so he didn't feel excluded. It was too late for Coach's.

''Climb the mountain,'' Hedge shrugged, wiping a few chips of plate from his goatee as Piper watched him with disappointed eyes. ''Kill everything except Piper's dad. Leave.''

''Thank you, General Eisenhower,'' Jason grumbled.

''Hey! I'm just saying!''

Charlie had her fingers on her chin, contemplating before she nodded decisively. ''I like it, let's move—''

Jason grabbed her forearm, ''Sit back down,'' he said in what could only be described as pure exhaustion as he pulled her back to her seat.

''Guys,'' Piper said, ''There's more you need to know.'' It was tricky, she couldn't mention how Aphrodite had visited her in her dream; but she tried her best to explain as vaguely as possible, how her dream had informed them about the enemy. Gaea.

''Gaea?'' Leo shook his head. ''Isn't that Mother Nature? She's supposed to have, like, flowers in her hair and birds singing around her, and deer and rabbits doing her laundry.''

''Leo, that's Snow White,'' Piper said.

''I dunno, with the laundry bit, I'd say it was Cinderella—''

''Charlie, love you, but not the point.''

''I apologise, please continue.''

Leo tried to continue his reasoning. ''Okay, but—''

''Listen, cupcake,'' Coach Hedge said, ''Piper's telling us some serious stuff here. Gaea's no softie. I'm not even sure I could take her.''

Leo let out a low whistle. ''Really?''

Hedge nodded. ''This earth lady — she and her old man were nasty customers.''

''Ouranos,'' Piper said. She couldn't help looking up at the blue sky, wondering if it had eyes.

''Right,'' Hedge said. ''So, Ouranos, he's not the best dad. He throws their first kids, the Cyclopses and Hecatoncheires, into Tartarus. That makes Gaea mad, but she bides her time. Then, they have another set of kids — the twelve Titans — and Gaea is afraid they'll get thrown into prison too. So, she goes up to her son Kronos—''

''The big bad dude,'' Leo said, subtly side-eyeing Charlie, Coach did the same. ''The one they defeated last summer.''

''Right. And Gaea's the one who gives him the scythe, and tells him 'hey, why don't I call your dad down here? And while he's talking to me, distracted, you can cut him up into nice little pieces, then you can take over the world, wouldn't that be great?'''

Nobody said anything. Charlie would say her cheesecake crumbs that she had been planning to pick up with her fork somehow, didn't look appetizing anymore, but that would be a lie. Nothing could put her off her food.

Even though she'd heard the story before, she still couldn't quite get her mind around it. She  tried to imagine a kid so messed up, that he would kill his own dad — and then the realisation came. Luke probably would've escalated that far, his intentions corrupted and manipulated by Kronos.

''Definitely not Snow White,'' Piper shuddered.

''But you do have to take into account that at the time Kronos was just following orders, he thought he was freeing his siblings,'' Charlie didn't even realise that had been her voice until there was a lull in the conversation and she felt eyes on her. ''Sorry, just thinking out loud.'' She tried to laugh it off, awkwardly scratching her neck as she gave them a close-eyed smile. ''Aristotle must've possessed me for a second.''

It was the most unsure of herself they had ever seen, and even when they tried to resume the conversation, it was stiff. Charlie excused herself to go to the bathroom, and Coach eyed up the crumbs she had left on her plate. He sighed.

''Is Charlie okay?'' Piper asked once the girl was out of ear-shot.

Leo got there before anyone else could, ''Is this about the war? The first Great Prophecy?''

Coach nodded, ''Aye... I suppose it's time you lot learn about the details of it.''

And that was how they found out about Luke, and what he'd done — and about what he didn't manage to do.

''So, Charlie really was alone afterwards?'' Piper's nose scrunched. ''That couldn't have been good for her.''

Coach frowned again. ''No, it couldn't have been, and it wasn't. There's something different about her.''

Leo sat forwards, perked up. ''Thank you,'' he said, exasperated all of a sudden as he ran his hands backwards, pushing his fluffy hair back before it sprung into its original shape. ''Everyone's been mentioning it, but I don't get what they mean. How has she changed?''

There was a twinkle in the Coach's eye as he stared at the centre of the table, reminiscing. The corners of his mouth twitched up. ''Charlie was a good egg. Picked her up myself. She was a few years older than we usually find them. She and a small pack of demigods had been travelling with the lead of her mother. Until, well, I don't want to tell you any of that sort of business, it's really Charlie's story to tell, but anyway, she had ended up wandering around by herself until I found her.''

There was another wash of silence as he blinked a few times, replaying a scene in his head as he tried to find a way to best describe it, to hold his little goat to justice.

''Well, there's no easy way to put this, but she was pretty oblivious. All bark no bite. Had an attitude to her, too. But, I managed to have a civil conversation with her eventually, after she had ran from me five times and pelted me with shoes one time in a shoe store. Had to sling the little shit over my shoulder. Banned for life, y'know. Shame really, the soles used to taste nice there—''

''Coach, focus?''

''Right, right,'' he waved them off. ''Anyway, the Cupcake was claimed the second she entered the Camp, didn't speak for weeks after that, though I'm not sure why, the Hermes Cabin are a lively bunch, so I'm sure they tried.'' His brow furrowed, recounting his worry from the time. ''Kept getting into fights, got beat to a pulp more than a few times. Kid had a tongue she couldn't control; bad mouthing everyone who so much as looked at her wrong. But then Luke got to her. Not sure I'll ever really know how, but he did.''

''There was a statue of Luke at Camp, I remember it,'' Jason narrowed his gaze, trying to picture it. He hadn't paid it much mind at the time, but now he knew it's significance. He wanted to know what Charlie's brother looked like.

''Charlie's always been feisty, with a sharp tongue, always taunting and full of confidence. I often got blamed for how she turned out. Teaching her to kill first, ask questions later didn't fly right with some people. Charlie never minded, though, always looking at me as if I had put the stars in the sky.''

It was hard to imagine a younger Charlie, with wide and adoring eyes, craning her neck to look up at the satyr that currently sat with mis-matched neon clothes, that no longer looked as bright now that his mood was dimmed.

''She had the spark of a fighter, and after Luke took her under his wing too, it became the spark of a warrior, channelling it towards the real enemies. I remember her first quest as if it was yesterday... Barely made it back alive. Charlie always had the spur, just, never the skill. Didn't let it stop her though, bounced right back within a day, begging to be let back out there. Then it was found that Luke was the enemy, and her desire to go on quests became more fierce. She spoke at all the Camp Meetings, telling everyone that all she needed was to talk to him, that Luke would hear her out, that she'd get him to come back home. None of the campers really listened to her, except Percy and Annabeth. Even Drew joined in eventually—''

''Isn't Drew the one who tried to kill her the second she came back?'' Leo asked, eyes wide and flowing with new information as he took it all in as though it was food and he was a man starving.

''Some welcome back gift,'' Piper scoffed.

Jason bit his lip, ''Charlie's never mentioned it though, and she likes to complain,'' he grinned slightly at that, but the worry lines remained. ''Does that mean she thinks she deserved it?''

''Charlie was normally the cause of fights, she's aware that she can be provoking,'' Piper was staring at her plate half-heartedly now. ''My theory is that she can no longer separate what's actually her fault from what others blame on her.''

''Yeah, she's changed.'' The Coach licked his lips. ''Now, it's almost reversed. She has the skills to back it up, but there's no fire in her anymore, no urge to fight the good fight.''

''She's here, isn't she?'' Leo defended.

Coach shook his head. ''That's not what I meant, I haven't figured out her motives for coming here, but it's clear she's not fully all in. It's another difference. Charlie used to scream 'Die!' at any little thing that moved—''

Piper scoffed. ''Wonder where she got that from.''

''—Always so eager, but now, despite having obviously trained so hard in the time she's been gone, she's always looking for a different route out, evading and dodging, never striking until struck first.''

''So?'' Jason tilted his head, not sure of where Coach was getting at. ''Isn't that a good thing? She's just more aware of what fights she can actually win.''

''Maybe, but... Charlie used to be so careless—''

''And she isn't now?'' Jason smiled, remembering the times she had made them all laugh, even in the midst of death.

Jason, personally, was thinking back to when she had tried to befriend Medea's creatures, referring to herself as the 'Dragon Mater' once or twice. Piper thought about the time where she had jumped onto Ma Gasket's big ugly nose, complimenting her 'eyes', and then tried to take her down by swinging around like Tarzan. Leo didn't really have a favourite, he appreciated and loved them all, but the memory that most stood out to him, was when they thought they were gonna die, and she had cradled his head and, despite how fast he could hear her heart beating, decided her last words would be calling reassuring him, and calling him 'cool'.

''No.'' The Coach has a grave tone of voice and it caused their smiles to fall. ''There's a line between carelessness and... for a lack of a better word? Suicidal.'' Jason's shoulder slumped, Piper's eyes widened, hand automatically moving so her fingertips were on her bottom lip. Leo clenched the bag of coins he had accidentally summoned, scrunching his eyes shut. It made sense. The man scratched his stubble goatee. ''It-It's weird. I mean, one minute she's finding an escape route, and then when she realises she's gonna have to fight, that you guys are gonna have to fight, it becomes all or nothing to her.''

''So, what was she doing in the time she was faking her death?''

''Yo! They got snack machines for days in there!'' Charlie appeared all of a sudden, voice way louder than what they had been speaking in, and hands stuffed full with different packets. On her head, Raccoon Leo had his head inside a popcorn bucket.

''Did you take the money from my backpack?'' Piper asked, raising her eyebrows as she faked her amusement. Sure, around ten minutes ago she would've laughed it off, but her mind was a little too occupied with their earlier conversation to consider the humour of the situation. She smiled forcefully, trying to act normal.

Charlie blinked at her. ''What money?''

''The money you put in the machines to get those snacks?'' Jason said, coughing as he straightened up, he was the worst at acting natural.

She gaped at him, lowering her voice to a whisper. ''You're meant to put money in those?''

''Well, yeah?''

''How do people live!'' She plonked onto her seat, looking extremely stressed, arms cradling her food even closer. ''I mean, one item is like, a whole ass dollar!''

''Tell me about it,'' Leo said, his voice unnaturally high as he knocked his elbow with hers, ''It's crazy.''

Charlie stared at him for a second, before her eyes moved, looking over at them all. She raised a suspicious eyebrow. ''Is everything okay?''

''Yeah,'' Jason said, waving her off with great exaggeration as he scoffed. ''Just, er, worried about Gaea.''

Coach Hedge nodded along, eager to finish the original story he had been telling. ''Kronos was a bad guy, but Gaea is literally the mother of all evil. She's so old and powerful, so huge, that it's hard for her to be fully conscious. Most of the time, she sleeps, and that's the way we like her — snoring.''

''But she spoke to me,'' Leo said, shaking his head slowly. ''How can she be asleep?''

Gleeson brushed crumbs off his canary yellow lapel. He was on his sixth espresso now, and his pupils were as big as quarters. ''Even in her sleep, part of her consciousness is active — dreaming, keeping watch, doing little things like causing volcanoes to explode and monsters to rise. Even now, she's not fully awake. Believe me, you don't want to see her fully awake.''

''But she's getting more powerful,'' Piper said. ''She's causing the giants to rise. And if their king comes back — this guy Porpyrion—''

''He'll raise an army to destroy the gods,'' Jason finished for her. ''Starting with Hera. It'll be another war. And Gaea will wake up fully.''

Gleeson nodded. ''Which is why it's a good idea for us to stay off the ground as much as possible.''

Leo looked warily at Mount Diablo. ''So... Climbing a Mountain. That would be bad?''

Piper's heart sank. First, she'd been asked to betray her friends. Now they were trying to help her rescue her dad, even though they knew they were walking into a trap. The idea of fighting a giant had been scary enough. But the idea that Gaea was behind it — a force more powerful than a god or Titan...

''Guys, I can't ask you to do this,'' Piper said. ''This is too dangerous.''

''Nonesense,'' Charlie said as she stood up again, chair clumsily clattering to the ground in her heroic stance. ''We'll take a lullaby with us, tuck Sleeping Beauty into bed for final. How hard can it be?''

Charlie's words no longer held the same reassuring nature.

''You're all looking at me weirdly again, what?'' She gasped, and just when they figured they'd been found out, a hand moved to her face, patting frantically. ''Is there something on my face.''

Maybe she was the same, maybe she wasn't. But she was still Charlie. Their Charlie. And maybe that was all that mattered — because if she wanted to run head first into danger, well then... they'd better make sure they were right behind her.

Coach grinned, head tilting backwards as he bleated. ''Who's ready to beat stuff up!''

Unfortunately, they couldn't find a taxi willing to take them all the way to the top, settling for a cab that made lurching, grinding sounds as it climbed the road, and halfway up parked at a closed ranger's station. A chain blocked the rest of the way.

''Far as I can go,'' the cabbie said. ''You sure about this? Gonna be a long walk back, and my car's acting funny. I can't wait for you.''

''We're sure.'' Leo was the first one out. He had a bad feeling about what was wrong with the cab, and when he looked down he saw that he was right. The wheels were sinking into the road like it was made of quicksand. Not fast — just enough to make the driver think he had a transmission problem or bad axle; but Leo knew different.

The road was hard-packed dirt. No reason it should've been soft, but already Leo's shoes were starting to sink. Gaea was messing with them. He urged the rest out, grabbing Charlie's upper arm and ripping her out of the vehicle before moving onto Jason. They poor guy dropped most of the money as he was in the midst of paying. The cabbie took it as a tip, already reversing before they could correct their mistake.

''Don't spend it all at once!'' Charlie yelled, sharing an annoyed look with Jason when the car beeped its thanks from the distance.

The view from the mountain was pretty amazing. The whole inland valley around Mount Diablo was a patchwork of towns — grids of tree-lined streets and nice middle-class suburbs, shops, and schools. All these normal people living normal lives — the kind Charlie longed for.

''That's Concord,'' Jason said, pointing to the North. ''Walnut Creek below us. To the south, Danville, past those hills. And that way...'' He pointed west, where a ridge of golden hills held a layer of fog, like the rim of a bowl. ''That's Berkeley Hills. The East Bay. Past that, San Francisco.''

''Jason?'' Piper touched his arm. ''You remember something? Have you been here?''

''Yes... no?'' He gave her an anguished look. ''It just seems important.''

''That's Titan land,'' Coach Hedge nodded towards the west. ''Bad place, Jason. Trust me, this is as close to 'Frisco as we want to get.''

''Hey, guys,'' Leo said, looking down to see his heels were now completely embedded in the dirt. ''Let's keep moving.''

''Gaea is stronger here,'' Hedge grumbled. He popped his hooves free from his shoes, then handed them to Leo. ''Keep those for me, Valdez. They're nice.''

Leo snorted. ''Yes, sir, Coach, sir. Would you like them polished?''

"That's varsity thinking, Valdez." Hedge nodded approvingly. "But first, we'd better hike up this mountain while we still can."

"How do we know where the giant is?" Piper asked.

Jason pointed toward the peak. Drifting across the summit was a plume of smoke. From a distance, Leo had thought it was a cloud, but it wasn't. Something was burning.

"Smoke equals fire," Jason said. "We'd better hurry."

The others began moving, and Charlie rolled her eyes palyfully as she approached Leo, reaching a hand out for him to take. ''Y'know,'' she said as he grasped it, ''I never pegged you as a 'stick in the mud' type of guy.''

''Ha ha, very funny. Just, get me out already.''

Raising her eyebrows, she paused. ''Why? You not liking my jokes?''

''To be honest? They do kind of suck,'' Leo grinned, doing his best to look past the new information they've all received. Coach was wrong, there was still a sparkle in Charlie's eyes, just small enough to not notice unless you stared at them enough. Leo would help make it bright again.

''Awh, but Curls, I had so much more,'' she said, cheeks rising as she grinned, almost hiding her eyes from view.

''C'mon, we're gonna loose them,'' he groaned, wiggling their conjoined hands as the other's began to get smaller.

Charlie laughed, reaching to grab his other hand for extra pull. ''Then stop complaining, and start shaking your ankles.''

It took a few moments of pulling, Charlie's own feet nearly getting pulled in, when he finally snapped free, suddenly tumbling forwards from the loss of balance. The two of them went to the floor.

Charlie groaned, gently reaching for his shoulders and shoving him off of her. ''Dude, that fucking hurt,'' she said, chest heaving to regain the breath the earth had pushed out of her.

Leo made a pained noise from