Coach Gleeson Hedge didn't need to be a satyr to read the emotions in his charges. The grief was so thick that even he can't beat it into submission with his bat. After they get those two troublemakers back, he's going to ground them for causing this much sadness that even he can't hide his tears.
"Listen up, cupcakes!" he said, catching the attention of all the demigods on-board the Argo II. They were all below deck at the dining table, moping in their own ways. At least five of them were moping, Nico was in too much pain or something to mope.
"Come on, cupcakes! Look on the bright side!" he continued and this time he was able to get their attention. Instead of being depressed, they all had incredulous looks on their faces.
"Uh, coach," Leo started, raising his hand as if he was still in class. "In case you didn't notice, we uh," he choked up, unable to say out loud their reason for their grief. Faces fell once more and Coach Hedge cleared his throat to get their attention again.
"Look, I know you guys are depressed. I would be, too, because those rule-breakers are having all the fun in Tartarus. They can beat up all the monsters they want," he started and Leo interrupted again. "Yeah, great fun."
"Anyway, at least now the lot of you are complete!" he finished with flourish. Several jaws dropped and suddenly silence echoed throughout the ship.
"Uh, coach?" Hazel spoke from her corner of the room. She sat beside Frank and the son of Hades they managed to save. Her eyes were red and puffy but her hand were steady as she fed Nico with nectar and ambrosia.
"What do you mean, 'complete'?" she asked softly, voicing out the question in everyone's mind. Though satyrs can't read minds, he can easily read emotions and he can smell the confusion from his words.
"I mean what I said! With Nico on-board, the prophecized seven are finally complete!" he answered and he couldn't understand why the kids can't understand what he's saying. He's fairly sure he's speaking in English, the universal language. Should he speak in Greek or something?
"Coach, with Nico on-board, we're eight, if you count him as one of the prophecized demigods," Piper tried to reason with the satyr. "Or six," Leo added quietly. But not quietly enough since the rest of the gang heard and so he flinched at the glares that headed his way.
"They aren't dead," Nico said weakly. Everything he did at the moment was weak and Coach Hedge didn't blame him. He looked like he came back from the dead, literally. (And no, it's not a pun about him being the son of Hades and all.) He shared a look with Hazel and she nodded, as if comparing their Hades/Pluto skill.
"Point still stands, coach. We're not seven, we're eight: me, Piper, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Nico, Annabeth, and Percy," Jason said as he counted with his fingers.
"You cupcakes can't count properly, now can you?" Coach Hedge said as he lifted his own hands. "You," he said, lifting a finger as he referred to Jason. "Piper, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Nico, and," he stopped for dramatic effect. Then he lifted his seventh finger as he said, "Annabeth and Percy."
"Why'd you count them as one?" Frank asked stupidly from his corner.
"Because," Coach Hedge said in an exasperated tone. "They are one. Two bodies with one soul."
"Wow, that's pretty profound, Coach," Leo said, trying to lighten up the mood. "But that doesn't make sense whatsoever."
"How can you say that?" Piper asked, confused with the satyr's count.
"I'm a satyr. We can read emotions. We can also sense and make bonds, like empathy links. And any satyr with half a brain or nose can sense what those two have. What they have isn't just a bond, it's something else that's too powerful to be ignored.
"So cheer up, cupcakes! We'll just pick them up at Epirus and beat some monster butt along the way!"
Ugh. Another one. I needed to get them out of my system before I started studying. Short, sweet, and Percabeth because the ending of MoA was so perfect despite being a cliff-hanger. My other oneshot isn't good enough so I'll probably remove it and rewrite it. xP Anyway, took me forever to think of a decent story for the annoying prompt in my head: Now seven of the prophecy are complete because Percy and Annabeth are one. (Because we all know they are.)
P.S. I have no idea what's the right genre for this. Romance? Humor? Hurt/Comfort? Suggestions and comments are appreciated.
