Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed last chapter and you'll enjoy this one.
Replies to reviews:
Weirdhead: Yeah, this Leo actually knows what he's talking about. And with the Roman AU Poseidon would be keeping out of the Lightning situation- I have figured out roughly how it would work. So that could be fun.
Undeath9087: Oh it's gonna get so much worse for him before it gets better- seriously you will want to stab a bitch during one scene- though that's not yet for a bit- and yeah it would be mostly Bianca for that quest. And I shall keep your thoughts for the ships with Annabeth in mind :)
The Official Clarisse: Hahahahah. That would be nice and lighthearted, the minific will have some nice scenes but there must also be pain so you shall not get your wish I am afraid.
Guest2.0: That's not a bad idea, but I do kinda have plans as to how Percy would first come into contact with Greeks so I probably won't go with it- but it is a good idea.
Guest: I may have found a way to keep her name as Percy but I am still considering my options namewise, and there's a lot of stuff but I am starting to make more solid plans on how it would all work- and I'll keep in mind your thoughts on Annabeth and ships. And technically I believe they can be, Ariadne was clear sighted but she was technically also a legacy as a daughter of Minos- after all he was a son of Zeus.

Leo managed to unlock Coach Hedge's cage after several hours, and he was half asleep when he did it, and opening the cage seemed to undo whatever spell was keeping him frozen because the moment the door swung open Leo was startled into full wakefulness by the Satyr's battle cry.

"Ahhhggggggh!"

And Leo managed to pull himself together enough to launch himself in front of the Satyr, slapping his hand over his mouth.

"Coach! It's okay." he gasped out, "It's okay." Of course Leo's attempt to stop the Satyr didn't do much and he ended up knocked on his ass, a disgruntled look on his face as he glowered up at the Satyr, who was charging around the room, swinging his club and yelling, "Die!" as he smashed the tea set, whacked the sofas, and charged at the throne.

Leo turned his head when he heard movement from Piper and Jason, who were scrambling to their feet looking half asleep and very confused- he couldn't blame them for that, he felt sorta like that and he was the one who had freed the Satyr.

Thankfully Jason rushed to his side, as did Piper, both of them helping him to his feet as Jason yelled, "Coach! Coach calm down!"

Hedge turned, breathing hard. His eyes were so wild that Leo was worried for just a second that he'd attack on some wild instinct. Then he paused, "You're the new kid," Hedge said, lowering his club. "Jason. " He looked at Leo and Piper. "Valdez, what in Hades name is going on here? 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 DEFCON 1. "Die!"

"Whoa, Coach!" Leo stepped in his path, which was pretty brave, even though Hedge was six inches shorter. He knew from experience that Satyrs were capable of being very tough. "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!"

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

"Of course I was!"

"The extraction team came and took us to Camp Half-Blood. We thought we'd lost you. Then we got word the storm spirits had taken you 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. Though I kinda wish she was-"

"Hopefully she is." Piper spoke up, "I mean, we did leave her there."

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

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

"Oh. " The coach's spirits seemed to deflate, but only for a second. Then his eyes lit up again. "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?"

Leo faltered, looking around slowly- and yeah the room was full of gold—the statues, the tea set Hedge had smashed, the chair that was definitely a throne. Even the curtains—which seemed to have opened by themselves at daybreak—appeared to be woven of gold fiber.

"Nice," Leo said. "No wonder they got so much security." he paused, "Very very weird. But nice."

"This isn't—" Piper stammered. "This isn't Medea's place, Coach. It's some rich person's mansion in Omaha. We got away from Medea and crash-landed here."

"It's destiny, cupcakes!" Hedge insisted. "I'm meant to protect you. What's the quest?"

"I feel the need to point out that I have years of experience and can totally protect us- but yeah-" Leo was about to explain when a door opened at the far end of the room. A pudgy man in a white bathrobe stepped out with a golden toothbrush in his mouth. He had a white beard and one of those long, old-fashioned sleeping caps pressed down over his white hair. He froze when he saw them, and the toothbrush fell out of his mouth.

He glanced into the room behind him and called, "Son? Lit, come out here, please. There are strange people in the throne room. "

Coach Hedge did the obvious thing. He raised his club and shouted, "Die!"

Leo lunged forward- and so did the others, all three of them grabbing him, and even then it was a struggle to stop the enraged Satyr but they managed and as they did Jason gasped out, "Woah coach! Bring it down a few notches. " A younger man charged into the room.

This had to be Lit, the old guy's son. He was dressed in pajama pants with a sleeveless T-shirt that said cornhuskers, and he held a sword that looked like it could husk a lot of things besides corn. His ripped arms were covered in scars, and his face, framed by curly dark hair, would've been handsome if it wasn't also sliced up.

Lit immediately zeroed in on Jason like he was the biggest threat- which Leo felt was kind of insulting, 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. 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 a friendly sorry-about-that smile. And Leo had to stop himself from laughing at the look on Jason's face-

Leo had seen jealousy before and that was definitely a jealous expression if Leo was any judge.

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

"Oh thanks." Leo resisted the urge to roll his eyes, shaking his eyes, "We definitely appreciate it- I personally always try not to get run through before lunchtime- though if Clarisse is in a mood that can be pretty tough to manage."

The old man in the bathrobe sighed, kicking the teapot that Coach Hedge had smashed. "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 looked a little forced. "Welcome to my humble home. I am King Midas. "

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

They were sitting on the sofas now, while the king reclined on his throne. Tricky to do that in a bathrobe, and it really was difficult, in Leo's opinion, to keep his gaze aimed at Midas' face- he sure as Hades didn't want to risk the guy uncrossing his legs- maybe he was wearing golden boxers but- well, Leo did not want to test that theory. He'd probably puke.

Lit stood behind the throne, both hands on his sword, glancing at Piper and flexing his muscular arms. Leo had to resist the urge to snicker when he gave Jason a sidelong glance and he saw that his friend was glaring at Lit- clearly there was some jealousy there. Leo was personally very glad that he'd never been through that- Calypso might be insanely out of his league but she'd never even glanced at anyone else like that, when Blaize- a son of Eros had tried to get her attention she'd laughed in his face- and Leo had been very very happy because she'd dragged the boy to the forges to find Leo and she'd dragged him into a kiss that had made his knees almost give out- yeah, yeah he was very lucky. He almost felt sorry for Jason.

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, downtown Omaha looked like a cluster of children's blocks —way too clean and small for a regular city.

"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?"

And Leo couldn't help but frown slightly- he didn't like this, it felt wrong- Medea had come back from the deal with Gaeas assistance? Could Midas be the same?

"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?" and clearly Piper was thinking along the same lines as Leo and he shot her a worried look to which she gave a small nod.

Midas hesitated, but there was a sly twinkle in his eyes. "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." besides, he didn't want them being split up if they could avoid it. Midas could be a dangerous enemy.

"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 remote control out of his bathrobe pocket and pressed a few buttons—a pass code most likely

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

Coach Hedge grunted. "Fine. But if you need me …" He winked at Leo meaningfully. Then he pointed at himself, pointed two fingers at their hosts, and sliced a finger across his throat. Very subtle sign language. Then again it was probably how Percy would have said the same thing so who was Leo to judge. And it seemed Hedge had assumed this was his quest he wasn't sure if that was comforting or more unwanted pressure.

"Right Coach. We'll keep that in mind."

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."

Lit's smile was more of a cruel sneer which set Leo on edge- he'd seen looks like that before, it reminded him of Alabaster actually. "So," Jason said. "All this gold—"

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

Jason looked at the brochures on the coffee table. The title said GOLD: Invest for Eternity. "Um, you sell gold?"

"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 remembered. "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?"