Heads-up: I do a Book of the Day each chapter of either my favorite books, or books I have finished reading recently.

Book of the Day – Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. Young adult–child action/science fiction. I LOVE the Artemis Fowl Series. They're completely epic. I want to write an Artemis Fowl fanfic sometime. The books are also really similar to Percy Jackson, so I suggest you go read them (that is, if you haven't already).

I

JASON

It was the smile. His smile was really starting to get to Jason.

The dragon wouldn't stop grinning. At least, Jason hoped he was grinning. The way he bared his bright-white teeth didn't have to be in a friendly way.

Jason clenched his jaw. "Stop it!" he demanded. When Festus didn't respond, Jason sighed. "Please stop, Festus."

He was standing on the top deck at the front of the Argo II, leaning against a wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

Festus paid no attention to Jason's demand. He instead cocked his head to the side and, if it were possible, seemed to be grinning even more now.

Jason sighed again, giving up. "Fine," he huffed, and turned on his heel, deciding to recline in his room instead. The front deck of the Argo II hadn't turned out to be such a good place to try to find some quiet time, with the annoying five-ton metal head of a dragon close by. Jason had only been trying to be alone for a while, entertained with his grim, worrying thoughts—like everyone else had been trying to find some space, since the news . . .

Jason was barely five steps away when Festus suddenly loosed a small fireball, which brushed by Jason's ear, narrowly missing him, and hit the wall near his head. Jason stopped in his tracks and studied the wood in front of him, now black and crumbling. He whipped his head around and shot an angry look at the dragon. "Seriously, man," he warned.

Suddenly Jason heard a shout behind him. "Hey, Festus! You don't purposely loose fireballs on guests like that!"

Jason turned to see Leo walking in his direction, taking long, purposeful strides toward Festus, his brow creased angrily.

Leo stepped up to the dragon and smacked his bronze face. "There, and you're grounded for the whole day—no, the whole week! No more fireballs," he demanded.

Festus whimpered.

Jason almost smiled at Leo and his metal dragon head.

Almost.

But since the news about Percy and Annabeth, none of the Argo II's crew had felt very humorous. Even Leo, the joker, the hilarious comedian, had been more sober, less funny lately. It had affected them all. Even when Nico had insisted they were alive . . . in Tartarus . . . everyone still felt so worried, it took effort just to smile now—but Jason gave effort, forced smiles when he was around everyone—especially Piper; he gave extra effort around her, tried to act cheerful to keep her spirits up, as she'd been especially downhearted lately—so that they would all be able to continue their mission. Their quest—which Percy had issued himself, to Nico, before he and Annabeth had fallen. . . .

They had to sail the Argo II to the Doors of Death—where Jason prayed to the gods they would find Percy and Annabeth on the other side, trapped in Tartarus, and somehow be able to rescue them.

But Jason knew if they were to have even the slightest glimmer of hope at succeeding, he'd have to step up and lead the rest of them, now that the two strongest demigods were gone. The rest of them saw him as some sort of leader, being the son of Jupiter.

Which was why it was such a relief to separate himself from everyone else whenever he got the chance, let his guard drop for once. He rarely got the peace to even think his own, private thoughts lately—a lot of which involved Percy and Annabeth.

Nico had said they were alive. They were alive. Jason had to keep telling himself that, and he resisted the urge to run to Nico every second and ask for an update on Percy and Annabeth's life-essence—this was Tartarus they had fallen in.

Who knows what they were facing right now?

Of course, they were probably too far away, now, for even Nico to be able to tell if they were alive . . .

Jason blinked as he realized Leo was talking.

"Yeah, I know, it's been affecting us all. I mean, I heard Hazel crying in her room the other day. I'm like, Magic tool belt! Tissues!"

Jason allowed a corner of his mouth to turn up slightly and shook his head. Good old Leo.

He suddenly realized Leo was studying him.

"Hey, you okay, man?" Leo asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah." Jason had to force the word, trying to sound lighthearted. "I'm fine."

"Hey, we'll get through this somehow, right?" Leo held up his hand and offered a half-hearted fist bump. "We always do."

Jason raised his fist and bumped it gently against Leo's. He tried for a smile, but it came out more as a grimace. "But this time it's worse than ever."

Leo dropped his head, looking crushed, and didn't reply.

"I think I'll go check on Piper." Jason felt so frustrated with all the grief and worry that hung thick in the air.

"Okay. You do that," Leo mumbled. Jason noticed that he was entertaining himself, almost subconsciously, stroking Festus's snout. The dragon became quiet and content, emitting a low growling sound of pleasure every now and then.

Jason hesitated, then spun around and left, walking down the long deck to Piper's room. When he finally reached her door, he noticed it was closed, and wondered if she wanted to be alone. Hesitantly, he raised a hand and knocked lightly on the wood.

"Come in," a voice said from inside—Piper's voice. Beautiful as always, sweet from the Charmspeak she sometimes used, but sounding heavy from worry.

Jason opened the door and stepped inside. "Piper?" he asked. "I just came to check on you . . ."

His eyes fell upon her. She sat on her bed, which was messy and crumpled, the sheets disarranged, pillows strewn everywhere. Piper herself wore a wrinkled pair of jeans and an old loose T-shirt. Her hair was messy and looked like it hadn't seen a hairbrush in weeks. But even in her exhausted state, she looked beautiful.

When Piper saw him, her expression immediately filled with self-consciousness. "Oh. Jason. . . ." She tugged at her T-shirt, which Jason somehow found cute.

"How are you doing?" He came to sit on the edge of the bed beside her.

She shrugged. "Okay, I guess." But Jason could tell she was having it tough. He wasn't surprised. Over the months they'd spent at Camp Half-Blood, Piper had become good friends with Annabeth. He'd watched them grow close, almost feeling jealous when Annabeth stole his girlfriend away all the time. To lose her unexpectedly like this couldn't be easy.

He leaned over and lightly brushed his fingertips over her arm, trying to act casual, but just touching her sent a shiver through him. "Hey, it'll be okay. They're going to meet us on the other side of the Doors of Death, and Nico said—"

"I know what Nico said," Piper interrupted bitterly. Then she sighed. "They're alive. For now. But Jason, this is Tartarus . . ."

His thoughts exactly.

"Piper," he tried to assure her, "this is Percy Jackson. The one everyone talked about at camp for all those months." Jason stopped suddenly, startled, when he realized he'd said camp like he used to talk about Camp Jupiter—but this time he'd been talking about Camp Half-Blood. Did he now think of Camp Half-Blood as his home? He tried to continue, not wanting Piper to know he felt wavered. "And if that's not enough, Annabeth's with him. You know her. If she's not the strongest, toughest, most stubborn daughter of Athena I know, then I don't know what she is. They'll be fine together."

"I just hope they stay together," Piper said softly. "Then they might be able to look out for each other. It will be a tough journey for them both, besides."

"Are you kidding? We could hardly separate them on the Argo II," Jason said, and he smiled when he succeeded in making Piper laugh softly. "Anyway, we won't get anywhere worrying like this. We've got to stay strong for them—so we can make it to the Doors of Death."

"You're right." Piper smiled, then leaned forward and slid her hand around his neck, resting her forehead against his, smiling while staring into his eyes. Jason sucked in a breath and found himself caught up in Piper's beautiful, kaleidoscope-colored eyes. Like he sometimes did for fun, Jason picked out one of the colors in her eyes and tried to follow it as it danced across her iris. This time he chose the sparkling green hue, and watched as a tiny spot shimmered and flickered around, like a flame. It was so hard to keep track of it, constantly moving and disappearing, that the game was every bit as entertaining as beautiful.

"I'm glad you're here for me," Piper whispered. Then she closed her eyes, and Jason obediently snapped his shut. His heart pounded as he knew what was coming next. He leaned forward as Piper did the same, and could just feel her lips brushing his when her bedroom door burst open.

Jason jerked away from Piper, looking up at a red-faced Frank standing in the doorway.

"Um . . . I just came to tell you that Coach Hedge has summoned everyone to the main room," Frank stammered, looking everywhere in the room but at them. "He said he has something he wants to discuss with us."

Then he turned and fled. Jason heard him trip on something outside the door and mutter a curse.

Jason glanced at Piper. "I guess we should go."

"Yeah." Piper suddenly looked so downhearted that Jason wanted to hug her and promise her everything was going to be okay. "Yeah, we should." She slowly rose from the bed. "I wonder what Coach Hedge wants to discuss? He's usually too focused on watching for monsters in the helm to bother with any kind of meetings."

Jason stood and took her hand, and they headed toward the doorway. "I guess we'll find out."

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