Chapter III: Jason

At first, nothing happened. Eros had his nerf gun aimed to Leo's head, and the proof of his shot was the suction cup between Leo's eyebrows. I'd pulled Piper out of the way before Eros could harm her, but neither of us expected Leo to be the victim—especially since the past ten minutes were spent with the minor god of love trying to cop a feel with my best friend. Leo had turned a pasty white, his eyes as wide as Eros's Belgian waffles as they narrowed to the godly peace of foam plastered to his forehead.

I reached over tentatively—then froze. I wasn't sure what to do. "Leo…?"

Eros was the only one who wasn't shocked by what he'd just done. It was on purpose. His nerf gun shrank until it was the size of a keychain and he strapped it to the front of his trousers. The dart on Leo's face dissipated into golden dust, and for a second, Leo glowed.

"A much more civil meeting than I expected, Leonardo Valdez. I hope to see you soon." Eros leaned over and planted a kiss on Leo's mouth. As their lips touched, Leo made a noise and Eros glowed gold until he disappeared—just like his nerf gun.

I looked to Piper. Piper looked to me.

At the end of the booth, Leo sat there, still in shock over what had just happened. One: I doubt it was an ordinary thing for a demigod to get kissed by a god and Two: that same god had just shot a nerf gun in his face.

Piper was still dumbstruck over what happened. Swallowing my nerves, I reached over and took her by the hand. Her eyes looked my way, shifting and panicked, and I nudged my head toward Leo. He'd crumbled, still stuck on 'pause' and staring to the next booth over (I took a quick look—it was empty.)

When Piper finally snapped out of it, she was the one to reach over and touch Leo's shoulder. "Leo…?"

"Careful," I said, and my grip tightened over her hand until our knuckles were white. "You don't know what's going to happen—"

Leo looked her way. Straight at her, dark brown eyes dilated. Piper flinched—but from the corner of my eye, I could see she was trying to remain as calm as possible.

"You're going to be okay," she said slowly. "You're perfectly fine, Leo." Later, I would have realized she was trying to charmspeak him into believing the last five minutes didn't happen.

I didn't realize it now because Leo's gaze snapped to me. His eyes glazed over, piercing, and…strong and he removed himself from his seat. I let go of Piper's hand and backed up as Leo strutted my way. He was faster.

In a matter of seconds, two blazing hot hands yanked me by the front of my shirt down until Leo could reach my lips. I made a noise, but he seemed to take it as a sign to advance. Leo's hands fisted into my clothes and he pressed up against me until he could throw his arms around my neck. I pulled my head back, dissolving the kiss with one quick pop and looked to Piper, panicked.

"Guys?" she squeaked.

"You," Leo's voice dropped an octave. His legs moved against mine, brown eyes in a trance. "Are the hottest thing I've ever seen."

"Wha—mmmMMmmpphh!"

He threw us into another kiss, hands tugging at the tail end of my shirt. I did the poor thing of being opened-mouth, to which he stuck his tongue between my teeth. Leo made…made sounds, moaning and heated, and his body temperature hiked ten degrees. I tried to fight him off, but his grip was too tight. Hands roamed around my chest—

Then one of them managed to undo my zipper. I yelped, then without meaning to, pushed Leo away, full force. He fell to the ground, hitting his head against the table, and I scrambled away in shock. Shaking his head, Leo brushed off the impact and clambered to his feet.

"Leo—" Piper grabbed him by the arm, but Leo pushed her away. He prowled toward me, a leer in his gaze and his lips curled against his face. Over his shoulder, I saw Piper regain her footing, and she gazed at us in horror. "Leo, snap out of it!"

I couldn't leave him. Leo was my best friend—the one person whom I told everything to. But like this, the natural thing to do was restrain him. The gladius Hera had given me burned in my coat pocket, but I couldn't draw it out. I couldn't hurt Leo.

That was where I found myself now, standing at the other end of the tiny café with all eyes on us as Leo and I alone were performing the most awkward international incident known to mankind, and with me waiting for something to swallow me up.

Leo molded his hands around my jaw, his grip tight. As he pressed against me the second time, I feel his hard-on pressing up against my leg, and musky breath against my lips. I expected him to say something witty, but even that part of Leo's mind had been clogged. Leo pulled me down for a third kiss, then pushed us further and further away from the restaurant. A sound of distress left my mouth, a-and I pushed against him violently.

Didn't work. Leo knew better a second time, nibbling at my bottom lip. His fingers curled at the seams of my shirt, and every time I tried to push him away, his hands spiked a degree, like he was trying to burn me.

"Stop!" Piper shouted. We toppled out of the café and into the middle of the road. Leo's lips latched onto the crook of my neck and I yelped. He straddled my hips, legs tight around mine, and—his hands reached to yank my shirt off.

"Leo—stop—" I choked, feeling his teeth graze my skin and maneuvered to elbow him in the chest. For some reason, Leo knew I'd do that exactly, and grabbed it. He forced my arm over my head in an angle that hurt and pressed kisses on my jaw line. I heard a quick click and realized he'd successfully undone my jeans.

Oh my god.

When warm hands surfaced on bare skin, my body remembered the urgency of the situation. I switched him, quickly remembering every obvious battle tactic to take against an opponent that has pinned you down, and sat firmly on him. My gladius unsheathed, I pressed the edge of it against Leo's neck, panting.

"Whatever Cupid's done to you," I said breathily, "we'll fix it. But you need to calm down, or I'll have to use this."

I felt ridiculous. Here the three of us were in the middle of a street in France, and I had my god-stricken best friend pinned to the ground with my gladius digging into his skin. My mouth ached from when he forcibly kissed me and jaw hurt from the pressure.

Yet there Leo lay, brown eyes gazing back like he was good ol' Leo Valdez without an ounce of help. The edge of his lip peaked into a smile—no, a smirk—and he bucked his lips. He spoke again, voice husky and moaning. "That's where I want you. Hazme el amor. Throw me on a bed and fuck m—"

The Fates must have hated me. They must be cackling in some train station around America and rolling around while they knitted a nice pair of underwear.

In the next minute, Frank had yanked me off of Leo, arms tight until I dropped the gladius to the ground.

"No!" Leo shouted. That…exotic look disappeared from his face, reduced to pain and fear until he looked like a kicked puppy. Percy and Annabeth ran to his side, quick to scan him over for any damage.

"I was flying over the buildings and saw you guys," Frank said hurriedly. His voice peaked into a different octave, alarmed and fearful. He refused to let me go, arms digging under my armpits and shaking. Had the circumstance been different, I knew I'd never want to cross the guy in a wrestling match. "Um, so Hazel and I came as soon as we could—we weren't sure if you got hit by a spell or something."

"Let me go!" My best friend's voice pierced me like an arrow. Leo whimpered miserably, and as I looked over I realized Percy and Annabeth were trying to keep him down to check for wounds. "I need him, I'm so hard—"

I turned red. Percy and Annabeth's expressions slacked, and they turned my way.

"He got hit by an arrow," I said quietly. But that still didn't make sense! He'd looked to Piper first and…I was happy she wasn't the victim of this, but still. My head spun, absolutely overwhelmed. It didn't help—now, Hazel, Frank, Percy, and Annabeth were processing what I'd just confessed, and the results were the furthest idea from their mind.

We weren't fighting. Leo was trying to rip my clothes off. I hadn't pinned Leo down to kill him, I'd done it to restrain him.

My lips and his lips were swollen. That only made the situation worse.

"So…Leo's under a love spell now? With you?" Leave it to Percy to restate the obvious—he made gestures and pointed, then ran a hand through his hair. "Um, I know he's bi and all, but is he okay with that?"

"I'm very okay with that." Forgotten, Leo managed to get away from both Percy and Annabeth, and proceeded crawling in my direction. He wiped the saliva off his lip and—

Piper hit him in the head with the sheath of her knife. Hard enough for Leo to make a sound and fall to the ground, unconscious.

I stared at her in amazement just as Frank gawked, Hazel placed a hand over her mouth, and the rest of us stared, speechless. Piper strapped the knife back on her belt loop with a trembling hand and looked me over. She'd turned a pasty white, eyes shrouded beneath her hair, and she hugged herself miserably.

"Someone had to do it," Piper said quietly. Her voice cracked.

Through that debacle a crowd of people had formed around us—all very confused, disgusted, or alarmed. Whatever the Mist showed them couldn't have been far from the truth; then someone shouted something Piper hastily translated as, Police!

Percy pulled Leo over his shoulder, simultaneously as I shouted at the top of my lungs, "Run!"

xxx

It took ten minutes to run back to the dock and duck into the abandoned warehouse where the Argo II was anchored. An assortment of sea creatures had gathered around—I'm pretty sure there was a dolphin in a lounge chair. One shout from Percy and all of them scurried away before they could become seafood.

When we lost the guards and managed to board the ship, I explained to all of them what happened: how we came across Cupid in atiny café, how he agreed to give us the supplies to fix the Argo II, and then Leo asked how his arrows worked. Piper picked up the story there, something that surprised me since she'd been so worrisomely quiet during the entire recall. She mentioned how Eros couldn't keep his hands off Leo, the slap, and everything up to what they'd seen. In detail.

I was sitting cross-legged to them, trying hard not to explode with how hard I was blushing. Leo lay at the other end of the training room, tended to and still knocked out. Judging by the size of the bruise on his head, he'd be out for a while.

The room was a mixture of expressions. Percy and Frank looked amused (albeit a little mortified), Hazel seemed speechless, and Annabeth frustrated.

"Great," she said, voice full of deadpan, "Gaea is closing in on Greece and we're stuck in a warehouse in France, with the only person who can fix the ship under a love spell by the Archer of Love himself, and we don't know how long it'll last."

This time, Piper buried her face in her hands. I placed a hand over her shoulders and rubbed circles in her back.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

"Oh, no." Grey eyes twinkled, a frustrated sigh leaving Annabeth's lips as she crossed her arms. "I'd slap him too. This just sucks altogether."

"So what do we do?" Frank surveyed all of us nervously, eyebrows knitting together. "I mean…Leo needs to fix the ship. Not to mention, we…can't really knock him out every time he feels the need to make out with Jason."

"Or worse," Percy supplied. Green eyes looked to me, half-pitying and half-amused. I almost thought I'd slap him. "Leo was digging his nails into my skin whenever we pulled him back. I know I've never been hit with one of Eros's arrows—" Annabeth muttered something about his stupidity. He grinned and nudged her. "—but it that typical? Most mortal cartoons show one of Cupid's victims shouting their love for someone else into the sky with butterfly hearts flying everywhere. You know, like Fairly OddParents."

I expected Annabeth to hit him upside the head again; to say something along the lines of, 'You're an idiot, Seaweed Brain.' Instead, she sighed and rubbed her chin, eyebrows knitting together. She turned to the corner of her gaze until Piper and she were looking at each other. "I have a theory, but…no."

A frown fell across my lips. "What is it?"

She shook her head and leaned back. "Nothing good."

Something you learned quickly back at Camp Halfblood: if Annabeth gave you an ambiguous answer, it was the end of the conversation. I looked to Piper for any ounce of what both girls were thinking, but she refused to look me in the eye. When I turned to Percy, he simply shrugged, unable to narrow down to an answer himself.

"So…," Hazel's quiet voice peeked through the rest of ours. Sometimes she was so quiet that I forgot she was there. "How do we break the spell? If we break the spell, then Leo will come back to his senses…right?"

Annabeth nodded in agreement and rubbed her chin again. "The problem is…there isn't a known tale where someone has broken the spell. Apollo chased Daphne to the ends of the Earth until she begged her father to turn her into a tree. Travis Stoll did a stupid thing a few winters ago and asked about it. He was lucky not to be blinded when Apollo bared his teeth."

"And?" I asked. If there were a way to get through this incident without ever having to mention it to Leo, I think both of us would be a little more relieved.

"And Eros pricked himself with one of his arrows." She shook her head with disdain. "Hate to be cliché, but…apparently love can be so powerful that even a god falters in their presence."

"Yeah," I mumbled. Eros had said the same exact thing.

"There's still the cave," Hazel pointed out. She looked through all of us, eyebrows furrowing. "If we can find the cave, then maybe we can find Eros, or maybe something to break the spell…or something?"

We turned to both Percy and Annabeth, who had been in charge of searching for it. They opened their mouths to answer, but never got the chance.

Leo was waking up.

xxx

I was ushered out of the room before Leo could see me. Frank and Hazel had pushed me out before an incident like in the café could happen again, then promptly shut the door. Then…nothing.

Standing there in silence, I heard absolutely nothing. There was a quiet groan, a few murmurs, but from what I could gather, Leo sounded perfectly fine. I hesitated, reaching for the doorknob to peek my head through, but I knew if I caused another incident, the team would never forgive me.

It was the first time that I realized because of this spell I may not see my best friend for a very, very long time.

Pressing my back against the wall, I slumped into the ground and drew in a breath. My lungs went numb.

This would have been easier if it was just some random camper back at Camp Halfblood—or hell, even Octavian. If it were Octavian, then I wouldn't mind running for the hills. Leo had been a constant, albeit somewhat irritating presence in my life from the day I lost my memories to now.

Whoever Jason Grace was before I lost my memories, he made it clear he rarely let people in. The Fifth Cohort and Reyna, he saw as family, but I had no memory of him ever telling the basic truth: he felt lonely.

If it was anything Camp Halfblood taught me—what Piper and Leo taught me—it was that it was okay to be vulnerable. Trekking through the wild, fending off Kindly Ones and fulfilling prophecies, you could look over your shoulder and remember there were a hundred other people who had your back. Not that Camp Jupiter hadn't given me the same feeling, but…it was still different. I didn't feel like that guy who destroyed Kronos's throne and slain Krios with my own two hands.

The door clicked open, slowly and steadily as Piper peered through. She looked me in the eye for the first time, then plopped to the ground beside me before burying her head in her hands.

I bit my lip. "How's he doing?"

She smiled bitterly and hugged herself. "Like Leo. As soon as he woke up, he asked what he'd done to make me want to hit him so hard. Then he asked for a strawberry and banana smoothie and an ice pack."

"So he's—?"

"Annabeth mentioned your name. She told him very slowly what had been going down and it was like someone doused him in cold water. I left the room before I could catch anything else, but…" Piper drew a breath. "He was shaking. And shivering and writhing, Jason. Like he was in pain."

My stomach flopped. This…wasn't a situation that could be handled with ease. Eyebrows furrowing, I looked between my feet and wrapped a hand around my gladius. "So we find the cave that Leo dreamed about. Maybe we'll find a clue on how to beat this. Or…or a counter-arrow. Maybe Eros is just in there, polishing his weapons or something."

"Not likely," she grumbled miserably under her breath. Then the subject was dropped and we entered silence.

I realized between Leo getting shot in the head with an arrow and running away from guards, I hadn't had the chance to ask how she was doing. There was no denying she'd been the one to offend Eros and cause the arrow to be shot. Had none of that happened, we would have the materials to fix the Argo II and back on our way to Greece.

"I let my temper get the better of me," Piper said slowly, "and now my best friend is under a spell and trying to score a home run with my other best friend."

"Hey. Neither Leo and I are blaming you for this." Her comment came with sensibly-placed frustration, but it didn't help my face from turning red. Wrapping a hand over hers, I nudged my leg against Piper's and looked her in the eye. "What happened, happened. In fact, I…I'd rather he was going after me than you." It wasn't that I didn't trust Leo and Piper together. I knew better than to get jealous of that thought—especially since Leo had been trying to help me work up the nerve to talk to her since December.

A small smile struggled Piper's face, beautiful as ever. She looked away, the cutest shade of pink highlighting her cheeks. "Thanks."

"I think what you did was the nuttiest, bravest thing ever." The words fell out of my mouth before I had the chance to stop myself. My cheeks were burning, probably the same shade as hers, and I forced myself to take another step: I…I kissed her on the cheek.

Her eyes widened—I tried to look casual taking in her reaction, but my heart hammering deafened any other senses. If Leo were here (I cringed), he would be wooping and punching me in the arm, going, 'About time, Love Birds!'

It wasn't the appropriate moment to be holding hands, snuggling against each other, and kissing, but…we were. A smile arched across Piper's face, delicate and sweet. She reached over, arms tossed around my neck, and kissed me on the lips. I kissed her back.

"Ahem." Frank cleared his throat.

Making a noise, Piper and I scrambled away from each other, red in the face and eyes wide. The door had opened halfway, and Frank and Annabeth stared down at us, sheepish and surprised. Piper and I stood to our feet, refusing to look them in the eye, and we smoothed out our clothes.

"Um," I said—my voice came out as a squeak, "how is he?"

Annabeth arched an eyebrow. Her eyes were glued onto me. "He's…stable. Calmer than he was on the streets."

I nodded understandingly and placed a hand on the door hinge. "Um, could I see him?"

She looked hesitant, but then nodded. I took maybe one step before she blocked my entry again, a sharpness in her gaze. "Just to see what happens, Jason. If he exhibits…irrational behavior or does something bad, you have to leave the room. We'll have to figure out a way around this."

Form the corner of my eye, I saw Piper bite her lip. She looked to the ground, the guilt returning to her features.

"Okay." I didn't like the way Annabeth put it, but I guess there wasn't another, safe alternative. She led the way back to the other side of the room. Piper followed first, and Frank closed the door behind him. He was red, clearly embarrassed for walking in on us.

"Um," he chimed uncomfortably, "they do say a time of despair drives two able-body parties together."

"Not helping."

"I figured."

Leo looked healthy. He sat against the wall, crouching over his legs with a petite smile on his face. There was nervousness in the way he would speak to both Percy and Hazel, like he was waiting for something to happen, but I doubted either one noticed. The four of us sauntered over, and immediately, Leo cocked his head.

We locked eyes and I could feel my cheeks burn. For the first time since I knew him, I couldn't read my best friend's expression. His hands curled to fists at his sides and he studied me, amazingly quiet.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

He shivered, the fervor returning to his face. At this stance, I realized how stiff he held his shoulders, words choking in his throat and his cheeks flushed. Brown eyes moved until they were in tune with the movement of my lips. Leo jerked forward, Percy held him back.

"Leo?" Okay. Me talking probably was not the best way to handle the situation. I said his name and his entire body undulated. His eyes widened, the usual crazy look in his eyes replaced with lewdness.

Suddenly, Leo fidgeted and buried his head between his legs. He clamped both hands on his ears and a quiet whimpering sound left his mouth.

"I'm—I'm okay." His voice was raspy, but the way he spoke reminded me of Cupid: wispy and dazed.

Knowing any second Annabeth was going to haul me out of the room, I walked over to Leo and dropped to my knees. He drew in a breath and squirmed. Putting a hand on his shoulder (I ignored the way he recoiled), I squeezed it tightly. More steadily than before, I asked, "Are you okay?"

I would have done this even without the arrow making his head fuzzy. The grip over his shoulder turned my knuckles white, but I think he realized I was trying to get him to calm down—to endure it. Leo drew in a ragged breath, so gruff I grimaced, and tentatively looked up, brown eyes brimming with hesitation and worry.

Annabeth was right—unlike in Brest, Leo seemed calmer than before. But he was still shaky.

"I'm okay," he muttered, still edgy, but he seemed determined to maintain his voice. Still, he pulled away from my form and staggered between Piper and Annabeth. Brown eyes darted everywhere but my face, and Leo's hands jingled with the metallic scraps in his pockets. "I—I can fix the ship. Eros promised to supply us with the correct amount of materials, so, um—" He cursed in Spanish and rocked on his heels.

He was trying really hard to go against this spell.

"We can look for Eros's cave while you work on the ship," Hazel piped up. She stood from her position, a look of concern and sympathy fluttering across her features.

Percy nodded. "Jason and I will go. The further away you two are from each other, maybe um, the better it'll get." He collected himself, then offered me a hand. I gave him a look of surprise, but he was too busy looking at our team to think much of it.

"Any reason just us?" My eyes narrowed.

He shrugged. "Annabeth can make the mathematic calculations, Hazel can move the metal, and Frank is really smart. They'd do more good here."

I cocked my head to Piper—

"And Leo," Percy quipped before I could say something I may regret, "might want a friend. One that's able-bodied and he won't want to throw in bed. Right, Leo?"

A groan left Leo's lips, but looking back I realized how grateful he seemed. Leo crossed his arms and blew a bang out of his face just as Piper smiled gently, hooking arms with our "Repair Boy" and kissing him on the cheek.

I was ninety-nine percent positive Leo wanted to say something, but he was really shaken and…really embarrassed.

"Thanks Perce," mumbled my best friend, tone still guttural and rocky.

I reached out to say something, but never got the chance. Percy grabbed me by the arm as the others left, and pulled me aside.

"C'mon, Superman," he mused, "Let's go find a way to break this spell."

xxx

I think after fending off the venti, Percy and I expected to come to some truce. There was no doubt that Percy was a demon when it came to swordplay, and a part of me still itched to spar with him. A weak memory ached for my imperial gold coin, but I knew that would forever be gone. Anyway, between making sure the ship made a clear landing with me manipulating the air and Percy cushioning the plunge into water, we hadn't had much of a chance to talk.

It was clear that Percy and I worked well together in combat. But our personalities made being friends look impossible.

He had no filter on his mouth. He made a face whenever someone spoke to him. He was every bit the idiot everyone back at Camp Halfblood made him out to be. Still, Hazel, Leo, and even Piper convinced me there was a genuineness whenever he spoke, and he was loyal. Stupidly loyal.

In a way he made me think of Leo, but…I trusted Leo with my life. Literally, seeing as he was the only one I felt I could talk to on this stupid ship. (Don't tell Leo I said that though. He'd kill me about the stupid ship comment.) Knowing I could trust Percy and actually trusting Percy were two concepts I was trying to erase the fine line between.

That's where we were now, exiting the warehouse and walking side-by-side along the coast of the beach. Leo had mentioned earlier there was a Ferris wheel in his dream, but as far as I could tell, Brest was more of a trading post. We decided to avoid locals at a risk of causing another incident and spoke very little to each other.

Percy had taken his sneakers off, now soaking his toes in wet sand as water washed along the shoreline. He took in a deep breath and sighed. There was a little hermit crab that looked angry when Percy unintentionally kicked it, but I swear it bowed and squealed when it realized it was the son of Poseidon.

"You may find this offensive," Percy mused, "but I finally felt safe the moment we hit the water."

"Offense taken," I said wryly. He'd explained to me how a child of Poseidon was destined to get shot out of the sky if he ever entered the air, but with Percy's smartass comments, I almost wanted to electrocute him myself. Again, I reminded myself, better to catch Percy on a good day than bad. Father may be "King of the Gods," but his power was equal to his brothers'.

Any ounce of our conversation stopped there. Twenty minutes into our walk after we left the docks, I realized I was being the uncooperative one.

"Sorry." This time, I looked to Percy. He really did look at peace with his feet soaked in seawater. It was his freedom; like the way I could spend hours on the deck of the Argo II when we were in the sky. The guilt squeezed my chest.

Fortunately, Percy hadn't seemed deterred by my earlier comment. Instead, he dropped his shoes into the sand and started putting them on. "You don't like me very much."

Um. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Suddenly the sand looked very interesting.

"That's okay. Thalia and I didn't like each other very much either." Percy wrinkled his nose and stepped out of the beach water. He dusted sand off his jeans and crossed his arms before looking to me expectantly. "In fact, if I remember correctly, she electrocuted me. A lot. Not accidentally, most of the time. Took us a giant Sun school bus, a hobo named Fred, and a mountain before we could get along."

"I knew I liked my sister," I mused. A second later I realized the implication behind my words and tried to apologize. Percy waved his hand, like he got that a lot. "It's…not that I hate you. This…this thing about Leo is just…" My voice faded off.

"Yeah," Percy said. An ebony eyebrow cocked beneath his hair and he joined my side. "Leo means a lot to you, doesn't he?"

I shrugged nonchalantly and turned toward the coast. Seagulls flew above, their sounds echoing into the sky. There…wasn't a way to admit this to Leo or Piper, really. Every time I tried talking to Piper, my chest did a double take and my heart got clogged in my throat. Leo and I…we weren't good at the guy talks. He stammered whenever I marveled at his work.

Might as well tell the one guy that knew what it was like not to have his memories.

"It's like, going to sleep in darkness, just waiting for the memory to start," I said. This…was difficult to do. It…was hard to look him in the eye. "And then reliving it. You said gorgon's blood helped you get your memories back. But…I-I keep wondering if even now, I have all my memories."

Percy nodded. There was a grimness to his face and I realized, he did understand what I was going through. He urged me to continue.

"Leo has been there for me since I woke up on the bus. He doesn't look at me as some big hero. He mocks me—sort of like how he made fun of you last night for talking to horses." I shook my head, a soft chuckle brimming from the back of my throat. "I go to sleep afraid that when I wake up, all my memories will be gone again. But when I open my eyes and see Leo and Piper every day, I remember it's real. All of it."

Percy was silent. He took my words with obvious acknowledgment, nodding, before he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "That's deep, bro."

"As the ocean," I agreed warily. "Was it the same way for you?"

He shook his head. "I forgot everything. But not Annabeth. Never her."

We continued our walk along the shore, and he explained to me his experience. I hadn't realized how many differences there were—from how he woke up in the Wolf House training with Lupa after eight months of slumber and following a vague trail from Juno, a goddess that was on neither Percy's nor Annabeth's good side. Then, the way he had such an attachment to Annabeth—I knew she was heartbroken in all these eight months, but I had more respect than I already did, for why they refused to leave each other's side.

"It's funny," Percy commented. We reached a more populated portion of the beach, "Annabeth was the hook that reeled me back into my memories. But you make it sound like Leo and Piper are what reeled you into reality."

I took in what he said, then nodded slowly. "I can't believe you just made a fishing reference."

"Me neither." Percy wrinkled his nose. "I'm about to have this good metaphor about a harpoon and a harness. I can't believe I know what a metaphor is."

We shared a laugh despite knowing how ill-timed it was for the situation. Slowly, mine tapered off and I looked behind us. Somehow we ended up far along the beach near a boardwalk where people ran around having a good time. Through the mixture of people, there were a few people that stuck out like tourists.

Percy touched my shoulder and pointed to the dock that extended away from carnival rides. Beneath everything, there was a cove that jutted out into the ocean. "You think that's it?"

I nodded. "No doubt."

xxx

You would think a few people, kids, or authority figures would notice two kids skipping some rocks toward a cave. Instead, whenever Percy or I was convinced someone would spot us, the few that did looked straight through us and ran away. Talking about my memories seemed to ease the tension a little bit, but both of us were more concerned about Leo's safety.

When we finally got to the bottom, I couldn't help myself. "Why do you and Leo get along so well?"

He seemed genuinely shocked by the question. Percy scratched his head, running his hand through wavy black hair, then shrugged. "I dunno. It just came naturally."

I felt ridiculous for accusing him of something—like, he stole my best friend and I couldn't get him back. It made no sense, but it irked me for who knows how long. If it showed on my face, Percy only grinned, that amusement returning to its usual place.

"I don't know," he reiterated. "As happy as I am that I can see Annabeth again, we're on a quest. There's only so much nerd talk I can take before my head starts spinning." Grimacing, he scratched his head and led the way forward. "Besides, I don't believe being in being on a ship with teammates and not getting to know them. Piper and I get along but I don't see you giving me crap about that."

I made a gesture with my hand, demanding he shut up and continue.

"Leo saw me training and thought it was the coolest thing ever." Percy shrugged. "Did you know the guy's like, a genius?"

Leo mentioned learning Morse code and higher math from his mother. Beneath his love of food and all things girl-related, I hadn't given his intelligence much of a thought. I realized if I said that out loud, I would have sounded like a Class A jerk.

"I was good friends with another guy from his cabin. Beckendorf." Percy shrugged again, suddenly looking really uncomfortable with the subject. "Besides. He told me he liked hanging out with me because I reminded him so much of you."

Well, if that wasn't a thought that made me sick to my stomach. I held my tongue, but was sure I was turning green in the face. Percy nodded understandingly, rolling his eyes. Leo had to be out of his mind if he thought Percy and I were even the slightest bit alike.

We dropped the subject there and walked further until the boardwalk disappeared, the Ferris wheel only barely visible. Percy uncapped Riptide as I grabbed my gladius, and we snuck toward the entrance.

What we saw caught us off guard.

Percy blinked and elbowed me in the arm. "Um. You sure this is the cave that belonged to Eros in Leo's dream?"

"Well…he is the son of Aphrodite." We were both thinking the same thing—the Aphrodite Cabin had stowed away on our boat and totally Malibu-Barbie'd Eros's cave. Maybe not the pink, but the cave looked like it'd been carved into a cobblestone house fit for one, with a bright pink birdhouse hanging off the door and a welcome mat.

"This is not a cave," Percy said flatly.

"It's close," I argued. As ridiculous as it sounded—I made a side note to tell Hazel to loosen the amount of caffeine we let Leo have. On the door hung a piece of notebook paper that looked like it'd been crumpled in someone's pocket. Percy snatched it off the door and squinted.

"To…To Cpu—"

"Let me see it." I read the letter aloud.

"To Eros:

Sorry about stealing your Nerf Gun. Didn't mean to shoot that police officer.

Reloaded for you, please don't be mad.

Love,
A.

PS: Put the key under the welcome mat, just like you like it."

Percy frowned. "Who's A?"

I looked to him thoughtfully, then remembered some ridiculous show Leo had gotten the entire camp obsessed with while he was building the Argo II. Shaking my head, I sighed. "Someone even Annabeth can't figure out."

Shrugging, Percy turned over the welcome mat just like 'A' had said and revealed a simple silver key. He put it through the door knob and with a simple, click! it opened.

The first thing that drew your eye was the assortment of Nerf Guns that decorated the walls. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Eros must have had an obsession with them. The room was definitely bigger than what the outside perceived, with elegant wooden floors and lush furniture—it looked like a house my grandparents would have had, given if I had grandparents. The entire place smelled like lemongrass.

"Mm," Percy hummed. "Vanilla."

I blinked. "It's lemongrass."

"No, it's vanilla."

I decided it would have been ridiculous if we started arguing about the scent of the room. Besides, Eros was the god of…sensual love. When that fact hit me, I had a feeling I was missing something more obvious than before.

We surveyed the different rooms, but there was no sign of life. No traps, no mind tricks. I half expected to accidentally prick myself and suddenly be in love with Percy (to that thought, I shuddered.)

"Hey, look over here." Percy called me over into the tiny kitchen. Wine bottles hung from one of the shelves, each printed with the name, Ambrosia, and the year that it came from. Next to the sink was a giant metallic case filled with all assortments of nerf darts. Percy tapped it with his sword, and instantly it transformed into a quiver of arrows.

It had gone unnoticed in the form of a briefcase, but there was now a large, bright yellow gift bow tied to the shaft of one of the arrows with a sticker of an obnoxious smiling sun that said, "With Love!"

Tentatively, Percy plucked one of the arrows from the quiver—a red one that matched the pigment of a rose. His cheeks flushed, eyes widened, and immediately Percy dropped the arrow to the floor. My grip on my gladius tightened, but Percy simply turned to me. "Jason, do you remember what color arrow Cupid shot Leo with?"

I thought about it and shook my head. "No. None of us expected Leo to be the one shot. All I remember is, Cupid kissed him, then…Leo was kissing me."

My face turned pink. Give me a break—in one day, I'd gone further with my best friend than I have my entire life, and I finally kissed the girl I really liked. I deserved to be in shock.

He grimaced, nudging the arrow toward me. "Hold it."

The way he reacted made me hesitate, but I wasn't going to chicken out. The arrows came in three forms: a gold more stunning than Imperial Gold, pure black, and the rosy red. Carved into the shaft of the red one was one simple word: Tentigo. The instant I held it, I dropped it.

There'd been an instant rush of adrenaline. My palms had gotten sweaty, my cheeks flushed, and ears heated. Before I could struggle for a shallow breath, I'd thrown it back into the quiver.

The pure black arrows were engraved with a simple word too: Odisse. The gold one—Amor.

"Tentigo, Odisse, Amor," I murmured. "Roughly translated, each one means, 'lust,' 'hate,' and, 'love.'"

Without warning, Percy picked up the golden one. He made a face, then shrugged.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Like…I really wanna be with someone." He added as a second quip, "Annabeth. But I always want to be with her. These must be the arrows he's known for but—yeah. This is a rush…possibilities."

It was more than just a bad idea to be snooping through a god's things, but we'd already concluded Eros was not currently present. I picked up the arrow from Percy's hands and felt my heart skip a beat. The sensation was close to the tentigo arrow but more…heartwarming. It made no sense, but…for some reason, all the walls I'd created in my mind were suddenly lifted.

There were…possibilities. Like, why couldn't yellow and red make the color purple? Why couldn't 2 + 2 = 8?

"Children of Venus are known as children of possibilities," I muttered. "I guess what they mean is, love…doesn't really have a boundary. Not in the forms you usually expect."

"That would explain why Aphrodite thought it'd be a good idea for me to see my first and only love after beating up the Minotaur," Percy mused. He crossed his arms and looked at me expectantly. It took a moment for me to realize he was waiting for me to put the arrow down.

I couldn't. It was like on the other end—on the tips of my fingers, I could hear someone else's heart beating. My heart squeezed and I could feel it taking my breath away.

Once that realization hit me, I nearly threw it onto the counter. Whoever thought war was dangerous never tampered with the principles of love. Luckily before I could even work myself up to being embarrassed, Percy only guided us further in the household. Judging by the uneasy look on his face, I assumed he had to deal with Love firsthand, too.

A…very vague memory of discussing love with Venus came to mind. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest—muscle memory from our meeting. She had said something, back when I was…ten? Eleven? And I knew it was upsetting—it was something that kept me from working up the nerve to ask Reyna out. Probably any relationship I'd ever have. I just couldn't remember right now, what.

"So," Percy said in quiet conversation, "That gold arrow. Not really how Leo was acting."

Snapping out of my thoughts, I nodded carefully. Right. Remembering Leo made my head tingle.

Then I realized what he was implying. My lip twitched. "He…acted more like the…" The red arrow.

"Yeah," he said shortly. Silence. He was thinking. "Do you think that means anything?"

Based on how it could affect Leo? Actually, how it could affect…us? I wasn't sure what my face was doing—blanching from the thought of Leo coming after me for possibly all eternity. Blushing because my best friend would be coming after me for all eternity.

"Maybe we could use the hate arrow to counteract what happened." Percy stopped in front of the bedroom door, arms crossed. "Or…something."

That…seemed like a longshot, I'm sure we both knew. He was just trying his best to throw out suggestions. Shaking my head, I looked back to the counter where the quiver of arrows returned into the form of a metallic case full of nerf darts. "Annabeth says that he's a god that gets offended easily. I doubt we'll be on his good side if we steal his stuff."

Percy frowned. He muttered something under his breath about the Stoll Brothers, then said nothing.

As ridiculous and hopeless as it sounded, something new caught my eye. The bedroom door had been opened whenever we first arrived, but I assume through our search one of us had closed it. Hanging right above the doorknob, just like the front door, was a rose red sheet of paper with gold embroidery. I snatched it off the door and read it aloud.

"'It would be stupid to think you wouldn't barge in through my front door if no one answered.'" I froze and looked to Percy. He rotated his hand, telling me to go on. "'I'm in Paris on duty. Don't think you're off the hook easily. The more you search, the less likely I'll respond.'" At the end of the letter was an intricately signed, 'E.'

"Ugh." Percy blew a bang out of his eye, groaned, and looked over the letter itself. I caught a whiff of lemongrass. "Why is it gods feel like they're entitled to throw fits? They're a bunch of big babies."

Just then, a loud boom of thunder shook the entire house. The scent of rain filled my nose, even if we were inside. Killer to be the son of the Lord of the Sky. Apparently just about anything Percy said managed to piss my father off.

"No idea," I confessed. I reread the letter again, the scent of lemongrass filling my nose, and then gulped. "But…one thing's clear. If we want to save Leo and make sure he comes out of it okay…we've got to go to Paris."

xxx

Author's Note:

Yay, we're three chapters in and Mark of Athena comes out on Tuesday. :D Thanks so much for still reading, or—hi, new readers! So, I wanted to make a few things clear that you probably already deduced: Whatever happens in Mark of Athena most likely won't be brushed upon in this story. Maybe a few things would be mentioned, but as you can tell, they're already off and away from anything that could effect the Argo II. It'll just be easier that way without weaving details in from the book. So, the story will read as though it was coming right after Son of Neptune.

Also, I've gotten one or two reviews that mention small details pertaining to the other books, like Frank's lactose intolerance or Hazel's and his talent to speak a dialect of French. It's a minor detail and I won't belittle it, and I may stand corrected in MoA, but remember that the story is told from Leo and Jason's point of views and alternating. Don't worry, the books are fresh on my minds, so I know a bit of what I'm doing. But so you know what's up! I'm so glad we made it to chapter three, and I hope you'll keep following! (: