This is SO short and SO late and you have no idea how sorry I am! Please don't hate me, o' faithful reviewers or new people. It's been a busy week, for once. Quite odd.. I'm not used to it at all. ANYWAYS, enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review! Thanks for those of you who favorite, stalk, and review my stories!

Disclaimer: Me no own anything.

IV

Jason

Piper was already sitting up in her bed, gazing into her knife, when Jason walked in. She looked up wearily, and he saw how pale and flushed the flu had made her skin, complete with the glassy eyes and feverish attitude. He ordered the air around Nico to drop him onto another of the beds in the room, while he went and sat beside his girlfriend.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, laying a hand on her forehead, trying to gauge her temperature.

"Like a piece of schist, but your concern is flattering," she responded wryly, pulling away from his touch. "You shouldn't get too close to me; I don't want to make you sick."

He chuckled, and took her clammy hand, "I don't care if I get sick, it'd be worth it. I won't get sick, though. Never have, never will."

"You say that now…" she muttered in response, but this time she didn't pull away.

He smiled at her, "So what's your demonic knife of doom showing you today?"

"It's not demonic," she laughed, swatting him halfheartedly on the arm, "and all it's shown me is a small city with a name. Sort of like what happened with Topeka and Mr. D., only this time there's no one beckoning to me."

"Well what place is it? Your knife shows one of two things – impending doom or a place you need to go – and we should probably follow its directions."

She hesitated, "Paris. It shows me Paris of all places. I have no idea why, but if it's the city of love I have a horrible feeling that my mother is behind this."

Jason shuddered inwardly. All their meetings with various gods ended up in some disaster, and they really could not afford any more of those.

Seeing his expression, Piper nodded mutely, flinging Katoptris to the ground. "Stupid weapon, why can't you be more helpful?" she muttered savagely.

Jason bent over and scooped the blade up, setting it gingerly on the nightstand. While he agreed that the blade's powers weren't very helpful, it was Piper's only physical defense. It wouldn't do them any good if it broke or if someone stabbed themselves in the foot with it.

"If it showed you Paris, we should go there, right?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yeah, but Paris is huge. How will we know where to go?"

"Didn't you see anything else? Like a street name or a building? How did you even know it was Paris and not some other city with similar building designs?"

"I saw the Eiffel Tower, which is a pretty obvious indicator. Nothing else, though," she added with futility.

Jason squeezed her hand in reassurance, "Don't worry. Whatever it is, it will find us as always."

"I guess, but usually we end up in trouble when things come to find us."

"Fair enough," he chuckled, pulling her towards him in a hug.

He winced inwardly at the shocked pleasure on her face. Had he really been that negligent to their relationship? It was hard to tell, after all that had happened in the last week.

"Do you think they're all right? Percy and Annabeth, I mean," she said after a moment, sounding frailer than ever. Jason found himself wondering just how tired the ailment was making her, and whether he should leave.

"Like Nico said, they're strong and they have each other. You saw how different Annabeth was after she got Percy back. I think that they'll be fine as long as they're together, no matter where they are."

"You're right," she nodded. "I'm just worried about them. Nico also said that the pit could drive anyone insane. What if being together is a weakness for them too?"

"Don't stress about it, Pipes. They'll live through it and we'll get them out. Leo has already started studying those spheres of his."

She nodded again mutely, and after a few minutes, Jason heard her breathing slow. Gingerly, he laid her back on the pillow, standing up. After checking briefly to assure that Nico was all right, he decided it would be best to inform whoever was manning the till – probably Leo – to reverse course and head to Paris.

When he got to the wheel, he was only slightly surprised to see Coach Hedge steering the ship, bellowing old sailor's songs at the top of his lungs. Leo was probably in his cabin, poring over the spheres and scrolls that he had saved from the underground workshop.

"Hedge!" Jason called.

The old satyr turned his head to acknowledge Jason's presence, but he kept belting out the shanties with the same rambunctious force.

"Coach! I need to tell you something!"

Abruptly, he stopped singing. "In the middle of the tune, Grace? What's so important?"

"We need to go to Paris," Jason explained.

"Paris? Why? We're almost to Epirus!"

"Piper saw it in her knife. Someone was trying to send us a message."

"The same knife that sent you to talk to Dionysus, resulting in both you and Percy in the sickbay with head injuries?" Coach inquired.

"Yep."

"I'll reverse course, then. There's something weird about that weapon, Grace. I don't trust it, but it's best to not question magic items."

"Thanks Coach."

"Yeah, well I ain't doing it for you. How's McLean doing?"

"She looked better. We talked for a while, but she's sleeping now. It was probably one of those twenty-four hour flus."

"Let's hope so, and let's hope that it doesn't spread. I can take on monsters, but it's you demigods that have to do the questing, you hear?"

"Yes sir," Jason said, trying very hard to not sound derisive.

"Good. Now go tell the others exactly what your girlfriend saw in that blade of hers."

Sorry for that schistiness at the end, too!