First Person: Audrey

Leo's definition of "close" must be way different than mine. We trudged half a mile through hot fields, getting bitten by mosquitoes and whacked in the face with scratchy sunflowers, before we finally reached the highway. An old billboard for Bubba's Gas 'n' Grub indicated we were still forty miles from the first Topeka exit.

"Correct my math," Percy said, "but doesn't that mean we have eight miles to walk?"

"I believe it does, brother," I said. Jason peered both ways down the deserted road. He looked much better, his color back to normal and the scar on his forehead almost completely gone. Today he was wearing a purple T-shirt, contrary to Percy's orange one. The two of them were back in their normal colors. I could already tell that they were going to be best friends, leaders from each of their camps. The new gladius that Hera had given him last winter hung at his belt. It was becoming a new fashion trend to wear a scabbard strapped to ones jeans.

"No cars…" Jason muttered. "But I guess we wouldn't want to hitchhike."

"No," Piper agreed, gazing nervously down the highway. "We've already spent too much time going overland. The earth is Gaea's territory."

"Wish I could use Zoltan," I muttered. Jason snapped his fingers.

"I could call a friend for a ride." Percy raised his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah? Me too. Let's see whose friend gets here first."

"Oh brother," I said smiling. Yep, they were gonna be best buds. Jason whistled. Jason had summoned Tempest only three times since we'd met him at the Wolf House last winter, while Blackjack was a reliable pegasus. Still, if both of them came, no matter how fast, we'd take two per horse. I was putting my bets on Blackjack considering I'd seen both horses in action. Percy simply closed his eyes and concentrated. Thunder crackled in the clear sky and Jason smiled.

"Soon."

"Too late." Percy pointed east, where a black winged shape was spiraling toward us.

"A black pegasus?" Piper asked. "Never seen one like that." The winged stallion came in for a landed, trotting over to Percy and I, nuzzling Percy's face then mine.

"Hey Blackjack," I said. "How ya been?" The horse responded. "Yeah, I know right? Eight months without him summoning you." He turned his head inquisitively towards Piper and Jason.

"Blackjack, this is Piper and Jason," Percy introduced. "They're friends." The horse nickered. "Uh, maybe later."

"What does Blackjack want?" Piper asked.

"Donuts," I said. "Always with the donuts. I've spoiled you rotten, haven't I? I looked after him while Percy was gone. I think he likes me more than you, Perce." Suddenly the air turned cold and my ears popped. "Oop, there's the other one." About fifty yards away, a miniature cyclone three stories tall tore across the tops of the sunflowers like a scene from The Wizard of Oz. It touched down on the road next to Jason and took the form of a horse - a misty steed with lightning flickering through its body.

"Tempest," Jason said, grinning broadly. "Long time, my friend." The storm spirit reared and whinnied.

"Oh, don't act like you don't love us," I said. Blackjack backed up skittishly.

"Easy boy," Percy said. "He's a friend too." He gave Jason an impressed look. "Nice ride, Grace." Jason shrugged.

"I made friends with him during our fight at the Wolf House. He's a free spirit, literally, but once in a while he agrees to help me."

"Thunder, the other storm spirit, likes Zy I think," I said. "He's happy to help and sometimes drops in even when he's not summoned. He's the guy you don't invite but he shows up anyway. Though he keeps calling her "Lightning," and he's got a mouth like Arion."

"He sounds like a party," Percy said. He and Jason climbed on their respective horses, while I hopped on behind Percy and Piper accepted Jason's hand as she climbed on Tempest. Tempest raced down the road with Blackjack soaring overhead. Fortunately, Tempest didn't pass any cars, or they might have caused a wreck. In no time, we arrived at the 32 mile marker, and Blackjack landed. Both horses pawed at the asphalt, complaining about stopping so suddenly after they'd just found their stride. Blackjack whinnied.

"Right, no sign of the wine dude," Percy said.

"I beg your pardon?" A voice said from the fields. The horses turned so quickly, Piper and I nearly fell off. I was used to being first passenger on Blackjack, and it was annoying how Percy was in front of me. The wheat parted, and Bacchus stepped into view. He wore a wide-brimmed hat wreathed in grapevines, a purple short-sleeved shirt, khaki shorts, and Birkenstocks with white socks. He looked maybe thirty, with a slight potbelly, like a frat boy who hadn't yet realized college was over.

"Did someone just call me the wine dude?" He asked in a lazy drawl. "It's Bacchus, please. Or Mr. Bacchus. Or Lord Bacchus. Or, sometimes, Oh-My-Gods-Please-Don't-Kill-Me, Lord Bacchus." Percy urged Blackjack forward, though the pegasus was clearly unhappy about it.

"You look different," Percy told the god. "Skinnier. Your hair is longer. And your shirt isn't so loud." In the six months that I was at Camp Half-Blood, I had never met the camp director Dionysus, but I'd heard a bit about him. The wine god squinted up at him.

"What in blazes are you talking about? Who are you, and where is Ceres?"

"Uh…what series?"

"I think he means Ceres," Jason said. "The goddess of agriculture. You'd call her Demeter." He nodded respectfully to the god. "Lord Bacchus, do you remember me? I helped you with that missing leopard in Sonoma." Bacchus scratched his stubby chin.

"Ah…yes. John Green."

"Jason Grace."

"Well at least that's the same," I muttered. Apparently Dionysus had called Percy Peter Johnson or something, rarely ever getting his name right, if ever.

"Whatever," The god said. "Did Ceres send you, then?"

"No, Lord Bacchus," Jason said. "Were you expecting to meet her here?" The god snorted.

"Well, I didn't come to Kansas to party, my boy. Ceres asked me here for a council of war. What with Gaea rising, the crops are withering, droughts are spreading, karpoi are in revolt. Even my grapes aren't safe. Ceres wanted a united front in the plant war."

"The plant war?" I asked. "You're going to arm all the little grapes with tiny assault rifles?" The god narrowed his eyes.

"Have we met before?"

"Nope."

"We have," Percy said. "At Camp Half-Blood. I know you as Mr. D - Dionysus."

"Agh!" Bacchus winced and pressed his hands to his temples. For a moment, his image flickered. I saw a different person - fatter, dumpier, in a much louder, leopard-patterned shirt.

"Oh, so that's what you meant by a loud shirt," I muttered. "I was wondering if you'd change back and forth like that." Then Bacchus returned to Bacchus.

"Stop that!" He demanded. "Stop thinking of me in Greek!" Percy blinked.

"Uh, but-"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to stay focused?! Splitting headaches all the time! I never know what I'm doing or where I'm going! Constantly grumpy!"

"That sounds pretty normal for you." The god's nostrils flared, one of the grape vines on his hat bursting into flame.

"If we know each other from that other camp, it's a wonder I haven't already turned you into a dolphin."

"It was discussed. I think you were just too lazy to do it."

"Percy, do you always agitate the nearest being that has the ability to kill you?" I asked. "What did you do all those months without Annabeth to rein you in?"

"Lord Bacchus!" Piper interrupted, slipping off Tempest's back.

"Piper, careful," Jason warned. She shot him a warning glance: I've got this. Truthfully, Piper's charm speak might be the only thing that'll save this guy from turning us to dolphins thanks to Percy.

"Sorry to trouble you, my lord, but actually we came here to get your advice. Please, we need your wisdom." She used her most agreeable tone, pouring respect into her charm speak. While Emily's charm speak was lighter and warming, Piper's was more potent and powerful, both effective in their own way. The god frowned, but the purple glow faded in his eyes.

"You're well-spoken, girl. Advice, eh? Very well. I would avoid karaoke. Really, theme parties in general are out. In these austere times, people are looking for a simple, low-key affair, with locally produced organic snacks and-"

"Not about parties. Although that's incredibly useful advice, Lord Bacchus. We were hoping you'd help us on our quest." She explained about the Argo II and our voyage to stop the giants from waking Gaea. She told him what Nemesis had said: that in six days, Rome would be destroyed. She described the vision she'd seen in her knife where Bacchus offered her a silver goblet.

"Silver goblet?" The god didn't sound very excited. He grabbed a Diet Pepsi from nowhere and popped the top of the can.

"You drink Diet Coke," Percy said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bacchus snapped. "As to this vision of the goblet, young lady, I have nothing for you to drink unless you want a Pepsi. Jupiter has put me under strict orders to avoid giving wine to minors. Bothersome, but there you have it. As for the giants, I know them well. I fought in the first Giant War, you know."

"You can fight?" Percy asked, sounding incredulous.

"Percy, please shut up," I whispered into his ear. Bacchus growled and his Diet Pepsi transformed into a five-foot staff wreathed in ivy, topped with a pinecone.

"A thyrsus!" I said quickly, hoping to distract the god before he whacked Percy on the head. I'd seen weapons like those in the hands of crazy nymphs, and wasn't thrilled to see one in the hands of a god. "Oh, what a mighty weapon!"

"Indeed," Bacchus agreed. "I'm glad someone in your group is smart. The pinecone is a fearsome tool of destruction! I was a demigod myself in the first Giant War, you know. The son of Jupiter!" Jason flinched. Probably wasn't thrilled to be reminded that the Wine Dude was technically his brother. Bacchus swung his staff through the air, though his pot-belly almost threw him off balance. "Of course, that was long before I invented wine and became immortal. I fought side by side with the gods and some other demigod…Harry Cleese, I think."

"Heracles?" Piper suggested politely.

"Whatever. Anyway, I killed the giant Ephialtes and his brother Otis. Horrible boors, those two. Pinecone in the face for both of them!"

"Lord Bacchus, would those two giants, Ephialtes and Otis…would they happen to be twins?"

"Hmm?" The god seemed distracted by his thyrsus swinging, but he nodded. "Yes, twins. That's right." Piper turned to Jason, and I could tell all our thoughts were going to the same place. Twins snuff out the angel's breath. Gods, Veon was worried enough about his brother, but if I was assuming things correctly, the "angel" has to be Nico. These two giants would "snuff out" Nico's breath.

"That's why we're here," Piper told the god. "You're part of our quest!" Bacchus frowned.

"I'm sorry, my girl. I'm not a demigod anymore. I don't do quests."

"But giants can only be killed by heroes and gods working together. You're a god now, and the two giants we have to fight are Ephialtes and Otis. I think…I think they're waiting for us in Rome. They're going to destroy the city somehow. The silver goblet I saw in my vision - maybe it's meant as a symbol for your help. You have to help us kill the giants!" I winced and when Bacchus glared at her, I knew that Piper had chosen her words poorly.

"My girl," He said coldly. "I don't have to do anything. Besides, I only help those who give me proper tribute, which no one has managed to do in many, many centuries." Blackjack whinnied uneasily, warning us that he didn't like this.

"What kind of tribute?" I asked. Bacchus waved his hand dismissively.

"Nothing you could handle. But I will give you some free advice, since these ladies do have some manners. Seek out Gaea's son Phorcys. He always hated his mother, not that I can blame him. He didn't have much use for his siblings, the twins, either. You'll find him in the city they named after that heroine - Atalanta."

"You mean Atlanta?" Piper asked carefully.

"That's the one."

"But this Phorcys," Jason said. "Is he a giant? A Titan?" Bacchus laughed.

"Neither. Seek out the salt water."

"Salt water…in Atlanta?" Percy asked.

"Yes. Are you hard of hearing? If anyone can give you insight on Gaea and the twins, it's Phorcys. Just watch out for him."

"What do you mean?" Jason asked. The god glanced at the sun, which had climbed almost to high noon.

"It's unlike Ceres to be late, unless she sensed something dangerous in this area. Or…" The god's face suddenly went slack. "Or a trap. Well, I must be going! And if I were you, I'd do the same!"

"Lord Bacchus, wait!" Jason protested. The god shimmered and disappeared, with a sound like a soda-can top being popped. The wind rustled through the sunflowers, and the horses paced in agitation. Despite the dry, hot day, I shivered. That cold feeling from before…

"Bacchus is right, we need to leave!"

"Too late," A sleepy voice said, humming through the fields all around us and resonating in the ground beneath us. Percy and Jason drew their swords, and I summoned my new trident. The power of Gaea was everywhere. The sunflowers turned to look at us, the wheat bent toward us like a million scythes. "Welcome to my party. What did Bacchus say? A simple, low-key affair with organic snacks? Yes. For my snacks, I need only two: the blood of a female demigod, and the blood of a male. Piper, my dear, choose which hero will die with you."

"Gaea!" Jason yelled. "Stop hiding in the wheat. Show yourself!"

"Such bravado. But the other one, Percy Jackson, also has appeal. Choose, Piper McLean, or I will."

"Shut it!" I shouted. "She's not choosing anyone, and no one's dying for you!"

"Audrey Mavepo, do you not wonder why I am not choosing between you and Piper? I have use for you, darling, and you're right, you will not die today. However, the others I have not such use for."

"You're insane!" Piper shouted. "I'm not choosing anything for you!" Suddenly Jason and Percy gasped, tensing and sitting up straight on their horses. "Jason! What's wrong-?" He looked down at her, his expression deadly calm. His eyes were no longer blue, but glowing solid gold.

"Percy, help!" But he started to guide Blackjack away from them, stopping thirty feet down the road before wheeling his pegasus around.

"Percy!" I shook him but he didn't respond, raising his sword and pointing the top toward Jason.

"One will die," Percy said, but the voice wasn't his. It was deep and hollow, like someone whispering from inside the barrel of a cannon.

"I will choose," Jason answered, in the same hollow voice.

"No!" Piper yelled. All around us, the fields crackled and hissed, laughing in Gaea's voice as Percy and Jason charged at each other, their weapons ready. I waved my hand and Piper was thrown out of the way just before the boys crossed swords, gold against bronze. I summoned my shield and ducked behind Percy to avoid being hit by their weapons or the sparks between them. I sheathed my trident and held on to Percy tightly as he clashed, but he didn't seem to notice. Their blades blurred - strike and parry - and the pavement trembled. Their first exchange took only a second, but they were so fast. The horses pulled away from each other - Tempest thundering in protest and Blackjack flapping his wings.

"Stop it!" Piper and I shouted together. For a moment, Jason heeded Piper' voice, and his golden eyes turned to her, but then Percy took the opportunity to charge. I grabbed his sword and turned his so the flat of it hit Jason's chest, the impact not slicing, but enough to knock Jason off his mount. Blackjack cantered away as Tempest reared in confusion, the spirit horse charging into the sunflowers and dissipating into vapor. Percy struggled to turn his pegasus around with both me and the horse fighting him.

"Piper! You're the only one who can stop them!" I shouted.

"Percy!" Piper yelled. "Jason's your friend. Drop your weapon!" Percy's sword arm dipped and I grabbed Riptide from him. Jason then got to his feet and roared as a bolt of lightning arced out of the clear blue sky. I barely had time to uncap my water bottle and throw up a shield of water before it struck us. It caused my water shield to explode, and we were both sent off the horse from the force. If not for my training with Zy (who used lightning bolts very often) I wouldn't have been able to shield us in time. Blackjack whinnied and fled into the wheat fields. Jason charged at us, aiming for Percy, who was now on top of me, his clothes smoking. I summoned my trident and blocked his sword while Percy tried to recover.

"You must choose one," Gaea whispered. "Why not let Jason kill him?"

"No!" Piper screamed. "Jason, stop!" He froze in his attack, turning to Piper, the gold light in his eyes flickering uncertainly.

"I cannot stop. One must die." That voice wasn't Gaea's, and it wasn't Jason. They spoke haltingly, as if English was its second language, kind of like when Zy went on a rant in when she was angry, going from Japanese, to Chinese, to Russian, and around and around before she calmed and tried to switch back to English.

"Who are you?" I demanded. Jason's mouth twisted in a gruesome smile.

"We are the eidolons. We will live again."

"Eidolons…?" Those were the things that Zy and Veon always talked about when they went to their videogame-nerd mode. It was a creature from Valhalla, the Norse version of the Underworld. Maybe the videogame had different lore than the real legends and maybe Norse eidolons were different than Greek ones, but I had heard them rant on and on about them and play enough of Final Fantasy XIII while I was in the room to understand the basics.

"So you're some kind of ghost," I summed up.

"He must die," Jason said. Percy had recovered more than any of us had realized, and swept out his leg to knock Jason off his feet. Jason's head hit the asphalt with a nauseating conk, and Percy rose.

"Stop it!" Piper screamed again, but there was no charm speak in her voice. She was shouting in sheer desperation. I still had Riptide in my hand, and Percy attempted to get it back. I quickly waved my hand and tried to take control of Percy's blood. This technique was cool, but also scary. I couldn't let Percy's blood stop flowing properly. I could probably knock him out by stopping the flow of oxygenated blood to his head for a moment, but even a few seconds of oxygen deprivation could cause permanent damage, something I wasn't willing to risk on my brother. I managed to make him freeze in his attempts to grab Riptide, and took a few steps back.

"Percy…"

"Give me that." His eyes were gold like Jason's instead of green, and his face was pale and cruel, so unlike Percy. I swallowed and breathed. Acting was something I knew how to do, and I could talk this out as long as I had the thing's attention. I'm pretty sure Jason was knocked out from his fall, and Piper was the real talker here, so now I just needed to buy a few seconds for her to come up with a plan.

"No."

"You are not wise."

"I've got a 4.0 GPA, dumbass. I'm smarter than you."

"G…P…A…? Four?"

"See what I mean?"

"Enough." He lunged forward, and I held him back with his blood, hoping that I wasn't doing any damage.

"Eidolon, stop!" Piper suddenly demanded, her voice full of anger and power. Percy stopped of his own will and I released him, not wanting to have control over his blood and risk things anymore than I needed to. "Face me." Percy turned to her, and I touched my finger to Riptide's tip, shrinking it down into a pen.

"You have not chosen, so this one will die."

"You're a spirit from the Underworld. You're possessing Percy Jackson. Is that it?" Percy, or the eidolon, sneered.

"I will live again in this body. The Earth Mother has promised. I will go where I please, control whom I wish."

"Leo…" I realized. "That's what happened to Leo. He was being controlled by an eidolon." The thing in Percy's form laughed without humor.

"Too late you realize. You can trust no one. Even the one who knew, did not tell you." The one who knew? Zyanya? She had her reasons for keeping things secret, I knew. She knew more than she should, therefore she had to keep things to herself, bound by the same laws as the other gods, since apparently the Fates were scary when you defied them. Behind us, something rustled in the wheat, and Percy began to turn around. I signaled frantically for Piper to stop him.

"Ignore it!" She yelped. "Look at me." Percy obeyed, and I began to slowly back towards Blackjack, who emerged from the wheat field, moving with surprising stealth for such a large animal.

"You cannot stop me. I will kill Jason Grace." He reached into his pocket and pulled out Riptide once more, and I realized that I'd walked too far away and the pen was no longer in my hand. He flicked the cap off with his thumb and the sword appeared once more. Dammit, Riptide! I say this as though the sword will react to my scolding. Moving on.

"You won't kill him," Piper ordered, but she wasn't looking to Percy. She locked eyes with the pegasus, pouring all her power into her words and hoping Blackjack would understand. "You will knock him out." The charm speak washed over Percy, and even washed over me. Percy shifted his weight indecisively.

"I…will knock him out?"

"Oh, sorry." Piper smiled. "I wasn't walking to you." Blackjack reared and brought his hoof down on Percy's head. He crumpled to the pavement next to Jason. "Oh, gods!" Piper ran to the boys. "Blackjack, you didn't kill him, did you?" The pegasus snorted.

"Please, I know my own strength, girl."

"He says he was careful," I said. I grabbed Riptide and shrunk it down to a pen. Hm, I wonder if my dagger would come back to me if I lost it. I was never one to lose the only weapon I had, and I'd never parted with it, at least until New Rome, of course, where even Riptide stayed put thanks to Terminus. I'd have to test it out. I looked to Percy, and though there wasn't any blood, a large knot was forming where the horse had kicked him. Jason was breathing steadily, but two knocks on the skull in two days could not be healthy.

"We need to get them back to the ship," Piper said.

"Agreed." Blackjack bobbed his head in agreement as well, and knelt to the ground so that we could get Percy and Jason on his back. I transformed into water and lugged them on (unconscious boys were heavy) and Piper sat on to hold them steady for the ride. I got on as a snake of water and held onto Percy so that I was both lightweight and effective, and we took off for the ship. As expected, the others were a little surprised to find us coming back on a pegasus with two unconscious demigods.

"So, I'm guessing your guys had fun," Zy said sarcastically. While Frank and Hazel tended to Blackjack, Annabeth, Emily, Leo and Zy helped get the boys to the sickbay.

"At this rate, we're going to run out of ambrosia," Coach Hedge grumbled. "How come I never get invited on these violent trips?" I used some salt water to save on supplies and heal Percy. I'd been learning from Zy how to heal others with water, but luckily Percy was self-healing when it came to dumping a bowl of the liquid onto him unceremoniously. I made sure the water stayed on him and only him so I didn't make a mess, but it was fun to just dump a bowl of water onto my brother's face. Felt like I was pulling a prank on him. Despite the cold water, he didn't wake up from having it splashed onto him, but it did heal him. I used some water to heal Jason too, but it was taxing considering he wasn't a son of a sea god and I wasn't used to the technique. It saved supplies, got the job done, and gave me some practice, so I wasn't complaining.

"They're gonna be fine," Zy said, checking each of their wrists like she was reading their fortunes. "They took a couple bad hits, but they're in better condition than they may have been. According to what records I'm getting from them, they've survived worse. Man, that's a lot of previous incidents."

"Better not tell them who's survived more," I said. "No doubt they'd make it into a competition."

"Yeah, that's called patient confidentiality, and it's there for a reason. In any case, they should be up and about in no time."

"Leo, are we ready to sail?" Piper asked, sitting at Jason's side.

"Yeah, but-"

"Set course for Atlanta. I'll explain later."

"But…okay." Annabeth didn't argue with Piper either. She was too busy examining the horseshoe-shaped dent on the back of Percy's head.

"What hit him?" She demanded.

"Blackjack," I said.

"What?!" Piper and I tried to explain as best we could before the boys both groaned and opened their eyes. Within a few minutes, the Jason and Percy were sitting up in their berths and able to talk in complete sentences. Zy insisted on doing a couple tests to check their mental state, from "How many fingers am I holding up?" to "Who are the 12 Olympian gods? List both Greeks and Romans." to "How many half-bloods does it take to screw in a light bulb?"

"Uh, one?" I guessed.

"None. Even a mortal can screw in a light bulb without the help of a half-blood."

"Isn't this a little overkill?" Percy asked.

"She'll fret over a paper cut," Jason said. "Just go with it."

"As an Apollo medic, I can sense the pain from even a paper cut, therefore I fix it," She said dramatically with her arms crossed. "When it comes to my family, I'm picky about these things. You don't know what a single paper cut can do to you. It can allow infections if you're not careful, and infections mean you'll be out of commission or off you're a-game, and during a quest, that could mean the difference between success or failure. A paper cut could end the world, my friends."

"You make a valid argument," I said. She nodded in approval and Emily laughed. We explained what had happened back to where the boys' last memories were and what happened. Both had fuzzy memories of what had happened, and when we described the duel on the highway, Jason winced.

"Knocked out twice in two days," Jason muttered. "Some demigod."

"Hey, I've had patients knocked out twice in two minutes," Zy said. "You're doing fine, bud." He looked sheepishly at Percy and I.

"Sorry, man. I didn't mean to blast you guys." Percy's shirt was burnt, and his hair was even more disheveled than normal, but other than that we were fine.

"Percy took most of the hit," I said. "And my water shield helped protect him from the worst of the attack. We know you weren't yourself."

"What they got hit with was mostly the force of the bolt," Zy explained. "Even if the lightning's heat and electricity was blocked by Audrey's shield, lightning still holds a great deal of force alone. It doesn't have to zap someone to knock them back. Take it from an expert on electricity."

"It's not the first time," Percy said, smiling. "Your big sister got me good once at camp."

"Yeah, but…I could have killed you," Jason said.

"Or I could've killed you." Jason shrugged.

"If there'd been an ocean in Kansas, maybe."

"I don't need an ocean-"

"Boys," Emily interrupted. "I'm sure you both would've been wonderful at killing each other. But right now you need some rest."

"Put the boys of the Big Three in a duel, who'd you think would win?" I asked.

"Zytaveon," Zy said. Both Percy and Jason grumbled, but didn't argue, making me laugh.

"Can we get food first?" Percy requested. "Please? And we really need to talk. Bacchus said some things that don't-"

"Bacchus?" Annabeth asked, raising her hand. "Okay, fine. We need to talk. Mess hall. Ten minutes. I'll tell the others. And please, Percy…change your clothes. You smell like you've been run over by an electric horse."

"Actually the electric horse ran off when Jason was knocked off," I said. "It was Blackjack that whacked him."