Warning: This chapter contains sexual material that may or may not rub you the wrong way depending on your personal values and how stringent your beliefs on sex and sexuality are. All characters are of legal age so don't get your knickers in a twist. In any case, you have been warned.


"Why am I not trying to stop this?" was the first thought that entered Piper's head as she waltzed out onto the deck. She saw the oddest, and scariest, sight; Luke was continually attacking Jason as he tried to fly toward the ship, only to be beaten back each time. It should've probably freaked her out, given how dangerous Luke had proven himself to be at times, but given that both were shouting childish insults and words of encouragement in equal measure, Piper couldn't help but laugh.

As she drew closer to Luke, she had to stifle it, not wanting to affect Jason's mood at all. Taking out her pen, Piper wrote in Greek, 'I hope you haven't turned on us.'

"Me? Never," Luke assured, though in a joking manner. "I'm working him 'til he drops."

Piper looked over to Jason, who had momentarily stopped trying to get back onto the Argo. Sweat poured from his body, beaded onto his arms. He was hunched over, hands on knees. "I'm glad one of us seems to be having fun," he commented.

"Oh yeah; this is the most levity I've had in years," Luke claimed. "But, because I have to be responsible, I'll ask how the others are doing. Bianca?"

'I popped into her room; she was resting there; seems she had a rough talk with Winona,' Piper explained. 'And Leo is also in his room. He's,' she considered her words. 'being consistent with how he's been lately.'

Luke nodded. "And we haven't gotten any sign of why we're here either. Pretty soon, it's gonna get difficult to justify staying."

Piper nodded. 'For all we know, Percy and Annabeth are already at the other side, fighting for their lives.'

The thought didn't help to raise morale. Piper moved to the edge of the Argo and scanned the area, just like last time. After looking for a few seconds, she saw a small pale orb of light, signaling that a god was calling her, just like last time. She pointed at it, just to test if the others could see it; they couldn't, just like last time.

"Another god?" Luke guessed. Piper nodded. "Well, I guess that's what we came here for."

"I can take you," Jason offered.

"Nu-uh, you're not getting off that easy," Luke smirked. "And besides, you're dog tired; I doubt you could lift her."

Piper frowned. 'Fat-joke?' Luke shrugged. 'Fine, then you'll take me.'

"Eh? You know how I am with gods," he reminded her.

'You took me last time,' she reminded him. After a brief stalemate, Luke conceded.

"Fine, just…if things go wrong, it's on you," he said, before turning to Jason. "And you; if I find out you got back on the ship, I'm kicking your ass. In fact, when I get back I'm kicking it anyway, so you'd better be able to out-run me by then," he warned, to which Jason grimaced and nodded, head hung low.

With a smile, Piper climbed onto Luke's back, and he leapt from the side after Piper pointed out where to go. Again, just like last time, the light drifted steadily away, forcing them to jog after it, through the busy streets of Split.

"Think we're gonna find poisonous cow monsters here?" Luke wondered aloud. Piper, not able to speak because of the mass of people around her, simply shot him a confused look. "Never mind," he muttered, continuing behind her. "So, did Hecate ever say who was going to be here?" she shook her head. "Did she say anything useful?" Piper shook her head again. "Just where to go? Whatever."

The jog to their destination was peaceful, all things considered. At least they were safe the entire time, though Piper couldn't say she felt that way all the way. Split was a beautiful city, but when you have an exotic girl…well, needless to say she got some lustful looks here and there. And even though Luke was there, and she knew she was naturally stronger than all of the punks that eyed her, she still avoided them. Call her paranoid, but any one of them could've been a succubus or sparkling vampire ready to eat her. Or maybe she was just paranoid.

Eventually they arrived at a church, and the light led them through a Mist-created wall, down into its depths. Now alone, Piper was able to speak. "You think there's something like this in every building?"

"Doubt it," Luke said. "Though, if every monster lived with humans, and every god and spirit lived among them too, there'd be enough to have one hidden in every building…probably."

"…You're weird."

"Hey, I get weird thoughts; don't judge."

"Oh, I'm not judging, I'm just laying down the facts," she teased.

"Uh-huh. Wonder why it took us here, though," he said, to which Piper shrugged, disinterested. "I mean, we're in Diocletian's Palace; it's half of this town, but I don't recall any significance with this place in particular."

Despite his questioning, Luke didn't hold them up from continuing further down. The strange part began when they emerged into what looked like an open-air courtyard, surrounded by walls of stone that looked much older than the palace designs from above. A thin fog rested into the courtyard, making the two somewhat wary to venture too far apart from one another. "You know, I should be shocked to see something like this, but at this point…" Piper commented.

"It may not be the weirdest thing, but it's still weird. I mean, who even called you here? You'd think whoever did would greet you here," Piper shrugged again. "You know, you might want to care a little more."

"Hey, I've been dealing with a crying infant for almost two weeks; I don't want to hear it," she frowned. Luke sighed, figuring he should cut her some slack. They did kind of force the duty on her, of taking care of the little girl. But on that note, Percy and Annabeth did force their hand in going on this stupid journey to Epirus, and Luke knew he sounded facetious, by falling into Tartarus like idiots. With a sigh, Luke had resigned himself to that fact a week and a half ago, and now with another sigh, he reaffirmed that feeling.

"Hey, careful," he said, as Piper went to touch everything around her like an infant would. "Maybe the baby is rubbing off on her," he thought, chuckling to himself.

Piper didn't stop touching, however, as she picked up a rod in the ground, and held it up. "Arrows," she said. "Archer god?"

"Apollo is comatose, and Percy said Artemis is recovering from an attack up on Olympus."

"Well, then how else do you explain this?" she gave him the arrow. Luke examined it a bit further, seeing Latin etching on it.

"It says…Et in Arcadia ego; even in Arcadia, here I am."

"What's that?"

"It's a Roman proverb; it means something like 'the grass is greener on the other side, but death is absolute', with 'I' referring to death. Here, hand me another one," he requested, to which she obliged, and he spoke as she did. "I don't think Thanatos is here, or…Letus, since these phrases are in Latin. Not to mention, he's not an archer," he pondered, getting another arrow. "Ama me usque dum dolet. Si dolet signum bonum est; Love until it hurts. If it hurts, is it good," he translated, getting another arrow. "Fortis est ut mors dilectio; love is as strong as death."

"Beginning to see a pattern here," Piper muttered, handing him a fourth.

"Amor vincit omnia; love conquers all things," he translated. And then suddenly, he felt a godly presence appear, though he couldn't pinpoint it.

"Sub amor omnia resolvuntur," a voice of steel pierced their ears, resonating through them. Piper and Luke went back to back, Luke feeling Kronos beginning to wake up, so to speak.

"W-what does that mean?" Piper questioned.

"And all things crumble under love," Luke said. "Piper, this is Cupid's domain; the god of cruel love."

As if on cue, something appeared in Luke's view. He managed to avoid it, craning his neck to avoid the head-shot, but that didn't save Piper. She lurched forward as an arrow hit her. As soon as it connected, and as soon as she reacted, the arrow dropped to the ground and no blood came from the wound.

Piper caught herself and reached up to the back of her head where she was hit. Feeling nothing, she turned to Luke, eyes wide. He saw her expression change slowly, like she was fighting the arrow's influence and losing. It turned from scared to…aroused. Her eyes lowered and her lips curled into a lascivious smirk. "You…oh…" her cheeks turned red. "I never realized…"

"Piper…stop," he tried to stay calm, but with Kronos vying for control of his body, Cupid on the prowl, and Piper succumbing to his influence…He feared it would all turn bad.

"You're, like, crazy handsome, Luke," she said, stepping closer, deliberately showing off her curves. "Ooh…" she placed a tender hand on his chest, but he swatted it away and grabbed her shoulder.

"Hey, listen to me; you've got to snap out of it. Cupid is making you feel these things," Luke said, as he felt his body freeze up; Kronos' doing no doubt.

"Oh, don't be like that, Luke-y. I've always found you, just…so hot! Ugh! I'm so hot around you!" she quickly lifted her shirt over her head, despite Luke's protestations. Luke will admit that he checked her out; she was an attractive girl practically begging for it. So he could help himself, even if he only took one or two brief glances before she advanced. In those glances, however, he noticed something peculiar; a large scar in her abdomen. "Ever since I got to Camp Half-Blood, I've seen so many guys catch my eye, but you! You're head and shoulder above the rest!" she pressed herself into him. He tried to push her away, but the strain of keeping the Titan Lord under control was quickly overriding his motor functions. He couldn't move, focusing every ounce of his being on keeping Kronos at bay. And so, he just had to take it, and try and talk her out of it.

"Piper. Piper!" he snapped, briefly getting her attention. "This isn't you. You're stronger than this! You have to believe you're stronger than this!"

"What? I've been keeping this in all of this time; I can't have even a little fun?"

"No! Not with me! I…y-you're still a minor, aren't you?"

"Oh, we Greeks don't have to deal with those mortal rules, do we? We never cared about them before…" she giggled, leaning closer and nibbling the lobe of his ear. "Oh, you're so much more fun than Jason. He never even batted an eye at me, but you…you're so fun to play with!" as she said 'play' she pushed him to the ground and climbed on top of him, starting to kiss him. Luke closed his eyes.

In hindsight, this was hilarious; dude nearly toppled the entirety of Olympus, went toe-to-toe with a Giant, and was likely one of the most skilled swordsmen to have ever lived. Yet, here he was, powerless to stop a woman from making advances on him that he didn't want. Truly, love was the most powerful of all forces. Well, Cupid's twisted, forced, lustful love, in any case.

"Piper, I figure you feel unwanted since Jason rejected you. I figure that those repressed desires are what are coming out right now; not any kind of love for me. It's alright. It's alright, Piper; I've been rejected too."

"Oh, shut up!" she pressed her lips to his. "You talk too much. Boys are better if they don't talk, like me!"

"But-"

"Come on," she leaned close to his ear again. "Just kiss me back already," she ordered, and kept repeating it over and over, and for a moment, Luke thought about giving in. No, he didn't even think about it; it was like a primal desire, a gut reaction, like when you get startled at a jump-scare. He figured that this was what it felt like to be Charmspoken. He was even beginning to enjoy it, save for the fact that he couldn't move.

Because, gods, when was the last time he had a woman close to him? Not just physically, but emotionally? Not since Thalia had laid bare her own insecurities on the streets had Luke felt he knew someone so well, seen their innermost desires. It almost felt unfair that he didn't share his own, though she already knew of his crimes and regrets. And yet…she didn't seem to care. Luke couldn't be sure how much of that was Cupid's doing. In hindsight, none of the lack of care came from the god.

And then, when it felt like he would burst if he didn't give in, everything stopped. Piper stopped rubbing her body against his on the ground. She stopped whispering sweet nothings in his ear, stopped kissing, even stopped breathing. When Luke opened his eyes, he saw her eyes wide with equal parts horror and embarrassment.

She scrambled off of him, face red as a tomato, to get her shirt, which she put on so hastily that she didn't bother to fix that it was inside-out, facing the opposite way from him, arms held close to her chest. Both of them were speechless.

Kronos, as if in some kind of sick joke, stopped trying to force control away from Luke, allowing him to move despite Cupid's presence still being there. He picked up the arrow that hit Piper. "Amor caecus corde; love blinds the heart," he translated.

"And isn't it true?" Cupid wondered, shimmering into view. Shirtless, looking like a Christian angel more than a Greek god, Cupid stood with an expressionless face and bow in hand. Luke stood, and put himself between Piper and the god, just in case he tried to pull something again. "Quite the show, daughter of love."

She didn't respond. In fact, at his voice, she made to leave. She only took a few steps before Luke caught her arm. "Wait, he called you here for a reason."

"Don't touch me!" she snapped, yanking her arm away. "Don't ever touch me again!"

Luke took a deep breath, knowing that he had to give her a lot of breathing room for a while. Thankfully, she stayed. "So what's your play, god?" Luke questioned. "Why bring her here only to do that?"

"Lies are less common when they know what's at stake," was all he said.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were sent here by the goddess Hecate," he said. "She knows that you need information that I have; a warning of what you'll face when you arrive at the Doors of Death. But I do not give information for free."

"We don't have anything to give," Luke claimed.

"I want nothing of material, Titan," Cupid said, voice going cold again, piercing through the demigods like daggers. "I want to know something you haven't told anyone, and that you never wanted to," he said, making Piper freeze. The slightest hint of a smile crept onto Cupid's lips. "Good, you know exactly what I speak of?"

"Why?" Luke questioned. "You seem to know it already, don't you?"

"Consider it a game; I want to see you demigods squirm," he smiled, teeth too perfect to be anything but unfair.

"I was in love with Thalia Grace," Luke said, wanting to take the fall for Piper so she wouldn't have to say anything regrettable.

"Plenty of your friends knew that," Cupid said. "I could list them off if you wished, Titan. And I care not for your secrets; you will return to your destined place in due time."

Luke's voice caught at the mention of his inevitable return to the realm of the dead. He turned to Piper, who still faced away from him. Her face was still red, and Luke figured that she was still a bit, uh…hot and bothered from the experience. Luke was definitely, albeit unwillingly, feeling an intense attraction to her after they, uh…yeah.

Piper finally spoke. "…I hate you."

"To hate me is the hate love," Cupid claimed. "Do you hate love?"

"You don't have to answer that," Luke claimed, seeing Piper shaking at the question. Gods, she was really struggling.

"Tell me, child, do you hate love?"

"So what if I do!" she whirled around, tears staining her face. "All it's ever given me is pain and regret!"

Luke was taken aback by the outburst; was Jason's rejection really that devastating?

"Every time I try and get close to someone they get hurt, or they leave me, or both! I try and I try to protect them but I'm never strong enough! I always let them get hurt! I always…I always end up killing them…"

"Piper…"

"Are you going to tell me your secret, child? Or must I force it out of you?" at his whim, several dozen arrows appeared around her and Luke, so close that any move would mean they'd be stuck and go through that horrible situation all over again. Luke, at first, tried to use Kronos' power to grab all of the arrows before Cupid could stick them with his stupid love arrows, but he was frozen again, with the Titan Lord vying for control, again. No doubt he wanted to hear her secret too, to get some dirt on her for later use or something. Or maybe he felt she would grow from this experience, in line with his more recent, confusing actions.

Piper spoke so quietly that both Luke and Cupid had trouble hearing her. "I killed him," she said.

"What was that? Speak up, or else."

"I said I killed him," Piper spoke a bit louder, fresh tears rolling down her face, still red by the way, body shaking again.

"Who?"

"My dad! I killed him!"

The revelation was like a bomb dropping, blowing away everything in the immediate vicinity, that being the arrows were blown away. Cupid smirked, knowing his job was done.

Luke turned to face her. "…Piper…how?"

Still crying, Piper recounted the tale. "…He never noticed me; he was a big movie star and all. He was always busy, never noticed me…I already said that. It was just…really frustrating, you know?" she chuckled sadly. "So when I got Charmspeak, I did everything I could to get him to notice me. I stole a car, I interrupted his shoots, I made his assistant do stupid things in front of him. He knew what it was, I think. He knew I had Charmspeak, from knowing my mom. He gave in after a while, and I was so happy. We were going to go to the beach together, just the two of us, for two weeks, just the two of us…but…he wasn't really there. He was always on the phone, taking to his agent about new roles. We had to drive from New York to Los Angeles; I wanted to drive, he wanted to fly, and the whole time he was on the phone. And I got mad, that he wasn't paying attention to me. So I yelled at him, told him to put down the phone. He got mad at me too, I guess he was about to score a big role…again…we started arguing, and…" she took a deep breath. "…And I got so mad…and I said that sometimes I wished he would just die. And he took it literally. And he drove us both off the road and into a tree at ninety miles an hour. He died on impact, I got," she lifted her shift to show the scar. "This…and then…then I stopped talking…"

"By the gods…Piper, I had no idea…"

"And…then it kept going, you know? I tried to hide it, and made people forget when I slipped up. When I got good at hiding it, I met Leo and then Grover and Jason, and then…everything went really well. I started to forget, and then Jason…" rejected her. She didn't need to explain that part. "And then things got worse and worse…until Rome. I couldn't stop them from fighting…Then Percy fell in Tartarus…Leo got really badly hurt, Grover died…and Jason got…sad again…"

"Piper, that wasn't your fault. Nothing could've-"

"It was my fault!" she snapped. "My Charmspeak is the strongest thing we have! I can control each and every one of you if I practiced and wanted to! I could take over both camps and destroy everything if I wanted! I could've stopped Annabeth from leaving on her own, I could've stopped the bastard who killed Grover, I could've stopped Jason and Percy from fighting! I could've stopped everything if I hadn't been so scared…if I hadn't…" Piper dropped to her knees, now too exhausted to even speak, only able to cry and sob loudly. Luke kneeled down and held her in a hug, trying to comfort her, her tears staining his chest.

Luke glared at Cupid, who'd been quiet as she recounted her story. "Are you happy?" he demanded.

"I am," Cupid grinned, appearing just as sadistically cruel as before; no remorse for hurting Piper like he had. He stepped forward. "You will receive a dream tonight. It will show your immediate adversaries. Oh, and do remember that Greece has a gatekeeper. Now leave me."

"With pleasure," Luke said, lifting Piper up to her feet. Stumbling at first, the two walked right out of there without looking back. By the time they made it out of the palace, Piper had stopped crying. Her eyes were puffy, streaks staining her cheeks, but the tears stopped falling. Soon, she wiped herself off and took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. "Luke…?"

"Yeah?"

"…I can tell why you don't like the gods…"

He dared to let out a chuckle. "Heh, yeah…I'm guessing you want me to keep your secret?"

"…If you could…Jason wouldn't understand," she claimed. Luke frowned, about to say something like 'you need to give him more credit', but maybe she was right; he had enough on his plate. Maybe she could tell him after the Giant War, assuming they both survived.

"Not a problem. And Piper…you should know I don't have any room to judge. All I'll say is that…you deserve a chance at happiness too, just like you all have given to me."

She gave off a little smile. "Thanks…"

By the time they made it back to the Argo II, it was nighttime. Somehow, Jason looked ready for a fight, still floating. "…You gonna be good from here?" Luke asked Piper softly.

"Actually, I…I want to watch," she said, quietly so Jason didn't hear, not that that phrase would've made him do anything since it wasn't a command. Luke pursed his lips. He was a bit hesitant that she seemed to want to watch the object of her desire, even if she had given up on obtaining it. Still, he nodded, and she sat against the opposite railing.

"Alright, Roman," Luke stretched his back. "Let's see how far you've come."

"That some kinda motto?"

"Something like that," Luke said, preparing himself. Taking a deep breath, Jason flew upwards. "Huh? You're supposed to…oh, I see…"

As Jason flew, he gathered up the wind as he passed, flying up and around and this way and that until he was like a speeding bullet. Even as time dilated in Luke's view, Jason was moving like a jet plane. Finally, he shot himself forward, creating a sonic boom as his direction settled. Luke smirked; he was going way too slow to get past him. But when he reached the edge of the ship, as Luke jumped up to intercept, Jason disappeared from view, and Luke was blasted back down to the deck as if by the wind. When he recovered, he saw Jason crouched, just landing, on the deck of the Argo. Jason gave Luke a smirk before the son of Hermes resumed time normally, only to be blasted to the edge of the ship from the carried wind. In fact, the ship was nearly destroyed from all of the pent up energy Jason had been storing, lurching heavily and some of the wooden planks weathering away in seconds from the force.

Piper had it the worst, being sent flying off the Argo. Her voice caught in her throat, about to yell for someone to catch her, but she didn't. "Jason!" Luke called, pointing towards her. Jason quickly looked and dashed, diving down to catch her, just like he'd done in the Grand Canyon, all those many months ago.

"Don't worry, I've got you," he said soothingly. Piper said nothing, face red again, the experience with Cupid still fresh in her head. She felt his arm gripped around her stomach to hold her, hand on her scar, not that he knew.

The two landed back onto the deck, Piper awkwardly stepping away from the son of Jupiter. "That was…incredible. How'd you do it?" Luke questioned.

"Remember when I said I might be able to use my body as a conduit? Well, it's kinda like that. When I gather all of that energy, all of that wind, it's like it becomes a part of me, like I'm amplifying its power using my own. When I explained it, I thought it would be like addition, like my power adds to it, but now that I've tried it, I'd say it's more multiplication. Then, when I need to use it, I just used it all in a big burst."

"And that's when you jumped in speed at the end," Luke guessed. "Fantastic. And that's also not even mentioning how much faster you've gotten without that extra skill."

"Seven times faster; I clocked it," Jason grinned, looking genuinely excited.

"Okay, so, and this is just a guess, but I'm betting flying, for you, is like running. It generally makes you more fit. So, in theory, your blasts should be-"

Jason beat him to the punch, turning around holding his hand out, and shooting off a blast of air, visible and concussive. "It's…so much stronger now…" Jason marveled at his newfound power. "And this was all in just a day! Can you imagine what I could do in a month?"

"Man, Percy's gonna have some competition when he gets back," Luke put a hand on his hip, impressed. "Alright. Let's all get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll set off, and you can start lightning."

With a few nods of agreement, the three returned to their rooms.

As foretold, though, Piper had a vision of a dream.

Almost as soon as she fell asleep, she woke back up in her dream. At first she assumed it was just going to be a black void, where she was shown their opponents like game show contestants. As her eyes adjusted, however, she realized that that wasn't going to be the case.

She found herself in a dark room, not unlike where they'd found Annabeth and the Athena Parthenos. To her right was a stairway leading up, which was the only exit aside from one exception that didn't really count. This mad her think they were underground. The only other notable structure was a set of doors, the Doors of Death, with nothing but a red glow coming from them, which presumably led into Tartarus.

Next to the Doors, though, was a shadowy figure, and that was literal. It didn't seem natural, literally just a mound of darkness in the form of a man, standing unmoving next to the sickening red glow of the Doors. From its presence, however, Piper knew it was a Giant. Judging from its statuesque appearance thus far, Piper assumed it was Sloth. This was confirmed by the other person in the room.

It was a woman, looking human, at least in the fact that she was flesh and blood. Looking to be around forty, the woman seemed…disturbing. Somehow. It was just a feeling, but Piper was getting nothing but bad vibes from her. The daughter of Aphrodite stepped a bit closer, to get a closer look at the both of them, whom she assumed were to be their 'immediate adversaries' as Cupid had said. Big mistake.

With a single step, the woman turned toward her. Piper froze. "Does she know I'm here?" she thought. "No, that's impossible…right?"

And yet, the woman walked toward her, stopped in front of her, and leaned close to her. "You were sent by a god, yes?" the woman wondered. Piper held her breath. Maybe she was referring to someone else. She craned her neck to look at the entrance. "Don't look away from me," the woman said, making Piper snap back to her. She did know Piper was here.

"Do we have a visitor?" the shadow asked, its voice sounding vaguely masculine. Though, it was also little more than a paradoxically loud whisper.

"That we do, Sloth," the woman said. "A little pest, likely with those fool demigods on their way to us."

"You…can see me?" Piper asked hesitantly, hoping this wouldn't turn into a horror-fest like with Cupid.

"Of course I can see you; no amount of Mist can obscure you from me, child. I am the great witch Pasiphaë, the most powerful in all of Greece!"

"You're…a witch? And you're working with the Giants? Why, to…get revenge? Didn't Poseidon trick you into loving a bull or something?"

"You think too small. As the Giants work to conquer Olympus, all of the Ancient Lands are left for me. Vengeance has no home in my endgame. And what of you?"

"What about me? We're coming to stop you, and to close the Doors."

"Ha! Hilarious," the woman turned deadpan for a moment, before her voice went low and threatening. "You have no hope of defeating me. Your Charmspeak does not affect me. Your eyes are far too easy to deceive. You will not make it three minutes in my realm, especially when I have so much to toy you with."

"What…what are you talking about?"

"The Mist is quite the invention; it knows all and sees all and hears all. Even your secrets. Even your desires and emotions. Yes, there is a reason I mastered it; to take advantage of gullible demigods such as yourself. I promise you; your patricide will be evoked again. And even if you overcome me, by some miracle, I promise that no one will want to speak to you ever again. Because after all, who would want to associate with someone who killed their own father?" Pasiphaë began laughing.

"Shut up," Piper warned, putting all of her Charmspeak into it. The witch continued her cackle, growing louder as Piper continued to protest. "Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don't know a thing about me!"

"On the contrary," Pasiphaë got close to her ear, just as she did with Luke, her form shifting from Jason to her father to Luke and then resting in Cupid's form. "I know you all too well, Piper McLean, and who you fear the most."

Piper shot up in her bed, sweating, panting, and unable to think clearly. It took her a good few minutes to realize that she was back in the Argo II, safe in her bed. And yet, she felt anything but safe. Even as she calmed down from her nightmare, from her vision, she couldn't be anything but restless. Cupid's torture had done more to her than she'd care to admit and unearthed feelings and desires she'd buried for fear of ruining the friendships she'd somehow torn together from her hopelessness, like a jigsaw puzzle of depression and anxiety.

She…she needed relief, by any means necessary. Piper stood, not believing what she was about to do, and walked down the hall to the boy's rooms. She knocked on the door, and waited, heart pounding in her chest, cheeks already red from the thoughts coursing through her head, of the impulses she felt, the hormones affecting her every action. "What's the password?" a strong voice came from the other side. It seemed tired yet light. Just what she needed.

"Velaira," she said.

The first thing she saw when she opened the door was the yellow in his hair, and the blue in his eyes. "Incorrect," he said, to which Piper smiled.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," Luke said back, smiling back. "Are you feeling weird too?"

"…" Piper nodded, but kept her head down to hide her face. He gestured for her to come in, and she obliged. He closed the door, and it was all but sealed.

"You're too young," Luke reminded her, though it seemed more playful as they both got undressed.

"Talk about honor," she teased, removing her shirt. He felt her scar as she did, making her shiver. "Age of consent in Croatia is fifteen, if it makes you feel better."

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that, and no, it doesn't."

"Well then…my eighteenth was actually in March," she was now fully naked, arms spread out. "And I'm all yours."

"I want you to know…I don't love you, not in the romantic sense anyway."

"And I don't love you either," she returned. "But this doesn't have to be romantic. And you know we both need this."

Luke sighed, but was smiling. "…Love can be platonic," he agreed.

"It does conquer all," Piper reminded him, pushing him to his bed.

"And all things crumble under it."

She leaned close to his ear, nibbling his lobe. "Even the pain."


Author's Note:

So this chapter might get me banned. I dunno whether this would be considered more explicate than chapter 40. I suppose that'll be up to you.

Anyway, this is my personal favorite chapter for House of Hades thus far; I just enjoy the characters and how they react to the situation I put them in. I like that both of the normally in-control characters of Luke and Piper are put into a situation where they're both disarmed and vulnerable emotionally and laid bare for the other and are able to understand each other in a more meaningful way than they could have otherwise. I like how we get more backstory with Piper and what really happened to where she just stopped speaking and, after all this time, we know and can understand why she decided to up and stop speaking altogether.

And slight analysis stuff, I like how this is a second example of my idea for Piper's relations to the others, with a kind of platonic love rather than romantic. We saw that she was able to adjust, at least in part, her feeling toward Jason to be platonic and devoted, and we see it now with Luke, though how much of this new attraction is because of Cupid will be left for you to decide.

Also, I love that Cupid is a dick. That's like the one thing I can say for sure was an A+ writing decision by Riordan, and I wanted to capitalize on it.

Before I go, I want to go over some logistical crap. So, it looks like I'll need to take a break post chapter 58. It won't be too long before I put out the rest of House of Hades, but since I've been trying to hammer out my own book, I'm not able to spend as much time or effort on this as I perhaps would if it was my sole project. Just wanted to give a warning.

But enough from me; what did you think? Leave me a review if you have thoughts, and I'll see you tomorrow!