Whoop, I am mean, poor kids, all three of them have issues in this chapter. I hope you all enjoy.
Replies:
Undeath9087: Yeah it won't be long until you guys get to see Zoe again, you shall understand the fungus comment.
The Official Clarisse: Oh I am so looking forward to seeing people's reactions, and Calypso will not let anyone stand between her and her Leo. It's adorable really.

"Well…" Piper looked truly lost now. "Isn't that the point of the story? That you learned your lesson?"

That made Leo snort and roll his eyes, "Yeah right, it's not often that people like him learn their lesson Pipes."

"My dear girl- your friend is right." Midas laughed, "May I see your backpack for a moment? Toss it here. "

Piper hesitated, but she wasn't eager to offend the king. She dumped everything out of the pack and tossed it to Midas. As soon as he caught it, the pack turned to gold, like frost spreading across the fabric. It still looked flexible and soft, but definitely gold. The king tossed it back and Piper caught it, her eyes wide as she did, staring at the newly gold backpack.

"As you see, I can still turn anything to gold," Midas said. "That pack is magic now, as well. Go ahead—put your little storm spirit enemies in there. "

"Seriously?" now that would be useful Leo had to admit, and he took the bag from Piper quickly, examining it before he moved towards the cage and unzipped it. As soon as he didthe winds stirred and howled in protest. The cage bars shuddered. The door of the prison flew open and the winds got vacuumed straight into the pack. Leo zipped it shut and grinned. "Gotta admit. That's cool. You're not so bad after all your highness."

"I see you have taste young man. Bah! My golden touch a curse? Please. I didn't learn any lesson, and life isn't a story, girl. Honestly, my daughter Zoe was much more pleasant as a gold statue. "

"She talked a lot," Lit offered.

"Exactly! And so I turned her back to gold. " Midas pointed. There in the corner was a golden statue of a girl with a shocked expression, as if she were thinking, Dad! And okay. Okay Leo took back what he just said, Midas was definitely bad. Worse than Leo had thought at first. Who the Hades thought that was okay?!

"That's horrible!" Piper's voice was appalled, and Leo really couldn't blame her, though... it might not be such a good idea to actually say that to the clearly crazy guy.

"Nonsense. She doesn't mind. Besides, if I'd learned my lesson, would I have gotten these?"

Midas pulled off his oversize sleeping cap, and Leo blinked slowly- it took a good few seconds to process the sight. Midas had long fuzzy gray ears sticking up from his white hair—like Bugs Bunny's, but they weren't rabbit ears. They were donkey ears.

"Oh, wow," Leo managed. "I didn't need to see that." it was a weird cross between funny and gross- and it was too gross for even Leo to find it hilarious.

"Terrible, isn't it?" Midas sighed. "A few years after the golden touch incident, I judged a music contest between Apollo and Pan, and I declared Pan the winner. Apollo, sore loser, said I must have the ears of an ass, and voilà. This was my reward for being truthful. I tried to keep them a secret. Only my barber knew, but he couldn't help blabbing. " Midas pointed out another golden statue—a bald man in a toga, holding a pair of shears. "That's him. He won't be telling anyone's secrets again."

"Oh wow." Leo repeated himself, "So you don't go in for leniency very much huh?"

The King was smiling- and suddenly he looked a lot more dangerous than he had at first. His eyes had a merry glow to them—the look of a madman who knew he was mad, accepted his madness, and enjoyed it. "Leniency? Why would I be lenient, no, he deserved his punishment, and as for my gold... well, gold has many uses. I think that must be why I was brought back, eh Lit? To bankroll our patron."

Lit nodded. "That and my good sword arm." and Leo shifted his gaze, meeting Jason and Piper's eyes- all of them looked worried, to say the least. This could be an issue if they didn't find a way out of this.

"So you do have a patron," Jason said. "You work with the giants. "

King Midas waved his hand dismissively. "Well, I don't care for giants myself, of course. But even supernatural armies need to get paid. I do owe my patron a great debt. I tried to explain that to the last group that came through, but they were very unfriendly. Wouldn't cooperate at all."

"The last group?" Jason's eyes narrowed and Leo could see him sliding a hand into his pocket, undoubtedly grabbing his coin.

"Hunters," Lit snarled. "Blasted girls from Artemis." and Leo's eyes widened in surprise at that, straightening up.

"Wait? You've seen- oh wow." he hadn't seen any hunters since the Battle of Manhattan, which was a shame because Leo knew that Calypso wanted to see Zoe, and Zoe would probably be pleased to see Calypso too. But still, if the hunters were close that could only be a good thing for them, since Leo was sorta friendly with Zoe. She didn't hate him like she did most guys anyway. "When? Was there this scary girl, talks super olden times style?"

Lit shrugged. "Few days ago? I didn't get to kill them, unfortunately. They were looking for some evil wolves, or something. Said they were following a trail, heading west. They said they had been looking for some demigod who'd went missing or something—I don't recall- but I do think I know the girl you're talking about. Her name was Zoe too she her s-"

"Yes!" Leo punched the air, a grin on his lips, "Awesome, that's great- and they- they must still be looking for me!"

Midas scratched his donkey ears. "Very unpleasant young ladies, those Hunters," he recalled. "They absolutely refused to be turned into gold. Much of the security system outside I installed to keep that sort of thing from happening again, you know. I don't have time for those who aren't serious investors."

"Right." Leo shifted slightly, shaking himself. Focus time. Mida was an enemy no matter how ridiculous he seemed at times.

He looked at his friends- and all of them seemed to realise what was up because Piper nodded.

"Well," Piper said, managing a smile. "It's been a great visit. Welcome back to life. Thanks for the gold bag. "

"Oh, but you can't leave!" Midas said. "I know you're not serious investors, but that's all right! I have to rebuild my collection. "

Lit was smiling cruelly. The king rose, and Leo and Piper moved away from him, Leo tensing, his mind racing as he tried to figure out how to get them out of this.

"Don't worry," the king assured them. "You don't have to be turned to gold. I give all my guests a choice—join my collection, or die at the hands of Lityerses. Really, it's good either way. "

Piper tried to use her charmspeak. "Your Majesty, you can't—" Quicker than any old man should've been able to move, Midas lashed out, grabbing at Piper's wrist- though he didn't manage to quite catch it because Leo was lunging forward, pushing Piper to the side- he heard her let out a shriek- and then Midas' hand was on Leo's forearm and he felt himself turning to gold- and it was not a pleasant experience.

It was fast, he felt himself turning cold, felt his skin hardening from the point where Midas was touching him.

Thankfully it was a fast process, and Leo didn't feel much pain really, though the last thing he saw before he was fully transformed was Piper's terrified expression as she hit the ground hard and reached out towards him, and he heard Jason's cry echoing in his ears.

Of course, Leo's attempt to protect Piper didn't exactly do much to save her- because even when Jason rushed forward to try and get between the daughter of Aphrodite and Midas he was too slow- and it was a horrifying sight- Leo's statue was posed mid lunge, body leaning forward, arms outstretched and tilted slightly downwards from how he'd pushed Piper, his head tilted down too- staring at Piper, who was on the ground, propped up on one elbow, one hand outstretched to try and reach up to Leo- both of their expressions were filled with fear, and the sight made Jason feel sick to his stomach.

He was frozen, for just a second, his stomach twisting uncomfortably because gods but his friends were gone. He was on his own with no memories, no support from either of his friends- Piper always seemed to be able to make him feel better, despite his doubts, his fears about his memories and Leo? Leo, well, weirdly enough he made Jason feel safe, he trusted the other teen to know what he was doing. And now Jason was on his own. It was his quest, it was his fault that his friends were gone. How could he do this on his own? Would he get turned into a statue too- a testament to his failure. His father would certainly not be proud of him he was sure of that.

He snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Midas' voice and his gaze swung to the king as he said, "And now there's only one more trophy to collect. "

"Hedge!" Jason yelled, trying to keep his desperation out of his voice. "Need help in here!"

For once, the satyr didn't charge in. Jason wondered if the lasers had gotten him, or if he was sitting at the bottom of a trap pit.

Midas chuckled. "No goat to the rescue? Sad. But don't worry, my boy. It's really not painful. Lit can tell you."

Jason fixed on an idea. "I choose combat. You said I could choose to fight Lit instead. " it was the best chance, the only one he really had.

He knew he was skilled, he was a well trained fighter even if he didn't remember any of it- and most of fighting was muscle memory.

He had to hope he stood a chance.

Midas looked mildly disappointed, but he shrugged. "I said you could die fighting Lit. But of course, if you wish. "

The king backed away, and Lit raised his sword.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Lit said. "I am the Reaper of Men!"

"Come on, Cornhusker. " Jason summoned his own weapon. This time it came up as a javelin, and Jason was glad for the extra length.
"Oh, gold weapon!" Midas said. "Very nice. "

Lit charged.

The guy was fast. He slashed and sliced, and Jason could barely dodge the strikes, but his mind went into a different mode—analysing patterns, learning Lit's style, which was all offense, no defence.

Jason countered, sidestepped, and blocked. Lit seemed surprised to find him still alive.

"What is that style?" Lit growled. "You don't fight like a Greek."

"Legion training," Jason said, though he wasn't sure how he knew that. "It's Roman."

"Roman?" Lit struck again, and Jason deflected his blade. "What is Roman?"

"News flash," Jason said. "While you were dead, Rome defeated Greece. Created the greatest empire of all time."

"Impossible," Lit said. "Never even heard of them."

Jason spun on one heel, smacked Lit in the chest with the butt of his javelin, and sent him toppling into Midas's throne.

"Oh, dear," Midas said. "Lit?"

"I'm fine," Lit growled.

"You'd better help him up," Jason said. Lit cried, "Dad, no!"

Too late. Midas put his hand on his son's shoulder, and suddenly a very angry-looking gold statue was sitting on Midas's throne.

"Curses!" Midas wailed. "That was a naughty trick, demigod. I'll get you for that. " He patted Lit's golden shoulder. "Don't worry, son. I'll get you down to the river right after I collect this prize. "

Midas raced forward. Jason dodged, but the old man was fast, too. Jason kicked the coffee table into the old man's legs and knocked him over, but Midas
wouldn't stay down for long.

Then Jason glanced at Piper and Leo's golden statues. Anger washed over him. He was the son of Zeus- or Jupiter, he wasn't sure really. It was confusing, but it meant something either way. He could not fail his friends.

He felt a tugging sensation in his gut, and the air pressure dropped so rapidly that his ears popped. Midas must've felt it too, because he stumbled to his feet and grabbed his donkey ears.

"Ow! What are you doing?" he demanded. "My power is supreme here!"

Thunder rumbled. Outside, the sky turned black.

"You know another good use for gold?" Jason said.

Midas raised his eyebrows, suddenly excited. "Yes?"

"It's an excellent conductor of electricity. "

Jason raised his javelin, and the ceiling exploded. A lightning bolt ripped through the roof like it was an eggshell, connected with the tip of Jason's spear, and sent out arcs of energy that blasted the sofas to shreds. Chunks of ceiling plaster crashed down. The chandelier groaned and snapped offits chain, and Midas screamed as it pinned him to the floor. The glass immediately turned into gold. When the rumbling stopped, freezing rain poured into the building. Midas cursed in Ancient Greek, thoroughly pinned under his chandelier. The rain soaked everything, turning the gold chandelier back to glass. Piper and Leo were slowly changing too, along with the other statues in the room.

Then the front door burst open, and Coach Hedge charged in, club ready. His mouth was covered with dirt, snow, and grass.

"What'd I miss?" he asked.

"Where were you?" Jason demanded. His head was spinning from summoning the lightning bolt, and it was all he could do to keep from passing out. It made him feel weak compared to his friends- Piper and Leo didn't seem to get like this when they used their powers "I was screaming for help. "

Hedge belched. "Getting a snack. Sorry. Who needs killing?"

"No one, now!" Jason said. "Just grab Leo. I'll get Piper. "

"Don't leave me like this!" Midas wailed.

All around him the statues of his victims were turning to flesh—his daughter, his barber, and a whole lot of angry-looking guys with swords.

Jason grabbed Piper's golden bag and his own supplies.

Then he threw a rug over the golden statue of Lit on the throne. Hopefully that would keep the Reaper of Men from turning back to flesh—at least until after Midas's victims did.

"Let's get out of here," Jason told Hedge. "I think these guys will want some quality time with Midas. "