Author's Note:

Surprise! A chapter narrated by Jo! (also, I know that I missed last Saturday, I was just taking it off because Christmas, sorry I forgot to tell y'all.)

Cheers!

justapercyjacksonfan

Chapter 14

"Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques, Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?"

"Morning bells are ringing, Morning bells are ringing."

Jo looked up at Jess, an eyebrow raised. The most she had expected was to be told to shut up and stop singing, not for her to continue the song.

"Ding dang dong. Ding dang dong." They sang the last line together, quietly.

"Thanks, by the way."

"Hm?"

"For saving me from the karpoi and all that."

Jess paled a little bit. "It was a group effort."

"Caleb told me what happened. You took them all out? Single-handed?" That was technically accurate. To be closer to the truth would be to say he gushed about it. Her brother seriously needed to figure out his own emotions.

"It wasn't that impressive. Besides, it wasn't even all me doing it, blessing of Nemesis or whatever. And it wouldn't have been half so effective if he hadn't frozen the ground."

Jo raised her eyebrow again. Maybe that meant that Jess also had feelings for Caleb? It was a possibility that - gah! Since when was she the matchmaker?

Also, why was every interaction with Jess so awkward? She blamed it on the fact that she knew about Caleb's crush and the fact that she was dying to tell Jess.

Jo cleared her throat. "So. Geese."

"Yeah, Symbols of my mom, or something. Couldn't tell you why, that's Bri or Ian's thing, the random trivia."

"Right. Nemesis." Jo looked down at her hands, one that was immobilized in the sling, the other that was twitching wildly as she got more unsure of herself. But the thought had been eating away at her forever. "Speaking of...you can see flaws?"

Jess frowned. "Sort of. More like….exploitable weaknesses. Things to take advantage of. And it's not like I just look at something and there's little glowing spots that say, 'attack here' or whatever. I don't know how to describe it. It's….it's almost like a sixth sense. My brain just kind of connects the things I see or hear with ways to use it against them."

"That sounds annoying. You can't turn it off?"

"Nope. But it keeps me out of danger."

"What are mine?"

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"What?"

"What are my...you know, exploitable weaknesses?"

Jess gave her a sidelong look. "I don't think I should tell you."

"Why not?"

"Look do you really want to know?"

"Why you can't tell me, or what my flaws are?"

"What your flaws are."

"Yeah. That's kinda why I asked."

"Look, Jo, we're friends and everything, but this seems like a bad idea. Heroes, or even just regular people, don't just get told their fatal flaw. They have to find it through introspection and soul searching. I can't just look in the mirror and see my own flaws, that's not how it works. Having me just tell you seems like a bad idea."

"Okay."

"Jo, I really don't want to keep-" Jess looked rather confused. "What did you say?"

"Okay. If you can't tell me, you can't."

"Oh. Um, I was expecting way more push back. But...thanks for respecting my boundaries."

"It's fine." But she was disappointed. It had taken her forever to build the confidence to ask Jess, and she was blown off. "I think Caleb and Ian are back." She pointed towards the two demigods that were slowly approaching.

Jess looked in that direction, but then back at Jo. "You're not mad at me, right?"

"No. Why would I be?"

"You know…" Jess cleared her throat. "Anyway. Good….good catching up with you. Wait here and keep an eye on the goose, I'm gonna go see what's up with Ian."

Jo studied Caleb and Ian more carefully as they came closer, realizing that Ian was leaning heavily on Caleb. "You know, I don't even want to know what happened." she muttered to herself. Her eyes flickered between the bird and her three companions.

Jess took Ian's other arm and draped it over her shoulders, allowing the three to make their way over quicker. Jo only smirked when she saw Caleb blushing slightly at whatever it was Jess had said. Her brother was too awkward for his own good. All she could do as she waited for them was get out her med kit, re-stocked courtesy of the Stoll-Gardners, to try and patch Ian up.

"I did an illusion thing!" Ian said. The excitement couldn't have been more clear across his features.

"That's great." Caleb said. "Now let's work on doing it without almost fainting afterwards."

He shook his head. "Nothing a little nectar won't fix."

Jo furrowed her brow. "And maybe some sleep when we're done with whatever this is. Nectar may help, but there's only so much I can do for exhaustion besides that and prescribing a nap."

"See? Doctor Jo's got it all under control."

"Right. Eat this."

Ian took the energy bar out of her hand, but didn't even bother unwrapping it. "Look, I'll show you guys what I did. It was like this."

He closed his eyes and concentrated, only for Jo to slap him. "Not right now. You can show us after you've had a nap and a snack." she looked pointedly at the ignored food.

"Oh. Right." He opened the package and started munching as Jess came back from her dealings with the goose. She was waving the paper in triumph.

"Equal exchange, note received. Time to figure out where Bri is. Who wants to do the honors?"

Jo waved her free hand wildly. "Ooo, pick me! Pick me, Ms . Tewers!"

Jess rolled her eyes, but handed the note to Jo, who unfolded it dramatically. "Dolese Youth Park, sundown. Bring the ransom, or she dies." she looked up at them. "Well that's cheery. Anyone have a ransom?"

They all shook their heads, confused. "I'm still wondering how they got a goose to deliver their message." Jess said. "What's the plan?"

They all looked at Ian. He swallowed a bite of his energy bar. "Well. They want a ransom. We don't have one. Depending on how many there are, or even what we're up against, we might be able to take them out and get Bri back."

"And if we can't?"

"Then...illusions. One of us approaches them with the illusionary ransom while the others hide, ready to ambush. If we can't take them, the person with the "ransom" distracts them long enough for us to grab Bri and get away."

They nodded. "Good enough for now." Caleb said.

"We should try and find the park now, so we can try and get an idea of who we'll be up against when the time comes, solidify the plan a little. And who's gonna be the bait? I can if we need, I guess."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"I'll do it."

"Caleb?"

"Sure, why not? I can protect myself well enough if a fight breaks out. And I'm persuasive."

"If you're sure." Ian said.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

Jo looked half-amused, half-worried. "Tu ne veux juste pas qu'elle soit en danger."

Caleb rolled his eyes. "Tais-toi."

Authors' Note:

Translations:

Tu ne veux juste pas qu'elle soit en danger : You just don't want her to be in danger.

Tais-toi : Shut-up.

Next chapter is both awkward, and a painful struggle for ya girl to write.

Shout-outs:

Thank you to LittleBumkin for following and favoriting! I'm so happy you enjoyed this too!

Have a lovely day!
justapercyjacksonfan