EPSILON | DEAD...BUT ONLY FOR A BIT THERE

Disclaimer: I do not own the Heroes of Olympus series or any of the characters. I only own the character Nerissa Jackson and her original plot lines and dialogue.

THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO NicoleR85, yasminasfeir1, sofioe, angelmarie1995, Arianna Le Fay, CalebIsACactus, Cari, RHatch89 AND ILovIceCream97.

As much as Riss wanted to run—far, far away to another freaking galaxy—from Jason's searching gaze, she didn't. Because she couldn't. Riss' powers had a lock on them, unfortunately, so she couldn't leave even if she wanted to; she hadn't been authorized to leave Olympus without an escort, also known as Sander Soloman, so he was the only one who could teleport at the moment and had, therefore, become her ticket in and out of places she didn't want to be present at.

And, extra unfortunately, Sander didn't want to leave the Argo II, if the dreamy, love-heart eyes that he was exchanging with Piper said anything about it.

So, there was Riss Jackson, seated at the table with Sander hovering behind her like an undergrown bodyguard and seven pairs of eyes on her. Frank had even reached out to poke Riss in the face, only to sit back sharply to cradle his slapped hand and, confirm as if the others didn't know, that Riss was real. Hazel had given him a dead look at that and begun the interrogation herself, given that no one else seemed in the right mindset to start asking the once-dead girl actual questions.

"You were dead."

"For a bit there, actually." Riss tapped her fingers nervously against the tabletop, refusing to look anyone in the eyes, "Underworld wasn't remarkably fun but Persephone makes a really good pomegranate tart."

Percy snickered under his breath before he rolled his eyes. "Come on, sis. No jokes."

"Buzzkill," Riss grumbled. "I was dead for about a week but it felt like a lot longer—you know how screwed up time is in the Underworld—because, despite his deal with Zeus, Hades refused to relinquish me to Olympus. But I was finally let go and old Lightning Bolt started training me to be about as arrogant as him."

"She likes to think that it didn't work. I don't agree."

"Shove it up your ass, Sandman."

"Just putting in my two cents."

"No one freaking asked for them."

Sander winked at the crew, "See? Arrogance." The young man's lips stretched into a friendly smile, "I'm Sander Soloman, by the way, but my friends call me Sandman. Son of Somnus and former long-term occupant of the Fields of Punishment."

Riss covered her face with her hands as the other demigods blinked. "Sandman, remember when I mentioned how you need to think about some of the things that come out of your mouth before you actually say them? That was one of them."

"I'm not a criminal," the dark-haired man scoffed. "I just a brief run-in with old Corpse Breath after I tried to run away with his wife."

"That was you?" Jason asked, shock coloring his voice. He clarified for his friends, "It was a legend, really. A few hundred years ago, a demigod travelled to the Underworld to complete a task. Apparently, Pluto didn't take kindly to how Proserpina—the Roman form of Persephone—was looking at the demigod, so he threw him out before the demigod could fulfil his quest. The demigod went back to the Underworld—"

"And offered to take Proserpina away, only for her to reject him and Pluto then punished the demigod for centuries," Sandman finished. He shook his head, "I know, I know, I've heard the story and so has every other Roman demigod. But it's not true. My quest was actually given to me from Ceres to rescue Proserpina from the Underworld. I was just arrogant enough to think that she wanted to leave."

Riss nodded in agreement, "Sander didn't run when the Doors of Death opened, so Hades rewarded him." The acid-green-eyed girl rolled her eyes, shaking her head, "Not really much of a reward when you're passed over to Hera and given the almighty task of babysitting."

"A baby would give me less trouble."

"Fight me, Sleepy."

Sander jerked his head back, completely affronted, "Oh, try me, Seaweed!"

"I think you mean Seaweed Brain," Riss gestured at her twin brother, with raised brows, "and that's him. Besides, if we ever fought, I'd kick your ass with my eyes closed. Just say when and where."

The sound of a chair scraping over the wood flooring made Riss turn her head, catching a brief glimpse of golden hair as Jason hurried from the room like a harpy out of the Underworld. Riss sighed, ducking her chin to her chest before she pushed herself out of her own chair.

"I…should go speak to him."

Annabeth, despite having been silent throughout the brief interrogation, spoke up with a tiny smile, "Go on, we've all missed you but he needs you right now." She got up, dragging the raven-haired girl into a break your ribs kind of hug, whispering, "Gods, I missed you, Nerissa." Then, she pulled back and punched the daughter of Poseidon in the arm, "But don't ever disappear on us again!"

"I'll try," Riss promised before hugging Annabeth quickly. "I really missed you all too, Annie. Please don't think otherwise."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Riss walked from the room and the blonde sat back down, turning her sharp, stormy eyes on Sander, "What's happening? You're not here just to be a babysitter, are you? A Roman demigod, protecting a Greek…goddess? It doesn't add up."

Sander smirked, collapsing into Riss' vacated seat, "Love the brains, Blondie." Percy glared and the older boy raised his hands, "Right. You're spoken for, got it."

Piper scowled—not jealous, not jealous—across the table, "Answer Annabeth's question. We know Riss, we trust Riss; we don't know you."

The dark-haired mans snorted, shaking his head, "Please, you don't know her any better than you know me. She's different now, powerful, and she's an entirely different person with different responsibilities. Riss doesn't exist anymore."

"Dramatic," Leo muttered in a sing-song voice, nudging wires around in front of him. "She can't be that different if she wanted to come back here, right?"

Sander blinked in surprised, brow creasing as he realized, "You really don't remember anything…"

Hazel tilted her head, "What don't we remember?"

"Sorry, kid," Sander shook his head. "That's for Riss to tell you." Wordlessly, the older boy left the room, heading for the deck where he would surely wait until Riss came back to speak to him, watching for threats.

XXXXX

It's just Jason, no biggie. Riss closed her eyes in a pained expression, total biggie—the problem was because it was Jason. Her sweet, loving Jason who had mourned her every minute she had been gone—gods, how had she done that, how had she let Zeus do that to him? Watching Jason had hurt the most, even when she had seen Percy and Annabeth fighting for their lives through Tartarus—she supposed it was because she knew that her brother and the blonde would survive, Jason's grief was a whole different ocean that she was swimming in.

She knocked at the door to his—her—cabin, receiving a near-silent, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Jase," Riss murmured, pressing her forehead to the door. She could have heard crickets from the other side of the wood and she sighed, "Jason, please, open the door. We need to talk."

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say."

"Please don't be like this. You have to understand that—"

"My girlfriend, the girl who said she loved me and I said that I loved her right before she died, decided to fake her own death to shack up with a dude centuries older than her in Olympus? Yeah, I got that." Riss stifled a laugh at the jealousy she could hear in his voice. Jason's jaw clenched, hands forming into fists, "This is funny to you? Everything you put me through, what you put everyone through, is just a joke?"

The Jackson girl immediately sobered, "Gods, no, Jason. I never wanted to hurt any of you; I just…I didn't know how to tell Zeus no to the whole greater purpose speech he gave me." The silence was deafening. "Please, give me five minutes to explain."

A beat passed and Riss almost stopped breathing entirely. The door slowly creaked opened and she met the dull, icy eyes of Jason Grace. The purple bags under his eyes were extremely prominent and Riss' heart clenched at the look in his eyes—desolate and lost. Jason's jaw ticked and he pulled the door wider.

"Five minutes."

Riss let out a relieved sigh, slipping into the room, careful not to touch Jason as she did. He was barely willing to speak to her, let alone be anywhere close to touching him for a very long time. The acid-green-eyed girl remained standing, watching Jason as he sat back down on the bed. He watched her in return, taking in the sight of her like a man starved but she didn't miss the way he flinched once he met her unnatural eyes.

"Well," Jason raised his brows, "start talking."

XXXXX

"I don't like it."

"I don't think you like anything, Zhang."

Frank shot a dark look at the Latino boy, "Shut up, Leo. You love Riss too much to even think that there's something wrong with her sudden reappearance, from the dead, right when a new giant turns up. Tell me it's not fishy."

"Only thing fishy is that tuna casserole you're eating there, Frank," Leo mused, glancing up from the wire panel that he was fiddling with on Buford. His eyes flashed with amusement at the boy across from him, putting down his screwdriver. "Tell me, isn't that some sort of cannibalism?"

The burly Chinese boy scowled down at said casserole, poking at it with his fork, repeating a "Shut up, Leo" before he put his fork down. "I just…I don't trust the Riss that is talking to Jason right now. She came back from the dead, dude—"

"And, uh, where did Hazel come from again?"

"Shit." The Zhang boy floundered for a bit, red cheeked and wide eyed before he seemed to get himself together again, "You're right, about Hazel, okay, but I still don't trust Riss. Something's just…off."

Leo rolled his eyes, "Oh, wise praetor, what would we have ever done without you?" The Valdez boy got up, comically collecting all his equipment so that it covered his face as he wobbled to his feet. "Hey, if anyone asks, I'll be talking to Annabeth. She's, uh…"

Frank shook his head, flicking his eyes up to the ceiling. "She's on the deck, keeping Percy from bursting in on Riss and Jason's private talk."

The son of Hephaestus stuck out his tongue in distaste, mind darting to what private could mean before he struggled his way up the stairs to where Annabeth and Percy were watching the stars. Somewhere, between listening to Frank complain and eat a casserole and Leo's random fiddling, the sun had slipped below the horizon and the moon was now staring down at everyone like a creepy eye.

Annabeth's head was resting on Percy's shoulder when Leo tripped into view but she quickly hurried over to help him collect his spare parts. Leo didn't mention that he could see the red in her eyes. "What have you done, Leo?"

"Why do you always assume I've done something wrong!?"

"Because it's you," Percy informed the young boy, passing him his screwdriver. "So, what's up, man?"

Leo waved his free arm, now that the blonde girl was holding half of his equipment. "Frank doesn't trust Riss, Hazel's having girl talk with Piper and I don't want to know what the two young, recently-reunited lovers are doing."

Percy's eyes darkened, "They better not be doing anything."

"Right, right. Don't listen to me—they're not doing anything but talking, just talking." Leo nodded like a bobble-head. "I'd hate to be your little sibling…Anyway, I had some ideas, the weapon-kind, to maybe take down Angustia. You said she's pretty small, yeah, but fast?"

"From what I saw," Percy agreed. "Her height gives her the speed advantage. She made everyone around her really skittish too."

Annabeth's brow furrowed, "Emotion inducement?" Percy shrugged, a look that said no idea crossing his face. "Huh…I wonder if Riss can do that."

The Jackson boy shrugged again, "Even if she could, she wouldn't. Riss isn't like that." He refused to believe that the young woman speaking to Jason was someone knew, just wearing his little sister's face, like Sander had suggested and he was adamant about not treating her any differently. "Anyway, Leo?"

"Right. I wanted to ask if Annabeth could help me with something to maybe block it, if we're right about the whole feeling witchy woo stuff." Leo's nose wrinkled, "'Cause I don't really wanna be all I love you guys and we're a big, happy family when I should be all lady, I got a hammer with your name on it. You know?"

"I know," Annabeth commented dryly before she nodded towards the stairs, "Let's go then." She turned to press a kiss to Percy's lips, "Let me know when Riss is ready to talk, okay? I'll be in Leo's office."

Percy nodded, "Have fun blowing things up."

Annabeth shot a dead look over her shoulder before she and Leo disappeared from view. Percy slumped to sit against the side of the Argo II, vaguely feeling the waves under him sway and swell. The ocean hadn't been as stable in a while—the Jackson boy assumed it was because Poseidon was grieving and the sea had taken a bit of that pain on itself. He'd spoken to him, quite a few times actually, and, after he had been at the house with Sally, gods, did he look old. His dark, inky hair had gray streaks in it and his eyes were dull and sunken into his face. It probably hadn't helped that Triton was grieving too and Amphitrite didn't give a shit, instead making it abundantly clear that she was pleased that the spawn of her rival in Poseidon's affections was dead. According to Sally, who still had daily chats with Poseidon and Percy, Triton hadn't spoken to his mother since and had, in a rather stick-it manner, had taken to having regular conversations with Sally, growing closer to the mortal mother of his three younger siblings.

But now, as Percy was noticing, the sea was calm. Gentle, almost. Maybe it was because Riss was back or because Poseidon—who had been kept in the dark about his daughter's level of aliveness—had finally, finally been told by his brother that his little girl still breathed. And not just breathed, she thrived as a new goddess.

Percy wasn't going to treat her any differently because it was still Riss. Still cracks-bad-puns and is-unnaturally-dependent-on-coffee Nerissa Jackson. The only difference was her sea-green eyes had been replaced with the acid-green he'd become used to when she had used her powers before her…well, temporary death. And, in all honesty, Riss could have come back as a sea slug and Percy wouldn't have cared.

He was just glad he had his twin sister back.

XXXXX

"What the—!" Piper yelped as she turned the corner as she left Hazel's room, running smack into a broad chest. She dropped her chin, rubbing at her nose in annoyance. "Can you watch where you're—hi, Sander, I didn't realise it was you—I'm so, so sorry for bumping into you, are you hurt?"

Sander laughed, finding the girl's rambling dangerously adorable. It probably wasn't a good combination, a daughter of the love goddess and a notorious ladies man but Sander was turning over a new leaf. He'd turn over a million leaves if it meant spending some more time with Piper McLean.

She looked good too, like she always did. When he had met her in the café, she'd been a little bit more dressed up—you can't just walk into a café with a scorched shirt and blood pouring from the wound on your head and expect it to be socially acceptable—but her current attire—ankle boots, a green t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans—made Piper seem a bit more approachable and a tiny bit more attainable. It didn't help that Piper McLean glowed with an inner light no matter what she looked like or was wearing that made Sander particularly weak-kneed either.

"I'm fine, babe." Piper blushed, Sander smirked. He offered his arm to the girl, "Would you be willing to show me around this terrific ship—I got lost before and I walked into a room only to get a fireball lobbed at my face."

The McLean girl winced, "Yeah, that's Leo's workshop. I would avoid it in the future, if I were you. Most of the time we get out relatively unscathed."

"In the future," Sander echoed. "So, you want me to stick around?"

"I, uh, I just," Piper stammered before she seemed to magically collect her cool from the bottom of her Hello Kitty socks and smiled up at the dark-haired man, eyes glinting. "I figured you didn't really have a choice. If Riss stays, you stay, and she'll want to stay. I know that for a fact."

Sander almost swore. Oh, how the tables had turned and it was his turn to blush for assuming Piper wanted to be around him as much as he wanted to be around her. "Boss' orders, I suppose. What happens if her talk with Grace doesn't work out?"

Piper's head tilted up, a look of absolute confidence on her face. "It will. I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, I know these things. They're made for each other and everything will be perfect."

The pair stopped outside the door of Riss' old cabin, which had been adopted by Jason. It was dead silent—either the reunited couple were kissing or they were just awkwardly sitting there and staring at each other. Riss wouldn't have done that though—she hated awkward silences and she'd probably do just about anything to avoid them.

"No yelling…"

"They're fine!" Piper chirped confidently, rocking back on her heels. "Riss will come out. She'll be smiling and—" the door swung open "—oh…"

Piper darted forward, her arms reaching out to grasp Riss' arms. The daughter of Poseidon was crying, large tears rolling down her face and, with a quick jerk of her arm, the door slammed shut behind her, keeping Jason from coming out after her.

"Riss, what happened?" Sander asked gently, reaching forward to wrap an arm around his patron's shoulder. The girl shrugged him off, walking away like she had a mission to avoid being even within a foot's distance of Jason Grace. The son of Somnus followed dutifully after the woman, as silent as a shadow. "Are we leaving?"

"Yes."

"Now?"

"Yes."

Sander's hand darted out to grab Riss', stopping her in her tracks, "What happened? What did Grace do to make you cry?"

Riss turned glowing eyes on the man, her hair whipping around her head as an invisible wind tugged at her hair. Her face was tense, eyes almost wild as she glared heatedly at the man with his hand still on her arm. "He did nothing—he is nothing—and we will leave as soon as I've spoken to my brother. Now, release me."

Sander froze. He heard the order, trusted that the repercussions would be harsh if he confronted the highly-strung, emotional goddess. His hand dropped to his side and his jaw ticked, annoyed with the tug in him that ordered him to obey, despite his desire to tell her where to stick it and demand an answer.

"Sure thing, Boss."

XXXXX

UNEDITED

I'M SORRY IF I HURT YOUR LITTLE SHIPPER HEARTS!

I love writing moments between Riss and Sander, their interactions make my day. The next chapter will go back to before Riss ran out to her conversation with Jason. I wanted to show how Riss has changed in this chapter and she might seem a little cold and cruel for the next few chapters but there will be reason for that and you'll see why later on.

PLEASE REVIEW!

~ Raven