To avoid being overheard, Jason and Hercules concocted a lie that they were helping Kora with the restaurant. Nerissa, Lilith, and Iolaus wished them luck before agreeing to a ball game with the other cadets. At Kora's, the two boys found a quiet table in the back corner.

"So, what's up, Hercules?" Jason asked.

Hercules leaned his arms on the table.

"I think I have an idea to help Nerissa with her…uh…birthday issue."

Jason leaned toward his friend a bit with a raised eyebrow.

"Herc, if I know anything about Nerissa, and I'm going to go ahead and say I know a lot…she wouldn't approve of 'help' from anyone. You haven't seen what she is like on her birthday."

"Tell me about it then."

The Prince of Corinth sighed and rubbed his face in exasperation.

"She isn't…herself. She gets very flirtatious and girly and…pushy. Her sole focus is on the first guy she sees and kissing him. It is nearly impossible to distract her."

"So, you think locking her up in a room that she will probably break out of is going to work?"

Hercules observed his friend's mental battle. Jason didn't trust that Nerissa would stay locked up in that room. That much the two had in common. Leaning back, Hercules crossed his arms.

"Here is the worst-case scenario I have in mind here. She gets out, spots a random cadet while we aren't watching, and BAM. He's a love slave and Nerissa is completely distraught the next day. I have a plan that can keep that from happening!"

Jason waved a hand for Hercules to continue.

"I figure that if she immediately sees someone who can fend her off the entire day, she can have a relatively normal day still and she doesn't have to worry later about having put a spell on someone."

"Uh…except the one guy who was supposed to fend her off!" Jason pointed out," You don't know how crafty she is. I am not volunteering for that role."

Hercules laughed at his friend.

"I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about someone with enough strength to keep her at arm's length."

The two males stared at each other for a moment before Jason took it as his turn to laugh. Hercules made a face at his friend as Jason started wiping tears from his eyes.

"I'm serious!" Hercules protested.

"Oh, I know! And you're out of your mind. I get wanting to help her. I want to help her, too, but it's too risky, Hercules. She'll find a way to lower your guard and then you can't imagine what you'll get roped into."

Hercules sighed and pursed his lips.

"But what if it doesn't work on me? What if my being a son of Zeus makes the spell not work? Like how she can't persuade me to do something against my will!"

Jason shook his head seriously.

"That is a huge "what if" that we are better off not testing the answer to."

"But do you seriously trust the locks on the windows and doors of her room over my being able to fend her off? Seriously, be honest."

Jason groaned and studied his friend. He could see Hercules was incredibly determined and was confident in his plan. While he wasn't so sure about his idea, Jason did trust him over the locks. Jason pointed a finger at his friend.

"Let me make this very clear. If we go with your plan, you get to deal with Nerissa's wrath. I know you. Even if I disagreed, you'd do it anyway, so you tell Nerissa that I'm an innocent helper in this."

Hercules inhaled deeply, not sure how much he wanted to agree to that deal, but he wanted to help his friend. He held out a hand to Jason.

"It's a deal."

The two shook hands before ordering some food.

A short number of days later, the morning of Nerissa's 20th birthday arrived. Hercules and Jason stood outside her room. They could already hear the girl inside pacing the room and testing the locks. Jason handed Hercules a key.

"I swiped the backup key from Cheiron's desk. Hurry up and use it so I can get it back before he notices."

Hercules took a deep breath before unlocking the door. Tossing the key to Jason, he opened the door and slipped inside. Upon closing the door, he turned to come face-to-face with Nerissa.

"Gah, h-hi," Hercules stuttered out, backing himself away from her person a bit.

There was something definitively off about his friend as she studied him. Her eyes assessed him carefully, a smirk slowly gracing her lips. Personal space was all but forgotten by this version of his friend as she cozied up to him.

"Good morning, Hercules," she practically purred," What brings you to my room this morning?"

Hercules was beginning to worry about his plan despite being only seconds into it. He gently swatted away Nerissa's hand as it tried to slide up his chest.

"I figured we could walk to the mess hall together for breakfast. Nice long day of classes ahead of us, after all."

Nerissa sighed, dramatically.

"So many classes and training. I think we deserve a day off. How about we skip?"

Hercules suddenly knew just how different this spell made Nerissa. She would never suggest something like that even if she felt ill. She'd drag herself to classes and training. The girl before him reminded him of someone else entirely. In fact, he knew exactly who she reminded him of. Aphrodite. This spell caused her to be the individual her mother wanted her to be. And Aphrodite loved herself very much. Hercules found himself irritated. But if that were the case, he had an idea of how to keep her at bay. Hercules reached out and grabbed Nerissa's wrist. Pulling her to him, he put a finger to her lips and smiled.

"Now we can't do that. But how about, if we get through classes with you taking them very seriously, you and I spend the evening together?"

He seemed to catch her off guard, as her eyebrows shot up.

"Spend the evening?" she questioned, softly," Now, Hercules, what are you implying?"

The girl tried to move his hand and bring her face closer, but Hercules held her back by putting his hand under her chin.

"Nothing too special. We can talk and hang out."

Nerissa's eyes squinted. He watched her thought process as it went from considering his idea of how the night would go to her coming up with an idea of how she wanted it to go. The girl laughed and moved away from him. It took all of Hercules's willpower not to sigh in relief.

"Sure, I can be a good girl. We'll talk and hang out. It can be our own little…inside date."

She winked at him slyly before opening the door. Hercules's eyes closed as she moved past him and walked out into the hallway.

"Oh, gods…" he breathed before following after her.

Jason and Hercules had their hands full the entire day. Nerissa spent her time relocating everyone who typically sat next to Hercules in classes, refusing to work with anyone but him at training, and hinting to the cadets that the two were together. Jason would spend his time cutting off her sentences halfway if she started to get out of hand while Hercules made up an excuse for what she "actually meant." More than anyone else, Lilith was confused by the change in her friend. Nerissa barely spoke to her, so Hercules told her that Nerissa was just having an off day due to hitting her head that morning. They kept Nerissa busy after classes by immediately going to dinner and dragging it out as much as possible. They then coerced her into an extra hour of training. By the time it ended, Hercules and Jason were both thoroughly exhausted. The two found some peace in the showers, as the other males and Lilith had rushed home for the weekend before dinner. Iolaus was included, as he had to work at Kora's for the evening. Hercules sighed into the warm water.

"You were right, Jason, she is definitely not herself. I don't know how I'm going to handle the rest of the night. She switches back at midnight, right?"

Jason snorted from his shower.

"Mmm-hm. Right at midnight her entire demeanor just swaps back to normal. Like nothing happened. She then typically spends the next day agonizing over what she did as a...as a…"

"Aphrodite clone?" Hercules offered.

"Huh, I never thought of it that way since I didn't meet her mom till she came to the Academy, but yeah!"

Jason stepped out of the shower. Hercules heard him call out to him again.

"You going to be okay on your own? She wouldn't shut up about your 'evening together.' You certainly got her excited for that."

Hercules groaned.

"I couldn't come up with anything else to get her to focus on the Academy. Honestly, I'm shocked she was as diligent as she was despite never closing her mouth for more than thirty seconds at a time."

Jason laughed.

"Has she made you stop liking her?"

"Of course not, I just don't like this fake her."

"I didn't mean as a person, Hercules, I meant how you like her."

The blond spluttered from under the water.

"Cut it out, Jason, it's not like that."

"Yeah, yeah."

Jason's footsteps signaled his departure from the shower room. Figuring he should do the same and get back to Nerissa, Hercules stopped the water. Turning, he nearly jumped out of his skin as Nerissa stood smiling at him. How she got past Jason without him noticing was beyond him. Cursing, he grabbed his towel and covered himself.

"What are you doing in here?" Hercules hissed, his face on fire.

The girl's eyebrows raised in amusement.

"I didn't want you to forget that you promised to spend time with me. You were in here for so long I started to get lonely. Coming in, though, the sight was rather…rewarding."

Hercules knew at that moment that he was in so much trouble when Nerissa was back to normal. He gave her a weary smile.

"I could never forget about you! I just…I just need five more minutes to get changed. So, if you could just…you know…"

Nerissa reached out, grabbing the towel that Hercules clutched to his nether region. She tugged him toward her.

"It might be faster if I…helped dry you off…"

Hercules laughed awkwardly, skirting around her.

"That is…quite the offer that is definitely not full of hidden connotations."

The male was shocked as she suddenly dropped the towel and pushed him up against the side wall of the shower. He shivered as his back met cold stone. Hercules struggled with the towel and keeping Nerissa away at the same time as she pressed herself close to him, her hands running up his bare chest.

"I'm starting to feel like you're avoiding me, Herc," she pouted," You wouldn't do that would you? You wouldn't go back on a promise you made, right?"

"Of course not! But to keep my promise, I need to get dressed."

"No, you don't. I think I can come up with plenty of things for us to do just like this."

Feeling panicked, Hercules did the first thing that came to mind. He tossed his towel over the girl's head and took off as fast as he could to the changing room. Jason, who just finished dressing, shouted in surprise.

"We have towels for a reason!"

Hercules began throwing on clothes as fast as possible.

"Nerissa was in the shower room," he informed his friend," Without much detail, the towel is covering her face."

Jason chuckled at him.

"Oh, man, you are so dead tomorrow. How much did she see?"

Hercules glared at him as he continued dressing.

"I've honestly got nothing left to hide."

Jason began to howl with laughter despite his friend's lack of amusement. As Hercules was pulling on his bracers, Nerissa came out of the shower room. She tossed his towel at him in exasperation

"You are no fun at all, Hercules," she told him.

The two males exchanged a look. Jason moved forward and put an arm around his best friend.

"Nerissa, I need to speak with Hercules for just one moment. How about you wait for him in your room? I swear he will be ready to spend time with you before you know it."

She glanced at the both of them before shrugging. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she grinned at Hercules.

"Don't make me wait too long, darling."

She blew him a kiss with a wink. He smiled awkwardly before shuddering once her back was turned. Hercules was surprised as Jason grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close. His friend's face was completely serious.

"You do anything funny to her while her brain is addled, I'll kill you with my bare hands."

"What part of anything I've done today makes you think I'd try something on her?"

Letting go of Hercules, Jason ran a hand through is hair.

"I'm not just suggesting that it would be your fault, but you're the one with control. She'll try and instigate something for sure. I don't know what you'll find when you get to her room but be prepared for anything."

"Thanks for the warning. We've gone through most of the day. What's another…four hours?"

Jason just shook his head before leaving with a wave. Hercules took a deep breath before heading off to Nerissa's room.