Chapter XIII JASON

* I wrote this in study hall today. Wow, I am such a dedicated student, aren't I?*

Jason slept like a log the next day. Last night had taken whatever energy he had left. He didn't even have any creepy demigod dreams, he was that exhausted. He woke up finally to find that an entire day had passed, in which Leo had completed that repairs of the Argo II and they had docked. Also, miraculously, no monsters had attacked them! So, everyone was relatively calm.

The group went back on land and split into two in order to search for Nico. Jason, Leo and Frank head off in one direction and Hazel, Piper and Coach Hedge go in another. Jason lead the way, keeping a tight grip on his coin/sword. Leo was in the middle, bouncing along the balls of his feet, (did that kid ever stay still?) and Frank brought up the rear. As they walked, Jason sensed a tension between the other two demigods.

"Frank, couldn't you just turn into a hawk or something and fly around in search of Nico?" Leo asked as they walked.

Frank blushed and didn't respond, walking steadily forward. Jason turned around and shot a look at Leo.

"Don't goad him." he mouthed.

Leo pulled a face and stuck his tongue out at Jason. Jason rolled his eyes at his friend. Leo would always be Leo, and nothing, not even a war against Gaea herself, would change that.

The boys walked through a park and saw a woman sitting by the lake. At the sound of their footsteps, she looked up and smiled at them.

"Hello there." she said with a friendly smile.

Jason immediately relaxed at the sight of her beaming at them. He suddenly felt the urge to just sit down and chill. The other guys clearly felt the same desire. Leo even went as far as sitting down next to her, that's how entranced they all were.

Some sensible part of Jason told him that this was insanity, that they should probably be running in the opposite direction right now. But the sun was so hot, and Jason just wanted to sit down. They'd been searching all day with no luck, why not take a break?

Jason sat down on the other side and the woman gripped his arm. Up close she didn't look so welcoming. Her eyes were cold and cruel, and she looked almost as if- she wanted to gobble them all up.

"Uh- actually, I think we'd better be going-"

"Oh no, darling. Please stay, it is so nice for a lonely lady like me to get nice company like you boys." she purred.

Her clasp on Jason's arms tightened and her face morphed. Suddenly she was a grotesque demon with an extremely creepy face. One side was pure white, and the other was inky black. Jason stifled a shout and reached for his coin. but he couldn't. Some invisible force was stopping him. The demon snarled and lunged toward's Jason' face.

Only to be stopped by Piper, who stabbed the demon through the back with her knife.

"Hands off my boyfriend." she said haughtily as the demon disintegrated.

Jason grinned and Piper helped him up.

"What was that thing?" he asked.

"I have no idea, but apparently she only scares men, because me, Hazel and Coach weren't affected."

It turns out, the demon was Melinoe, a demon who actually only did scare men.

"Well, it's ironic that this particular demon showed up right when we were split up." Leo said.

Everyone stared at him.

"Do you really think that was a coincidence?" Frank said disbelievingly.

At the sight of their faces, Leo shrugged,

"Judging by your expressions, I assume not?"

Gaea was watching them.

See that review button down there? Pretty attractive, isn't it? Yeah, I'd tap that :)*