Piper knew immediately that this was a bad idea. Gods weren't supposed to interfere with demigod quests, much less join them. What did Hermes care about Jason anyway? She had an educated guess that the god of thieves had ulterior motives. He was up to no good.

Hermes had ordered everyone to return to their meals, but no one could eat. The excitement that generally came with a quest had died down considerably, overshadowed by a wave of uneasiness. The only people who seemed to be buzzing with energy were those sitting at the Hermes Table.

Their dad had seated himself amongst them and was chatting away like nobody's business. He was catching up, praising their accomplishments, dad stuff. Well, good for them. It must be nice to hear from their godly parent. All the same, Piper couldn't help but feel a knot of dread in her stomach.

Piper had been so caught up with the activity at the Hermes table that she had missed the conversation going on at hers. She didn't hear all of it, but she caught that Drew was being herself. Her half-sister was taunting poor Lacy about her "metal mouth."

"Hey," Piper warned. "Watch it, Drew."

Drew rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed with Piper's tactics. "Listen, sweetie," Drew said in a sugary voice. Well, not sugary. More like artificially flavored. Splenda voice. "We're Aphrodite kids. We shouldn't need braces. It's totally fake."

Lacy whimpered next to Piper, threatening to cry. "Y'know what's fake, Drew?" Piper snapped. "Your eyelashes and probably your nose. Your surgeon should give you your money back." Piper turned to Lacy. "Don't listen to her, Lacy."

Piper constantly did this. She defended Lacy with as much fire as Drew spat at her. Poor Lacy was scared to death of Drew. Piper hated to admit it, but Lacy would most likely not be able to stick up for herself when Piper was gone. So who would?

As soon as dinner ended, Piper marched straight to Will, who was still talking to Elise. They both looked like they had been crying or were about to start. It would probably be rude to interrupt, but she had to talk to Will about Hermes. See what he thought.

"You're going to have to take care of Nico for me," Will was saying. "You and I both know he won't take it well. He already—"

"Oh, hey, Piper!" Elise greeted a little too brightly when she noticed Piper. It was somewhat obvious she was trying to shut Will up. "What can we do for you?"

Piper glanced sideways at Hermes. "I'm not sure there's anything you can do."

Will got her meaning and nodded. "So, it makes you nervous, too?"

"I don't think there are many who aren't made nervous by it," Elise pointed out.

"It's not supposed to happen," Piper added. "What could he possibly hope to gain?"

Will ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled slowly. "I don't know. I don't trust him."

Hermes's voice interrupted their conversation. "Don't trust who?" No one had noticed him come into earshot.

Luckily, Elise thought quickly. "He's was talking about Jack Harkness. I'm getting Piper and Will caught up on Doctor Who." That was, of course, a ridiculous statement. Piper had already seen all of that show up to the most recent season.

However, it let them miss some awkwardness. Hermes nodded. "Well, spoiler alert, he's a good guy," Hermes laughed, but he smirked knowingly. It made Piper anxious enough to feel like throwing up. "Anyway, quest-mates," Hermes sang. "Let's get this show on the road."

Piper spoke up. "Aren't we going to get a night of rest first?"

Hermes crossed his arms. "And waste precious time? Our dear Mr. Grace is getting weaker by the minute."

Piper sensed the lack of genuine concern in his voice, but she could hardly argue. "Can't we make our goodbyes, then?"

Hermes sighed. "Yes, I suppose. Can't have Mr. Grace think we've abandoned him, can we?"

Piper rushed to the infirmary to say goodbye to Jason. He was supposed to stay there until he was better, so that's where he was during dinner. He was currently sitting up in bed, looking perfectly healthy. It was difficult to think that he would die if they failed.

Of course, Piper didn't want to think it. She could hardly bear the thought of coming back empty-handed, spending her last few moments with Jason, or eventually putting him in the ground.

"Hey, Pipes," Jason yawned. "Come to say goodnight?"

"Well," Piper sighed as she kneeled by the bed. "Goodbye, actually."

Jason furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? I thought you were going to rest first. Do you even have the thief, yet?"

"Yeah, we do, and he's demanding that we leave right away."

"So who is it?" Jason questioned, adjusting his glasses.

Piper hesitated. She didn't want to give him another thing to worry about. He was already dying, after all.

"Piper, I want to know."

"It's Hermes," Piper informed, quickly and quietly. There, it was out.

Jason's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. She shouldn't have said a word. "That's—"

"I know," Piper interrupted. "No one likes it, but there's no point in freaking out about it."

Jason nodded. "You're right, but you're still going to go?"

"I have to. You're dying, Jason."

Closing his eyes, Jason answered, "Oh, right. I keep forgetting." They sat in silence a while. Then Jason spoke again. "Why are you so good to me?"

Piper kissed his forehead. "I love you. That's why."

Elise and Will walked in. "Good evening, Jason," Will greeted in his "doctor voice." "I've decided to put Elise here in charge while I'm gone. Every day she is going to inject this serum." Will held up a small vial full of a clear liquid. "It will slow down the poison. The only side-effect you should get is that you're going to feel quite tired most of the time."

Jason smiled. "Alright, sounds good."

"Great. Right now, we're going to leave you to get some rest."

Jason nodded.

"I'll be back before you know it," Piper promised the son of Jupiter. "See you soon." They all left the room. Piper got Elise's attention. "Hey, Elise, could I talk to you?" piper requested, pulling Elise aside. "You know Lacy, right?"

Elise smiled. "'Course I know Lacy."

"Well, listen. I'm afraid Drew has taken a liking to pushing her around, bullying her, et cetera. Could you kind of look out for her while I'm gone?"

Elise nodded. "Yeah, sure, no problem."

Suddenly, Hermes appeared in the middle of the room. "Chop-chop, happy campers! Time's a-wasting! C'mon, I'll teleport us outside of camp."

Elise hugged Will goodbye, and physician, thief, and queen left camp in a cloud of smoke. Piper's first quest since the Giant War had begun.