Jason

The gold was overkill. Accompanied, of course, by the fat man in a pink bathrobe and the temperamental teenager with the gold sword.

The quest itself hasn't been too bad. Werewolves, man-hating girls, evil sorceresses, partially friendly dragons- nothing that isn't normal for a demigod. And of course I have had Piper to make up for it. She's a pretty good fighter for a daughter of Aphrodite. Scratch that, Piper would kill me for saying that. She's a beautiful girl and an even better fighter. Despite her mother, that is. But an overweight man with a flowery bathrobe? That was crossing the line.

Anyway, the fat man froze when he saw us. He also had on a showering cap, like he'd just gotten out of the shower. "Lit," the man called, eying us. "There are strange people in the living room."

I look over to my friends to find them standing up like me, Calypso now awake. Piper's dragons are next to her, containing their snarls on her command. I reach into my pocket and grip my coin. Piper and Leo seem to be drawing their weapons. I send them a warning look and their weapons go back to their hidden spots in their clothing.

A young man with a gold sword comes to the doorway, his eyes immediately zero in on me, like I'm the biggest threat. I'm the most obvious threat of course, but he should be worrying more about Calypso. This must be Lit.

Lit strides towards me, raising his sword overhead, frowning at me in annoyance. Like, How dare you come in here and get blood on my sword?

Piper steps in front of me quickly. "Wait! This is all a misunderstanding. My friends and I got here last night and it was too dark to tell that anyone lived here. I am very sorry for your inconvenience."

Lit retreats back to the old man's side, but his body is tensed and he has not put away his sword. He sticks it into the floor a few inches and leans on it lightly.

"You speak well, girl. Be thankful that Lit has not yet killed your friends," the old man says with a scowl.

Piper gives Lit a friendly smile, making me feel jealous. "Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Piper, this is Jason, this is Leo and this is Cathy."

I have to hide a laugh at Calypso's glowering face but Piper sends her an apologetic look. She probably figured that Calypso wasn't very inconspicuous. The old man plops himself down into a armchair. "Very well. I am King Midas and this is my son Lit. You may sit down."

"Midas?" I say cautiously. "Like turn-everything-you-touch-into-gold, Midas?"

Midas gestures for us to sit back on the golden sofa and we do so, albeit grudgingly. Though the sofa is clearly gold, it seems flexible and comfy.

Midas' eyes twinkle at the question, but not in a friendly way. "I suppose, among other things."

"Impossible, he died," Cathy states, fiddling with her necklace, which I'm sure is anything but an absent-minded movement.

I send Calypso a look, but she refuses to make eye-contact, instead coldly staring at Midas.

"I suppose I was dead for a while," Midas says, stroking his chin. "It seems so long ago. I suppose it was a lifetime ago." Midas chuckles, but no one laughs with him.

"It seems more like a dream than anything. I am most certainly alive now though, and that's what matters right?"

Silence follows his words.

"Enough about me," Midas says 'modestly'. "Tell me about yourselves. Where did you get those two dragons? They are absolutely marvellous!"

Venator and Vindex's growling picks up a notch and they shift closer to Piper, as if to protect her. Their shift in position blocks Piper off from me and I can't help but feel slightly jealous. I should be the one protecting her.

"Vena and Dexie are not for sale," Piper says firmly, detecting Midas' intent. Once she has made up her mind, there is no stopping her. No one makes any attempt to counteract her statement.

"Of course," Midas says hastily. "But may I have a look at them?"

I am gripping my coin so tightly that it is now digging into my palm. Midas stands up slowly and makes his way over. I can't help but inwardly scoff at the fact that I am scared of an old man in the flowery bathrobe. But a leader never shows fear, so my face remains emotionless as Midas approaches.

When Midas is one foot away from Vindex and Venator he suddenly leaps away from them and to Calypso. He touches her on the shoulder and she freezes, her skin turning to gold and a look of upmost surprise on her face. Lit lifts up his sword frowning again and comes to stand next to Midas.

"Ha! Cathy indeed! I know a demi-titan traitor when I see one!" Midas says gleefully.

Leo, Piper and I back up a bit and I pull them behind me. We are all armed by now but Leo looks to be in complete shock. He will be no good in a fight if- no when it comes to one.

"Leo, Piper? Can you handle Lit?" They nod and Leo's eyes somewhat clear. "Good, I've got Midas."

Lit and Midas clearly heard our plans and seem to agree with them. Lit steps away from Midas and charges Leo and Piper head on, but even as he charges I see a hint of regret in his eyes. I go straight for Midas, who stands there waiting confidently in his degrading pink bathrobe. A golden knife appears in his hand and he gestures me forward.

"Bring it on, son of Zeus," Midas says confidently.

I get into position. "Actually, it's son of Jupiter," and I charge the final few steps towards him.

Midas blocks my first strike with surprising nimbleness for such a fat guy, and sends his own slash. I dodge and send a strike to his neck, making Midas duck.

I make sure to keep him at an arm's length, just in case he decides to forget his dagger. I can hear various clashes of metal from behind me as Piper and Leo team up on Lit. Occasionally I hear a vicious snarl or a snapping of jaws from Vindex and Venator. I yell out in pain at the same time that Piper does, as Midas gives me a gash on the face. It takes a lot of power to stop myself from turning to Piper to see why she cried out.

I grit my teeth and send a diagonal slash to Midas' chest. Midas steps back, barely dodging it but my blade hits the belt tying his bathrobe together. I instinctively turn my head as Midas' robes come undone. I receive a kick to the chest from a slippered foot and I am knocked to the ground. Midas places his foot heavily on my chest, his bathrobe clutched together with his left hand. I groan as the smell hits me, Does this guy ever wash?

"It looks like it's over, son of Zeus," Midas taunts me.

"Jupiter," I pant, almost gagging from the stench.

Midas raises his dagger and that's when I realise it, Midas isn't going to turn me into gold, he's going to kill me. "Styx," I murmur under my breath.

Midas gives me a grin. I guess he was trying to make it so it was the last thing I saw, or maybe he was trying to say something like 'The almighty son of Zeus falls,' or maybe it was 'Ha, you just got defeated by an old man,' or maybe he was just in a really good mood. Actually, forget the last one, do Greek myths even get in good moods? All the ones I've met have either wanted to kill me, kidnap me, send me on certain death missions or sacrifice me. Are you seeing a pattern?

A choking noise brings me from my distracted thoughts and I look up at the silver tip of a dagger in Midas' chest. Leo's dagger. The dagger is withdrawn from his chest and Midas is shoved away from me. I sit up quickly and stare at Midas' body. Leo breathes heavily from above me. "That was for Calypso," he spits at Midas' dying form.

"Dad!" Lit yells from behind me. He shoves past me and kneels next to his father's body, a look of pure panic and horror on his face.

"Son," Midas whispers. He reaches up to touch Lit's face. I can only register the cruel glint in Midas' gold eyes and the fear in Lit's blue ones before it's over. Lit freezes up, the gold spreading from his face to the rest of his body. Midas smirks once more before his breathing stops and his body disintegrates.

"I guess he was more of a monster than a man," Piper's voice says from behind me, it sounds detached though. Distant and depressed. No wonder, we just saw a man doom his own son.

"I guess so," I say, sounding as detached as Piper does. "Lit wasn't though. I reckon he had a chance, he was still young."

"Are you okay?" I ask Piper. "I heard you cry out."

"Yeah," Piper nods. "I was looking at you and Midas and Lit nicked my arm. It's nothing really."

Despite her protests, I check her arm and make sure she isn't bleeding too heavily. When I'm done a horrible silence falls over us. Three people died today and one of them was Calypso. The most skilled and powerful one out of all of us.

"Water!" Piper suddenly says excitedly, breaking the silence.

"What?" Leo asks.

"Water," Piper repeats. "That's what reversed the 'Midas Touch.' And if we can heal Calypso, we can heal Lit too!"

"Pipes, I don't know. We can't just turn everyone that tries to kill us onto our side." I give a pointed glance to Venator and Vindex. "What if Lit tries to kill us again?"

"He won't," Piper exclaims, seemingly delighted with her idea. "You said yourself, he isn't completely evil!"

I sigh. "Okay, say we do manage to revert him without us dying. Then what? We can't take him on the quest and we can't exactly set him loose in the wilderness."

"Why can't we take him on the quest! At the end, if we free Hera, we can ask her to transport him to Camp Half-Blood and he can help in the war."

"Guys," Leo breaks in, calmer now that he knows Calypso can be cured. "We should revive Calypso first. She'll be annoyed you waited this long to heal her anyway. She should be a part of this discussion as well."

"Leo, go get some water from her bag," I order. "Pour it on her face and see if that does the trick."

Leo walks over to Calypso and pulls her water bottle from an outside pocket. He takes a deep breath and pours it onto her face. "I'm so dead," Leo mutters.

Lightning fast, the gold fades from her body and Calypso is sopping wet. She splutters and coughs, "Valdez!"

Leo backs up quickly and sends a pleading look at Piper and I. "Calypso, calm down," Piper orders, her voice laced with charmspeak. Piper probably just saved Leo's life.

Calypso's body suddenly flares with fire before it dies out, drying and warming herself. "What the Hades happened?" Calypso asks, slightly more calmly.

"Midas turned you to gold. I fought Midas while Leo and Piper fought Lit. Midas was about to kill me when Leo snuck up behind him and stabbed him in the chest. When Midas was dying he turned Lit into gold. Now we're trying to decide whether or not to turn Lit back," I summarise hastily.

"Don't!" Calypso says immediately. "Midas was on Gaia's side. Just because Midas is dead doesn't mean that Lit isn't still loyal to Gaia."

I nod along to her words. "That's what I was saying. What's to say he doesn't just stab us in the back?"

"Calypso," Piper says pleadingly. "You didn't see when Midas fell. Lit ran to him, despite the fact that Leo and I could've stabbed him in the back. Lit cared for his father although the feeling wasn't mutual. Midas wanted Lit to suffer with him, that's why he turned him to gold. And he was going easy on us, the only reason I got hurt is because I wasn't paying attention. We should give him another chance."

Piper's voice isn't filled with charmspeak, but rather desperation. She could've easily charmspoken us into letting Lit on the quest but she doesn't manipulate us. That is what I believe makes Calypso reconsider.

"Alright," Calypso crosses her arms. "If you and everyone else thinks he can be turned, you may change him back."

It may sound like Calypso is being bossy and we shouldn't need to ask her permission, but Calypso is the true leader of the quest. I get the feeling she will be the leader on the other quest too. We trust Calypso's judgement and she makes her decisions based on our mixed perspectives.

Piper looks at me pleadingly but it is unnecessary. Her speech has convinced me and if Calypso agrees I do too.

"Fine," I say. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Oh, we all get killed and Hera dies with us, therefore dooming the fate of the world and all humankind. But don't worry, lets heal the enemy and let him kill us," Leo mutters.

"Leo," Calypso says sternly.

"Okay, okay," Leo says holding up his hands. "Who's gonna fix our future murderer, though? Because I don't wanna be the first to go."

Calypso rolls her eyes and takes the water bottle from Leo. She quickly walks over to Lit and throws the water at his form. The second that all the gold is gone from Lit's body and he opens his blue eyes, Calypso mutters something under her breath and Lit collapses on the floor.

"Calypso!" Piper yells.

"Don't worry," Calypso smirks. "It's a sleeping spell, he'll wake up in half and hour. I just didn't want to be the one talking to him."

I grin. "Of course."

Calypso drags Lit's body over to us and grabs Leo's hand, somehow not seeing the obvious blush on Leo's face. "Come on, this should be our second to last jump. I'll teleport us halfway up Mount Diablo so we have time to get ready before the fight. Let me sleep for an hour before you wake me up, then we can fight."

The rest of us join hands and Piper rests her hands on Dex and Vena. Calypso scrunches her eyes shut in concentration. I close my eyes as my stomach flips upside down.

We reappear in a freezing cave halfway up a mountain. I peer outside as Leo rests Calypso on the floor. The ongoing snow from outside gets in my hair. I shiver from the wind and cross my arms, going back in the cave.

"It's snowing," I state obviously, making Piper and Leo roll their eyes.

"Leo start a fire," I order. "We're attacking in one hour so get ready."

Leo starts the fire and brings Calypso and Lit closer to it. Piper and I huddle next to it, sitting close together for warmth.

"Alright," Leo says, sitting down next to us. "Now all that's left to do is wait for our executioner to wake."

-SAW