I'm back! Woo! This chapter won't have a fight in it, but the next chapter will.

Piper

Piper knew something was up with Jason. But she couldn't talk. It was immensely frustrating and irritating for her. It was the morning after the middle-of-the-night fight, and whatever Lyssa had done was still in effect. Only Hazel, Annabeth, Jason, and Percy hadn't been affected—Hazel and Annabeth were spared because they were in the actual duel, Lyssa had explained. But why not the two others? (Not that Piper wanted them to be cursed, but why would Lyssa pass up a chance to torture two more demigods?) Lyssa completely skipped over that bit. And Piper was sure it had something to do with Jason's strange behavior. But she couldn't confront him directly since she couldn't talk or write fast enough to force him to tell her. She couldn't even use her charmspeak! Normally, Piper wouldn't even consider using her charmspeak on her friends intentionally to find out their secrets, but this situation was anything but normal.

Don't complain, even if it is to yourself, McLean, Piper told herself. Frank was even more frustrated than she was, not being able to hear anyone. Nico had already tripped at least three times just on the way to the dining room. And Leo was impatiently trying to instruct Jason on how to build a device that would allow Leo to eat without using his hands. Annabeth and Percy were trying to find a cure, while Hazel was busy directing Nico on where to put his fork, so he wouldn't accidentally stab himself while eating.

"How in the name of Zeus' underwear does Lyssa have the power to do this?!" Leo burst out angrily. "I thought she was the goddess of rabies and stuff, not… this!" Piper nodded sympathetically. How could one minor goddess have so much power?

"Well, she's also the spirit of madness, and I guess this could be counted as madness," Annabeth frowned. "But why would she do this?"

"She did swear on the Styx to make the duel nasty," Hazel pointed out.

"But still…" Annabeth trailed off, casting a glance at Percy. Piper did the same with Jason. They were both acting so oddly. And Piper was pretty sure that Jason was having nightmares. One night, she'd heard a muffled scream from his cabin—something along the lines of "uniting aspects… sacrifice… son of Jupiter". Piper had been about to ask Jason about that, but then Lyssa took away her power of speech. But what if that wasn't a coincidence? What if Lyssa had made sure she couldn't confront Jason or use her charmspeak? What if Leo losing the use of his arms wasn't a random choice, either? The demigods were mostly replying on him to create a trap to capture Lyssa. What if Nico and Frank losing their sight and hearing, respectively, wasn't a coincidence, either?

She discreetly nudged Leo. He turned to Piper, and she mouthed, We need to have a meeting. Without Percy or Jason. His eyes widened in understanding, and he cleared his throat loudly.

"Hey, Percy, Jason? Can you guys go onto the deck and keep a lookout for a monster? Festus told me earlier that there's a squad of giant sea shrimp heading towards us, sometime within the hour. It'll be easiest for you two to defeat them," Leo explained smoothly.

"Shouldn't we all be figuring out a cure?" Percy frowned. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Do you want us all to be eaten by giant shrimp, Seaweed Brain? We can search for a cure while you guys defend the ship," she kissed him lightly.

The two demigods pushed their chairs aside reluctantly, and went up on deck together. But Piper got the feeling that they were secretly relieved to escape the close scrutiny of the other demigods. It was hard to not notice that Percy and Jason weren't acting like their usual selves.

"What in Hades is going on with them?" Annabeth crossed her arms as soon as the last demigod trooped into her room. Piper mimed writing, and Annabeth gave her a sheet of paper ripped from a notepad.

Jason was having nightmares before. Something about uniting something and sacrifices, she scribbled, handing the paper to Frank to read out loud.

"Jason was having nightmares before, and it was something about uniting something and sacrifice," he read loudly and slowly, and Piper winced. It must be strange to read out something without hearing yourself speak.

"Percy refused to sleep with me after the first few nights, and he didn't tell me why," Annabeth mused, before realizing what she'd said and blushing. Piper would've squealed (thanks, Aphrodite genes) but… well, she couldn't. Leo snorted, and Nico smirked. Hazel and Frank both just kind of sat there awkwardly; Hazel because she wasn't entirely comfortable, being from a different time period and all, and Frank because he had no idea what Annabeth said. He was definitely not used to lip-reading.

"Could it be because of their dreams?" Hazel wondered, tapping her chin.

"You know, one night I heard thunder," Leo said thoughtfully, jiggling his legs. "It was coming from their cabins."

"Maybe Jason just got mad or something?" suggested Nico. "He is the son of Jupiter…" When Jason's mad he uses lightning, not thunder, if he uses his power at all, Piper thought.

"No, it was from both their cabins," Leo shook his head. "It sounded kind of like when Lyssa swore on the River Styx—you know, muffled thunder…"

Piper's eyes widened. The pieces were falling together to form a puzzle she didn't altogether like. Swearing on the River Styx… sacrifice… in a dream… uniting aspects… Lyssa…I

The sound of a pen being uncapped startled her. She whipped around nervously. It was just Frank, writing furiously. It's hard to talk for him, Piper realized He finished, ripped the paper off, and passed it to Hazel, whose face went slack as she read, and placed it on Leo's legs for him to read with trembling fingers. Leo's face contorted as he attempted to decipher the writing, but Piper knew the exact moment he finished reading it: he kicked it onto the floor, where it fluttered towards Piper, like a tumbleweed in Arizona.

"Mierda (A/N: That's Spanish for "shit")… what the hell, Sparky?" he cursed. Piper picked up the paper hesitantly. Leo only cursed in Spanish when it was really, really bad. Meaning, Piper almost never heard him do it.

Yesterday, Jason was unconsciously tracing words onto his leg. That wasn't so bad. But Piper got the feeling she didn't want to know the rest. She swallowed and read on. The list of words: Lyssa, sacrifice, Piper, danger, goddess, help, form, secret, shape. There was one more line, but the letters swam around, eluding capture. Piper concentrated harder, and the words came into sharp focus. I wasn't sure, but now I think he wrote, "swore on the Styx".

On the Styx… he swore on the Styx. Oh, gods, what did you do, Jason? Piper gave the paper to Annabeth slowly, unable to tear her eyes away from those words: swore on the Styx.

Annabeth gasped, and read it out loud for the benefit of Nico, who sat back and said tiredly, "There's no way to reverse the oath. It's completely binding. But maybe it doesn't mean what we think it means…"

"And Percy swore too?" Annabeth asked, ignoring Nico, brief dash of optimism. Nico was silent for a moment, probably delving deep into the secrets of the Underworld. When he spoke, Annabeth visibly deflated.

"He did."

"Why would you do it, Percy?" she groaned. "I told you your fatal flaw was fatal! Why, Seaweed Brain?" she rubbed her temple.

"His fatal flaw?" Leo asked, puzzled.

"Athena told him his fatal flaw is his loyalty to his friends. To save his friends, he would sacrifice the world." An uneasy silence greeted the statement.

"And Jason…" Leo sucked in a breath. "He's really… Roman." Hazel and Frank both raised their eyebrows at him.

"No, I mean, like… he's got a huge sense of duty and honor. He would be just the type to sacrifice himself for others."

"Like you?" Annabeth said exactly what Piper wanted to say. Leo smiled crookedly.

"Touché." But before anyone else could say anything, there was a knock on the door, and Jason stepped in, followed by Percy.

"Leo, I don't think there's any shrimp monsters attacking—" Piper jumped to her feet and glared at Jason. She needed to be able to talk. She had to. So she did.

"What the HELL were you thinking, Jason Grace?!"

Go, Piper! Next chapter will be posted on Thursday/Friday.

On another note: I hit the 20k word mark! :D