"Of Aeri, goddess of lovely song, I will sing. She who tells of things that are and that shall be and that were aforetime with consenting voice, noble and lovely, armed with arrows dread. Smiles are ever on her lovely face, she who radiates feminine charm that no man could possibly resist. Over the shadowy hills and windy peaks she draws her golden bow, rejoicing in the chase, and sends out grievous shafts. Hail, sweetly-winning, dark-eyed goddess! I seek your favour with my song."

There was a cause for worry when the ship was consistently being hit by ice storms. The children had inferred that it had something to do with Diocletian's Scepter, but the deities had another thought; one that was shared between Drew and Annabeth as they looked around them.

Either way, the children were still tired, and Annabeth (and Eliza back at Camp Half-Blood) were feeling the aftereffects of whatever Percy and Octavian were going through while they were in Tartara. Pranjal and Medea were helping her with it as much as they could while Medea was also doing all the research that she could manage for her upcoming fight at the Doors of Death. They only received the bare minimum of news about the blessed pair when a note appeared in the brazier of Camp Half-Blood written by Percy and Octavian. Once Kheírōn translated it because Octavian was nothing else but a troll and wrote his part entirely in latin and included a specialized code that only those of the legion knew, the campers sent off an envoy to begin talks of peace.

Mercurius doubted that it would work, but he had to hold Mārs and Bellōna back when the Dodie boy looked at Reyna and said: "I watched his wildest dreams come true & not one of the involved you." when the girl was contemplating on leaving to assist the crew. Veritas had smiled smugly. Though, everything was made worse when the boy hissed, "Lilith is in love with you!" and the girl flinched as if she had been hit.

Not that it stopped Reyna as she immediately prepped her pegasus for her leave. Bellōna winced because that meant that her daughter; a child of war, was deserting her post.

Either way, it only the trio that started it all on the top deck, and Father shifted in his seat.

Something was about to happen.

Mercurius wished that his brother was there.

Drew fumbled with tarot cards that she had been gifted from Medea when the girl had expressed interest. Not that Drew was gifted in tarot and any attempts to read the cards pulled her into vivid trances that she couldn't always escape from on her own. She saw a bit too much as her title of being Apóllōn's champion and the Protector of Ill-fated Lovers led her to view things that she would rather not, and Ethan suffered through the backlash when she got injured within the visions. Though through them, she had managed to share a good amount of information about Lilith with Leo to which Medea, Jason, and Pranjal added on in detail and turned the little mechanic into a blushing mess.

Even then, Hērmês wanted to push her to view more. She had seen his Leaneíras within the cards; her future bringing her closer and closer to being back in his arms. Something that was confirmed by Apóllōn when he begged his brother for answers.

'I keep seeing that giant Clytius – the guy who's wrapped in shadows," Drew murmured. "I know his weakness is fire, but in the cards, he snuffs out flames wherever he goes. Any kind of light just gets sucked into his cloud of darkness.'

'Sounds like Nico,' Leo said. 'You think they're related?'

Jason scowled. 'Hey, man, cut Nico some slack. So, Drew, what about this giant? What are you thinking?'

Jason and Nico had not spoken much about what happened when they were on their little adventure, but Drew was this thing called: nosey as hell. She managed to sweet talk both of them; without the use of her chamspeak, into telling her whom they met, and then both of them were startled alongside Árēs and Aphrodítē when she started cursing and spewing threats the moment that she learned that they met Cupido.

Talk about sibling rivalry.

They were all sure that she was one second away from climbing off of the boat to give him a piece of her mind which actually went a long way to making Nico more relaxed around her.

"I keep thinking about fire," Drew said. "How we expect Leo to beat this giant because he's ..."

"Hot?" Leo suggested with a grin.

Drew snorted, "Sure. Let's go with that. Anyway, that line from the prophecy bothers me: To storm or fire the world must fall."

"Yeah, we know all about it," Leo promised. "You're gonna say I'm fire. And Jason here is storm."

Drew pursed her lips. "Yeah, but... Jason and Percy... both of you are children of storm gods. And then Medea's mother has power over torches though I do think that it's you, that represents fire. I just—"

The ship pitched to starboard, and Jason grabbed the icy railing. "So you're worried one of us will endanger the quest, maybe accidentally destroy the world?"

"No," Drew said. "I think we've been reading that line the wrong way. The world ... the earth. In Greek, the word for that would be ..."

"Gaia." Jason's eyes gleamed with sudden interest and the deities sat straight in their seats. As a rule, they did not even try to interpret prophecies. It never ended well, obviously for Athḗnē considering how many children that she led to their deaths only for her child to not even be the one to find the statue. "You mean, to storm or fire Gaia must fall?"

"Oh ...'" Leo grinned even wider. "You know, I like your version a lot better. 'Cause if Gaia falls to me, Mr Fire, that is absolutely copacetic."

"Or to me ... storm." Jason ruffled her hair. "Drew, that's brilliant! If you're right, this is great news. We just have to figure out which of us destroys Gaia."

"Maybe. But, see, it's storm or fire ..."

She fiddled with the tarot cards again, the DEATH card shining ominously under the moonlight. "I'm worried about Leo and this fight with Clytius," she said, and the boys' features immediately darkened as they thought about it also and the implications that the tarot card meant. "That line in the prophecy makes it sound like only one of you can succeed. And if the storm or fire part is connected to the third line, an oath to keep with a final breath ..."

"Okay ... so I don't like your idea as much as I thought. You think one of us defeats Gaia and the other one dies? Or maybe one of us dies while defeating her? Or—"

"Guys," Jason said, "we'll drive ourselves crazy overthinking it. You know how prophecies are. Heroes always get into trouble trying to thwart them.'

"Yeah," Leo muttered. "We'd hate to get into trouble. We've got it so good right now."

"You know what I mean," Jason said. "The final breath line might not be connected to the storm and fire part. For all we know, none of us are even storm and fire. The gods are to be a part of the final fight also."

"And I could always set Coach Hedge on fire," Leo volunteered. "Then he can be fire."

Drew gave a breathy laugh. "I hope I'm wrong. But the whole quest started with us finding Hera and waking Porphyrion. I have a feeling the war will end with us too. For better or worse."

"Hey," Jason said, "personally, I like us."

"Agreed," Leo said. "Us is my favourite people."

Drew smiled before her head tilted to the side, eyes going back to the tarots where the 5 Pentacles and Knight of Cups peeked through. In ancient times, back when mortals were using tarots to predict the weather, Knight of Cups meant rain moving in from the west and 5 pentacles meant wintery weather—freezing temperatures and snow showers. Something that Drew learned because of Lea's hyperfixations.

Drew's eyes narrowed, hand going towards her bow charm. "Leo, sound the alarm."

Leo dropped his screwdriver and punched the alarm button, forwning when nothing happened.

"Uh, it's disconnected," he remembered. "Festus is shut down. Gimme a minute to get the system back online."

"We don't have a minute! Fires – we need vials of Greek fire. Jason, call the winds. Warm, southerly winds."

"Wait, what?'" Jason stared at her in confusion. "Drew, what's wrong?'

"Jadis the White Witch," Drew stated, making sure that her katanas were at her side. "Khione's back. We need to get—"

Before she could finish, the boat listed to port. The temperature dropped so fast that the sails crackled with ice. The bronze shields along the rails popped like over-pressurized soda cans.

Jason drew his sword, but it was too late. A wave of ice particles swept over him, coating him like a glazed doughnut and freezing him in place. Under a layer of ice, his eyes were wide with amazement.

"Leo! Flames! Now!" Drew ordered.

Leo's right hand blazed, but the wind swirled around him and doused the fire. Leo clutched his Arkhimḗdēs' sphere as a funnel cloud of sleet lifted him off his feet.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Hey! Let me go!"

Their parents snarled in anger.

Drew ran towards him, but a voice in the storm said, "Oh, ναι, Leo Valdez. I will let you go permanently."

Leo shot skywards, like he'd been launched from a catapult. He disappeared into the clouds. Hḗphaistos was already on his feet, tracing his path as clouds parted around him. The god cursed as he saw where she had sent his son, the glittering sea that teased of the coastline was familiar to them all.

"You know," Poseidón mused, eyes hard in anger from his screen his wife and children at his sides. "I suppose it was a good thing that we had not freed her yet."

"Perseus would not see it that way," Hestía commented, "but for the sake of being there to free Leo from the effects, it is a good thing that her freedom was delayed."

"She has 5035 years left of imprisonment," Hḗphaistos snarled. "And if she tries anything with my son, I'll make it another fifty thousand."

"I can drink to that," Poseidón smiled, no doubt thinking of how he made her afraid to leave her cavern for two years.

They all watched as the boy worked incredibly fast with the help Arkhimḗdēs' sphere. With a little maneuvering, he managed to pull some duct tape from his tool belt and strap the sphere to his chest. He started to work, furiously tinkering with the sphere, pulling out anything he thought would help from his magic tool belt: a drop cloth, metal extenders, some string and grommets.

In no time, he had managed to craft himself his own personal helicopter which he aimed towards the island. He was going in too fast, and he might turn himself into a demigod shish kebab. Hērmês had no desire to witness his nephew's demise nor view his Brother's grief so he turned back to the other screen.

"So good to see you again, ma chère," said Khiónē as she and her brothers appeared on the ARGO. 'It's time we had a very cold reunion."

"Oh, my. Hello, Lady Khione," Drew straightened her spine, taking on an appearance of casualness. "I haven't seen you since Leo threw that hammer at your face. How have you been? Are you not sleeping enough? You've got open pores."

Khiónē's features churned with hatred but Drew only smiled pleasantly. "I see you brought the boys with you this time. Hi, boys." She waggled her fingers. "Would you like something to eat?" She aimed the cornucopia to shoot a few baked goods.

Khiónē simply leaned to one side. Most of the muffins sailed past her over the rail. The Boreádai each caught one and began to eat.

There was a loud KA–BOOM from the other screen, and Hērmês peeked over for just a moment to witness Leo landing almost harshly in a crater the size of Staten Island. The surrounding beach was peppered with smaller pieces of burning wreckage, but Hērmês couldn't focus on that.

'Muffins,' said Kalaïs. 'Muffins are good.'

'Ah, merci,' said Zetes, wriggling his eyebrows at Drew as he smiled. 'I knew the pretty girl would miss me.' He spoke Québécois French.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Drew snorted. She turned back to their sister. "You know... I had thought something was wrong with this storm. "I thought it was going to be a real threat," Drew hummed, cocking her hip. "Not the bitch from christmas past. Only a toddler would be scared of you. Look at that face. I have some all-natural anti-wrinkling cream that will fix all that up down below." Drew mocked, shaking her head. "I mean seriously. Those wrinkles are deeper than the sea. What's scary about that?"

She turned towards Zetes. "Hey, how about you go down there and get it. It's in my pink bag." Hardly any good information. All of her bags were pink. "And while you're down there, let my friends go."

Zetes blinked. 'We should let your friends go.'

'Ναί,' Kalaïs agreed.

'Όχι, you idiots!' Khiónē snapped, the snow coming down harder as she raged. 'She is charmspeaking. Use your wits.'

"It's not charm if it's the truth," Drew faked a yawn. "Seriously, Khione, that scowling brings wrinkles and you're starting to look like a Shar Pei pup."

"Wits ..." Kalaïs frowned as he stuffed the entire baked good into his mouth. "Muffins are better."

Zetes picked a blueberry off the top of his and nibbled it delicately. "Ah, my beautiful Drew ... so long I have waited to see you again. Sadly, my sister is right. We cannot let your friends go. In fact we must take them to Quebec, where they shall be laughed at eternally. I am so sorry, but these are our orders."

"'Orders ...? You know that she's working with the giants, trying to raise Gaia. She disobeyed your father, betrayed the gods and all because she wants your Father's throne. Like Gaia isn't thorough and has birthed a giant to oppose her though..." She tapped a finger to her chin. "With how irrelevant she is, I don't think even Gaia would spare the energy."

Khiónē laughed, soft and cold. Her hands clenched in the air as if she was imagining wrapping them around Drew's neck. 'Dear Tanaka Aeri." Drew's features closed off. "You would manipulate my weak-willed brothers with your charms, like a true daughter of the love goddess. Such a skillful liaghh."

Drew shot forward, body a blur of motion as sent an uppercut to Khiónē's chin, grabbing her wrist and snapping it as she spun her around, and pinned her to the ground with her knee digging into her back. "Let's get one thing clear, my name is Drew. You don't have permission to call me anything else, got that? Secondly, tell this lovely little girl why trash like you think you can speak to me as if you're a real threat or I'll make sure that surgery won't be able to make your gorgeous face perfect again. Zethes, Cal, you move an inch and I swear I will turn you into a melted snow cone."

Both of the brothers froze in place from the sheer amount of rage in her voice.

Zetes winced. 'Alas, beautiful girl. We all are working for Gaía now. I fear these orders are from our father, Bóreas himself.'

'What?' Drew breathed, shock coloring her every move. It was only because of this that Khiónē was able to push her off of her.

'At last my father saw the wisdom of my counsel,' Khiónē purred as Drew stumbled back out of reach, 'or at least he did before his Roman side began warring with his Greek side. I fear he is quite incapacitated now, but he left me in charge. He has ordered that the forces of the North Wind be used in the service of King Porphuríōn and of course ... the Earth Mother.'

"And he left you in charge," Drew gave a sharp, disbelieving laugh. "Like did your Mother not want the throne or something? I thought you were under arrest anyway. And how are you even here?' She gestured at the ice all over the ship. 'It's summer!'

Khiónē shrugged. 'Our powers grow. The rules of nature are turned upside down. Once the Earth Mother wakes, we shall remake the world as we choose!'

'With hockey,' Kalaïs said, his mouth still full. 'And pizza. And muffins.'

'Ναί, ναι,' Khiónē sneered. 'I had to promise a few things to the big simpleton. And to Zetes –'

'Oh, my needs are simple.' Zetes slicked back his hair and winked at Drew. 'I should have kept you at our palace when we first met, my dear Drew. But soon we will go there again, together, and I shall romance you most incredibly.'

Drew stared blankly. "I—" She visibly rebooted before running her hand down her face. "You know what, let Jason go and then we can talk."

Zetes obeyed, snapping his fingers. Jason instantly defrosted. He crumpled to the floor, gasping and steaming, but at least he was alive.

'You imbecile!' Three things happened at once. Khiónē thrust out her hand, and Jason refroze, and Drew shot an arrow into Khiónē's hand that instantly set itself a blaze. The goddess screamed.

Drew yawned, turning her eyes onto Zetes. "Hey, pretty boy. You know my mom is Aphrodite and my Stepdad is Ares and my patron is Apóllōn. If you want me, you have to prove yourself. I'm not going to be captive to some second-rate idiot."

"You talk big game, girl," Khiónē snapped, freezing her wound over with a wince. "I should just kill you now."

"You should have killed me back in Quebec," Drew snapped. "But even worse is the fact that you think that I'm about to argue with you and you can't even beat me up. Like you're mad tough, but you ain't even powerful enough for me to keep going back and forth with. You're an unknown goddess; not worth a damn thing. Your brothers... those demigods that you like to make fun of? Yeah, they're more famous than you. She doesn't value you; you know. She thinks she can boss you around because you're demigods, not full-fledged gods. She doesn't understand that you're a powerful team."

"'A team,' Kalaïs grunted. 'Like the Ca-na-di-ens." He had to struggle with the word since it was more than two syllables. He grinned and looked very pleased with himself.

"Exactly,' Drew said. 'Just like a hockey team. The whole is greater than the parts."

"Like a pizza,' Kalaïs added.

Drew laughed. 'You are smart, Cal! Even I underestimated you."

"Wait, now," Zetes protested. "I am smart also. And good-looking."

"Very smart,'" Drew agreed. "Now watch Khione get humiliated."

Khiónē screeched and Drew looked at her as if she was wasting the demigod's time.

"And where is Leo? Because he's bffs with one of my sisters and the khaos-mate to another one. If you hurt him, I swear, Khione... I will make you wish that you stayed as a footnote in history."

"Hmp," Khiónē sniffed, as she stepped lightly around Jason, examining him as if he were sidewalk art. "Leo Valdez deserved a special punishment. I have sent him to a place from which he can never return. It's almost as bad as where we sent your other little friend, Leaneíras."

Drew stiffened to the point that she resembled one of the ice statues. Not that it mattered as the room dropped in temperature as her words registered. Hērmês had not even noticed when he changed into his armor nor how his kērū́keion appeared in his hand in full battle-mode.

He didn't notice Poseidón appearing at his side, willing to assist in whatever punishment he deemed fit. He didn't notice Apóllōn and Aphrodítē sharing grim looks as the former appeared back on the moutain, Árēs and Ártemis gathering their own weapons, Diónusos' eyes dripping with madness.

Leaneíras.

Leaneíras.

Leaneíras.

He... he had to—

"Alas, my dear Drew!'" She smiled in triumph. "But it is for the best. Leo could not be tolerated, even as an ice statue ... not after he insulted me. The fool refused to rule at my side! And his power over fire ...'" She shook her head. "He could not be allowed to reach the House of Háidēs. I'm afraid Lord Klythios likes fire even less than I do. And your little friend, well... I had to repay a favor or two and it worked out very well for the Earth Mother."

The world was more silent than a whisper.

Drew shifted on her feet, but Khiónē didn't seem to notice the way that the girl was looking and leaning towards her with all the threat of a predator. Drew may have been a child of love, but she crafted her love into weapons that resembled her half-brothers, Deimos and Phobos.

"This plan had been in motion for a long while to get her out of the way, you know. Without her in his life, the Herald would go mad, abandoning his sense of self in a bid to get her back and we will throw him to Tartara! Without him, Olympian communication lines will be disrupted. Admittedly, I didn't tell the others about that, and now your dear Leaneíras and tumbling past the edge of the world and is quite possibly dead since the Earth Mother ensured that she drank the elixir and gave it a boost."

Leaneíras.

Leaneíras.

Leaneíras.

'Well!' Khiónē clapped. "I fear our time together is at a close. Zetes, if you would—"

"You fucking bitch," Drew breathed, her mocha-colored eyes flicking in color, sharpening into a cold look of apathy. She radiated beauty and power, and the sight was equally exquisite and petrifying. If Hērmês need more evidence that she spent too much time around his Leanerías, then that was it. No one could do a callous expression quite like Lea could, with the possible exception of Apóllōn. Anger would have been a less unnerving reaction, but—

Drew was the daughter of Aphrodítē Areia. She was born from love, bathed in hatred, and simmered with indifference.

"You damn great dane with a wig on... I'm going to fucking slaughter you."

Khiónē laughed. "You are not a god and I am not afraid of you. It is only because Zetes has claimed you that you still live."

"I kiss magnificently,'" Zetes promised. "You will see, beautiful one."

"But that is not the only reason," Khiónē said. "It is because I hate you, Drew. Deeply and truly. Without you, Jason would have stayed with me in Quebec."

Veritas scoffed.

"Delusional, much?"

Khiónē's eyes turned as hard as the diamonds in her circlet. "You are a meddler, the daughter of a useless goddess. What can you do alone? Nothing. Of all the seven demigods, you have no purpose, no power. I wish you to stay on this ship, adrift and helpless, while Gaía rises and the world ends. And just to be sure you are well out of the way ..."

She gestured to Zetes, who plucked something from the air—a frozen sphere the size of a softball, covered in icy spikes.

"A bomb," Zetes explained, "especially for you, my love."

'Bombs!' Kalaïs laughed. "A good day! Bombs and muffins!"

Drew pulled out the ribbon in her hair, letting it fall freely around her face as she wrapped the accessory around her hand. "You see, there's a great difference between who you think my Mother is and exactly who she is: She's everything that imitation that you believe is supposed to be. A warrior, a queen, a lover, and a fighter."

Too much time with Lea; the scene started to greatly resemble the fight clubs that she adored.

Drew pulled her shoes off, and the three siblings before her watched a little unnerved. "All of you have stripped her of everything remotely militaristic, leaving behind just a paramour. And yet, you still failed to contain her. Love? Useless? Darling, there isn't a force on this planet stronger than love. Not you. Not your brothers. Not those wackass giants. And not even Gaea. You're all just pawns in Mother's game."

"Am I supposed to be terrified?" Khiónē laughed.

Zetes frowned. "When the fragile container cracks, in ... ah, roughly not very long ... it will unleash the full force of the northern winds. This ship will be blown very far off course. Very, very far."

'Indeed.' Khiónē's voice prickled with false sympathy. 'We will take your friends for our statue collection, then unleash the winds and bid you goodbahhh"

Drew had moved so fast that she was a blur of motion, her katana named after Deimos swiping through the air and cutting through the goddess' vocal cords. She turned swiftly on her feet, her bow already in hand as she shot an arrow at the bomb, covering it in a highly reactive, fast drying, industrial polymer.

A gift from Árēs on her birthday.

While they were still recovering in shock, she moved quickly to subdue the brothers, jabbing them in their weak point before stabbing her arrows into their joints and relishing their cries of pain as fire and acid found way under their skin.

Khiónē snarled in rage from behind her, ichor flowing down her throat like a waterfall, but Drew didn't give her time to throw an attack as she started shooting arrow after arrow. Some exploded. Some Khiónē knocked away. Others made their marks and the goddess screeched as fire licked her skin and bottled lightning danced alongside her body.

"You miserable girl," she hissed with a raspy voice. Hatred seethed in Khiónē's eyes. "You think you can defeat me — a goddess?"

Drew kept going anyway.

She was back on her before the goddess even knew what hit her even though Khiónē sent storm after storm against her, Drew kept going; her eyes blazing as if someone had taken the sun and placed them in her pupils.

It was clear to anyone that she had the blessing of Apóllōn.

And that wasn't all for when her arrows ran out as her necklace needed time to refresh and reload, she unsheathed her swords and sliced into the goddess' skin.

Kalaïs and Zetes did the smart thing and stayed out of her way as they struggled to recover and remove the rest of the arrows from their bodies.

Drew ducked under Khiónē's lunge, twirling until she was standing at her back. Her hand wrapped into the goddess' hair, and she flipped her over her shoulder.

Khiónē groaned as her face slammed into the deck, and Drew's foot came down harshly where her neck met her spine. The goddess jerked, screaming in pain as Drew kicked her over onto her back.

She raised one of her swords above her head, and brought it down into Khiónē's stomach. "Useless, huh. Can't be too useless when we humiliated you pretty badly in Sonoma. Had to run away because Leo was about to turn you from an Is to a Was."

Khiónē's eyes glinted like iced espresso. She shot an uneasy look at her brothers, but she couldn't say anything in her defense as when she opened her mouth, Drew shoved her other sword through it.

"Oh, you didn't tell them!" she laughed meanly. "I don't blame you. You had the giant king on your side, plus an army of wolves and Earthborn, and you still couldn't beat us. How's that burn turning out?" She nodded to the scar on Khiónē's arm. "Don't worry. I'll put a lot more on you that you'll think of you precious snowflakes when I'm through with you."

The Boreádai moved behind her, and Drew didn't even turn to look at them. "Move another inch boys, and your Father will be down three children."

They stopped moving.

The air turned misty, frost gathered on Drew's eyebrows and freezing her ear canals, but she only laughed.

"Is that supposed to scare me? The only things that scare me are out of season accessories, split ends, Annabeth's face before her morning coffee, three-in-one and Mother forbid or more shower gels in the bathroom of anyone I have ever willingly associated with. So, was that supposed to hurt me?" She leaned closer into Khiónē's face, and suddenly a spark of fear entered the goddess' eyes. "Let me tell you something, Khione. Love hurts."

And then suddenly, Khiónē was screaming, body jerking around as ichor poured from her face. Her eyes were unseeing, and Drew... Drew only laughed, bending her head to make further eye contact, and suddenly, she began to radiate a soft-red color, almost pink and her voice was drowning in charm and— and— "Burn."

Flames licked at Khiónē's skin, manifesting from Phanes' knows where, and the goddess' screams went higher in octave. "What did Hera call you? A D-list goddess. Hm, who's useless now, you bitch?"

She dragged Khiónē's body over to the foremast, throwing her at the bottom of the figurehead.

"And Khione, you're right. I am Tanaka Aeri. I am the daughter of Aphrodite. The Champion of Apóllōn. The Protector of Ill-Fated Lovers. Of all the seven demigods, I have a clear purpose and the most power after all... what's stronger than love and beauty? I am the demigoddess of lovely song, she who tells of things that are and that shall be and that were aforetime with consenting voice. And right now, I say... Festus... wake up, we need you."

She dived out of the way as Festus turned his head one hundred and eighty degrees and blasted the Boreádai and their sister with them, vaporizing them on the spot. Zetes's sword clunked to the deck, still steaming.

Drew stood alone on the deck, casting her gaze onto Festus even as the alarm blared and her friends raced their way to the top while Jason began to defrost. "You're a good friend, Festus. No one can truly deactivate you. You're more than a machine. You're alive, okay? Try to find Leo. He's in trouble."

But Hērmês paid no more attention to that instead he made his way to Thrake, in the old throne room of Bóreas; the greens of his eyes were drowned by the gleaming gold eyes that he inherited from his grandfather.

The Boreádai looked around their old home, nibbling on ambrosia and nectar as they healed their wounds from Festus' attack while they ignored their sister as she curled into herself on the throne room floor.

They looked startled as he blasted the doors open, but he didn't even pay them any mind. Not even when his siblings moved forward to subdue them.

"To come after me is one thing," Hērmês murmured as he approached the sniveling goddess, pulling her up by the hair with one hand and grabbing her by the throat with the other. She cried out in pain as the sword in her mouth was moved. Apóllōn grabbed his arm, yanking them back to the heavens quickly before Gaía or the giants got any ideas, but again... he paid none of that any mind. "Suicidal and idiotic, but still not big of an issue. But to go after her? That'll leave you in pieces at her feet."

"Do you really love her?" Khiónē coughed, splashes of ichor hitting his hand as Asklēpiós removed the sword from her mouth, passing it over to Deimos to return it to his sister. She had the nerve to be incredulous in her words. "She's a mortal. You think you actually love her? Or is it just because she's your blessing?"

Hērmês hummed, tilting his head to the side, not seeming to notice the way that she clutched at his tightening hand. "Ναί. Ναί, I do. When she laughs, I laugh with her and when she cries, I feel her pain in my heart. When she's threatened, I'd do anything for her and when someone hurts her—"He smiled as he leaned close so that she could witness that sheer wrath within his eyes herself. And it was not a nice smile. "I'd tear this world apart with my bare hands to set it right."

Khiónē gulped, ichor bubbling through her lips as the sword in her stomach was removed.

"I love her so much that leaving her side to just complete my duties makes me want to tear my heart out. My every waking moment is spent thinking, dreaming, wanting her. She is the personification of Love to me and I mean no offense to my sister who alongside the undying gods of love and desire and fate blessed me with the ability to love her. You know, the sister that you called useless."

There was fear in her eyes as his divinity unfurled around him, slowly and ominously. His Father was the King, his Brother was the Destroyer, his Grandfathers were the Endurer and the Gorger.

And he was the Giant Slayer.

"I never noticed how dull life was until the moment that I saw her. She was everything that was right in a world filled with wrongs. I just—I am the god of guile in its many aspects: deception, persuasion, and crafty words, and yet with her... I get tongue-tied. I could weave sonnets just as grand as any song led by Apóllōn; ones that could make the Moûsai weep, that'll be just as grand as the tapestries woven by Athḗnē. I could uplift mountains and drown her with my divinity until she bleeds the same ichor as I."

When it came to Leaneíras Jackson, he needed to breathe the same air as she to live; the girl that haunted his dreams, touched his soul, made home in his heart, with her sharp wit and sunny smile, who made his soul sing. She was fiendishly smart, devilishly outspoken and probably best in small doses, but he wanted to consume her wholly because she was his beginning and his ending. Maybe it was her devilish smile, certainly it's the way his eyes seemed to burn every time he gazed upon her because he looked at her as if she was his god. He would argue that she most definitely was.

"Her mortality means nothing to me," he declared, throwing the goddess to the ground watching as she splayed against the marble floors, trembling as he and Poseidón and Veritas and Aphrodítē and Apóllōn stood over her. "I love her in spite of that. These marks on our skin mean nothing to me because I'd love her even if we had to go without. I will love her until the sea swallows the sun and if there's a life after that, then I would love her then. She is mine and I am hers in this life and the next."

He tilted his head to the side. "It's almost a pity that you will never be able to experience it."

Aphrodítē stepped forward, the muscles in her arms rippling softly as she cradled Khiónē's in her arms. A shard of one of her favored mirrors appeared in her hands; it gleamed like a dagger and it was able to wound like one also when Aphrodítē plunged it into her chest down to the seat of Khiónē's power, his sister ignited the flames of heaven, and they all watched impassively as her screams as the goddess of snow melted into a puddle; her divinity dripping through the marbled floors to fall into the abyss of Kháos and fade into nothing.

And the goddess of snow was no more.

Once the tension seeped from his body, and Leaneíras named stopped screaming within him like a loop instead fading into a mournful song that brought tears to his eyes; Hērmês settled back in his throne as Diónusos leaned over to quickly rewind the screen with Hḗphaistos' son.

From what he could tell, a lot of it dealt with them screaming at each other. At an early point of the boy's crash landing, she even looked at the sky to yell: "You want to make my curse even worse? Ζεύς! Hḗphaistos! Hērmês! Have you no shame?"

Hērmês pursed his lips. He would definitely need to remove his son from her vicinity lest her behavior rubbed off on him.

Hḗphaistos scoffed, "As if I want him there with you."

'Uh ... I doubt they're listening. You know, the whole split-personality thing—"

While he could feel the pull of both calls, most of them were able to ignore it by paying attention to one focal point; mainly their blessings or a child that had nothing to do with any of it and would thus not be called on.

"Show yourself!' the girl yelled at the sky, completely ignoring Leo. "It's not bad enough I am exiled? It's not bad enough you take away the few good heroes I'm allowed to meet? You think it's funny to send me this – this charbroiled runt of a boy to ruin my tranquility? This is NOT FUNNY! Take him back!"

"Who is she to make demands of us," Father mused, a look of displeasure on his features.

"Hey, Sunshine," Leo said. "I'm right here, you know."

"Do not call me Sunshine!" Kalupsṓ growled. "Get out of that hole and come with me now so I can get you off my island!'

"Well, since you asked so nicely ..."

"I suppose it would be hard for her to fall in love with this one," Enuṓ snickered. "Though they bicker as much as Father and Mother."

Hērmês snorted. Father and Hḗrē did bicker like an old married couple because they were one though he did not see it within Kalupsṓ and Leo. And besides, with the way that the curse was set up, he would never be able to stay even if she did "love" him, though her definition of love was something to be desired.

It was a bit awkward when the two of them went further down the beach, and the raft did not appear. On one hand, it was a good thing. There was no "love at first sight" with her, so they did not have to worry about any incidents. On the other hand, the boy was stuck there as that was the nature of her curse.

When that didn't happen, she stormed off. The thing had the nerve to go to commercial, and Hḗphaistos shrugged when the people glared at him. Of course, he was calm. He had already watched them and knew that his son was safe and because of Kalupsṓ's instant dislike of him… he had no worry about her showing him her brand of "love". Though it could change as time moved differently on that island.

On the other hand, Hērmês had to deal with a lot of glares because he had been the one to switch the subscription of HḗphaistosTV from being ad-free. He didn't understand why they were complaining! They were saving $2.99 monthly! As the god of commerce, he could charge them more than that!

The days passed quickly, and the other screen showed the rest of the questors residing at Notos' palace. Annabeth was curled into her cabin, going through absolute hell as she felt the aftereffects of what Perseus and Octavius must surely be going through in Tartara.

And the last screen showed Magnus and the others flying around the United States on his ship as the legion sent people after them in their bid to punish them for their blessings' betrayal with his Uncle hogtied in the makeshift prison room.

Still the days passed in silence. Hērmês was tended to by his siblings as it was clear that he was suffering from kháos-mania though he hid it very well. He could not afford to fall prey to madness, not when his Leaneíras needed him to gain vengeance.

Yet every night, he saw her in his dreams. She laughed at him, smiled at him, assured him, and loved him. She would return to him. He knew it in his heart, and he knew it from her words.

She was his, and he would have her back even if he had to carve her soul from the bodies of those that took her from him.

And then the screens changed as the boy started to work on other things that he could do when he faced a mental block on whatever contraption that he was attempting to build to leave the isle. It was actually the most courteous that the two of them behaved around each other; him fixing things that she could easily do with her mageia but chose not to, and her providing him with meals and clothing.

It would have been domestic if they did not know the wolf that lingered under the sheep clothing that Kalupsṓ wore.

The two of them had been speaking when things got a little bit more intense and interesting.

"Uh, it's a seeing device,' he told her after glancing at the bronze mirror. Venus giggled as the boy looked startled by his own appearance and knowing that her daughter would be greatly flustered at the sight of him. "We found one like this in Rome, in the workshop of Archimedes. If I can make it work, maybe I can find out what's going on with my friends."

Kalupsṓ shook her head. "That's impossible. This island is hidden, cut off from the world by strong magic. Time doesn't even flow the same here."

"Well, you've got to have some kind of outside contact. How did you find out that I used to wear an army jacket?'

She twisted her hair as if the question made her uncomfortable. 'Seeing the past is simple magic. Seeing the present or the future – that is not."

"Yeah, well," Leo said. 'Watch and learn, Sunshine. I just connect these last two wires, and –'

The bronze plate sparked. Smoke billowed from the sphere. A flash fire raced up Leo's sleeve to which he pulled off his shirt, threw it down and stomped on it.

'Not a word,' Leo warned as she shook with the effort to not laugh.

' Nothing worth commenting on ,' she assured him, glancing at his chest to which Hḗphaistos growled and Aglaḯa patted her husband's arm soothingly. 'If you want that device to work, perhaps you should try a musical invocation.'

'Right,' he said. ' Whenever an engine malfunctions, I like to tap-dance around it. Works every time.'

She took a deep breath and began to sing.

His Leaneíras sounded better.

Kalupsṓ stopped singing.

'Any luck?' she asked after awhile.

'Uh ...Nothing. Wait ...'

The screen glowed. In the air above it, holographic pictures shimmered to life.

There was no sound, but Árēs; daughter Clarisse LaRu was yelling orders at the campers, forming them into lines. Leo's brethren from Cabin Nine hurried around, fitting everyone with armour and passing out weapons.

They glanced over to the screens for Camp Half-Blood that were showing the exact same scenes.

Even Kheírōn was dressed for war, trotting up and down the ranks, his plumed helmet gleaming, his legs decked in bronze greaves. His usual friendly smile was gone, replaced with a look of grim determination.

In the distance, Greek triremes floated on Long Island Sound, prepped for war. Along the hills, catapults were being primed. Satyrs patrolled the fields, and riders on pegasi circled overhead, alert for aerial attacks.

'Your friends?' Kalupsṓ asked.

Leo nodded. 'They're preparing for war.'

'Against whom?'

'Look,' Leo said.

The scene changed as a phalanx of Roman demigods marched through a moonlit vineyard. An illuminated sign in the distance read: GOLDSMITH WINERY.

'I've seen that sign before,' Leo said. 'That's not far from Camp Half-Blood.'

Suddenly the Roman ranks deteriorated into chaos. Demigods scattered. Shields fell. Javelins swung wildly, like the whole group had stepped in fire ants.

The screens continued to show scenes to the duo which coincidentally, so happened to show Reyna flying through a storm on the back of a light-brown pegasus. Reyna's dark hair flew in the wind. Her purple cloak fluttered, revealing the glimmer of her armour. She was bleeding from cuts on her arms and face that were healing as Lilith grumbled from Magnus while drinking nectar. Her pegasus's eyes were wild, his mouth slathering from hard riding, but Reyna peered steadfastly forward into the storm.

A wild gryphon dived out of the clouds. It raked its claws across the horse's ribs, almost throwing Reyna BUT She drew her sword and slashed the monster down. Seconds later, three venti appeared—dark air spirits swirling like miniature tornadoes laced with lightning. Reyna charged them, yelling defiantly.

Then the bronze mirror went dark.

'No!' Leo yelled, panic in his eyes and a soft flicker of something emerging from his soul. Not mania. Not exactly, but close . 'No, not now. Show me what happens!' He banged on the mirror. 'Calypso, can you sing again or something?'

She glared at him instead. 'I suppose that is your girlfriend? Your Pēnelópeia? Your Elizabeth? Your Annabeth?'

Leo looked at her confused, shaking his head. "Well, yes and no. That's Reyna. She's not my girlfriend! I'm pretty sure that she wants to kill me… hey, girls can't end up here, right? Because if they can then I need—"

NEED, a voice rumbled in the ground as a swirling human figure erupted from the sand. NEED is an overused word.

Gaía.

Leo threw a pair of pliers at her. Unfortunately she wasn't solid and they passed right through. Her eyes were closed, but she didn't look asleep, exactly. She had a smile on her dust-devil face and her sandy robes shifted and folded.

You want to live, Gaía said. You want to join your friends. But you do not need this, my poor boy. It would make no difference. Your friends will die, regardless.

'What I don't need,' he growled, 'is more lies from you, Dirt Face. You told me I couldn't save my friends in Rome. Wrong! You told me a lot of things.'

Gaía's laughter was a soft rustling sound, like gravel trickling down a hill in the first moments of an avalanche.

I tried to help you make better choices. You could have saved yourself. But you defied me at every step. You built your ship. You joined that foolish quest. Now you are trapped here, helpless, while the mortal world dies.

Leo's hands burst into flame but Kalupsṓ placed her hand on his shoulder.

'Gaía.' Her voice was stern and steady. 'You are not welcome.'

Ah, Kalupsṓ. Gaía raised her arms as if for a hug. Still here, I see, despite the gods' promises. Why do you think that is, my dear grandchild? Are the Olympians being spiteful, leaving you with no company except this undergrown fool? Or have they simply forgotten you, because you are not worth their time?

Kalupsṓ stared straight through the swirling face of Gaía, all the way to the horizon.

Yes, Gaía murmured sympathetically. The Olympians are faithless. They do not give second chances. Why do you hold out hope? You supported your father, Átlas, in his great war. You knew that the gods must be destroyed. Why do you hesitate now? I offer you a chance that Zeus would never give you.

'Where were you these last three thousand years?' Kalupsṓ asked. 'If you are so concerned with my fate, why do you visit me only now?'

Gaía turned up her palms. The earth is slow to wake. War comes in its own time. But do not think it will pass you by on Ōgugía. When I remake the world, this prison will be destroyed as well.

'Ōgugía destroyed?' Kalupsṓ shook her head, as if she couldn't imagine those two words going together.

You do not have to be here when that happens, Gaía promised. Join me now. Kill this boy. Spill his blood upon the earth, and help me to wake. I will free you and grant you any wish. Freedom. Revenge against the gods. Even a prize. Would you still have the demigod Percy Jackson? I will spare him for you. I will raise him from Tartara. He will be yours to punish or to love, as you choose. Only kill this trespassing boy. Show your loyalty. Do you think they will forgive you when the rest of your actions are revealed?

Kalupsṓ thrust her hand towards Gaía in a three-fingered gesture: the Ancient Greek ward against evil. "This is not just my prison, Grandmother. It is my home. And you are the trespasser."

The wind ripped Gaía's form into nothingness, scattering the sand into the blue sky.

Leo swallowed. "Uh, don't take this the wrong way, but you didn't kill me. Are you crazy?"

Kalupsṓ's eyes smouldered with anger as she turned to the boy. "Your friends must need you, or else Gaía would not ask for your death."

"I – uh, yeah. I guess."

"Then we have work to do," she said. "We must get you back to your ship."

Things went by a lot quicker with her help, and the two of them found a camaraderie that had Hḗphaistos, Venus, and Bellōna watching Kalupsṓ's every move. Thankfully she learned from her previous actions considering that Poseidón had sent storms to her isle for forty days and forty nights, and still regularly sent storms when the mood struck, or he just so happened to remember.

At the moment, the two of them were speaking about him attempting to return though Phanes' knew that neither Hḗphaistos, Venus, or Bellōna would ever allow it to happen.

Leo blinked. "Festus. My bronze dragon. Once I figure out how to rebuild him, I'll—'

"You told me about Festus," Kalupsṓ said. "But what do you mean get back?"

Leo grinned nervously. "Well ... to get back here, duh. I'm sure I said that."

"You most definitely did not."

"I'm not gonna leave you here! After you helped me and everything? Of course I'm coming back. Once I rebuild Festus, he'll be able to handle an improved guidance system. There's this astrolabe that I, uh ...'" He stopped. "... that I found in Bologna. Anyway, I think with that crystal you gave me—"

"You can't come back,'" Kalupsṓ insisted.

"Because I'm not welcome?"

"Because you can't. It's impossible. No man finds Ōgugía twice. That is the rule."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, you might've noticed I'm not good at following rules. I'm coming back here with my dragon, and we'll spring you. Reyna's mom is a war goddess, so she'd know how prisons work and from what I learned Lilith is just as terrifying. We'll get you free. Hopefully. I have to get Reyna to like not kill me on the spot first and then we'll free you. You can practice magic with Medea and her friend, Lea. We'll take you wherever you want to go. It's only fair."

'Fair ...' Kalupsṓ murmured while the deities winced. Lilith would sink the island herself before she helped someone that fell in love with her blessing. She was possesive in the worst ways.

"Well, anyway," Leo said when the goddess continued to say nothing, 'tomorrow I'll start on the lumber. And in a few days ..."

"Look," Venus stated, inclining her head to where the raft was bobbing on the waves. She and Hḗphaistos and Bellōna all watched the screens intently.

Kalupsṓ sprang to her feet, sprinting down the beach, grabbing some supply bags and ran them to the raft. 'Hurry. I don't know how long it will stay!'

'But ...' Leo stood. 'That's the magic raft?'

'Duh!' Kalupsṓ yelled. 'It might work like it's supposed to and take you where you want to go. But we can't be sure. The island's magic is obviously unstable. You must rig up your guidance device to navigate.'

"She's letting him go," Bellōna murmured in surprise.

"It could still be a trick," Hḗphaistos glared suspiciously. "I will not believe it until he is on the raft and safely out of her reach."

The two of them worked side by side in perfect harmony as they fixed the machine to the raft. In no time, they had the sail in place and all the supplies aboard. Leo hit the buttons on Arkhimḗdēs sphere, muttered a prayer to Hḗphaistos. The god waved his hand and the Celestial bronze console hummed to life.

The raft began scraping against the sand, straining to reach the waves as the sail turned and the rigging tightened. 'Go,' Kalupsṓ said.

'The raft finally got here,' he said as he turned to her.

Kalupsṓ snorted. Her eyes might have been red, but it was hard to tell in the moonlight. "You just noticed?"

"But if it only shows up for guys you like—"

"Don't push your luck, Leo Valdez ," she said. "I still hate you."

"Okay."

"And about what Gaía mentioned,' she sighed. "I made a bad deal by helping someone that I thought a friend that cared nothing for me but what I could offer her. It matters not in the end for this time, I shall gracefully accept the punishment the gods deem fit when the truth comes out."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," the boy soothed, and she gave him a soft smile, grabbing his face and pressing her lips against his own.

Venus stared blankly. "My daughter will kill her."

"I'll help," Hḗphaistos grumbled.

Kalupsṓ pushed Leo away. "That didn't happen."

"Okay."

"Get out of here."

"Okay."

She turned, wiping her eyes furiously, and stormed up the beach, the breeze tousling her hair.

The sail caught the full force of the wind and the raft cleared the beach. He struggled to align the guidance console. Leo looked at the night sky as he sailed away and sighed. "Lilith had better never find out about this."

Venus stood from her throne, holding her hand out to Hḗphaistos. "Come. Let's commend her for finally understanding the depth of her curse."

Hḗphaistos grumbled, but he took her hand and the two of them flashed away appearing before Kalupsṓ instantly.

Hērmês tuned them out, not caring to hear as Annabeth and Eliza's screams began to echo on another screen. Medea and Pranjal and the entire cabin of Apóllōn's children tending to them and giving them the bare scope of what the boys were going through within the skin of Tártaros.

But then his ears caught on something that Kalupsṓ said to his siblings: "I helped Peithō with her spell, brewing the elixir myself."

And oh…

Oh…

He began to understand just how Gaía and her allies' plan worked. He began to understand what they meant when they claimed that he would go mad. He had seen his own Father begin suffering from kháos-mania but this was almost different.

He could feel it emerging with him, starting from his belly though his chest to his shoulders and arms and down to his fists.

"Shit." someone said.

Truthfully, what happened next was indescribable.

Hērmês had been falling apart at the seams since the moment that Khiónē mentioned his Leaneíras. The thought of her was clouding his mind like fog, and it was easy to understand what their enemies meant when they claimed that he would abandon his sense of self.

He thought he had understood what it meant the past few days, and the other gods had been proud that he was able to hold out for so long. Over six months he had been able to contain himself though it probably helped that he had been unable to truly leave the mountain and under close watch.

Now though…

His appearance on Ōgugía had been abrupt, not sensed by any of the immortals that were there. He moved in a blur; they did not even have a chance to gasp in shock before he sent Kalupsṓ flying. As she came down to land, he was there already, slamming her into the side of her cave.

"Another coward doing a coward's work," he sneered; the green and the gold in his pupils had darkened so considerably it was as if Núx had taken residence within.

"Hērmês… I— Peithō…"

But there was nothing that she could say nor was it nothing that he cared to hear because they both knew that it was a hard thing to come to blows with the brides of Hērmês, storm-footed Son of Ζεύς, Hērmês Argeiphontes, Hērmês Khrysorrapis.

"Percy Jackson requested your freedom last year and it seems we have been remiss. Let me correct that."

Her hand slapped uselessly on his hand wrapped around her neck.

"There will be no place for you in the heavens with the undying gods, no place on wide-blossom Gaía for even she must be disgusted with you, and the gods that lived in Háidēs will turn away from you. You will find no help in the everlaughing waves for Poseidón would slay you if you ever glanced at the sea and no help will come to thee from Peithō as even now she cowers away from punishment."

Her eyes widened in fear, mageia sparked in her hands. But soon she cried out as they dangled loosely, the bones within shattered into pieces.

"By the throne of Ólumpos—by all the powers of the Netherworld— I banish thee! I name you exile!"

Hērmês twisted strong withes with his hands, binding her with firm bands. And he held in his hand the golden rod that he uses to lull men's eyes asleep when he so wills, or again to wake others from their slumber; he dragged her along, bound hands struggling uselessly to ease the pressure on her hair.

Easeful Hērmês led her down through the ways of dankness passed the streams of Ōkeanós, the leukas petre, pylai helion, the deimos oneiron, and pass the Field of Asphódelos and soon, they came to the ascending walls of the pit of Tartara and he showed to her kháos in its horror and the doom of the abyss.

"Here, you shall linger for all of eternity and the next and the circling hounds of Kōkutós and the hundred-headed serpent shall tear your entrails; your lungs will be attacked by the the Tartesian Eel, your kidneys bleeding with your very entrails the Teithrasian Gorgones will rip apart.'"

She blubbered and cried, but he was deaf to her pleas for if she was truly apologetic, she would have not stood against he and his Leaneíras.

"Be warned; learn ye to be just and not to slight the gods! Here, the ancient sons of Earth, the Titan's brood, hurled down by the thunderbolt, writhe in lowest abyss. Here were they who in lifetime hated their brethren, or smote a sire, and entangled a client in wrong; or who brooded in solitude over wealth they had won, nor set aside a portion for their kin — the largest number this; who were slain for adultery; or who followed the standard of treason, and feared not to break allegiance with their lords — all these, immured, await their doom. Seek not to learn that doom, or what form of crime, or fate, overwhelmed them! Some roll a huge stone, or hang outstretched on spokes of wheels; All dared a monstrous sin, and what they dared attained. Nay, had I a hundred tongues, a hundred mouths, and voice of iron, I could not sum up all the forms of crime, or rehearse all the tale of torments."

"Please… Hērmês… please. If you hold even the barest affection towards me for I bore to you, the Kephalonians, please… do not… please… not this…"

"You said that you would accept whatever punishment is deemed fit, right? You longed for freedom of your island… well Tartara is as far beneath Háidēs as heaven is above earth. Here, you shall stay, from this high pillar of solid adamant, that no might of man, nay, not even the sons of heaven, could uproot in war and Tīsiphónē, sitting girt with bloody pall, who keeps sleepless watch over the portal night and day shall be your only company."

Quickly he strung her up by the fetters, and soared back to the high heavens of his father's house with her desperate pleas like music in his ears.

WORD COUNT: 10348

THINGS TO KNOW:

1) According to a fragment from the Catalogue of Women, Kalupsṓ bore the Cephalonians to Hērmês as suggested by Hērmês' visits to her island in the Odyssey.

2) According to Hesiod the edge of the cosmos is where the flat disc of the earth meets the descending dome of the sky and the ascending walls of the pit of Tartaros. The sky-dome and Tartarean pit surround the cosmos in an egg-shaped shell with Tartaros descending as far beneath the earth as the sky rises up above it.

2A) So we get flat earth and round earth together because in the centuries following, when Plato makes mention of Tartaros; he says that the rivers and water that flows from the heavens make their way to Tartaros and the rising steam makes it way back to the heavens… sounds to me like the water cycle. I saw all this as I was trying to write the punishment scene.

COMMENTS FROM THE AUTHOR:

1) Those that are the biggest threats to Gaía's plans:

1A) Lea and Leo in first place. Leo mainly because in canon, she was ruining his life when he was still a kid to break him down. Lea because the girl beat two titans and is like the Hēraklēs of the magic world in this verse.

1B) Percy and Jason in second place. Canonically, she hated both of them. She sent one to Tartara and it was canonically stated that she hated Jason a bit more than she hated Percy. I don't make the rules.

1C) Drew and Medea in third place. Our girls who wouldn't have been much of a threat if she didn't go after their blessings.

1D) Annabeth and Octavian are in last place. Not because I don't think that they are threats; the gods' know with how I characterize Octavian, he would give her a run for her money, but in light of everyone else... they dont have that dawg in them.

1Da) Inconveniences as far as Gaía's concerned where their only worth is if they die then Percy dies, and no matter how far Lea is... she will come back for her revenge, and I don't know. I don't think the Fates want to actually end the world at this point because she would definitely destroy that floating rock and wrapped the threads of fate around the Moirai's neck. So, yeah, she doesn't pay them much attention in a bid to not have the atomic bomb that is Lea come back to show her why her fatal flaw had been apathy and how she didnt care about shit that didnt deal with her chosen ppl.

2) Drew's charmspeak isnt her main weapon the way it is for Piper. She has her archery, swordfighting, and hand to hand skills. And its different for the two of them also. Drew is effortlessly charming. Piper tries to downplay hers. Drew's charming to the point that when she walks in a room, all eyes are on her. You cannot help but to look at her and want to be near her or even be her. Piper's charming to the point where you have to do a double take because she's trying to stay in the background. Drew's confident, knows what she wants, and willing to fight for it. Piper isn't. At least, not at this point.

2A) This is canon. Rick wrote: Aphrodite wasn't about head-on confrontation. Aphrodite was about subtlety and guile and charm. Piper decided she shouldn't focus on making people do what she wanted. She needed to push them to do the things they wanted.

2Ab) that's a lie. Aphrodítē is a war goddess. She confronted Helénē & told her to sleep with Paris. She willingly got on the battlefield during the trojan war, to save her son, & got injured for it by Diomēdēs, & she still went back on the battlefield to get Árēs & got injured again when Athḗnē attacked her. This is goddess that to win the Judgement of Paris, she put on her best clothes & told him that she'd give him the most beautiful woman in world as a bride while knowing that it would lead to a war & helped him when he went to kidnapped Helénē. The first giant war, she tricks giants into a cave & let Hēraklēs kill them and Several depictions in Greek art show Aphrodítē as the opponent of Mimas.

3) Drew's power has advanced but way better than Piper. She can speak things into reality. If she says that she has an orange in her hand, then an orange will appear in her hand. She's joined her besties. Lea and Medea. Our magical girls.

4) It has never been true, another voice whispered – a voice that sounded like her mother's. Each of them berated you because they feared you AND envied you. So does Khione. Use that!

4A) Drew was named as one of the people that looked down on Piper. From the small amount of screen time that she had... the only time that she feared Piper was when she put a knife to her throat. And above all that, Aphrodítē would not call her own child a hater. Rick... STOP writing teenage girls.

5) Another big difference between Drew (at least my characterization of her) and Piper is that Drew isn't insecure about herself and especially not her powers. Drew's insecurities come from trying to be a good sibling like Silena and Anthony (my oc) and trying to figure out who she is outside of living in Silena's shadow.

5A) So, Piper's scene in canon would not have worked in the previous chapter because Drew knows that she isn't useless, and she knows her worth. And Drew's an amalgamation of her Mother's domains. She takes after her siblings very well and Apóllōn's her teacher.

6) Piper knew what her friends whispered about Jason – he was too perfect, too straitlaced.

6A) This is the most bullshitting sentence I have ever read, & I really hate that its Jason's characterization throughout the entire series. From the beginning, we see Jason's struggle and his inner thoughts of trying to live up to an image. We get told pretty quickly that Jason was raised as a soldier. Of course, he's put together and "perfect". He has years of training on them. All of them save Annabeth were new at being demigods. Even Percy only had 4 yrs in comparison to Jason's 13 & even then Annabeth was sheltered at camp until she was 12. Then we move on to the fact that Jason is considered Iūnō's champion. He works in direct service to the Queen so yes, it would be harder for him to make mistakes because of how that reflects on her with the addition that his Father is the King. He's under a lot of pressure. Of course, he has to be perfect, & then we get more Jason's thoughts as he talked about the changes that he tried to do. That's where his "rebellious" attitude comes in at. & also, lets not forget that most of the ppl on the ship are from CHB where they are wilder & less restrictive in their actions. Hazel & Frank are again too new. At this point, Rick dont write about anyone else but Percy.

6B) Also at this point, the CHB series (PJO, HOO, and the other stories) have outgrown Rick. Its no longer his story to tell.

7) He remembered the old bronze astrolabe he'd picked up in Bologna – the one the dwarfs told him Odysseus had made. He had a sneaking suspicion Odysseus had been thinking about this island when he constructed it, but unfortunately Leo had left it back on the ship with Buford the Wonder Table.

7A) Odysseús was raped. He was not going to ever go back to her. The man was crying boohoo tears to leave her. She was holding him hostage. This man travelled for ten years to get back to his wife and son, and she held him for SEVEN of those years. If he was going to back, it was so Pēnelópeia could whoop her ass.

8) Anyway, surprise! We just got three of the major players in what happened to Lea. Kalupsṓ, who we already knew. Khiónē and Gaía herself. The Boreádai are on like house arrest because they were just following what they believed their Father's orders. They will now share her previous domain as the gods of snow. This leaves only Peithō, and its going to be so carefully written. Truthfully, I had to scrap what I already had.