Juliette is bluffing like she has never bluffed before in her life.

She is the bluff master. A bluff icon. She bluffs like nobody's business and has a PhD in macrobluffology.

Thank the gods for all that lead these idiot emperors used to build their water pipes with (thanks for the funfact, babe!), because it made them dumb as hell, and that is the only reason Julie is still alive.

Of course, she doesn't want to count her lucky stars too soon. Especially considering she's currently waking up with a massive headache in what she's pretty sure is an Imperial Gold cage in the back of a moving van.

What happened? Ugh, why is she so dizzy?

The last thing she remembers, she was being paraded into some dinner meeting in Nero's ugly ass throne room. There was another emperor...Comm...Commo...Commode? That sounds right. Yeah. The guy with the beard in the speedo. Did he drug her? Groaning, Julie heaves herself slowly into a sitting position.

She very quickly realizes something is missing.

Julie's heart does a summersault.

Her leg.

Shit.

They took her bronze leg.

What the Hades, Commode?

That's so rude?

Seriously?

Why would you-?

Seriously?

Can you spell ABLEISM?

Juliette may or may not throw a flailing temper tantrum on the ground when she realizes this.

UGH! Okay, she really should have expected this. It's Celestial Bronze. If she were a kidnapper, she'd probably confiscate it too. But, gods, this is going to make escaping, like, a thousand times harder.

It takes a few tries to sit up because of the spinning in her head. Not to mention her stomach is rolling with every bump the van hits on the road. Once she manages it, she starts to take in her surroundings.

Yup. Cage. Well, honestly more of a kennel. Like a dog crate. Julie scowls at the realization.

The golden bars of the cage she's been leaning on have left impressions on her bare arms. She's still wearing the clothes she left camp in (the relief of that is like a punch to the gut). Her wounds don't seem to have been treated either. Her right eye is swollen, and her lip is scabbed over in the middle. When she moves her left arm too, she feels the sunburn-like stinging she had certainly not missed since the Tiberii donum was first put on her in December. Probably from her little mini torture-sesh in the woods.

She grits her teeth. Nero.

Gods, when Julie gets out of here, she is going to rip that stupid neckbeard right off his pimply chin.

But, for now...She should probably figure out what in the sweet Hermes is going on.

Julie scoots to the front of the cage and squints up at the driver's seat. There's a partition separating the cargo section from the cab, so she can't see too much. She can make out that there's only one driver, though.

Really? No guards?

That's kind of insulting, honestly.

The shape is definitely male, though. Good. That means this will be a piece of cake. Julie rolls her neck and shakes out her shoulders. It's been a minute since she tapped into the power of being hot. She usually leaves that bit up to Piper. Desperate times call for desperate measures, though. And, she's already annoyed enough that she feels no guilt in taking advantage of her feminine wiles.

She reaches an arm between the bars of her cage and knocks on the partition to the driver's seat.

"Hey, anybody up there?" She asks innocently.

Julie hears the driver swear under his breath. He doesn't respond, though.

A little annoyed, Julie tries again. "It's pretty lonely back here." She sighs sadly. "I was hoping you might be good company..."

Nothing.

Her fake shy smile drops.

Okay, what the Hades? The damsel act usually works. Has she lost her touch?

Juliette is getting impatient. She sits up on her knees and knocks on the partition again. "It's kind of claustrophobic back here. Would it be so hard just to talk to me for a little?"

She tries to sound vulnerable and scared. Personally, she thinks she's an excellent actress, so it's extra rude when the driver grunts irritably and yells back, "Shut the fuck up!"

Julie stills. Wait a minute. She knows that voice.

Ohhhohoh, this is either going to be VERY good or VERY bad.

She gives the left side of her chest an affectionate pat (Sorry for this, Jace. I know you'd understand, though) and adjusts her tactics. Juliette leans forward to peer through the bars of her cage and throws on a smirk.

"Oh, I know you." She laughs breathily and taps her fingernails against the golden bars. "Good to see you again, Prince Charming."

There's a silence. It's long enough that Julie almost second guesses who she thinks is driving right now. She starts to expect the guy to continue ignoring her. Finally, though, a long sigh tears out of the man - Well, boy, actually. She thinks he's about her age - and he calls back a response.

"I'm not a prince."

Oh, yeah. That's him alright.

Julie bites her lip to keep from smiling triumphantly. She taps her nails on the partition near where the silhouette of the swordsman is sitting.

"Lityerses, right?" She asks teasingly. "I remember you. You are a prince."

He pauses. Then, he huffs again.

"I'm not a prince. Now, shut the fuck up."

Juliette giggles. "But, if I do that, you'll stop talking to me."

"That's the idea."

She turns to lean her back against the side of the cage, running a nail slowly across the partition behind him. "Maybe I want to get to know you."

"Maybe I'll cut your tongue out."

"That'd be a waste," She lowers the tone of her voice suggestively. "I tend to make good use of it."

EWWW. Ewewewewewew.

Julie is very glad he can't currently see her, because she is grimacing. This is awful. She's keeping this Piper's job from here on out.

Yucky or not, though, the boy in the driver's seat's next mumbled curse has a bit of a rough tremor to it. Oh yeah, she's gaining ground. Uuugggghh, she wants to see Jason so bad. She knows he'd be on board with this plan, but this just feels so gross.

"So, Prince Charming," She purrs. "Where are you taking me?"

There's a reluctant pause. Then, "Indianapolis."

What state is that in again?

Wait. INDIANApolis. Duh.

It's a really good thing she didn't say that out loud.

"Any idea what's in store for me in Indianapolis?" She asks with a lazy sigh, trying to sound like she doesn't really care. She continues running her nails along the wall behind him. It might sound annoying, but you'd be surprised. Teenage boys are so easy to charm. She's got this in the bag.

Or maybe not.

She's a bit startled by the snort Lityerses lets out suddenly. He sounds genuinely amused. A bit smug. And, when he speaks, the roughness Julie's previous comments had worked into his voice has faded.

"Oh, you'll see," He chuckles darkly.

Chills run down Julie's spine.

Well, that's foreboding. She presses her lips together and tries to keep her voice flirtatious even with the annoying shudder of fear thrilling through her. "Not even going to give me a hint?"

Lityerses pauses thoughtfully. Then, he chuckles again, and Julie sits up sharply as the partition between them slides open. Sunlight spills into the back of the van from the windshield, making her shield her eyes. Her driver adjusts the rearview mirror so he can look back at her.

She gives him her best siren eyes, looking up at him through her lashes, but he just smirks, shakes his head, and looks back at the road.

"I hope you've picked up some more skills than you had when we fought," He chuckles, sounding disturbingly excited about whatever is awaiting her at their destination. "Otherwise, that face isn't going to be so pretty for long."

Julie's expression must falter, because Lit's smirk grows wider. He meets her eyes in the mirror, face tanned and angular and roped with battle scars, and winks. Then, he slides the partition shut again, and Juliette is returned to darkness.

She's back to feeling sick. Worse than before. And, for a much different reason.

This plan was a good one. She got the hostages home safely. She got Meg out. She helped save Dodona. Now, she's in a position where she could potentially find some important information on how to take the Triumvirate down from the inside.

It's a good plan. An important one. She can make a difference.

Julie just really hopes she doesn't get herself killed in the process.

By the time the van stops, Julie isn't thinking about the prospect of her imminent death anymore. Her brain is entirely focused on how badly she needs to pee.

She glares at the back door impatiently as she listens to Lit hop out of the front seat, keys jangling obnoxiously loud. Honestly, what does he think he is? A security guard?

Well, she guesses he technically is a security guard. Her being a prisoner, and all. It's still unnecessary to be jangling those keys so loudly, though. That stupid, pompous, annoying-

The door opens, and Julie hisses when the sunlight hits her unadjusted eyes. She hears Lityerses snort. "Oh, sweetheart," He chuckles. "You won't last a day, will you?"

Julie can't see, so she blindly throws out the middle finger. Because fuck you. Pretty quickly, her cage is being yanked to the back of the van, and the lock is being undone with one of those stupid fucking, loud, annoying keys.

Pardon her language, she really has to pee, and the sun is in her eyes. You understand.

The door to the cage creaks open, and Juliette is pulled from the van by her wrist.

Seeing as she only has one leg at the moment, she very ungracefully tumbles to the concrete. Her eyes are adjusted enough now that she can glare venomously up at Lit where he's standing over her, still clutching her wrist over her head.

"You look good down there," He grins.

Julie considers the potential consequences of punching him in the groin.

She doesn't get the chance, though, because arms are suddenly grasping painfully tightly onto either one of her own. Juliette is hauled up off the concrete and into the air. She makes a surprised yelp that turns into a startled half-scream when she looks down to see what is possibly the most disturbing creature she has encountered so far in her demigod career.

Yes. She means that.

They look like muscular human beings. If human beings could have their heads chopped off and still drag around poor teenage kidnapping victims. Right in the center of their chests, where there should be pectorals and a stomach, are faces instead. One eye where each nipple should be and a smile across the tummy.

Julie grew up with dryads, so she's seen some pretty strange anatomy in her life. These freaks are nightmare inducing.

They're incredibly strong too. No matter how much Julie struggles, their grips on her arms only tighten.

"We would appreciate it if you would please stop trying to escape," One of them says in a friendly female voice. "If you don't, we will have to break your arms and legs."

"We are sure you understand," The other agrees politely.

Something about being threatened with violence in a sweet suburban mom accent makes Julie immediately freeze in their hold. Glancing around, Juliette has been unloaded in some random restaurant parking lot. They seem to be in the heart of Indianapolis judging by the amount of windows in the towering buildings all around. There's a walking bridge overpass cutting between two buildings that's casting a shadow on where Lityerses parked the van. A perfect little pocket of seclusion.

The two creatures begin to drag her towards the base of that overpass, heading for a suspicious metal work door. Julie is pretty sure that's where they're planning on stashing her body, but she still can't convince herself to test out if they're really feeling up to breaking her arms right now.

"Thank you very much," The first creature smiles.

"We appreciate your cooperation. How polite."

"Bring her through here," Lityerses orders, walking ahead of them to unlock the rusty door with yet another key. He steps back to hold it open, smiling in amusement down at Julie where she's hanging from the grasps of her two escorts.

"Blemmyae," He explains, nodding at the creatures. "Be sure to mind your manners. It'll make your life a lot easier." Lit steps aside so they can enter. "For however long that lasts, anyway."

Oh wow, cool line, man. Really scary. Juliette is, like, so intimidated.

That thought was meant to be sarcastic, but honesty, Julie is shaking in her wool leggings.

Um. Yeah, no. She would not like to go in the scary work door, thank you. No second location necessary!

Now that she's out of the Imperial Gold cage, Juliette lets her powers flare up and stretches her fingers into razor sharp talons. She slashes them through the hands gripping her arms, and the blemmyae's fingers fall to the ground like she just poured out a pack of lil smokies onto the sidewalk. Julie hears Lit sigh in annoyance as she drops into a crouch to dodge the swipe of the suddenly very offended creatures.

"My fingers!" "How impolite!"

"You are a very nasty young lady!"

"Cheryl, that's rude."

"Oh, you're right, my apologies."

"I forgive you."

"How nice. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The conversation distracts Julie's captors long enough for her to shift through a transformation, now suddenly twice their height and ready to throw down. The blemmyae turn to look up at her, smiling politely, and Julie swipes out a wing to smack the creatures across the pavement. She swats them like flies, and their bodies flap like they're made of biscuit dough as they sail through the air to splat against the side of the overpass.

One of them bursts into monster dust. The other lies facedown on the concrete, and Juliette hears a muffled "I found that to be very discourteous of you."

Julie shakes out her wings to prepare for flight. Unfortunately, she lets out a yowl of pain as something slashes through the webbing of her right one.

She looks down in surprise. A red and white blur shoots across her field of vision too fast for her to follow. Before Juliette can even react to the first blow she took, a second slice is being hacked through her left wing too.

Panicked, she tries to take off anyway. She tries to leap into the air and feels the wind start to pick her up above the ugly city landscaping. But, her wounded wings won't hold her. Barely twenty feet off the ground, Juliette comes crashing down onto her stomach and slides back into human form.

Her arms are bleeding now. A lot. The webbing between her pointer and middle fingers has been severed on both hands, and there are two deep slices up the backsides of her forearms. Julie pushes away the pain and struggles to her hands and knees. Before she gets the chance to sit up all the way, there's an Imperial Gold sword at her throat.

Lityerses is frowning boredly at her, not a speck of dust on his red and white Nebraska jersey even after completely annihilating her. Gods, that was less than twenty seconds. She's kind of embarrassed.

He pokes her neck with the edge of the blade. "Are you done?"

Julie has to force herself not to bare her teeth at him angrily. She grits them together instead and hisses a bit at the sting when his sword nicks her jaw.

Lityerses starts to smirk, giving her an unimpressed raise of a dark eyebrow. "What? Did you lose your tongue after all?"

"You wish," Julie snorts bitterly. She's a little too pissed off to keep up with flirting anymore. She's going to have to think of a plan B.

Lit must find her admitting defeat amusing. He crouches down to her height, sword balanced on her shoulder and pressed into the base of her neck. The red bandana holding back his black curls should remind Julie of Clarisse. But, Clarisse would never play with her opponents like this.

"No big, strong boyfriend around to save you this time," He observes, empty eyes flitting around her face. "Looks like I finally get to see you bleed."

Juliette narrows her gaze.

She leans into his sword and lets it cut into her neck until she hears the gold start to sizzle. Lityerses' eyebrows go up, and when he meets her gaze, he's starting to grin.

"Don't get used to it," Julie snaps.

The boy nods, still grinning, still studying her. He shakes his head like he's finding her confidence very amusing. "Cute."

Lit stands back up and sheathes his sword casually. Then, he bends down far enough to grab her upper arm and starts dragging her along behind him.

"Maybe keep that fire for what's coming next, though, sweetheart. You're gonna need all the help you can get."

Julie's struggles are totally useless. The boy heaves her back towards the metal door beneath the overpass. He slams it open, and Juliette's mind becomes scrambled at the sight beyond the threshold.

One would think that after sixteen years of crazy shit happening in her life, Juliette would be less surprised every time something weird happens. But, she was really expecting a Saw 5 torture chamber, not the football coliseum home to the Indianapolis Colts.

Lit holds open the metal door with one hand, still gripping Julie's arm in the other. The crowd on the other side of this passageway must be enormous. She can hear the roaring of the cheers in her bones. She looks over at her captor in bewilderment as Lityerses' eyes twinkle in anticipation.

"This might have been easier for you with wings that still worked," He comments, grinning. "Oh, well."

He slings her roughly forward through the door and slams it shut behind her.

Sally Jackson is used to empty beds in her apartment.

It started out as just Percy's. Back when he was little and away at another new boarding school, Sally would sometimes use his room to get away from Gabe on the more...belligerent nights. She'd lay herself out on his tiny bed with the racecar sheets and breathe in the seabreeze smell that her baby has always been followed by.

In the early days after he was born, she used to think that smell was Poseidon. That he had come back to see her or Percy. That maybe things on Olympus had changed. What a silly thought.

Later on, Percy's bed was a bit bigger. His sheets were solid blue instead and always ridiculously messy. Sally would busy herself with tidying them. With making the bed and smoothing out the wrinkles in his pillows as she tried not to think about what horrors her boy could be facing. What dangers. What scars he'd come home to lie about getting from 'a skateboarding wipeout.'

Sally knew why her son started lying to her. She got it. So much of his life was already so tainted by the gods. As desperately as she wanted to know what was going on with him always - to be able to be there for everything...she understood. So, if letting Percy lie about skateboarding accidents was what it took for his bed to be messy again come morning, that was okay. She could handle it.

Handling it became harder once there were two empty beds instead of one.

Sally only worked one job after Gabe. She was focused on trying to get her degree so she could maybe live out at least one of the dreams she'd once had for herself. She and Percy were barely making ends meet. Barely making rent.

But, how do you look your thirteen year old in the eye and tell him that you don't have the money to give the little girl he's so desperate to save her first real home?

You don't. You can't. So, Juliette Aster's bed came to sit in an L shape to Percy's in his already cramped bedroom, and Sally did her best to keep food on the table consistently enough that neither of her babies knew there was ever a struggle to do so.

It was hard. Some days were long. Rough. They ate a lot of cheap spaghetti that first year. But, never once - not from the moment she met that sweet little girl to the first time she accidentally called Sally "Mom" - did she ever regret it.

If Sally Jackson was confused by the gods' indifference before, that understanding became even dimmer after the second bed joined the first. Because, how could anyone look at that wide, toothy smile and call their child a curse?

If anything, Julie has been a blessing on her family. When Percy's bed is empty, Juliette's usually is too. As painful as that can be for Sally, it means her boy isn't so alone anymore. It means he has someone out there who will make sure he gets back home.

And, he did.

After eight months and five days, Perseus knocked on Sally's door like it had only been hours, his baby sister smiling behind him. Both a little taller. Both a little broader. Both covered in brand new skateboarding scars.

But, alive. Home.

For the first night in nearly a year, Percy slept between those solid blue sheets with Annabeth Chase cuddled into his neck, and Sally found that her family had grown once more.

Both beds were full for a while. Sometimes over their agreed upon occupancy. Sally was introduced to Jason Grace, and she found that Juliette followed around his summer wind smell like it was the only air that she could breathe. It reminded Sally of her early days with Percy's father. When she fell hard and fast, and nothing in the world mattered but spending every second that they had in each other's company.

Safe to say, both her kids ended up with their sheets pulled over their faces in embarrassment as Sally lectured them each about taking caution with young love if they didn't want to end up buying racecar sheets instead of living their twenties.

The thought makes her smile as she stands there now, tucking the last corner of Juliette's lavender bedsheets beneath the mattress of her twin sized bed.

Sally isn't sure exactly why she had the sudden urge to wash them today. This bed has been empty for a month. Juliette hasn't stayed here since the day Apollo fell from Olympus and into the front tires of her husband's Toyota.

As she runs her hand over the wrinkleless pillowcase, though...she can't help but be concerned that there's a reason to feel urgent. Like, maybe, this bed isn't supposed to be empty right now.

"Mom?"

For some reason, Percy's appearance makes Sally feel like she's doing something she shouldn't be. She pulls her hand back like the pillow had caught fire and turns to her oldest, forcing a smile. "Hey, baby. How was school?"

Percy glances between her and his sister's bedsheets. "Are you okay?"

Sally looks at him like he's silly. "Yeah, of course. Why?"

"You're crying."

Oh? Sally swipes at her cheeks. Oh, dear.

"Are you okay?" Percy asks again, shifting his weight between his feet.

Sally attempts to laugh it off, nodding and waving her hand through the air dismissively. "Yes, it's nothing. Just the pregnancy hormones. I didn't even realize I was crying," She chuckles, turning back to spread Juliette's comforter onto the bed.

Percy drops his backpack by the door and plops down onto his own bed, leaning down to untie his shoes. "Are you missing Jules?"

Sally hesitates.

That must be an affirmative answer to Percy. He sighs sadly, and she hears the sound of his shoes being free thrown into the bin by his closet. "I don't know what's taking her so long. I figured she'd be back by now."

He sounds annoyed at the girl. It makes Sally smile amusedly.

For as much bickering this apartment sees, her son gets awfully grumpy whenever Julie has somewhere to be without him. Sally already knows that this baby girl she's carrying is going to spoiled rotten by her awesome big brother.

"Is she still at camp?" She asks, turning around and taking her own seat on Julie's freshly made bed.

Percy frowns. "Oh, no. Nico said she went to visit Jason."

Sally blinks in surprise. That's the first she's hearing of this. "She did?"

"Yeah," He shrugs. "Went to warn Camp Jupiter about the emperors Apollo's fighting, or something. I don't know. Nico said it was important."

It takes a moment for Sally to register that explanation.

Nico di Angelo has been popping in and out of her home for years. He's yet another child that Sally has done her best to offer some sort of normalcy to. Some sort of guidance and care. He's a little quiet. Sort of shy. She can see why he might not fit in totally at Camp Halfblood, where every demigod is wild and reckless. He has always been impeccably polite, though, and Sally remembers the giddiness with which Juliette used to gasp whenever she'd find some new enchanted blossom waiting for her on her pillow after school.

A boy who brings her daughter flowers from the Underworld. Surely, he would be one to have her best interests at heart. After watching the two kids grow closer and closer over the years, Sally is absolutely sure of that.

So, why is he lying?

"When did she leave?"

Percy shrugs again and lays back against his pillows, settling his English textbook onto his legs and sending it a sour look. "Uhh, like, right before I went and visited last, I think. Right before the big statue thing smashed the dining pavilion."

Sally's heart skips a beat. "She wasn't there when you went?"

"Nah."

She isn't sure how to respond. The dread in her stomach is kicking at her. Questioning everything Percy is saying. That story doesn't add up. It just doesn't. But, her son really does look unconcerned.

Even if Nico is lying, which Sally is sure he is, Percy believes him.

And, if that was the goal all along...

"Mom, are you sure you're good?" Percy asks, sitting back up and setting aside the textbook. He looks exceptionally worried. It sends a thrill of panic through Sally's heart.

"Yes!" She insists with a smile, patting her thighs and standing from the bed. She stops by Percy's side to drop a kiss onto his head before making for the door. "I told you - pregnant ladies are crazy."

"You can say that again."

"Hey, watch it, buster," She warns with a smirk, pointing at him through the doorway. "I told Paul to bring home donuts, and I am not above holding them hostage until your homework is finished."

He gasps in betrayal. "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

Sally makes the 'I'm watching you' gesture at her pouting son as she walks backwards out of his bedroom and towards the kitchen. Yes, she walks that way all the way down the hall. It's hard to turn around in their tiny hallway with a belly this big.

She doesn't let herself drop her smile until she's clear past the refrigerator. Once she's in the cover of her kitchen, Sally lets go of her hold on her emotions and buries her face into her hands.

She wasn't entirely joking about the hormones. If she weren't pregnant, she'd probably be handling this with a lot more grace. But, right now, her momma-bear instincts are going crazy, and there's a bed in the other room that is supposed to have a child in it.

Sally just wants her girl. Her first girl.

And, if her girl is somewhere perilous enough that Nico doesn't want Percy to know...

Gods...Hestia. Hera. Artemis.

Just bring Julie home safe. Please.

That bed isn't meant to be empty.