Day One
He's been Jason Grace for about a year now.
That's heavy sometimes. It tears him down sometimes.
He knows that he's Jason Grace. The name sounds like it's his, and it's what everyone calls him. It's what his mother named him and what Juno wanted. It's the name of a leader. A praetor. A soldier boy.
He is Jason Grace. And, even though he barely remembers who Jason Grace is, over the last year, he's done what he could to live up to that.
His hands are in his pockets, and the hood of his blue sweatshirt is up. At first, it was helpful in blocking out the rain, but it's long since become pretty waterlogged. So have his blue jeans. Jason hasn't done laundry in a few days, so he's stuck in the silly baggy ones Piper bought for him. The ones that are ripped at the knees. Leo had a matching pair. Jason's sure his are long since burnt to ash, though. Because Leo's a mess, not because of the explosion. The thought makes him smile a little.
"Aren't you cold?"
Jason startles. His hand goes straight for his sword as he whips around. He sighs in relief to find just a mortal girl standing behind him. Not a cyclops or a telekhine.
The girl is smiling at him, but in a bemused way like Jason is doing something particularly unhinged by sitting at this bus station bench early in the morning in the middle of a spring downpour. She has long, straight brown hair with bangs. She's probably a little younger than Jason is and wearing the uniform for the all-girls sister to his boarding school. In her right hand is a bright pink umbrella to block the rain.
He knows someone who would probably like that umbrella. Jason stares at it.
The girl giggles.
Jason startles again and feels his face start to burn. Oh shoot, she'd spoken to him, hadn't she? He hadn't been listening.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" He asks sheepishly. "Do you need something?"
The girl looks amused. She shakes her head. "I just asked if you were cold. You have an umbrella - why not use it?"
She nods at Jason's sword at his belt. He forces an awkward laugh. He still hasn't gotten the hang of talking to mortals really. "I just like storms." Jason shrugs.
She tilts her head, painted on smile fading into something more soft and considering. Jason raises his eyebrows in surprise when she shrugs too and closes her umbrella to get rained on as well. She laughs at his expression and comes to sit down on the bench next to him. Jason shifts to make more room, and she holds out a hand.
"I'm Lucy."
Jason shakes hands. "I'm..."
Who is he?
Jason is a hero of old. He's a demigod of legend. He's Beryl Grace's son. He's Juno's champion. Is he Jason?
"Jason Grace, right?" Lucy asks. She looks amused again. Maybe she's wondering if his strange behavior is drug related. That's usually the explanation when the guys at school are acting so spacey.
"Yes, sorry," He laughs, pushing his hood back and looking up at the clouds. His hair is drenched. He never realizes how long it's gotten until it's wet. It's plastered to his forehead, hanging over his eyebrows. He had it buzzed for so long that he's always shocked when his hair grows quickly. It's a good thing Juliette has been around to help him learn to control it.
She makes everything easier. All these changes...They never felt so scary when they were together. Jason never felt so lost.
He needs her right now.
When the girl next to him raises a hand to catch the falling drops, Jason remembers he's talking to someone. He blinks in confusion.
"Wait, how did you know that?"
He doesn't mean to sound quite so suspicious, but his hand is back on his sword.
Lucy's cheeks turn a little red. She shrugs again and busies herself with pushing her wet bangs out of her eyes. "I noticed you on campus. I thought you were cute, so I asked around and found out your name."
Jason raises an eyebrow. Lucy's jaw drops, and she turns to him in panic.
"I'm not stalking you! I swear I just take this bus to get home. I'm visiting my parents this weekend in Colorado. Really, us meeting here was just fate." Her eyes widen. "Fate like a coincidence! Not like we're in a romcom, or-" She groans, palms over her eyes. "I'm totally blowing this, aren't I?"
Jason stares at the girl awkwardly. Her mascara is running down her cheeks. He catches himself before he recommends the waterproof brand Rosa always raves about. He's bought so many of them for her, he could probably recite the ingredients from memory.
Jason smiles at the thought and huffs a laugh. "You're fine. And thank you. I have a girlfriend, though."
Lucy slumps. "Darn it."
Jason laughs again, a bit flattered by how disappointed the girl looks, and returns to staring out at the road in indecision.
"Where are you going?"
He frowns in confusion. "What?"
Lucy gestures at the bus stop sign. "This shuttle goes to the train station. Are you going home?"
Home.
Jason's hand finds his wallet in his pocket. He hopes the rain hasn't soaked through.
"I don't know," He mumbles. Lucy once again looks amused by his strangeness. Jason clears his throat and straightens up. "I mean, I don't know if I should."
Lucy tilts her head. "Why shouldn't you?"
He winces. "I sort of promised I wouldn't."
"You promised you wouldn't go home?"
"I promised not to leave California."
The expression Lucy makes reminds Jason of Piper. It's how she looks at Juliette whenever she tries pestering her into joining cheer. Confusion and annoyance.
"Well, that sucks. Why can't you leave?"
Jason bites at his scar. He looks down at the concrete.
"It's...a long story." Why is he telling all of this to some random mortal girl? "If I leave, some people that I love could get hurt. But if I stay here..."
Jason blinks slowly. His wallet feels fifty pounds heavier.
"What do you mean people would get hurt?" Lucy asks, looking a bit wary. She glances around at the other nearby commuters and lowers her voice. "Are you, like, in a gang?"
Jason bursts out laughing.
Lucy's jaw drops. "Well, are you?!"
Grinning, he nods. "You got me. I'm in a gang. That's my deep, dark past."
"That's so hot."
"Mm. So is my girlfriend."
Lucy laughs too and puts a few more inches of space between them on the bench, raising her hands in defeat. "Alright, alright, point taken. I'll stop moving in on somebody else's man."
Somebody else's man.
Juno says he belongs to her. The tattoo on his arm says he belongs to Rome.
Jason Grace has no problem with being marked. With being owned. It's what he was made for. So, he should be happy to be someone else's, right?
"Is that who you're thinking of visiting?" Lucy asks. "Your girlfriend?"
Jason looks back over at her.
Seeing Juliette is all he's been thinking about for months. He dreams about her. Regular dreams. Where he can see and feel and smell her, but when he wakes up, none of it was real.
Honestly, it might be the only thing worse than not seeing her at all.
He doesn't think he's taken a full breath since he left her on that hill in November. He can't think straight by this point. He misses her, but it's more than that.
She's in trouble, and Jason is just sitting here.
On this bench.
In the rain.
Waiting.
It's what Jason Grace would do. Jason Grace keeps his oaths. But, gods, he wants to break it. He wants Juliette. He needs her. Logically, he knows that angering Styx would do nothing but cause whatever peril the both of them are in to be ten times worse, but everything in him wants to say 'To Hades with logic,' and go anyway.
She needs him. And he needs her.
Somebody else's man. Jason's hand finds the crystal hanging from his neck.
Yeah. He belongs to her. But she's his as well, so it feels different somehow.
"Is she in a gang?"
After a moment of genuine consideration, Jason shakes his head. "Actually, she's missing...She was kidnapped."
Lucy's face drops. "Oh. Oh, crap. I was kidding. I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault."
"Still..." She shifts, hands fidgeting with the edge of her wet uniform skirt. Watching her tug on a loose strand from it makes Jason want to cry. "Are you- Is she-How are you doing?"
Jason frowns. Something weird is in the tone of her voice. He eyes her. She's wringing the pink umbrella between her hands.
"I know it must be must be hard," Lucy says quietly. "All of it. I can't imagine. I just...How are you doing with it?"
He continues to stare, feeling conflicted and confused. And angry. Really, really angry.
He realizes now that he's shaking. The water droplets on his arms are earthquaking on his skin. The winds inside Jason's lungs are going haywire. It occurs to him now that the weather they're having might be his fault.
"I did everything right, and she still got hurt." Jason glares at the curb. His hand tightens on his sword. "I'm supposed to do things the right way. I've always followed the rules and tried to make the go-my parents proud. I don't think it's ever bothered me before that I never got any acknowledgment for that."
Lucy nods, something knowing gleaming in her eye. "But now?"
Jason rakes his hands through his wet hair. He can't hold back the bitter burst of laugher from escaping. "When do I get to just take my girlfriend to prom?"
Sudden splashing down the street draws their eyes. The bus is coming around the block. Lucy slowly rises to her feet. Jason stays put.
The girl looks sad and a bit awkward. Like she isn't sure what to say. She stands in front of Jason and turns to look down at him on the bench. Her hair is long and dark. It's moving in the wind like the water in it is barely weighing it down at all.
Now that she's in the light - and Jason isn't avoiding eye contact so she'd know he wasn't interested - the sheer perfection of her features startles him. Her skin is milky and smooth. Her cheekbones are sharp and downward sloping. Her nose and long and Roman. His own words halt on their path from his brain now.
She looks a lot like Mellie the cloud nymph.
Lucy leans down to him and puts a hand on his shoulder.
That's the first time someone has touched him in months. It makes Jason feel weak and small. He leans into her hand as she gives him an encouraging smile.
"We're going to take care of you, Jason," She promises, voice soft and silver eyes earnest. "It's been a long while since we've had a pontifex maximus. Know that we're grateful for your existence. We are as much yours as you are ours. You've earned our loyalty. So many of us."
The bus comes to a stop, brakes squealing and releasing warm air. Jason feels frozen in place as Lucy removes her hand from his shoulder and presses something into his grasp. She gives him a cheeky wink, turns on her heel, and starts up the steps of the bus.
Jason watches her even after the doors close. She takes a seat at the back of the bus. Jason blinks, and all that remains of her is a puddle of water on the bus floor.
The object in his hand is plastic. He looks down.
His right hand is closed around the bright pink umbrella.
Day Two
Thalia has never had a reason to see past the little girl Julie was when they met. Not until she and her Hunters are getting a taste of just how dangerous that little girl has become.
"Remember!" Thalia orders, drawing her next arrow. "Incapacitate! If you kill my future sister in law, I'm gonna be pissed!"
Pissed is a pretty good word to describe the earsplitting roar the wyvern before them lets out as she crashes her wing through the front wall of the Waystation.
Zeus' balls, this isn't good. There was a time when Juliette was little that her wyvern was thin and weak, barely bigger than a pegasus. Now?
After years gathering strength, Julie's beast is almost twice the size of a school bus. Leathery wings powerful enough to knock aside brick walls lead to razor sharp, Celestial Bronze tipped talons. Teeth the length of Thalia's forearm are bared between curled lips and dripping foul smelling acid. Her neck stretches half her body length, crowned with wicked spines from her tail to her diamond shaped head.
The thing is monstrous. Thalia isn't easily frightened, especially not after years wielding Aegis, but the empty, thoughtless rage in her friend's glowing red eyes has her fighting to catch her breath.
She doesn't want to have to kill this kid. She doesn't want to look Annabeth and Percy in the eyes if she does. Not to mention, Jason.
Honestly, though, from the amount of her girls Juliette has already knocked into unconsciousness in the five minutes they've been defending the Waystation, Thalia's not even certain she'll be capable of it.
"HOLD UNTIL HER WINGS ARE VULNERABLE!" She demands, pulling her arrow. The Hunters lined on either side of her obey the command, all of them gritting their teeth viciously enough Thalia swears she can hear them cracking.
Julie hisses at them, violet spittle falling to the asphalt to burn brand new potholes into the road as she stomps her three limbs into the ground and prepares to charge. Thalia takes aim at the joints in her friend's shoulders.
"HOLD!"
The wyvern roars. She opens her wings and flaps them powerfully enough to send debris flying in their direction. The Hunters all duck to dodge the airborne rubble, and Thalia spots their opening.
"NOW!"
A barrage of silver missiles soars across the city block.
Unfortunately, Juliette is an archer too. She knows exactly where they're aiming.
Her wings snap closed, and the majority of the arrows end up bouncing harmlessly off her bulletproof, emerald scales. Thalia's land. So do Kowalski's. Their arrows bury themselves in the fleshy tissue at Julie's wing joints, and she lets out a pained screech into the sky.
"CLEAR THE BLOCK!" Thalia commands. Her girls don't hesitate. In an instant, the only fighters left in front of the Waystation are Thalia and Juliette.
She says a mental apology to her friend. And, another to her brother. Then, the daughter of Zeus takes advantage of her opponent's disorientation and raises her fist to the sky.
Thunder cracks, and, for a moment, the heart of Indianapolis flashes white.
Thalia forces herself to keep her eyes open. Even through the wail of agony that the little girl she's fighting lets out as lightning spears her body. Electricity crackles. The smell of burning reptile fills the area. Thalia watches the wyvern crumble beneath her father's power until the fatigue becomes too much for her to hold the attack any longer. Finally, Thalia is forced to take a knee and release the skies.
The light fades, and it's dusk once again.
The square is quiet. The street lights flicker back on one at a time. Thalia's Hunters begin to peek out hesitantly from their cover. She herself remains on one tremoring knee and waits for the smoke in the area to dissipate.
If Jason were here, he'd use a gust of air to blow it away. But, Thalia never has mastered taming the winds. So, she waits.
At first, she thinks the figure she sees is her own shadow, another female demigod on one knee at the other end of the plaza. Then, that figure stands, and she's taller than Thalia knows herself to be. Taller and clad in gleaming Imperial Gold armor.
As a human, Juliette looks ridiculous.
She's dressed like a gladiatrix. Her knees are bare beneath her Roman skirt...thing, and her hair is flowing down her back in a style only a man could ignore the impracticality of in favor of aesthetic. The bronze leg she'd had the last time Thalia saw her has been swapped for a golden look-alike, and a winged helmet sits atop her head, carved with laurel branches and the chilling visage of a glowering Venus.
In any other context, Thalia might make fun of her. Joke that she's playing dress up, cosplaying some rough-tough warrior when they both know she hides under Jason's arm before every jump scare in a horror movie.
But her normally apple green eyes are crimson. And glowing. And narrowed on Thalia with an emptiness that makes the older girl's blood go still in her veins.
Standing in this city block is a fully realized Heartbreak prepared to serve her emperor.
Lethal.
Julie is absorbing the fear that she's causing in them so quickly that scales are already repainting her cheeks, and Thalia is realizing that she might actually be out of her league in this fight.
Gods...She was once so little, and now...
"Moon Maiden, help us," Thalia mutters, staring as that little girl's beautiful features stretch back out into something grotesque. Undaunted. If it weren't for the arrows in the weak points of her shoulder guards, it would be like that attack had never even happened. She grips her bow and readies another.
It's been an hour since Commodus made it past the front doors of the Waystation. Thalia can only hope that Emmie and Jo are doing better at holding him off in there than the rest of them are doing out here.
Juliette's limbs stretch back out into claws and leathery scales. She grows until she's towering over Thalia, shadow plunging the block into darkness as it blocks out the street lights. The wyvern rears her head back. Like a snake getting ready to strike. Thalia prepares herself to announce a temporary retreat.
Before either of them get the chance to do either of those things, a shout echoes down from the sky.
"HEY, PRINCESA! PICK ON SOMEBODY YOUR OWN SIZE!"
Julie screeches in pain as a searing jet of flame is spat down over her. A hulking hunk of Celestial Bronze crashes down from the sky, body slamming Julie flat into the pavement. Thalia bubbles out a burst of relieved laughter as she watches Festus The Dragon drop Leo down onto the street and then engage their enraged opponent in a battle of teeth and claws.
Leo jogs up to Thalia with a grin. He's covered in soot (as usual) and bleeding from a few scratches on his face and hands. His grin is shaky, nervous, but still encouraging to Thalia's dejected morale.
"Y'all ladies alright?" He asks, wiggling his eyebrows.
Thalia rolls her eyes, but can't help the grin that creeps up onto her face in response. "Fantastic. How are things inside?"
"Oh, you know. Guy's half naked. Keeps flirting with Jamie and Lit while they fight."
"Is that why you came out here?"
"It was getting uncomfortable."
A piercing shriek makes both of them slap their hands over their ears. Over in the tangle of green and Celestial Bronze, it appears that Festus has succeeded in clamping his metal jaws down onto the side of Julie's torso. The wyvern is thrashing in the dragon's hold, but the automaton won't let up.
"Speaking of uncomfortable..." Leo mutters, watching with wide eyes. "Good boy!"
Thalia looks around impatiently, heart pounding. Where the Hades is Apollo? How could he be taking so long?
"Any chance you've figured out how to break her out of this mind control stuff?" asks Thalia hopefully. The grim expression on the boy's face answers that question.
There's a deafening crashing sound from the dragon fight. They both look over just in time for Leo to cry out in alarm as Juliette takes hold of Festus' neck in her jaws and bites down. Once again, Thalia is in awe of how much this kid is now capable of. The sheets of bronze fold like cardboard under the strength of her jaw. Festus makes a high-pitched keening sound as Juliette bends his neck clean into a 90 degree angle. Smoke billows from the automaton's joints. Sparks pop where Julie's teeth have punctured through the carapace to the wiring inside.
"FESTUS!" Leo screams, horrified, as they watch Juliette jerk her head to the side and completely tear the dragon's head from his shoulders.
Thalia can't move her eyes. She can't close her jaw. Leo lets out a whimper. The head of their friend is tossed carelessly to their feet.
Festus sputters, smokes, and his red eyes go dim.
Somehow, even though she's been resting for the last five minutes, Thalia feels more out of breath than she's been since this fight began.
If Lit didn't think he was fucked up already, this hostage situation would have confirmed it. He enjoyed being roughly disarmed by a hot chick in armor a little more than is probably healthy.
"Now! As we were discussing before Lester got here," Commodus cuts his eyes at Apollo in the doorway. The former god looks one strong wind away from collapsing like woozy maiden. The sight makes Lit sigh in exasperation. "I require the Throne of Mnemosyne. Where is it?"
Lit and Jo exchange tense eye contact. Hiding the chair had been priority number one when the first wave of Commodus' forces had struck their defenses. They've all done well at keeping their mouths shut. But, that was before the Loudmouth of Olympus got here.
Apollo looks bewildered. "Are you telling me that your great army surrounded this place, invaded, and couldn't even find a chair?"
Commodus' eyes darken. "I'm not finished, Lester. I'll admit this cursed building was more trouble than expected. I blame my former prefect, Alaric. He was woefully unprepared. I had to kill him-"
"Shocking," Lit scoffs. Commodus flicks his hand, and the girl behind Lityerses digs his own hijacked blade a little deeper into his neck.
"But, most of my forces are merely lost-!"
"Burnt to a crisp in the furnaces," Jo corrects, smirking.
Commodus glowers at her. "Soldiers are expendable," He grits, teeth bared. "But, your friends are less so. I'll make you a deal. I kill Apollo and the girl," He waves at Georgina in her mother's arms. "And the rest of you can go free. I don't need you. How's that sound, pumpkins?"
It sounds great, in theory.
Lit spent over two thousand years in the Fields of Punishment. He's been out for a year and a half. He's not really very anxious to go back.
But...
Lit's eyes find Georgina, whose face is buried in her mother's shoulder, looking helpless and fragile. He can hear Livia outside stomping around on their enemies, trumpeting in celebration every time she takes one down and helps avenge her murdered mate. He feels Julie behind him, her arm locked around his chest and her heart beating steadily against his back as she holds the weapon he'd hoped would rescue her to his neck and waits for her master's orders.
Lit doesn't give a fuck about Apollo. But, there are a couple people here who he's not willing to give up on yet.
Which is why, when Apollo comes to that conclusion as well and breaks their standoff by revealing his godly form, Lit doesn't even feel his sword slice down his neck and shoulder. Apollo looks to him meaningfully, Lit nods, and in one smooth motion that he owes all to the training from his neglectful asshole of a father, Lit knocks the weapon from Juliette's grasp, turns in her hold, and grapples her to the floor. She snarls like an animal in his clutches. Her hands stretch into talons and dig into his arms in her attempt to pry him off of her. The light Apollo emits only lasts a fraction of a second, but it must disorient her enough. Even with her face tucked forcibly under Lit's arm to shield her eyes, she doesn't manage to transform or knock him away.
A few feet from them, Commodus screams.
"OH, GO-MY EYES!"
Lit raises up on his elbows to watch as the emperor presses his palms over his now smoking eye sockets. The guy wails pathetically, and Lit can't help but laugh. Loudly. Everything in the room is sun bleached. The furniture, the walls, and the carpet are all about ten shades lighter than they were a moment ago. Lit can feel the tingling of a sunburn on his face and arms. The others in the room are all sporting one too, and Lester's skin has gone from a pasty white to a California tan.
"What just happened?!" gasps the chick with the piercings. "Why are you toasted?"
"I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!" shrieks Commodus.
In his rage, he turns to pick up the only remaining one of his guards like a ragdoll (the rest have become crime-scene outlines on the bleached carpet) and chuck him overhead towards where the Hunter's voice came from. The girl just steps to the side and lets the Germani collide with the wall behind her in a burst of dust.
Lit watches incredulously as Commodus charges Apollo, misses, trips over a chair, and faceplants into the floor. Apollo's standing over him in an instant.
"You will leave," He commands. Lit suppresses a shudder. For the first time since meeting, the teenage kid in front of him actually sounds like a god. "You will not return. Your reign in Indianapolis is over."
Commodus growls. "You haven't won anything, Apollo! You have no idea what's being prepared for your friends in the East and West. They will die! All of them!"
Big whoop.
There's a choked little sound underneath Lit. That's when he remembers he's still crouched overtop the most dangerous non-immortal in this room.
Lit returns his focus to the girl he's still restraining, mildly surprised he hasn't become wyvern chow yet. When he looks her in the face, though, he understands why.
Julie is sunburnt too. Her tanned face is tinged pink, sporting new freckles across her nose. Her helmet was knocked off during their tussle. Her long, reddish hair now has streaks of gold bleached into it. Lit finds himself a bit breathless at the sight of them. Beautiful or not, though, his guard stays up as he studies her eyes.
They're dizzied, darting in every direction like she's watching a fly zip back and forth in front of her face. The red in them is still there, but it's muddled with green. The colors fight for dominance in her irises. The bands on her biceps are flashing red instead of continuously glowing. Like a warning light. It makes hope start to warm in Lit's chest.
Over by the Germani-shaped burn marks on the wall, Valdez gets to his feet and sighs, glowering. "Alright guys, this has been fun, but I'm gonna melt his face now, 'kay?"
"Wait," Lit interjects.
Everyone pauses. He studies Juliette a moment longer before releasing her gently onto the floor and standing. He faces his former employer, who's still blubbering and clutching at his face.
Pathetic.
"Leave, Commodus." Lit demands, lifting his sword out of Julie's hand and turning it on the emperor. "Run away. As far as you can. I'll even give you a headstart."
The man laughs in his face. "I made you, boy! I saved you from obscurity! I was a second father to you. I gave you purpose."
Lit laughs right back.
A second father?
Is he fucking joking?
"A second father somehow even worse than the first," He scoffs. Lit supposes that's an accomplishment worth acknowledging. He grips the pommel of his weapon, hyper-aware of the girl laying behind him. Of the people standing in this room beside him. With him. For him.
Accepting him, and fighting at his back.
Lit slips into his familiar combat-pose and flourishes his sword in their defense.
"And I've found a new purpose."
"Fuckin' idiot."
The insult is hard even to enjoy. It's honestly depressing how many people that guy's managed to murder when he's stupid enough to fall for the old 'Oh, was there a window behind me?' trick. Lit leans around the leftover shards of the stained glass window Commodus just blindly charged through. He peers down in hopes he might be splattered on the concrete below like an overripe watermelon. Unfortunately, if Commodus did bite it from that fall, Lityerses won't be getting to daydream about his grizzly remains. There's no body to be found on the street down below. Just asphalt and red brick rubble from the front of the building.
Damn. Lit had been looking forward to watching that guy die.
Now, he supposes there's really no way to tell where he'll be. Fuck, Lit should probably track him down. If he's severely weakened, he probably won't go back to the arena. There's too many dangers there. No, Lit thinks Commodus will probably find a safe place to hunker down until he can-
"What the Hades am I wearing?"
Heart in his throat, Lit whirls around.
There's a teenage girl two yards behind him looking like she's about to yack.
Julie's awake. And speaking. She's sitting up on the floor, one hand pressed to the worst of the many arrow wounds on her upper arms while she examines her Imperial Gold warrior-princess style armor in disgust. She looks tired. Annoyed. Freaked the fuck out.
But, she's awake. The cuffs on her arms are dim, and her eyes are green.
Green.
She looks up from her armor and seems a bit startled to have so much attention on her. Like Lit, the rest of the room is holding their breath. No one has moved an inch since she spoke.
Green eyes study Apollo, one eyebrow lifting at his current crispiness. They flick over Emmie and Jo carelessly. They widen a bit on Georgina before softening in relief. They start to look puzzled when they get to Jamie and the girl with the piercings. They sparkle when they land on Lit, and he feels his hands tremble at his sides so much he has to fight to keep hold of his sword.
Then, they move past him and find Valdez.
"Leo?"
The awed tone of her voice snaps the tension like elastic. Valdez opens his mouth like he's going to respond, blinking rapidly and staring down at the girl. Then, her still-green eyes flood with tears, and she laughs. The sound must break Leo's cool. He gives up on finding a response and leaps across the room.
"PRINCESS!"
The nickname makes Juliette burst into hysterical tears. Lit snorts and painfully staggers to the back of the room to lean onto the edge of the desk. Commodus beat the shit out of him during that fight. Not to mention, Julie herself almost broke his jaw disarming him (hot). Lit thinks he's earned himself a break. He sheathes his sword and rubs at the bruise forming on his cheek as he watches the two idiots on the floor cry like babies, rocking back and forth in their hug.
They're mumbling to each other. Lit has no idea what they're saying. It sounds like hysterical gibberish to him. The two of them seem to get it, though, and Lit watches the rest of the room start to grin as they observe the reunion.
Unsurprisingly, it's Apollo who interrupts.
"Juliette, I...Are you..." The former god grimaces, looking for words. "How are you?"
Julie unburies her face from Valdez's shoulder, sniffling loud enough to make Lit cringe. She wipes her eyes, leaving tracks in the dust and soot on her face.
"I'm so confused," She admits.
Lit can't help but laugh. Calypso sends him a sharp look, dropping to her knees to hug Julie as well. The Heartbreak looks overwhelmed at the sight of her. She must be exhausted, though, because there's no constant flow of questions babbling.
"You got your ass captured," Lit snarks. "Spent a while beating us to a pulp."
The Hunter with the piercings crosses her arms. "You pack a punch, kid. You sure you like Jason too much to join my girls?"
Juliette blinks rapidly. "Uh...Um..." She addresses the Hunter first. "I definitely like Jason, but thanks." Lit rolls his eyes. She looks to him next. "What do you mean I got...?"
Her eyes glaze over.
They flash red.
The entire room tenses.
It only lasts a second or two. After a moment, Julie's irises melt back to green, and she slumps against Calypso and Valdez. They hold her up as she groans.
"Oh. Right. I remember now."
There's a twisting in Lit's stomach. One he's been feeling a lot every time he's thought about Julie's time stuck in that cell at the arena. It's uncomfortable. Something he doesn't remember ever feeling back before he died. It's like an urgency that grows each time he pictures the events of the last month with Commodus. Specifically, his involvement in them.
"You're still under his control," Lit tells her carefully.
She visibly flinches. It earns him another harsh glance from the sorcerous, but he doesn't care. They don't know how long Juliette's mind will be free. They need to get down to business.
"Yeah," She agrees. Eyes distant, she swirls her head around in a circle. Like she's mixing up a drink sloshing around in her skull. "I can still feel him in here. Just...quieter."
"Then, we need to speak quickly," says the Hunter. She strides up to the group on the floor and kneels to look Julie in the face. "We discussed getting you away from Commodus permanently, but if that's what we choose to do, we'd need to put you into hiding. You'll be a target for the Triumvirate no matter where you are, and if you get too close to any of the emperors, you're at risk. And you're a threat." She glances at Valdez. "Leo is trying to find a way to release the cuffs."
Julie looks to the son of Hephaestus hopefully. He gives her a crooked grin and nods before ducking down and grabbing her bicep to closer examine the shackles up close. Lit watches, feeling that twisting in his gut again.
'Release the cuffs...'
These people really are children.
"Until he makes a breakthrough," The black haired girl continues, grimacing. "I suppose the Hunters could take you in. We'll try to protect you until-"
"Thalia, that's just going to put a target onto you guys," Julie interrupts, looking alarmed. "Besides, don't you have a quest you're completing?"
Thalia presses her lips together. "Yes. But, you're a woman in need. Lady Artemis would support my decision in sheltering you. Plus, you know, I do care about you, Jules."
Julie looks like she's going to cry again. Lit's already nauseous enough, so he steps in. "That's cute, but getting her out of Indianapolis is going to be impossible already. I seriously doubt a tumble out a three story window is enough to kill a god. Commodus' influence is going to kick back in soon, and then she'll just turn around and melt you all in acid."
His friend looks horrified by the idea. It makes the twisting worse.
"I don't want to hurt anyone," Julie says quietly.
Valdez prods at the Tiberii donum. "You ain't gonna, princesa. Papa Valdez is gonna fix you right up."
"Maybe my magic can help somehow," Calypso adds with a hesitant smile, hand on the Heartbreak's shoulder. "I've been getting better at using my powers as a mortal."
"If there's anyone who can find a solution, it's these two," nods Jo.
Apollo has been silently observing the conversation for a while. Juliette's gaze falls on him now, and the former god visibly gulps. He looks ready to shit a brick.
"Where's Meg?" Julie asks.
She looks like she's expecting bad news. Lit gets prepared to punch Apollo in the face if he gives her any.
Luckily, the guy manages to read a room for once. Lit watches him cross his fingers behind his back before he answers. "She is with Peaches," He says simply.
Julie nods, relaxing.
How she can relax right now, Lityerses has no idea. He thinks if he were in her position, he'd be running around slinging weapons and shouting profanity. He'd be enraged. Murderous. More than usual, anyway.
She isn't, though. She looks disturbed, sure. But, she's calmer than he expected her to be.
He hopes she's just in shock. He really doesn't want to imagine that she might...be used to stuff like this.
There's an entire group of experienced fighters in the room. There are three former immortals there who are all much older than Lit is. And yet, when it comes time for Juliette to say something, it's him that she looks to, hands clenched around the leather tassels of her skirt.
"What should I do?"
Lit's painful twisting sensation now spans all the way to his throat. "Why are you asking me?"
She stares at him, thinking. Then, she shrugs. "I trust you. You'll tell me the truth."
Lityerses is being torn in half. He wants to tear himself in half.
He did this to her.
Is that what this feeling means?
Does he feel guilty?
Lit makes a conscious effort to only look at Julie when he responds. He doesn't want to lose his nerve. And, she's the only person in here who really matters.
Actually...
No. That's not true.
With horror, Lit's realizing that the source of this twisting belongs to everyone in here.
He did this to them. And he cares about that fact.
He cares. Huh.
"You go back to the arena," Lit answers her. "And before Commodus gets back, you tear that motherfucking death trap to pieces."
Juliette's eyes widen. She looks surprised by the suggestion.
Then, she starts to look pleased.
Lit grins at her.
There it is. There's that spark of crazy. He knew there was a reason the two of them got along. She grins right along with him, and that twisting in him dissolves into butterflies.
"Oh, I can do that. That sounds like a blast."
Day Three
"Your stronghold is gone."
"...Yes."
"And your men?" Medea asks, horrified.
Commodus taps his fingers on his bare knees, lips puckered, and clicks his tongue awkwardly.
Nero groans into his hands. Medea sputters and rises from the couch in anger. "How?! How could one girl eliminate all of your forces?! In one day?!"
"Well, technically, quite a few of them eliminated themselves," Commodus defends himself, pointing at his guards. "She-she seduced my blemmyae! They let her sweet talk them into blowing up the whole arena! With them inside!"
The guards both nod. The one on the right mutters something about bad manners.
"And where is the girl now?" asks Nero. He waves his hands in frustration. "Have you lost everything that makes you useful to us?! Have all these centuries been for nothing?! Because you could not control one teenage girl?!"
Commodus gets to his feet along with Medea and points accusingly at Nero. "You are the one who provided me faulty Tiberii donum! If it weren't for that, she never would have befriended my guards!"
Nero gapes in offense, rising too. "Faulty?!"
"Yes! Do not try to pretend you don't know what I'm referring to."
"I did not-"
"ENOUGH!" Medea shouts. She flares her magic, shattering the glass pitcher on the table and all of the plates. Both men jolt and glare at her. She puts a hand on her hip and lets the other spark purple.
Deep breath, Medea. They are not worthy of your ire.
"Commodus," She says more calmly. The man gulps and nods. Medea lets the sparks snap like fireworks so that he can hear what she's threatening him with.
"Where is the girl?"
The room is silent.
The broken pitcher is dripping wine onto the floor.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Nero is breathing heavily. He's red in the face and sweating. He looks like a disgusting, enraged pig in that suit.
Commodus is sweating too, but nervously. He spins the gold rings on his hands, sandal tapping against the floor. His brown curls look burnt at the edges.
The youngest emperor leans over to one of his gross little bodyguards and whispers something. The thing nods at him and waddles off to the door. They watch it cross to the exit and disappear.
"You can no longer be trusted with valuable resources," Nero spits at him. "I will be reclaiming the gir-"
"No," Medea drones, irritated and tired. She attempts to massage away the headache they're giving her. "Juliette Aster is far too powerful to be wasted as some lecher's plaything. You had your turn with her, Nero. Now, she is Caligula's."
Nero turns red, not entirely from anger this time. She didn't realize he was capable of emotions like embarrassment. "And why is that? So she can be your own little experiment, witch?"
"What my lord chooses for her is not your business."
"Not my business?! I will not take orders from Caligula's wh-"
"If you wish to maintain our partnership," Medea threatens, ruby lip curled. "You will stop speaking before I summon the air right from your lungs."
Nero's eyes are narrow and black. Beady. Like beetles crawled onto the whites of them. Medea looks down her nose at him like the pathetic weasel he is and waits for him to continue pushing her.
They might be emperors, but Medea is a legend. An immortal sorcerous. A legacy of the Triple Goddess. It is about time that these spineless little boys understood their place.
The doors reopen. They look over, breaking the tense stand off.
The blemmyae has returned. He's waddling along towards them, eyes blinking on his pectorals and stomach-mouth smiling politely. In his right hand, he's holding the wrist of his prisoner.
The blemmyae drags the girl's body across the ballroom floor. The screeching of her gold armor scraping the tiles makes Medea grimace. He deposits her at their feet, limp, bleeding, and unconscious, and returns to his position beside Commodus' pouting form.
Glancing at her silent colleagues, Medea approaches the face down body of the subject for this unfortunate meeting. The girl is breathing. Her red hair is moving up and down as her back rises and falls. Her arms and legs are sliced and burned. Black bruises dot just about every inch of her. And yet, when Medea uses a red-bottomed heel to kick her onto her back, there's a smile across her heart shaped lips.
Beat to Hades, but satisfied. Medea almost respects her for it.
Almost.
"She looks much more damaged than the last time I saw her." Medea sighs and surveys the child. She remembers Juliette Aster far too well. A little bitch of a girl. One who betrayed the Earth Mother and was the reason Medea's new life was nearly cut short. She gets her own smirk as she brings the heel of her stiletto to the center of Juliette's forehead.
The girl's eyes twitch when Medea starts to press down. But she does not wake up. Not even when the point of Medea's heel breaks the skin between her eyes.
The blood that trickles down her temple is violet. Of course, Medea already knew that. It does not smell like iron, though. That is interesting. She'll have to run a few tests to find out why.
If Juliette will not be controlled, Medea certainly plans on making use of the resources the pathetic creature can provide.
Excitement makes the sorcerous' fingers itch. Her heel leaves a square shaped cut across the girl's perfect complexion.
"Oh, darling," She breathes, ready to giggle like a child. "You should have just stayed in that shopping mall with me. Now look where you are."
Laying on the floor at her feet where she belongs.
Medea wonders where her past love's namesake might be. She'd thought the two of them were involved.
But, then again, the Jason of the past never bothered with rescuing damsels either.