Do you ever leave leftovers in the fridge?

And your stepmom's like, "Julie, you'd better throw those out. They're pretty old." And you're like "Yeah, sure, Sally." But, then you don't, and every day you come back from school, open the fridge, and see the leftovers.

But, you're like "Eh, I'll handle that tomorrow."

But, then tomorrow comes, and you're like "Eh, what's one more day?"

And then, before you know it, a week or two has passed and you finally have to wash the Tupperware, but it's been so long that when you open it, it's like an entire civilization has developed inside and you have to fight through the process of washing it like you're on the battlefield trying not to breathe in toxic biological weapons?

That's what seeing Khione feels like. She's the moldy leftovers in the refrigerator of Julie's life.

"You okay?" whispers Jason as Zethes and Khione steer them up the stairs and into a long hallway. Julie shivers and pulls the silk dress shirt tighter around her shoulders.

"Mhm. Awesome. Super good." She squeaks. He frowns at her in concern, but there's amusement in there somewhere too. He brushes his knuckles against hers, and she sucks in a breath.

Khione stops suddenly in front of a door and spins around to face them. She looks at Jason only, and a smirk stretches across her perfect lips as she addresses him. "This is the throne room. Be on your best behavior, Jason Grace. My father can be...chilly. I do hope he spares you...We could have such fun." Khione purrs and steps up to brush a hand down Jason's neck. He stumbles back into Piper in surprise.

Juliette glares dangerously at the goddess, but she ignores her, turning to open the doors for them to pass through. As they enter, though, Khione holds a hand out in front of Julie.

"Heartbreak. I'd like a word." She quips. Julie bristles.

"That's not her name." snaps Jason. Juliette looks at him in surprise. He places a hand on her lower back and moves to steer her into the throne room ahead of him, but Khione blocks their path.

"It's not a request." The goddess says icily.

Julie swallows her anxiety and shoots Jason a smile. "It's fine. You guys go on ahead. Just be careful."

She steps back, and Khione moves out of their path. Jason's eyes stay on her worriedly even as Piper tugs him by the hand into the throne room with Zethes. Once the door has clicked all the way shut, Juliette turns back to the goddess.

"What do you want?" She asks flatly.

Khione chuckles and waves a hand as she turns towards another stairwell. "Follow." She commands.

Irritated, but honestly too intrigued to refuse, Julie shuffles after her. The castle really is amazing. Crystal chandeliers hang from every landing on their way up a spiral staircase to the top of a tower. Icicles point dangerously from every doorway, gleaming rainbow in the morning light like shards of stained glass. When they reach the top of the tower, Khione opens a set of double doors and leads Julie into what she's pretty sure is the only warm room in the entire building.

It has glass walls and a domed glass ceiling to allow in sunlight for the jungle of plants thriving inside. To Julie's left seems to be a regular home garden filled with tomatoes, kale, beans, and carrots. To her right is an obscenely large rose garden that she thinks would be very easy to get lost in. Ahead of them are more exotic plants. Julie can see California palms growing right beside Texas cacti.

The climate of this room makes no sense. It must be nice to be a weather god.

Khione stands aside and gestures a delicate arm out for Juliette to proceed. The demigod looks at her strangely, but complies, edging hesitantly further into the greenhouse.

A soft voice floats to her from up ahead. It's humming. It sounds...familiar.

Julie glances back at Khione warily, and the goddess raises her eyebrows and nods in the direction of the exotic plants. Julie wipes her now sweaty palms on her shorts and creeps forward into the section. She steps around ferns nearly as tall as her ribs and pitcher plants she could probably fit an entire son of Hephaestus in.

She follows the voice into a roped off area that seems to be functioning as a small vineyard. Grape vines climb across trellises made from old dining chairs and end tables. And right at the center, on his knees and pruning the branches, is a forest green dryad with bubblegum pink blossoms up and down his arms. Juliette gasps.

"Azalea?"

The dryad looks over, and the pruning shears fall from his fingers in shock. A blinding smile splits across his face. "Juliette?!"

With a surprised laugh, Azalea moves to run to her, only to stumble and fall forward onto his elbows. It's then that Julie notices the state of his legs. From the knees down, the dryad's skin is charred black, cracking and dry. The state of him gets more and more damaged closer to the ground until his feet hang uselessly, barely more than blackened stalks dragging after him like limp roots.

Horror strikes Julie's heart. She hastens to her old friend and falls to her knees to throw her arms around him. Azalea squeezes her back. He smells like autumn wind and mountain laurels. Like home.

"What happened?" She whispers. Azalea sets his forehead against her shoulder and sighs.

"We were attacked. After you left." He mutters.

Julie rears back to look at him. He doesn't meet her eyes. "Purple Aster?!" She asks.

Azalea sighs. "I don't know. I barely made it out myself. If it weren't for..."

He glances at her warily. Juliette frowns. "What? For who?"

Azalea studies her. A strange tension between them grows. "Julie, what do you remember about the day you were taken?"

She frowns at him. "I...What do you mean?" He just continues to look at her. Julie blinks repeatedly in thought. "I remember Luke and Chris. They came to get me from the main house. Purple Aster walked us to the barrier and then..." She frowns.

What happened then?

"...And then I woke up on the ship. They said that I fell asleep on the pegasus."

Julie raises her eyes to Azalea's. He looks troubled.

"Why? What does that matter?" Juliette's voice is trembling.

With a deep breath, Azalea places his hands on Julie's upper arms and squeezes comfortingly. "What's important is that you're safe." He says with a smile. It doesn't reach his eyes. "I was always worried...you weren't. That we'd made a mistake. More than we knew."

Julie feels like she's going to be sick.

"Azalea, what are you talking about? What mistake?"

He glances worriedly between her eyes. A rhythmic knock echoes throughout the greenhouse, and the dryad sits a bit taller, looking suddenly alert. "Your friends must be done." He mutters. "You'll need to go soon."

"What? No! Tell me what you're talking about."

"Julie-"

"No! I am sick of people keeping secrets! Tell me what happened to Purple Aster."

Something like regret flashes in Azalea's eyes. His shoulders slump, and he nods sadly. "After you left," He starts. His pink eyes are focused on Julie's grass strained knees. "That boy - the blonde one - he came back. He said that Aster needed to declare for the Lord of Time, or he'd burn the compound to the ground."

Julie stares at him in dread. "And...she declared?"

Instead of answering, Azalea gestures to his ruined legs.

Juliette's skin is buzzing. For the first time in months, it hurts.

"The compound is..."

"Gone." Azalea whispers. He tilts his head up, but he still won't meet Juliette's eyes. "I don't know what happened to the others. When my shrub started to burn, I lost consciousness quickly. If it weren't for..."

There's that pause again.

"For who?" Julie begs.

Azalea squeezes his eyes shut. A milky white tear trickles down his cheek. Julie catches it with her fingers.

"The Earth Mother." He whispers.

Julie's heart stalls.

Azalea reaches up and squeezes her hand on his cheek. "The Earth Mother saved me. She transplanted me here. Khione and Boreas pruned me back to health."

Confusion swirls in Julie's gut. She shakes her head in bafflement. "Gaea. You mean Gaea."

He squeezes her hand. Julie shoots to her feet.

She can't be here. Neither can he. "Azalea, we have to go. Where is your pot?"

He looks up at her in exasperation. "I'm not a pot shrub, Julie. I'm planted in the ground."

"That makes no sense, we're in a building."

"Really, that's what's surprising to you about this?"

"No," She snips, walking over to pull her friend onto her back. "I'm just not ready to process the fact that you're name dropping literal Mother Earth as your knight in shining armor. You know she's evil, right?"

Azalea sighs, wrapping his arms around her neck so she can lift him. "I'm not stupid, Julie. But, she did save my life."

"Why would she do that?"

"Hostage?" He mutters. Julie freezes. He sets his chin on her shoulder and clicks his tongue in frustration. "She said you would come one day."

Julie's heart has never beat this fast before. It's been a very long time since she's felt like this. This sheer, all-consuming, hair prickling terror. "You think she's..."

"Using me to get you to betray your mother? Yes, probably." Azalea sighs yet again. "I thought I'd have more time."

Julie whips her head around, and the two of them collide foreheads. They both yelp in pain, and it takes serious effort to not accidentally drop him on the grass. Shaking the stars from her eyes, Julie looks around more carefully at the dryad. "You think I'm just going to let her? No way. You're coming home with me."

Azalea frowns at her, unmoved. "And how are you going to do that? Did you happen to bring along a twenty gallon flower pot and enough potting soil to keep me alive the whole flight back?"

Julie falters.

The dryad points to a wrought iron bench. Julie walks on shaking legs over to it before lowering him down gently to sit. She looks at her friend fearfully as the rhythmic knocking echoes again, louder this time.

"You have to go." Azalea smiles reassuringly at her. "It's okay, Julie. Go do what you need to do. I'll be alright."

Tears blur Julie's vision. "I'm not leaving you again."

He shakes his head fondly at her. "You have to, silly. Go. I've been watering borrowed roots anyway." He shrugs.

Knocking again.

Julie glances impatiently over her shoulder. She looks back at Azalea. He smiles at her in that older brother way he always did when they were growing up. Her heart breaks, and she collapses into his arms. He laughs sadly and rubs circles into her back as she sobs.

"Go save the world, petal. You always were too good for the middle of nowhere."

Sniffling, Julie pulls back. She takes one last lingering look at Azalea's face - at Azalea's legs - and nods resolutely. She doesn't look him in the eye before she turns away and strides back to where the goddess of Snow is waiting, a knowing smirk already in place.

Khione leads her back down the steps in silence. There's an understanding between them. It's put a smug smile on the goddess' face. It's making Juliette's skin crawl.

When they reach the bottom floor, Khione holds the door open for the demigod. "Your...friends await you."

The goodbye with Cal and Zethes is tearful - on the Boreads' side. As Juliette flies further from them, sandwiched between Jason and Leo on Festus' back, she blows them a kiss, and they watch as the two brothers tackle each other in their haste to be the one to catch it.

Leo lets out a boisterous laugh. "You really did a number on them, chica."

Julie grins and puts her hands up in surrender. "What can I say? I'm a heartbreaker."

"Oh, please break my heart, monster-girl."

Julie laughs and pinches his arm. He yelps dramatically and scoots further up Festus' neck away from her.

"So, where are we going?" She asks Jason behind her.

The wind is pretty loud up where they're flying, so his next actions make sense, but she still freezes against him as he leans in to say his answer in her ear, a hand braced on her waist. "Chicago. There's some woman who controls the wind spirits. He said we'll find Coach Hedge there too."

Julie hums her assent, not trusting her voice.

Piper leans around Jason to glare at her. "What did Khione want with you?" She asks bluntly.

Julie tenses. "Oh, just the usual. 'Stay out of my way, or you'll be sorry, blah blah blah.'" She laughs. "I told her to go shake a snow globe."

As far as lies go, that was not one of her most creative, but Leo and Piper both shrug like 'Yeah, villains be doing that,' and move on to another topic. Surprisingly, it's Jason that Julie has to worry about. His hand tightens just slightly on her waist and, when she looks around at him, his eyes are already locked onto her face. His brows are furrowed, a suspicious frown in place.

Julie turns back to the front and shivers. It's like he's looking straight through to her soul.

The flight to Chicago is a bit friendlier than the last one. It's warmer, for one, so Julie's in a far better mood. Secondly, Leo remembered to bring sandwiches for them all, including vegetarian options for Piper and Julie. She tries bonding with her sister over their shared dietary preference, launching into stories about living with the dryads in the wilderness, but Piper's eyes glaze over pretty quickly, and she gets discouraged. She eventually trails off in the middle of a sentence and gives up. Both the boys look very awkward again.

They fly in silence after that. Piper and Leo both nod off after a bit, the latter slumping forward against Festus' neck like he's hugging a monster sized body pillow. The sight makes Julie grin in amusement.

A sharp intake of breath behind her draws her attention, and she glances back at Jason. He's watching the horizon. Orange and pink light warms his features, which are relaxed into a soft expression of awe. His blonde waves are sweeping gently in the wind, and his eyes are wide, sparkling with a childlike wonder that makes Julie's heart skip a beat. Watching him makes the air up here feel a bit thinner.

"This is amazing." He breathes.

Julie has to clear her throat. Her mouth has gone dry. "Deadly quests tickle your fancy?" She laughs.

Jason turns his eyes away from the sunset and sets them on her face. The expression of reverence doesn't fade.

"Honestly? This might sound weird, but...this quest feels the most normal to me out of anything since the bus." He worries at the scar on his lip and looks back to the sunset. "Well, maybe not the most normal."

Julie chuckles. "Yeah, that makes a little too much sense."

Jason wraps his other arm around her waist and turns her around to fly backwards so the two of them can look at each other comfortably. Their faces sit only inches apart. Julie really hopes the glow of the sunset will keep him from seeing how red (purple) her face probably is.

"So, are you ever going to explain how we know each other?"

'So, are you ever going to tell me your name?'

A nostalgic smile creeps across Julie's face. She pokes a finger against his chest.

"Guess."

Jason's jaw drops. "Guess?!"

"Guess."

He scoffs, leaning a bit away from her. "I have lost my memories, and you're holding them hostage. I should be angry with you."

Julie just smirks. He rolls his eyes fondly, clearly fighting back a smile.

"Fine...Did we grow up together?" He asks. "You seem to know me decently well."

Julie hums. "Hmm...kind of? But, no, not really."

"That's a very unclear answer."

"Beggars can't be choosers."

"Okay..." Jason huffs. His breath smells like ham and cheese sandwiches. It makes Julie laugh and cough dramatically in disgust. "Did we go to school together?"

"Y'know, I don't think you've ever been to school."

"What, really?"

"No, you always had a tutor or something. I don't know. It was some word I couldn't make out."

"Huh. Weird. Okay..." Jason's face drops a bit. He scoots a little away from her, and an awkward hesitation takes over his expression. "Were we...like..." He cringes and gestures between them emphatically.

Oh, gods, he is precious. Julie fights back a smirk. She schools her face into a confused frown.

"Were we what?"

"You...you know..."

"I'm not sure what you're asking, Jason."

He sighs in frustration, turning completely red. "Were we-?"

"Cuffed? Going steady? Buying a two seater ticket to newlywed station?"

He shoves her gently and hides his face behind a hand. "Would you just answer the question?!"

Julie finally laughs so loudly she's surprised the others stay asleep. She shakes her head with a wide smile as Jason peeks at her irritably between his fingers. "No, we weren't." She assures him.

He worries at his scar again, nodding. Julie's eyes follow the movement studiously. "So, that was...the first time?"

"Huh?"

"At the Canyon."

"Oh!" Julie flushes and looks to the rapidly disappearing sun. "Yeah. First time."

"I see..."

They both sit silently for a minute, the atmosphere a bit awkward. Jason's hand brushes Julie's bare knee, and she picks up a spark of nerves from him. Her breath gets caught in her throat. She shakes it away, and forces herself to look back at him. He's already watching her.

"This might sound weird, but..." She mimics his phrasing, making him grin. "We used to dream about each other."

He blinks at her in surprise. "Is that a euphemism, or-?"

"Gods, no! I mean it literally." Juliette laughs. Jason smiles at her, but still looks puzzled. She takes a deep breath and explains it all: the random encounters where one of them invaded the other's life, the nights stuck just laying in each other's company with nothing to do but talk, even the time she'd made him turn pages for her in a book on his desk while he studied because she got so bored. He listens attentively, never interrupting, a sad sort of longing in his eyes as she laughs to herself through the stories. When she's done, he takes a deep breath and bites his bottom lip, settling his hands on Festus' back between them.

"Wow." He breathes simply.

Julie snorts. "Yeah. That's usually the response after I explain that to people."

His lips twitch into a small smile. He looks up at her from behind blonde lashes, and she feels something in her melt at the hesitance in his gaze. "I think processing all that might take a bit." He admits quietly.

Juliette nods and gives him what she hopes is a comforting smile. "Of course. Yeah, take your time."

They look at each other. It's a bit awkward again. Julie clears her throat.

"Maybe we should get some rest." She suggests.

Jason nods. She turns to swing around back to facing the correct direction, and he grips her waist to help her keep balance as she does so. Trails of fire run up her sides where he touches her. And, not even in a bad way this time. It feels exhilarating.

She settles against Festus' wing joint and closes her eyes, listening to Jason shift around to get comfortable behind her. She doesn't look around. She isn't even sure he's still awake by the time she whispers out his name, but his grunt of affirmation proves he's still listening. She clenches her jaw hesitantly before speaking.

"I want you to know, I don't expect anything from you." She whispers. Jason doesn't make a sound, so she continues. "Whatever happens with Hera...Just..."

Julie huffs in frustration as words, once again, elude her.

"I like you, Jason. You. As you are now. I don't need you to be anything. Even if you never remember, I like who you are. I'm not going to be...disappointed, I guess. No matter what."

She hears him shift behind her after a moment. His knee inches forward to brush against the back of her thigh. She holds her breath and waits tensely for his response. Finally, he huffs out a laugh, and speaks.

"Knock, knock."

Julie blinks. A grin stretches onto her face. "Who's there?"

"Vulcan."

"Vulcan, who?"

"Vul-Can you open the door? It's cold out here."

Silence.

"I'm going to push you off this dragon."

Flying can be fun. Falling stinks.

The moment Julie wakes up plummeting from the sky, her instincts take over. She's a fully realized wyvern in seconds, snatching Leo and Piper from the sky before either of them even has a chance to scream. Their weight drags her down a bit, but she quickly stabilizes and hovers in the air steadily enough for Jason to fly up beside them with a worried expression.

"Everyone okay?!" He yells.

Leo starts kicking and struggling in Julie's talons. She hisses at him in annoyance. "My dragon!" He cries. "You gotta save Festus!"

Julie looks down at where the bronze dragon is plummeting from the sky like an anvil. Thinking quickly, she tosses Leo and Piper into the air at Jason and dives down. She hears her friends yelp in alarm, but the son of Zeus catches them each by their hands easily.

Julie dives downwards, corkscrewing through the air as she picks up speed towards the metal construct. It's dangerously close to smashing into the ground. She's gaining on him, though. Her talons are reaching out, hooking into the metal armor, and pulling up.

It's slowing, but Festus is heavy. She's going to have to tell Leo to lay off the hot sauce. They're still falling way too fast. She pushes her wings to their limit, straining desperately to stop their descent, but it's no use. Moments after the the two of them connect, they slam into the ground in an explosion of bronze and fire, and Julie's vision blacks out.

She wakes up in pain to the taste of spinach enchiladas. Julie coughs and sits up with a groan. Three sets of eyes are staring at her.

Blue: anger.

Brown: gratitude.

Kaleidoscope: pain.

She puts a hand to her head and winces when it comes away wet and purple. "Wha' happened?" She murmurs.

They seem to be in the wreckage of some kind of warehouse. There's a gaping hole in the ceiling where she and Festus must have come crashing through. She doesn't see the dragon anywhere, though. Maybe it ended up elsewhere after exploding like a firebomb. Jason glares at her. "You almost blew yourself up." He replies shortly.

Leo bursts into tears and throws himself at her. She yelps as he hugs her tightly and dull pain erupts from her ribs.

"Hey, careful!" She slurrs. "My blood'll burn you."

He continues to weep. "You saved Festus! Well, you didn't, he totally exploded, but I can fix him! You mostly saved him!"

She laughs softly and pats his back. "Oh. Good."

Jason scowls at her and turns to Piper, who's holding what looks to be a very broken ankle with an expression like she's going to be sick. Julie pushes Leo off of her gently and waves towards where her backpack is sitting a few feet away.

"Soldier Boy, there's some Ace bandages in there. Will you grab them?" She directs.

He glances at her with a frown, but nods and does as she asks. Julie scoots painfully over to Piper, who looks up at her like she's holding a box of matches to a pile of gunpowder. Julie rolls her eyes. "Oh, calm down, I'm trained."

Piper flushes in embarrassment and looks away as Julie accepts the bandages from Jason.

"This is gonna hurt, alright? I've gotta get the bone back into place before I give you ambrosia."

Piper cringes, but nods. Julie unlaces her sister's boot as gently as she can. Jason comes over to hold Piper's hand as the girl cries silently in pain. The sight makes Julie's chest squeeze strangely in discomfort.

Stop being stupid, Julie. Fix the dumb ankle.

Resetting the bone is like riding a bike for Julie. Well, bad simile because Julie's never actually ridden a bike before, but you get the sentiment. Piper gets through it without making a sound, and she can't help but think Michael Yew would have had serious respect for her patient if he were here. The thought aches a bit. Julie pushes it away.

"Alrighty. Ambrosia time, and then you'll be good as new." She quips with a smile, wiping at the blood on her own forehead with a spare section of bandage.

The cut has stopped bleeding, but she really needs to get cleaned off. She strips off the ruined silk shirt she's wearing over her tank top and pours a bit of water on it, using the cloth to clean up the smoking purple liquid from her skin. The silk of the shirt holds water suspiciously well. Julie scoffs. Must be a blend. What a rip off.

"What happened to the dragon?" Piper groans out as she reaches for the ambrosia. "Where even are we?"

Leo's face drops, and he looks around nervously. "I don't know what went wrong with Festus. He just jerked sideways like he hit an invisible wall and started falling."

Julie bites her lip and looks around the warehouse they fell into. They're surrounded by crates and weird looking metal tools. One wall off to their right, behind tons of poorly executed graffiti, is a sign reading "MONOCLE MOTORS, ASSEMBLY PLANT 1."

"Looks like a closed car plant." Leo notes, standing up and brushing his hands against his equally dirty cargo pants. Julie grimaces at the sight. "I'm guessing we crash landed somewhere in Detroit."

Piper blinks at him. "How far is that from Chicago?"

"About an hour and a half, if we keep flying." Julie sighs. She looks to Leo. "Can we keep flying?"

He cringes. "I think so. He landed outside, I think. I'll see if I can repair him quickly enough."

Piper groans and buries her face in her hands. The three of them look at her in concern as she sighs shakily. "This is all my fault."

Julie quirks an eyebrow. "Well, that's just unfounded."

Jason nods in agreement. "Yeah, Piper, you were asleep when Festus conked out. You couldn't have caused it."

Piper looks up at him, eyes shining. Julie shifts uncomfortably. She glances at Leo, and he puffs out his cheeks awkwardly again, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "I'm gonna go scout around for Festus. You guys...rest, I guess? Anyway, bye!"

He scurries out of the warehouse like it's on fire. Julie shakes her head at him.

Piper scoots up closer to Jason, and Julie tries to remember the correct pace humans are meant to breathe at. It's really annoying when your body forgets how to do that automatically. Why is that a thing?

"You did a good job," Piper breathes to Jason. He looks over at the brunette with raised eyebrows. "I mean, you saved our lives." She says with a smile.

Julie looks away.

"Oh! I mean, no problem. We weren't going to let you guys fall." Jason replies. She hears him settle onto the floor beside Piper with a tired sigh.

'We.'

Julie smiles to herself, tying and untying her shoelaces absently.

"Where did you learn to fight?" Piper asks.

"Oh. Same answer as always. I don't remember."

"But, you seem to be having some memories. Like, that prophecy in Latin back at camp. Or the dream about the wolf."

Dream about the wolf?

"It's fuzzy." Jason mumbles. Julie glances over at them subtly. His face is screwed up in concentration, like he's trying to find a very specific document in the never ending filing cabinet of his mind. It's cute. "Like deja vu. Ever forgotten a word or a name, and you know it should be on the tip of your tongue, but it isn't? It's like that - only with my whole life."

Julie frowns in thought. She knows exactly how that feels. It sparks an idea.

"Piper?" She calls. Her sister looks over at her, impatience in her eyes. Julie ignores it and continues. "You can charmspeak." She states.

Piper blinks at her like she's stupid. "Yeah?"

"Charmspeak him."

"What?"

Julie turns to face them fully and clenches her fingers around the hem of her shorts. She swallows down the bad memories this explanation is bubbling to the surface and sets her gaze resolutely on the fellow child of Aphrodite.

"Our last Head Counselor, Silena...She could charmspeak. She was able to make people forget things, if she told them to."

Piper's eyes widen in realization. She glances between Jason and Julie eagerly. "You think I can make him remember?"

Julie shrugs. "It's worth a shot, right?"

Jason looks nervous. He surveys Piper warily. "This isn't going to make me go crazy, right?"

"Crazier than you're already going trying to remember?"

"Okay, fair." He shifts and taps his fingers on the ground, but eventually nods his assent. "Alright. Let's try it."

Piper smiles at him brightly and takes his hands into her lap, which Julie thinks is highly unnecessary, but whatever. She looks deeply into his eyes for a moment before whispering, low and breathy, "Jason, remember your life."

A beat passes. Nobody moves.

Juliette watches them nervously. Jason's eyes are glazed over. This was such a random idea. She hasn't thought about the consequences if it actually works. If Jason's memories are no longer on the line...Well, at least her choice becomes a little easier. But, him remembering her and then watching what she'll have to do...That might be worse.

Azalea's face flashes in her mind, and she swallows. Blinking hard.

"Well?" Piper asks finally. "Do you remember anything?"

Jason sighs, and his shoulders slump. "Maybe it'll take a bit?" He offers.

Julie's heart falls. "Yeah. Maybe."

She tries for a smile when he glances at her. It doesn't seem to help.

"I'm gonna...go check on Leo. Make sure he's doing alright with Festus." Jason mumbles, getting to his feet. She and Piper watch sadly as he disappears out of the warehouse with a bowed head.

Julie sighs heavily and chastises herself. "That was a stupid idea."

Her sister glances at her, looking strangely uncomfortable. "I don't think it was stupid."

Surprised, Julie raises her eyebrows at her. Piper avoids her gaze, and the two of them settle into a tense silence.

"He, um..." Piper starts and then cringes. Julie looks over in interest.

"Yeah?"

"He's got a picture on him. A girl with black hair. Blue eyes. Do you..." The words seem to physically pain Piper to force out. "Do you know if he's got a girlfriend? In his other life?"

Uh...

Julie blinks owlishly at her sister.

"Um." She stutters. "No, not that I know of. I mean, he has a close friend that I sometimes wondered about. But, she's never been more, as far as I know."

Piper nods absently. She fiddles with the end of the bandages on her ankle. When she replies, there's exhaustion in her eyes. "I like him. But, I'm confused."

Juliette looks away. "I hear that."

Surprisingly, Piper snorts. She groans loudly and runs her hands down her face, pulling it at funny angles in her frustration. "Gods, this is so weird."

Julie grins despite the situation. "It really is." She agrees. Sitting up, she turns to address her sister more seriously.

"Look, Piper, I never really apologized to you. I mean," She bites her lip nervously. "I get that was definitely a crappy way for us to have met. And, even if I won't apologize for kissing him - gods, even Drew knows I've had dibs for years - I am sorry for how I made you feel." She tries to convey as much earnestness as she can in her voice. "If I had known about your feelings, I never would have done it that way. I'm sorry. Is there any way we can start over?"

Piper studies her, expressionless.

"I'm not giving up." She states finally. A smirk creeps onto her face. "I want him too. You're gonna have to be fine with that."

Irritation stirs in Julie's gut, but the competitive edge to Piper's voice makes her grin a bit against her wishes. She huffs a laugh and crosses her arms. "Fine. But, no hard feelings when I win him over, right?"

Piper's eyes flash, but her smile is real this time. Warm. "Give me your best shot, Aster. But, no crying when I walk down the aisle, okay?"

CLANG

Both of them jump. Julie looks towards the door both boys had disappeared through earlier.

CLANG CLANG

She and Piper lock eyes, urgency passing between them. Julie leaps to her feet and creeps towards the door. She glances down at her still injured sister.

"I'm gonna go see if they're okay," She whispers. "You stay here."

Without waiting for a response, Julie tiptoes down the hallway towards the exit to the warehouse. She pulls the arrow charm from her bracelet and winces as her bow unfolds with a sharp slicing noise. She holds the weapon up like a flashlight, illuminating the hall with the pale white light of the Stygian ice.

She creeps out of the front entrance and looks around. Leo's off in the distance beside a hulking form she can assume to be Festus. She approaches cautiously.

"Leo?" She calls out.

He jumps and turns around sharply. "Dang, chica, trying to give me a heart attack?!"

Juliette lowers her bow and looks around in confusion. "Where's Jason?"

"Huh? I dunno, I thought he was with you."

Dread creeps through her. She looks at the boy fearfully. "He came out to check on you. You haven't seen him?"

Just as the son of Hephaestus opens his mouth to reply, the air is struck by a piercing scream.

The blood drains from both of their faces.

Piper.