Juliette may not be sleeping much thanks to Princess Deianira, but she is the lucky winner of "The Annabeth and Percy Are Missing Scavenger Hunt!"

Oh, this is too good.

There she is - standing over her brother and future sister in law as they sleep, oblivious and happy, cuddled up on the stable floor. Frank comes running in behind her, gasping for breath (loser. Julie even gave him a head start). He takes one look at the evil grin on her face, follows her gaze down to the cozy couple on the ground, and turns bright red.

He covers his eyes like they're buck naked or something, and Julie has to take a moment to admire the pure soul that is Frank Zhang.

Julie holds up a hand to him, a finger to her lips, and creeps as close to her snoring friends' ears as she dares. She takes a deep breath, shoots Frank a wink, and bellows at the top of her lungs.

"GOOD MORNING, SLEEPYHEADS!"

"AGHH!" "AHH!"

In hindsight, maybe startling awake two fully trained war veterans wasn't Juliette's finest idea.

Worth it.

She does find herself pinned to the stable floor with Annabeth's knife at her throat, though.

"Juliette?!" Annabeth yelps, leaping off of her.

"What is wrong with you?!" yells Percy.

Julie lifts herself up onto her elbows and grins at them. "You guys are in trrroouuubbllee!" She sings.

Percy scratches at his ridiculously messy hair like he's not further incriminating himself by worsening his case of bedhead. "What are you talking about?"

Frank squeaks from by the door, and the two culprits look over at him. He's peeking from between his fingers. "Everyone thinks you've been kidnapped."

"Little did we know, you guys were just busy! Our apologies. Although, this is a shared stable, you really could find somewhere more private-"

Annabeth starts smothering Julie's face in Percy's discarded sweatshirt, face bright red. "We weren't doing anything!"

"We just fell asleep." Percy agrees.

Frank is now pressing frantic palms to his steaming face. "Oh gods, when Hedge finds out-He's going to kill you guys-You've been here all night?!"

Annabeth presses down harder on the sweatshirt when Julie's cackling is no longer fully muffled. "We just went to sleep, Frank. That's it! Nothing happened!"

"I mean, we kissed a couple times."

"Not helping!"

"Just saying."

"Um, Annabeth," Frank cuts in, pointing at the squirming, Julie-shaped bundle underneath the blonde. "I think you might be killing her."

Annabeth reluctantly releases her hold on her prisoner, and Juliette is across the room in a flash, a wicked smile across her gasping face.

"I'm gonna tattle!"

Percy blanches. "No, you are not!"

"Am, am, am!"

"Jules, I swear to- GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE- JULIETTE ASTER I AM GOING TO KILL YOU! IF YOU EVER WANT TO USE A STRAW SAFELY AGAIN, YOU WILL TURN AROUND RIGHT NOW!"

Frank and Annabeth watch the siblings bolt from the room. An awkward silence follows. Frank rocks back and forth on his heels and clears his throat.

"Are they always-?"

"Yes." Annabeth sighs.

Frank grimaces sympathetically. "And I thought one Percy was bad."

Annabeth just shakes her head tiredly and gets up to follow the sound of her boyfriend's yelling and Juliette's horrifying witch's cackle.

She cannot believe this is the family she's thinking of marrying into.

"Five seeds. Five days."

Julie squeezes her eyes shut. It's like she can see the outline of that damn jar etched into the insides of her eyelids. Her stomach rolls like a turnstile, and she reopens them.

She forces herself to shrug. "Hey, it's not like that's new information. We already knew he has limited time. This doesn't change anything."

It doesn't. It doesn't.

But, Hazel doesn't look convinced either. Julie watches with burning eyes as the girl hides her trembling fingers in the pockets of her shorts. Percy takes notice too. He rests a hand on Hazel's shoulder.

"We're going to rescue him," He states. Julie's heart tugs. He sounds no more sure than she did, but it's nice to hear. Percy nods to Julie as well across the table. "We will."

"That's right," Piper agrees, winding an arm around Julie's shoulders. "You guys said Nico was looking for the Doors of Death, right? He must have found them."

"He can tell us where the Doors are," agrees Percy. "And how to close them."

Juliette looks down at her chipped yellow nail polish. What was it Hades had said?

My foolish child has ventured into a realm where not even the gods dare dwell.

Tartarus. That must be where the Doors are. But, Julie can't bring herself to say as much out loud.

Hazel looks somewhat reassured. She lets out a breath and nods. "Yes. Good."

It's Leo that draws their attention next. He looks hesitant, raising a hand halfway into the air. "Um..." He glances nervously at Hazel before looking to Percy and Annabeth. "One thing. The giants are expecting us to do this, right? So...we're walking into a trap?"

Julie tenses. She sees Hazel look at Leo like he just flipped her the bird. "We have no choice!" Hazel insists.

Leo shifts. "Don't get me wrong, Hazel, it's just...Your brother...Nico knew about both camps, right?"

Hazel pauses. "Well, yes."

"And he didn't tell anyone. He's been going back and forth, and he didn't tell either side."

"He told me." Julie snaps.

Leo glances at her guiltily. "I mean...yeah, but only once Jason actually got some memories back."

Julie looks to said boy now. Jason's hunched over in his seat at the table, eyes narrowed down on his folded fingers. Julie searches for his gaze, but it's trained resolutely on his fists.

"You're wondering if we can trust the guy," Jason surmises. Leo nods, and Jason lets out a sigh. "So am I."

The air leaves Juliette's lungs.

It's like there's TV static buzzing against Julie's eardrums as Hazel shoots up from her chair, knocking it to the floor with a clatter. "I don't believe this," She spits. "He's my brother! He brought me back from the Underworld, and you don't want to help him?"

Frank steps forward to deescalate. "No one's saying that." He glares at Leo. "No one had better be saying that."

Leo backs away from the son of Mars, hands raised. "Look guys, all I'm saying is-"

"Hazel," Jason's stern voice cuts in.

There are those walls again. The set of that jaw. That's not Jason. That's not even Soldier Boy. It's the Son of Jupiter talking right now, and Juliette is ready to spit venom at him.

He stands from his seat and towers over them, angled protectively in front of Leo. Cutting them off. Splicing the group in half. "Leo is raising a fair point. Nico had a place at Camp Jupiter. Now, I find out he also visited Camp Halfblood. That does strike me as a bit shady. Do we really know where his loyalties lie?"

Juliette flinches back as if he'd struck her.

Shady?

"What, because consorting with Greeks is some kind of deadly sin?" Julie challenges.

Jason looks at her, and Hazel steps beside Juliette in support. The daughter of Pluto looks at him in disgust. "You...the great Jason Grace. The praetor I've looked up to. You were supposed to be so fair, such a good leader. And now you..."

Hazel's voice chokes off. She shakes her head, turning on her heel, and storms from the conference room.

Leo takes a step forward. "Hazel-!"

Frank stops him with a snarl. "You've done enough," He snaps. The son of Mars turns and leaves as well to catch up to his distraught girlfriend.

That leaves the rest of the group watching tensely as Julie and Jason stare one another down.

"So, what, am I a traitor too?" Juliette hisses.

Jason blinks. "What are you-"

"After all, I've been consorting with Romans." She storms up to jab him hard in the chest. "I've been talking to you since I was twelve years old. Does that make you question where my 'loyalties lie,' Jason?"

He frowns. "That was different-"

"How?"

"You didn't know-"

"I knew you were a forbidden child!" Julie practically screams at him. Jason backs away, eyes wide. She doesn't let up. "I knew you could have inherited the Great Prophecy! I knew you were powerful, and that you had friends who were powerful. It's really not such a big leap to figure out that there was another camp somewhere. You think I couldn't put that together?!"

Jason's mouth is set in a tight line now. His shoulders are squaring, and she can see those shutters being pulled closed behind his eyes. It just fuels her fire all the more.

Just FEEL something for once, would you?

Juliette knocks aside a chair so she can keep advancing on him. She has no idea what the others in the room are thinking. She's just spitting angry, and she's not going to listen to this bullshit for one moment longer. "So, which is it, Jason? Am I stupid? Did I never figure it out? Or am I a traitor too? Because, obviously, those are the only two options in your mind."

"Don't put words in my mouth," He snaps at her, finally planting his feet so that her advance is forced to cease with them inches apart. "I don't remember that time, and you know it. I can't make any judgements-"

"Oh, yes, Jason, I do know it. You've made it very clear that you can never imagine having any kind of complicated feelings for a Greek yourself."

He goes silent at that, a flash of pain in his eyes, and Juliette feels tears welling in her own. She shakes her head, trying to clear the frustration and hurt away so she can think clearly, and looks at their openmouthed audience. Chest heaving with frantic, angry breaths, she glares down at Percy.

"Well?" She snarls. He sits straighter in his chair and swallows fearfully at her ire. "Are you going to say anything?"

Percy opens his mouth. Then, he glances at Jason and Leo, and something uncertain gleams in his eyes. He looks back to Juliette, guilt twisting his face, and his mouth closes.

She must be shaking by now. It's been a long time since she's felt this enraged. She's certain there must be scales all across her face and neck by this point, but she's having trouble reining it in. She curls her lip in disgust as she looks at her brother.

Her brother, who Nico went to the Underworld for in the first place. Who has no idea how much that boy loves him.

"Just how many times are you going to let Nico di Angelo down?" She spits.

Julie watches something fracture in Percy's eyes. A wave of guilt and heartache comes washing over her like a breaking tsunami. She doesn't bother blocking it out. It soothes her. It sends pleasant tingles down her arms. She relishes in it as she shakes her head in disappointment and pushes past Annabeth towards the exit.

She's finding him. She'll do it by herself, if she has to.

The afternoon after that meeting is when people start looking at Julie like she's a ticking time bomb.

She can't really blame them, to be fair. She drops her coffee at lunch three times, Piper eventually insisting she go rest while she cleans it up because she "looks exhausted" and "should take care of herself."

Pssh. She's fine. Although, this concealer is apparently not doing its job well enough. She'll have to look for a new brand next time they dock near a Sephora.

She doesn't go take a nap, thank you very much, because she is fine. A little shaky, sure, but nothing she can't handle. Every minute she spends asleep is one less minute Nico has to live. She can handle a little drowsiness.

She can.

Julie is perched on the bow when they come in for a landing a few hours after her screaming match with Jason. She's still steaming, honestly, but the stewing anger and guilt from her shipmates is working for her like a 5-Hour Energy. No matter how heavy Julie's eyelids get, her brain is raring to go.

So, when a shadow approaches her hesitantly as the ship sets down on a hill somewhere in Georgia, she's got her hair pulled back into a braid while she spreads out in a pink tank top onto her favorite tanning blanket with Annabeth's tablet in one hand and a bottle of tabasco for Festus in the other.

Someone clears their throat, and Julie glances irritably back at Percy over her shoulder.

"What?" She snaps.

He shifts uncomfortably. Julie rolls her eyes and looks back at the (very minimal, I mean come on, Daedalus) research on Tartarus she has pulled up.

"We're...Frank and Hedge and me are going to go do some scouting." Percy mumbles.

Julie scrolls angrily. "Okay?"

A sigh. "I'm gonna look for Phorcys."

"Cool."

"It'll be dangerous."

"I'll bet."

"...Aren't you gonna try to talk me out of it?"

Julie sets down the tablet (because Annabeth would probably be miffed if she broke it over Percy's head right now) and turns to face him slowly. She scowls and raises an eyebrow. "Oh, does my opinion matter now?"

Percy sighs, kicking his ratty tennis shoes against the deck of the Argo. "C'mon, Jules, you know none of us meant it like that."

"Oh, do I?"

"Yes!" Percy exclaims. He drops to one knee and clasps his hands over Julie's shoulders, a desperate look on his face. "Juliette, I check with you before I buy a new pair of shoes. I Iris you every time I think about trying a new restaurant or buying a new CD. You really think I don't care what you think?"

Julie frowns. He shakes his head in exasperation.

"Look, you were right. I've let Nico down way too many times. Gods know that kid has always done right by me in the end. But, even if he hadn't..." Percy slumps, eyes darting around Julie's face with a softness she's really only seen reserved for quiet moments with his mother. He squeezes her shoulders. "Even if he hadn't, he has always done right by you. That's enough to get me in his corner."

Julie's eyes burn. Her heart feels like a throbbing, stomped on pile of mushy mush, and she's not stubborn enough to stay angry when Percy whips out the baby seal eyes. She gives in, pitching forward so her forehead collides painfully with Percy's sternum. He makes a funny oof sound, and both of them giggle like toddlers as his arms squeeze her shoulders in a protective embrace.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." Julie mumbles against his chest.

She feels Percy shrug. "Eh. I deserved it. Even Annabeth said so."

"Well, if Annabeth said so, it must be-"

"Would you stop yapping so we can have a moment?" Percy snips, pinching her on the shoulder.

Julie swats his hand like an annoying fly, but nuzzles into the hug, obligingly silent. He sighs contentedly.

.

.

.

"So, what's up with you and Lightning Guy, 'cause I'm not loving the way he looks at yo-OOF!"

Julie spends quite a bit of the day avoiding Jason. The parts that she doesn't spend avoiding him, she spends ignoring him as he tries to get her to talk.

"Juliette, what's our ambrosia stock looking like?"

"Juliette, do you know who's on guard duty tonight?"

"Juliette, are you going to keep ignoring me permanently, or would another head trauma get your attention?"

That last one was the wrong thing to say. It gives her the perfect opening to turn around and pour out her water bottle onto that aforementioned head of his. Jason just closes his eyes, purses his lips, and takes it like a man as the ice cold water soaks his hair and t-shirt.

Once she's done, Jason opens his eyes hopefully, but Julie just turns on her heel, snatches Jason's own full water bottle off the table in front of him, and stalks out of the control room without a word. It's like she has a second shadow after that. Everywhere she looks, there he is. Eventually, she starts considering setting booby traps.

By the time Percy, Hedge, and Frank get back, frantically leaping onto the ship and shouting for an emergency takeoff, she's about at her wit's end and more than ready for a distraction.

"Charleston?" Julie echoes, crossing her arms. "I mean, I'm all for a beach episode, but why?"

"Phorcys said that's where we can find a map," Percy explains. He glances at Annabeth warily, who shifts and looks out the window. "A map to the Mark of Athena."

Jason makes a strangled sound, and they all look at him oddly. The boy gulps, appearing uncharacteristically uncertain. "It's just...I've been there once before. With Reyna."

"You remember?" Julie asks.

Jason looks at her so quickly, she almost kicks herself. Darn it, Julie, ignoring him was going so well. He seems to be fighting down a grin as he nods and opens his mouth to explain his and Reyna's mission to salvage some Imperial Gold from an old warship.

"So, the Romans fought for the Confederacy?" Hazel asks drily. "As someone whose grandmother was a slave, can I just say...not cool?"

Jason looks down at his hands. "I personally wasn't alive then. And it wasn't all Greeks on one side and all Romans on the other...However, yes. Not cool. Sometimes demigods make bad choices." He looks up hesitantly, glancing at Hazel and Julie both. "Like sometimes we're too suspicious. And we speak without thinking."

Julie watches Hazel soften, especially when Jason elbows Leo and the other boy stutters out "Right! Like, not trusting people's brothers who, you know, might need saving. Hypothetically."

Hazel studies them, then nods and returns to the conversation.

Again, Juliette finds herself annoyed by how easily the other girl lets everything go. She shakes her head, teeth clenched bitterly, and stalks over to stare resolutely out the window as Jason goes on to tell the least spooky ghost story Julie's ever heard.

To be fair, when your BFF is the son of Hades, you hear a lot of ghost stories. But, seriously, some lady in a fancy dress on a beach? Who only women can talk to? That just sounds like Julie's dream life. So, 0/10 on the spook factor. Try harder next time, Jason.

Annabeth nods at the end of his tale, looking to Piper, Julie, and Hazel with raised eyebrows. "So, a girls' adventure the-"

"YES!" Julie yelps. She clears her throat when they all startle at her volume and glances awkwardly over at Jason, who's still hovering between her and the door. She looks back at Annabeth pleadingly. "Yes, a girls only adventure sounds great."

Annabeth smirks in amusement, nodding, and looks to Hazel and Piper. Both of them agree quickly. "So that settles it, then." Nods the daughter of Athena. "Leo, how long until we reach Charleston?"

Jason finally catches Julie in the infirmary that night. She looks up from the medical instruments she's unnecessarily sanitizing for the millionth time today to see him standing in the doorway like a prison warden. He looks both frustrated with her and concerned.

"You do realize it's two in the morning?" He asks stiffly.

Julie looks back down and continues her work.

"You're disembarking tomorrow. Don't you think you should get at least some sleep?"

She sets down the finished tool and picks up the next. Julie hears him huff and then looks up at the sound of the door shutting and locking.

"Ummm..." She trails off. Jason's scowling at her. Julie shifts uncomfortably. "Am I being mugged?"

"She speaks!" He exclaims.

Julie rolls her eyes. "You'd better unlock that door, Grace. Hedge is gonna have an aneurysm if he catches us in here alone."

"Maybe if you weren't constantly running away from me, I wouldn't be cornering you."

"Ever think I'm running away because I don't want to talk to you?"

Jason sighs and rakes a hand through his hair. The sight is so familiar, so endearing, that Juliette has to peel her eyes away and look down at her fists instead.

He's too pretty for his own good. Julie would like to stay mad a little longer.

"Look," He sighs. "I know what I said wasn't fair. I think-"

"You think? Don't hurt yourself."

"Are you going to let me apologize?"

"Oh, is that what you're doing? Just sounds like a bunch of gibberish to me."

"You might be one of the most infuriating conversationalists to walk this earth."

"Well, aren't you pulling out the fancy pants words?"

"Neither of those words were fancy."

"Oh yeah? Tell that to Scrabble."

Jason sputters, blinking rapidly and shaking his head. "I came in here to say that I'm sorry! What is even happening?!" He asks incredulously.

Juliette raises an eyebrow and drops her tools into a drawer. She sweeps off of her stool and strides across the room in only two steps, moving right into his personal space where he's leaning back against the door.

Julie hears him suck in a breath. She sees his blue eyes go wide. Their height difference always seems minimal until they're nose to nose, but now those three inches between the tops of their heads start to annoy her, so Julie braces a hand on his chest and lifts onto her toes so she can look him in the eyes.

"What's happening," She hisses against his face. He looks startled. It makes satisfaction purr in the Aphrodite section of her brain. "Is you threatened my friend."

Jason swallows. Julie watches the motion closely.

"Nico is one of a small handful of people who actually cared about me while I wasn't even allowed in my own mother's cabin. Once upon a time, so were you."

When she looks back up at him, his eyes are glued to her lips. A boldness she's never known takes over her body, and Julie leans even closer. She can taste chocolate on his breath now. Their lips are so close, she can feel the slight prickle of a bit of blonde stubble on his chin. Julie meets his eyes and reaches a hand around his waist to settle on the door handle.

"Don't do it again."

With that whispered command, Juliette flips the lock back open, steps around Jason's frozen form, and exits into the hall.

She keeps her cool until she gets to her quarters.

Then, she spends ten minutes screaming the built up tension into her pillow until she's calm enough to turn off her lights and settle down to catch the z's Jason so desperately wanted her to have.

TW: Brief mention of an attempted SA. If need be, see A/N at the end for a summary of the dream

Her former husband's severed horn adorns their mantle.

Heracles' eyes often stray to it throughout the day: in the morning during his first conscious breaths, in the evenings as he passes sweetened berries past his lips. He looks to it each time that she calls to him, each time he brushes against her in their bed, his eyes gleaming in satisfaction, reminded boastfully of his own strength, of his own cunning. Of his ability to have stolen away the wife of a god.

How quickly a symbol of their love, of Heracles' devotions to her, becomes a monument to a new form of captivity. One which she entered into of her own will. One she has no choice but to endure. She has broken enough oaths in this lifetime.

Heracles warms her nights for a single moon cycle. Once the snows of winter pass, he returns to his Labors. To his travels. To the arms of other women. And Deianira sits in their humble cottage and waits.

When the centaur finds her, she is easily tricked. She has little left in her to be humiliated for. There was a time when Deianira thought herself clever. She can hardly claim so now, as she struggles helplessly in the clutches of a much larger being and tries desperately to keep her legs twisted shut.

If she cared anything for her Children of Sadness, perhaps Deianira's mother would weep to see the surprise on her face when Heracles comes to her rescue. Was she wrong to have doubted that he would hear her cries? Or had she thought he would be indifferent to them?

Whatever she had believed, her rescue is quick and effortless. So much so that the sting of how easily she'd been held prisoner burns bright and embarrassing. She says as much. Heracles seems not to hear her, too focused on examining the ornate, carved antler bow he's plucked from Nessus' dying form. Her husband boasts of his skill at archery, pleased to have found a weapon which can measure up to his godlike strength, and begins the trek back to their small dwelling, sparing Deianira only a brief pat on her shoulder where it hangs bare and trembling beneath her torn chiton.

"A Heartbreak will never be loved," rasps the centaur around a mouthful of black blood. He leers at her, teeth rotten and blunt, and chokes on the last of his shallow breaths. "Not by a hero of Greece. Not by any man. Unless," Nessus grins at her, dark and deep. "You make it so through other means. Do you wish his heart to be true, wife of Heracles?"

She does wish it. More than anything, she wishes to be loved.

Like Deianira said, she is easily tricked.

End of TW

"Julie, are you listening?"

"Huh?"

Juliette looks up from her breakfast. Annabeth is peering over at her worriedly. The older girl reaches forward to place a hand on her shoulder. "Are you doing alright? You look...tired."

Julie shakes her head, smiling. "I'm good. Sorry, just..."

Black blood. It's thin. Sticky. It smears so easily across Deianira's husband's tunic.

"...lost in thought."

Annabeth frowns doubtfully. "Are you sure? If you aren't up to coming with us today, we can-"

"No!" Julie interjects. She stands from the table and tightens the straps of her paisley backpack. "I'm good! We should go. I think Hazel and Piper are meeting us on the gangway."

Annabeth still doesn't look convinced, but she sighs and rises too.

Percy and Jason are both waiting to see them off on the deck as the Argo II pulls in to dock at Charleston Harbor. Annabeth splits off from her quickly to talk with Percy. Julie cringes as she watches Jason disengage from his conversation with Piper to make his way over to her. She closes her eyes and braces for the interaction to come.

Well, well, well...If it isn't the consequences of her own actions.

"Hey," Jason greets.

Julie opens her eyes and gives him a painful smile. His hands are shoved into his pockets, his glasses missing this morning.

Ugh, not fair. He's abusing the power of his blue eyes.

"Hi," says Julie in return.

Jason studies her. Julie's not sure why. She doesn't look any different to how she normally does. She barely even put on makeup this morning. But, he's looking at her like there's something new to notice about her face. It makes her cheeks go warm.

"So," She attempts to deflect his attention. "What are you going to do while we're gone?"

Jason shrugs, gaze still intense. "I guess I'll fly out to the museum and look for clues on where to find the map. Maybe grab some supplies for the ship while I'm in town."

A smile quirks at Julie's face. "Bring me back a Honey Bun."

"You like those?"

"What's not to like?"

"I don't know, maybe the thousands of times they've been processed before they hit the shelves?"

Julie gapes at him, offended. "Oh yeah, because you, Jason Grace, Praetor of the First Legion and Destroyer of Cheese Puffs, are such an organic shopper." She scoffs.

He grins at her. "But, of course! I knew you'd remember my credentials."

Juliette rolls her eyes. She sees Annabeth lean in and give Percy a parting kiss at the edge of her field of vision. Normally, such a sight would make her fake gag and throw something at them, but standing in front of Jason, it makes her stomach do a flip. She shuffles on her feet and decides a friendly ol' punch in the arm might diffuse the tension.

"Well, be safe, I guess," She orders, knocking her knuckles into his bicep.

Before she can remove her hand and walk away, Jason reaches out and catches it. He gives her a sort of grin she's only seen from him on rare occasions, one tinted with an underlying mischievousness, and raises her hand to his lips. Julie's heart spasms and sparks as he presses a gentle kiss against the back of it. She can feel the ridge of his scar brushing the knuckle of her ring finger. The sensation makes her feel like she's going to burst into flames on the spot.

With a shit eating smirk, Jason pulls away and raises his eyebrows. "Watch for ghosts."

Juliette has no way of knowing what she looks like when he turns to stride back into the inner cabin of the ship. But, judging from the heat burning in her face, the sea breeze invading her gaping mouth, and the homicidal expression on her brother's face across the deck, she's guessing that Jason probably won that interaction.

Ohh, but he has no idea what he just started. You want to play a game, Jason Grace?

Well, Purple Aster didn't raise no chicken.

.

.

.

Well, technically, they did raise chickens. But, Juliette wasn't one of them.

TW Summary: Juliette dreams from the perspective of Princess Deianira as her relationship with Heracles falls into shambles. After running away with him to escape her marriage to the River God Achelous, the princess realizes she was only worth the thrill of stealing something beautiful in Heracles' eyes. Once he gets bored of her, the hero returns to his Labors and his trysts with other women, leaving Deianira alone to await his return in their cottage. One day, the centaur, Nessus, finds Deianira defenseless in their home and captures her, attempting to SA her in the process. Heracles rescues her at the last second, but his indifference to Deianira's suffering has gotten to her, and she finds it difficult to refuse the offer Nessus makes her with his dying breaths.

A/N

Hey, guys! I know you've probably been wondering who tf Julie keeps dreaming about. To be honest, I struggled for a while to come up with a way to spice up these middle chapters on the Argo, and I love Deianira's story too much to resist giving her some spotlight in this fic of mine. I hope seeing the tale from her perspective rather than Achelous and Hercules' is interesting to you guys, and I am excited to get deeper into the lore of Heartbreaks as a species.

Thanks so much for all your support! Your comments are so exciting to see :)