"Percy, you did a good job."

"But, I lost."

"Yeah, you did. That was really embarrassing."

"Julie! Would you just...Okay?"

"What?" She asks innocently. "Are you trying to say that wasn't the most embarrassing thing you've ever seen in your life?"

Annabeth groans, pinching the bridge of her nose as Percy looks over at his sister with a scowl.

"This coming from the girl who got trapped in a magic fish net," He retorts.

Julie feels her face start to burn, especially when she hears Jason snort from where he's tightening down one of the side oars and pretending not to eavesdrop. "Oh, shut up! That net was celestial bronze!"

"They were going to sell you to a circus. In Tartarus."

"I'd kick ass as a circus performer, to be fair."

"Who knew they had entertainment down there?" Percy muses, kicking back to rest his arms behind his head.

Juliette snickers and joins him where he's splayed out on the deck to watch the clouds. Still typing away on her magic tablet, Annabeth sighs and shakes her head. "You two are idiots. Chrysaor was being sarcastic. He was going to give you to Gaea for the ritual."

Julie's face scrunches in thought. "No. No, I think he was serious. I mean, he said 'Heartbreaks always make a Headline.' That kind of alliteration screams ad-campaign to me."

Percy nods seriously. "It does. It's like...like 'the snack that smiles back,' or the 'badabuhbuhbuh' for McDonald's. What do you call those?"

Annabeth looks physically pained as she glances over at her boyfriend. "Slogans?"

"Yes! Slogans." Percy says triumphantly. "It's a slogan."

"Definitely," Julie agrees.

Annabeth looks over at Jason helplessly. He's very unsuccessfully fighting down a smirk as he tightens down a screw with a power driver. Juliette raises an eyebrow at his amused expression.

"What are you smirking at, Soldier Boy? Care to share with the class?"

He turns to her with a bemused look, early sunlight glinting gold off his glasses. Julie flushes and decides to focus on the oar he's working on instead. "Just imagining you jumping through flaming hoops in a clown collar."

Percy starts to cackle, and Julie flings out an arm to elbow him in the gut. He yelps and scoots away from her. "Why are you so violent?" He grumbles.

"Why are you so stupid?"

"I know you are, but what am I?"

"Dumb."

"I know you are, but what am I?"

"Annoying."

"I know you are, but what am-"

"OKAY!" Annabeth interrupts. She stands abruptly, left eye twitching. "I've had enough of the wonder siblings for right now. I'm going to my room. Where it's quiet. And peaceful. Don't follow me."

The three of them chorus mumbled farewells as Annabeth gathers her things, kneels down to give Percy a quick kiss where he's laying on the planks, and disappears down the staircase to her room.

Percy turns to Juliette with a shit eating grin. "So, what are you gonna do when we save Nico today? Gonna finally let him have that smooch he's been hoping for all these years?"

Juliette's face scrunches up in disgust. "Would you stop? He does not have a crush on me."

"Does too."

"Does not."

"Does too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Not."

"Too times infinity!"

Juliette glares at him, deadpan. "Just because every girl you become friends with falls desperately in love with you, does not mean boy-girl friendships don't exist. Besides," She grumbles, looking away in embarrassment. "He's not my type."

Percy gasps, hands flying to his mouth dramatically. He looks at her in mock excitement. "Does that mean somebody is?"

Jason drops his screwdriver. It makes a loud crashing noise when it hits the deck of the ship, and he winces. "Sorry," He mumbles.

Juliette blushes even deeper and turns back to her brother in annoyance. "You're worse than Lacy."

"Hey, Lacy's cool."

"She's wonderful. Doesn't make her less annoying whenever she wants to hear a secret."

"So there is a secret!"

Julie groans, covering her eyes with her palms, and Percy laughs in victory.

He pokes her in the ribs over and over again. "Tell me, tell me, tell me, tellmetellmetellme-"

"Poke me again, and I'm going to break your fingers."

"Again with the violence. How unladylike."

"Don't you have places to be? Pancakes to drown?" Julie snaps.

Percy rolls his eyes and pushes himself to his feet. "Fine, fine. Be like that," He glances at Jason's red face where he's looking way too focused on messing with a screw that's definitely already tightened all the way and smirks. Then, he looks back down at Juliette's starfished self on the deck and prods the side of her head with his dirty tennis shoe. "Have fun on watch. Maybe one of the seamonsters trailing us is looking for a girlfriend."

"Oh my gods, please go to somewhere I don't have to look at you anymore."

"As you command, Lady Bossy Britches."

With one more glance at Jason, Percy turns his back on them and follows Annabeth down a hallway that definitely does not lead to the mess hall. Juliette quirks an eyebrow.

Huh. Well, if they hear screams of pain coming from that direction later, they know where he went.

She returns her gaze to the clouds. "You can stop pretending to be busy now," She calls out.

Jason's power drill stops whirring uselessly. She hears him huff a sheepish laugh. "I wasn't-"

"Liarrrr!" She sings. Julie looks over at him with an amused smile. "You're scared to talk to my brother, aren't you?"

Jason blanches. "No!"

"You totally are."

"I am not scared of Percy," He denies. Julie raises a doubtful eyebrow at him. "I just don't think he likes me very much."

Juliette snorts a laugh. He stomps over to her and flops down on the deck beside her.

"Stop laughing!"

She shakes her head in bewilderment. "Percy likes everyone! Well, maybe not Leo. But, to be fair, they first met directly following him hitting me over the head with a monkey wrench, so...You've never hit me with a wrench. I seriously doubt that he hates you."

"He does!" He insists, waving his hands. "And, you're the reason! Every time he finds us alone together, he looks at me like I have a target on my back. The guy bursts all the pipes on the ship every time he gets a stomach ache. I figured it might be prudent to steer clear of him."

Juliette laughs loudly. "Oh, please, he's all bark. As long as you're not a monster, he's completely harmless."

"Easy for you to say. When you put your head on my shoulder at dinner yesterday, my lemonade shot up my nose."

She grins at the grumpy look on Jason's face, trying to keep from laughing more at his distress. She scooches a little closer and smirks. "How do you know that was Percy? Maybe I just make you nervous."

Her eyebrows wiggle up and down at the teasing remark, and Jason rolls his eyes, cheeks turning a bit pink.

"Yeah. Nervous. More like terrified."

She giggles and reaches out to link their pinkies together. "I scare you, huh? More than Percy does?"

Jason shakes his head. "You scare me more than Gaea does. You're always trying to get yourself hurt."

"Maybe I'm just bolder than you are."

"No doubt about that," He agrees with a chuckle. His pinky closes around hers in return, and butterflies dance in Julie's stomach. He turns his head away from the sky, his crystalline blue eyes sparkling as he surveys her.

She raises her eyebrows. "What?"

Jason smiles. His eyes flick across her face, and she feels the path they trace down her features like the tickle of a paintbrush. A puff of air leaves his mouth, and he shakes his head. "You're my favorite person. That's all."

Emotion comes bubbling up Juliette's chest. Her mouth drops open, and Jason's eyes follow the motion before flicking back up to her own. She blinks rapidly and clears her throat.

"I am so telling Leo you said that."

Jason grins. He leans a little closer, and Juliette finds herself frozen on the spot as his breaths puff against her lips. "You could never prove it," He challenges.

Juliette gulps. Jason's eyes are light. Teasing. But, his mouth is so close to hers that she's having trouble making her thoughts form words instead of a high pitched, kettle-like screeching. "I bet I could."

"What would you say?"

"I'd say...Um..." That scar on his lip. Julie remembers how it felt molded against her own. She's not sure she's ever wanted anything as much as she wants to feel that again. "Uh..."

Jason smirks. "Exactly." He starts to draw away.

Irritation sparks in Juliette as those lips retreat from her own, so she reaches out a hand to snag the front of his shirt. The aforementioned boldness she was bragging about spurs her on (along with, maybe, a bit of impatience) as she pulls him back against her. His eyes widen. Feeling powerful from the way his muscles tense up, Julie leans in close.

"Actions speak louder than words, right?" She mutters.

A fire lights up in Jason's eyes. Juliette responds to it with a twitch of her lips and a challenging raise of her eyebrows.

"Land ho, kiddies!" booms Leo's voice over the speakers.

In an instant, Juliette is out of Jason's space and across the deck, leaning, wide eyed, over the railing as the first glimpse of a shoreline dawns on the horizon.

In another context, Juliette would find Rome beautiful. Coming in for a landing beside their docked ship, though, she's on the verge of panicked tears.

"I can't find him," She says frantically. Percy's face drops, and he quickly puts down the ropes he's securing to grab hold of Julie's shoulders. "I can't sense him anywhere. Percy, what if I'm in the wrong place? Today is the last day. If I'm in the wrong place, he's going to die. Nico's going to die-"

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down," Percy interrupts. He bends down a couple inches so they're eye to eye, looking serious. "He's in a bronze jar. It could be blocking your powers. Do not panic - Hades told you he'd be here, right?"

Swallowing her fear, Julie nods. Percy gives her a smile.

"Then, you're in the right place, Jules. We're going to get to him in time."

Julie lets out a shaky breath, still trying to calm down her heartbeat. Percy's right. Of course, Gaea's forces would try to hide Nico. They're forcing the crew to split up in order to find him. Not sensing him doesn't mean anything. They can still do this.

Satisfied she's not about to have a mental breakdown, Percy nods at her and pulls back, motioning to the mostly empty ship. "While you were gone, Hazel took Leo and Frank to try and find him herself. They went that way," He points towards some stone buildings. "Annabeth and I are about to head out for the Tiber. She thinks that's where she needs to go first, so..." He looks off to the distance. Julie frowns and takes his hand, trying to gently pull some of the fear out of his aura. He squeezes her fingers and gives her a forced smile. "I'm gonna see her off and then meet Jason and Piper back here to go searching too."

Juliette sighs. "Okay. That sounds good," She looks back out to the huge, sprawling city. "I think I'm going to keep flying until I find something."

Percy sighs. "Okay, but Jules," He tugs on her hand so she'll look at him. "If you find where he is, do not go after him alone. Come back here for reinforcements."

"Percy, this is my quest-"

"And I'm responsible for you, Juliette," It's been a while since he whipped out the dad voice. Julie huffs at him, and he frowns at her sternly. "I want you to swear to it. On the Styx. That you won't go after him alone."

Juliette's jaw drops. "Percy, I'm not-"

"Swear it, Jules."

"I'm not gonna-"

"Swear it, or I'll never break you out of school early for milkshakes again."

She reels back, offended. Percy just raises his eyebrows in challenge.

"You're bluffing."

"Am I?"

"..."

"...!"

"...?"

"/.../"

"...Fine. I swear on the Styx I won't do this alone. Happy?"

"Very, thank you."

"I should hit you for that."

"I love you too."

Juliette sighs, running a hand over her braided hair anxiously. The sun is beating down furiously today. In a non giant infested world, she'd probably be spending the afternoon tanning with Lacy and Mitchell while Will shouts at them from the canoes about melanoma statistics. But, nope. She's going giant hunting in a foreign country.

"Be careful. Give Annabeth a hug for me," She requests.

Percy wiggles his eyebrows at her. "With pleasure."

Gagging, Juliette starts to jog backwards towards the city, scales popping up on her shoulders under her pink tank top straps. "You're disgusting. See ya."

"Later."

Jason's having a weird start to his birthday.

Normally, arriving in actual Rome would be one heck of a sweet sixteen, but the second the coastline came into view, Juliette leapt off the port side balcony and disappeared into the clouds. Ever since, he's spent most of his time nervously pacing the deck while Piper watches him in exasperation.

"She's going to be fine," Piper groans, flicking at the end of her ponytail.

Jason purses his lips. "I know."

"You don't look like you know."

"I do."

"Sure."

Jason continues pacing. Piper rolls her eyes.

"If you're that worried, go after her."

He shakes his head. "I can't. We're supposed to be here as reinforcements."

"Well, you aren't going to be any help to anybody stressing yourself out," Piper reasons. "Either take a deep breath, or go do something."

Jason turns to her anxiously. Thankfully, he doesn't end up needing to do anything. A second later, Juliette's wyvern rounds one of the taller buildings. Piper and Jason both straighten as they watch her soar down towards their ship where its secured in the park. She comes in for a landing a few feet away and shrinks back down into a pretty, rosy cheeked teenage girl.

She looks around. "Hazel's not back yet?"

Jason shakes his head. She lets out a sigh and covers her eyes with the heels of her hands. "Did you find anything?" He asks.

She scoffs. "Does it look like I found anything?"

"You did say Nico was short," Piper offers, flashing a hesitant smile. "Maybe he's in your pocket."

Normally, that would have at least drawn out a smile from the girl. Today, though, she just drops her hands back to her sides looking like she's trying not to throw up.

"Piper!" shouts a voice from the gangway. The three of them look over to see Percy jogging up onto the deck, looking a bit winded. He clenches his jaw and addresses the older daughter of Aphrodite. "Use your knife. Tibernus said you could use it to find Nico."

"Who?"

"River god. Kidnapped my girlfriend. Not important, just try."

"I have tried."

"Well, try again," Percy pleads. Piper frowns at him in frustration, but he widens his eyes in a truly stellar baby seal impression. "Please."

She groans. "Fine, fine."

They all gather around as she unsheathes the knife on her belt and holds it to the sun. Almost immediately, images start to flash across the blade, and Jason feels his heart start pumping painfully fast.

"Oh, no..." He mumbles. In the bronze, the faces of Octavian and Reyna are glaring down at a map of New York dotted with flags and combat figurines. A group of soldiers surround them, all with their hands hovering over the pommels of their golden swords. "They're scouting the area. Discussing invasion routes."

Percy and Juliette look downright murderous. Jason glances at Piper, and she gulps anxiously at their expressions before squeezing her eyes shut in concentration. "C'mon...C'mon..."

A cloud moves in the sky, unblocking the sun, and the light from it shines so directly on Piper's blade that it looks like the bronze is glowing in her hand. They all wince and squint, but watch in anticipation as the image of ruins - crumbling walls hidden behind vines and ivy atop a grass covered hill - takes form in the rippling reflection.

Juliette gasps, and Percy clasps Piper and Jason's shoulders.

"I was just there," He says firmly. "The old Forum."

"I know how to get there," Juliette declares. She looks at them, face set in such solemn intensity that Jason is suddenly reminded of the statues of Venus he'd grown up passing in Camp Jupiter. The ones that would tower over the young soldiers as they trained - Venus, Goddess of Love and Passion, with her divine beauty and deadly gladius, marching into battle alongside her cordolia. The memory is fuzzy, but it makes his breath catch in his throat as he watches Juliette's pupils thin into slits. "Hang on tight."

"Wait, wha-?"

Piper's confusion is interrupted by Juliette's talons wrapping tightly around her and Percy both as the now wyvern takes to the air. Jason barks out a surprised laugh at their shrieks as he hops from the deck of the ship to follow them and waves off Hedge's request that they bring him back some Roman style pizza.

They've done a lot of breaking and entering lately.

Jason's not sure how respectable that is for a soldier, but Juliette and Percy seem to get a kick out of it. So, somewhere following Jason refusing to commit property damage and Juliette flashing him a dangerous smirk that makes his camp shirt feel way too tight around his lungs, Jason finds himself swinging down his gladius onto the padlock standing between them and the entrance to the ruins.

Juliette cheers boisterously and slings the severed chain around her shoulders like a scarf. "See, Percy? Jason has his uses."

Jason looks over at Percy sharply, offended. "Was that in question?!"

He shrugs.

Juliette just hums and pats him on the cheek as she heads to push open the unlocked door. "We still love you, head trauma and all," She pushes on the door. It doesn't budge. She scowls and looks at him, blowing a flyaway hair out of her eyes. "Can you ask your big muscles to open this for me, Soldier Boy?"

Shaking his head fondly at the nickname, Jason starts to step forward to help, but Piper yelps from behind him.

"No!"

He stops. They all turn around to look at the girl. She seems embarrassed by her outburst, but is standing her ground. Percy raises an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

Piper stares at them, apparently at a loss for words. Her eyes flick amongst the three of them fearfully.

"Pipes," Jason says soothingly. She looks at him and purses her lips, and Jason has a realization. He nods down at the knife on her belt. "That image. You've seen it before, haven't you?"

After a moment of intensity, Piper nods.

"Katoptris does re-runs?" asks Juliette.

Piper reaches up anxiously to tighten her ponytail. "I didn't know how to tell you. I saw the room downstairs filling up with water..." She looks mostly at Percy. "I saw all four of us drown."

Percy frowns skeptically. "I can't drown."

"Maybe it was symbolic?" Juliette says hopefully.

"Maybe the future has changed," Jason suggests.

Piper doesn't look convinced. Her hands are shaking a bit, and it strikes Jason that this might be the first time he's ever seen her actually afraid. Juliette softens as well and strides up to take her sister's hand. "Hey, we're gonna be fine."

"We are," Percy agrees. He points a thumb at himself. "Look, I'll go check it out first. It's fine. I'll be right back."

Before any of them can protest, the son of Poseidon pulls open the door and disappears down the stairwell behind it. He's gone for about thirty seconds. When he returns, peeking his head around the heavy wooden door, he looks baffled.

"Good news: no water. Bad news: no exits, either. Weird news:..." He cringes. "Well, maybe you should just come see."

They glance at each other, and then Juliette starts forward to follow her brother down the steps, Jason just behind. The whole way down is illuminated by just the bronze glow of Riptide and the silver light of Juliette's bow. Jason keeps his guard up as they descend, fist clenched around the pommel of his gladius. It's dark, but he can still look for traps. He needs to be aware. He has the most training. He's the son of Jupiter.

He needs to make sure everyone gets out of this unharmed.

Something brushes against his hand, and Jason looks down. Juliette's bow is clutched in her left palm, raised like a lantern as the silver light spills out around them while they walk. Her right hand is extended a bit behind her back. Towards him. Hesitantly, Jason presses his fingers into hers, and they wind their hands together. At the first brush of her touch, his anxiety starts to dim.

The walls of the tunnel down are covered in graffiti. The steps are jagged and uneven, and Percy has to stop them a few times to whisper back a warning to be careful on particularly questionable ones. When they reach the bottom, which for some reason has a five foot drop down to the floor from the steps, Jason has to pause a second just to take the whole structure in.

What is this place?

They're in a cylindrical room with a high, domed ceiling. Around the circumference of the walls are nine alcoves. They're depressed in...almost like for displaying statues. But, there are no statues to be seen.

Jason shrugs the observation off and looks to the group. Percy's face is scrunched in thought.

"Do you guys smell the ocean?"

Huh. Yes, he does.

The four of them exchange unnerved glances.

"An illusion?" Piper guesses.

Percy frowns. "I don't know," He runs a palm along the dusty wall, and Jason grips Juliette's hand tighter. If Percy is shaken, something is up. Jason knows better than to doubt Big Three instincts. "I feel like there should be water here. A lot of it. But, there isn't any. I've never seen a place like this."

Juliette is pale. She looks all the way up to the domed ceiling and swallows like she's expecting it to come crashing down. "This place feels...really good. To me. Too good," She squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head. "Something terrible happened here."

When Jason turns to her, something on the wall catches his eye. Dragging Juliette along by her hand, he rushes up to run the tip of his sword along the roughly carved symbols. A thoughtful frown crosses his face, and Jason turns back to the group. "There are seashells in the walls. This is a nymphaeum."

Piper looks at him like he's crazy. "A what?"

"A nymphaeum," Jason repeats. "We have one at Camp Jupiter. It's a shrine to the nymphs. Rich people in Ancient Rome had them outside their villas to honor the nymphs and keep local water fresh."

Glancing around nervously, Piper rubs her upper arms. "So, no nymphs actually lived here?"

Jason sighs and wipes sweat from his forehead on the back of his arm. "I don't know. This place we're standing in would have been a pool or a fountain. If it belonged to a demigod, they'd invite the nymphs to take up residence. If the spirits came to live here, it would be considered good luck."

Percy crosses his arms and scowls at the symbols on the walls. "For the owner," He says lowly. "But, it would also bind the nymphs to the new water source. Which would be great if the fountain were in a nice sunny park somewhere-"

"But this place has been underground for centuries," Piper finishes, horror growing in her eyes. "Dry and buried. So...what happened to the nymphs?"

Jason now notices the trembling in Juliette's fingers. He looks down at her. Her eyes are squeezed shut, her breaths shallow. All across her cheeks and collar bones, her skin is hardening, tinting a dark green. He starts to say something in concern, but another voice interrupts him.

Not really a voice, though. Hissing.

Jason doesn't want to be drank from.

"I could try lightning?" He suggests, hauling Juliette out of the water and onto the stairs beside him. "Maybe blast a hole in the roof?"

"You want to try a lightning strike while we're underground and standing in water?" Juliette says incredulously. "Thank the gods you're pretty."

Jason glares at her. "It was just an idea."

"A bad one!"

"Well, what do you suggest we do? Ask it nicely to stop?!"

"It's water, Jason!"

"GUYS!" Piper yells.

Jason and Juliette stop arguing and snap their heads to look at her. She's scowling.

Percy sticks a hand into the water as the level starts to reach their shoes. "I'll check the bottom. If this place used to be a fountain, there has to be a way to drain it. You guys check the niches for secret exits. Maybe the seashells or knobs or something."

Percy dives into the black water, and Jason and the girls huddle together to inspect the walls under the light of Juliette's bow. Way sooner than expected, Percy breaks the surface behind them with a gasp. Piper rushes over to help him up onto the stairs.

He coughs, hands on his knees. "Couldn't breathe. The water...not normal. Barely made it back."

A pulse of fear strikes the center of Jason's chest. He squashes it, but the water is still rising. It reaches his knees. Then his ribs. Soon, all four of them are treading water in a pool of black liquid, and Jason's friends are getting paler by the second.

"They're taking our power," Piper chokes. Her swimming falters in strength, and her head ducks under the water for a moment. Percy pulls her back up where she can breathe, face scrunched up in effort, and she clings to his and Jason's arms as they help to keep her afloat. "They're draining us." She coughs.

There's a moment, then, when Percy and Jason make eye contact across Piper's fearful form. Neither of them speaks, and both of their faces remain blank, but he feels an understanding pass. With a grim nod, they hold Piper a little higher in the water, and Jason feels around for Juliette's hand.

It's not there.

"It's not draining me," He hears her voice gasp. Jason looks over to where the silver light is illuminating Juliette in the water. Her eyes startle him. They're entirely green from lid to lid, pupils slit and scales splayed out across her complexion.

"I-I can't control it!" Percy grunts in frustration at the toxic water.

"We can't fight this!" Piper shouts over the roaring rainfall. A gleam of gold catches in Riptide's light, and Jason sees the shape of Aeolus' horn create a shadow in the water between them. "It's a horn of plenty!" She tells them. "If we can dilute this poisonous stuff with fresh water, maybe we'll stand a chance!"

"Can it do that?" Jason asks.

Piper looks around anxiously. "Maybe. But only with everyone's help!"

She reaches out to them, and Jason and Percy grab hold of her arms again. They look over to Juliette to extend the embrace. She looks dazed, more floating in the water than treading as her entire face becomes coated in green scales. Jason swallows down the fear caused by her twitching expression and snags ahold of her wrist, pulling her closer where he and Percy can add her to the circle. They keep the cornucopia in the middle as Piper shouts out instructions.

"Percy, think about the sea! Jason, rainstorms! Juliette, the lake at camp! Push all the power you can into it!"

Jason does as he's ordered. He shuts his eyes tightly and tries to conjure up any image of rainstorms that he can. The time they got stormed on at the campfire and all their s'mores got soggy. The time it rained on him and Leo while they were salvaging scrap for the Argo II. He imagines the coolness of the droplets, the smell of the wind.

The water continues to rise, and Jason can feel his strength ebbing from him. Black spots start popping up in his vision. He chokes on a mouthful of it.

"No good," He pants.

"Just don't hold back!" Piper screams at them. "Give everything you have! Imagine all of your strength leaving you!"

"That's not hard!" Percy snaps.

"But, force it out!" She insists. "It's got to be willing. A gift...a sacrifice!"

The word makes Jason feel cold.

A cough from beside him draws Jason's attention, and the pained, dizzy expression on Juliette's face sends more fear than he's ever felt raging through his veins. He gathers her closer, and she sends them all a very forced smile. "We got this, guys. Don't worry, Juliette'll save you."

The comment startles a laugh out of all three of them. For some reason, it makes Jason's eyes sting. He turns back to the cornucopia and squeezes his eyes shut again.

Rainstorms. Rain.

Rain spilling down his face. It tastes salty. His chest is heaving, and there's a tightness in his lungs that's making every exhale come out more as a sob. He doesn't want to die. He doesn't want this new recruit he's escorting to die. But, his shoulder hurts, and he doesn't think this is a fight he can win.

"It's working!"

"It's working too well. Everybody, watch your head!"

Maybe he should just give up. If he gives in willingly, maybe this monster will let the girl go. Reyna, he thinks she said her name was.

In the middle of these thoughts, Jason feels a presence brush against his uninjured shoulder. He looks up sharply, expecting to see the cyclops bearing down upon him. Instead, his universe freezes in place as he looks upon the most beautiful sight of his life.

"You have to get up," She tells him. And Jason does.

"-to dilute the poison until the nymphs are cleansed!"

"What if they don't get cleansed?" Juliette asks fearfully.

Piper doesn't have an answer for that. She just shakes her head. "Just keep trying! Even if we go under."

There's only a small pocket of air left above them. They're lucky it's there at all - just a tiny alcove where the rocks formed at just the right angle. Percy pulls them all towards it, but their strokes are getting weaker.

There's a popping noise, loud and metallic way down below the surface of the water.

Percy looks over with wide eyes. "Was that it? Did it work?"

Piper gasps for air. "I-I dont-"

Like the drain being pulled out of a full bathtub, the water in the chamber begins to spiral downwards. It worked. The level is dropping. But, the current that it's causing is getting to be too much. They all paddle frantically and try to keep their heads up.

Jason is winded. His limbs feel like lead. He's not going to be above water for much longer.

So, in his final moments still afloat, he memorizes Juliette's face.

He's never seen her in this state - entirely scaled and green, with slitted eyes and long clawed nails. She's still beautiful. Jason's fairly certain she could roll around in mud and garbage and still be the most stunning thing he's ever seen. If he's going to die right now, there are worse things to go out looking at.

Her eyes dart to Jason, and she apparently agrees. She reaches for him, and he pulls her in as close as he can. Or, really, she pulls him. Jason's getting weaker. He's a little ashamed to admit that her holding him up is all that's keeping his head above the raging current of water.

He doesn't have time to be embarrassed, though, because she presses their foreheads together, hers slick and scaled against his wet skin, and speaks quickly.

"I love you," She blurts out.

Jason's eyes widen as her lips crash onto his in the briefest of chaste kisses. Before he can even think to respond, Juliette ducks beneath the water, and a flash of green light illuminates Percy and Piper's terrified faces as Jason feels the current continue pulling him under. Before he can inhale the toxic water, though, a force pushes all three of them up higher into the pocket of air, and they gasp in huge breaths of clean oxygen.

The room continues to drain. The water pins their limbs to their bodies, but the force below them keeps their faces clear above the surface where they can breathe. It's probably only a minute before they hit the stone floor and can move again, but, to Jason, it feels like years.

The second he can lift his legs, Jason is whipping around and falling to his knees beside their savior.

Juliette's wyvern is laying unnervingly still on the rocks. Her cobra like head is resting on one of her wings, eyes closed and forked tongue visible in her open, fang filled mouth. Jason scrambles to her and presses his head against her torso.

Where is a wyvern's heart? On the left side? By her shoulder like a pegasus?

He tries there. Nothing. He hears nothing.

Jason's eyes are burning. On trembling legs, he scoots up to Juliette's head and takes it into his lap. It completely dwarfs him, one of her eyes being the size of his whole head. He puts a hand just outside her slitted nostrils and prays to Apollo that he'll feel her breathing.

He doesn't.

Percy must see the terror on Jason's face. A moment later, he's shoving him out of the way to get to his sister.

"Move!" He commands. Jason's too stunned to protest. He lets Percy take his place kneeling beside Juliette. The son of Poseidon hovers his shaking hands over her long neck and serpentine face and whispers out pleas. "Come on, Jules. Wake up, kiddo."

There's a beat where nothing happens.

Then, a stream of water emerges from the wyvern's throat, and Jason nearly sobs to hear the disgusting sound that is the coughing of a snake. In seconds, it's replaced by the much more familiar sound of a hacking demigod.

Percy lets out a heavy breath and rocks back on his heels. "Gods, Jules, are you trying to kill me?"

Juliette groans, hauling herself into a sitting position. "No, considering I just saved your life."

"You almost just died."

She laughs breathlessly, massaging her throat. "Big deal, I do that all the ti-"

The rest of her sentence never makes it past Jason's lips.

He's clambered back to her side, her face held desperately between his trembling hands. Honestly, he doesn't even remember moving. All he knows is that Juliette is breathing again, and Jason needs to be as close to her as possible or he's going to fall apart.

His lips press against hers fiercely, his fingers tangling in the wet strands of her hair, and he feels Juliette jolt in surprise. Sudden or not, there isn't a flicker of hesitation between her realizing what is happening and pressing forward to wind her fists into the front of his shirt as she eagerly responds to the kiss. Jason's head is spinning, and not just from the near death experience. The line of her lips against his is searing through his skin. He can feel every breath she takes, every twitch of fingers deep in the neurons in his brain, in the veins in his wrists.

It's like she's a steroid. Every one of his senses is on fire, and, even though she tastes like the bitter water they were all just drowning in, Jason thinks this might just be the best day of his life.

When she finally has to pull away, it almost pains him to let her go. His mouth chases her lips as his eyes slide open to connect with hers.

The last time this happened, he looked down and saw adoration. At the Grand Canyon, Juliette had looked happy and fulfilled, excited to see her lifelong friend in the flesh for the first time. This time, there's raw vulnerability gazing back at Jason. Unsurety. It sends a pang through his chest.

She's waiting for him to reject her again.

The realization makes Jason want to punch himself in the gut. Instead, he gives her a smile and leans in to press another kiss against her forehead. She relaxes, and the giddy little giggle she lets out makes Jason's heart soar.

A few feet away, Piper and Percy suddenly lunge for their weapons, and Jason's head shoots up. He pulls Juliette against his chest protectively as figures materialize in all of the alcoves, melting upwards into the shapes of women. No longer withered and dry, the nymphs glisten with youthful beauty, black curls silky and pale skin smooth. They nod respectfully at the four of them, and then all but one dissolve back into water vapor.

The remaining nymph steps forward and clasps her hands in front of her.

"Hagno?" Piper asks. Jason sees her lower her blade slightly out of the corner of his eye. He doesn't relax a bit, locked onto the nymph for any sign of aggression as he holds Juliette tightly.

The nymph nods. "Yes, my dear. I did not believe such selflessness to still exist in mortals...Especially demigods. No offense."

Percy lowers Riptide and scoffs. "Oh, how could we take offense? You only just tried to drown us to death."

Hagno's lips twitch. She winces. "Sorry about that. I was not myself. But, you have reminded me of the sun and the rain and the streams in the meadows," She closes her eyes and sighs wistfully. "My sisters and I, now that our home is purified, shall seek a new water source to thrive in."

They all blink at her.

"Okay," Percy shrugs. "Cool."

The nymph beams. "It is very cool, son of Poseidon. You may return to the surface now. Or, if you insist," She raises a hand and a circular opening shimmers into existence in the far wall. Jason watches Juliette's eyes widen at the sight. "You may follow the waterway to the giants."

The final words are barely out of Hagno's mouth when Juliette leaps out of Jason's embrace and takes off through the portal.

"Julie!" Piper yelps. The three of them jump to their feet and stumble in pursuit of their rogue teammate. Piper, at least, has the wherewithal to turn around and jog backwards so she can wave at the nymph before they leap into whatever awaits them in the giants' lair. "Good luck, Hagno! And, thank you!"

Jason hears the nymph call out the same to them as he runs straight through the opening in the wall and lets the magic transport him to wherever his insane friend is waiting.

He wonders what his past centurions would say if they saw him jumping into a portal conjured by an enemy to follow a cordolium into the nest of a giant.

Then, an exhilarated smile working its way onto his face, he decides that he doesn't care.