「002. why does jason always get hurt 」

BARBIE DIDN'T know who the woman was. but jason seemed to know her. and the more he stared, the more barbie realised something.... they looked sort of similar. she wore this green dress, a flowery kind that had a bit of red and was a wraparound, like the skirt of a christmas tree. she had colourful earrings and colourful bracelets on her wrists. her hair was over-teased and dyed blonde and she smelled like lemons. her eyes were blue light jason's, but they gleamed like fractured light. she new she was important to jason, and maybe this was meant to be an emotional moment, but all she could think of was-

that dress looks fucking ugly.

you have such a way with words, jerald said in her mind, and barbie could almost feel her slapping her forehead, you always know what to say.

"dearest." she held out her arms.

jason's mist disguise burned off, and piper, annabeth and barbie walked closer together. he looked a bit more aware, and he stood up straighter, his once disguised walking stick turning into it's true form of an imperial gold gladius. he looked uncomfortable, like looking at the woman was burning him alive.

"mom?" he managed.

"yes, dearest." her image flickered. "come, embrace me."

i don't have a good feeling about this, jerald said warily in her mind, she's giving me bad vibes.

that colour combination is giving me bad vibes, grumbled barbie in her mind.

barb!

it's true! barbie thought plainly, and yeah.... i don't think i trust her either.

"you're – you're not real."

good white boy.

"of course she is real." michael varus's voice sounded far away. "did you think gaia would let such an important spirit languish in the underworld? she is your mother, beryl grace, star of television, sweetheart to the king of olympus, who rejected her not once but twice, in both his greek and roman aspects. she deserves justice as much as any of us."

the suitors crowded around him, watching. this... this was their sick version of entertainment. the ghosts probably found this even more amusing than two beggars fighting to the death.

barbie stared at piper, as if to say we need to do something.

piper looked to annabeth, who looked back to the two of them, i don't think we can, he looks entranced!

i could try charmspeak? barbie tried to communicate. she frowned, hoping her message was conveyed as she pointed to piper, you should.

"me?!" piper whispered out loud.

"you're the one who is dating him, it would make sense," barbie whispered back, "just... try it."

piper sighed, her breathing shaky, "...jason, look at me." they all stood around twenty feet away, holding her ceramic amphora. her smile remained, nurturing and full of love as her words were fierce but gentle at the same time. "that isn't your mother. her voice... it's working some sort of magic on you- like charmspeak, but more dangerous. can't you sense it?"

"she's right, jason," barbie added seriously, "that's not your mom. not really."

"it's only a remnant of her," continued annabeth, "like an ara, maybe, or-"

"a remnant!" his mother's ghost sobbed. "yes, look what i have been reduced to. it's jupiter's fault. he abandoned us. he wouldn't help me! i didn't want to leave you in sonoma, my dear, but juno and jupiter gave me no choice. they wouldn't allow us to stay together. why fight for them now? join these suitors. lead them. we can be a family again!"

unwillingly, barbie felt jason's emotions. after a while she'd learned to block out that type of thing. knowing people's emotions wasn't always a good thing, but jason's anxiety and fear was through the roof. his emotions were like his skin was crawling, like hundred of eyes were on her. he was bitter, he was scared, and he was shaking.

jason never told them all much of his life, not the dark bits anyways. but for all of his life, he'd been told what to do. what to say, what to be, how to act and how to be a good child of rome. jason was a stiff sort of guy, that's the first thing barbie had noted about him. he was respected and obedient when they'd first met. a child of rome with a mind that could not be morphed. but the longer jason was away from it all, and the longer he grew to have friends, he changed.

he wasn't told what to do anymore, not always. he was still a son of jupiter (or zeus, it's the same thing, really) and that was pressuring. and being a praetor he had once been... barbie felt angry he'd had been molded like that for so long. but he'd broken away from that. mostly. but this was his final stand, this was the last part to break away.

as much as the rest of them wanted to help him, this wasn't their fight.

barbie had learned the hard way. breaking out of your chains wasn't just having your friends snip away some chains. when you've spent so long in them, in a stereotype, in words you were told... you had to believe you could get away for it to be broken.

friends were great, but their hope for your freedom meant nothing if you didn't believe it for yourself.

"you left me," jason told his mother, "that wasn't jupiter... or juno. that was... that was you."

beryl grace stepped forward. "dearest, i told you i would come back. those were my last words to you. don't you remember?"

barbie didn't know what those words where, but by the looks of jason- they didn't seem to have a good affect on him. he flinched, like somebody had hit him, and his posture tightened. the guy deserved a break, and barbie was starting to get annoyed. sure, she might tease jason- but she teased everybody. it was sort of how she made friends with people. she loved all her friend dearly, and although jason had been a strange guy when they started on the quest; she'd grown attached.

he was her sisters boyfriend after all. he was her dumb white boy brother-in-law (or soon to be) and it was beginning to get increasingly painful to see him so scared and anxious.

across the table, antinous raised his goblet. "so pleased to meet you, son of jupiter. listen to your mother. you have many grievances against the gods. why not join us? i gather these two serving girls are your friends? we will spare them. you wish to have your mother remain in the world? we can do that. you wish to be a king –"

jason stuttered, eyes wide. "no. no, i don't belong with you."

michael varus regarded him with cold eyes. "are you so sure, my fellow praetor? even if you defeat the giants and gaia, would you return home like odysseus did? where is your home now? with the greeks? with the romans? no one will accept you. and, if you get back, who's to say you won't find ruins like this?"

jason scanned the palace courtyard. without the illusory balconies and colonnades, there was nothing but a heap of rubble on a barren hilltop. only the fountain seemed real, spewing forth sand like a reminder of gaia's limitless power. "you were a legion officer," he told varus. "a leader of rome."

"so were you," varus said. '"loyalties change."

"you think i belong with this crowd?" jason asked, shaking as he continued. "a bunch of dead losers waiting for a free handout from gaia, whining that the world owes them something?"

around the courtyard, ghosts and ghouls rose to their feet and drew weapons.

"not if i can help it," muttered piper darkly. she stomped her foot and yelled, "beware! every man in this place is your enemy! each one will stab you in the back at the first chance!"

"you are all as untrustworthy as the other! what happens when gaea takes over?" added barbie, the two daughters of aphrodite causing havoc with their charmspeak (albeit, piper's was more potent), "you will fight tooth and nail and will kill the one beside you!"

it wasn't false, what the two had said. and the crowd knew that. they looked sideways at one another, hands clenching the hilts of their swords.

jason's mother stepped towards him. "dearest, be sensible. give up your quest. your argo ii could never make the trip to athens. even if it did, there's the matter of the athena parthenos."

a tremor passed through him.

"what do you mean?"

"don't feign ignorance, my dearest. gaia knows about your friend reyna, valentino and nico the son of hades and the satyr hedge. to kill them, the earth mother has sent her most dangerous son – the hunter who never rests. but you don't have to die."

"stay away from my boyfriend," annabeth said in a venomous tone, stepping closer, "you-"

piper gripped annabeth's arm, stopping her as she pointed to jason who was frowning, coming to his senses- his confidence growing. "what do you want?" he asked in a firm tone, "and what brought you here?"

"i want life!" she cried desperately, "youth! beauty!"

barbie frowned, the three girls stepping closer to jason, "beauty doesn't come from the outside. that is superficial and fake. true beauty comes from within- your words... how you treat people."

"and what would you know?" hissed jason's mother, becoming more erratic each minute, "what would you know? you are a girl with gaping wounds from tartarus!"

"i'm a daughter of aphrodite, ms grace," snapped barbie, trying to keep her voice from wavering, "my sister and i know far more than you about that."

jason's mother wept slightly, scampering closer to jason, "your father could have made me immortal. he could have taken me to olympus, but he abandoned me. you can set things right, jason. you are my proud warrior!"

her lemony scent turned acrid, as if she were starting to burn.

"you... you're a mania," the son of jupiter decided. "a spirit of insanity. that's what you've been reduced to."

"i am all that remains," beryl grace agreed. her image flickered through a spectrum of colours. "embrace me, son. i am all you have left."

"no..." jason croaked, he glanced at the others, "my loyalties haven't changed. my family has just expanded. i am a child of greece and rome." he looked back at his mom and barbie felt pride swarm in her, "and i am no child of yours."

and with that, the ghost of beryl grace disappeared.

the ghoul antinous tossed aside his goblet. he studied jason with a look of lazy disgust. "well, then," he said, "i suppose we'll just kill you."

all around them, enemies closed in.

fun.

the fight wasn't going great in general, mostly because barbie didn't want to be in the fight to begin with. she wondered maybe if cherry had been here if it would have been more amusing. she was a firecracker when she wanted to be (and that sort of increased when you date the walking fire-hazard known as leo valdez) and probably would have earth-bended the shit out of them all and they'd be done quickly because literally all of them were made of dirt. as she fought them all, her mind filtered through each person back on the ship and how they'd handle the situation if they were with them.

frank would probably yell something before turning into an animal (if he was feeling really annoyed he might through out a what the heck man? or a shit, dude! or yikes!). hazel would definitely start throwing rubies like they were throwing knives (barbie could get behind that. the two had an affinity for things with mist... so bonding moments). leo would've cackled maniachally and said something like oh fuck yeah! before busting out some heavy metal machinery he'd probably pulled together (that crazy stupid genius).

and if percy had been here?

barbie probably wouldn't have stopped flirting with him, to be honest. after tartarus, they seemed glued to the hip. always together, never apart. it was like that for the trio when they fell, the sense of togetherness, the sense of an unbreakable team and people together. that was what it was like for barbie.

the two would fight side by side before annabeth would come catapulting in and then piper and jason would beat one side whilst they took the other. it would be efficient, quick, and there would be strength in numbers.

but that wasn't the case.

actually, it was pure fantasy.

reality was looking real different.

of course, barbie hadn't failed yet. so there was some sort of bonus to the whole thing. since getting out of tartarus, a lot had happened. as she slashed her sword, her mist coiled around it and send arcs of lethal mist that sharpened like knives towards the suitors, sending them crashing ot the ground.

after all that time in tartarus, and all that time when she couldn't use her powers- barbie had reconsidered her position with jerald. they talked, but the voice didn't speak as often, and barbie had usually wondered why, but then jerald would go right back to talking again. their conversations where usually very casual, but barbie and jerald had come to some sort of conclusion.

the mist wasn't something of a power-up, or some sort of weird and whacky thing (even though it sort of was in real terms) and shouldn't have been seen as something different to herself. in fact, it wasn't just it's own weapon, but an extension of her emotions, thoughts, and she could shape it as she liked. but with all that time of using it as a singular weapon, she'd wasted even more time. her mist was powerful, of course it was. but using it together with her sword, it was better. it was combining two things, two equally powerful things being even more powerful together.

however confusing it was (especially when jerald and barbie were working it out on the training deck) it seemed to be working.

because barbie was finally getting some retribution on these sleazy suitors.

she catapulted off of one of the tables, jumping over piper (who was fighting a group of suitors with annabeth) and landed a few feet away from jason, the impact on the ground oozing with mist- sending those around her flying back. and when they got up again, her sword met them and slashed them all away. she backed away, looking around, her hair somehow still in its pinned form as she ran towards jason.

he slashed his gladius in a wide arc and vaporized a few suitors, then jumped over to antinous' and in midair his blade turned into a javelin. he landed on his feet holding the six-foot weapon and stabbed it mercilessly through antonious' chest.

"you-"

"enjoy the fields of punishment," jason snapped, yanking the pilum out as he added, "asshole."

"not bad, sparknotes," barbie muttered, jabbing a suitor without even looking behind her. her dress was ripped a bit, but she grinned at the son of jupiter. heartache around her waist as jason jogged over to her.

"sparknotes, really?"

"at least i have more than one dumb nickname for you."

"shut- behind you!"

thankfully, barbie turned around just in time and swung her sword. it didn't slice through the suitor, mainly because she ended up using the wide part of her sword, so she knocked him down instead. but when he was down, she stepped over him and slammed her sword right down through his stomach, dirt splattering onto her dress like it was blood. she winced, looking around as jason found himself engaged in combat too. within seconds, so was barbie.

across the courtyard (how barbie had managed to travel all that way, she'd never be sure), annabeth had migrated over and was fighting like a demon. her drakon-bone sword scythed down any suitors dumb enough to go over to her. over by the sand fountain, piper had her sword drawn also- any suitor that came near her- well, she fucking murked those bitches (to put it simply) and she looked happy to be getting some revenge on the creepy staring.

the greek tyrant hippias tried his luck at barbie, and had actually managed to do some damage. he made a cheap shot at her legs and cut through the side of her dress, dealing a wound to the side of her thigh. she let out a cry of pain, knowing that the burning sensation of the wound meant it was deep- maybe enough to scar. but before he could cause any more harm she'd kicked him away with her good leg. the tyrant stumbled back, and barbie jumped on the table that led to her being behind him and took heartache and-

well, it cut through like clay. let's just say that.

an arrow shot past barbie, nearly taking her out (even if it was aimed for what she guessed was jason). thankfully, the son of jupiter swatted it away with a gust of wind, cutting through his own enemies easily. barbie had taken refuge on the high ground of tables, kicking ghouls away whilst stabbed or decapitating the brave ones who climbed onto the table. she wasn't much of a gymnast, but she found her same dodging and rolling away frequently.

after one of the ghouls took it too far by going for her hair (something she would not like to relive), she stomped her foot on a circle of pink mist shot out and toppled the ghouls away. she expected them to come back, but when they were knocked away, she noticed some stragglers moving towards the fountain where it seemed a few suitors were getting ready to charge annabeth. she looked around in alarm, but the ghouls that remained attacked her again. she fought them, looking around to see who was free.

piper was fighting her own enemies, she wouldn't be helping. and barbie was currently occupied.

"take a hint, buddy!" yelled barbie kicking a roaming suitor near her in the face, "and fuck off!"

just as she was about to try and run over to annabeth, a bolt of lightning disintegrated the ghosts, leaving one or two that annabeth could easily fight off and defeat. she heard annabeth yell out a quick thank you to jason before she slammed her sword into the side of a suitor and watched them fall.

after that, things started to slow down. the quartet drew closer together. after a few more decapitation acts and a lot of side commentary from jerald (doesn't this remind you of when you hated percy? which time? back in the old days, on your first quest. how is fighting dirt monsters similar to this. i dunno, the vibes, barb. the vibes.) followed by a sprinkling of using her mist as a baseball batt (because sure, it was an extension of herself, a weapon or whatever. but she didn't have to strictly use it as that), there were soon no more enemies to face.

the remaining ghosts began to disappear on their own. annabeth cut down hasdrubal the carthaginian, and everything seemed to be clearing up.

it was then when their luck plummeted, and barbie watched jason let out a yell. next ot him, michael varus snarled, "born a roman, die a roman."

the tip of a golden sword jutted through the front of jason's shirt, just below his ribcage. jason fell to his knees.

and then piper screamed.

still in shock, barbie was surprised she even moved. she felt herself move on autopilot as she ran towards jason. he was beginning to sway, and she caught him before he could crumble to the ground. she didn't need to worry about varus, since the minute she caught jason, she saw piper slice the evil demigod to bits. but the lasting impression of the old demigod hadn't left, and jason started to look delirious with pain. she put her weight on her good leg as piper began to shake, falling into hysterics as she stumbled over to them.

"jason!" she yelled, running over, her hand shaking. she looked like she was about to take jason from barbie's grasp, but the redhead stopped her.

"piper, stop-"

"stop?!" she let out a shrill shout, "he's hurt! he's injured! he's-"

the siblings didn't fight much (not since when they first met), but there were naturally a few arguments here and there. they'd been through battle, adrenaline was high, and even barbie was sharing a bit. but she knew piper in this state might not help as much as she thought she would.

"i know that," cut in barbie sharply, "but you're shaking, piper. if we even want to stitch him up, it won't help. you'll worsen the bleeding."

"but he's my-"

"i know, piper," barbie said again, softly this time. "but we need to make sure we're steady or we could hurt him. you can still help, i'm not aksing you to stand there and do nothing. but maybe me or annabeth should do the stitching, okay?"

piper took a few breaths as barbie set jason down on the ground.

"focus on keeping him awake," barbie suggested gently, knowing if she did end up snapping it would worsen a lot of things.

"i'm still here, dummies," slurred jason.

"oh gods," gasped annabeth as she ran over, "tis isn't good."

"oh thanks," jason groaned, "i was afraid it might be bad."

"shut up," hissed piper, "shut up right now. don't be funny, sparky."

"what, i can't have humour?"

"not right now, dipshit."

"it's hot when you're mad at me."

"i'm letting it slide because you're wounded," piper said, trying to steady her voice, a wobbly smile on her face, "after that though, i can't say the same..."

"keep talking to him, piper," annabeth said, looking to barbie, "we're gonna have to stop the bleeding."

"stitches?"

"i'm not sure, maybe?" muttered annabeth.

"lemon bars..." muttered jason softly as piper babbled to him.

"shit, ambrosia," barbie hissed, eyes wide, "ambrosia!"

annabeth stirred, "i- yeah i got it." she ripped through her supply pouch and broke off a chunk of ambrosia and passed it to piper who shakily dropped a small bit of it into jason's mouth. the blonde boy began to chew, his eyes never leaving piper's as barbie and annabeth set off to work.

both minds muddled, the two tried their best. there was a lot less freaking out from piper right now, maybe since she'd realised it wouldn't do much. it was oddly calm, but in the way that told you they were all holding in their panic, trying to make jason think everything was okay. barbie cut through her dress (r.i.p) and wrapped the wounds on his back and stomach. piper sat beside him, passing the two of them cleaning supplies and feeding the ambrosia to jason.

annabeth cleaned around the wound and said quietly, "jason, i – i'm sorry. about your mom. but the way you handled it ... that was really brave of you."

jason looked like he wanted to close his eyes, but prevented himself as he said, "it wasn't her. not really, at least no part of her i could save. there wasn't much choice."

annabeth took a shaky breath. "no other right choice, maybe, but ... a person i knew, luke. his mom ... similar problem. he didn't handle it as well."

"it sucks," jason muttered, "it sucks so much."

"what does?" piper questioned. though barbie thought it was more of a way to keep him talking and awake, "what does, jason?"

"this," he muttered, "everything about this. we're kids, we're... we're children made to fight in wars. i... i should be in high school right now, trying to pass exams and turn in homework on time. but i'm here, fighting a war. it's... it's wrong."

"i know it is," piper tried, squeezing his hand, "but after this is all over... we can at least try to be normal. you'd like that, right?"

"nothing will be normal," jason slurred back. after a moment of silence as barbie slowly began to finish all the bandaging, jason added, "but i'd like that. to do something semi-normal. like... get a shitty job, room with some of you guys." he looked at piper, "take you on a proper date, maybe. i dunno, do something. i want to visit an aquarium with percy, go to some obscure place with leo, sight-seeing with annabeth. i wanna show hazel all the history she missed out on, i wanna make sure she knows things are different- maybe not better, but they'll get there. i wanna..."

he winced as annabeth applied pressure to one of his smaller wounds on his leg.

"i wanna take cherry to some big-ass garden festival thing, go with frank and learn more about him, i wanna go shopping for different fabrics with barbie- play some basketball with val, learn how to play mythomagic with nico, reconcile with reyna, hang out with kenji- i wanna..." he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again as he continued to rant, "i wanna hang out with you guys, without any of this war thing going on."

"here, here," muttered barbie, not wanting to admit jason's sentimental outburst had caused her to cry a bit. she sniffled and said, "we've bandaged as much as we can. blood is still soaking through though. and the smoke... i don't get that."

"it's the imperial gold," annabeth said, her voice quavering, "it's deadly to demigods. it's only a matter of-" she stopped herself, shaking her head, "i..."

"you'll be okay," piper insisted to jason, trying to convince them all, "we've got to get him back to the ship, though."

"i don't feel so bad," jason tried to persist, "maybe i could fly..."

stupidly, he tried sitting up, he looked woozy, and he muttered, "or maybe not."

"you're an even bigger idiot than i thought," piper said in an affectionate way. maybe the ranting of jason had calmed her in someway, but she seemed to be trying to calm herself down, "we need to contact the argo ii, get help. honestly, sparky- you're hopeless without me."

"you haven't called me that in a long time."

"what? idiot? just yesterday-"

"i meant sparky," he mumbled, "insulting is your love language."

"love language?" she tried to tease, "you've been learning, huh?"

"gotta," he mumbled, "you like hugs too, and other stuff." he gave a pained smile, "you're cool."

"stick around, i'm way cooler than you think," she advised, squeezing his hand again. "and as a bonus- i'll insult you all you want."

"definite bonus," jason muttered.

barbie huffed, looking around. the adrenaline high she was on was coming down, and she was left shaky as she looked around. the magic of the place had stopped, and it was all back to ruins now. annabeth did the same and the two looked at each other, trying to come up with something.

"we could use the emergency flares," began barbie, frowning, "but-"

"leo would blast the top of the hill with greek fire."

"yeah, that's the problem," sighed barbie, "i dunno about you guys, but i don't feel like getting spit-roasted today with some freaky fucking fire."

"well, maybe if you guys helped me, i could walk-"

"absolutely not," piper objected, "that would take too long."

"we still need to send a message to leo, though," annabeth continued, "but... we can't exactly shout..."

"hm," hummed piper for a moment. then, like some sort of eureka/light-bulb moment, piper gasped. she looked to barbie, "barb, have you got your compact mirror?"

"uh..." barbie began, she thought about it before saying, "it's in jerald's safe."

"how easy is it to get it?"

"simple," barbie replied. she looked at nothing in particular as she asked, "hey jerald, compact mirror would be good right about now."

which colour? was jerald's response out loud.

"which colour?" began annabeth, "fuck- any-"

"pink," cut in barbie, "the one with hearts."

m'kay.

in seconds, pink mist curled in barbie's hands and solidified into one of her many compact mirrors that she owned, little dark pink hearts dotted around a pink casing. she opened it up and closed it, looking at piper as she handed it over, "why d'you need it?"

"do any of you know morse code?"

"no." barbie scoffed.

"of course i do," annabeth replied at the same time.

"good," piper nodded, "so does leo. he'll be watching from the ship. if you can go to the ridge-"

"and send him a code!" annabeth finished, her eyes lighting up like they usually did when she guessed something, "yeah, good idea. i'll be back."

she ran to the edge of the ruins. piper pulled out a flask of nectar and gave jason a sip. "hang in there. you are not dying from a stupid body piercing."

jason managed a weak smile. "at least it wasn't a head injury this time. i stayed conscious the entire fight."

"and hey, i didn't loose my voice," added barbie.

"wow, we did good."

"i didn't get a fatal wound, dipshit," snarked barbie, though there wasn't much grit to it, you could tell she was sort-of joking, she gestured to the drying blood on her lower thigh, "this baby can get healed quickly, i think."

"it might need stitches," jason advised.

"and are you in any position to talk, mr body piercing?" barbie quipped back.

"nope, still am though."

"well we all kept our cool, sort of," piper intervened, "you guys were awesome."

"i think we can all agree we all were awesome," jason responded.

piper rolled her eyes, "maybe, but... hey, stay with me."

jason's head started to droop. "little dizzy," he muttered.

"more nectar," piper ordered. "there. taste okay?"

"yeah. yeah, fine."

he took the nectar quietly, looking just a little more awake. afterwards, he continued talking, "reyna, nico, val and coach hedge. they're in danger. we need to warn them."

"we'll take care of it when we get back on the ship," barbie promised, "your job is to relax, blondie."

"besides," piper added, "they're all strong. they'll be fine. and if they're not..." piper's gaze turned dark, "let's just say i'm not letting any of them get hurt."

"i'm with you," agreed barbie, "i'm not letting my baby brother get beat up before i can finally win an uno game against him."

"trust me," piper said after a m0ment, "once this dumb war is over... everything will work out for us. for nico, for everyone, we're gonna be okay. just, for now, concentrate on my voice. think of something good. birthday cake in the park in rome-"

"that was nice."

"that time you tripped on air in the sword arena in february," added barbie, "and then landed on your ass in a demo."

"i thought it was meant to be good memories."

"it was good for me," grinned barbie, "you were so embarrassed, it was hilarious."

"i didn't live that down, and i still won't. somebody tampered with the air. the wind was against me!" argued jason.

"can't you control that?"

".... shut up."

after a while, annabeth came back limping from the edge of the hill.

"are you hurt?" jason asked her.

annabeth glanced at her ankle. "it's fine. just the old break from the roman caverns. sometimes when i'm stressed ... that's not important. i signalled leo. frank's going to change form, fly up here and carry you back to the ship. i need to make a litter to keep you stable."

"you need fabric?" barbie asked, "i can help."

"sure," nodded annabeth.

the two set to work. whilst annabeth collected scraps left bey the suitors: a leather belt, a torn tunic, sandal straps, a red blanket and a couple of spear shafts- barbie was summoning a few bits of material of her own. the two began to rip, weav, tye and braid, working quickly together. after being friends for so long, some things didn't need words to be communicated. a simple nod or glance, and the two were quickly forming something that could potentially be okay for jason to be carried on.

"holy.... how?"

"i don't just use a sewing machine," shrugged barbie.

"and i learned most of this in my quest under rome," annabeth said, the two keeping their eyes on their work, "i'd never had a reason to try weaving before, but it's handy for certain things."

"you should see her room," added barbie as she flicked her hand and a random strand of ribbon materialised from the pink mist into her hand, "after we came back she asked me for... like, her weight in yarn. which is a lot, by the way. i think she's planning to drown us all in blankets."

"shut up, i haven't finished any of them yet," grumbled annabeth.

"she's on some mrs weasley shit," barbie continued, "she's gonna put the first letter of our name on jumpers."

"shame none of our first names put together would spell out a swear word," grumbled piper as she fed jason more ambrosia.

"shut up," grumbled annabeth.

after a few more minutes (maybe less), the two had finished and annabeth nodded in approval, "now, let's get him secured-"

"wait," jason said. "a bed," he said. "there was a special bed in this palace."

piper looked worried. "jason, you've lost a lot of blood."

translation: guys do stab wounds make you lose your sanity???

"i'm not hallucinating," he insisted. "the marriage bed was sacred. if there was any place you could talk to juno ..." he took a deep breath and called, "juno!"

silence.

annabeth had her thinking face on, but the two aphrodite siblings looked at each other, as if to say he's lost it.

haven't we all?

and then, about sixty feet away, the stone floor cracked. branches muscled through the earth, growing in fast motion until a full-sized olive tree shaded the courtyard. under a canopy of grey-green leaves stood a dark-haired woman in a white dress, a leopard-skin cape draped over her shoulders. her staff was topped with a white lotus flower. her expression was cool and regal.

"my heroes," said the goddess.

"bullshit," grumbled barbie.

"hera," piper said, eyes narrowing.

"juno," jason said, proceeding to correct her.

"whatever," annabeth huffed, "what are you doing here, your psycho majesty of the gods?"

juno's dark eyes glittered dangerously. "annabeth chase. as charming as ever." she turned to barbie, "and barbara allen. a bit quiet right now. strange."

"nah, just don't want to offend you too hard," shrugged barbie before she said, "but hey- kick any kids off olympus lately?"

"as courteous as usual."

"yeah, well," annabeth snapped, "i just got back from tartarus, excuse the rusty manners."

"yeah, sorry. especially towards the goddess who wiped my boyfriend's memory, proceeded to make him disappear for months, and then you had the nerve to do nothing about the curse-"

"honestly, child. are we going to have these words again?"

"aren't you meant to be hiding on olympus like usual?" cut in annabeth. "clubbing a few seals, or... doing whatever you do in your sadistic free-time?"

"don't let us stop you," added barbie, gesturing towards the sea bellow, "i'm sure you'll find a few somewhere. have at it, your majesty."

"whoa there," jason interceded, "look, juno. we need your help. we-" jason sat up, and the proceeded to immediately regret it.

piper kept him from falling over. "first things first," she said. "jason is hurt. heal him!"

the goddess knitted her eyebrows. her form shimmered unsteadily. "some things even the gods cannot heal," she said. "this wound touches your soul as well as your body. you must fight it, jason grace ... you must survive."

"yeah, thanks," he said, his mouth dry. "i'm trying real hard."

"what do you mean, the wound touches his soul?" piper demanded. "why can't you –"

"my heroes, our time together is short," juno said. "i am grateful that you called upon me. i have spent weeks in a state of pain and confusion ... my greek and roman natures warring against each other. worse, i've been forced to hide from jupiter, who searches for me in his misguided wrath, believing that i caused this war with gaia."

"gee," annabeth drly replied, "why would he think that?"

juno flashed her an irritated look. "fortunately, this place is sacred to me. by clearing away those ghosts, you have purified it and given me a moment of clarity. i will be able to speak with you – if only briefly."

"why is it sacred ... ?" piper's eyes widened. "oh. the marriage bed!"

"oh shit, the marriage bed," muttered barbie, finally understanding what jason had meant by bed.

"marriage bed?" annabeth asked. "i don't see any-"

"the bed of penelope and odysseus," piper explained. "one of its bedposts was a living olive tree, so it could never be moved."

"symbolic shit," summarised barbie.

"... yes," juno said, shooting a glare at barbie before her hand ran along the olive tree's trunk. "an immovable marriage bed. such a beautiful symbol! like penelope, the most faithful wife, standing her ground, fending off a hundred arrogant suitors for years because she knew her husband would return. odysseus and penelope – the epitome of a perfect marriage!"

barbie scowled, "didn't odysseus-?"

"can you advise us, at least?" jason cut in, probably too tired to hear another argument. "tell us what to do?"

"sail around the peloponnese,"  said the goddess. "as you suspect, that is the only possible route. on your way, seek out the goddess of victory in olympia. she is out of control. unless you can subdue her, the rift between greek and roman can never be healed."

"you mean nike?" annabeth asked. "how is she out of control?"

thunder boomed overhead, shaking the hill. "explaining would take too long," juno said. "i must flee before jupiter finds me. once i leave, i will not be able to help you again."

"what else should we know?" piper asked.

"as you heard, the giants have gathered in athens. few gods will be able to help you on your journey, but i am not the only olympian who is out of favour with jupiter. the twins have also incurred his wrath."

"'artemis and apollo?" barbie frowned, "why?"

juno's image began to fade. "if you reach the island of delos, they might be prepared to help you. they are desperate enough to try anything to make amends. go now. perhaps we will meet again in athens, if you succeed. if you do not ..."

the goddess disappeared, and with that- jason blacked out, and the three remaining conscious looked to each other. well fuck, this was terrible.

rosie speaks!

🧍‍♀️🧍‍♀️🧍‍♀️🧍‍♀️ hey yall. how yall doing.
so i'm back, not really, sort of. okay
but tbh it's gcse year for me so shush
maybe this isn't gonna be constant.
i'm a mess and so is my writing so i sort
of hate it but i feel terrible that i haven't
been updating. anyways i love you
all.

so hello guys welcome back to ro trying
to remember how to write her fav
character !! please don't hate me lol
ik i haven't been updating but shit has
been real stressful. i love u sm and ur
all cool. kind words are appreciated
and pls leave headcanons and funny stuff !!

or just chat w me i would love that :))

i have this big fear that this book is dying
and people hate it so it's super fhcking cool
that my insecurities are coming back. it's
okay besties <333 not rlly <333

ok thoughts tho ???

ly

word count; 6,692 words