IF NOT FOR THE HORSES, piper could've died.

jason and percy charged each other, but tempest and blackjack balked long enough for piper to leap out of the way.

she crawled quickly over to the bleeding, and unconscious form of karina, who was laying flat against the pavement, a small pool of blood forming around her head on the ground.

piper shook her shoulders desperately. "come on, karina. wake up." she poured as much charm speak into her words as she could, pleading for the daughter of ceres to wake up. she couldn't do this on her own, she needed karina's strength and skill to help her get the boys back out of their trance, and she also knew that if she didn't get karina up and moving soon, she'd bleed out, and possibly die.

karina didn't move, and piper forced her dead weight body into a sitting position, grappling with her drooping body as a way to try and get her awake. she began to tap her face repeatedly, saying, "karina, hey, hey, come on. open your eyes for me. wake up!"

with one more final push of her charmspeak, karina gasped awake, her eyes dilating as she scooted away from piper in fear, not even registering the amount of blood that was dripping down the side of her face, or that her boyfriend and bestfriend were trying to murder each other behind in front of her.

"karina!" piper said with relief, quickly looking behind her to see the horses whinnying and rearing back reluctantly, trying to keep their owners from killing each other. "oh, thank gods, it's okay! you're okay!"

karina's breathing was quick, and labored, and piper could see a faint brimming of gold around her pupils that hadn't faded, mixing with the vibrant green of her original eye color. "did i hurt you?" she asked shakily, her body trembling.

piper shook her head, licking her lips. "no!" she said sympathetically. "no, karina. you did nothing wrong. i promise."

karina nodded hesitantly, her eyes averting from piper's face to the situation behind her, and her eyes widened. "what's going on?"

piper swallowed, and got to her feet. "can you stand?" she asked karina as she slowly got up.

"um— " karina stuttered as she wobbled to her feet, holding onto piper's shoulders as she struggled to stand straight. her vision blurred for a moment, and she blinked repeatedly, trying to clear her eyesight. "yeah, totally." she finally said, and piper, despite the horrible situation, let out a nervous laugh.

but, despite her knowing full well that karina was lying, she needed her help, so she just acted like she believed her. "great. okay." she said. "now, we need to stop our boyfriends from killing each other."

karina nodded, despite being totally lost in this whole situation, and ran with piper back to them.

they ran to the side of the road, and looked back at the situation, dazed and horrified, as the boys crossed swords, gold against bronze. sparks flew. their blades blurred— strike and parry— and the pavement trembled. the first exchange took only a second, but karina couldn't believe the speed of their sword fighting. the horses pulled away from each other— tempest thundering in protest, blackjack flapping his wings.

"stop it!" piper yelled.

for a moment, jason heeded her voice. his golden eyes turned toward her, and percy charged, slamming his blade into jason. karina gasped, which caused her to stumble back in dizziness, putting a hand to her head. when she pulled it back, her fingers were coated with blood, and karina swallowed. "great." she muttered, and shut her eyes for a moment, trying to stabilize herself.

thank the gods, percy turned his sword— maybe on purpose, maybe accidentally— so the flat of it hit jason's chest: but the impact was still enough to knock jason off his mount.

blackjack cantered away as tempest reared in confusion. the spirit horse charged into the sunflowers and dissipated into vapor.

percy struggled to turn this pegasus around.

"percy!" piper yelled. "jason's your friend. drop your weapon!"

percy's sword arm dipped. piper might have been able to bring him under control, but unfortunately jason got to his feet.

jason roared. a bolt of lightning arced out of the clear blue sky. it ricocheted off his gladius and blasted percy off his horse.

"percy!" karina cried.

blackjack whinnied and fled into the wheat fields. jason charged at percy, who was now on his back, his clothes smoking from the lightning blast.

"no!" piper screamed. "jason, stop!"

he froze, his sword six inches from percy's face.

jason turned, the gold light in his eyes flickering uncertainly. "i cannot stop. one must die."

something about that voice . . . it wasn't gaea. it wasn't jason. whoever it was spoke haltingly, as if english was its second language.

"who are you?" karina demanded.

jason's mouth twisted in a gruesome smile. "we are the eidolons. we will live again."

"the who?" karina asked.

"eidolons . . . ?" piper said. "you're— you're some sort of ghost?"

"he must die." jason turned his attention back to percy, but percy had recovered more than the three of them realized. he swept out his leg and knocked jason off his feet.

jason's head hit the asphalt with a nauseating conk.

percy rose.

"stop it!" piper screamed again, but there was no charmspeak in her voice. she was shouting in sheer desperation.

percy raised riptide over jason's chest.

karina knew she had to do something. if piper couldn't charmspeak him, jason would die.

karina sprinted over to percy, despite piper's yells of disagreement, and just before he was about to sink his sword into jason's chest, she tackled him into the pavement, knocking his sword out of his hands.

but, the eidolon had all of percy's power, meaning he was going to be much stronger that he usually was, and karina didn't know if she could go up against that.

but she had to try.

they rolled across the asphalt in a tangle of pushing and shoving, trying to get the upper hand on the other. percy finally caught karina's wrist in his hand, gripping it in a death lock, and began to use the other hand to grip onto her neck, squeezing hardly.

karina took a sharp intake of breath, and reached her knee up into percy's stomach, catching him off guard, and she slipped out of his grip just as it weakened, unsheathing her gladius from her necklace just as percy recovered, taking a swipe at her.

karina quickly blocked the hit, using the side of the blade to intercept percy's attempt at disarming her. they continued to swipe back and forth at each other, the speed quickly increasing as percy's movements became more urgent, more desperate to kill.

she was playing mostly defense, mainly trying to distract percy long enough to get piper to recover.

karina was amazed at the fact she was able to keep up with the pace of their swords, which had turned into a blur of bronze and gold, you could hardly see the movement through the attacks of their swords against each other. she knew that she was running off of pure adrenaline, and that she was only making her head injury worse by fighting against him, but she knew what she had to do, and wouldn't disappoint in finishing it.

"percy," karina breathed out as she blocked a direct hit to her head. "snap out of it!"

"percy's gone," the eidolon said, jabbing at her stomach, to which she quickly sidestepped. "and you must die."

"burn in hell." karina growled at the monster, and released a long jab directly across his body, disarming the eidolon.

karina wasted no time in placing a hard punch to the side of the eidolon's face with her left fist, putting as much power as she could into the blow. she heard a faint crack! come from the side of his jaw, but she would worry about that later. she could feel a dull ache begin to form on her knuckles, and she knew that she'd feel the affects of punching percy soon enough.

"piper!" karina screamed. "now!"

"eidolon, stop."

percy froze.

"face me," piper ordered.

the son of the sea god turned. his eyes were gold instead of their usual beautiful sea green, his face pale and cruel, not at all like percy's.

"you have not chosen," he said. "so this one will die."

"you're a spirit from the underworld," piper guessed. "you're possessing percy jackson. is that it?"

percy sneered. "i will live again in his body. the earth mother has promised. she gets the girl, i get the boyfriend. i will go where i please, control whom i wish."

a wave of cold washed over karina. "leo . . . that's what happened to leo. he was being controlled by an eidolon."

the thing in percy's form laughed without humor. "too late you realize. you can trust no one."

jason still wasn't moving. karina was barely able to think straight, she couldn't protect him with her adrenaline wearing off. they had no help.

behind percy, something rustled in the wheat. karina saw the tip of a black wing, and percy began to turn toward the sound.

"ignore it!" piper yelped. "look at me."

percy obeyed. "you cannot stop me. i will kill jason grace."

behind him, blackjack emerged from the wheat field, moving with surprising stealth for such a large animal.

"you won't kill him," piper ordered. but she wasn't looking at percy. she locked eyes with the pegasus, pouring all her power into her words and hoping blackjack would understand. "you will knock him out."

the charmspeak washed over percy. he shifted his weight indecisively. "i . . . will knock him out?"

"oh, sorry," piper smiled. "i wasn't talking to you."

blackjack reared and brought his hoof down on percy's head.

percy crumpled to the pavement next to jason.

"oh, gods!" piper and karina ran to the boys. "blackjack, you didn't kill him. did you?"

the pegasus snorted. karina couldn't speak horse, but she thought he might have said: please. i know my own strength.

tempest was nowhere to be seen. the lighting steed had apparently returned to wherever storm spirits live on clear days.

karina checked on percy, while piper checked on jason. she didn't see any blood, but a large knot was forming where the horse had kicked him. "we have to get them both back to the ship. and karina." piper told blackjack.

"i'm . . . i'm fine," karina muttered, but her slurred words and bleeding head proved her otherwise, and piper shook her head.

"just hang in there, don't fall asleep," piper told her, and she nodded in response, feeling a trail of blood drip down her temple.

the pegasus bobbed his head in agreement. he knelt to the ground, so that piper and karina could drawl percy and jason over his back. after a lot of hard work (unconscious boys were heavy), they got them reasonably secured, climbed onto blackjack's back themselves, and they took off for the ship.

the others were a little surprised when piper came back on a pegasus with karina's head bleeding, and two unconscious demigods. karina stumbled off the pegasus, and would've fallen on to the deck if leo hadn't caught her. he helped her get to the sickbay, along with annabeth and piper, who helped get the boys there. hazel and frank tended to blackjack while they did that.

"at this rate, we'll run out of ambrosia," coach hedge grumbled as he tended their wounds. "how come i never get invited on these violent trips?"

karina sat on percy's bed, leaning her back against the wall behind her as he laid down completely next to her, still unconscious. she'd fed herself some nectar and a square of ambrosia, but annabeth said after she had cleaned the blood off of her head and hair, that she had a pretty nasty concussion. and, annabeth had even gone to the measures of wrapping karina's hand for her, which were coated in an array of dark purples and blues. it hurt to flex it, but karina wasn't very worried about it. she knew it'd heal fast with the help of ambrosia and some nectar.

"leo," piper said. "are we ready to sail?"

"yeah, but— "

"set course for atlanta. i'll explain later."

"but . . . okay." he hurried off.

annabeth didn't argue either. she was too busy examining the horseshoe-shaped dent on the back of percy's head.

"what hit him?" she demanded.

"blackjack," karina muttered, keeping her eyes closed as her head pounded.

"what?"

karina cracked an eye open at piper, basically pleading for her to explain instead of her. she began to try to explain while coach hedge applied some healing paste to the boys' heads. karina had never thought about hedge's nursing abilities before, but he must've have done something right. either that, or the spirits that possessed the boys had also made them extra resilient. they both groaned and opened their eyes.

within a few minutes, jason and percy were sitting up in their berths and able to talk in complete sentences. percy sat beside karina, his head leaning on her shoulder, with hers on top of his, their hands tangled together. he had been rubbing his thumb softly over her bandaged knuckles, confused as to why they were wrapped up. both had fuzzy memories of what had happened.

"you should've seen the way karina fought against you," piper said to percy. "she kicked your butt, man."

percy scoffed, and looked up at her from his spot on her shoulder. "really?"

karina nodded slowly, a small smile present on her face. "yeah. disarmed you twice, and gave you a hard left hooked punch."

annabeth gave her a look of respect. "thank you, for that. sometimes percy needs to be humbled."

percy adjusted his jaw, wincing slightly as he tilted his head too far. "good gods, rina. i think you dislocated it."

karina rolled her eyes. "don't be so dramatic. it'll heal in a matter of hours with ambrosia. besides, you hurt my hand too."

"well," percy said. "we will have to put our skills to the real test, now. when i'm not possessed by some dead guy."

karina sighed. "okay, mon beau. whatever you say."

after she finished, piper began to describe percy and jason's duel on the highway, and jason winced.

"knocked out twice in two days," he muttered. "some demigod." he glanced sheepishly at percy. "sorry, man. i didn't meant to blast you."

percy's shirt was peppered with burn holes. his hair was even more disheveled than normal. despite that, he managed a weak laugh. "not the first time. your big sister got me good once at camp."

"yeah, but . . . i could have killed you."

"or i could have killed you." percy said.

jason shrugged. "if there'd been an ocean in kansas, maybe."

"i don't need an ocean— "

"boys," annabeth interrupted. "i'm sure you both would've been wonderful at killing each other. but right now, you need some rest."

"food first," percy said. "please? and we really need to talk. bacchus said some things that don't— "

"bacchus?" annabeth raised her hand. "okay, fine. we need to talk. mess hall. ten minutes. i'll tell the others. and please, percy . . . change your clothes. you smell like you've been run over by an electric horse."

karina snorted, and went with percy to change. he led her to his room, which was pretty boring, if you asked her. it just had the same plain metal walls as every other room on the ship, with a desk and a night stand, and a bed, with a navy blue comforter.

this room definitely needed some plants.

karina watched as percy changed his shirt from his burned camp half-blood shirt— her eyes flitting over his exposed abdomen— to one of his school's swim team shirts, and she raised an eyebrow.

"swim team?" she asked.

percy turned to her, his head halfway through the shirt as he nodded. "yeah. i've been captain of my swim team for every school i've been to, which, is quite a lot. considering i've gotten kicked out of at least four."

karina shook her head, sighing softly. "not surprised," she mumbled.

percy chuckled under his breath, and went into the bathroom to wash his face, running his hands through his hair as a way to try and flatten it down.

karina stood up and walked into the bathroom, sitting herself on top of the counter, and moved percy so that he was in front of her. "let me do it," she told him, and he smiled at her.

"i was hoping you'd say that," he said, and she leaned forwards to kiss his nose, smiling wider as she saw his nose crinkle.

she began to run her hands through his hair, putting a small amount of water into her hands so that she could pull the knots out of it easier. percy closed his eyes at the feeling, loving the way she ran her hands through his hair, whether it was when she was fixing it, playing with it, or when they're making ou—

"all done," she announced, snapping him out of his thoughts, and he turned to the mirror behind her, and saw that his hair had become slightly damp, and was pulled slightly to the side, a few fly aways sticking up, which made him look like he just got out of the shower.

"thank you, mi amour," percy said to karina, leaning in to give her a soft kiss, but she put her hand against his mouth, looking at him with a look of bewilderment.

"did you just use my own language against me?" she asked him, and percy chuckled.

"that's the only french saying i know, besides oui and baguette."

karina shook her head at him, smiling softly at his wrong pronouncing of the saying my love. "it's mon not mi."

percy's eyebrows furrowed. "i guess that's not the only french saying i know then."

karina laughed at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "it's okay, you'll learn more french than you'll ever need with me around. and latin, because, i assume now that you're back with your greek family, you've lost your latin knowledge."

percy gave her a cheeky grin, clasping his hands on her waist. "i can teach you some greek too, if you'd like."

karina pretended to consider it. "i'm not sure i want to the language of my enemies." she said sarcastically, narrowing her eyes at him.

percy gasped. "does that mean we are an enemies to lovers couple trope?"

karina snorted and began to laugh uncontrollably, leaning closer to percy. "yes, percy, sure." she said through fits of giggles, and percy began to laugh as well, pulling her into him as he connected their lips together.

karina hummed into the kiss, smiling as she felt percy run his hands up and down her waist, and she placed her hands on his shoulders.

as he continued to kiss her she wrapped her legs around his body, making him take a sharp intake of breath, tightening his hold on her.

"percy," she muttered against his lips as he began to be more passionate, his fingers slipping under the fabric of her shirt. "we . . . we have to— "

"hm?" he hummed in response, kissing the corner of her lips and the side of her jaw.

karina sighed, her hands running along the base of his jaw as he continued down her neck. "we have to talk with the others," she said, trying to get him to stop, though, she didn't want to stop at all.

"they can wait," he mumbled against her skin, which gave her goosebumps all around her body.

"no," she said as sternly as she could, which wasn't much, and pushed his face away from her, smiling amusedly as she saw the small pout on her boyfriend's face. "we have to go."

he groaned, and pulled her off the counter. "fine," he whined, and took her hand, walking them back upstairs, and into the dining room, where almost everyone was already beginning to sit down.

leo gave the helm to coach hedge again, after making the satyr promise he would not steer them to the nearest military base "for fun."

they gathered around the dining table, and piper and karina explained what happened at TOPEKA 32– their conversation with bacchus, the trap that spring gaea, and how gaea possessed karina.

but she could continue, frank interrupted piper by saying: "wait— so, does that mean that was gaea who took you over? back in alaska?"

karina swallowed. "i don't know. all i know is that this has happened three times now, and . . . i don't know why."

annabeth stared that the table with a calculating expression, as if trying to think about what was happening. "what did it feel like?" she finally asked. "when gaea possessed you?"

karina hesitated for a moment, not really knowing how to describe it. "i . . . i don't know how to explain it, exactly. i sort of . . . black out for a moment, and i know that she's about to take control of me because i— i feel her in my bones, like a wave of cold washing over me. i tried to tell percy, but it was too late. and, then, when i wake up. it's like i'm in a movie theater, in a way. i'm watching myself do all of these things, but i can't move, or speak. it— it's horrible. i'm helpless."

the table was silent. hazel looked like she'd gotten sea sick again from the way she was looking at karina.

karina didn't know what to say either, and she shrunk back into her chair, not knowing what to do.

annabeth released a long breath of air. "i . . . i don't know why this is happening. but, whatever gaea is trying to do to you, or to us, is working. she's trying to take control of you, and . . . i don't think there's anything we can do to stop it."

karina felt a chill run down her spine, and percy took her hand. "what do you mean there's nothing we can do?" percy asked annabeth.

"what i mean is," annabeth said, glaring at percy. "gaea is stronger than all of us combined, so if she's trying to infiltrate karina's mind and body, we cannot stop her. even if we were more powerful than her, we couldn't. she's possessing karina as a mental being, and we can't fight that. the only person who could even possibly battle her, is karina. but, i have no idea how she would even be able to do that."

percy pursed his lips, and shook his head. "there has to be a way for her to stop getting into karina's head. she can't live like this."

"there isn't a way, percy," karina finally said. "i know that, because i've tried. every night, when i fall asleep, i see her face. she's just sitting there, with darkness all around us. she . . . she'll whisper things to me, things that i've never even heard of before. and . . . over time, i've realized that she's whispering her thoughts to me, and she's placing them in mine. she's been slowly taking over my mind and i haven't even realized it. there's nothing we can do."

everyone at the table wore expressions of worry, and complete shock. none of them knowing that this was going on, and what gaea had been doing to her. leo looked like he was about to throw up his taco.

"why didn't you tell us before?" jason asked her with a look of pity masked on his face.

karina shrugged her shoulders. "i thought maybe it would stop," she said. "that maybe it was just all in my head. but, it hasn't, and . . . and i don't think it will."

percy traced his thumb over her knuckles. "we'll find out a way to make it stop, i promise."

karina managed to give a weak smile. "thank you," she said. but, she knew she couldn't live off of the false hope percy was giving her.

after another beat of silence, piper awkwardly began to speak again, explaining how the eidolons possessed the boys.

"of course!" hazel slapped the table, which startled frank so much, he dropped his burrito. "that's what happened to leo too."

"so it wasn't my fault." leo exhaled. "i didn't start world war three. i just got possessed by an evil spirit. that's a relief."

"but the romans don't know that," annabeth said. "and why would they take our word for it?"

"we could contact reyna," jason suggested. "she would believe us." he turned to piper with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. "you could convince her, pipes. i know you could."

annabeth and karina both looked to each other, and then to piper sympathetically, as if to say: boys are so clueless. even hazel winced.

"i could try," she said halfheartedly. "but octavian is the one we have to worry about. in my dagger blade, i saw him taking control of the roman crowd. i'm not sure reyna can stop him."

jason's expression darkened. she hated to see piper burst his bubble— but she had to agree, along with hazel and frank, who all nodded in agreement.

"she's right," frank said. "this afternoon when we were scouting, we saw eagles again. they were a long way off, but closing fast. octavian is on the warpath."

karina grimaced. "this is exactly the sort of opportunity octavian has always wanted. he'll try to seize power. if reyna objects, he'll say she's soft on the greeks. as for those eagles . . . they can smell us."

"she's right," jason said. "roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical scent even better than monsters can. this ship might conceal us somewhat, but not completely— not from them."

leo drummed his fingers. "great. i should have installed a smoke screen that makes the ship smell like a giant chicken nugget. remind me to invent that, next time."

hazel frowned. "what is a chicken nugget?"

"oh, man . . . " leo shook his head in amazement. "that's right. you've missed the last like, seventy years. well, my apprentice, a chicken nugget— "

"doesn't matter," annabeth interrupted. "the point is, we'll have a hard time explaining the truth to the romans. even if they believe us— "

"you're right," jason leaned forward. "we should just keep going. once we're over the atlantic, we'll be safe— at least from the legion."

he sounded so depressed, karina wanted to give him a hug.

"how can you be sure?" piper asked. "why wouldn't they follow us?"

he shook his head. "you heard reyna talking about the ancient lands. they're much too dangerous. roman demigods have been forbidden to go their first generations. even octavian couldn't get around that rule."

frank swallowed a bite of burrito like it had turned to cardboard in his mouth. "so, if we go there . . . "

"we'll be outlaws as well as traitors," jason confirmed. "any roman demigod would have the right to kill us on sight. but i wouldn't worry about that. if we get across the atlantic, they'll give up on chasing us. they'll assume that we'll die in the mediterranean— the mare nostrum."

percy pointed his pizza slice at jason. "you, sir, are a ray of sunshine."

jason didn't argue. karina and the other demigods stared at their plates, except for percy, who continued to enjoy his pizza. where he put all that food, karina didn't know. the guy could eat like a satyr.

"so let's plan ahead," percy suggested. "and make sure we don't die. mr. d— bacchus— ugh, do i have to call him mr. b now? anyway, he mentioned the twins in ella's prophecy. two giants. otis and, uh, something that started with an F?"

"ephialtes," jason said.

"twin giants, like piper saw in her blade . . . " annabeth ran her finger along the rim of her cup. "i remember a story about twin giants. they tried to reach mount olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains."

frank nearly choked. "well, that's great. giants who can use mountains like building blocks. and you say bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?"

"a very scary thyrsus," karina said sarcastically.

"something like that," percy said. "i don't think we should count on his help this time. he wanted a tribute, and he made it pretty clear it would be a tribute we couldn't handle."

silence fell around the table. karina could hear coach hedge above deck singing "blow the man down," except he didn't know the lyrics, so he mostly sang, "blah-blah-hum-de-dum-dum."

karina couldn't shake the feeling that bacchus was meant to help them. the giant twins were in rome. they were keeping something the demigods needed— something in that bronze jar. whatever it was, she got the feeling it held the answer to sealing the doors of death— the key to endless death. she also felt sure they could never defeat the giants without bacchus's help. and if they couldn't do that in five days, rome would be destroyed, and nico would die.

"she wants two of us," piper murmured.

everyone turned to look at her.

"today on the highway," she said. "gaea told me that she needed the blood of only two demigods— one female, one male. she said she already had karina . . . but, she— she asked me to choose which boy would die."

jason squeezed her hand. "but neither of us died. you saved us."

karina raised her hand. "um— hello? me too? i literally prevented percy from shoving a sword through your chest."

jason rolled his eyes. "yes, fine. you too, rina."

"thank you," she muttered. was it that hard to appreciate your friend that saved your life?

"i know." piper said. "it's just . . . why would she want that?"

leo whistled softly. "guys, remember at the wolf house? our favorite princess, khione? she talked about spilling jason's blood, how it would taint the place for generations. maybe demigod blood has some kind of power."

"oh . . . " percy set down his third pizza slice. he leaned back and stared at nothing, as if the horse kick to his head had just now registered.

"percy?" karina gripped his arm.

"oh, bad," he muttered. "bad. bad." he looked at karina, and then across the table at frank and hazel. "you guys remember polybotes?"

"the giant who invaded camp jupiter," karina said. "the anti-poseidon you whacked in the head with a terminus statue? yes, i think i remember."

"i had a dream," percy said. "when we were flying to alaska. polybotes was talking to the gorgons, and he said— he said he wanted me taken prisoner, not killed. he said: 'i want that one chained at my feet, so i can kill him when the time is ripe. his blood shall water the stones of mount olympus and wake earth mother!"

karina wondered if the room's temperature controls were broken, because suddenly she couldn't stop shaking. it was the same way she'd felt on the highway out topeka— right before gaea possessed her.

"you think the giants would use our blood . . . " piper said. "the blood of two of us— "

"i don't know," percy said. "but until we figure it out, i suggest we all try to avoid getting captured."

jason grunted. "that i agree with."

"but how do we figure it out?" hazel asked. "the mark of athena, the twins, ella's prophecy . . . how does it all fit together?"

annabeth pressed her hands against the edge of the table. "piper, you told leo to set out course for atlanta."

"right," piper said. "bacchus told us we should seek out . . . what was his name?"

"phorcys," percy said.

annabeth looked surprised, like she wasn't used to her bestfriend having the answers. "you know him?"

percy shrugged. "i didn't recognize the name at first. then bacchus mentioned salt water, and it rang a bell. phorcys is an old sea god from before my dad's time. never met him, but supposedly he's a son of gaea. i still don't understand what a sea god would be doing in atlanta."

leo snorted. "what's a wine god doing in kansas? gods are weird. anyway, we should reach atlanta by noon tomorrow, unless something else goes wrong."

"don't even say that," annabeth muttered. "it's getting late. we should all get some sleep."

wait," piper said.

once more, everyone looked at her.

"there's one last thing," she said. "the eidolons— the possessing spirits. they're still here, in this room."

"i knew it," karina muttered. "i felt their presence just a minute ago."

hazel exhaled. "piper is right."

"how can you be sure?" annabeth asked.

"i've met eidolons," hazel said. "and . . . so has karina. in the underworld, i was . . . you know."

dead.

karina had only met one briefly, and she didn't stick around in the underworld long enough to meet another.

"so . . . " frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair as if some ghosts might have invaded his scalp. "you think these things are lurking on the ship, or— "

"possibly lurking inside of us," piper said. "we don't know."

jason clenched his fist. "if that's true— "

"we have to take steps," piper said. "i think i can do this."

"do what?" percy asked.

"just listen, okay?" piper took a deep breath. "everybody listen."

piper met their eyes, one person at a time.

"eidolons," she said, using her charmspeak, "raise your hands."

there was a tense silence.

"leo laughed nervously. "did you really think that was going to— "

his voice died. his face went slack. he raised his hand.

jason and percy did the same, and karina immediately dropped his other hand out of her's. their eyes had turned glassy and gold. hazel caught her breath. next to leo, frank scrambled out of his chair and put his back against the wall.

but, karina also felt something strange happen to her. she knew she wasn't possessed by an eidolon, but it felt as if something was beginning to rise inside of her, like a second skin. maybe piper's words had gone beyond the lengths of the eidolons, and even reached the thing that was inside karina. she felt a cold tingle rush up her spine, and her stomach filled with a tingling sensation. she tried to play it off as best as she could, but she was trying her hardest not to let out a sound of pain. she swallowed, and clenched her jaw, trying to keep her mind stable.

"oh, gods." annabeth looked at piper imploringly. "can you cure them?"

piper focused on leo. probably because he was the least intimidating.

"are there any more of you on this ship?" she asked.

"no," leo said in a hollow voice. "none more of our kind, at least. the earth mother sent three. the strongest, the best. we will live again."

"not here, you won't," piper growled. "all three of you, listen carefully."

jason and percy turned toward her. those golden eyes were unnerving, but seeing all three boys like that seemed to fuel piper's anger, as it did karina's.

"you will leave these bodies," she commanded.

"no," percy said.

leo let out a soft hiss. "we must live."

frank fumbled for his bow. "mars almighty, that's creepy! get out of here, spirits! leave our friends alone!"

leo turned toward him. "you cannot command us, child of war. your own life is fragile. your soul could burn at any moment."

frank staggered like he'd been punched in the gut. he drew an arrow, his hands shaking. "i— i've faced down worse things than you. if you want a fight— "

"frank, don't," hazel rose.

next to her, jason drew his sword.

"stop!" piper ordered, but her voice quavered.

"listen to piper," hazel pointed at jason's sword. the gold blade seemed to grow heavy in his hand. it clunked to the table and jason sank back into his chair.

percy growled in a very un-percy-like way. "daughter of pluto, you may control gems and metals. you do not control the dead."

karina reached toward him as if to restrain him, but hazel waved her off.

"listen eidolons," hazel said sternly. "you do not belong here. i may not command you, but piper does. obey her."

she turned to piper, her expression clear: try again. you can do this.

piper looked straight at jason— straight into the eyes of the thing that was controlling him. "you will leave those bodies," piper repeated, even more forcefully.

jason's face tightened. his forehead beaded with sweat. "we— we will leave these bodies."

"you will vow on the river styx never to return to this ship," piper continued, "and never possess any member of this crew."

leo and percy both hissed in protest.

"you will promise on the river styx," piper insisted.

a moment of tension— then all three eidolons spoke in unison. "we promise on the river styx."

"you are dead," piper said.

"we are dead," they agreed.

"now, leave."

all three boys slumped forward. percy fell face-first into his pizza. karina immediately felt the uncomfortable swirling and tingling inside her stomach subside, and the feeling of a second body being inside her went away.

"percy!" karina and annabeth grabbed him.

piper and hazel caught jason's arms as he slipped out of his chair.

leo wasn't so lucky. he fell toward frank, who made no attempt to intercept him. leo hit the floor.

"ow!" he groaned.

"are you all right?" hazel asked.

leo pulled himself up. he had a piece of spaghetti in the shape of a 3 stuck to his forehead. "did it work?"

"it worked," piper said. "i don't think they'll be back."

jason blinked. "does that mean i can stop getting head injures now?"

piper laughed. "come on, lightning boy. let's get you some fresh air."

karina turned to percy, who was staring dazedly at the table. "hey," she snapped her fingers in his face, startling him to look at her.

"hm?" he hummed in response.

"how about we go rest?" she offered, and percy smiled, nodding his head slowly.

"i think that's a really good idea." he agreed, and they left hand in hand, down to karina's cabin, and did exactly as karina had said.

well, maybe a little more.

6315 words

frank not helping leo as he literally face plants to the floor makes me laugh every time i read it i'm sorry

also no karina and percy did not have seggs u horny mf's