CHAPTER TEN:
TEARS OF GOLD

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TWO DAYS HAD passed since Annais, Jason and Nico returned from their stand-down with Cupid. Despite Annais and Jason's acceptance of Nico, he was more distant than ever, sticking to Hazel and Hea like glue whenever they were around. Annais tried not to let it get to her. She tried to understand. She had never been outed in front of her loved ones before. She didn't know how it felt.

The same night that they returned, she confronted Jason about what Cupid said to him. About the doubt, despite having everything within reach. As they laid in his bed, Jason's arm around her waist, his hands hot beneath the shirt she'd taken from him, she turned to him and just said it.

"Can't sleep?" Jason asked, his breath warm on the side of her neck.

"Just thinking."

"About?"

Annais hesitated, but only for a second. "Something Cupid said... about your doubt... have you had second thoughts about us?"

Jason let out a sigh. He had known she would ask. Quickly, before things could spiral, he pressed a firm kiss to her mouth, whispering, "Not anymore."

"But you did."

"Before..." Before. Annais tensed, but Jason refused to release her. He wouldn't let this turn into a fight. Not now. "After Tartarus, and it was never about how much I love you, Annais. Just... if it should've hurt that much. Does that make sense?"

It did. As quickly as it came, the tension boiled down, replaced by a sense of exhaustion as she tucked her head beneath his chin, teeth against skin as she whispered back, "Yeah. That makes sense."

Everyone else noticed that something was off, but no one was quite willing to approach them. Hea tried, but Annais evaded her, thinking of Nico's defeated face every time she so much as shut her eyes.

"Something's wrong," Hea insisted. "You're keeping something from me -- us."

"Just leave it be, Hea." But her sister wouldn't let up. She huffed and stomped her foot, opened her mouth to protest. Annais hung her head, pinched the bridge of her nose until crescent moons scarred her skin. "Hea, please. Fucking drop it."

It was safe to say things were awkward then. The air always seemed to thrum with unspoken tension, like a live wire over water, like a moth to a flame. Annais couldn't escape it anywhere but in the confines of Jason's cabin, where it was just the two of them. Here, she could let it go. Here, she could stop thinking.

That was when the snow storm came.

And even the safe harbour that was Jason Grace couldn't hold back the cold.

"It's the sceptre," Nico said as the demigods gathered on board to watch ice form on the rails. It was raining, the breeze cold against Annais' exposed skin, a blizzard in the making. The sight of the grey sky and the snow white clouds seemed familiar to her, but in a haze of exhaustion, she worried her mind was playing tricks and choosing to look for patterns. "It has to be."

At that moment, another gust of wind broke through. Piper and Mel shivered from where they were curled up by the railing.

"We can't talk up here," Jason decided, and no one rushed to disagree. In fact, Hea was already heading for the stairs, her lips a pale pink tinged with veins of blue. "Let's postpone the meeting. We can--"

He was interrupted by Hazel retching, somehow managing to mumble a 'need to go' as she pointed below deck. Like Mel, she seemed to struggle with sea-sickness, her face tinged an ugly shade of green as she swayed with the rough tide. Mel wasn't far behind her, clutching her stomach but somehow managing to keep composure.

"Yeah, go," Nico sent Hazel on her way with a kiss on the cheek. The others pretended not to stare in amazement at the sight of Nico Di Angelo's affection; that he was capable of any kind of feeling, even if it seemed like a goodbye, always seemed to stun them.

"I'll walk you down." Frank steadied Hazel and began to help her down the stairs. He turned back to Mel just before they left, scanning the haze of her eyes cautiously. "Mel, you wanna come with? You don't look so good."

"Thanks, but I'm fine--" Challenging her, the Argo II rocked over a particularly rough wave. Annais reached for one of the ropes and grimaced as her hand came back slick with melted ice. "On second thoughts..."

The three of them disappeared below deck.

With Hazel gone, Nico turned serious again. Sullen. "I should put this thing away," he held up the sceptre which loomed ominously in the muted lighting. A black hole in the form of a staff. "If it's really causing the weather, maybe taking it below deck will help..."

"Sure," Jason shrugged, dismissing him despite the concern that remained in his eyes.

And then there were four.

"So much for the big team meeting," Leo muttered. "Looks like it's just us again -- the three amigos and one Min. The OG Wilderness Gang, if you will."

"Which I won't," Annais retorted, nose scrunching up at the name.

"You're so boring, Annie," Leo sighed. At the same time, he was messing with the control panel taken from the back of Festus' head. He'd removed it earlier that morning for maintenance, just before the snowstorm hit. The wires were encrusted with a thick layer of ice but Leo didn't seem to think anything of it.

For a while, the silence lingered. Annais listened to the rain patter against the deck, occasionally picking up in intensity then dropping back to a soft, barely noticeable drizzle. At some point, she moved to sit beside Piper, dropping her head to her shoulder like Mel had done. She smelled like honeysuckle and dry shampoo. The same yet so different since those days in the Wilderness School.

All of them, in some ways, were different.

War-torn but persevering anyways.

"We're close to Epirus now," Jason noted. He was watching the horizon, the faint shadow of towns; skyscrapers, land-masses, homes. "Another day or so, if Nico's directions are right."

Leo didn't even look up from the control panel, but he nodded along in agreement. "By tomorrow morning, we'll reach the Western coast of Greece. Then another hour inland, and BANG!" Annais started as he smacked his hand against the railing above her head, eyes quickly narrowing into a glare that Leo grinned sheepishly at. "House of Hades time! Imma get me the t-shirt."

"It's overpriced," Annais deadpanned.

"But a classic nevertheless."

"Eh," she shrugged. "Debatable."

She managed the barest of smiles then, laying her head back on Piper's shoulder when she tensed, a small sign of comfort. "Guys," said the daughter of Aphrodite, thoughtful. "I've been thinking about the Prophecy of Seven." She spared a significant look down at Annais' hair. "And the Min Prophecy."

Annais quickly sat up, eyeing Piper curiously. They hadn't spoken of it since Tartarus, since Annais lost it at Ezra, hanging the truth to be witnessed like metaphorical dirty laundry. She wondered what the others thought, if they mulled over her words like Annais often did.

Did a brush with death equate to forgiveness between two sisters and a massive lie?

"What about it?" she asked at the same time as Leo said, "Like... good stuff, I hope?"

Piper hesitated.

"Good job, Leo, you jinxed it," Annais huffed, to which Jason regarded her with an indulgent shake of his head. Turning back to Piper, whose expression hadn't changed, she said, "Tell us, Pipes. Just rip off the band aid."

"Well, in Katoptris, I keep seeing that giant."

"Giant?"

"Clytius," she said. "The guy who's wrapped in shadows? I know his weakness is fire but in my visions, he snuffs out flames wherever he goes. Any kind of light just gets sucked into his cloud of darkness."

"Sounds like Nico," Leo chortled without thinking. "You think they're related?"

He let out a yelp as Annais smacked his arm but, much to their surprise, it was Jason who scolded him. "Hey, man, cut Nico some slack." He nodded at Annais as she smiled at him. Meanwhile, the other two exchanged a confused glance. "So, Piper, what about this giant? What are you thinking?"

Piper sighed. She must've decided to let it go for the time being, for she said, "I keep thinking about fire. How we expect Leo to beat this giant because he's..."

"Hot?"

"Hot-headed?"

"Hey," he frowned at Annais.

"Um, let's go with flammable," Piper chuckled uncomfortably. "Anyway, that line from the prophecy bothers me: to storm or fire, the world must fall." She hesitated then, sparing Annais another wary grimace. "And the Min prophecy: the spirit daughter must protect the sea, sky and fire? I think that's you."

But Annais was already shaking her head. "It can't be. The line about death and two hearts? That has to be myself and Hea. We're the only ones who share the same mother and father. Hea... where I can see shadows around people when they're in peril, she frees their souls. And when she's not with Aphrodite or Hephaestus, she's in the Underworld."

Leo frowned. "I didn't know that."

"Well, she never really tells anyone..."

"So when she kept threatening to drag me to the Underworld," he shuddered. "Gods almighty, she meant it."

Annais had to smother a laugh.

"Then what about Mel?" Piper suggested after a contemplative pause. "Then the spirit part would make sense. It's her job to protect sea, sky and fire. Percy, Jason and Leo."

Annais hated to think about the weight that would leave on Mel's shoulders. Mel... she was a Min by blood, but sometimes she struggled with the heaviness of the name. She was content to leave the gruelling work to Ezra and Annais, and to Hea whenever she was around. She was strong, but she struggled with insecurity, with an anxiety that her sisters didn't understand. Not really.

"So you definitely think I'm the fire," said Leo. He seemed troubled, his hands forgetting the control panel and wringing together worriedly. "And Jason, here, is storm."

Slowly, Piper nodded.

Jason's face seemed stricken in the gaunt lighting. "So you're worried one of us is going to endanger the quest... maybe accidentally destroy the world?"

"No..." Annais didn't understand the tremble in Piper's voice. "I think we've been reading that line the wrong way. The world... the Earth. In Greek, the word for that would be--"

"Gaea." Annais' stomach twisted with dread. The name sounded sour on her tongue, a bitter aftertaste of destruction and rot. "How didn't I think of that sooner?"

"So you mean, to storm of fire, Gaea must fall?" Jason concluded, surprisingly with a smile.

"Oh!" Leo, too, seemed to brighten with the news. But Annais wasn't so sure. As Leo spoke, she watched Piper's face and waited. "You know, I like your version a lot better. 'Cause if Gaea falls to me, Mr Fire, that is absolutely copacetic."

"Or to me... storm..." Jason couldn't resist. The two boys shared a grin that said challenge accepted. Annais wanted to smack them both over the head. "Piper, if you're right, this is great news! We just have to figure out which of us destroys Gaea."

"But that's not it," Annais said, eyeing the knife Piper had at her side. "Is it, Piper?"

The boys went quiet.

"Well, see, it's storm or fire..."

Suddenly, it made sense. Piper thought it was one or the other. That, in order to defeat Gaea for good, one of them would have to die trying while the other succeeded. Annais averted her eyes as the same realisation dawned on their faces. She heard Piper unsheathe her weapon and turned her gaze to the image reflected in the blade. The giant, Clytius, snuffing out torches -- flame -- in one fatal swoop. Soon, only darkness remained.

"I'm worried about Leo and this fight with Clytius," Piper admitted. "That line in the prophecy makes it sound like only one of you can succeed. And if the storm or fire part is connected to the third line, an oath to keep with a final breath... and if Mel's purpose in the Min prophecy is to protect the sky and fire..."

Annais heard her loud and clear, even as she trailed off fretfully.

Mel would surely fail. Then, how would the Mins pay the price the fates wanted? How would they right Penelope's wrongs?

"Okay..." Leo breathed out. "So I don't like your idea as much as I thought. You think one of us defeats Gaea and the other one dies? Or maybe one of us dies while defeating her? Or--"

"We get it, Leo," Annais cut him off gently.

"Come on, guys," Jason sighed; though, he was also pale-faced. "We'll drive ourselves crazy overthinking it. You know how prophecies are. Heroes always get in trouble trying to thwart them."

Leo rolled his eyes. Like usual, in a state of hysteria, he reverted to sarcasm. "Yeah, and we'd hate to get in trouble. We've got it so good right now."

"You know what I mean," mumbled Jason. "The final breath line might not be connected to the storm and fire part. For all we know, the two of us aren't even storm and fire. Percy can raise hurricanes."

"Which, once again, comes back to Mel," Piper pointed out, and Annais' jaw clenched. "She must protect sea, sky and fire. All three of you."

"But how?" Annais blurted. "We're supposed to watch out for all of you, so why is Mel tasked with the responsibility of the three of them? She's -- she's not a fighter, okay? And I'm not willing to sit back and just let my sister die because the fucking fates decided they needed her line to rhyme with the next one. It's--"

She let out a defeated breath, head falling to shield her eyes as Jason reached for her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay... remember what I said about driving ourselves crazy?"

"Yeah," she mumbled.

"Maybe... maybe I could set Coach Hedge on fire," Leo volunteered in one last desperate attempt. "Then he can be fire."

How Annais wished she could accept it, that she could sit back and let the blazing satyr scream 'die, scumbag!' as he attacked the whole freaking planet with his ridiculous bat.

"Look, I really hope I'm wrong," Piper insisted. "But the whole quest started with us finding Hera and waking that giant king, Porphyrion." It started before that, even, when the daughter of Kronos misused her father's power to save someone who was meant to die. "I have a feeling the war will end with us too. For better or worse."

"Well, I personally like us," Jason said, squeezing Annais' shoulder when she didn't react.

"Agreed," nodded Leo. "Us is my favourite people."

"That's not even English," Annais rolled her eyes, to which the others let out shaky laughs. It was Piper's turn to shuffle over and rest her head on her free shoulder, hugging her tight in a moment of rawness. Annais clung to her and watched as snow began to drop.

"Guys, I have a horrible feeling this snow storm isn't natural," she commented, finally voicing the thoughts that had been plaguing her since the first dreary cloud rolled in with the morning. "I meant to tell you earlier, but it's... familiar. Don't you think?"

Leo frowned, clearly missing her point. "What d'you mean?"

All of a sudden, Piper sat up with a gasp. "Oh, Gods... Leo, sound the alarm."

"What?"

"Sound the alarm, dingus," Annais exclaimed as she and Piper scrambled to their feet.

"But it's disconnected," he frowned, slow to stand and join them. "Festus is shut down, remember? Just gimme a minute to get the system back online."

But Annais feared they didn't even have a minute let alone a second. This could only be Khione. Soon, the snow would become so blinding she could barely tell her right from her left. Just like when she and Ezra got stuck trying to get back to the others after Medea. They had to act fast. They needed all hands on deck.

"We don't have a minute," Piper shouted, tugging at her hair as she paced around frantically. "Fires! We need vials of Greek fire. Jason, call upon the winds. Warm, Southerly winds."

"Leo, you sound the alarm, I'll get the fire," Annais commanded, already turning in the direction of the stairs.

"Wait, what?" Frustratingly, Jason pulled her back. She wished he'd just get it. They didn't have time to explain. "Guys, what's wrong?"

"Jason, I love you, but open her eyes," Annais snapped, wrenching her arm free.

"It's her," Piper added, dagger in hand. "Khione! She's back! We have to--"

Just as they thought, the air exploded with ice. Soon, it was so cold that the ground was slippery to move on. Annais almost lost her footing as she sprinted for the stairs. In a blink, the staircase was encased with those ice particles, keeping the others obliviously below deck. And by the time she'd turned back, Jason was also overpowered. He had his sword held out as ice sealed over him.

"No," Annais shouted, twisting her ring on her finger.

Khione's laughter echoed in her ears, but it wasn't Annais she targeted. Not yet, at least. As Piper yelled for Leo and his fire, Khione set her sights on him. Leo screamed as the winds lifted him off his feet, his body struggling in vain as he demanded for Khione to let him go.

"Oh, yes, Leo Valdez," her wretched voice boomed. "I will let you go permanently."

Annais had just reached him when he was launched into the sky. Her fingers grazed empty air. He was lost in the clouds, swamped by the snow as easy as it was to crush an ant beneath her boot. He was insignificant to Khione's plan. Gone, just like that.

Falling.

When Khione appeared, Annais thought she was seeing a ghost. Flanked on either side of her were her brothers -- the blasted Zethes and clueless Cal -- but Annais could only look at Khione. At the thin scar Ezra had left with the blade of Kronos' scythe. Few weapons would ever leave a mark on a Goddess, D-list or not, but the mighty weapon that defeated Ouranos? The scar was so pale, though, that one barely noticed it. It blended in with the snowy skin expanding down her neck, only seen if one knew where to look.

"So good to see you again," declared Khione, red lips hooked in a snarl. "Annais, it's time we have a very cold reunion."

In response, Piper's cornucopia shot a round of blueberry muffins at the Goddess' face.

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A/N: So we got to hear a bit more about the Min prophecy in this chapter! Who else is excited for what's to come? I hope it makes sense! Let me know :)