CHAPTER ELEVEN:
THE CUT

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"MUFFINS." CAL THE BOREAD was just as dim-witted as Annais remembered him to be. Clad in his unfortunately familiar cleats, sweatpants and hockey jersey, he seemed out of place beside Khione and Zethes. His dark eyes were wide as he stared at the pile of muffins. Annais wondered if he'd be tempted to eat one and hoped to Hades that Piper would've thought to poison them or something, anything that might lend them a chance. "Muffins are good."

"They are," Annais nodded. "I, personally, love my muffins with a strong dose of cyanide. Really enhances the flavour. You should try it sometime."

Cal, much to the displeasure of his siblings, nodded like he was genuinely going to take her advice to heart. He frowned when Khione snarled at him, roaring in a spray of spit, "You fool! The daughter of Hades is trying to kill you."

Annais smiled and waved at Cal, who looked at her with a betrayed pout. "It's my specialty," she said. Despite the alarms ringing warning bells in her head, she added without thinking, "Ask your sister."

Khione's eyes blazed with the fire she so detested. She looked ready to strike Annais where she stood, and yet she hesitated. Annais plastered on a smirk. This told her enough about Khione's unwelcome presence. She'd come for a reason, a reason that needed Piper -- and Annais, should she manage to keep her mouth shut -- alive for the time being. Even Jason wasn't dead, from what Annais could make out in his features encased in ice. They just needed time.

And who better to distract than Zethes? While he was far more intelligent than his brother, he lacked an understanding of social settings. Annais had seen it before. He was so self-absorbed that he wouldn't know a sword until it was buried in his chest. Even then, he was beaming at Piper's display with the muffins like he believed it was a ploy just to get his attention.

"I knew the pretty girl would miss me," he wriggled his eyebrows at Annais, despite speaking in French that only Piper could understand.

"Zethes, don't be rude." Annais was immediately caught off guard when Khione set her sights on her. The Goddess' onyx eyes seemed to stare right through Annais' soul, teeth bared to consume the rot of Hades like a moth to a flame. She gripped her bronze blade like she longed to cut Annais' head from her neck, just like Ezra had done to her in the Wolf House. Annais tried not to show the anxiety that settled in her gut, holding her head high, never once letting her gaze waver. "Not everyone can speak French. We must be mindful of that."

"You're right, sister." It was Zethes' turn to regard Annais. "My apologies, pretty girl. I'm sure you missed me too."

Like a koala misses chlamydia, she thought wryly, but she was smart enough to keep that to herself. Fortunately, Piper gave her a reason not to reply.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, staring at the blocked-over staircase in horror. "Let our friends go."

The charmspeak was so strong that even Annais, who could do nothing, was compelled to tear at the ice until her fingers bled. If it meant pleasing Piper and freeing her friends...

Wow. Piper was good.

"We should let your friends go," Zethes echoed like a mindless pawn.

This only seemed to infuriate Khione. She stomped her foot and screamed, "No, you idiots! She is charmspeaking. Use your wits."

"Wits..." Cal frowned.

"What wits?" Annais muttered.

Khione glared but even she couldn't disagree as Cal leaned down to grab a muffin. He stuffed the whole thing in his mouth in just one bite, crumbs spraying in his sister's face as he said, "Muffins are better."

And, much to Annais' disappointment, they weren't poisoned. Zethes offered one to her like it was a delicate rose. In response, she smacked it out of his hand and folded her arms.

"Ah, my beautiful girls, so long I have waited to see you again--"

"I'm glad I can't say the same," Annais mumbled, nose scrunching up when Zethes winked and ran a hand through his oil-slick hair.

"But sadly, my sister is right. We cannot let your friends go. In fact, we must take them to Quebec where they shall be laughed at eternally." Showing a rare display of remorse -- which Annais found unbelievable -- he bowed his head sorrowfully. "I am so sorry, but these are our orders."

Now, that caught the girls' attention. They shared a curious look.

"Orders...?"

Just like that, the colour drained from Zethes' face. He'd said too much. He whirled around to throw apologies at his sister, who glowered at him like he was nothing more than gum on her shoe. Annais wondered if they were her orders, but the last she'd heard, Khione answered to her father first and foremost. A D-List Goddess, as Hera had called her. So there was no way the orders were from her. But then who--

Oh.

Khione's smile could've cut through glass. Chin poised, shoulders pushed back, she was the definition of composed. She was there on a mission and wouldn't leave until she got what she wanted. Annais knew she'd make her pay. By the end of it, she'd wish Khione would grant her the relief of death.

"Guys, listen," Piper pleaded. She hadn't realised it yet, but she would. Someone like Khione -- and, by default, her brothers -- would never truly be on their side. "Your sister disobeyed Boreas. She's working with the giants, trying to raise Gaea. She's planning to take over your father's throne."

"Let's not forget my sister killed her," Annais added.

"Oh, trust me, Annais Min, I do not forget," Khione's laugh was soft but dangerous. Innocuous but sharp enough to draw blood and leave a mark while she was at it. "But I'm not here just for you. Dear Piper McLean--" She turned her gaze to Piper, who was trying desperately to stare down Zethes and Cal. Maybe, if she could get them on their side... "You would manipulate my weak-willed brothers with your charms, like a true daughter of the love Goddess. Such a skillful liar."

"Liar?" Piper scoffed. "You tried to kill us before Ezra and Annais overpowered you. Zethes, don't you see? She's working for Gaea!"

Annais watched Zethes closely. At the mention of the Earth Goddess' name, he winced, a flicker of something -- regret, perhaps -- flashing across his face before fading away. "Alas, beautiful girl and her friend, we all are working for Gaea now. I fear these orders are from our father, Boreas, himself!"

This... this was what got Annais. The Winds were unpredictable, she'd known that, but she'd never imagined Boreas as a traitor. He was a stern man from what she remembered, but not a cruel one. If he was joining Gaea, their situation really must seem dire from an outsider looking in. Like the only hope was to kill or be killed.

Annais would rather turn a sword to her own heart than hurt the people she used to call family.

"At last, my father saw the wisdom of my counsel," Khione purred upon hearing Piper's horrified gasp. "Or at least, he did before his Roman side began warring with his Greek side. I fear he is quite incapacitated now, but he left me in charge. He has ordered that the forces of the North Wind be used in the service of King Porphyrion, and of course... the Earth Mother."

"Did he?" Annais raised an eyebrow. She had no reason to believe otherwise, having only met Boreas once, but part of her couldn't help but doubt Khione. Her words were pretty but lethal. The real poison to watch out for. "Or are you speaking for him, Khione?"

The Goddess shrugged. Her fingers twitched like she longed to rip Annais' tongue from her mouth. "Is there a difference?"

Piper, who'd been watching Annais and Khione stare each other down, shouted desperately, "How are you even here? It's Summer!"

But this didn't surprise Annais. In fact, she'd expected to see Khione sooner. Several months had passed since the Wolf House. She must've been really bitter to bide her time with such patience. If it was Ezra, she would've been chomping at the bit to strike Khione where she stood, which wasn't exactly reassuring. This could only mean one thing.

"Our powers grow," Khione confirmed. "The rules of nature are turned upside down. Once the Earth Mother wakes, we shall remake the world as we choose!"

Annais hoped she wasn't alive to see the day.

"With hockey," Cal added unhelpfully. He'd finished his third muffin and was already eyeing up a fourth. "And pizza. And muffins."

"Yes, yes," Khione sneered at her brother. At the perplexed looks on Piper and Annais' faces, she shrugged. "I had to promise a few things to the big simpleton. And to Zethes--"

"Oh, Gods," Annais groaned.

"Oh, Gods indeed," Zethes winked at her. "My needs are simple, really. I should have kept you both at our palace when we first met. But soon, we will go there again together, and I shall romance you most incredibly."

"I'd rather swim in the River Acheron."

"That can be arranged," Khione glared at Annais. "But my brother speaks immaturely. Unfortunately, he'll just have to make do with the daughter of Aphrodite--" Zethes pouted at the reminder. Something told Annais he'd had this argument before with Khione and came out the loser. "You, Annais Min, I have big plans for you. I'll settle for nothing less than your frozen head displayed by my throne."

"Perhaps, I can have her body, sister," Zethes beseeched.

An uneasy shiver ran down Annais' spine. Khione smiled, red lips pulled back to reveal sharp teeth. "I'm sure something can be arranged."

"This sounds... lovely," Piper said, though she couldn't keep the worry out of her voice as she looked from Annais to their enemies. The charmspeak washed over them again, sweet like honey, sour like cyanide. "But you need to let Jason go."

Without question, Zethes obeyed. Snapping his fingers, Jason defrosted. Annais dropped to her knees beside him, fingers grazing his shoulder as he gasped for air. She barely had a chance to say his name before Khione roared and thrust out her hand. In one determined swoop, Jason was frozen again and Annais was blasted across the ship. She gasped as her spine contorted around the mast. Her head smacked against the wooden pole, snatching her balance from her as her ankles collided with the ground. She was righted before she could hit the floor by a hefty block of ice sealing around her feet.

She was stuck.

"I wouldn't worry so much about your beloved, Annais," Khione taunted her, much like she did back when they first met with Boreas, by running her grimy fingers over the back of Jason's frosted neck. Annais struggled to keep herself upright, one hand scraping against the mast while the other clutched her pounding head. One wrong move and she'd fall and crack her ankles. "He and the rest of your friends will join our court of ice statues in Quebec. Jason will grace my throne room right beside you."

"Clever," Piper muttered. She looked insignificant now, the last one standing, just her voice and a cornucopia to defend herself with. But Annais trusted her. If not to free her, then to end it with a dagger in the neck before Khione could take her too. "Did it take you all day to think up that line?"

Khione snarled in response.

"What about Leo?" Piper continued. "Where did you send him?"

Annais wanted to know that, too. The odds were stacked against them, but if they somehow escaped Khione for another day, the first thing she wanted to do was search for him. He had to be out there somewhere. Annais didn't believe Khione would kill him without some suffering first.

"Oh, Leo Valdez deserved a special punishment," she declared. "I have sent him to a place from which he can never return. Alas, my dear Piper, it is for the best. Leo could not be tolerated, even as an ice statue... not after he insulted me. The fool refused to rule at my side! And his power over fire..." She shook her head in distaste. "He could not be allowed to reach the House of Hades. I'm afraid Lord Clytius likes fire even less than I do."

"And what about me?" Annais blurted as Piper's hand inched for her dagger. The Boreads, as expected, turned to her curiously, allowing Piper to scan the deck freely and without question. "You think I'll let you walk free after this, Khione? I'm not my sister. You haven't seen me angry. Put a sword in my hand and I think I'll keep your head as a statue. You'll look nice and pretty in Festus' mouth."

Khione's nostrils flared like the dragon himself. Perhaps Annais had said too much, but she didn't regret it for a second, not when she pinned her shoulder to the mast with a shard of ice through the shoulder, and not when she ripped it back out just to stab her again. Her vision blurred at the edges. Still, she managed a laugh.

"I fear our time together is at a close," Khione hissed. "Zethes, if you would--"

"Wait," Piper cried out, and Annais forced herself to push through the pain to search for the source of her voice. When she came to, the Boreads and Khione were waiting with frowns on their faces. "You're afraid of my friends. So why not just kill them?"

Khione let out a laugh. Annais was surprised to feel another chill down her spine. Try as Khione might to instil fear in her, she failed. Annais would rather die knowing she defied her to the end. But Khione's laugh was one of pure evil. In some ways, she was worse than Gaea herself.

"You are not a God, or you would understand. Death is so short, so... unsatisfying. Your puny mortal souls flit off to the Underworld, and what happens then? The best I can hope for is that you go to the Fields of Punishment or Asphodel, but you demigods are insufferably noble. More likely, you will go to Elysium or get reborn in a new life. Why would I want to reward your friends that way? Why, when I can punish them eternally?"

"And me?" Piper asked, the only sign of her nerves being the tap of her foot against the floor. "Why am I still alive and unfrozen?"

Khione glanced at her brothers with annoyance. "Zethes has claimed you, for one thing."

"I kiss magnificently," Zethes promised. Annais managed a snort. Anyone who had to say they kissed like a God definitely was a shit kisser. "You will see, beautiful one."

"But that is not the only reason," Khione continued. "It is because I hate you, Piper. Deeply and truly. Without you and Annais, Jason would have stayed with me in Quebec."

While Annais' stomach churned with the unfortunately familiar nausea of jealousy and a strange, protective urge to hide Jason away from the world, it was Piper's turn to laugh, a full body cackle that startled even Cal. "Delusional much?"

"You are a meddler, the daughter of a useless Goddess. What can you do alone?" For a moment, she let her question hang in the air. "That's right. Nothing. Of all the seven demigods, you have no purpose, no power. I wish you to stay on this ship, adrift and helpless, while Gaea rises and the world ends. And just to be sure you are well out of the way..."

With an impatient huff, she gestured to Zethes, who plucked something from the air. Through the haze of snow that had begun to fall, Annais made out the shape of a frozen sphere covered in icy spikes.

"A bomb," he explained to Piper. "Just for you, my love."

"Bombs," Cal laughed and clapped his hands together, prompting his sister to roll her eyes. "A good day! Bombs and muffins!"

"Uh..." Slowly, Piper lowered her dagger, staring at the spiky shape warily. "Flowers would've been fine."

"Oh, it will not kill the pretty girl," Zethes frowned as if he found the idea offensive. "Well... I am fairly sure of this. But when the fragile container cracks, in... uh, roughly not very long... it will unleash the full force of the Northern winds. This ship will be blown very far off course. Very, very far."

"Indeed," Khione's voice prickled with false sympathy. "We will take your friends for our statue collection, then unleash the winds and bid you goodbye! You can watch the end of the world from... well, the end of the world! Perhaps you can charmspeak the fish and feed yourself with your silly cornucopia." The Boreads shared a laugh at the idea. Piper's face flushed. "You can pace the deck of this empty ship and watch our victory in the blade of your dagger. When Gaea has arisen and the world you knew is dead, then Zethes can come back and retrieve you for his bride. What will you do to stop us, Piper? A hero? Ha! You are a joke."

Annais could tell her words had stung Piper, for it wasn't the first time she'd heard them. Piper had always held her own at the Wilderness School, but there were times where she needed her friends, where she was no match for cruel girls whose bitterness blinded them. She wished Piper would see Khione for what she was. A cruel girl. Nothing more.

Come on, Piper, she urged her on in silence. Fight back.

And she did. Annais couldn't help but beam with pride as Piper snorted, then doubled over in laughter like Khione had told the greatest joke she'd heard in a long time. Soon, Cal joined in, only to be silenced when Zethes elbowed him. He, too, looked confused, but he feared his sister too much to truly defy her.

Khione's smile wavered. "What? What's so funny? I have doomed you!"

"Doomed me!" Piper repeated, wiping away an amused tear. "Oh, Gods... sorry." She glanced over her shoulder at Annais, winking once as she tried to contain her dramatic giggles. Even Drew Tanaka would've been proud of her. "You really think I'm powerless? You really think I'm useless? Gods of Olympus, your brain must have freezer burn. You don't know my secret, do you?"

Khione's eyes narrowed. "You have no secret. You are lying."

"Do you really want to take that chance?" Annais couldn't resist a chance to taunt her. For a moment, Khione eyed the blood on her shoulder, gaze then flitting to the watery puddle that was an icicle shard just seconds ago.

"You can go ahead and take my friends. Leave me here... useless," Piper shrugged. "I'm sure Gaea will be really pleased with you."

Snow began to swirl around Khione in a miniature blizzard. Zethes and Cal glanced at each other fearfully.

"Sister," began Zethes. "If she really has some secret--"

"Pizza?" Cal speculated to himself. "Hockey?"

"--Then we must know."

Khione looked ready to burst with frustration. "What secret?" she demanded at last. Annais had to smother her triumphant smirk when the fuming Goddess glared her way. "Reveal it to us!"

Piper shrugged. "If you insist. Follow me, ice people."

Annais watched as she lead them towards Festus. She sent up a prayer that Piper knew what she was doing, that she remembered Leo had taken out Festus' control panel before he was blasted sky-high. She seemed sure of herself, but Annais couldn't help but doubt, just for a second. Piper stopped at the foremast and faced Khione with a hand resting on Festus' head.

"Oh, wow, I just realised why you hate us so much," she made a show of declaring as Khione frowned. "We humiliated you pretty badly in Sonoma. Isn't that right, Annais?"

Annais nodded, slowly beginning to rock her ankles from side-to-side. If she could just get the ice to crack... "She didn't even put up a fight, you know," she called to the curious Boreads. "I think I saw a tear when Ezra swung a scythe into her neck."

"A tear?" Zethes gasped incredulously.

"Silence," Khione hissed, but Piper continued relentlessly.

"I don't blame you for lying, Khione. You had a giant king on your side, plus an army of wolves and Earthborn, and you still couldn't beat us." The air turned misty with icy fog. Piper feigned a smile and winked at Zethes, who went bright pink from the attention. "Whatever. But it was pretty funny."

"But the beautiful girl must be lying," he frowned as her words dawned on him. "Khione was not beaten at the Wolf House. She said it was a... uh, what was it, sister? A lucky shot."

"Oh, there was nothing lucky about it," Annais insisted.

"What did Hera call you again?" Piper mused, the two girls sharing a grin.

"I believe she called her a D-List Goddess, Piper."

"That's right. How could I forget?"

They burst out laughing again. The movement made Annais' shoulder throb, but she continued anyway, her amusement almost genuine when Zethes and Cal joined in.

"That is très bon!" Zethes slapped his knee in delight. "A D-List Goddess. Ha!"

Khione's white dress began to steam. Ice formed over her brother's mouths, silencing them for a moment of peace.

"Show us this secret of yours, Piper McLean," she hissed, her hands balling into trembling fists. "Then pray I leave you on this ship intact. If you are toying with us, I will show you the horrors of frostbite. I doubt Zethes will still want you if you have no fingers or toes... perhaps no nose or ears."

Zethes and Cal spat the ice plugs out of their mouths.

"The pretty girl would look less pretty without a nose," Zethes admitted.

Piper pouted at him, as if this truly hurt her feelings. "Come on then," she made a show of gesturing to Festus, marvelling like he truly was a fearsome beast. "You remember our dragon, yes?"

Khione scoffed. "This cannot be your secret. The dragon is broken. Its fire is gone."

"Well, yes..." It dawned on Annais then. She was going to charmspeak him to life -- or at least, she'd try. "But Festus is more than a machine. He's a living creature."

"Ridiculous." By then, Khione had regained some of her composure, sticking her nose in the air as she addressed her siblings. "Zethes, Cal, gather the frozen demigods from below. Then we shall break open the sphere of winds."

"You could do that, boys," Piper said. "But then you wouldn't see Khione humiliated. I know you'd like that."

Predictably, the Boreads hesitated.

"Hockey?" Cal beamed.

"Almost as good," Piper promised, even patting him on the arm for good measure. Zethes' face twisted sourly. "You fought at the side of Jason and the Argonauts, didn't you? On a ship like this, the first Argo."

"Yes," Zethes agreed, pouting. "The Argo. Much like this, but we did not have a dragon."

"Don't listen to her!" Khione snapped, raising a hand to at last strike Piper into silence. Annais swore her heart skipped a beat with anticipation. She was openly kicking her feet now, ignoring the prick of ice on her skin as her feet sunk into a puddle of mush. Just a bit more.

"You could shut me up," Piper said quickly. "But you want to know my secret power, how I will destroy you, and Gaea, and the giants."

Hatred burned in Khione's eyes, but she withheld her frost for a moment longer. "You have no power."

"Spoken like a D-List Goddess. One who never gets taken seriously, who always wants more power." Before Khione could retort, she turned to Festus and ran her hand behind his ears. "You're a good friend, Festus. No one can truly deactivate you. You're more than a machine. Khione doesn't understand that." Next, she turned to the Boreads. "She doesn't value you either, you know. She thinks she can boss you around because you're demigods, not full-fledged Gods. She doesn't understand that you're a powerful team."

"A team," Cal turned to his brother with a thoughtful quirk of his head. "Like the Ca-na-di-ens."

"Exactly," Piper said, and she seemed genuinely proud of his new word. "Just like a hockey team. The whole is greater than the parts."

"Like a pizza."

Piper nodded. "You are smart, Cal. Even I underestimated you."

"Wait, now," Zethes protested, loud enough to block out the sound of crumbling ice. Slowly, Annais rotated her ankles, letting the blood rush back to her stinging feet. "I am smart also. And good-looking."

"Very smart," she agreed. "So put down the wind bomb, and watch Khione get humiliated."

Zethes crouched down and did just that.

Khione screamed in fury, advancing on her brother as Piper cried out, "Our secret weapon, Khione! We're not just a bunch of demigods. We're a team. Just like Festus isn't only a collection of parts. He's alive. He's my friend. And when his friends are in trouble, especially Leo, he can wake up on his own!"

For a terrible moment, nothing happened. Khione glared at her. The Boreads began to come out of their daze, looking disappointed. Annais slipped her ring from her finger, hefting the sword from hand-to-hand.

"Never mind our plan," Khione spat at her brothers. "Kill her!"

"You can try," Annais pressed the tip of her sword against the Goddess' back. "But something tells me you've lost the upper hand, Khione."

"You--" Her face paled with terror. Annais smirked as her throat visibly bobbed with fear. "How did you--"

"That's the thing about ice," Annais' eyes glinted as she recalled something Leo once said. She hoped it haunted Khione even then. "It freaking melts."

Just in time, Piper tackled the Goddess right where Annais wanted her. She dodged the first blow and barely missed the second as Festus' head suddenly turned one hundred and eighty degrees to blast the Boreads to smouldering pieces. Khione screamed at the sight, then disappeared in a flurry of snow.

"Oh, not you don't," Annais scanned the deck for the Goddess.

That was when she felt it. A soft gust of wind was the only indication of a presence behind her before Khione pressed the blade of an icy dagger against her neck. Annais swore she passed out from the pain. The dagger only just pierced her skin, twin rivulets of blood trickling down to the hem of her shirt, but it was enough to rip her confidence right out of her clutches.

"You miserable girl," she hissed in her ear. "You think you can defeat me -- a Goddess?"

At Piper's back, Festus roared and blew steam, but Annais knew he couldn't breathe fire again without hitting them too. Annais managed to grasp at the last of her consciousness as Khione held the blade steady, pressing down... she went limp. Piper let out a gasp of horror while Khione cackled in delight.

"A child of Aphrodite," she sneered. "You are nothing. Just like your friend. She'll be nothing without her head."

Festus creaked again. All of a sudden, the air went warm. A shard of sunlight peeked out from behind the clouds. Only Annais noticed when the icy dagger began to drip. Khione was too busy taunting Piper.

"Still underestimating me," Piper shook her head at the Goddess. "You really need to work on that."

Khione frowned, confused, but she didn't see it coming. Her dagger trickled out of her hands, allowing Annais to throw her body back and pin her to the deck. She heard Festus clicking and whirring as the reactivated alarm bells began to blare, but she wasn't about to let Khione slip away again. Piper was sprinting across the deck. The spiky sphere was hissing steam. She only had a handful of seconds left.

"Say hi to Gaea for me, Khione," Annais sneered. The edges of her vision went black. Her hands moved of their own accord, curling around the shadows of Death that clung to Khione in warning. They tugged on her skin like spiderwebs, morphing into a miniature cloud with edges as sharp as glass. Slamming her hands down with a shout, they cut through Khione's neck and severed it from her body. The rest of her exploded into a heap of snow. "I was right. Your head's going to look lovely on my mantelpiece."

That was when the winds exploded.