§ Tasha's POV §

   Mark and I wandered through the forest slowly, looking at the beautiful flora growing around us.

"How can a place so lush and full of life have no animals?" Mark asked, confused. I shrugged, I was equally as confused. There should've been birds, maybe little deer, even bugs, but there was nothing. And it was eerily quiet.

"Something's not right here," I mumbled, the hairs on the back of my neck raised. We wandered through a little more, until we heard yelling. Jack and Lovey!

   Mark and I rushed through the dense rain forest, towards the yelling. The yelling stopped before we arrived, but we continued to run, until we burst into a clearing, finding Jack sitting on the floor and Lovey by his side. He was deathly pale. Monster dust swirled along the ground in the wind, meaning one thing. They'd been attacked.

"What happened?" Mark asked, crouching down next to them.

"Remember the lost calditè island? Well, we found it," Lovey said to me shakily. Her hands were trembling.

"You guys were attacked by a calditè hellhound?!" I exclaimed incredulously.

"If one of those things is a massive, black, doggish thing with glowing red eyes and really big teeth, then yes we were," Jack replied slowly.

"If Jack didn't summon a gigantic thorny vine, we'd be dead by now," Lovey added.

"Uhm... sorry if this is the wrong time... but what's a hellhound?" Mark asked. With a stick, I drew a somewhat decent portrait of the monster, and the son of Athena recoiled.

"Jeez... Are you two okay?" he asked Jack and Lovey. They nodded.

"Jack's a little light-headed though... he can't really walk," Lovey said.

"Makes sense. With great power... comes the great need to take a nap," I replied, trying to make a joke. Mark and I each looped an arm under the son of Demeter's arms,and supported him as he walked.

   We walked back to the ship, and let the satyrs take care of Jack. Lovey said he'd already had an ambrosia square, so they mustn't give him any more, and when the satyrs helped Jack limp away, Lovey followed close behind, leaving me with Mark.

"He'll be fine, right?" Mark asked, concerned.

"Yeah, he'll be okay. He's not used to using his powers yet, and I'm guessing he over-worked himself," I replied, absent-mindedly making a tiny snowstorm in my hand.

"It's really cool how you do that," Mark grinned, watching my hand intently. I blushed, and the mini storm dissipated.

"Th-thanks," I mumbled nervously. He bumped my shoulder playfully.

"It explains why you were always so good at snowball fights," he said, smirking.

"I don't have to be a daughter of a snow goddess to kick your butt at snowball fights," I giggled, bumping him back.

"Ah, but luckily, I know your weakness," he smiled mischievously. My eyes widened.

"And what would that be..AH!" I squeaked as the son of Athena started tickling me.

"AHAHAHAHAHA... NO... STOP!" I shrieked, laughing like a mad person. Mark just grinned, and continued his merciless attack. I squirmed around, trying to get away, but it was pointless.

   I finally managed to get him to stop, and I had to sit for a minute to catch my breath. Mark was laughing his head off, and he laughed even harder each time I glared at him.

"Maybe you can kick my butt in snowball fights, but I will defeat you with the power of tickles!" he exclaimed.

"Shuddup Mark," I grumbled, pretending to be mad at him. He immediately scooched closer and put his arm around my shoulders.

"Aw, come on, Snowflake, don't be mad at me," he said, squeezing my shoulders. My cheeks warmed at his nickname.

"S-snowflake?" I asked, looking at him, confused. His face went the same color as his hair.

"Uh... y-yeah... because you're like a snowflake. Unique... a-and beautiful," he replied, the last part almost unintelligible. I think the shade of my face now matched his.

"Uhm... uh... I... I uh..." I stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence. Before I could choke something out, Mark kissed me. He kissed me. On the lips. I was so surprised, I didn't even kiss him back.

"I-I'm sorry.... I shouldn't h-have done th-that," he said softly, looking embarrassed. My brain was fried. My CPU had malfunctioned. But when Mark got up and started to walk away, I snapped back into reality.

"Mark, wait," I said, jogging up to him. I then proceeded to punch his arm. Hard.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to do that? Di Immortales, I've liked you for freaking YEARS! And you only kiss me NOW?!" I exclaimed. Yep, this is how I show affection. Discreet, right? The poor boy stood there with wide eyes, rubbing his arm where I punched him.

"You've... liked me... for years? How come you didn't tell me! I've had a crush on you since that day you sprayed soda out your nose when Lovey was telling jokes! Your laugh is what made me like you, dammit! Do you know how hard it is to be in love with your best friend?!" he shouted back. Before I could reply, I heard a shout.

"YES! YES! I TOLD YOU!!! YOU OWE ME FIVE BUCKS!" Lovey yelled happily. A very annoyed-looking Jack handed her five dollars. Mark and I stared at them.

"MARKASHA HAS SAILED!" she sang, dancing like a mad woman.

"What about Tashiplier?" Jack suggested, sitting down on the floor. Lovey's eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. Mark and I blocked our ears, ready for the explosion.

"OH MY OLYMPUS YAASSS! TASHIPLIER HAS SAILED!" she squealed. She was wearing her OTP cap, which didn't help much.

"What about Jackey? Or Loveysepticeye? When's that ship sailing?" I retorted, smirking. Well, that shut her up pretty quickly.

"What? Me and Lovey? Psshh, don't be ridiculous..." Jack laughed nervously.

"Oh, uh, would you look at the time... we should be going to sleep. The satyrs can take first watch," a very red Lovey said, before running down to the bunks. I smiled, those two would get together one day. It was inevitable.