"C'mon, Pipes. Surely you can tell me?"

Piper heaved a sigh and dragged a hand through her choppy hair. Thalia studied her friend. There was a kind of melancholy that rested deep within Piper's eyes. It had been there since she and Jason had broken up. And although Piper often acted like she was fine, Thalia knew better.

"It's really not my place to say..." Piper trailed off, staring at some unseen point over the horizon.

Thalia put her hands together, summoning every ounce of charmspeak she could possibly muster- which wasn't very much, considering her godly parent was most certainly not Aphrodite. "Fine, I'll just ask Drew Tanaka, she always loves to spill the tea."

Piper's eyes flashed furiously and Thalia smiled, pleased that she had managed to inject her friend with the tiniest bit of observable emotion. She was close. Thalia drew in a breath. She felt quite despicable in that moment but she had to put down the 'do-it-for-your-friends' card. For Percy. And Annabeth. And, well, maybe Luke also, not that he deserved it- or so she told herself.

"Okay. Pipes, I really didn't want to say this. I know you feel terrible about Jason-" Thalia put a hand up in the air to silence the start of Piper's sputtered protests as her sentence spilled out in a heap, the words blurring in to each other as she attempted to convey her point before Piper actually interrupted her. "-But this is important. Nico literally won't tell me anything about it. And the only person who knew anything about that this was Jason. Who is dead."

Thalia noticed the way her friend flinched at that but ploughed on anyway. "Obviously you know. Jason told you everything, and I understand that it's wrong, that you don't want to tell me, that you resent your mother for making it some kinda rite of passage to break your first love's heart, but this is so so important. I totally respect that you're trying to dishonour Aphrodite, refuse to engage in any gossip or whatever as a, uh, big F you to her, but this- Percy's doin' time in Elysium and this could be the only way to save him!"

Somehow the glamour that the children of Aphrodite were usually soaked in, didn't seem to extend to Piper today. She was still beautiful of course, but there were dark circles beneath her eyes that seemed almost permanent, and her choppy hair which usually looked supermodel-perfect, looked like an unkempt bird's nest today. Maybe it was the lack of prayers and offerings to the goddess of love that was chipping away at Piper.

Thalia pursed her lips, suddenly worried for the girl. Perhaps she ought to offer her friend an in to the huntresses of Artemis- Piper would probably accept the offer straight away; she wasn't exactly craving a boyfriend right now, and Thalia had a feeling that her friend was probably going to remain single for a very long time, if not for the rest of her life, even if it was just to pursue some resolute vendetta against her mother. Moreover, Piper would make a really good lieutenant. Better than Thalia. At least the daughter of Aphrodite had well and truly gone off boys -and romance- completely, whereas Thalia could not stop, nor help, thinking about Luke at least seventeen times per day.

The daughter of Zeus was so lost in her thoughts that she almost missed Piper's small answer.

"Okay." Thalia jerked her head up, surprised. She had mentally prepared herself to talk about how Piper's refusal to help her would tarnish the memory of Percy and Annabeth and even Jason. But it seemed that such machiavellian arguments were not needed today.

"Okay. So you've obviously guessed, correctly, that Nico has had some romantic troubles." Piper spat out the 'romantic' like it was some kind of hideous curse word.

"Um. Yes." Thalia knew that although the Ancient Greeks had been cool with queer relationships, it seemed that society's inclusive attitudes had kinda sloped away over the years. Things were getting better of course, though. Society was becoming more inclusive, more respectful. But Nico was still hesitant about sharing his sexuality with people he didn't know very well. And sometimes, Thalia noticed how sad he looked when he thought nobody was looking. How sad he looked all the time. Admittedly, Thalia knew that Nico was happier than he was back in his past time; the memory that Thalia had of Nico, herself and the Party Ponies at the LA Pride Parade a few years back still filled her with a kind of incandescent happiness- it proved that Nico was doing okay, better than okay. But she knew that he still carried some heartache. And it seemed as if this emotional wound had something to do with what they had seen on Thanatos' iPad.

"Okay, well, you already asked Frank right?" Thalia nodded.

"Yeah, and I'm guessing he told you that the man on the screen looked a lot like Thanatos, yeah? Cos you've never met the god of 'peaceful death', have you?" Thalia shook her head. She was impatient for her friend to get to the point but didn't want to speak for fear of cutting off Piper's flow of words.

"Okay, well, Percy told me once that apparently, Thanatos and Cupid look a lot alike. I guess that's why Death and Love are always paired together and-"

"Piper, this is all cool, but, like Frank told me this already! What does any of this have to do with the naked dude on Thanatos' screen? He's hooking up with some guy that looks like him?" Realisation dawned in Thalia's eyes. "Wait, wait! Thanatos and Cupid are... together? Oh my gods?"

Piper rolled her eyes and Thalia patted her shoulder gently. It was evident that the girl didn't believe in love anymore.

"Anyway. About Nico. Remember when Jason and Nico needs to get Diocletian's sceptre from Cupid? When they came back, they were a wreck. Okay. Well, you know how... civil Jason was about everything. I mean when I wasn't in love with him, I was kind of jealous of him. Like how Leo says that he's all 'prince of the sky' and 'bam, lightning man' and-"

Thalia tuned out a little. She didn't know exactly how that rite of passage worked, but she knew that Piper was really really not over Thalia's brother.

"-well, Jason was all like, 'oh, I really shouldn't tell you' but he did anyway and I told Annabeth and she probably told Percy and okay, so the deal is that cupid pretty much just -just psychologically tortured Nico and forced him to reveal, in front of Jason, that he is gay and in love with Percy."

Piper's wide-eyed stare caught Thalia by surprise. It took a few seconds for the words to sink in.

"Wait, Nico loves Percy?"

"I'm so surprised you don't even know this yet? Oh, wait." A crimson glow filled Piper's cheeks as she blushed and looked away, her words growing quieter. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be spreading rumours and gossip. The curse of Aphrodite, you know."

"Pipes, it's okay. We can't help who our parents are, and the 'blessings' they cursed us with. But backtrack. He loves Percy, or loved Percy?"

Piper flinched, looking very ashamed, all of a sudden. "Well, we don't really know. It was an, uh, ongoing bet in the Aphrodite cabin. I think the majority thought it was loves, present tense."

"Okay, Piper. But Will? Oh my gods, woah, this has been an afternoon of revelations. Wait wait. So, Nico has bad experiences with Cupid-"

"Yes. The thing you absolutely need to understand about Cupid is that he is a terrible thing. You don't understand how much love hurts. Love is the worst monster of all." Her eyes brimmed with tears and she tugged at a feather in her hair, her voice hitching.

"Oh, Piper." She squeezed her friend's arm, and then relented with the feeble pats and squeezes and tugged friend into a hug.

Piper shuddered as the tears trailed down her face. "I'm so sorry, Thalia. I just- to be the daughter of Aphrodite: the creator of all this pain. You don't understand." She breathed heavily, the puff of air coming out in shudders but she seemed to compose herself.

"Alright. So, now we are both painfully aware of several things. One, Nico di Angelo has been, and is most likely still, in love with Percy Jackson. Two, Nico is scared of love; he's scared to tell us more about Love, and thus, effectively Death. And three, and this may be the most important point of all. Thanatos and Cupid, Love and Death are, by all means, dating."

Piper's eyes flickered up to meet Thalia's for a second, and although her eyes glistened with tears, that familiar charming gleam was back again. "Now the question we need to ask ourselves is: how best can we extort this relationship?"

Thalia smirked at her friend and tilted her head slightly. "For Percy," she said raising an imaginary glass.

"For Percy," replied Piper, as a tear trickled down her cheek, a diamond trail, "and anybody else who has ever been wronged by Death."

"-And Love."

*

"Pluto's pauldrons," Reyna cursed.

Leo spat out his lemonade. "Pluto's what?"

Calypso put an arm on her boyfriend's shoulder. "Shhh, it's not important, Leo."

Leo sputtered, spraying lemonade over his friends, who all jumped back in disgust. Except Calypso, who sighed and rolled her eyes heavenwards.

"'Course it is, Sunshine! She just insulted his father." He gestured at Nico with a yellow and white striped straw before dipping it back into his cup and peering at it, surprised to see that there was no drink left.

Piper hung back hesitantly. Normally, she would have laughed aloud at Leo's antics but she felt wary in Reyna's presence. She knew that the praetor resented her; believed that she had stolen Jason away from her only to discard him. Piper studied the girl, taking in her beautiful glossy back hair and sharp intelligent eyes. Reyna's gaze flickered from Leo to Piper's own eyes, silently piercing, and Piper felt herself start to shrink beneath the other girl's gaze but she didn't blink until the girl had turned back to face Nico.

Nico and Reyna exchanged a silent conversation and Piper frowned at Calypso and Leo. The boy looked distracted. He absentmindedly rubbed his cheek, leaving behind a smudge of grease. Calypso on the other hand, seemed deep in thought, a crease disturbing the space between her eyebrows as she twirled the paper parson in her drink and tried to figure out her part in the plan.

She took Leo's empty cup from him and walked behind the counter, her white peasant blouse billowing slightly in the soft breeze that drifted about the al fresco area. Leo still hadn't noticed the way Nico and Piper seemed to be communicating amongst themselves. His eyes had misted over as he glanced back at Calypso who had returned with two fresh glasses of lemonade. He grinned up at his girlfriend as she sat in the seat beside him, and she smiled back. "Thanks Merengue," he said.

Some inside joke of theirs, Piper supposed. She turned back, suddenly irritated at how intrusive she had felt watching Leo and Calypso's little exchange. She edged her chair slightly away from them and traced a trail of crumbs on the counter. It wasn't fair that love only hurt some people. She snapped.

"Uh, hello?" She waved a hand in front of Reyna and Nico, her voice curt. She fixed her eyes on the Roman girl.

"So, apart from insulting Nico's father, do you have any other thoughts about our plan?" She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently. Reyna barely reacted to Piper's petulance; no doubt her years as a leader had taught her to be stoic in the face of adversity - and daughters of Aphrodite.

Nico swallowed hesitantly. Although he did trust Leo, Calypso and Piper, there were some things he had never -and would never- tell them. It didn't matter though; there was no doubt that they all already knew about his love for Percy.

Reyna looked as if she might have scowled but she kept up a mature front. "I didn't insult Nico's father. I merely gave an exclamation of surprise. What you are proposing is quite..." She trailed off and then she and Nico spoke up at the same time.

"Unconventional."

"Stupid."

Nico scowled and Piper beamed at him, pleased that he didn't sound so logical and level-headed as Reyna. The girl's stoic façade reminded her a little too much of Jason. And that hurt.

"I think it's brilliant," said Leo, smirking. He leaned back in the stool, resting his elbows against the table behind him, splaying his legs out before him. The effect would have been domineering if he were taller.

"Blackmailing the gods of death and love with nudes and catphishing them? What could go wrong?" Leo said all this with such earnest sincerity that Piper started to feel a little queasy; any idea that Leo was all in for was no doubt going to cause a lot of trouble.

Calypso put her glass of lemonade on the bench behind her and massaged her wrist uncertainly, her brows knitted with worry. Leo took her hand and tapped it gently. A series of long and short taps; a morse code love message.

"I don't understand... what have Leo and I to do? Why are we to be involved?"

Piper grinned at Nico, urging him to speak, exuding wordless charmspeak. The boy glared at her. Reyna fixed Piper with a strange look. As if torn between admiring of her boldness and despising her for her audacity. Piper wished Thalia could be here to see this. Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano was looking at Piper McClean with almost admiring eyes. Piper smirked, raising her eyebrows cuttingly at Reyna. Then she frowned internally. This was the curse of Aphrodite turning her against an ally, trying to poison her against another woman. Gods, she would need to apologise for this later.

Nico spoke up, his dark eyes gleaming with uncertainty. "Piper and Thalia think it best if you- if we orchestrate the, uh, 'catphishing' here." He gestured around at Leo and Calypso's Garage: Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters, studying the seemingly perpetual sunny atmosphere and the way the light seemed to sparkle on his palm, before taking a hesitant step back into the shade of an umbrella and burying his hands deep within the pockets of his leather aviator jacket, as if afraid that too much vitamin D might contaminate him.

"Stupid," he muttered again, glancing around as if someone might overhear them. There were few other customers at the café. Mellie was talking animatedly with Juniper over a brunch of smashed avocado toast. And a group of naiads were having some kind of business meeting, draining their drinks every time somebody made a loud proposal. Invisible servants kept their glasses topped up.

Reyna hesitantly put a hand on Nico's shoulder and Piper nearly gasped at the way Nico almost seemed to lean into her touch. She knew they were close, but she also knew that if she ever touched Nico like that, he'd probably raise a zombie army to attack her. The Roman girl flicked her dark braid over her shoulder so that it hung over her glittering purple cloak which gleamed as if woven through with filaments of Imperial Gold. Her dark eyes shined almost silvery, as if coated in the ash of cities she had burned to the ground. And when she spoke, her voice was heavy with a steely determination. Piper now understood why Reyna was somebody the Romans all looked up to; she had all the poise of a leader and fighter.

"It is certainly dangerous but if we are to save Percy..." Her gaze flickered to Nico for a second as she studied the dark shadows beneath his eyes and the sickly pallor that seemed to resonate from his pale skin. Piper remembered that Reyna hadn't liked Percy, but that the two leaders had shared a kind of mutual respect. She realised that the girl must really care for Nico to do this for him.

"It is imperative that we have a plan, with order and structure." Her eyes seemed to illuminate as if already thinking of poring over detailed blueprints and checklists.

"Structure?" Leo cut in abruptly, and everybody turned to look at him. He said the word with so much distaste that he sounded disgusted.

"Of course, it'd be impossible without a plan-" Reyna looked affronted at being cut off.

"Hey, hey. I'm all about doing this impossible," replied Leo, breezily grinning before promptly bursting into flames.

In the chaos that ensued -Calypso shrieking about how Leo ought not ever do that again no matter how excitingly dramatic it made him, Piper laughing hysterically, Nico accidentally raising several skeleton warriors from the earth who immediately started to terrorise the other patrons, and Reyna speechless for once- nobody noticed the stunningly beautiful man who sat a few tables away. He stirred his lemonade, tracing a heart in the drink with the little pink umbrella that had been stuck into it, and smirked wickedly at the scene before him.

Already toying with how best to destroy the demigods' plans.