Narcissus frowned.

"I... no. That can't be right. I am much too important to die."

"You died staring at yourself," Hazel insisted. "I remember the story now. Nemesis was the goddess who cursed you, because you broke so many hearts. Your punishment was to fall in love with your own reflection."

"I love me so, so much." Narcissus agreed.

"You finally died." The girl continued. "I don't know which version of the story is true. You either drowned yourself or turned into a flower hanging over the water or- Echo, which is it?"

"Which is it?" She said hopelessly.

Leo stood. "It doesn't matter. The point is you're alive again, man. You have a second chance. That's what Nemesis was telling us. You can get up and get on with your life. Echo is trying to save you. Or you can stay here and stare at yourself until you die again."

"Stay here!" All the nymphs screamed.

"Marry me before you die!"

Persephone drew her sword, pointing at the nearest nymph. 

"Be quiet. We're talking."

"You just want my reflection. I don't blame you, but you can't have it. I belong to me."

Persephone groaned, her head thrown back. The sun was setting, fast. They were running out of time.

"Leo, Hazel." She gestured to a spot further away from the group, near the edge of the crater. "We need to talk."

"Excuse us," Leo told Narcissus. "Echo, want to come with?"

"Come with." She confirmed.

As soon as they drifted away, the nymphs closed in on Narcissus again, snapping photos and recording videos.

"Nemesis was right." Hazel began. "Some demigods can't change their nature. Narcissus is going to stay there until he dies again."

"No," Leo said.

"No," Echo agreed.

"We need that bronze," He continued. "If we take it away, it might give Narcissus a reason to snap out of it. Echo could have a chance to save him."

"A chance to save him." Echo said, gratefully.

"Or..." Persephone began. "We take the metal away from him and anger a bunch of obsessive nymphs. Plus, I'll bet drachma that Narcissus can still use that bow. I'm not exactly eager to die again. Permanently, this time." Hazel whipped her head to stare at Persephone, confused. "Long story."

They trailed off into silence, trying to think of a solution to their problem.

"Hazel," Leo said, abruptly. "Your power with precious metal- Can you just detect it, or can you actually summon it to you?"

She frowned. "Sometimes I can summon it. I've never tried with a piece of Celestial bronze that big before. I might be able to draw it to me through the earth, but I'd have to be fairly close. It would take a lot of concentration, and it wouldn't be fast."

"Be fast." Echo warned.

Leo cursed. Persephone could practically see the gears turning in his head.

"All right," He said. "We'll have to try something risky. Hazel, how about you try to summon the bronze from right here? Make it sink through the sand and tunnel over to you, then grab it and run for the ship."

"But Narcissus is looking at it all the time." Hazel reasoned.

"All the time." Echo frowns.

"That's where we come in." Persephone picked up on the son of Hephaestus' plan. "We, and Echo, will cause a distraction." She tilts her head at Leo, who nods in confirmation.

"Distraction?" Echo asked.

"I'll explain." Leo promised. "Are you willing?"

"Willing." Echo said.

"Great," Leo said. "Let's hope we don't die."

Persephone had to keep her giggles under her breath as Leo pulled out breath mints- finally having a use- and a pair of welding goggles from his magic tool belt. He rolled up his sleeves and used some sort of oil to grease back his hair. He stuck a wrench in his back pocket, and Persephone had helped him draw a tattoo on his biceps with a marker: HOT STUFF, with a wonky skull and crossbones. She caught the slight cringe from Hazel about her artistic skills.

Persephone herself had somewhat of a makeover; Hazel had helped her write #1 FAN! on the front of her clean, blue t-shirt. On the back, it said MRS VALDEZ with a love heart underneath. The entire time, the girls had giggled together, causing some of the letters to be wonky and uneven.

"What in the world are you thinking?" Hazel asked, still giggling as she capped the pen after finishing with Persephone.

"I try not to think," Leo admitted. "It interferes with being nuts. Just concentrate on moving that Celestial bronze. Echo, Sephy, you ready?"

"Ready." Echo said.

"C'mon 'hot stuff'." Persephone grinned. 

Leo took the lead, strutting towards the pond. "Leo is the coolest!" He shouted.

"Leo is the coolest!" Echo repeated.

"Yeah, baby, check me out!"

"Check me out!" Echo said. Persephone was practically in a fit of giggles at this point, no matter how much she tried to conceal it.

"Oh my gods, it's Leo Valdez!" She pretended to swoon.

"It's Leo Valdez!" Echo confirmed.

"Make way for the king!"

"The king!"

"Narcissus is weak!"

"Weak!"

The crowd of nymphs parted in surprise. Leo shooed them away as if they were bothering him. "No autographs, girls. I know you want some Leo time, but I'm way too cool. You better just hang around that ugly dweeb Narcissus. He's lame!"

"Lame!" Echo said.

The nymphs muttered between themselves, annoyed.

"What are you talking about?" One demanded.

"You're lame." Another retorted.

"Outta the way!" Persephone shoved a few of the nymphs. "Leo, I'm your biggest fan! Don't listen to them! Sign my shirt! Marry me! Don't waste your time talking to them." She sneered at a few of them.

Leo adjusted his goggles and smiled, winking at Persephone, who then pretended to squeal in excitement. He flexed his biceps, and showed off his HOT STUFF tattoo. They'd succeeded in getting the nymphs' attention, if only because they were stunned, but Narcissus still hadn't looked up.

"You know how ugly Narcissus is?" Leo asked the crowd. "He's so ugly that when he was born, his mama thought he was a backwards centaur- with a horse butt for a face!"

Persephone laughed like it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard- it wasn't, but she was determined to make them believe it. Some of the nymphs gasped. Narcissus himself frowned a little.

"You know why his bow has cobwebs?" Leo continued. "He uses it to hunt for dates, but he can't find one!"

One nymphs laughed, yet she was elbowed by the others into silence. Persephone clapped her hands at Leo, laughing exaggeratingly.

"Oh my gods, you're so funny!" She said, dreamily.

"So funny." Echo agreed.

Narcissus whipped his head around to face them. "Who are you?" He scowled at Leo.

"I'm the super-sized McShizzle, man!" Leo said. This time, Persephone did really laugh, a snort escaping her. "I'm Leo Valdez, bad boy supreme. And the ladies love a bad boy."

"Love a bad boy!" Echo said, screeching the same way the nymphs had done earlier.

"I love you bad boy supreme!" Persephone added. "Sign my face!" She held out a pen for him.

Leo uncapped the pen and held her face in place, tongue sticking out to the side as he wrote his autograph on her cheek. "Narcissus is a loser! He's so weak he can't bench press a Kleenex. He's so lame; when you look up lame on Wikipedia, it's got a picture of Narcissus- only the picture's so ugly no one ever checks it out."

"It's true!" Persephone agreed.

Narcissus knitted his eyebrows together. Even with the bronze reflected onto his face, Persephone could make out the red tint of anger he had taking over. The pond was forgotten as he stared at Leo, the bronze sheet sinking into the sand. 

"What are you talking about?" Narcissus demanded. "I am amazing. Everyone knows this."

"Amazing at pure suck," Leo said. "If I was as suck as you, I'd drown myself. Oh wait, you already did that."

Another nymph giggled, then another. Narcissus growled, his face looking a little less handsome. Leo just beamed and wiggled his eyebrows over his goggles and spread his hands, gesturing for applause.

"That's right!" He said. "Team Leo for the win!"

"Team Leo for the win!" Echo shouted. She'd wriggled between the crowd of nymphs, blending in so well that it seemed like a nymph from their group had said it.

"Oh my god, I am so awesome!" Leo bellowed.

"So awesome!" Echo yelled back.

"The awesome-est." Persephone agreed.

"He is funny," A nymph ventured.

"And cute, in a scrawny way." Another said.

"Scrawny?" Leo asked. "Baby, I invented scrawny. Scrawny is the new sizzling hot. And I GOT the scrawny. Narcissus? He's such a loser the Underworld didn't even want him. He couldn't get the ghost girls to date him."

"Eww." Said a nymph.

"Eww!" Echo agreed.

"Abs are so last season!" Persephone rolled her eyes. "Scrawny is the new abs. Narcissus is so 4000 years ago." She said, boredly. 

"Stop!" Narcissus got to his feet. "This is not right! This person is obviously not awesome, so he must be..." He struggled to find the right words. "He must be tricking us."

Okay, so apparently, their plan wasn't as fool-proof as they'd thought. Realisation dawned on Narcissus' face. He turned back to the pond. "The bronze mirror is gone! My reflection! Give it back to me!"

"Team Leo!" A nymph squeaked, but the others had turned their attention back to narcissus. Persephone inched closer to Leo, feeling the sudden tense shift in atmosphere. 

"I'm the beautiful one!" Narcissus insisted. "He's stolen my mirror, and I'm going to leave unless we get it back!"

The girls gasped. One pointed. "There!"

Hazel was at the top of the crater, running away as fast as she could whilst lugging a large sheet of bronze.

"Get it back!"

"Get it back." Echo replied, miserably. 

"Time to go!" Persephone whispered to Leo, who nodded and gripped her arm, nervously. 

"Yes!" Narcissus unslung his bow and grabbed an arrow from his dusty quiver. "The first one who gets that bronze, I will like you almost as much as I like me. I might even kiss you, right after I kiss my reflection!"

"Oh my gods!" The nymphs screamed.

"And kill those demigods!" Narcissus added, glaring at Leo and Persephone as they sprinted away. "They are not as cool as me!"