CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
FINLEY                 BRIGGS

Here's a great way to spend your seventeenth birthday: go and meet Asclepius!

Finn originally hadn't wanted to, but Leo forced her and Jason to accompany him.

They needed Leo to lead the expedition. There was an Archimedes lock on the door to the entrance of where they needed to go. For some reason, Leo had built a giant Archimedes grabber arm in his spare time. He was the only one who could get them past the front door.

He chose Finn and Jason on his quest-mates, because apparently Leo was now their self-appointed chaperone. Not because he cared about decorum—gods, no—but because he thought it was hilarious.

"Listen," Leo had declared, a mischievous grin on his face, "I'm doing this for your own good. Someone's gotta make sure there's no funny business on the mission. Can't have you two lovebirds sneaking off for smooch breaks while I'm singlehandedly solving ancient Greek engineering puzzles."

Finn had immediately smacked him on the back of the head, her face redder than a strawberry. "You're unbearable!"

Jason, ever the diplomat, had tried to keep his composure, though his ears were suspiciously pink. "We're professionals, Leo. We're here to help, not... whatever it is you're imagining."

"Sure, sure," Leo said, clearly not buying it. "But just so you know, I've got eyes on the back of my head." He tapped his temple conspiratorially.

"More like holes in your brain," Finn shot back.

They continued to Asclepius's location.

Leo opened the hull's forward access vent and extended the arm, guided by the console monitor and Jason, who flew outside, yelling directions.

"Left!" Jason called. "A couple inches—yeah! Okay, down. Keep it coming. You're good."

Using his trackpad and turntable controls, Leo opened a claw of his grabber arm. Its prongs settled around the grooves in the circular stone structure below.

"Okay, little buddy." Leo patted the Archimedes sphere embedded in the helm. "This is all you."

He activated the sphere.

The grabber arm began to turn like a corkscrew. It rotated the outer ring of stone, which ground and rumbled but thankfully didn't shatter. Then the claw detached, fixed itself around the second stone ring, and turned it in the opposite direction.

Leo grinned as he continued to manipulate the controls. But when Finn's elbow settled onto his head, he couldn't help but laugh, his fingers never missing a beat on the controls.

"Hey, hey," Leo said with a mock protest, trying to duck away from her elbow. "That's my gorgeous, shiny head you're using as an armrest, okay? You better appreciate the beauty of it."

Standing next to him at the monitor, Finn laughed. "It's actually working, Valdez. You're pretty amazing."

Leo chose not to shoot back with offense, sarcasm, or complaints. Even when the bone of her elbow dug into his skull. Maybe it was because he realized he might never see Finn again after tomorrow.

"Yeah, well... thanks, Briggs."

Below them, the last stone ring turned and settled with a deep pneumatic hiss. The entire fifty-foot pedestal telescoped downward into a spiral staircase.

Hazel exhaled. "Leo, even from up here, I'm sensing bad stuff at the bottom of those stairs. Something... large and dangerous. You sure you don't want me to come along?"

"Thanks, Hazel, but we'll be good." He patted Finn on the back with exaggerated affection. "I've raised these two baby lovebirds well. I'm like their mama bird."

"You caught us almost kiss once."

"Semantics."

Frank held out the vial of Pylosian mint. "Don't break it."

Leo nodded gravely. "Don't break the vial of deadly poison. Man, I'm glad you said that. Never would have occurred to me."

"Shut up, Leo." Frank gave him a bear hug. He did the same thing to Finn. "And be careful."

"Ribs," Finn squeaked.

"Sorry."

Percy, Sylvie, Annabeth, and Piper wished them good luck. Then Percy excused himself to go throw up.

Jason summoned the winds and whisked Finn and Leo down the surface.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

The stairs spiraled downward about sixty feet before opening into a ginormous chamber.

The polished white tiles on the walls and floor reflected the light of Finn's and Jason's swords so well that Leo didn't need to make a fire. Rows of long stone benches filled the entire chamber, reminding Finn of a mega-church. At the far end of the room, where the altar would have been, stood a ten-foot-tall statue of pure white alabaster—a young woman in a white robe, a serene smile on her face. In one hand she raised a cup, while a golden serpent coiled around her arm, its head poised over the brim as if ready to drink.

"Large and dangerous," Jason guessed.

"Nothing gets past you, Jace." 

Finn grinned when he rolled his eyes.

Together, they headed down the center aisle toward the statue. Leo followed after, probably intending to break them up again.

Strewn across the benches were old magazines. Finn couldn't read them, but Jason told her they didn't say anything important. She trusted his word.

"It's a reception area," Leo muttered. "I hate reception areas."

Here and there, piles of dust and scattered bones lay on the floor, which did not say encouraging things about the average wait time.

"Check it out." Jason pointed. "Were those signs here when we walked in? And that door?"

Finn didn't think so. On the wall to the right of the statue, above a closed metal door, were two electronic signboards.

She groaned. "Why's there so much reading here?"

Jason tried helping her, but all he could do was squint. "I can't read that far away. The doctor is..."

"Incarcerated," Leo said. "Now serving number: 0000000."

"Apollo warned me that Asclepius was being held under guard," Finn said. "Zeus didn't want him sharing his medical secrets or something."

"Twenty bucks and a box of Froot Loops that statue is their guardian," Leo said.

"I'm not taking that bet." Finn glanced at the nearest pile of waiting room dust. "Well... I guess we take a number."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

The giant statue had other ideas.

She was an automaton of some girl named Hygeia. When she found out that Finn, Jason, and Leo weren't carrying their insurance cards on them, she attacked. The snake did too.

Leo came up with some silly idea that only Jason understood—something about playing "Mario Party Six" with "Chiron's gaming system." Finn didn't know what that meant, but the trio decided Idiot Mode was their best plan.

She and Jason ran interference while Leo reprogrammed the snake, then Hygeia.

After their two threats were defeated, the metal door swung open. At the end of the hall stood a walnut door with a bronze plaque. It was presumably Asclepius's name with all his acronyms attached.

"I'm not reading all that," Leo said.

Finn knocked. "Dr. Asclepius?"

The door flew open. The man inside had a kindly smile, crinkles around his eyes, short salt-and-pepper hair, and a well-trimmed beard. He wore a white lab coat over a business suit and a stethoscope around his neck—your stereotypical doctor outfit, except for one thing: Asclepius held a polished black staff with a live green python coiled around it.

"Hello!" said Asclepius.

"Um, hey there, doc." Finn tried putting on the 'adorable little face' Percy claimed she had. "We, uh... would be so grateful for your help. We need the physician's cure."

Asclepius put a hand over his heart. "Oh, my dear, I would be delighted to help."

Finn's smile wavered. "You would?"

"Come in! Come in!" Asclepius ushered them into his office.

The guy was so nice, Finn figured his office would be full of torture devices, but it looked like... well, a doctor's office: a big maple desk, bookshelves stuffed with medical books, and some plastic organ models.

Asclepius took the big comfy doctor's chair and laid his staff and serpent across his desk. "Please, sit!"

Leo chose to remain standing while Finn and Jason took the two chairs on the patient's side.

"So." Asclepius leaned back. "I can't tell you how nice it is to actually talk with patients. The last few thousand years, the paperwork has gotten out of control. Rush, rush, rush. Fill in forms. Deal with red tape. Not to mention the giant alabaster guardian who kills everyone in the waiting room. It takes all the fun out of medicine!"

"Yeah," Leo said. "Hygeia is kind of a downer."

Asclepius grinned. "My real daughter Hygeia isn't like that, I assure you. She's quite nice. At any rate, you did well reprogramming the statue. You have a surgeon's hands."

Jason shuddered. "Leo with a scalpel? Don't encourage him."

The doctor god chuckled. "Now, what seems to be the trouble?" He sat forward and peered at Jason. "Hmm... Imperial gold sword wound, but that's healed nicely. No cancer, no heart problems. Watch that mole on your left foot, but I'm sure it's benign."

Jason blanched. "How did you—"

"Oh, of course!" Asclepius said. "You're a bit nearsighted! Simple fix."

He opened his drawer, whipped out a prescription pad and an eyeglasses case. He scribbled something on the pad, then handed the glasses and the script to Jason. "Keep the prescription for future reference, but these lenses should work. Try them on."

"Wait," Leo said. "Jason is nearsighted?"

Jason opened the case. "I—I have had a little trouble seeing stuff from a distance lately," he admitted. "I thought I was just tired."

He tried on the glasses, which had thin frames of Imperial gold. He blinked a few times, adjusting the lenses, and then looked at Finn with wide eyes. He blinked as though he'd been seeing through a fog before.

"Wow," he said, voice filled with awe. "Yeah. That's... that's way better."

For a moment, Finn couldn't say anything. Her mind was racing, trying to calm down about seeing Jason in glasses.

Then she laughed, surprised and delighted. "Oh, you are just so adorable!"

Jason's eyes narrowed in annoyance, but his lips twitched, fighting the smile that was clearly threatening to break through. "You're so annoying," he muttered.

"Hey, it's cute," she added, sending a wink his way. "But I'm still gonna tease you about it."

Jason sighed dramatically but let out a laugh, clearly not too offended. "Yeah, yeah. Let me get used to this first, and then you can make fun of me all you want."

"I don't know, man," Leo said. "I'd go for contacts—glowing orange ones with cat's-eye pupils. Those would be cool."

"Glasses are fine," Jason decided. "Thanks, uh, Dr. Asclepius, but that's not why we came."

"No?" Asclepius steepled his fingers. "Well, let's see then..." He turned to Leo. "You seem fine, my boy. Broken arm when you were six. Fell off a horse?"

Leo's jaw dropped. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Unhealthy diet," he continued. "For someone as scrawny and small as you, make sure you're getting enough iron and protein. Hmm... a little weak in the left shoulder. I assume you got hit with something heavy about three months ago?"

"Phoenix Harden's fist at Camp Half-Blood," Leo said. "That's amazing."

"Alternate ice and a hot pack if it bothers you," Asclepius advised. "And you..." He faced Finn.

"Oh, my." The doctor's expression turned grim. The friendly twinkle disappeared from his eyes. "Oh, I see..."

The doctor's expression said I am so, so sorry.

Finn's heart filled with cement. If she'd harbored any last hopes of avoiding what was to come, they now sank.

"What?" Jason's new glasses flashed. "What's wrong with Finn?"

"Hey, doc." Finn shot him a drop it look. Hopefully they knew about patient confidentiality in Ancient Greece. "We came for the physician's cure. Can you help us? I've got some Pylosian mint here, and a very nice yellow daisy." She set the ingredients on the desk, carefully avoiding the snake's mouth.

"Hold it," Jason said. "Is there something wrong with Finn or not?"

Asclepius cleared his throat. "I... never mind. Forget I said anything. Um, happy seventeenth birthday!"

Leo frowned. "But—"

"Seriously, guys," Finn said, "I'm fine, except for the fact that Gaea's destroying the world tomorrow. Let's focus."

They didn't look happy about it, but Asclepius forged ahead. "Now, you want the physician's cure... This daisy was picked by my father, Apollo?"

"Yep," Finn said. "He sends hugs and kisses."

Asclepius picked up the flower and sniffed it. "I do hope Dad comes through this war alright. Zeus can be... quite unreasonable. Now, the only missing ingredient is the heartbeat of the chained god."

"I have it," Finn said. "At least... I can summon the makhai."

When Sylvie found out that Finn was to be the one to get the physician's cure from Asclepius instead of her, she sort of... transferred the makhai over to her. It was a little bit of an uncomfortable process, but the makhai weren't too peeved. If anything, they were pretty willing, since Finn was half-dead.

"Excellent. Just a moment, dear." He looked at his python. "Spike, are you ready?"

Leo stifled a laugh. "Your snake's name is Spike?"

Spike looked at him balefully. He hissed, revealing a crown of spikes around his neck like a basilisk's.

Leo's laugh crawled back down his throat to die. "My bad," he said. "Of course your name is Spike."

"He's a little grumpy," Asclepius said. "People are always confusing my staff with the staff of Hermes, which has two snakes, obviously. Over the centuries, people have called Hermes's staff the symbol of medicine, when of course it should be my staff. Spike feels slighted. George and Martha get all the attention. Anyway..."

Asclepius set the daisy and poison in front of Spike. "Pylosian mint—certainty of death. The curse of Delos—anchoring that which cannot be anchored. Now the final ingredient: the heartbeat of the chained god—chaos, violence, and fear of mortality." He turned to Finn. "My dear, you may release the makhai."

Finn closed her eyes.

Wind swirled through the room. Angry voices wailed. She felt a strange desire to smack Spike with a hammer. She wanted to strangle the good doctor with his bare hands.

Then Spike unhinged his jaw and swallowed the angry wind. His neck ballooned as the spirits of battle went down his throat. He snapped up the daisy and the vial of Pylosian mint for dessert.

"Won't the poison hurt him?" Jason asked.

"No, no," Asclepius said. "Wait and see."

A moment later Spike belched out a new vial—a stoppered glass tube no bigger than Finn's finger. Dark red liquid glowed inside.

"The physician's cure." Asclepius picked up the vial and turned it in the light. "I must advise you to be careful. Hades hates it when I raise people from the dead. The last time I gave someone this potion, the Lord of the Underworld complained to Zeus, and I was killed by a lightning bolt. BOOM!"

Leo flinched. "You look pretty good for a dead guy."

"Oh, I got better. That was part of the compromise. You see, when Zeus killed me, my father Apollo got very upset. He couldn't take out his anger on Zeus directly; the king of the gods was much too powerful. So Apollo took revenge on the makers of lightning bolts instead. He killed some of the Elder Cyclopes. For that, Zeus punished Apollo... quite severely. Finally, to make peace, Zeus agreed to make me a god of medicine, with the understanding that I wouldn't bring anyone else back to life." Asclepius's eyes filled with uncertainty. "Well, except for the fact I'm giving you the cure now."

He handed Jason the vial.

"At any rate, the potion must be administered as soon as possible after death. It can be injected or poured into the mouth. And there is only enough for one person. Do you understand me?" He looked directly at Finn.

"We understand," Jason promised.

"You should leave." Asclepius rose. "Best wishes, demigods. And if you see my father again, please... give him my regrets."

Finn wasn't sure what that meant, but they took their leave.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Back on the Argo II, they gathered in the mess hall and filled in the rest of the crew.

"I don't like it," Jason said. "The way Asclepius looked at Finn—"

"Aw, worried about me, are you?" Finn tried for a smile. "He just felt bad that I had to spend my birthday doing... well, this."

Sylvie raised a concerned eyebrow. "That does suck, but... I'm not sure that's it. Happy birthday, by the way."

Finn smiled faintly, offering Sylvie a nod in thanks. "It's fine. Not exactly how I imagined turning seventeen, but you know—Gaea, giants, the usual. Who needs cake when you've got a cure for death on the table?"

The words hung in the air for a moment, and Finn could almost feel the weight of the prophecy pressing down on her again. She had been trying to ignore it ever since she'd first realized what the lines meant, but now she couldn't shake the growing dread.

Percy frowned at the glowing red vial. "Any of us might die, right? So we just need to keep the potion handy."

"Assuming only one of us dies," Piper pointed out. "There's only one dose."

They all stared at Finn and Sylvie.

The tension at the table shifted, the air growing heavier. Finn felt the weight of their stares—those worried, expectant eyes—and for a moment, she wasn't sure whether to laugh or scream. She had been trying to ignore it, trying to push it down, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the prophecy was waiting to explode.

Two earths will battle, but one must fall. And Sylvie... well, Sylvie controlled the earth. Insanity wreaks until a final breath. Finn was the one who controlled the madness. Neither of those prophecy lines boded well for them.

A chill crawled down her spine, and she glanced at Sylvie, who was staring at her with a mix of uncertainty and quiet resolve. They both knew. Deep down, they both understood that whatever came next—whatever twisted fate lay ahead—it would involve them. They weren't just pawns in some grand prophecy; they were the very pieces that would decide the outcome.

Finn couldn't help but wonder. What happened if both of them died? Who would her friends choose to save with the one dose of physician's cure they had?

But deep down she knew. Everyone liked Sylvie more than Finn. Finn liked Sylvie more than Finn.

Today, she was seventeen. Tomorrow, she was forever seventeen.

Jason cleared his throat. "Prophecies always have twisted meanings. We don't actually know what will happen."

Finn wanted to believe him. Really, she did. But how could she, when the path laid out in front of them seemed so clear—and so inevitable?

"Yeah," Percy piped up, just as eager as Jason to save the two girls who meant the most to him. "We can go about this differently. Maybe none of us will die."

"Maybe you're right," Finn said half-heartedly. She didn't believe it.

"We have to keep our options open," Annabeth suggested. "We need a designated medic to carry the potion—somebody who can react quickly and heal someone if they get killed."

"Good idea, Wise Girl," Percy said. "I nominate you."

Annabeth blinked. "But... what? No, that's not what I meant."

"You're the smartest of all of us," Sylvie added. "You've basically been our medic since the Kronos days. When the time comes, you'll know what to do."

"Yeah," Finn agreed. "You're the best choice, Chase."

"Is everyone in agreement?" Hazel asked.

No one objected.

Leo wrapped the physician's cure in cloth from his tool belt. Annabeth took the package with a steady hand, though she eyed Finn and Sylvie with worry.

"Okay, then," Leo said. "Athens tomorrow morning, gang. Be ready to fight some giants."

"Yeah..." Frank muttered. "I know I'll sleep well."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

BAILEY YAPS...

Cons of changing prophecy lines to include your ocs: your ocs are included in the prophecy

Guys don't think about it too much lalala happy birthday Finley you deserve the world you are the dancing queen young and sweet only seveneteeeeen

Finn seeing Jason w glasses on and thinking "I need him bad" but making fun of him the second she starts speaking I love her so much

Finn and Leo underrated friendship that deserved more time

Okay here comes August 1st I'm so sorry in advance