THE CURE

"i am so, so sorry"

AFTER THEIR ENCOUNTER with Kympo-what's-her-name, the Argo II limped through the Aegean, too damaged to fly, too slow to outrun monsters. They fought hungry sea serpents about every hour. They attracted schools of curious fish. At one point they got stuck on a rock, and Percy and Jason had to get out and push.

When the engine wheezed Leo almost cried. Over the course of three long days, he finally got the ship more or less back to working order just as they made port at the island of Mykonos, which probably meant it was time for them to get bashed to pieces again.

The original quest quartet (Ariadne, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover) went ashore to scout while the others stayed back. Leo had been so engrossed in the writing that he hadn't noticed the landing party was back until Percy said, "Hey, man. Gelato."

The whole crew sat on deck, without a storm or a monster attack to worry about for the first time in days, and ate ice cream. Well, except for Frank, who was lactose intolerant. He got an apple.

Ariadne sat on the railing of the deck, resting against Percy's arm that supported behind her. They were sharing a cup of gelato--blue, go figure--and she was forced to feed the boy or else he would start complaining that she didn't care about him after he fought off a vicious storm spirt. Truthfully, she almost shoved his face into the ice cream but decided against. it. The day was hot and windy. The sea glittered with chop, but Leo had fixed the stabilizers well enough that Hazel didn't look too seasick.

Curving off to their starboard side was the town of Mykonos--a collection of white stucco buildings with blue roofs, blue windows and blue doors.

"We saw these pelicans walking around town," Percy reported. "Like, just going through the shops, stopping at the bars."

Hazel frowned. "Monsters in disguise?"

"No," Annabeth said, laughing, "just regular old pelicans. They're the two mascots or something. And there's a "Little Italy" section of town. That's why the gelato is so good."

"They weren't the nicest birds," Grover commented. He ate his coffee ice cream. "Kept complaining about tourists."

"Europe is messed up." Leo shook his head. "First we go to Rome for Spanish steps. Then we go to Greece for Italian ice cream."

Ariadne almost wished this was just a vacation with friends, and not another war. But it was July thirtieth. Less than forty-eight hours until G-Day, when Gaia would awaken in all her dirt-faced glory. The strange thing was, the closer they got to August first, the more upbeat they acted. Pulling together for the final lap--aware that the next two days would make or break them. There was no point moping around when you faced imminent death. The end of the world made gelato taste better.

Of course, the rest of the crew hadn't been down in the stables with Leo, talking with the victory goddess Nike over the past three days...

Piper set down her ice cream cup. "So, the island of Delos is right across the harbor. Artemis and Apollo's home turf?"

"Me," Leo said immediately.

Everyone stared at him.

"What?" Leo demanded. "I'm diplomatic and stuff. Frank and Hazel volunteered to back me up."

"We did?" Frank lowered his half-eaten apple. "I mean...sure we did."

Hazel's gold eyes flash in the sunlight. "Leo, did you have a dream about this our something?"

"Yes," Leo blurted. "Well...no. Not exactly. But...you got t trust me on this, guys. I need to talk to Apollo and Artemis. I've got an idea I need to bounce off them."

Annabeth frowned. She liked like she might object, but Jason spoke up.

"If Leo has an idea," he said, "we need to trust him."

He mustered up a smile. "Thanks, man."

Percy shrugged. He leaned further into Ariadne's back. "Okay. But word of advice: when you see Apollo, don't mention haiku."

Hazel knitted her eyebrows. "Why not? Isn't he the god of poetry?"

"Just trust me."

"Got it." Leo rose to his feet. "And, guys, of they have a souvenir shop on Delos, I'm totally bringing back some Apollo and Artemis bobbleheads!"

The trio made it back from Delos quick enough. They informed the others about Artemis' warnings and made haste to find the healing god Asclepius. Leo seemed to find the entrance immediately and maneuvered the ship over the ruins of Epidaurus. The Argo II wasn't in good shape to fly, but Leo had got her airborne after only one night of work. With the world ending tomorrow morning, he was highly motivated. Now, at last, they hovered over the ancient temple complex.

Next to him on the quarterdeck, Ariadne peered over the railing.

"Looks like more rubble," she noted.

She kept an eye out for Percy, whose face was still green from his underwater poisoning, but at least he wasn't running to the bathroom to upchuck quite so often. Between him and Hazel's seasickness, it had been impossible to find an unoccupied toilet inboard for the past few days.

Annabeth pointed to the disc-shaped structure about fifty yards off their port side. "There."

Leo smiled. "Exactly. See, the architect knows her stuff."

The rest of the grew gathered around.

"What are we looking at?" Frank asked.

"Ah, Senor Zhang," Leo said, "you know how you're always saying, "Leo, you are the only true genius among the demigods"?"

"I'm pretty sure I never said that."

"Well, it turns out there are other true geniuses! Because one of them must have made that work of art down there."

"It's a stone circle," Frank said. "probably the foundation of an old shrine."

Piper shook her head. "No, it's more than that. Look at the ridges and grooves carved around the rim."

"Like the teeth of a gear," Jason offered.

"And those concentric rings." Hazel pointed to the center of the structure, where curved stones formed a sort of bull's-eye. "The pattern reminds me of Pasiphae's pendant: the symbol of the Labyrinth."

Grover pretended to gag at the mention of the maze and Ariadne agreed. That was one place neither wanted to back to.

"Huh." Leo scowled. "Well, I hadn't thought of that. But think mechanical. Frank, Hazel... where did we see concentric rings like that before?"

"The laboratory under Rome," Frank said.

"The Archimedes lock on the door," Hazel recalled. "It had rings within rings."

Percy snorted. "You're telling me that's a massive stone lock? It's, like, fifty feet in diameter."

"Leo might be right," Annabeth said. "In ancient times, the temple of Asclepius was like the General Hospital of Greece. Everybody came here for the best healing. Aboveground, it was the size of a major city, but supposedly the real action happened below ground. That's where the high priests had their intensive-care-super-magical-type compound, accessed by a secret passage."

Percy scratched his ear. "So, if that big round thing is the lock, how do we get the key?"

"Way ahead of you, Aquaman," Leo said.

"Okay, do not call me Aquaman. That's even worse than water boy."

Grover stifled a laugh, nudging his best friend who did it back to him.

Leo turned to Jason and Piper. "You guys remember the giant Archimedes grabber arm I told you I was building?"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were kidding?"

"Oh, my friend, I never kid about giant grabber arms!" Leo rubbed his hands in anticipation. "It's time to go fishing for prizes!"

He 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 of inches--yeah! Okay, down. Keep it coming. You're good."

"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.

Standing next to him at the monitor, Piper kissed him on the cheek. "It's working, Leo, you're amazing."

Leo grinned. "Yeah, well...thanks, Beauty Queen."

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 Piper on the back. "Me and Piper and Jason and Ariadne--we're old pros at large and dangerous."

Ariadne pouted. "Why did we decide to send me?"

"Ground and dangerous things," Piper pointed out. A slight grin rested on her face. "Seems up your alley."

Ariadne huffed dramatically and Annabeth rolled her eyes at her best friend.

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, Valdez." Frank gave him a bear hug. "And be careful."

Grover hugged Ariadne tightly, and she chuckled at the tiny bleats he let out in worry. Annabeth pulled him off to pat her shoulder, smiling kindly before shoving her into her boyfriend.

Percy caught Ariadne and wrapped her into his arms. She murmured a broken, "Love you" before he let go, and right as he was about to kiss her, he turned pale, holding a hand over his mouth. The girl pushed him in the direction of the bathroom and he ran.

Jason summoned the winds and whisked Ariadne, Piper, and Leo down to the surface.

***

     THE STAIRS SPIRALED downward about sixty feet before opening into a chamber as large as Bunker Nine--which is to say, ginormous.

The polished white titles on the walls and floor reflected the light of Ariadne 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 Ariadne of those mega-churches she always saw advertised. 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, 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.

Piper scanned the room. "This must have been the sleep area." Her voice echoed loudly. "The patients stayed here overnight. The god Asclepius was supposed to send them a dream, telling them what cure to ask for."

"How do you know that?" Leo asked. "Annabeth told you?"

Piper looked offended. "I know stuff."

Ariadne nodded. "That statue over there is Hygeia, the daughter of Asclepius. She's the goddess of good health. That's where we got the word hygiene."

Jason studied the statue warily. "What's with the snake and the cup?"

"Uh, not sure," Ariadne admitted. She tried to rack her brain but came up empty. "But back in the day this place--the Asclepeion--was a medical school as well as a hospital. All the best doctor-priests trained here. They would've worshipped both Asclepius and Hygeia."

The silence, the gleaming white tiles, the creepy smile on Hygeia's face..it was unsettled. But Jason and Piper headed down the centre aisle toward the statue, so Ariadne figured her and Leo better follow.

Strewn across the benches were old magazines: Highlights for Children, Autumn, 20 B.C.E.; Hephaestus-TV Weekly--Aphrodite's Latest Baby Bump; A: The Magazine of Asclepius--Ten Simple Tips to Get the Most out of Your Leeching!

"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?"

Ariadne narrowed her eyes. On the wall to the right of the statue, above a closed metal door, were two electronic signboards. The top one read:

THE DOCTOR IS: INCARCERATED

The sign below that read:

NOW SERVING NUMBER: 0000000

Jason squinted. "I can't read it that far away. The doctor is..."

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

"Typical," Ariadne scoffed. "The King of the Gods wants to be selfish about helping the world."

She raised an eyebrow as Jason got a bit nervous, half expecting lightning to smite her despite being in a bunker.

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

"Not taking that bet." Ariadne glanced at the nearest pile of waiting-room dust. "Well...I guess we take a number."

The giant statue had other ideas. When they got within five feet, she turned her head and looked at them. Her expression remained frozen. Her mouth didn't move. But a voice issued from somewhere above, echoing through the room.

"Do you have an appointment?"

Piper didn't miss a beat. "Hello, Hygeia! Apollo sent us. We need to see Asclepius."

The alabaster statue stepped off her dais. She might have been mechanical, but the group heard no moving parts. "I see." The statue kept smiling, though she didn't sound pleased. "May I take a copy of your insurance cards?"

"Ah, well..." Piper faltered. "We don't have them on us, but--"

"No insurance cards?" The statue shook her head. An exasperated sigh echoed through the chamber. "I suppose you haven't prepared for your visit, either. Have you washed your hands thoroughly?"

"Yeah?" Ariadne said.

Leo hid his hands streaked with grime and grease behind his bak.

"Are you wearing clean underwear?" the statue asked.

"Hey, lady," Leo said, "that's getting personal."

"You should always wear clean underwear to the doctor's office," chided Hygeia. "I'm afraid you are a health hazard. You will have to be sanitized before we can proceed."

Ariadne took a tense stance. "Are you wearing clean underwear?"

The statue ignored her question. A golden snake uncurled and dropped from her arm. It reared its head and hissed, flashing saber-like fangs.

"Uh, you know," Jason said, "getting sanitized by large snakes isn't covered by our medical plan. Darn it."

"Oh, that doesn't matter," Hygeia assured him. "Sanitizing is a community service. It's complimentary!"

The snake lunged.

Ariadne was lucky she had dodged enough in her life, because the golden serpent was fast. Leo leaped to one side with her and the snake missed their curly heads by an inch. He rolled up, hands blazing, and the girl swung at the creature. As the snake attacked, she slashed at its eyes, causing it to veer left and smash into a bench.

Piper and Jason went to work on Hygeia. They slashed through the statue's knees, felling her like an alabaster Christmas tree. Her head hit a bench. Her chalice splashed steaming acid all over the floor. Jason and Piper moved in for the kill, but, before they could strike, Hyegia's legs popped back on like they were magnetic. The goddess rose, still smiling.

"Unacceptable," she said. "The doctor will not see you until you are properly sanitized."

She sloshed her cup toward Piper, who jumped out of the way as more acid splashed across the nearest benches, dissolving the stone in a hissing cloud of steam. The snake, meanwhile, recovered its senses. Its dented eyes somehow repaired themselves. Its face popped back into shape like a dent-resistant car hood.

It struck at Leo, who ducked and tried to grapple its neck, but it was like trying to grab sandpaper going sixty miles an hour. The serpent shot past, its rough metal skin leaving Leo's hands scraped and bleeding.

The momentary contact did give Leo some insight, however. His head darted to Ariadne. "Switch with Jason!"

Ariadne went without a word just as Jason soared into the air and lopped the goddess's head off. Sadly, the head flew right back into place.

"Unacceptable," Hygeia said calmly. "Decapitation is not a healthy lifestyle choice."

"Jason, get over here!" Leo yelled. "Piper, Firebird, buy us some time!"

Piper glanced over at Ariadne who dove between the statue's legs, cutting them off again and letting Hygeia hit the ground. She swiped at the stone arms and head. Piper kicked the different body parts away and the two spent time trying to knock them down each time they attempted to magnetize back together. Suddenly, the parts blipped into thin air and appeared together again.

"Hygeia!" Piper yelled. "I have insurance!"

That got the statue's attention. Even the golden snake turned towards her, as if insurance was some sort of tasty rodent.

"Insurance?" the statue said eagerly. "Who is your provider?"

"Blue lightning," Ariadne said. "We have the cards right here. Just a second."

She made a big show of patting down her pockets. The snake glittered over to watch. The girl pulled out a random business card from her pocket Percy stuffed in there and waved it around, preventing the statue from grabbing it fully. She also added on a middle finger for good measure.

Hygeia was assailing Piper with health-care questions. "Is Blue Lightning an HMO? What is your deductible? Who is your primary care deity?"

As Piper ad-libbed answers and Ariadne kept the goddess's focus on her, Leo jumped on the serpent's back. He opened a service panel near the snake's head and tried to ignore the pain and blood as he redid the serpent's wiring.

Jason stop by, ready to attack, but the snake seemed transfixed by the girls' problems with Blue Lightning's coverage.

"Then the advice nurse said I had to call the service center," Piper reported. She watched as Ariadne tried to come up with a random combination for the group number. "And the medications weren't covered by my plan! And--"

The snake lurched as Leo connected the last two wires. Leo jumped off and the gold serpent began shaking uncontrollably.

Hygeia whirled to face them. "What have you done? My snake requires medical assistance!"

"Does it have insurance?" Piper asked.

"WHAT?" The statue turned back to her, and Leo jumped. Jason summoned a gust of wind, which boosted Leo onto the statue's shoulders like a little kid at a parade. He popped open the back of the statue's head as she staggered around, sloshing acid.

"Get off!" she yelled. "This is not hygienic!"

"Hey!" Jason yelled, flying circles around her. "I have a question about my deductibles!"

"What?" the statue cried.

"Hygeia!" Ariadne shouted. "I need an invoice submitted to Medicare!"

"No, please!"

Leo clicked a few dials and pulled some wires. He reconnected her circuits and Hygeia began to spin, hollering and flailing her arms. Leo jumped away, barely avoiding an acid bath. He and his friends backed up while Hygie and her snake underwent a violent religious experience.

"What did you do?" Ariadne demanded.

"Idiot mode," Leo said.

"Excuse me?"

"Back at camp," Jason explained. "Chiron had this ancient gaming system in the rec room. Leo and I used to play it sometimes. You'd compete against, like computer-controlled opponents, coms--"

"--and they had three difficulty options," Leo said. "Easy, medium and hard."

"I've played video games before/Are you talking about the Nintendo?" Piper and Ariadne deadpanned. The daughter of Aphrodite didn't need them to explain levels to her, while the daughter of Dionysus was wondering why they were calling a gaming system the same age as her as ancient. She was a year older!

"Well...I got bored with those settings." Leo shrugged. "So I invented a fourth difficult level: idiot mode. It makes the coms so stupid it's funny. They always choose exactly the wrong thing to do."

Piper stared at the statue and snake, both of which were writhing and starting to smoke. "Are you sure you set them to idiot mode?"

"We'll know in a minute."

"What if you set them to extreme difficulty?" Ariadne asked.

"Then we'll know that, too."

The snake stopped shuddering. It coiled up and looked around as if bewildered.

Hygeia froze. A puff of smoke drifted from her right ear. She looked down at Leo. "You must die! Hello! You must die!"

She raised her cup and poured acid over her face. Then she turned and Marche face-first into the nearest wall. The snake reared up and slammed its head repeatedly into the floor.

"Okay," Jason said. "I think we have achieved idiot mode."

"Hello! Die!" Hygeia backed away from the wall and face-slammed it again.

"Let's go." Ariadne ran for the metal door next to the dais. Leo grabbed the handle. It was still locked. He stared at the two blinking signs above the door.

"Jason," he said, "give me a boost."

Another gust of wind levitated him upward. Leo went to work with his pliers, reprogramming the signs until the top one flashed:

THE DOCTOR IS: IN DA HOUSE.

The bottom sign changed to read:

NOW SERVING: ALL DA LADIES LUV LEO!

The metal door swung open, and Leo settled to the floor.

"See, the wait wasn't so bad!" Leo grinned at his friends. "The doctor will see us now."

At the end of the hall stood a walnut door with a bronze plaque:

ASCLEPIUS

MD, DMD, DME, DC, DVS, FAAN, OMG, EMT, TTYL, FRCP, ME, IOU, OD, OT, PARMD, BAMF, RN, PHD, INC., SMH

There may have been more acronyms in the list, but by that point Ariadne's brain had exploded.

Piper 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 bear. 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.

The python regarded them with pale yellow eyes, and Ariadne had a feeling it would be hard to set it to idiot mode.

"Hello!" said Asclepius.

"Doctor." Piper's smile was so warm it would've melted a Boread. "We'd be so grateful for your help. We need the physician's cure."

Ariadne noticed that both boys felt Piper's charm speak washing over them. Luckily, she was immune to it, but it was funny watching them become dazed.

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

Piper's smile wavered. To be honest, Ariadne expected more fight. "You would? I mean, of course you would."

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

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

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

Jason and Piper took the two chairs on the patients' side. Leo remained, standing, and Ariadne noticed a monstera plant in the corner. How a plant survived so healthily where they were, she didn't know. Her head tilted slightly and a vine sprouted from the soil, twisting and curling and sprouting more. In a matter of seconds, a structured and solid chair formed and Ariadne took a seat. Her friends gaped in awe while Asclepius only smiled slightly, eyes roving over her withs scrutiny like he was looking into her soul.

"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 got 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. "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 say 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 short-sighted! 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 scrip to Jason. "Keep the prescription for future reference, but these lenses should work. Try them on."

"Wait," Leo said. "Jason is short-sighted?"

Jason opened the case. "I—I have had a little trouble seeing stuff from a distance lately," he admitted. "I thought I was tired." He tried on the glasses, which had thin frames of Imperial gold. "Wow. Yeah. That's better."

Piper smiled. "You look very distinguished."

"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 Piper. "You seem fine, my dear. Broken arm when you were six. Fell off a horse?"

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

Ariadne thought that was a bit of a stupid question seeing as he was the god of most medicinal properties. She leaned further back into her vine-chair and tapped her foot. This was getting boring.

"Vegetarian diet," he continued. "No problem, just 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 a month ago?"

"A sandbag in Rome," Piper said. "That's amazing."

Had it really been a month since Ariadne fell? Her brows furrowed a bit, creasing her forehead in contemplation. It felt so quick. Then again, she spent a good chunk of it losing her sense of time down in Tartarus. Maybe it was still affecting her?

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

The crinkles around his eyes deepened just a bit as he stared longer at the smaller boy. Leo laughed nervously with a wobbly smile, about to open his mouth before Asclepius reached for his notepad once more. A few scribbles later, he passed the scrip to Leo who gazed at it with confusion. A pop! resounded in the office as a pill bottle appeared.

"This should help your focus a bit," the god smiled. "I know you demigods have attention problems, but you more than most. Keep the prescription."

Leo gripped the bottle tightly with a pensive look. He nodded with bouncing curls. "Thanks, doc."

With a smile the doctor turned. "Oh, my." His expression turned grim. The friendly twinkle disappeared from his eyes at the sight of the eldest curl in the back. "Oh, I see..."

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

He gulped at the waves of pain escaping her body. The failed attempt of being turned to stone stung his own skin. Scars on her sternum, on her face. But what shook him was the overwhelming presence of something dark wrapped tightly against her heart, muffling the beats and making it hard to hear. Raggedy lungs struggling to accommodate for her actions and getting used to the air around them compared to below. Burns methodically along the back of her throat and the rippling of madness beneath her skin. It was all too much for him.

And the sudden alerting of the inevitable to occur. Well, his ability to help all has withered to helping everyone but her. There was no way he could.

Ariadne's heart filled with cement. She had the urge to start scratching her skin where it was darker from the stone, a burning sensation in her throat, and recognizing a similar struggle to breath. The scar along her chest and sternum pulsed.

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

Leo stood straighter. He stuffed the scrip and pill bottle into his pocket, turning to place a hand on Ariadne shoulder but she stood up completely and the chair withered underneath.

"Hey, doc." Ariadne 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? We have some Pylosian here and a daisy." She motioned for Leo to place the ingridents on his desk. He did so robotically in a daze, carefully avoiding the snake's mouth.

"Hold it," Piper said. "Is there something wrong with Ariadne or not?"

Asclepius cleared his throat. "I...never mind. Forget I said anything. Now, you want the physician's cure."

Leo frowned. There was a glistening sheen along his eyes. "But—"

"Guys," Ariadne said sternly. "I'm fine, except for the fact that Gaia's destroying the world tomorrow. Let's focus."

They didn't look happy about it, but Asclepius forged ahead. "So this daisy was picked by my father, Apollo?"

"Yes," Leo said. His voice was quiet. "He sends hugs and kisses."

Asclepius picked up the flower and sniffed it. "I do hope Dad comes through this war all right. Zeus can be...quite unreasonable. Now, the only missing Ingrid isn't is the heartbeat of the chained god."

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

"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 and died. "My bad," he said. "Of course your name is Spike."

"He's a little grumpy," As pepita said. "People are always confusing my staff with the staff of Hermes, which has two snakes obviously." George and Martha. Ariadne's met them. "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 Ingrid isn't: the heartbeat of the changes god—chaos, violence and fear of mortality." He turned to Piper. "My dear, you may release the makhai."

Piper closed her eyes.

Wind swirled through the room. Angry voices wailed. Ariadne felt the familiar desire of hurting someone, similar to what she felt at twelve in that random diner.

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 king 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 a finger. Dark red liquid glowed inside.

"The physician's cure." Asclepius picked up the vial and turned it in the light. His expression became serious, then bewildered. "Wait...why did I agree to make this?"

Piper placed her hand palm up on the desk. "Because we need it to save the world. It's very important. You're the only one who can help us."

Her charmspeak was so potent even Spike the snake relaxes. He curled around his staff and went to sleep. Asclepius's expression softened, like he was easing himself into a buoy bath.

"Of course," the god said. "I forgot. But you must be careful. Hades hates it when I ease 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 his anger out on Zeus directly; the king of the gods was much too powerful. So Apollo took revenge on the makes of lightning bolts instead. He killed some of the Elder Cyclopes. For that, Zeus punished Apollo...severely. Finally, to make peace, Zeus agreed to make me the god of medicine, with the understanding that I wouldn't bring anyone else back to life." Asclepius's eyes filled with uncertainty. "And yet here I am...giving you the cure."

"Because you realize how important this is," Piper said, "you're willing to make an exception."

"Yes..." Reluctantly, Asclepius handed Piper 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 Ariadne.

Her fists curled tightly. "We understand."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Asclepius?" Piper asked. "Your guardian is out of commission. You'd be really helpful aboard the Argo II."

Asclepius smiled wistfully. "The Argo...back when I was a demigod, I sailed on the original ship, you know. Ah, to be a carefree adventurer again!"

"Yeah..." Jason muttered. "Carefree."

"But, alas, I cannot. Zeus will already be quite angry with me for helping you. Besides, the guardian will reprogram itself soon. You should leave."
Asclepius rose. "Best wishes, demigods. And, if you see my father again, please...give him my regrets."

Her three friends exited the office first. As she reached the threshold, she glanced back over her shoulder. The doctor's eyes downturned a bit at her clenched jaw. His final grim nod sent her out the door with a shudder.

As they passed through the waiting room, the statue of Hygeua was sitting on a bench, pouring acid son her face and singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", while her golden snake gnawed at her foot.

Ariadne's heart clenched with pain, and a final blink of purple along her eyes and the ringing in her head, she almost hoped the cure worked.

author's note:

I am so so fucking sorry it's been so long. The past few months legit almost destroyed me. I missed writing but had no motivation, but nearing the end of the semester I'm finding it again. To anyone who reads this thank you, and if you stayed thank you again. I'm going to blaze through the end of this book and work on others before getting into after Ariadne goes to school and such.

Also! If you can vote, please do! I did for the first time and it's so important to do so!

Q: what do you think is happening to Ariadne?

Love you all!