NOT ALONE TONIGHT

"we'll trade hearts, to watch over each other"

IF NOT FOR ARIADNE, PIPER WOULD'VE DIED.

Jason and Percy charged each other, but Ariadne pulled her out of the way. They rolled onto the ground away from the two boys and their horses, who balked.

The boys crossed swords, gold against bronze. Sparks flew. Their blades blurred—strike and parry—and the pavement trembled. The first exchange only took a second, but Piper looked horrified at the speed of their sword fighting. Ariadne, on the other hand, could see their exact movements in slow motion, having trained herself that way for years. The horses pulled away from each other—Tempest thundering in protest, Blackjack flapping his wings.

"Stop it!" Piper yelled.

For a moment, Jason heeded her voice. His golden eyes turned toward her, and Percy charged, slamming his blade into Jason. Percy turned his sword—maybe on purpose, maybe accidentally—so the flat of it hit Jason's chest; but the impact was still enough to knock Jason off his Mount.

Blackjack cantered away as Tempest reared in confusion. The spirit horse charged into the sunflowers and dissipated into vapor. Percy struggled to turn his pegasus around.

Ariadne raised her sword, but her hand went weak, cradling her now pounding head as another wave of pain washed over it. She could hear the wheat crackling in a distant laugh. Her eyes didn't regain clear sight until a bolt of lighting arced out of the clear blue sky. It ricocheted off Jason's gladius and blasted Percy off his horse.

Blackjack whinnied and fled into the wheat fields. Jason charged at Percy, who was now on his back, his clothes smoking from the lightning blast. Ariadne stepped in quickly.

Her sword clashes against Jason's. He stumbled back from her strength, but grit his teeth while those gold eyes bore into her skull. It was all too similar to the way Luke had looked at her—it was too much for her.

Gaea seemed to be whispering to her: You must choose one. Do it. Kill Jason, save your precious Percy.

"Jason, stop!" Piper screamed.

He froze, his sword loosening. Jason turned, the gold light in his eyes flickering uncertainly. "I cannot stop. One must die."

Whoever spoke they did so haltingly, as if English was Its second language.

"Who are you?" Piper demanded.

Jason's mouth twisted in a gruesome smile. "We are the eidolons. We will live again."

"Eidolona...?" Ariadne's mind raced. With her now passing headache to her mind focusing on the fight at hand, she wasn't thinking about monster terms from her time at Camp Half-Blood. "You're—you're some sort of ghost?"

"He must die." Jason turned his attention back to Ariadne and Percy, but the girl stopped before the older boy's blade could knock against her.

Her sword was caught between the two, holding them at bay without any effort. Piper watched in amazement while gathering her words, richening her voice with as much charmspeak she could mutter. Although whatever was controlling Percy and Jason had all of their combat skills, she had them both beat.

Gaea forgot about Ariadne being better than anyone else.

The brunette quickly swept out Jason's legs and knocked him off his feet.

Jason's head hit the asphalt with a nauseating conk.

It was just her and Percy now. They needed some answers before she knocked him out, too.

"Eidolon, stop." Percy froze.

"Face Ariadne," Piper ordered.

The son of the sea god turned. His eyes were gold instead of green, his face pale and cruel, not at all like Percy's. No, it was exactly the look Luke had after Kronos possessed his body. Before he died.

"You have not chosen," he said. "So this one will die."

"Get out of my boyfriend," Ariadne growled. She glared at the creature. Not her boyfriend, but whatever had a hold on him. "You're a spirit from the Underworld."

Percy sneered. "I will love again in this body. The Earth Mother has promised. I will go where I please, control whom I wish."

A wave of cold washed over Piper. "Leo...that's what happened to Leo. He was being controlled by an eidolon."

The thing in Percy's form laughed without humor. "Too late you realize. You can trust no one."

Jason still wasn't moving. Ariadne hoped she hadn't severely hurt him.

Behind Percy, something rustled in the wheat. Percy began to turn toward the sound.

"Ignore it," Piper yelped. "Look at Ariadne."

Percy obeyed. "You cannot stop me. I will kill Jason Grace."

"No." Piper have Ariadne a look.

Ariadne put enough pressure on the hand holding his sword, causing it to become sore. Percy growled while she flipped the sword into her own hand, leaving him utterly defenseless. It took her less than a second before the hilt of her own was brought down on Percy's head. Percy crumpled to the pavement next to Jason.

"Oh, gods!" Piper ran to Ariadne and the boys. "You didn't kill them, did you?"

Blackjack emerged from the wheat field. Tempest was nowhere to be seen. The lightning steed had apparently returned to wherever storm spirits live on clear days.

Piper checked on Jason. He was breathing steadily, but two knocks on the skull in two days couldn't have been good for him. She gave the brunette a glance. "You couldn't have knocked him out another way?"

"Either way, his head was going to get the brunt of the damage."

Ariadne examined Percy's head. She didn't see any blood, but a large knot was forming where the horse had kicked him. "We have to get them both back to the ship," she told Blackjack.

The pegasus bobbed his head in agreement. He knelt to the ground, so that the two girls could drape Percy and Jason over his back. After a lot of hard work, they got them reasonably secured, Ariadne climbed onto Blackjack's back herself with Piper, and they took off for the ship.

The others were a little surprised when Ariadne and Piper came back on a pegasus with two unconscious demigods. While Frank and Hazel tended to Blackjack, Annabeth and Leo helped the two get the boys to the sickbay.

"At this rate, we're going to run out of ambrosia," Coach Hedge grumbled as he tended their wounds. "How come I never get invited on these violent trips?"

Piper sat at Jason's side. Ariadne gripped Percy's hand, inspecting the damage she had done to the back of his head.

"Leo," Piper said, "are we ready to sail?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Set course for Atlanta. I'll explain later."

"But...okay." He hurried off.

Annabeth didn't argue with Piper either. She was too busy leaning over Ariadne's shoulder while examining the lump on Percy's head. "What hit him?" she demanded.

"Ariadne," Piper said.

"What?"

Ariadne did her best to explain while Coach Hedge applied some healing paste to the boys' heads. He must've done something right, cause both groaned and opened their eyes.

Within a few minutes, Jason and Percy were sitting up in their berths and able to talk in complete sentences. Both had fuzzy memories of what had happened. When Piper described their duel on the highway, Jason winced.

"Knocked out twice in two days," he muttered. "Some demigod." He glanced sheepishly at Percy. "Sorry, man. I didn't mean to blast you."

Percy's shirt was peppered with burn holes. His hair was even more disheveled. Some of the holes laid around his stomach, causing Ariadne to avert her eyes, flushing slightly at his toned muscles. He had gotten stronger over the last few months. Despite that, he managed a weak laugh. "Not the first time. Your big sister got me good once at camp."

"Yeah, but...I could have killed you."

"It I could have killed you," Percy said.

Jason shrugged. "If there'd been an ocean in Kansas, maybe."

She sighed heavily. Percy gripped her hand tighter with each word that left Jason's mouth. He was trying to keep his cool. "I don't need an ocean—"

"Boys," Annabeth interrupted, "I'm sure you both would've been wonderful at killing each other. But right now, you need some rest."

"Food first," Percy said. "Please? And we really need to talk. Bacchus said some things that don't—"

"Bacchus?" Annabeth raised her hand. "Okay, fine. We need to talk. Mess hall. Ten minutes. I'll tell the others. And please, Percy...change your clothes. You smell like you've been run over by an electric horse."

The blonde glanced over at her brunette best friend. "Oh, and don't forget, boys—Ariadne would've killed you both before you even drew your swords."

Ariadne grinned at that.

***

     PERCY HAD HER EXPLAIN EVEN MORE ABOUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED. She obliged. Her story was a bit scattered, seeing as she had a splitting headache for the duration of the fight.

Once that had finished, they met up with the rest of the crew. Leo gave the helm to Coach Hedge again, after making the satyr promise he would not steer them to the nearest military base 'for fun.'

They gathered around the dining table, and Piper and Ariadne explained what had happened at TOPEKA 32–their conversation with Bacchus, the trap sprung by Gaea, Ariadne's headache, the eidolons that had possessed the boys."

"Of course!" Hazel slapped the table, which startled Frank so much, he dropped his burrito. "That's what happened to Leo too."

"So it wasn't my fault," Leo explained. "I didn't start World War Three. I just got possessed by an evil spirit. That's a relief!"

"By the Romans don't know that," Annabeth said. "And why would they take our word for it?"

"We could contact Reyna," Jason suggested. "She would believe us."

Jason turned to Piper with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. "You could convince her, Pipes. I know you could."

Piper became pale. Annabeth looked at her sympathetically. Even Hazel winced. Ariadne gave Jason an irritated look.

"I could try," Piper said halfheartedly. "But Octavian is the one we have to worry about. In my dagger blade, I saw him taking control of the Roman crowd. I'm not sure Reyna could stop him."

Jason's expression darkened. The other Romans—Hazel and Frank—nodded in agreement.

"She's right," Frank said. "This afternoon when we were scouting, we saw eagles again. They were a long way off, but closing fast. Octavian is on the warpath."

Hazel grimaced. "This is exactly the sort of opportunity Octavian has always wanted. He'll try to seize power. If Reyna objects, he'll say she's soft on the Greeks. As for those eagles...It's like they could smell us."

"They can," Jason said. "Roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical scent even better than monsters can. This ship might conceal us somewhat, but not completely—not from them."

Leo drummed his fingers. "Great. I should have installed a smoke screen that makes the ship smell like a giant chicken nugget. Remind me to invent that, next time."

Hazel frowned. "What is a chicken nugget?"

"Oh, man..." Leo shook his head in amazement. "That's right. You've missed the last like, seventy years. Well, my apprentice, a chicken nugget—"

"It doesn't matter," Ariadne interrupted. "The point is, we will have a hard time explaining the truth to the Romans. Even if there was a slight chance they'd believe us—"

"You're right." Jason leaned forward. "Like you said before, we should keep going. Once we're over the Atlantic, we'll be safe—at least from the legion."

He sounded depressed.

"How can you be sure?" Piper asked. "Why wouldn't they follow us?"

He shook his head. "You heard Reyna talking about the ancient lands. They're much too dangerous. Roman demigods have been forbidden to go there for generations. Even Octavian couldn't get around that rule."

Frank swallowed a bite of burrito like it had turned to cardboard in his mouth. "So, if we go there..."

"We'll be outlaws as well as traitors," Jason confirmed. "Any Roman demigod would have the right to kill us on sight. But I wouldn't worry about that. If we get across the Atlantic, they'll give up on chasing us. They'll assume that we'll die in the Mediterranean—the Mare Nostrum."

Percy pointed his pizza slice at Jason. "You, sir, are a ray of sunshine."

Jason didn't argue. The other demigods stared at their plates, except for Percy, who continued to enjoy his pizza. Ariadne picked at her chicken with her fork.

"So let's plan ahead," Percy suggested, "and make sure we don't die. Mr. D—Bacchus—Ugh, do I have to call him Mr. B now? Anyway, he mentioned the twins in Ella's prophecy. Two giants. Otis and, uh, something that started with an F?"

"Ephilates," Jason said.

"Twin giants, like Piper saw in her blade..." Annabeth ran her finger along the rim of her cup.

"They tried to reach Mount Olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains," Ariadne said, her voice harsh. "Also doesn't help that they're the bane of Dionysus."

Frank nearly choked. "Well, that's great. Giants who are meant to kill the strongest fighter's father. And you say Bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?"

"Something like that," Percy said. "I don't think we should count on his help this time. He wanted a tribute, and he made it pretty clear it would be a tribute we couldn't handle."

Silence fell around the table. Ariadne placed her fork down, resisting the urge to stab it into the wood beneath her plate in anger. Nothing about this whole situation felt right.

Percy placed his hand on her knee beneath the table. He knew she was beating herself up inside, he hated when she did that.

"She wants two of us," Piper murmured.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Today on the highway," she said, "Gaea told Ariadne that she needed the blood of only two demigods—one female, one male. She—she asked her to choose which boy would die."

Jason squeezed her hand. "But neither of us died."

"I know. It's just...Why would she want that?"

Leo whistled softly. "Guys, remember at the Wolf House? Our favorite ice princess, Khione? She talked about spilling Jason's blood, how it would taint the place for generations. Maybe demigod blood has some kind of power. When she said that the Greeks will go to war with the Romans when Gaea kills Ariadne, how Percy would react."

"Oh..." Percy set down his third pizza slice. He leaned back and stared at nothing, as if the sword hit to his head had just now registered.

"Percy?" Annabeth gave him a look.

"Oh, bad," he muttered. "Bad. Bad." He looked across the table at Frank and Hazel. "You guys remember Polybotes?"

"The giant who invaded Camp Jupiter," Hazel said. "The anti-Poseidon you whacked with a Terminus statue. Yes, I think I remember."

"I had a dream," Percy said, "when we were flying to Alaska. Polybotes was talking to the gorgons, and he said—he said he wanted me taken prisoner, not killed. He said, 'I want that one chained at my feet, so I can kill him when the time is ripe. His blood shall water the stones of Mount Olympus and wake Earth Mother!'"

Piper shook. "You think the giants will use our blood...the blood of two of us—"

"I don't know," Percy said. "But until we figure it out, I suggest we all try to avoid getting captured."

Jason grunted. "That I agree with."

"But how do we figure it out?" Hazel asked. "The Mark of Athena, the twins, Ella's prophecy...how does it all fit together?"

Annabeth pressed her hands against the edge of the table. "Piper, you told Leo to set our course for Atlanta."

"Right," Piper said. "Bacchus told us we should seek out...what was his name?"

"Phorcys," Percy said.

Ariadne raised a brow. "You know him?"

Percy shrugged. "I didn't recognize the name at first. Then Bacchus mentioned salt water, and it rang a bell. Phorcys is an old sea god from before my dad's time. Never met him, but supposedly he's a son of Gaea. I still don't understand what a deal god would be doing in Atlanta."

Leo snorted. "What's a wine god doing in Kansas? Gods are weird. Anyway, we should reach Atlanta by noon tomorrow, unless something else goes wrong."

"Don't even say that," Annabeth muttered. "It's getting late. We should all get some sleep."

"Wait," Piper said. Once more, everyone looked at her. "There's one last thing. The eidolons—the possessing spirits. They're still here, in this room."

That was when Ariadne felt the chill down her spine.

authors note:

Op what about to happen?

Guess!

Hope you guys are well, I hate school and I signed a bunch of paperwork for my job! Set up my first checking account and it's so scary to grow up someone help a bitch out!

Q: what superpower would be more powerful—kinetic energy absorption all the time, or becoming your own like star but it can only last a few minutes??
A: I'm seeing something so tell me what y'all think

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Love you guys!