CHAPTER NINETEEN:
LADY OF MERCY

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JASON'S STRENGTH HADN'T FAILED him yet. He persevered, albeit unconscious, long enough for them to get him safely back on board the Argo II. Their friends were dismayed at the sight of him, of course, but they were careful not to test Annais' fluctuating emotions, leaving her to hover over him like a mother hen. It was still touch and go, and while she was assured by the steady beat of his heart that he had some fight left in him, she was full of fear and running on no sleep. She'd sat awake to the early hours of the morning, her hand resting on his chest, regularly checking and changing his bandages. The wound was red raw and smoking, but no change was better than a decline -- at least, that was what she told herself.

By morning, he was awake as if nothing had happened. Somehow, he convinced her to let him out of bed-rest (or boredom jail, as he called it) so he could enjoy breakfast with their friends. That was how she found herself in the Mess Hall, wedged between Jason -- who tried and failed to hide his regular winces of pain from her whenever she accidentally brushed against him -- and Leo, who had wandered in late covered in grease from whatever project he was currently working on. She heard him giving Buford the Wonder Table strict directions for manning the helm before closing the door behind him.

"Morning, Annie," he ruffled her hair, then swiftly dodged her swinging fist. "Gee, you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?"

Annais wasn't about to admit that she didn't sleep, so instead she narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "I hate you."

"Love you too," he turned to Jason. "How you feeling, man?"

"Great," muttered Jason, pushing some food around on his plate. "Never better."

Leo flicked his eyes to Annais, raising his eyebrows. She shook her head. Privately, she'd admitted when he managed to drag her away from Jason for a second that she didn't have high hopes for an easy recovery. How could she? Ambrosia, nectar and even mortal medicine did nothing to improve his condition. A deep cut from Celestial bronze or Imperial Gold could dissolve a demigod's essence from the inside out. No matter what he said, this injury had knocked him down hard.

"Ooh, brownies," Leo was quick to get distracted. He reached for the plate in front of Ezra, who had piled them high like she was stocking up for the Winter. He let out a yelp as her hand suddenly shot out to smack him. "Hey! You Mins need to learn some manners. Can't I have one?"

"One," Ezra grunted, and Leo snatched up a brownie before she could change her mind.

Annais stared at Ezra curiously, wondering what she was thinking. She was dead silent when Annais and Jason joined them, only murmuring quick, quiet replies to Annabeth and Percy who were sitting on either side of her and deep in an amused conversation about Percy drowning his pancakes in syrup.

Oddly enough, it seemed like Ezra had separated herself from Penelope on purpose. Annais knew something had happened while they were gone -- Penelope's long hair had been sliced by some kind of jagged blade and Ezra was clinging to the charms of her bracelet periodically like she was checking they hadn't been stolen -- but Annais had been too focused on Jason to pay any real attention to the tension. Nobody seemed keen to address it; for once, she didn't want to pry.

The intercom crackled, catching her attention. In a rather convincing imitation of Hedge, Buford's robotic voice yelled over the speakers, "PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"

Everyone jumped. Percy accidentally spilled syrup on himself and an unimpressed Ezra. Hazel tumbled out of her seat and Frank, without thinking, had morphed into an overgrown bulldog. Penelope was the only one to sit unaffected, snacking on some peanuts. Annais gripped Jason's arm as he gasped and clutched his side.

"I'm alright," he said, which did nothing to convince her. "Just stings a bit."

Piper glared at Leo. "I thought you were getting rid of that stupid hologram."

"Hey, Buford's just saying good morning. He loves his hologram. Besides, we all miss the Coach."

"Not really," Ezra muttered under her breath.

Leo, of course, ignored her. "And Frank makes a cute bulldog."

Frank's face went bright red. "Just sit down, Leo. We've got stuff to talk about."

Once they were settled again, Jason leaned forward to get everyone's attention.

"So," he said, laying out the plan. "We're going to stay airborne and drop anchor as close as we can get to Olympia. It's further inland than I'd like -- about five miles -- but we don't have much choice. According to Juno, we have to find the Goddess of victory and, um... subdue her."

"That's one way to put it," Annais said grimly.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.

Percy, who was sipping from his syrup-flavoured orange juice, was the first to speak. "I'm cool with fighting the occasional Goddess, but isn't Nike one of the good ones? I mean, personally, I like victory. I can't get enough of it."

"Agreed," Mel piped up. "Something doesn't feel right."

"I understand why Nike would be in Olympia," said Annabeth, ever the pragmatic one of the group. "Home of the Olympics and all that. The contestants sacrificed to her. Greeks and Romans worshipped her there for, like, twelve hundred years."

"Almost to the end of the Roman Empire," Frank added. "Romans called her Victoria, but same difference. Everybody loved her. Who doesn't like to win? Not sure why we would have to subdue her."

It didn't make sense to Annais either. "Shouldn't we want as many Gods and Goddesses on our side as we can get? Subduing Nike doesn't do us any favours."

Jason frowned. "All I know is that ghoul, Antinous, said that victory runs rampant in Olympia. Juno warned us that we could never heal the rift between the Greeks and Romans unless we defeated victory."

"How do we defeat victory?" Piper asked what Annais was thinking. It seemed pointless, like they'd be playing a losing game. "Sounds like one of those impossible riddles."

Leo eagerly stuffed a handful of Fonzies into his mouth. "Like making stones fly or only eating one Fonzie."

Mel shook her head, though she was smiling, heart-eyed, at the side of his head. "That stuff is going to kill you, Leo."

"You kidding?" he chuckled. "So many preservatives in these things, I'll live forever."

Annais rolled her eyes. "Pretty sure that's not how it works but okay."

"Anyway, about this victory Goddess being popular and great, don't you guys remember what her kids are like at Camp Half-Blood?"

Annais winced. She'd had more than her fair share of run-ins with the children of Nike and she herself was not all that different from them. Both children of the Underworld, both with that sense of unshakable darkness in them. Only, the one thing that was meant to unite them seemed to pit them against each other tirelessly. The children of victory were strongest in their isolation.

"He's got a point," Percy agreed, recalling his own challenges with them. "Those kids in Cabin Seventeen, they're super competitive. When it comes to capture the flag, they're almost worse than the Ares kids. Uh, no offence, Frank."

Frank shrugged, not all that bothered. "You're saying Nike has a dark side?"

Ezra snorted. "We all have dark sides, Zhang. No need to point out the obvious."

"I think what Ezra is trying to say," Mel cleared her throat. "Is that Nike, like most of the Gods, is unpredictable. If her children are brought up in her image -- competitive, constantly seeking out challenges -- then we shouldn't go into this thinking it's going to be easy."

"If the Gods are split between their Greek and Roman aspects, and if Nike's that way and she's the Goddess of victory..."

"I see where you're going with this," Annabeth nodded at Piper. "She's going to be really conflicted. She'd want one side or the other to win so she could declare a victor. She'd literally be fighting with herself."

"But we don't want one side or the other to win," Hazel sighed. "We've got to get the Greeks and Romans on the same team."

"And that's what Hea and the others are trying to do for us, so we can focus solely on what's ahead," Annais said.

She was suddenly reminded of Penelope's presence in the room, the infuriatingly calm way her lips had tugged into a smirk. She was amused by them, looking down on them from that self-absorbed pedestal of hers. It was clear as day that she thought their entire conversation was pointless. Penelope would forever be two steps ahead in this game she'd decided they were playing. Whatever might've happened between herself and Ezra, she was putting herself back together, piece by broken piece, in spite of her sisters.

They were in this mess because of her. Was Annais expecting too much by demanding she get them out of it?

"Maybe that's the problem," Jason frowned. "If the Goddess of victory is running rampant, torn between Greek and Roman, she might make it impossible to bring the two camps together."

Leo scoffed. "How? Start a flame war on Twitter?"

"With what phone?" Annais raised her eyebrows.

"...You have a point."

Percy stabbed his fork into his pancakes. "Maybe she's like Ares. That guy can spark a fight just by walking into a crowded room--"

"We know someone else like that," muttered Leo, unable to resist.

"I can feel you watching me, Valdez," Ezra grumbled.

"I never said nothing," he raised his hands in surrender. "But if the shoe fits..." Ezra rounded on him with gritted teeth. Cowering almost immediately, Leo's hands dropped and he hid them in his hoodie pockets. "Who said that? Definitely not Leo..."

Frank cleared his throat. "Anyway. You remember that old sea god in Atlanta? Phorcys said that Gaia's plans always have lots of layers. This could be part of the giants' strategy. Keep the two camps divided, keep the Gods divided."

It seemed simple enough -- too simple, almost -- but something very easily achieved.

"If that's the case, we can't let Nike play us against each other," Frank continued. "We should send a landing party of four -- two Greeks, two Romans, and that includes one of you Mins," he added as Mel went to point out the hitch in his plan. "No tag-alongs. The balance might keep her balanced."

"I think Frank is right," Annabeth said before anyone else was able to voice their opinion. Not that Annais would disagree. Frank was making a lot of sense. "A party of four... we'll have to be careful who goes--"

Ezra huffed, unimpressed but not surprised.

"We don't want to do anything that might make the Goddess... um... more unstable."

"I'll go," Piper sat forward. "I can try charm-speaking."

Penelope scoffed. "That's an awful idea, daughter of Aphrodite."

Piper frowned and crossed her arms. "How so?"

Penelope levelled her with a disappointed look, as if this should've been obvious. "Well, first, attempting to charmspeak a Goddess of Nike's status is irrefutably idiotic. She's stronger than you, for one, and she'll immediately know what you're doing. She'll take it as a threat and any hope you have of getting through to her is gone."

"Okay--"

"You're also a daughter of another Goddess renowned for competition. You're a walking hazard."

"Then so are you," Annais bristled. "Demigod back from the dead. Daughter of Kronos, at that. She'd take one look at you and wouldn't even wait to hear us out."

"True," Penelope agreed with a suspiciously congenial smile. "I wasn't planning to go anyways."

Of course she wasn't.

" Jason and Percy shouldn't go together," Annabeth braved the silence so they could end this conversation. "Jupiter and Poseidon is a bad combination. Nike could start you two fighting easily."

Percy smirked. "Yeah, we can't have another incident like in Kansas."

Ezra shuddered. "Yeah, I'd rather not get stabbed again."

"You won't if you stay here," Annabeth gently squeezed her hand. Ezra didn't argue.

"And I don't want to kill my bro, Jason," Percy continued.

"Or I might kill my bro, Percy," Jason said just as amiably, as if he was discussing the weather.

"You've proved my point," Annabeth sighed. "We also shouldn't send Frank and me together. Mars and Athena -- that would be just as bad."

"Okay, well, now that we've ruled out pretty much everyone in the room," Mel muttered. "It's down to me, Leo, Annais, Frank and Hazel. Wanna sit this one out, Annais? You should really have a break after yesterday."

Annais shrugged, choosing to ignore the last bit. "Sounds good to me."

She really had been going non-stop for what felt like forever. She could use some time to just stop and unwind.

"So is that the ultimate non-competitive dream team or what?" Leo asked as Annabeth and Frank exchanged a mutual war-godly look.

"It could work," Frank said at last. "I mean, no combination is going to be perfect. I am hesitant to bring you, Mel, but we need one of you... I'd say you're the best choice out of the four of you here. Apart from that... Hephaestus, Pluto, Mars... well, I don't see any huge antagonism there."

Hazel, tracing her fingers across a map of Greece, said, "I still wish we could've gone through the Gulf of Corinth. I was hoping we could visit Delphi, maybe get some advice. Plus, it's such a long way around the Peloponnese."

Leo's easy smile faded. "Yeah, it's July twenty-second already. Counting today, only ten days until--"

"I know," Jason cut him off, grimacing and rubbing the muscles above his wound. Annais feared it might've suddenly spread, like some kind of disease beneath the skin, but then he sat forward as if nothing happened. "But Juno was clear. The shorter way would have been suicide."

Piper leaned across the table then, anxious for a closer look at the map. "And as for Delphi, what's going on there? If Apollo doesn't have his Oracle any more..."

Penelope gasped but the sound was lost beneath the continuing conversation, only caught because Annais had turned to her the second Piper unknowingly said his name. For the briefest second, a flash of agony crossed Penelope's face. She looked breakable. Caught beneath a wave of emotion she had forgotten how to feel. She shoved out of her seat, earning a few confused looks as she left the room, but nobody knew Penelope well enough to determine if this was unusual for her. The conversation kept going. Annais watched her slam the door shut.

"First things first," Annabeth was saying. "You guys have to find Nike and figure out how to subdue her... whatever Juno means by that. I still don't understand how you defeat a Goddess who controls victory. Seems impossible."

Leo's familiar grin returned. "We'll see about that. Let me get my collection of grenades and I'll meet you on deck."

Frank opened his mouth to protest but Leo was already long gone. Rising to her feet, Annais rounded the table to clap him on the shoulder. "Good luck with your dream team, Frank."

"Yeah," he muttered. "Thanks."

He was going to need it.

"You'll be okay on your own for a minute?" Annais whispered to Jason as the others started to leave the room.

"I'll be fine," he insisted, though he hesitated when the reality of the look on her face sunk in. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing," she kissed his cheek. "Stay put, alright?"

He scoffed. "I'm not a dog."

"No, but you'll do as I say," she managed a grin.

He sighed in defeat. "Yeah."

The second the door swung shut behind her, leaving Annabeth and Piper to fuss over him in her place, her smile dropped. This was a horrible idea, a stupid one, it wasn't going to solve anything... she went downstairs in search of Penelope. It took her a bit to find her, but there she was, haunting Ezra's cabin. Annais knocked on the half-open door before letting herself in.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, sister-of-mine?" Penelope sighed.

Annais scoffed, shutting the door behind her. "At least pretend you missed me, Penelope."

Penelope pursed her lips. "I did miss you."

Annais merely blinked. The words had no effect on her. It wasn't like Penelope had gone away for a holiday. She was dead. Annais had gotten used to knowing that Penelope would never feel anything again. Hearing her say that she missed her was foreign. She didn't believe it, not did she care for it.

"You can't just leave like that, you know," she said, redirecting the conversation as she saw fit.

Penelope paused, turning away from the window. Slowly, she tucked her uneven hair behind her ear, unable to hide her grimace when her fingers slipped through the ends in search of her missing strands. Was this the time to ask about it? When they were alone? Would Penelope lie to her if nobody was there to witness it?

It dawned on her, then, that this was the first time she'd spent with Penelope where nobody else was around to mediate. Suddenly, the room seemed impossibly cold. This was dangerous territory.

"Who says?" Penelope hummed.

Annais scowled. "Me. All of us. We're in this together--" Because of you. "Now more than ever, we need all hands on deck. Can we count on you?"

Penelope's gaze dropped to her feet. Annais waited for a second, then two, that seemed to stretch on for a minute. No. Her lack of an answer was enough, and Annais certainly wasn't shocked. Still, she waited another moment, just in case. Then she let her arms drop to her sides in some semblance of defeat.

"I blamed Ezra when I found out you were the reason we were in this mess," she said, fighting back the burn in her chest. "We fought the day she, Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus. I can never take those words back."

"I don't think she holds them against you," Penelope broke her silence at last. "Ezra doesn't have the space for resentment right now."

"Really? I'm not so sure that's true. She did that to your hair."

Realising that Annais was staring at her hands, she let them drop from her head. "Resentment and anger are two different things. Ezra's angry, but you're both."

"What's she angry about?" she pressed, ignoring the prickle of emotion that crawled up her throat.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"But we have bigger things to worry about."

"Don't," Annais snapped.

Penelope sighed. "It was a misunderstanding, alright? I borrowed one of the charms from her bracelet and she didn't appreciate it."

"Which one?"

"The scythe."

Everything in Annais demanded an answer. Why? That was the age-old question. It was the scythe that she turned back time for, that ripped through blood and bone and took her life. Penelope would've known that Ezra would not willingly part with it, so she took it without her knowing -- until Ezra found out, inevitably noticing its absence. She released her frustrations in slicing Penelope's hair off instead of her head.

But why?

"What were you going to do with it?"

"You've always needed an answer to everything, Annais," Penelope muttered, dragging her fidgeting hands across her face, but they did nothing to hide her exhaustion. "Because I wanted to. Because it's the root of all my problems." And now her solution. "Because it was my father's. Is that suitable enough for you? Or do you want to crawl inside my skin and read my thoughts like they're your own?"

Penelope was a weapon herself, a killer. You could use a spear as a walking stick, but it would not change its nature. You could bring a girl back from the dead, but it would not make her human.

Annais began to turn and face the door. "Just don't leave like that again. We've got a burden to share. Do your bit and hold up your corner of the Heavens, sister. You're already starting to slip."

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A/N: I can't lie, I hate the way this chapter turned out, but if I don't post it I'll never finish this story so here it is