CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:
SWEETER THAN POISON

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

ANNAIS WASN'T REALLY SURE how much time she spent waiting for Jason to regain consiousness. She just knew that she wouldn't be moving an inch from his side until he opened his eyes for her. She needed to see it for herself, that he'd make a complete recovery. Piper had tried to explain to her that he'd be okay so she didn't have to wait for him, but Annais didn't even move when Melanie came in to see her. His hand was warm against her own, but his eyes stayed shut tight, and that made her decision easy.

Mel had asked her to go with Leo and Hazel on a quest for some bronze. Mel clearly wasn't up for it. She'd been avoiding Leo at all costs since she regained consciousness, and her head was wrapped with a bandage that showed she wasn't well enough to even think about going anywhere. But Annais remained true to her word, and so Mel moved on to pestering Ezra instead.

At some point, the ship went dead silent. Everyone but Piper, Mel and Gleeson were off doing whatever it was they needed to do. She could hear Gleeson humming a tune in the room next door. Above her, the roof occasionally creaked with the footsteps of the other girls. But that was it. All Annais had to distract her was the routine movement of Jason's chest inhaling and exhaling air.

Eventually, she found herself resting her head on the palm of her hand, the other one remaining tightly grasped around his. For a second, she was startled at the resemblance to their first days back at Camp Half-Blood. Jason had stayed at her side for days while she rested. Annais would wait for days, too, if she had to.

But in the end, she didn't.

"When are you going to wake up for me?" she sighed about an hour after the ship emptied, lowering her other hand to trace absent-minded patterns on his arm. "I miss seeing your stupid eyes."

"You miss me?" a soft voice murmured, and Annais nearly flinched out of her chair from the shock of it.

"Gods, Jason," she exclaimed as the blonde boy chuckled at her reaction, bleary eyes peering up at her like he was seeing an angel waiting for him at Heaven's doors. It was lovesick, how Jason Grace looked at Annais Min. He was so far in that he couldn't see a way back out. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry." He didn't sound the least bit apologetic. "For the record, I missed you too."

Annais blushed but she said nothing about it as he tried to move his head, then winced at the pain that followed. "Careful," she squeezed his hand. "Piper said your head may hurt for a bit. Seriously, what is it with you getting knocked out all the time? Are you trying to beat the Guinness World Record for the most head injuries survived or something?"

Jason tried to laugh but ended up wincing again. "It's not like I can help it, baby."

Annais glowered but couldn't deny the growing intensity of her blush. "I thought I told you not to call me that."

"Well, what else am I meant to call you?"

Annais didn't respond. Instead, she allowed the question to hang between them as she looked at him, really looked at him, taking the moment in. Jason was okay. She could finally breathe easy, for real this time.

"I was really worried about you," she admitted, before she could second guess the sheer intimacy of the way she found herself speaking to him. Like she'd never get a chance to see something so beautiful again. Like any second now, he'd disappear.

Jason's teasing expression softened into something that tugged at her heart strings. Slowly, his free hand reached for her face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before coming down to brush against her cheek. His thumb traced her jawline, drawing her in closer, impossibly close...

"What are you doing?" she whispered into the receding gap between them.

Jason swallowed thickly, eyes not once tearing away from hers. "I was going to kiss you."

Oh. It was safe to say that Annais was surprised. Just how oblivious was she? He'd been looking at her like this since they returned from their quest six months ago. Did that mean — oh, wow, she was dumber than dumb.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" A tentative smile tugged at her lips that Jason's eyes keenly tracked.

He leaned in closer, so close that their lips actually brushed, just an inch apart. Annais went to close the gap...

The door slammed open.

Annais sent her seat flying as she stumbled to her feet, face flushing an even deeper shade of red as she stared at Ezra, Leo and Hazel in the doorway. The three of them had a large sheet of bronze between them, which Ezra honestly wasn't doing much to carry and instead was leaving to the other two. Leo was staring at them with a shit-eating grin on his face, blinding Annais with panic.

"This isn't what you think," she insisted, making him laugh.

"Well, that doesn't sound suspicious at all," Ezra smirked after Leo whispered something in her ear. "Oh. Ooh. Sorry to interrupt, sis, continue whatever it is you two were about to do."

Then, before Annais could get a word out, she turned and promptly closed the door in their faces.

Now alone again, Annais didn't have anywhere to look but Jason. He was smiling at her, and Annais found herself admiring his lips again, wondering just what it would have been like to properly kiss him. From the briefest brush of his mouth on hers, his lips were addictingly soft.

Gods, she wasn't going to get this out of her mind for a while.

"I should, uh..." she trailed off, stomach fluttering as she vaguely gestured to the door behind her. "Go check if the others are back."

"Okay," he said, then watched her leave until the door was closed again.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

AT THE END OF the day, as the sun began to set and New Rome was left far behind them, the seven and the Mins gathered below deck for dinner. Gleeson was guiding the ship while they ate and caught up on the events of the day, from what happened with the Romans to their quests for tar and bronze. From what Annais was able to put together, something had possessed Leo while he was on board the Argo II with Octavian and Mel, forcing him to lash out against Mel — the only person who could recognise spirits and expel them — then fire on New Rome once she was out of the way. Even with this knowledge, there was an obvious tension between Mel and her boyfriend. She couldn't quite meet his eyes, not even when he reached for her hand on the table and she snatched it away.

And the tension only got worse as Jason and Percy stared each other down, having gone to sit in the same chair at the head of the table. These were two obvious clashes of power just waiting for the other to bow to them. It was only a matter of time, really, before the storm bubbled over.

"So where to now?" Leo asked once everyone was properly seated. Jason settled beside Annais, leaving Annabeth and Ezra on either side of Percy. "I did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake but there's still a lot of damage. We should really put down again and fix things before we head across the Atlantic."

Percy, with his mouth full of pie, insisted, "We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter. Frank spotted some eagles over Salt Lake City. We figure the Romans aren't far behind us."

Annais let out a frustrated sigh, muttering to herself, "Of course they are."

Across from her, Piper starting biting her nails. "I don't suppose we could go back and try to reason with the Romans?" she asked, though everyone already knew what the answer would be. "Maybe... maybe, I didn't try hard enough with the charmspeak..."

"What were you supposed to do, Pipes?" Ezra scoffed. "You can't charm an entire town, not even Medea could do that. There were thousands of people there. Stop blaming yourself."

"Ezra's right," Jason said in agreement with the Min girl. "Whatever happened, it was Gaea's doing, to drive the two camps apart."

Piper still didn't seem certain. "Maybe if we could explain that..."

"With no proof?" Annabeth frowned. "And no idea what really happened? I appreciate what you're saying, Piper. I don't want the Romans on our bad side either, but until we understand what Gaea's up to, going back is suicide. Especially since somebody brought a sword behind the Pomerian Line and threatened Reyna with it."

"Wait, what?" Jason gasped, clearly missing that key detail in the recount of what happened. His eyes met Annais' then. She was quick to glance away. "Annais..."

Who would've thought she'd miss being called baby? She didn't know what to say. Just an hour ago, they nearly kissed, and now he was looking at her with so much disappointment that she could feel her heart stinging. And with the others watching them...

"Hey, lay off, Superman," Ezra cut in suddenly. More often than not lately, Annais found herself questioning just how powerful Ezra really was. It sounded stupid, but some days it seemed like Ezra could read her mind better than Annais knew it herself. "I had my bracelet with me too, remember?"

Jason's eyes darkened. "How could I forget?"

"Look, it doesn't matter now," Hazel intervened before Ezra could retort. "Annabeth's right, Piper. Reyna might listen but Octavian certainly won't. The Romans have honour to think about here. They've been attacked. They'll shoot first and ask questions later."

Piper sighed but didn't continue her argument. "You're right. We have to keep going. Not just because of the Romans. We have to hurry."

Hazel nodded in agreement, brows pinching in a grim line. "Nemesis said we only have six days until Nico dies and Rome is destroyed."

Annais' heart sank. Nico. Again, she'd forgotten about him. She swallowed thickly, glancing at Jason out of the corner of her eye. He refused to look back at her. Instead, he observed Hazel with a wary frown.

"You mean Rome Rome, not New Rome?"

"I think," she shrugged. "But if so, that's not much time."

"Why six days?" Percy wondered aloud. "And how are they going to destroy Rome?"

There was no real way of knowing what Percy was searching for. As usual, their quest seemed almost impossible, the end so far out of reach.

And to make matters just that bit worse, Piper went on to say, "There's more. I've been seeing some things in my knife."

Frank frowned over a half-eaten bowl of spaghetti. "Things such as..."

"Well, they don't really make sense," she admitted. "Just garbled images. But I saw two giants. They were dressed alike. Maybe twins."

Annabeth's breath hitched, gaze catching Annais' over the table. "Twins, like in Ella's prophecy. If we could figure out those lines, it might help."

Annais wondered if she'd tell them what Reyna had said. When she clearly hesitated, she decided she wouldn't.

"You know, Annabeth, Juno told me... she said you had a hard task ahead of you in Rome," Percy spoke up with a thoughtful look on his face. He was watching her knowingly, like he could see right through her silence. "She said she doubted you could do it. But I know she's wrong."

Annabeth hesitated again. But unlike last time, she didn't stop herself from admitting the truth. "Reyna was about to tell Annais and I something right before the ship fired on us. She said there was an old legend among the Roman praetors... something that had to do with Athena. She said it might be the reason that Greeks and Romans could never get along."

"Nemesis mentioned something similar," Leo added, voice suddenly shaking as he and Hazel shared a meaningful glance. Mel stabbed at her chicken sourly. "She talked about an old score that had to be settled."

"The one thing that might bring the Gods' two natures into harmony," Hazel repeated the Goddesses words. "'An old wrong finally avenged.'"

Percy let out a sigh, clearly growing frustrated going around in circles. "I was only a Praetor for about two hours. Jason, you ever hear a legend like that?"

"I... I'm not sure," Jason stammered, obviously caught off guard. "I'll give it some thought."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "You're not sure?"

Instinctively, Annais cut him off with a glare. "Percy, drop it. Let him think about it."

Even if Jason was angry with her, she'd have his back.

Percy looked ready to protest. He probably would've if Ezra hadn't squeezed his hand beseechingly. For a moment, the group sat in silence, forks scraping idly against emptying plates. This whole time, Annais had been subconsciously eating, but she could barely taste the pasta dish before her. Every bite was like shovelling down ash, leaving a sinking feeling of nausea in her stomach.

At last, someone spoke.

"What about the other lines?" Hazel asked. "'Twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death.'"

"'Giants' bane stands gold and pale,'" Frank continued with a brooding frown. "'Won through pain from a woven jail.'"

"Pain from a woven jail," Ezra repeated grimly. "Sounds pleasant."

"Yeah, but the giants' bane," Leo countered with a hint of hope. "Anything that's a giants' bane is good for us, right? That's probably what we need to find. If it can help the Gods get their schizophrenic act together, that's good."

Percy nodded slowly, though he looked troubled as he said, "But we can't kill the giants without the help of the Gods."

Jason turned to Frank and Hazel with a curious glimmer in his eye. "I thought you guys killed that one giant in Alaska without a God's help, just the two of you."

"Alcyoneus was a special case," Frank sighed. "He was only immortal in the territory where he was reborn; Alaska. But not in Canada. I wish I could kill all the giants by dragging them across the border from Alaska into Canada, but..." He shrugged, glancing at the sea-eyed boy opposite him. "Look, Percy's right. We'll need the Gods."

"Great," Ezra grunted. "So we're screwed then."

She knew better than anyone else that a God helping them would be really unlikely.

"So..." Leo hummed, pushing his chair away from the table and standing to address the group. "First things first, I guess; we'll have to put down in the morning to finish repairs."

"Someplace close to a city," Annabeth was quick to suggest. "In case we need supplies. But somewhere out of the way, so the Romans will have trouble finding us. Any ideas?"

Annais was stumped, her head spinning in useless loops of how the fuck are we meant to do this? It seemed everyone else was in the same state. There were no suggestions for a long moment, just that same maddening silence that Annais was growing to hate.

Then, at last, Piper sat forward, and a spark of life returned.

"Well," she smiled like she knew something they didn't. "How do you guys feel about Kansas?"

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

IN THE END, ANNAIS somehow found herself going with Jason, Piper and Percy to find Bacchus the Wine God. Piper had told them what she saw in her knife; a man dressed in purple who was holding maroon liquid in a goblet. Jason was quick to recognise the description.

"Purple shirt?" he repeated eagerly. "And vines on his hat? That sounds like Bacchus."

"Dionysus," Percy groaned in juxtaposition to the Roman boy. He and Annais shared a knowing look that brought a scowl onto Jason's face. "If we came all the way to Kansas to see Mr D..."

"Bacchus isn't so bad," Jason defended. Annais wasn't sure if he was being truthful or if he just wanted to argue with Percy. "I don't like his followers much, but the God himself is okay. I did him a favour once up in the wine country."

Percy still didn't look convinced but chose not to argue as he shrugged and said, "Look, it's whatever, man. Maybe, he's better on the Roman side."

"Doubt it," Annais scoffed, causing Percy to grin and continue, "But why would he be hanging around in Kansas? Didn't Zeus order the Gods to cease all contact with mortals?"

To the right of them, where the others were listening to their discussion, Ezra let out an amused snort. "Percy, you should know first-hand that the Gods never follow what Zeus tells them to do. Not even Mother does, and she's his wife."

At that, both Hazel and Frank's heads snapped towards her and they frowned in confusion and faint distrust, but Percy didn't seem surprised. It hit Annais hard. Ezra had told him about her true parentage. Annais tried not to let that sting. It took a whole prophecy being revealed for her and Melanie to find out, whereas Percy showed up for all of two days and everything was so easy...

"Besides," Frank added, effectively cutting off the downward spiral of her thoughts. "If the Gods have gone schizophrenic like Hazel said—"

"And Leo said," added the boy in question with a displeased pout.

Frank rolled his eyes but tried his best not to give into Leo's taunts. "Then who knows what's going on with the Olympians. Could be some pretty bad stuff out there."

"Sounds dangerous!" Leo said with a cheerful grin. He shot Annais a thumbs up, ignoring the annoyed glare she sent him in response. "Well, you guys have fun. I've got to finish repairs on the hull. Coach Hedge is gonna work on the broken crossbows. And Annabeth, I could really use your help. You're the only other person who even sort of understands engineering."

Annabeth let out a disappointed sigh, turning her apologetic gaze to a fortunately unbothered Percy. "He's right. I should stay and help."

"I'll come back to you," he assured her, smiling as he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. Annabeth's face flared in a rare display of fondness. "I promise."

Annais turned to look at Jason then, meeting his gaze momentarily before he forcefully glanced away. They hadn't spoken since the night before, when Jason expressed his disappointment in her for bringing her sword into New Rome. She didn't know if he was angry at her or just too busy to think about it. She wanted to ask but feared the answer she'd receive. So there they were, stagnant.

Fortunately, Frank spoke up again and stopped the awkward tension from lingering. "I think I should turn into a crow or something and fly around, keep an eye out for Roman eagles."

"Why a crow?" Leo asked. "Man, if you can turn into a dragon, why don't you just turn into a dragon every time? That's the coolest."

Frank scoffed, his annoyance slowly but surely bubbling over. "That's like asking why you don't bench-press your maximum weight every time you lift. Because it's hard and you'd hurt yourself. Turning into a dragon isn't easy."

"Oh," Leo shrugged, unphased by his obvious displeasure. If anything, it fuelled him like gasoline to an open flame. "I wouldn't know. I don't lift weights."

"Yeah? Well, maybe you should consider it, Mr—"

If she was being completely honest, Annais just didn't understand the whole face-off between Frank and Leo. It seemed like Frank was jealous of Leo, because Hazel somehow recognised the boy — which was a long story. Mel had explained some of it to Annais when she tried to convince her to go with Leo and Hazel, but in all honesty it had gone through one ear and out the other — and therefore Hazel found herself drawn to him. But as far as Annais was aware, Leo was still in a relationship with Mel, and nothing had happened between him and Hazel to suggest that Hazel even found herself attracted to him. So, really, the whole thing seemed incredibly stupid.

But, then again, that was Leo for you.

And Annais was known to be hypocritical sometimes.

"I'll help you, Frank," Hazel offered as she stepped in between the boys quickly. "I can summon Arion and scout around below."

"Sure," Frank mumbled, though he continued to glower at Leo over her head. "Yeah, thanks."

With that sorted, Hazel turned to Percy. "Just be careful when you go out there. Lots of fields, lots of crops. Could be Karpoi on the loose."

"Karpoi?" Piper frowned at the unfamiliar term.

"Grain spirits," Hazel clarified with a shudder. "You don't want to meet them."

"Alright then..." Annais muttered.

For a second, she met Mel's eyes, feeling encouraged when she nodded. The night before, while everyone else was asleep and Annais laid wide awake in the suffocating confines of her room, realisation had struck her. Before the thought could drift away as her eyes grew heavy, Annais forced herself out of bed. She slipped down the corridor, doing her best to miss the creaking boards as she knew Gleeson would easily here them. First, she woke up Mel, who grumbled the whole way to Ezra's room where the girl in question was already sitting awake.

We need to do something, Annais had insisted, voice barely reaching above a whisper as she tucked herself beneath the covers of Ezra's bed. We must be here for a reason.

I've been thinking the same thing, Mel admitted from the other side of Ezra. She had her head resting on the dark-haired girl's shoulder, Ezra only vaguely listening as she twisted Penelope's hairpin between her fingers.

At last, she broke the silence by murmuring, What do you have in mind?

Which brought them to the next morning where Annais stood with all eyes on her.

"Before we do anything, I've been discussing... things with Ezra and Mel. Seeing as it's our quest — or whatever this is — to get you guys through to face Gaea, we think that one of us should be with you whenever you leave this ship. Anyone object to that?"

"Do you guys even know why you're here?" Percy frowned at the three of them, but he didn't seem unhappy with the idea. An excuse to spend more time with Ezra? He'd take it!

Mel sighed. "We weren't lying when we told Reyna we don't know anything. We just got our prophecy from Chiron and that's it. Personally, I think it's because of our connection to the Underworld, but I don't know. It could be anything, really."

"In that case, one of you needs to come with us," Percy said, already looking at Ezra hopefully. "Ez—"

But Ezra was quick to cut him off with a shake of her head. "Sorry, Percy. I'd rather chew off my own foot than see Dionysus again."

"Well, technically, this is Bacchus—"

"Same thing."

Percy's shoulders slumped. He knew he wouldn't get anywhere with a stubborn Ezra Min. Mel went to speak up then, obviously wanting to volunteer so she could avoid Leo for just that bit longer, but Annais wasn't having it anymore. Quite frankly, she was sick of the tension, not to mention having Mel hang around her like a bad smell.

"I'll go," she declared, shooting Mel a smirk when she frowned at her. "I don't want to leave Jason."

"Of course you don't," Ezra snickered under her breath, but Annais refused to acknowledge her with Jason gazing at her with what could've been a tiny smile.

Hey, progress, right?

"Then that leaves you with me, Jason and Piper," Percy sighed, not at the thought of being around Annais, but of what lay ahead for them. "I'm not psyched about seeing Mr D again. That guy is a pain. But, Jason, if you're on better terms with him..."

"Yeah," Jason nodded. "If we find him, I'll talk to him. And Piper, it's your vision, so you should take the lead."

"Of course," Piper tried her best to seem confident. Annais saw right through her but the others seemed to take her word for it. "Let's find the highway."

And so it was settled.

Now, time to find good ol' Dionysus.