This might end up being a long arse chapter, but it'll be worth it in the end. Plus are longer chapters really that awful to begin with? There will be a POV change partway through the chapter as we go into a flashback but just look for the bolded text warning you of it and you'll be fine.

I'm so sorry this is longer than I anticipated but I can't split it nicely anywhere.... 

Enjoy! CamBil

Jason POV

"What's up my man?" Percy lowered Riptide as he stepped towards the fountain. I lowered my sword like the rest of the demigods present. Hermione's wand was still pointed at the iris message in confusion, I reached across the table and lowered it with a reassuring smile.

"What the hell Perc! What have you been doing? Whatever it is you're doing over there in Europe quit it, it's driving me nuts! Why are you so stressed and hurt?" Percy frowned at the redhead while Hermione stepped forward to be seen and heard by the Satyr.

"Who is that? How can we see him? What is he? Are those donkey legs...." I covered my mouth to stifle my laugh as Grover snorted from the Iris message.

"I am half Goat thank you very much. My name is Grover and this is an Iris message and I am a Satyr. Who are you? I would also appreciate an answer Perc. Get talking." Connor snorted at Hermione's flabbergasted face. Percy gestured back and forth between the bushy-haired girl and furry legged boy, stifling a laugh himself.

"Grover this is Hermione Granger, Hermione, Grover Underwood. She's a witch here at Hogwarts and she knows about us already so you're lucky on that front goat man." Grover rolled his eyes as my sister pulled Hermione away to explain what a Satyr and Iris message was.

"Half Goat?" Hermione whispered conspiratorially while Thalia suppressed a grin, leading her away from the conversation.

"You're dodging my questions again. I've been so stressed because of you that I can't digest tin cans and I've fallen seriously ill twice in the past few days. I'm calling for answers. What in Pan's name are you doing over there that hurts so much." Percy flinched at his words, his face draining of colour. Annabeth took no time walking right up to her boyfriend with furrowed eyebrows taking his arm reassuringly,

"The empathy link.... I forgot about it." Annabeth whispered, I frowned. Based on the looks around the room everyone else had as well except Will and Nico who both had mirrored worried faces. Nico's face was flickering through emotions and thoughts so fast it was hard to determine what the small boy was thinking. Grover scoffed,

"No kidding, I want answers. Juniper had to get someone to come and grab me two days ago because I collapsed. I got some weird images from the past thrown into my brain for like ten minutes. Was that you?" I saw Percy tense and felt my own body do the same. I didn't want Percy to come for me again, we'd just gotten over the last incident around this table. Not wanting a repeat I sat down quietly to bravely hide next to Frank and Piper, both of which were slouched in a similar manner on the couch. Percy cleared his throat,

"Yeah, yeah that was me. One of the teachers here is an oracle or something, she started spewing old prophecies chasing us around the classroom showing us what we experienced on said quests. I kinda lost control of my powers for a while. We all did." Grover's jaw dropped and his eyes flashed dangerously in a way I hadn't seen from the Satyr before, usually, he was the happiest person I'd ever met, other than maybe Dakota when we got a new batch of kool-aid in.

"All of them?" Grover whispered causing Percy to nod softly,

"Zeus' blazing underpants Perc, are you all you guys okay?" Annabeth answered,

"For the most part. There are some lingering effects, memory flashes at night, and zoning out for short periods of time. Lucky for us we had the Stolls, Piper, Hazel, and our girl Hermione to keep the rest of us in line." Percy's torn voice cut in, causing all of us on the couches to look away. Too afraid to leave but too uncomfortable to watch.

"I'm so sorry Grover I didn't even think about the link. Gods that makes this so much worse." Grover's face twitched.

"Stop stressing Perc, Chiron told me that there was a tournament of some kind. Mind telling me what that is about?" He glanced to the side for a moment with wide eyes before Percy spoke with a harsh laugh,

"Yeah, about that. One person from each 'school' was chosen, so I got picked for the death games. They also selected a fourteen-year-old who's name should have never been in there in the first place. They are forcing him to compete. We just finished our first task of three a few days ago, that was probably the first seriously bad feeling you felt. I got rocked by a freaking-" Grover interrupted Percy with a yelp as he was shoved out of the frame and a very angry daughter of Ares entered. Percy smirked with a glint in his eye, standing straighter.

"Clarisse, you didn't die then? Nice hair, did Laimer do that hack job?" The girl's hair in question was a mess, I could see that one side of her head had been roughly shaved while the other half was lying just below her shoulder with parts of it missing completely. Clarrise growled back with just as much malice,

"Prissy, you've looked better. You look like Di Angelo did when he came back with the statue from hell. That would be death itself." Percy's smile only grew more at the comeback and with a groan, I pushed my glasses farther up my face as I hoped their little pissing match would end sooner rather than later, I still wanted to know what kind of trouble the girls and Nico had gotten up too that they wouldn't even tell their significant others, especially Annabeth. The curiosity was killing me.

"I've met Thanatos, and that's a compliment." Clarise cursed in ancient greek before facing the message once more.

"You win this round Toilet Boy. You lot couldn't have waited another two days before going on another big quest with magic? I need new blood to torment a school full of magical forces is the best place for that." Leo snorted from across from me,

"Got that right, The Stolls and I have teamed up with a pair of jokester twins and their announcer friend to wreak havoc over here. Plus Thalia forced a dude to croak and shocked his lights out for like two weeks because he grabbed her." Clarrise nodded with a genuine smile, which set me on edge. Her smiles couldn't be described as nice because they usually had a motive behind them, lulling you into a false sense of security before she struck.

"Atta girl Thalia. Do me proud. Chase, don't let Prissy die, I want to have that privilege myself, for leaving me behind." Annabeth snorted before responding.

"That won't be a problem Clarisse, he somehow got the Curse of Achilles back from brief contact with some Styx flame, he won't be dying anytime soon. WE've had a few close calls though. So Grover you may feel awful for a while but you won't die because Percy'll be safe." Clarrise's jaw dropped and Grover's face was suddenly in the mist once more, sporting the same face as the daughter of war. Both campers screeched out a single what before turning to each other with faces of disgust. I couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped me.

"That means I will seriously kick the Ares cabins butt next time we play capture the flag." Percy goaded to which Annabeth lightly smacked his bicep while he chuckled. Clarrise bristled slightly before rolling her shoulders back nose in the air.

"I've got seven and a half months to plan now, thanks, Jackson," Percy swore under his breath. "We've got to go Chirons called a meeting. But get Travis, Leo, and Thalia over here for a moment." The three stood and carefully swapped places with the duo with eyebrows furrowed, as Clarrise dragged Grover away as he yelled out his goodbyes and be safe. The screen was then filled with three girls who wore a combination of scowls and bright smiles.

The three demigods' faces lit up like Christmas and Piper took my hand with a soft squeeze at the couples in front of us. I looked over to see a loving smile gracing her features. How she could ever think that she was a monster I would never understand. The happiness that radiated from her when she saw people happy was enough to put me in a good mood for the next twenty years.

"Grace!" Thalia cried seeing her friend,

"Thalia! Oh, thank the gods! When are you coming back, the boys are insufferable here when lady Artemis leaves us." I didn't recognize the girl from the hunt but the silver jacket she was wearing indicated differently. She had black hair that seemed to shine and piercing blue eyes that I had a hard time looking directly into, even through an iris message.

"Put those boys in their place, how are the rest of the girls?" Grace shrugged,

"Safe, mostly happy. More so bored." Thalia nodded before glancing behind at the rest of us and saw the waiting faces of Travis and Leo who was patting his ears out frantically.

"I'll call later Grace, so I can speak to the rest of the girls. Behave as best you can yeah?" Grace nodded before running out of frame, Thalia followed suit, showing the Titaness Calypso who was scowling something fierce at her boyfriend. Leo oblivious to her temper was bouncing on his heels with a grin on his face.

"Cali! I miss you! I made you some things and I've sent them your way. Our new friend Hermione showed me how to send things via Owl! Isn't that cool?" Her eyes softened slightly at his excitement before she responded.

"I miss you as well, and as long as they do not leave their excrement behind for me to pick up. Owls are indeed cool. However-" her eyes hardened once more, "-you have not called in four days Valdez, no one had heard from any of you, we thought the worst. Are you being safe?" Leo nodded vigorously as Hermione snickered behind me as she sat with Connor. Who wore a similar expression watching the exchange. Noticing my attention the pair waved me closer, so I leaned in to hear them better,

"That is Cali? She is gorgeous, she's perfect. And Leo is happier than I've ever seen him. I haven't met any gods but she sure looks like one. Connor here is making fun of me." I smiled at the thought making eye contact with the younger Stoll, who was still snickering, she huffed once more at my reaction.

"You are too, why is that so funny?" Connor cleared his throat gaining her undivided attention as she spoke in a low voice,

"Because my dear Mia. She is a Titaness, she is older than the gods and mostly immortal." Hermione's jaw dropped causing us to snicker once more until she shook her head clearing her thoughts. She looked at me for confirmation, I nodded.

"Look for books that reference Calypso or Ogygia. That every same girl is dating, for whatever reason, Leo." she stared at me for a moment before nodding and turning back to the boy sitting on the arm of her chair.

"Did you call me Mia?" Connor merely smiled,

"You declined the nickname Herms, so I came up with a new one. Like it?" Hermione's face burst into a small smile.

"You know people usually go by Mione if they're shortening my name." Connor snorted waving his hand. The scene before me was so funny I couldn't identify if Connor was flirting or not. The son of Hermes had a genuine smile on his face as he spoke, but his eyes were mischievous. Then again, I'm not a child of Aphrodite and considering it took me six years and amnesia to realize Reyna liked me. I wasn't about to judge the blooming friendship in front of me. A loud grunt from behind me brought my attention back to the reuniting couples. Travis had shoved Leo.

"Alright man, that's enough. I want to see my girl too. You can talk later." Leo jumped back into the frame for a moment.

"Bye Cali! Love you, miss you, call you soon!" She rolled her eyes repeating I love you back before sauntering out of frame.

"Travis! Oh, you look awful. What did you do this time?" Katie called out to her boyfriend first, which caused the older boy to rub the back of his neck and glance down to avoid her gaze.

"Connor and I overexerted ourselves the other day, we are in recovery." She frowned slightly before speaking once more.

"Are you okay now?" the concern in her voice softened Travis's posture as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, don't worry Katie. We had to save the rest of their asses from a crazy oracle teacher. But yeah, we're good." He smiled back at her. It was always crazy to me how different Travis was with Katie. Granted they pranked each other more often than I could count and they teased each other mercilessly. But the both of them got these softer voices and they untensed around each other in a way that made no one fear for either of them during fights. They simply always looked at ease with the other. She was also one of the select few who never mixed up the brothers and too my knowledge never had.

"That's all I need to know. You be safe alright? Not too many pranks, I heard what Leo said. Just don't get caught." Travis grinned while Leo groaned,

"I can't believe your girlfriend likes to prank just as much as you and the only advice she has is 'don't get caught. Like where did you find this girl?" Travis spun and smacked him causing a laugh to leave everyone, even Katie who's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Connor! What not going to say Hi? Also, who's your friend?" Everyone turned to the duo behind me, Hermione had gone a brilliant shade of magenta. Connor stood dragging Hermione with him to see the daughter of Demeter.

"Hey, Garner! This is Hermione Granger. She's a new witch friend! She saved my bacon. She knows all about us now, because a certain few someones almost wiped out a hospital wing." If Katie was surprised she didn't show it, she merely nodded looking at Hermione with a sparkle in her eye.

"Right well that'll be a story you boys tell me later. I'm Katie Garner. Hermione, it's nice to meet you, and thank you for taking care of my boys. Zeus knows they need someone smart to think for them." Hermione grinned wildly at the statement while the brothers complained over one another. Katie shot them one look which shut them up immediately. Like some sort of superpower, one that I would gladly trade my soul for sometimes.

"Right well I'm off. Everyone stay safe. I want all twelve of you back here in June, if that doesn't happen I'm going to turn each of your cabins into a new greenhouse for my siblings, I'll even get Pollux to help me. Travis, I love you, and boys stay out of trouble. Have a good quest." Travis repeated back to her while we all called out our goodbyes, right before she swiped her hand through the mist, ending the call.

It was silent for only a moment before Leo turned back to Nico who had been sitting silently next to Will the whole time and had his legs pulled up to his chest. Leo smirked devilishly,

"So, Nico. About the perfume smell..." Leo trailed off as Nico groaned loudly, placing his head in his hands. The girls who had been with him smiled widely amusement playing across their emotions. Nico uncovered his face,

"It's so embarrassing. I don't know what I was thinking." Hazel cast her brother an amused smile,

"Well it worked, didn't it. Brother I love you, but if you wait another second the three of us are going to tell the story of how we saw it. Nico paled then tilted his head pondering,

"Actually, that might help. Then I can always peace out in the middle of the story before it really gets out of hand." Hazel beamed her golden eyes shimmering like a chunk would in sunlight. Piper clapped her hands beside me with a squeal.

"Oh yes, you are going to love it. It was so smart. Alright, so we told you that we made it down the mountain and eventually made it to Hogsmead village right? Well at the base of the mountain Nico and Annabeth were in pretty bad shape, they kept getting distracted by little things. They'd zone out completely and Hazel and I would have to shake them loose. It's important to know that I had charm spoken them out of their trances earlier and we had zero weapons, which we have to talk to Dumbledore about because that is the second time in a single week that I have needed it and haven't had it." Annabeth interrupted my girlfriend,

"Piper, focus." she nodded in response. Completely unfazed as she continued the story.

"Right, anyway we made it to the bottom and while we were walking past this thicket bush my senses went absolutely haywire and I spun out of the way of a set of claws barely missing my face. Then like an idiot tried to stab the monster with my wand like it was my dagger. It was a pack of empousa, four of them." Percy stiffened from beside Annabeth as he grimaced. Annabeth took over the story,

"It was Kelli and her crew, Hermione an empousa is essentially a beautiful woman with a donkey and bronze leg, their hair is often on fire and they lull men to their deaths, so they can drink their blood." Hermione paled at the explanation, Connor nudged her shoulder with his playfully.

"Don't worry, they only sound scary, really they just are beautiful vampires with weird legs." Annabeth rolled her eyes ignoring him.

"Connor quit it. They outnumbered us in the fact that we only had our wands, which were so far untested against monsters. When suddenly they turned on Nico." The three girls glanced over at the tomato red boy briefly before continuing. I snickered at the sight, I didn't like seeing Nico embarrassed. After the run-in with Eros god of love, I had tried my absolute best to keep it from happening. Funny how the second he left my side he got into a situation that fit the criteria.

"For a second their charms didn't seem to work. But then Nico's face went slack and he marched right over to them, they had him on the ground instantly, promising to kill him last. That's when three of them attacked us, leaving the fourth with Nico."

I'm going to make this next part a FLASHBACK sequence in PIPER'S POINT OF VIEW as that's how I started that scene and I would like to finish it the same way.

My brain threw the first spell it could think of at the oncoming threat. Water came shooting out of my wand, dousing the oncoming threat from head to toe, it slowed her slightly but it really just seemed to piss her off. I could see Hazel fighting beside me with a serious onslaught of offensive spell work and manipulating the area around her with gems and the mist. I could briefly make out a hole opening in front of the empousa as it stumbled over a chunk of metal that looked like it belonged in a museum rather than a fight. But she seemed distracted, I knew that mist manipulation needed some form of concentration but Leo had told us all about how she'd created an even more dangerous maze while fighting Pasiphae in the House of Hades. Instead, she looked like Jason had after our quest when he was getting his memories back in bursts. Like she knew what she needed to find but wasn't sure how to get there.

Annabeth farther over was not having the same kind of luck. Kelli was out for blood more so than the other two, I wasn't entirely sure of the whole story there nor why she was dressed as a cheerleader. But whatever the reason, Annabeth was already bleeding on her arm and was stumbling about. But I had to admit even in her weakened state from the prophecies she looked like a badass warrior princess. Kelli, seemingly unafraid called out to her friend.

"Tammie, if you eat the boy without us. You can be sure that you will never see the light of day again." Tammie grumbled as she closed her mouth away from Nico's neck.

My attention was brought back to my own donkey girl when her hair caught fire and she charged me. I shot another water spell at her dousing her hair and throwing any spell that came to mind after it. Some of the more harmless spells bounced right off her, but more serious spells like Reducto, Expelliarmus, Stupefy, and Flipendo were at least slowing her down.

After a strong stupefy shot the monster back deep into the thicket I turned just in time to see Kelli swipe at Annabeth's face, slashing her cheek slightly surprising her enough that she didn't have enough time to move before her bronze leg shot out hitting her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. I cried out as I saw Kelli advance toward my friend.

"NO! PROTEGO!" pointing my wand at my defenseless companion a shield bounced between the two stopping the fake cheerleader in her tracks and throwing her back slightly, giving the daughter of Athena enough time to grab her wand and shout another spell at her attacker.

"Flipendo!" The knockback jinx did just as it was intended to. It threw Kelli some 20meteres away. Seconds later Hazels empousa was knocked away as well. Pointing my wand around us I cast another spell watching as Annabeth held her stomach, I could only imagine how much that kick hurt.

"Protego Totaleum" A force field surrounded the three of us, Nico and his empousa who was glaring at us while sitting behind Nico, who wore a dead expression, using him as a shield. His expression was the same as from earlier, unseeing, and unaware. His memories had snagged him yet again, and at the most inopportune moment. I turned to the two girls next to me,

"Well, any ideas on how to take out the crazy donkey cheerleaders?" Hazel scoffed back at me. Looking over the younger girl her body was tense and her fingers were twitching, from what I wasn't sure her empousa had gotten in a few lucky shots, Hazel had a scratch that had sliced her robe clean off at her elbow, blood was trickling down her twitching fingers slowly. Looking down at my own body I realized I wasn't any better. My cheek was cut and I had a three-finger slash running down my right arm that was throbbing, when the psycho had got those shots in I wasn't entirely sure. Annabeth shook her head slightly with a dazed look in her eye, noticing I snapped in her face.

"Hey! Annabeth. No more strolls down memory lane, we are in a battle we are losing. What kind of wicked plan do you have for us?" Annabeth slowly turned to look at us seeming unfazed by my words. I held my breath as the three empousa returned hissing and scratching at the forcefield like stray cats. Annabeth shook her head side to side getting the haunted look out of her eyes.

"Right. Sorry, uh- I do but it's mad. Absolutely mad." I exchanged a look with Hazel, who was now paying full attention to her surroundings, before shrugging. Hazel raised her wand,

"Muffalito" I smiled at our friend,

"Mad is better than dead. Hit me." She grinned in response, jumping right into the explanation.

As she spoke I glanced back at the second cheerleader girl who was stroking Nico's blank face, which was freaky enough until I saw her fingernails run through his hair and she took a deep breath in, her eyes were practically staring holes in his neck. I resisted the urge to gag. I thought of Nico and how he hated to be touched even by friends most of the time then immediately the fact that she was touching him at all made my heartburn and stomach turn. I wanted her away from the smaller boy. That mama bear instinct I was afraid of on top of the mountain had kicked in already. Not that I was complaining,

I heard a shatter behind me and spun just in time to see my empousa advancing on me. I raised my wand calling out a quick stupefy as I dove towards Hazel. Now back to back with her I grabbed her hand in my own raising my wand in front of me. I glanced back to see the second empousa charging at us, the same as my own. I heard Hazel's soft voice barely over their screeches.

"On three dive to the side. And use your voice." I squeezed her hand in understanding. I brandished my magic stick as Hazel softly counted behind me.

"One." I risked a glance to see how Nico was doing. Tammie had released him finally and was instead pacing in a small circle around him. I could see his glazed eyes staring at nothing, his breathing was shallow once more. Fear for him coursed through my body. As I moved my eyes over to Annabeth that fear tripled, she was fighting tooth and nail and it showed. Her hair was wild behind her and coated in blood. Kelli was a force to be reckoned with, she fought with the strength of someone who's dinner had been postponed for too long.

"Two." I turned back to see my empousa advancing faster now, my stupefy had really thrown her. Her chiffon dress was covered in dirt, blood and her flaming hair made me want to throw all four of us into the deepest pool I could find until Percy came to get us. Instead, I steeled myself, bracing my legs to jump out of the way. Hazel tense behind me and I knew she was doing the same.

"Three." With a few mere inches between the oncoming empousa we jumped to the side, allowing the two empousa to crash into each other with a shriek. From my spot on the ground, I called out to the fallen bloody pair, putting as much charm as I could manage into my voice.

"That's really your target. The demigods tricked you, the one in your hands is the target." The two monsters began to fight immediately, both convinced they were fighting the real demigod.

Our plan had worked, but more importantly, the voice that came out of my mouth hadn't been mine. Or at least it hadn't sounded like my own. It had been raspier and nasally than the usually soothing Voice that caused monsters to listen to me. Hazel's mouth was as wide as her eyes as we stared silently at each other, the two battles waging war around us.

My power had evolved, but why? Sure the sight of Nico and Annabeth in compromising positions had been shocking and fear-inducing especially considering their current conditions. But we'd been in compromising situations like that before but never had I been able to change how my voice sounded. Only Cyclops could mimic voices, and last I checked I had two eyes and was pretty small. I hated my Voice on the best of days, this new development practically shut my brain down in horror and shock.

In my daze, I almost missed when Hazel stood up and with one glance around her. Hardened her features, her golden eyes were darker than usual. I could almost pinpoint the exact moment she changed. Looking in the direction of our friends, I heard her jaw click in anger, the aura she portrayed threw any idea I'd ever had of her not being scary enough to be a child of Pluto out the window. If looks could kill, which I'm sure in her case they might, the empousa beside Nico would have been thrown into oblivion never to see the light of day again. Shocked now by the change from the girl in front of me and a little scared, I leaned away. When her eyes met mine causing every bone in my body to liquify and every cell to run and hide.

I'd been Jason when Percy had stared at him the other night as he lost his cool and that had been more than enough to make me shrink in terror. She wore a similar expression as he had, one of uncontained furry and fear, freezing me in my spot. With her eyes still on mine, she placed her hand up towards the sky by the side and something long and gold appeared in it. My jaw dropped at the sight as Hazel turned with a slightly furrowed brow, feeling the weight as it appeared out of nowhere. Seeing what was in her hand instantly calmed her terrifying demeanor and replaced it with absolute shock that no doubt echoed mine perfectly.

In her hands was a sword, her sword specifically. We both stared at it in shock for a moment before, Hazel's voice broke me out of my own head,

"That's new." a soft smile graced my features at her gobsmacked expression, we had a weapon. An actual weapon to fight these demonesses with, and we'd both discovered a new extension to our power. She could call her sword to her without knowing where it was, and I could mimic. I acknowledged briefly that she got the better end of the deal with a scoff, standing up to join her, trying to wipe the fear from my face.

"No kidding, think you can get mine next?" She frowned concentrating for a moment before shaking her head.

"No, sorry. It's weird I can feel the difference between my sword and everything else metal around us. I could see it in my mind and then it was in my hand. But you? What was that, you sounded like Kelli." she twisted the weapon around testing it with a smile. Mind whirling, at the notion my brain tried to think about the development. Until the sound of Annabeth grunting behind me as Kelli got too close jolted us both back into reality.

"We can think about this-" I gestured at the two of us, "-later, right now we have to help Annabeth and Nico." Hazel nodded her head, shaking it side to side as if to physically throw the thoughts away. We turned to face Annabeth and Nico who were in varying stages of danger.

Tammie had finally noticed that her sisters were battling each other instead of us. She screamed in rage but did not move from her position by the still form of Nico DiAngelo, who was breathing raggedly once more, eyes glazed. Hazel under her breath said his name in horror.

"Okay, Hazel, go help Annabeth, a sword will help her out. I'll wake up Nico and take care of his guard dog." She nodded once more twirling her sword before jumping into action. I risked a look at the battling empousa behind me only two see them still fighting to the death, looking like a whirlwind of flames and claws.

I turned once more to the pair in front of me with a shout I began to fire spell after spell at Tammie, who was even less affected by the spells I shot at her. In a moment of panic as she got a lucky hit in, slicing my arm with her claws and kicking my leg with her donkey one, threw me to the ground. She leered over me, panic settled in when one more spell flew from my mouth, one that Jason and Thalia had claimed to be using when around other people,

"VENTUS" the winds around me picked up, swirling around the pair of us. I watched as Tammie's face dropped as she was lifted off her feet and began to blow around in circles. My jaw dropped, in surprise and joy. That is until I noticed that Nico was also being lifted into the air. I ran for him, not recalling the counter curse for the wind spell I'd just cast. I grabbed his wrist just as he was about to fly off. I tried to call out to him and wake him from his trance. That damn teacher in the attic was going to get what came to her for doing this to my friends, I would make sure of it. If this was how Nico and Annabeth were reacting to the issue of occasionally getting locked in their own mind with horrid memories, I couldn't imagine how Jason was doing, he'd had the same amount of prophecies as Annabeth and Percy, had been subjected to way more than necessary before we even left. The last I'd seen of the pair was Jason's crumpled body and Percy breathing shallowly beside a steaming Leo.

I grunted as I pulled at the younger boy's hand willing him to wake up, I tried my voice again but the wind around us snatched it away before it could even reach my own ears. Eyes wide in a panic as Nico began to slip away from me I looked at the struggling duo fighting Kelli. They seemed to be doing well considering Annabeth was bleeding from her head and her arms, both of my friends fighting like demons against the evil cheerleader. They seemed to have the upper hand now, I could only hope that they finished her off quickly so someone could cast the countercharm to my desperate act of defense.

That is when everything went wrong all at once, above me, Tammie was flailing but was slowing down, she seemed to be adapting to the circumstance, quickly figuring out how to maneuver in the whirlwind. I watched in horror as my wind tunnel caught Hazel, whisking her away, sword and all, the sword itself being ripped from her hands as it flew around out of control. Annabeth lost her focus momentarily at Hazel's shriek as she flew away, giving Kelli the advantage she needed. She dove for Annabeth, slicing her leg wide open.

With a scream, she fell to the ground pointing her wand above her and she yelled, I couldn't hear it only see the air as it came rushing out of her wand, everything within a 10-foot radius froze the whirlwind I'd created dissipated at Hazel, Tammie and Nico came crashing to the ground. Hazel managed to cast a cushioning charm before she hit the ground as Nico's full body weight fell on me, taking us both to the ground. Annabeth applied pressure to leg as it quickly became soaked in blood. Hazel rushed to her side, her sword nowhere to be found. I quickly shook Nico hissing in his ear.

"Snap out of it Nico, we need your help. Wake up." The boy in question took a deep breath blinking the haze out of his eyes slowly, I rose only to find Tammie right in my face. Before I could react she had her hand around my throat, her claws digging in ever so slightly. Her eyes were a mask of rage.

"Hello, daughter of Love. Nice to finally meet you. You know I can make people love me just like your dearest mummy." her smirk only grew as she tightened her hold, my immediate instinct was to grab for her hands and pry them off. My wand, forgotten where I'd dropped it to grab Nico. I gasped as the oxygen coming in got harder to reach. Her smirk only grew,

"What? Hellhound got your tongue?" she cackled lowly, I glanced around me hoping for someone to see and help me. Only to be met with similar scenes around me. Annabeth was growing whiter by the minute as Kelli stood over an unconscious Hazel, Annabeth's wand was lazily trained above them in a protection charm.  I could hear her yelling out to me,

"Piper fight it! You are stronger than her, frick! NICO! HELP HER!"

I couldn't see or hear Nico behind me, which made me angry. Didn't he care that we were about to die? Or was he still too far in his own memories to help. 

Tammie's dirty, smiling face was blurred as the edges of my vision darkened. Kellis cruel laugh flooding my senses.

"You will make a tasty snack, I'm going to enjoy this," she growled, showing me her fangs. Panic filled my oxygen-deprived brain as I frantically tried to kick her away from me. When the sweetest noise ever filled my ears from behind the monster.

"You're right I will." And Tammie's shocked face crumpled before me, turning to golden dust that flew into my mouth as I gasped in some much-needed air, choking me once more. I fell to my knees as I dragged in deep breaths and coughs. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see the concerned yet still slightly glazed eyes of Nico Di Angelo. Hazel's sword in hand. Never had I been so happy to see the small boy before in my life. Had I been able to stand by myself there was a 100% chance I would hug him to death. He smiled sheepishly at me,

"Sorry I took so long, the sword was over by the battling duo over there. My sister and your work I presume?" Unable to speak I nodded, taking his offered hand to stand beside him. I pointed at the girls whose protective bubble seemed to be breaking, Nico merely nodded at me with a finger to his lips.

"Trust me, I have a plan." I nodded rubbing my sore throat, I felt light on my feet as I followed the unharmed demigod to our friends, gaining Kellis's attention.

"Ah, still alive? Pity, I thought Tammie had it in her. Oh well, she never was a closer anyway." she then turned and spoke directly to Nico,

"Ah son of Hades, I see you've woken up. We can't have that. Come and stand next to me, honey, you can watch me kill your friends." I immediately grabbed his hand willing him to stay near me, unable to counter the empousas charm. My throat felt like sandpaper and it hurt to breathe.

Nico dropped the sword in his hand to his side but didn't let go of it as I expected. He squeezed my hand just before he left my side, adrenaline the only thing keeping me up now. Kelli takes his hand and throws him to the ground with a sick smile. She turns to see Annabeth's shield vibrating, she smiled before mocking her,

"Well, I guess the little wise girl isn't so smart after all. What, do you need your precious Jackson to do all the dirty work for you? You couldn't save the children of the underworld, one on death's door and the other too be my love. Even now, you certainly won't save the daughter of Aphrodite." That was the only warning I got before she lunged at me. Instead of diving out of the way as I'd meant to, I fell to my knees. Annabeth called my name as I watched Kelli begin her dash.

Only to watch her fall flat on her face, Nico from his spot on the ground had spun and kicked the empousa in the back of her donkey leg, tripping her metal one simultaneously. Even as she was falling he was standing up and landing on her back as she hit the ground with a shriek of surprise. I watched as Nico raised the sword in his hand growling out his words at her, they were hissed and seemed to rush around us like the wind.

"You caught me in a vulnerable moment, Kelli, it won't happen again. You hurt my family and threatened them. For that the punishment is damnation." Kellie snarled beneath him, her arms trapped under her body from when she'd fallen, she smiled bitterly at me before responding with so much charm I felt a small desire to listen.

"Now Honey, don't you want to be together? We'd make such a nice couple." Nico's face hesitated only for a second which was enough time for her to wiggle free and reach for his face. Nico merely dissolved in her shadow, appearing right behind her his monotone, bored voice resounding through the clearing, 

"I'm gay. You manipulative bitch." And she was gone, surrounding Nico with an odd combination of golden monster dust, and something that smelled suspiciously like Drews's punishment perfume from camp.

BACK TO JASON POV IN THE COMMON ROOM

The common room was silent for a moment after the three girls had explained what happened with their little run-in with monsters. Nico's face was beet red, but I didn't really understand why? I mean sure he'd been out of it for the majority of the fight while the three grinning girls had kicked some serious ass. But I still didn't understand why that was embarrassing enough to not tell the story. I was seriously concerned for my girlfriend though. She had briefly mentioned that she had a close call and that's why she was so hurt, but with what she had just described the two of us had to have a very serious conversation about what accounted as close call and near death experience. Had Nico been a moment later she wouldn't have come back. I didn't want to think of that, and with a glance at the beautiful girl in question she shoo her head softly as if to say we could talk later. 

With the knowledge that Piper would answer any questions about her trauma later, that still left a large amount of questions unanswered. Lucky for me Percy voiced some of my thoughts with a frown, still holding onto Annabeth's hand desperately like she would go back to finish her fight with the empousa.

"There is no reason that Kelli should have been able to reform that quickly with the doors closed. We need to have a talk with Dumbledore about letting us carry concealed weapons from now on. At the very least a little knife in our bags." The room voiced their agreements. Leo jumped right in to say his peace,

"What I don't understand is why Nico smells like the perfume aisle in Medeas cursed Department Sewer Store and Piper who also got covered in empousa glitter doesn't. Also, why is this story embarrassing for Death Breath? Jason has been knocked out for more adventures than I can count, and we tell those all the time!" I muttered under my breath shoving the small Latino boy away from me in annoyance,

"Thanks, Leo, for the confidence boost." Leo simply removed himself from his spot on the floor with a bright smile,

"Hey, it hasn't happened since you got your glasses! That has to count for something!" I frowned at my best friend before shoving a light burst of wind his way, sending him over the nearest chair that had Travis sitting in it, taking the both of them down at once.

Hazel answered Leo's previous question before he'd made a jab at me.

"We aren't really sure, but we think it has something to do with him resisting her charm completely and the way she practically stumbled through the remains of him as he shadow traveled behind him. He practically begged us to douse him. I've never seen so much emotion in my life." Hazel began to giggle as Nico glared daggers at his sister who simply shrugged under the pressure. Piper jumped in to finish,

"Yeah, you think it's bad now? You should have smelled him immediately after, we doused him with so much water you'd think he was Percy. He'd demanded we get rid of the smell lest any of you ever find out." She was giggling beside me, so much so that she grabbed my shirt and turned her face into it trying to suppress them. The small movement brought a smile to my face, she was adorable and for a moment I completely forgot that others were around us. I kissed the top of her head, snapping out of it when Leo awed from the other side of the room. Instantly he stopped and yelped instead, jumping out of his seat while Travis sat there kind of stunned, both of their hair standing up straight. Travis shook his head clear from the shock I'd sent their way. I tried for a small apologetic smile at the accidental casualty.

"Hermes wings, Jason. I haven't done anything to you yet. But with those displays of affection, I am certainly planning it now!" I muttered a soft sorry as everyone burst into laughter. As soon as Leo had retaken his seat far away from the eldest son of Hermes, at his demand to stay away from him because he was a hazard to his health, Frank spoke up astounded,

"Are we just going to ignore the fact that Hazel and Piper discovered new areas of their powers? And by proxy, Will having something similar happen here?" the room went silent, this time Will spoke up to address the group.

"I'm not sure how I did that, but I'll let you all know as soon as I do. I've been talking to Nico about it and I haven't been able to repeat the performance since." The room nodded in acceptance, Nico gratefully accepting Wills presence back to his side, even though the more I watched the pair interact. I realized that Will was breathing through his mouth in an attempt not to smell his boyfriend's seemingly permanent stench. Annabeth piped up for the first time since she'd finished telling the story, she and Percy had been silently staring at each other for the majority of the conversation, seemingly speaking through their eyes in a way no one except them had any chance of understanding.

"We have a theory on that actually. We think that because Hecate blessed us with magic to come here and fit in, it changed our demigod signature and therefore our powers. When we most needed it, they presented itself to us. Powers grow naturally over time but under extreme stress, they can evolve into something entirely new." At the few confused faces around her she sighed before continuing.

Like Piper and mimicking her enemy; Hazel and having her weapon appear out of nowhere; Will taking on a friend's pain to save him. Things like that." Hermione suddenly jumped in, practically bouncing out of her seat.

"OH! I think a few more of you went through changes like that then. I've been talking to Harry, Ron, and Connor about what happened the other day and based on the things I've put together from what you've told me. Leo, Thalia, and Frank discovered something new too!" The three mentioned friends of mine balked at the attention. Frank and Thalia narrow their eyes in confusion while Leo beamed.

"Leo, when you got hit with the prophecy the boys said you didn't burst into flames like they'd expected you to. You simply were too hot to touch-" Leo's face broke out into a large smile, opening his mouth to retort before she simples waved her wand at him casting a quick Silencio much to the amusement of everyone else in the room, she continued speaking as if she hadn't just silenced him.

"Like you created a protective covering over yourself, the only reason they could move you was because Percy practically drowned you. And in the hospital wing, Frank was unstopable when we were walking to reach Will and Leo through the danger zone that was Jason and Percy, I was being thrown left and right even beginning to rise in the air along with everything else in the room, except for you. Your feet stayed firmly on the ground and you led me through it like you weren't even affected and you did the same thing when you turned into a bird, which is really cool by the way but you didn't need to shove me off the bed. You were in total control of where you went, like an unstoppable soldier, Captain America if you will." Frank blushed a deep red at her comment of him shoving her off the bed, while Leo clapped silently at Hermione at her comic book reference, obviously pleased that at least one witch had some knowledge of mortal/muggle culture.

She spun around in her seat to my flabbergasted sister who was still perched on the back of her chair like a guard dog. "And you Thalia, even in the state you were in, you had enough control over Jason's chaotic winds around you to keep McGonagall floating beside Jason's bed and pull me, Will, and Frank out of the whirlwind to help you at the same time. Totally badass!" Thalia grinned at the bushy-haired girl, ruffing it more affectionately, before glancing around at the rest of us with a rare smile.

"I think we've got ourselves a real ally in Mione here. With Annabeth and your brains combined nothing will ever be a mystery again. But Neeks, Imma need you to go take as many showers as you can, I can smell you from across the room." Both girls and Nico flushed bright red as the thirteen of us shared a laugh at their expense.