𝟬𝟯𝟬. when all else fails

AERA DROVE THE SWORD through Jason's heart. Whereas time had slowed down in his fight with Enceladus, with Aera, it accelerated. Blood gushed from his chest and came spewing out of his mouth. His capillaries bursted. Dark spots blurred his vision. The shock was greater than the pain by tenfold. The blow knocked the oxygen from his lungs, his breath jammed up in his throat.

Jason crumbled to his knees, and then there was Aera standing above him, her shadow covering him in darkness. Her face was stony and victorious, like the statue of a merciless war goddess. She delivered only one word, one cruel sentence: "Die."

In a split second, Jason saw the gruesome scene play out in the reflection of Aera's bloodshot eyes. There was a tightening pressure around his neck, as though Aera held his throat in a vice. Jason could see just how badly she wanted to do it in her eyes. For the briefest moment, he almost wanted her to.

Then reality crashed into him.

Aera reached for the ice sword Khione created and Jason's battle instincts kicked into overdrive.

Jason knelt for the sword and picked up the hilt just in time to block Aera's strike. Their swords clashed with a resounding clang, ice against bronze. Aera twisted around, catching his blade on the edge of hers. Jason jumped back to avoid a nasty slash that would've cut right into the artery in his thigh. She came at him again, faster, furiously. Her eyes told him she wouldn't back down. That she would get him back even if it cost her own life.

Jason could hear Piper and Leo shouting at them in the near distance, urging them to stop and remember why they were there, but their voices were drowned out in the heat of the moment. This was between the two of them, Jason and Aera. There was a score to be settled.

"She has to be eliminated," Bobby had said to Jason when the demigods of the Fifth Cohort crowded together in a huddle to decide what to do with Aera, who was still bound to the barren tree. "We could make it look like an accident. Our enemies took out demigods at the random. We could report to the Senate we found her this way."

The others murmured in solemn agreement. It was not the ideal choice, but one that seemed necessary to safeguard the legion. Jason took another look back at the graecus, who had reclined her back against the trunk and was now playing with the ends of her hair. She didn't have a clue what was conspiring among them.

"We can't just kill a half-blood!" Hazel argued, bringing Jason's attention back. "She deserves at least a fair trial."

"Do we know if she's a half-blood?" Gwen mused darkly. "She could be working with those monsters. We would be responsible for inviting the enemy within our walls." She placed her hands on her hips and blew the hair our of her face. "If Octavian were to get a load of this..."

"Ad infernum cum Octavian." Hazel cursed in Latin, to Jason's surprise. He had never seen the timid legionnaire this riled up before. "This is a person's life we're talking about. Not some stuffed animal."

"She wouldn't be a normal monster or a demigod or even a legacy." Dakota belched. "Rules don't apply."

"Jason," Bobby entreated, a feverish look in his eye, "you spent most of your life restoring the reputation of the Fifth Cohort from the ground up. The Lares warned you of a graecus with a saltwater pearl for years. The longer that graecus lives, the greater the threat she'll be to you and to camp. What's one girl compared to the fate of our empire?"

"Please," Hazel implored, "we should not be brash about this."

Nothing compared to the conflict Jason felt in that moment. He thought he had seen everything, learned everything there was to be a great leader and now he was at a complete crossroads. Jason would do anything to protect his home and his friends but was this the only way? Did they have to go that far? Was this what she deserved?

Jason met Poppy's eye. She was as stubborn as a mule but fair, always fair. He trusted her counsel the most in times like these. It was different now. Poppy wasn't enthusiastic about one side or the other. She had been unusually quiet during the conversation, her arms resting on the hilt of her gold garden hoe which she had staked into the ground. She was staring indiscernibly at a single spot in the snow.

"It's your call, Jason," the older girl said indifferently when he called her name. Not meeting his eye, Poppy brought up her hoe with a calloused hand and swung it onto her shoulder, spraying the others with a wave of snow. Everyone else backed up, muttering complaints and protests, but Jason didn't flinch even as the cold rained down on his hair.

It was strange Poppy wasn't making eye contact. She had the courage to glower at anything on the battlefield, even the most fearsome monsters. Jason hated not being able to tell what she was thinking, despite usually being able to read her mind like it was his.

"I'll follow any order as long as it's from you," Poppy said. "You're praetor."

"Mr. Perfect Praetor," Aera now taunted him as they stood off against each other in the snowy battlefield once more. Their swords were locked, their heavy breaths mingling. "All hail the great Jason Grace, master manipulator, god of fake everything."

Jason clenched his jaw. She could still joke at a time like this? Jason pushed her blade off his, overpowering her with brute strength. Aera stumbled back two steps and regained her balance. She glared at him with enough intensity to power a city.

"There was dishonesty on both sides," he asserted, circling her warily. "You didn't tell me you used to work for the Titans until it was too late."

"You seriously think I was going to confess I betrayed my friends after you ambushed me and chained me up for a murder I didn't even commit?"

"The evidence was stacked against you at the time. We had to do a proper investigation."

"What about after that?" she demanded. "You said I was innocent. You said you wouldn't try to capture me again. You gave me your word." A bitter laugh escaped Aera's lips, devoid of humor. In her torn up cheerleading outfit, Aera didn't look like a regular teenager anymore. She looked like a murderous one. "Well, now we know your word is literally worthless."

Aera surged forward, beginning another relentless onslaught. Their swords clashed once more in a flurry of strikes and parries. Jason couldn't concentrate on analyzing her moves the way he usually did in combat. He could barely keep pace with her, merely defending against her attacks without launching any counterattacks. It pained him deeply that she believed he had deceived her, despite how much he cared about her.

The knowledge of Khione's involvement in their strained relationship only exacerbated his turmoil. They had been set up from the start. The six missing demigods were a ploy for them to meet, for two separate spheres of divinity to collide in a disastrous way. Khione knew the legion would go to Mount Tam, the Titan's old base, for answers.

The snow goddess had led Aera there on purpose. Snowstorms had plagued Jason and Aera since they met, purposely cornering them so that they were alone long enough to eventually finish the other off. They would have, had the two of them not unexpectedly formed a bond. Now that bond was about to be frozen beyond repair.

How was Jason going to fix this?

"The Greeks and the Romans have turned against each other!" Khione announced with a triumphant spread of her arms. The monsters at her heed let out jeers of delight, a cacophony of horrible sounds. "Their blood shall be spilled over this sacred ground, tainting it for generations to come. Kill the other two demigods. Let them be our king's first meal!"

No, Jason panicked as he clumsily deflected another strike from Aera. This shouldn't be happening.

Jason wasn't paying attention when Aera swung her sword toward his arm. A sharp sting rose up to his shoulder. Jason had no time to recover. The monsters charged.

Thankfully, there were three factors on his side: 1), Piper and Leo could hold their own impressively well, 2), Khione had provided Jason an adequate weapon after his lance broke, and 3), nobody wanted to kill him more than Aera did.

She pummeled the first wolf that ran in their direction and swung at the second. Another tried to lunge at Jason and Aera punched it in the snout so hard, even Jason flinched at the loud crack of its broken nose. Maybe only silver could kill a wolf, but at the speed and force Aera was hitting those things with the blunt of her sword and her fists, he almost felt a little sorry for them.

"Oh, no," Aera said, knocking out three wolves and slaying two storm spirits in succession. "No one is getting their hands on you but me."

The remaining wolves formed a cautious ring around the two combatants, their fangs bared, but hesitant to attack. Storm spirits wound in and out of their ranks, weaving more chaos.

"This is wrong." Jason shook his head, wincing from the pain in his shoulder. "This is all wrong. I never meant for this to happen."

"You never meant to betray me?" Aera scoffed, slashing through a storm spirit that was unwise enough to fly forward. "Look at you! You can't even come up with a decent excuse!"

The battle surrounded them in a glacial frenzy: storm spirits, the Earthborn, Lycaon's wolves, Khione's snowfall. There was a threat closing in from every direction and yet the person Jason was the most frightened of was the angry girl in front of him.

Aera's spite alone was enough to fuel her to take out nearly a quarter of their enemies in a short period without batting an eye. Jason couldn't keep hiding behind the wolves. Soon she would remove all the foes that stood between them and come for him without mercy. He had to think fast.

Jason looked away and caught a quick glimpse of his friends.

Piper was surrounded by Earthborn, but she was so impressive-looking as she fought, almost glowing with beauty, that the Earthborn stared at her in awe, forgetting that they were supposed to kill her. She'd smile at them until they got close enough for her to slice them apart with her dagger.

Leo had taken on Khione herself. While fighting a goddess should've been suicide, Leo was the right man for the job. She kept summoning ice daggers to throw at him, blasts of winter air, tornadoes of snow. Leo burned through all of it. His whole body flickered with red tongues of flame like he'd been doused with gasoline. He advanced on the goddess, using two silver-tipped ball-peen hammers to smash any monsters that got in his way.

Jason realized that Leo was the only reason they were still alive. His fiery aura was heating up the whole courtyard, countering Khione's winter magic. Without him, they would've been frozen like the Hunters long ago. Wherever Leo went, ice melted off the stones. Even Thalia started to defrost the slightest when Leo stepped near her.

Hope sparked within Jason. His friends were okay. Throughout their journey, they had learned to trust each other, fight for each other. Jason couldn't let all of that go to waste. He made a decision then. He would find another way, a solution that didn't involve any of them getting hurt.

And so, in that moment, he did something really, really stupid. Something no Roman soldier in their right mind would have done.

Jason lowered his weapon and surrendered.

"What are you doing?" Aera asked impatiently as the closest storm spirit disintegrated with a hiss. "Lift your sword and fight!"

Fighting her wouldn't solve anything. The giants took advantage of their disparity. They would only be giving into Gaea's plan. Jason drew in a deep breath, focusing his thoughts and blocking out the chaos around him.

"This is exactly what the giants want," Jason reasoned, keeping his voice as calm as he could. "They want us to get rid of each other. But Romans and Greeks can co-exist, work together even. You and I are proof of this."

"Stop talking," Aera snapped. Another wolf lunged at her. She stuck out her arm, closing her fingers, and stopped its heart while it was still in the air. The next second, it dropped to an unconscious lump at her feet. "You don't get to decide we're allies when it's convenient for you."

"Look, there's nothing I can do to earn your forgiveness right now," Jason said quickly, narrowly dodging a storm spirit. "I understand that. But you don't have to trust me. Trust yourself. You got this far by distancing yourself from the gods and always staying true to who you are. You're not anyone's puppet. You can't let them win, Aera—"

"Stop confusing me!" Aera cried, and Jason could hear from the crack in her voice she was on the edge of breaking. Her red eyes, brimming with fury, also carried a profound sense of hurt. "I don't care about all that Greek and Roman stuff! I don't care about the gods! At Aeolus' fortress, I started to remember things. Our arguments. Our fights. This entire time, I kept blaming myself. I kept thinking I did something bad to you. But it was...it was you all along! And you kept it a secret from me!"

Jason's heart felt like lead. Aera had such a hard time grappling with the aftermath of the war last summer. He couldn't bear seeing her this way. The last thing Jason wanted was to add more anguish and distrust to her life.

"I'm sorry," he said in despair. "I'm sorry for hurting you, Aera. I was just trying to do the right thing. I should have kept my promise to you. I...I messed up. Big time."

Aera blinked. She stared at Jason blankly as though he had suddenly switched to a different language. Apparently, she didn't get apologized to very often.

"I should've told you what I knew earlier," Jason continued, the words pouring out on their own, "but it was all so confusing. I woke up alone in a foreign place without my memories. I didn't know who to trust. Or if those memories were even real. Later, I thought about telling you but things were going great between us—and our friends. I couldn't risk jeopardizing that."

"You just didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth," Aera said tonelessly. "You assumed I wouldn't take it well. You underestimated me."

"That was my mistake," Jason admitted. "One I'll never make again."

He gazed down at the sword he wielded, forged by the very goddess who had sought to sow discord between them. The ice from the hilt was beginning to transfer to his palm, turning his hand numb. Its frigid blade shimmered with an unnatural glow. Now Jason knew just how bitter and stinging ice was up close.

Jason spun Khione's sword around and staked it into the icy ground.

"Our feud ends here," he declared. "I know who you are now, Aera. And I want to be on your side. If you'll let me."

All was still for a moment. Even the snow particles around them seemed to suspend midair. Time had slowed down again as Jason waited for her reply.

Aera peered at him as though her eyes were searching for something in him. She let her guard down momentarily and that was the moment a storm spirit decided to strike. It barreled toward Aera from the side. Jason found an icy wooden plank on the ground—a stupid weapon to die fighting with—but anything was better than Khione's sword. He didn't want to touch anything that goddess made.

Jason concentrated and summoned the wind. Just before the spirit could trample Aera, Jason launched himself into the air, grabbed the horse's smoky neck, and pirouetted onto its back, steering him away from Aera.

The storm spirit reared wildly. It tried to shake off Jason, then tried to dissolve into intangible mist; but somehow Jason stayed on. He willed the horse to remain solid, and the horse seemed unable to refuse.

Jason could feel it fighting against him. He could sense its raging thoughts—complete chaos thrashing to break free. It took all Jason's willpower to impose his own wishes and bring the horse under control.

Jason had only one spirit to master, and he had to win.

"You're mine now," he said. The horse bucked, but Jason held on. Its mane flickered as it circled around the empty pool, its hooves causing miniature thunderstorms—tempests—whenever they stepped.

"Tempest?" Jason asked. "Is that your name?"

The horse spirit shook its mane and whinnied, evidently pleased to be recognized.

Jason wheeled Tempest back around to Aera, who was standing in the same spot with her jaw open. "You wanted to fight?" He nodded toward the battle, hefting his makeshift weapon. "Come on. Let's show them what you're made of."

The monsters didn't stand a chance. Maybe it was the prospect of wrapping everything up early so Aera could show Jason a piece of her mind. Maybe Aera just really hated wolves. Whatever it was, Aera blew across the battlefield like a hurricane.

Now that she wasn't distracted, Aera incapacitated wolves at an alarming rate. Jason had seen her in combat before, but she was still stunning. Aera seemed to move with an inhumane agility and grace, putting her enemies to sleep or choking them unconscious with their own blood. They were utterly helpless. Each blow she landed left her enemies crumpled on the ground, their forms twisted and broken.

The venti weren't so lucky either. Aera seemed to have figured out exactly which spots to target, and the timing she needed to land a hit on the supposedly untouchable wind. Everywhere she turned, venti dissipated into harmless mist with a hiss. With Tempest, Jason plowed through the remaining storm spirits, which wasn't much.

Wolves laid in dazed piles. Some slunk away into the ruins, yelping from their wounds. They ran out of enemies almost as soon as they stopped fighting each other and turned their sights on the monsters.

A few leagues away, Piper plunged her dagger into the last Earthborn, which then dissolved into a mound of sludge. Jason rode Tempest through the last ventus. Leo was bearing down on the goddess of snow.

It was almost too easy. Things were going a little too well.

"You're too late," Khione snarled. "He's awake! And don't think you've won anything here, demigods. Hera's plan will never work. You'll be at each other's throats again before you can even stop us! You were born to destroy each other!"

"Wah, wah, wah," Aera mocked, capping her sword back into a tube of lipstick. "Whatever, loser. I can't believe you were trying to do ASMR in my ear and whispering bad thoughts to give me stress wrinkles. Your voice isn't even pretty. And your wardrobe isn't even all that for a goddess either." Aera rolled her eyes as she reapplied lipstick with what was once her lethal weapon.

Then Leo set his hammers ablaze and threw them at the goddess, but she turned into snow—a white powdery image of herself. Leo's hammers slammed into the snow woman, breaking it into a steaming mound of mush.

Piper was breathing hard as she looked between Aera and Jason. "So you two worked it out?"

"Not even close," Aera replied in a clipped tone, much to Jason's discouragement. Aera crossed her arms defensively. "But I guess...for now...we can be on the same side."

A smile slowly crept up Jason's mouth. That wasn't much, but it was progress.

Then he heard a cracking sound behind him, reminding him of their dilemma. The melting ice on Hera's cage sloughed off in a curtain of slush, and the goddess called, "Oh, don't mind me! Just the queen of the heavens, dying over here!"

Aera rolled her eyes. "Die faster then."

Jason dismounted and ordered Tempest to stay put. The four demigods jumped into the pool and ran to the spire. Aera lagged behind, taking out her pigtails and brushing her hair with a comb she seemed to have spawned out of thin air.

Leo frowned. "Uh, Tía Callida, are you getting shorter?"

"No, you dolt! The earth is claiming me. Hurry!"

As much as Jason resented Hera, what he saw inside the cage unnerved him. Not only was Hera sinking, but the ground was rising around her like water in a tank. Liquid rock had already covered her shins.

"The giant wakes!" Hera warned. "You only have seconds!"

Aera kept leisurely combing her hair. "One, two—"

"On it!" Leo said. "Piper, I need your help. Talk to the cage."

She blinked. "What?"

"Talk to it. Convince Gaea to sleep. Lull her into a daze. Just slow her down, try to get the tendrils to loosen while I—"

"Right!" Piper cleared her throat and said, "Hey, Gaea. Nice night, huh? Boy, I'm tired. How about you? Ready for some sleep?"

The rock seemed to soften at her voice. Even Jason was starting to feel his eyelids grow a little heavy, but he forced them open.

"Aera!" Leo called her over. "You have to keep Gaea's emotions in check. Don't let her feel stronger. Make her feel weak."

"You want me to control the wrath of Mother Earth?" Aera asked in disbelief. "If I could do that, don't you think I would've—I don't know—stopped having a period years ago?"

"Just try," Leo urged. "Make her desire sleep or something. Do that hypnosis trick."

"Ugh!" Aera threw down her comb and stomped over. Her voice was entirely monotonous as she said, "You are powerless. Your bushes are overgrown. No concealer in the world can hide your mountainous pimples. Just stay asleep so no one has to see the split ends in your roots. The gods will all make fun of you for your crusty eye boogers if you don't."

Whatever Aera intended to do with her insults was working. Gaea seemed to be getting insecure enough that the mud was rising more slowly. The tendrils seemed to soften further—becoming more like tree root than rock.

"That actually worked?" Piper looked as surprised as Jason felt.

Aera rolled her eyes again. "Pick up the pace, everyone! So we can get out of here already." She turned back to the earthen tendrils and squinted at it. "Your pores are so big, you wish you were dead."

While Aera verbally abused Gaea and Piper tried to get her to sleep, Leo pulled a circular saw out of his tool belt. How it fit in there, Jason had no idea. Then Leo peered at the cord and grunted in frustration. "I don't have anywhere to plug it in!"

Tempest jumped into the pit and volunteered. Leo was dubious but a breeze whisked the plug into the horse's flank. Lightning sparked and the circular saw whirred to life.

"Sweet!" Leo grinned. "Your horse comes with AC outlets!"

"Ooh!" Aera said, interest lighting up her face. "Can I use your horse later to curl my hair?"

Jason couldn't bribe her with a pampering session in time. On the other end of the pool, the giant's spire crumbled, unleashing a terrifying noise like a tree trunk snapping in half. Stone and wood shards rained down as the giant shook himself free from the outer sheath of tendrils.

Jason had thought Enceleadus was the worst monster he'd faced. Nope. Porphyrion was even taller and even more jacked. There was a kind of magnetism to its terrible strength, as if the giant were so huge and so dense he commanded his own gravitational field.

The giant king was humanoid from the waist up and had scaly dragon legs from the waist down. His hair was green, braided in long locks, and decorated with weapons—daggers, axes, and full-size swords, some of them bent and bloody—probably trophies taken from fallen demigods eons before. When the giant opened his eyes, they were blank white, like polished marble. He inhaled a deep breath and the wind blew past Jason's ears as a result.

"Alive!" the giant bellowed. "Praise to Gaea!"

"That's the king of the giants?" Aera laughed heartily at the face of death, clutching her stomach. "Ha-ha, we are so freaking screwed!"

Jason wholeheartedly agreed, though he didn't say it. They might have defeated the other monsters without a hitch, but Porphyrion was no ordinary monster. Jason was pretty sure no demigod could solo this guy. Porphyrion could lift mountains. He was going to crush Jason with one finger.

"Leo," Jason called.

"Huh?" Leo's mouth was wide open. The shock on Piper's face mirrored his.

"You guys keep working," Jason instructed. "Get Hera free!"

"What are you going to do?" Piper demanded, her tone tinged with disbelief. "You can't seriously—"

"Entertain a giant?" Jason interjected. "I've got no choice."

Aera seized his arm before he could go. She didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. Her eyes told him everything.

"I'll be fine," Jason assured, forcing a smile. "This isn't my first giant."

Her eyes flickered to the gash on his shoulder and filled with guilt.

"I'll go with you," she offered bravely.

"No," Jason said firmly. "We need you here. The forge and doves. Break the cage. That's all you need to do. I'll take care of the rest, okay?"

Aera's gaze softened. Jason noticed in that moment just how tired she was. Her shoulders were slumped over. She blinked more than usual. When she nodded, her movements were slower. The bruise around her neck was beginning to turn black. "Yeah..." she murmured, her voice barely audible. "Yeah...okay."

An intense feeling overtook him then, a determination to keep her safe. Before he could think twice, Jason leaned over and planted a light kiss on Aera's forehead. "See you soon."

Jason broke away from Aera, his gaze lingering on her face for a heartbeat longer than he'd intended. To ease his nerves, he flexed the hand he'd used to brush her hair back. Heart pounding, Jason approached the giant.

After a bit of boasting from both sides, Jason knew he had to buy more time for his friends. Aera's tone was getting weaker by the minute, her voice becoming hoarser. Piper was running out of ways to calm Gaea down and Leo was still sawing away. All the monsters they just defeated had regathered at the sound of the giant king's call. There was no help coming from above. Jason had already used up his ace by summoning Zeus' lightning to fight Enceladus.

Jason had no choice. He launched himself at the giant, determined to rip him apart. The fight went by in a blur. It was as if Jason's body took full control, scaling the giant's knee, ripping a sword out of Porphyrion's weapon-weaved braids, and stabbing him with it.

"For Rome!" he heard himself yell.

Lightning streaked out of the clouds and touched down on the sword, throwing Jason free. He rolled when he hit the ground. When he looked up, the giant was staggering. His hair was on fire, and the side of his face was blackened from lightning. Golden ichor ran down his jaw from where the sword had splintered his ear. The other weapons in his braids were sparking and smoldering.

Porphyrion lost his balance, almost toppling over. The circle of monsters let out a collective growl and moved forward—wolves and ogres fixing their grotesque eyes on Jason.

"No!" Porphyrion yelled. He regained his balance and glowered at the demigod. Jason felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight. "I will kill him myself."

The giant raised his spear and it began to glow. "You want to play with lightning, boy? You forget. I am the bane of Zeus. I was created to destroy your father, which means I know exactly what will kill you."

The distinctively nefarious undertone in Porphyrion's voice told Jason he wasn't bluffing. The gravity of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks. Jason and his friends had a good run. The four of them had done amazing things. Heroic even. But as the giant's spear hovered over him ominously, was no way he could deflect this strike. This was the end for him.

"Got it!" Leo yelled.

"Your giant kids all think you're ugly!" Aera shrilled.

"Sleep!" Piper said, so forcefully, the nearest wolves fell to the ground and began snoring.

With a resounding crash, the stone and wood cage crumbled. Leo's saw had cut through the thickest tendril, effectively breaking its connection to Hera. The tendrils broke into dust. The mud ensnaring Hera disintegrated into the air.

"Yes!" the goddess exclaimed. She threw off her black robes to reveal a white gown, her arms bedecked with golden jewelry. Her face was both terrible and beautiful, and a golden crown glowed in her long black hair. "Now I shall have my revenge!"

The giant Porphyrion backed away. He said nothing, but he gave Jason one last look of hatred. His message was clear: Another time. Then he slammed his spear against the ground, and the giant disappeared into the earth like he'd dropped down a chute. Around the courtyard, monsters began to panic and retreat, but there was no escape for them.

Hera glowed brighter. She shouted, "Cover your eyes, my heroes!"

Jason understood too late. He was tired and distracted. He watched as Hera turned into a supernova, exploding in a ring of force that vaporized every monster instantly. Jason fell, light searing into his mind, and his last thought was that his body was on fire.

Jason was dreaming again. Dreaming of Aera. She was guiding him by the hand to a windy rooftop, where a large white picnic blanket had been set up. There were heart-shaped pillows and throw blankets and a charcuterie board with all sorts of cheese, crackers, and fruit spread out. The New York City skyline spread out before them. Aera was wearing a long, ruffly sky blue dress and there were cute little white flowers braided in her dark hair. Her smile was a work of art.

"What's the occasion?" Jason asked as they lounged side by side on the blanket.

"Hm, the occasion is..." Aera trailed off in thought, placing a contemplative finger on her chin. She stared at him through her eyelashes as though she were expecting something. "Dating me."

Jason couldn't help but grin. "That is pretty special." He wrapped his arm around Aera and scooted her closer by the waist. Aera angled her head up at him, her lips inches from his. The view from the roof was amazing but nothing compared to the light in her eyes.

"Yeah?" she murmured, smiling again. "Glad we're on the same page."

Aera closed the distance between them. Being the son of Jupiter, Jason was used to flying but none compared to the feeling of lightness of Aera's lips. Kissing her was like floating in the clouds. He was on top of the world and there was nothing that could bring him down. Not even the snow that began to lightly fall from the sky.

Jason might have felt disappointed that Aera pulled away, had she not laughed, a satisfying sound ringing through his ears. Aera held out a hand and caught a dainty snowflake, showing it to him proudly.

"You know," she drawled, "my Halmeoni used to say that if you watch the first snow with someone, you're destined to stay in each other's lives for a long time."

Jason put his arm around her as the air got more chilly. "In a good way or a bad way?"

Aera smiled at Jason and in that moment, there was nothing else in this world that mattered to him. "Guess that's for us to find out."

That's okay, Jason thought. Because even if the world were to crash and burn, he wanted Aera to stay.

Jason wasn't sure when he stopped being dead. One second, it was just darkness and emptiness. The next, it was Piper's voice rattling him, screaming at him to come back. Her voice was so desperate, so persuasive, Jason could feel his soul being tugged forward, out of the dark, empty nothing.

Then his eyes blew open. Jason gasped, feeling as though his soul had been yanked back to earth. "What-what happened?"

Piper let out a huge sigh of relief. She was breathing heavily as though she had been pumping down on his chest, trying to get him to breathe again. She helped him to his feet.

Thalia had been unfrozen in the time he was out. She gripped Jason's hand. "How are you feeling?"

Jason could taste something metallic on his tongue. "Hot," he muttered groggily. "Mouth is dry. And I saw something...really terrible."

"That was Hera," Thalia grumbled. "Her Majesty, the Loose Cannon."

"That's it, Thalia Grace," snapped the goddess. "I will turn you into an aardvark, so help me—"

"Stop it, you two," Piper said. Amazingly, they both shut up.

Leo couldn't resist snickering at that.

Jason scanned the area. Every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. No signs of battle, either. The monsters had been vaporized. The ruins had been restored to what they were before—still ruins, but with no evidence that they'd been overrun by a horde of wolves, storm spirits, and six-armed ogres. The Hunters had been revived and were waiting in the meadow.

Then Jason's eyes landed on the person he wanted to see most. Aera pursed her lips, standing quite a distance away from him. There was no real expression on her face. "Welcome back."

That was it. No worry, no tears, no "I'm-so-happy-you're-not-dead!". Jason didn't know what he expected from her now that the truth was out and there were no more monsters standing in their way, but he hadn't expected her to be this...detached. Aera barely spared a glance at him. She turned to the goddess.

"Take us back to Camp Half-Blood," she requested. "Please."

Aera showed no trace of concern, no sign that she was glad he was alive. But for once, Jason could perceive, with full confidence, what she was thinking. Them meeting wasn't a coincidence. Their relationship had been conspired by the will of the gods, something Aera had strived to break free from for years. No amount of first snow was going to make Aera stay in his life for long. That was the brutal thing about dreams, after all. As much as you wanted them to be, they just weren't real. To Aera, Jason was an obligation at best and a curse at worst.

The goddess stared down at Aera. What surprised Jason next was the speed in which Hera agreed. There was something in the goddess' eyes, a sort of cryptic recognition, that made Jason wonder exactly how much the goddess had intervened in Aera's life, even before Jason was brought into the picture.

There wasn't time to ponder this, for with a wave of Hera's hand, the world turned upside down, and Jason almost blacked out.

When he could see straight again, they were back at camp, in the dining pavilion. It was the middle of dinner. They were standing on the Aphrodite cabin's table. Piper had one foot in Drew's pizza. Sixty campers rose at once, gawking at them in astonishment. Whatever Hera had done to shoot them across the country, it wasn't good for Jason's stomach. He could just barely contain his nausea.

Leo didn't do so great. He hopped off the table, ran to the nearest bronze brazier, and threw up in it—which probably wasn't the greatest burnt offering for the gods.

"Aera? Jason?" Chiron trotted forward. No doubt the old centaur had seen thousands of years' worth of weird stuff, but even he looked flabbergasted. "What—How—?"

Aera's knees buckled. She swayed and Drew caught her by the arms as she passed out.

"Medic!" she called. Drew placed a hand on Aera's forehead and scowled, the worst expression Jason had seen on her yet. "Ugh, what happened? She's burning up. She has eye bags and her lips are totally chapped."

One of her siblings gasped. "Aera never skips on moisturizing!"

At this, Drew looked peeved. "Well? Hello? Rally up, people! There's an unconscious person here."

The other Aphrodite campers shuffled forward, forming a protective huddle around Aera, blocking her from everyone else's view. Evidently, they couldn't couldn't let anyone see her so disheveled.

Jason wanted to bring Aera to the Big House himself, but he was swept away by endless questions and the protective glower of one very pissed off Drew Tanaka. He didn't remember much of the rest of the night.

Aera must have been a lot more exhausted than she let on. She was unconscious for three days in the infirmary. Jason visited her every morning before breakfast and every evening after dinner with a bundle of fresh flowers and a long apology prepared. She was never awake when he went, so he always ended up scrapping that last part.

Jason would arrange the flowers on the table in a watered vase and close the door silently behind him. Occasionally, he would run into Will Solace, the son of Apollo and camp's best medic, around camp and ask him if there were any updates on her condition. The son of Apollo always told him the same thing, "Just give her some more time."

Jason was starting to believe Aera was purposely avoiding him until he ran into her and Drew on the fourth day at the stables. Jason had gone there in the afternoon to check out if anyone had ever tamed a storm spirit as their steed when he saw the two sisters conversing under the gable with a silver-white pegasus out front. Aera's back was to him, feeding the horse a churro with pink sugar dusted over it.

"...bothering Will every single day," Drew was murmuring to Aera in a hushed yet rushed tone. "I'm telling you, he's just doing it out of guilt—" Drew saw Jason walking over and nudged Aera.

Aera turned around and Jason's breath caught in his throat. She looked amazing. It was one of the sunnier winter days, so she was sporting a sparkling black tweed jacket with pearls on the bottom and a pair of shorts with the same texture and pearl detailing. She had on knee-high horse-riding boots to match, emphasizing her slender legs. Her long black hair spilled down her back with graceful abandon.

There was no sign of her being recently hospitalized or in a deadly fight against a giant. The bruise was gone as though it had never been there. Her eye bags had also vanished, her makeup making her look fresh and snow-kissed.

"Give us a minute," Aera told Drew. Drew glared at Jason the entire time she was leaving, which told him they were probably gossiping about him before he arrived. Aera beckoned him over. They were right in front of the stables, but as soon as Jason got close to Aera, he could smell something sweet softly radiating off her.

"This is Silver Wind," Aera told Jason, as the pegasus ate the last bit of pink churro from her hand. "He used to be Silena's pegasus. He went missing after the war and they just found him circling outside camp borders. He's lost weight. They've been trying to get him to eat more and hang out with the other pegasi, but he hasn't been very responsive. He just hides in the corner by himself. I think he's depressed 'cause he misses her." Aera spoke so wistfully, Jason felt a pang of pain in his chest.

"He seems to be warming up to you, though," Jason observed, wanting to ease her sadness, even if it was just a little. "He's all calm and gentle. Not like Tempest."

Aera cracked a smile. The winter sun casted a warm glow over camp, and seemed to illuminate her like a radiant star.

Jason was starting to feel a little insecure. Aera was gorgeous, and he was still sweaty from working out in the commons area, dressed in orange basketball shorts and a questionably large shirt Thalia left behind in Cabin One. He hoped he didn't smell.

"I heard you were the one who started the flower garden around my sick bed," Aera said as she stroked Silver Wind's mane. "I didn't know you had a green thumb."

Jason rubbed the back of his neck. "It was more a nervous thumb, if anything."

"Why did you do it?"

"I was hoping the flowers would make you feel better—"

"No, I mean, at the mall," Aera clarified, biting her lip nervously. "Why did you do it? I've been thinking about it. You could've called your friends when we were at the spa resort. I definitely wouldn't have seen it coming during a deep tissue massage. You could've called them when I fell asleep in the cave. Why did you wait until we were shopping?"

Jason remembered their last real day together, and the elation he felt every time Aera beamed in approval at one of the outfits she had him try on. She had scrutinized every detail, pointed out every wrinkle, tailored every last button, just to make sure he was comfortable in his new clothing. Jason had never been treated this way before. Nobody had ever been this considerate for him before.

"It's not fair!" Aera pouted, dramatically slumping into one of the leather chairs in their private dressing room—Jason didn't even know they had private dressing rooms at this mall. "You look good in everything you wear!"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Remember those suspenders you said made me look like one of those nerds you hire to do your homework?"

"Nerds can be attractive, too!" Aera defended, pointing her glittery puffball pen at him like a weapon of logic. "Don't be nerdist. It's all about the confidence. And the body."

Jason felt his face grow hot. "You've been staring at my body?"

"You have very nice proportions," Aera stated without shame, squinting and holding up her pen at him like she was mentally framing him in a photograph. "Long legs, broad shoulders, strong biceps. And you're only, like, what? 15? Your physique's going to get even better when you're older. As long as you stay healthy and active, you're going to have the looks of a god."

Jason didn't know how to react to all these compliments. "Well, I could always use the advice. Especially from someone with the looks of a goddess."

Aera lowered her pen and scrunched up her nose at him. "Don't try to sweet talk your way out of this one. I still have 10 more outfits for you to try on. Back to the fitting room, soldier!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Jason was surprised how easily he had trusted her back then, and the transformation from having a blade at each other's necks to having a tie at his neck so Aera could teach him how to knot it properly. And Aera had trusted him, too, Jason realized.

Now, Jason found himself in front of the stables at Camp Half-Blood, wanting to earn that trust back again.

"There were monsters."

Aera stopped petting Silver Wind. "At the mall?"

Jason nodded grimly. "Ice soldiers. Khione's soldiers. We had been hiding out from them for days and they suddenly showed up. I split up with you to check out the area, get a sense of how many there were and how they found us. I never expected my comrades to show up. They'd been tracking our enemies for a week. I told them I chose to go with you and they assumed I had been taken against my will. I was going to you when I saw the soldiers at the top of the elevator as you were coming down. There were eight of them, the most we'd ever faced. So I showed my friends where you were, knowing they would get you out of there without endangering the mortals around us."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"There was no time."

Aera rolled her eyes. "'Hey, Aera, you know those unfashionably dressed ice soldiers that have been trying to gun us down for the past week? They're here. Oh, and so are my comrades who want you dead.'" She shook her head in disbelief. "See? That took, like, two seconds. There's always time."

Jason looked down in shame. "I guess I was just...scared."

"And then after, when they took me hostage again, why didn't you tell them the truth? Why didn't you stop them?"

"I wasn't sure if they would listen. The second you show weakness in the legion, you're a liability."

"But you were their leader," Aera pointed out. "They followed you out of choice, not out of fear. Even I could tell how much they respected you. If at any time you gave those bedsheet-wearing twerps the order to release me, they would have. Without question."

Jason shrugged. It almost irked him how keen Aera was at grasping the situation. "I suppose part of me secretly wanted you to go to New Rome."

This, however, seemed like news to Aera. Her brown eyes widened and she leaned away from him as though he had spit on her. "You said I was supposed to be your legion's ruining or whatever," she said bitterly. "Because of the pearl in my hair. I thought you didn't want me there."

Jason kept his eyes on Silver Wind. It was suddenly growing more and more difficult to look at her, despite how much he wanted to. "You told me you didn't expect to live very long. That demigods aren't destined to have a happy ending. I wanted to show you we could."

"How?"

"There's a great city within our borders. Demigods and descendants of demigods retire there after their service. You can live a normal life there, as far as normal goes for being a half-blood. You can grow old there. Start a family. Have kids. You wouldn't have to worry about life and death so often. You'd be free to live a life you want."

"And the only way to prove that was to tie me up?" Her eyes were hard when Jason finally got the courage to look at her. She was gripping on Silver Wind's reins so tightly her knuckles were white.

"I thought I could persuade them you were a good person in time. It was a bad call. I'm sorry. I wanted you and my friends to make peace so bad. I wanted them to see you the way I do."

"A traitor?" she offered indignantly. "A liar? A graecus?"

"Divine," Jason answered, staring into her eyes. "I wanted you to live there with me, Aera. In New Rome."

A muscle in Aera's jaw jumped. "And you regret it now, don't you?" she asked, yet she didn't sound very accusatory about it at all, rather, pensive. "After I blew up that mountain, there's no chance your friends will accept me now. That was a declaration of war to them."

"I could convince them," Jason suggested hastily. "Show them you're not a threat."

"Then you'd be a traitor to your own people." Aera gave him a rueful smile. "Trust me, Jason, that's not the kind of person you want to be branded as."

The weight of her words settled upon him. Jason understood and accepted that he was supposed to be the link between the two camps, but he was so afraid he would get his friends killed. He didn't know if he could protect Aera or the only home he had ever known. His dreams the past few nights reminded him how hard it was being a son of Jupiter. Everyone was always looking at him to step up and be a leader, but he always felt alone.

His memory was still foggy, but bits and pieces were coming back. The night Lupa had tested him at the Wolf House, to decide if he would be a pup or food. Then the long trip south to...he couldn't remember, but he had flashes of his old life. The day he'd gotten his tattoo. The day he'd been raised on a shield and proclaimed a praetor. His friends' faces: Poppy, Dakota, Gwen, Hazel, Bobby. And Reyna.

The problem was how much Jason liked Aera. Even if it was only for a short while, Jason had turned his back on duty. He had left his home behind and spent time with her in San Francisco while the legion mourned his disappearance. Even now, all Jason wanted was for Aera to stay by his side. He scolded himself for feeling this way, for neglecting his responsibilities and being selfish.

"Leo says he has something to show us out in the woods," Aera said, effectively breaking him out of his thoughts. "He's been bugging Drew about me. She has bad blood with the Hephaestus kids. We better go now before Drew loses her patience and shaves my head while I'm asleep. We can talk about this and I can be mad at you later, after I eliminate the threat of becoming bald."

As selfish as it might have been, Jason was relieved for the temporary change of subject. It gave him more time to think about what his past meant for them—all of them.

The bunker was unlike anything Jason had ever seen, and he liked to think he'd seen a lot of amazing things. The cave was the size of an airplane hangar, with countless worktables and storage cages, rows of garage-sized doors along either wall, and staircases that led up to a network of catwalks high above.

Equipment was scattered everywhere, plus something that looked suspiciously like a nuclear reaction chamber. Bulletin boards were covered with tattered, faded blueprints. And weapons, armor, shields—war supplies all over the place, a lot of them only partially finished.

The group—Jason, Piper, Leo, Annabeth, Chiron, Aera, and a couple other Hephaestus kids—was silent in awe as they toured the facility. Even Festus' head was sitting on the central table, still battered and scorched from his final crash in Omaha. He was meant to be the masthead of the new ship—the Argo II, as Leo called it. Jason wasn't too fond of their new transportation being named after the original Jason's ship, but it gave Leo confidence, so he couldn't shut him down. This ship sounded exactly like what they needed for the journey ahead, to confront the giants in their homeland.

After Leo finished telling them his plans to quote and quote "build a spankin' hot war machine", he picked something off the table and handed a circular disk to Aera. "Oh, this is for you, hot stuff."

"A CD?" Aera coughed at the dust it flung into the air, clearly displeased. "Why would I want this?"

Leo shrugged. "Your name's written on it. It was here when I first came in. Don't worry, I haven't watched it. But..." He scratched the top of his head. "...have you...have you been down here before?"

"Do I look like an arts-and-crafts kind of girl?"

"Maybe Luke somehow found this place." Nyssa narrowed her eyes at Aera. "Maybe he left something behind for you. A final curse."

"Yeah, no, just get rid of it." Aera shoved the CD into Leo's chest. "I just recovered from having the world's nastiest bruise. I cannot risk being cursed with having cuticles or something horrible like that."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "There's a CD player in this corner. Play it."

Leo followed Annabeth's heed. The CD player looked ancient. It took a couple minutes to boot up while loudly puffing out air and more dust. When it did, it whirled into action, projecting an image onto the blank space of the wall.

As soon as the image became distinguishable, the campers broke out in gasps. Chiron's tail uncomfortably flicked against the floor. Even Annabeth covered her mouth with her hand.

For a moment, Jason couldn't understand why. It was just a pixelated image of a girl. Then the video started to play.

"My name—" Static erratically broke up the video. "My—name—is—Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, the lady of doves."

The video stopped glitching. Jason could see her appearance more clearly now. Spring green eyes and long chocolate brown hair in a side braid. She wore little makeup but there was no need for it. She was slim and had a kind face. Silena was beautiful in an effortless way, but never in a million years would Jason have guessed this was Aera's sister. They looked nothing alike.

"This war is at a stalemate," Silena panted, sounding winded. Jason noticed her hair was slightly sticking out her braid, as though she had been running for a long duration of time. "The Titans have surrounded Manhattan and Olympus have solidified the defenses around their fortress. The gods are too busy battling Typhon to take care of what's happening in New York. And right now, I...I'm about to do the unthinkable. Using the magic in this flower, I've enchanted Jolina Kamarov, Randolph Kensington, and Camille Blanchet into carrying backpacks filled with Greek fire bombs into the sleeping city. In about thirty minutes, they'll reach the base of Mount Olympus and blow up the entrance. Their lives will be taken and Manhattan will fall to the Titan's forces.

I'm making this video because I want everyone to know it was me. I-I was the spy. Aera didn't force me to do anything. I wanted this myself. I used to pray to the gods every night. I used to pray for every demigod who was younger than me to survive. They never answered. I just had no idea that Charlie would...he would..."

Silena drew in a sharp breath and composed herself, the determination in her eyes burning.

"I joined Kronos to protect my sister. I had to. I-I-I couldn't leave her alone with that Titan. If Aera doesn't find a way into Mount Olympus, they'll all turn against her. Since the beginning she's been ordering their army not to kill demigods. But they're restless monsters. They crave blood and bone and flesh. She's in danger of falling victim to their violent natures. This explosion should distract them from their bloodlust as they advance into the capital.

But I can't let Olympus go down without a fight either. Camp Half-Blood is my home and these demigods are my family. The Ares cabin needs a leader to rally them into battle. Clarisse will come to understand one day. Only a child of Ares can defeat the drakon.

I know how to stop this. I have to stop this. This is for all the half-bloods who have been misunderstood, who deserve to live in a world where they are loved and appreciated for who they truly are. This bunker was created for children of Hephaestus to make inventions for that purpose. I know Charlie did...

As for Aera—my dear, dear Aera. By the time you see this, there won't be time for us to say goodbye. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you from Kronos, and from Luke. You think this destruction is all you have to show for your years spent suffering. But the truth is, you were never hard to love. You never had to earn a place in anyone's heart. It's not your fault. In the next life, let's be sisters again. When all else fails...remember I love you."

AUTHOR'S NOTE ♡ eeee we have one more chapter left in catharsis!! <33 omggg are you guys excited? hehe what are your predictions? thoughts? comments? concerns? it feels surreal that catharsis is coming to a close ive been working on this fic for 2 years now and i really hope you guys continue enjoying and supporting our lil aeraverse series :D as always, thank you all sosoosos sos so so so much for reading and i'll see you in the next update! <3