Percy Jackson: Genderbent

Chapter 23

Perci's POV:

"Okay. None of us have found the girdle yet, so we'll need to split off in different pairs," Jason said statically. We were sitting at the same table we'd arrived in, after hearing Jason and Leo report their failure to find the girdle. Nico and I told them we hadn't found it either, but didn't give any details. "Is going in pairs the right solution? I mean, it should have worked the first time, but it didn't, so are we doing the right thing?" Nico asked quickly, and we looked at him in confusion.

"Well... romantic things happen between couples, so we are doing the right thing... I think," I said. "Exactly. You think. But you don't know," Nico said, and I turned to him. "Well, then, got any better ideas?' I asked, and he shrugged. "We could all go together," he said, but Jason was shaking his head. "No. Love happens between two people, so it would make sense if we went in twos. This time around, I think I'll go with Perci," he said looking at me.

I nodded, then tried to stifle a laugh at the way Leo and Nico were looking at each other. It was obvious that the son of Hades didn't really like Leo's sense of humor, and that Leo was kind of scared of Nico. Le looked at me pleadingly, but I shrugged. It wasn't like there was anything I could do about it. If Jason and Nico went together, who knows how bad their argument would be this time. And neither Leo or me would be there to break it up.

"This'll have to be the best way. So where are we going?" I asked, taking out the map. We looked at all the romantic places, and pondered where we could go. "Perci and I could go to the Tuileries Garden." Jason said, pointing to a spot on the map not too far from where we were sitting. I leaned over in my chair, looking closer at the map. "Hmm... why not?" I said, and Jason shrugged. "Yeah, that's what I thought," he said. "We could... um... go to that giant hill place," Leo said, casting an uncomfortable look at Nico. Nico, meanwhile, sighed and rolled his eyes. You mean Montmartre?" He asked, looking at the map. "Yeah... that place," Leo said.

"Great!" Jason said, standing up. "We'll meet back here at... 4 o'clock," he said, looking down at the watch I didn't know he had. How did he get that? Did the Graces give it to him, like the stupid bracelet? I looked down at the piece of jewelry on my wrist. Did it have a - wait a minute.

I looked down at my wrist to make sure. I couldn't believe it. It was still there! And, it had the nerve to look like it'd been there the whole time. It wasn't muddy from the Seine, or dented from me stepping on it. Nico looked at me one last time, and his eyes widened when he realized where my gaze was. Is that it? he mouthed, and I nodded. His eyes narrowed, and he looked mad enough to storm Olympus and give Aphrodite a piece of his mind. I tried to smile reassuringly, but I'm sure it came out as a grimace.

Jason's eyes narrowed. "Let's go," he said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me away. I managed to wave to the two shocked boys and shout "good luck!" before I rounded a corner and they disappeared from sight. "What the Hades was that, Grace?!" I said, snatching my hand from his wrist. "Sorry," he muttered, and continued on his way. I rolled my eyes.

"So... do you know where you're going?" I asked, and he looked down at the map. "I, um... think so." He said, turning the map this way and that to read it better. I rolled my eyes, and snatched it out of his hands. He looked offended before I put the map in the right direction, and started walking. "Jeez, Jason, you went the wrong way," I said, heading back the way we went. "See ya!" I called to the boys, who were still there, as I walked by they both waved back, a little confused, but Leo started laughing when he saw a confused-looking Jason following me. Even Nico cracked a smile.

"See? This is how you read a map," I said, smirking triumphantly at him. Jason rolled his eyes. "Yeah... whatever," he said, like he just hadn't lead us the wrong way. "C'mon, Lighting Boy, let's go."