sky blue ● jason grace

all,

 Jason took her hand as they made their way through the dark. It was a light touch, reassuring. Daria had never been one to be afraid of shadows, but at that moment, she wanted to do nothing more than picnic with Jason on the Berkeley Hills, watching the setting sun.

They let Piper and Percy take the lead. Piper, after having saved their asses, strode confidently. Daria had never thought of Piper as helpless, but no matter how much she downplayed her beauty, there would always be a softness to her that was missing from Annabeth or even Hazel.

She supposed it came with being a daughter of Aphrodite. This soft pink hue that surrounded her every act. Piper was strong, self-assured, but there was a darkness in the rest of them that hadn't touched her yet. A weariness that didn't live in her shimmering eyes.

The rumbling sound came in and out of focus as she thought. Obviously, whatever was making the noise was dangerous, which is why Percy had decided that it was their destination.

Jason was staticky beside her. Not literally, not this time. But his hold was nervous and jerky, like he was already anticipating the fight ahead.

He must have noticed her staring because he shook his head. "The odds are different," he explained. "Krios was three against one, Porphyrion was technically three, plus the Hunters. There are two giants, and four demigods, and we don't have a God."

"We've faced worse odds," Daria was confused. "Four against two, and you and Percy combined are devastating. What's really the matter? Was it the cave?"

"I haven't told you," he admitted. "Anyone. There's been too much going on. But I can't stop thinking about Hercules."

"What about him?" She could see a turn in the tunnel up ahead. The rumbling sound was getting louder.

"He told Piper to be wary of Sons of Jupiter." Daria could barely see, but Jason's mouth was set in an unconfident line. "He said 'they can be', but he never finished his thought. And I keep wondering what that something is. What if it gets us killed?"

"Whatever he was going to say probably had something to do with your fatal flaw." She squeezed his hand. "We all have one. This might not make you feel better, but we all have an equally likely chance of getting people killed. Which means it all cancels out, really."

Jason rolled his eyes with amusement. He opened his mouth-probably to say something along the lines of, "That is absolutely the worst take I've ever heard, and statistically...", but Percy motioned for them to stay quiet. They were at the end of the tunnel now, pressed against the rock wall.

He peeked around the corner, and Daria could see him try and comprehend the sight in front of him.

"What is it?" Piper whispered.

"It's..." Percy shook his head. "Well come see for yourself."

About twenty feet inside the doorway, a life-size wooden cutout of a gladiator popped up from the floor. It clicked and whirred along a conveyor belt, got hooked on a rope, and ascended through a slot in the roof. "What the fuck?" Jason muttered.

About a hundred yards away, she spotted a raised dais with two empty oversized praetor chairs. Standing between them was a bronze jar big enough to hold a person. "Look." Daria pointed it out to her friends.

Piper frowned. "That's too easy."

"Of course," Percy said.

"But we have no choice," Jason said. "We've got to save Nico."

"Yeah," Percy agreed.

They traveled slowly, ducking under cages of wolves and jumping over pipelines. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, the animals looked at them with bored expressions, as if it wouldn't be worth it to kill them. It was so obviously a trap. But they had no choice.