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"we'll trade hearts, to watch over each other"
IF NOT FOR ARIADNE, PIPER WOULD'VE DIED.
Jason and Percy charged each other, but Ariadne pulled her out of the way. They rolled onto the ground away from the two boys and their horses, who balked.
The boys crossed swords, gold against bronze. Sparks flew. Their blades blurred—strike and parry—and the pavement trembled. The first exchange only took a second, but Piper looked horrified at the speed of their sword fighting. Ariadne, on the other hand, could see their exact movements in slow motion, having trained herself that way for years. The horses pulled away from each other—Tempest thundering in protest, Blackjack flapping his wings.
"Stop it!" Piper yelled.
For a moment, Jason heeded her voice. His golden eyes turned toward her, and Percy charged, slamming his blade into Jason. Percy turned his sword—maybe on purpose, maybe accidentally—so the flat of it hit Jason's chest; but the impact was still enough to knock Jason off his Mount.
Blackjack cantered away as Tempest reared in confusion. The spirit horse charged into the sunflowers and dissipated into vapor. Percy struggled to turn his pegasus around.
Ariadne raised her sword, but her hand went weak, cradling her now pounding head as another wave of pain washed over it. She could hear the wheat crackling in a distant laugh. Her eyes didn't regain clear sight until a bolt of lighting arced out of the clear blue sky. It ricocheted off Jason's gladius and blasted Percy off his horse.
Blackjack whinnied and fled into the wheat fields. Jason charged at Percy, who was now on his back, his clothes smoking from the lightning blast. Ariadne stepped in quickly.
Her sword clashes against Jason's. He stumbled back from her strength, but grit his teeth while those gold eyes bore into her skull. It was all too similar to the way Luke had looked at her—it was too much for her.
Gaea seemed to be whispering to her: You must choose one. Do it. Kill Jason, save your precious Percy.
"Jason, stop!" Piper screamed.
He froze, his sword loosening. Jason turned, the gold light in his eyes flickering uncertainly. "I cannot stop. One must die."
Whoever spoke they did so haltingly, as if English was Its second language.
"Who are you?" Piper demanded.
Jason's mouth twisted in a gruesome smile. "We are the eidolons. We will live again."
"Eidolona...?" Ariadne's mind raced. With her now passing headache to her mind focusing on the fight at hand, she wasn't thinking about monster terms from her time at Camp Half-Blood. "You're—you're some sort of ghost?"
