Wasted Butterflies

You started this problem, you fix it!

I ran back to the Apollo cabin, just in time to see Will shove Jason out the front door. "Give us some privacy, would you?" 

He stumbled back and nearly tripped on the porch steps, but I caught him. "Woah, Jason, babe. You ok?" I asked. 

"Y-yeah... Yeah, I'll be ok." 

I hugged him from behind, knowing he probably wasn't. He still needs to work on that. "... I ran into Lou. She told me she could explain everything. You wanna follow me to cabin 20?" 

He nodded. "Yeah... Yeah, we should go." 

-

I'd never been inside Cabin 20, and I have to admit... It was beautiful. The bottom bunks were all decorated with purple see-through curtains with little golden stars embroidered onto them, and the tops of the bedposts on the top bunks were elongated into little desks. The bedsheets were black velvet, pillows with gems and tassels, and an alchemy table in the back, facing a huge window with more black velvet curtains. It was on one of the bottom bunks that Lou was sitting, reading some kind of book about gemstones before her head snapped up. "Oh... Hey." She put the book down and turned her body toward us. "You, um, might wanna sit down for this." She warned, patting the bed beside her. 

Both of us sat down next to each other, me on the far side, Jason on the near. "So... What the hell is going on?" 

"... I was the one that made the chocolates." She admitted. "I had to, Will told me if I didn't, or if I tried anything funny... He'd tell everyone about the baby." 

"The baby?" Jason asked. "What baby?" 

Lou sighed, biting her pierced lip. "... I made a very bad decision once he got back to camp, from wherever Chiron sent him. A couple bad decisions, really." 

"Wait a minute... You're pregnant?" I asked. This was getting weird. 

"Not anymore." She held her arms over her chest. "... He was the one to... Fix that. I didn't want  anyone else to know, and... He's a doctor." 

"I... I still don't understand." I confessed. "What does this have to do with Nico getting back together with his ex?" 

Lou's throat bobbed a little as she swallowed her spit. "... I put love potion in it. That's why I had those messages written on the back, I figured he would-" 

"What the fuck!?" Jason blurted out before she could finish her sentence, jumping to his feet. Usually, I was the one to explode, while he tried to stay reasonable. "Why would you even consider-" 

"You really didn't listen to anything I said, did you!?" She tried to rise to her feet as quick as Jason did, but bumped her head on the top bunk. "Ow..." She stood more carefully this time. "... I didn't see any way out of it." 

"Well, you started this problem, you fix it!" Jason demanded. 

"I will, I promise. I have a plan... I just need you to keep your mouths shut. And get me a lock of Will's hair." She started pacing, looking for something before she got a bottle of clear liquid out from under her bed. "It's not vodka, I swear. It's rainwater. Should be perfect for this. Oh, and some bay leaves from the kitchen. And if you find any black dahlias, or any dahlias really, that'll work great too." 

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked. 

"I'm going to make him an antidote." She answered. "Now... I suggest you two go to dig around near Will's bunk, he's got a hairbrush under his bed. You should find some hair there. I'll go out to the dining pavilion and keep watch until breakfast is over, so once all the harpies are gone, I'll get what I need for the potion. Also, I'll get some breakfast, and save some for you two as well." 

I nodded. "It's a plan. Right, Jason?" I turned to him, and he was looking down at his shoes with a blank expression on his face. I wasn't sure how long he'd been like that, but I jostled him a little. "Jason? You good?" 

He shook alive again and pushed his glasses up his nose. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, sounds good." 

I nodded again. "Right." 

All three of us exited cabin 20, and split up. Lou went to the dining pavilion, and Jason and I went to the Apollo cabin after I spotted Will's bushy blonde hair in the distance, signaling that it was safe to go inside. He wouldn't catch us. 

After a little scrambling around, I found his hairbrush and gagged exaggeratedly at the buildup of hair on it. "Oh gods... We're really gonna make him ingest this?" I asked, though I knew what the answer was. 

He chuckled. "Of course. It's the only way to cure him, isn't it?" He asked. 

I tucked it into my pocket, and just in time too, as Austin burst into the room. "Hey... Have you guys seen my saxophone? Connor kept acting weird about it. I wanna make sure he hasn't sold it to a pawn shop behind my back as a prank." 

I looked to Jason for a minute, then back to Austin, and shook my head. 

He was looking around frantically for it, tossing items left and right, until... "Aha! Now let's make sure everything's good..." He mumbled to himself. "... What the-!? Connor, I swear to every god out there, I'm gonna kill you." 

"... What happened with the sax?" Jason asked. 

"He plugged it up with bubblegum!" Austin sat on the bed, cradling the gummed-up woodwind like it was a sick baby. "Doesn't he realize how expensive, how delicate, these things are? Just because I'm an Apollo kid doesn't mean I can just pull instruments out of thin air! Ugh... I'll have to take this to the Hephaestus cabin, and even they might not be able to fix it." He ranted. "... What are you two doing here?" He asked. 

"Oh, nothing." I answered. "Just stopped by to congratulate the reunited couple, but I guess they're already gone." I lied. I've always lied so easily. 

"Yeah... I'm glad Will got his head straight. I just hope he stays that way." 

I sighed. "Me too." 

All three of us went out of the Apollo cabin, my hand in my pocket, fingers nervously brushing the clump of hair as we went to the dining pavilion.

(Man, this is becoming like a soap opera, isn't it? Sorry if you think this plot is becoming a little too weird, it'll be over soon. Oh, but I'm planning on making a mid-quel about how they find Ofelia! That'll be a separate fic though.)