My Boyfriend is a Dead Roman Hero | Jason Grace

I Get Trapped On a Raft With Leo Valdez

Julie spends the first few days getting sunburned and failing at meditation.

She tries helping Leo work on building a raft, but she really just gets in the way more than she helps, so he tells her he can handle it himself. Which is probably a polite way of saying she sucks at building things.

So, Juliette decides her time can be well spent trying to somehow contact the Argo II using her connection to Jason. She spends most of her time daydreaming about him, anyway, so sitting on the beach and thinking about her favorite person isn't exactly difficult to do. However, trying to tap into the power Cupid spoke of, to connect it to the Mist like Hazel suggested...that isn't going so well.

Come on, Soldier Boy. Hear her reaching out...Please.

About the twentieth time that Julie groans in annoyance when the chirping of a bird or the splash of a wave distracts her from meditating, a voice behind her almost makes her yelp in surprise.

"Would you tell your creature to cease that infernal clanging?!"

Julie turns to Calypso in annoyance. The sound of Leo's hammer on the celestial bronze they scavenged earlier is echoing across the beach. "Tell him yourself."

Calypso bristles. "I do not wish to speak to him."

"Why? Worried he's gonna seduce you?"

Silence.

Julie snorts. "Oh, he'll try. Doesn't mean you have to fall for it."

"Do not imply I have a choice in the matter!"

Juliette frowns. "Don't you?"

Calypso's face falters. Something pained crosses her eyes, vulnerable and scared. But, her expression closes off immediately after, slamming shut like a steel door. She turns on her heel and makes back for her cave, regardless of the continued clanging in the distance.

--

Jason's about to have a panic attack.

It's been days since they arrived at the Palace of the South Wind. The venti tell him they're somewhere along the northern coast of Africa, so the wind bomb that went off when Piper took care of Khione must have blasted them all the way across the Mediterranean.

He's pacing the half repaired deck of the ship while waiting to be collected for his daily audience with the Lord of the South Wind when Hazel and Nico approach him.

"Do you see her yet?" Nico asks bluntly.

"No."

"Have you looked?"

"Have I-Of course, I've looked!" Jason snaps. "I told you, I can't sense her. Whatever happened, wherever she is, it's blocking me out."

Nico just scowls at him.

With a look of gentle concern, Hazel steps up instead. "Jason, we're just here to help-"

"Maybe you are-"

"Let's just try it again, okay?" Hazel soothes.

Feeling guilty, Jason takes a deep breath to get his anger under control. With gritted teeth, he stops pacing and turns to reluctantly take the girl's outstretched hands.

She smiles at him. "Good. Now, deep breaths, in and out."

Jason hears Nico snort bitterly off to the side and tenses. He squeezes his eyes shut tighter as the ball of frustration in his stomach grows dangerously hot.

"Just be calm and let yourself connect with the Mist. Lose your form. Let the images play in front of your mind."

The images? Which ones? The ones where Leo falls from the sky, and Jason is too busy being useless to catch him? Or how about the ones where his girlfriend - his best friend - ends up trapped in some screwed up ice-goddess version of the room from that Saw movie Piper made him watch?