Cabin 13

57| The Game Plan

Piper's expression was murderously placid and her tone was simply icing on the cake. 

As soon as Leo, coated in pink goop, had sheepishly produced some super glue from his tool belt, she sent him to the shower and told everyone not to come into contact with the love potion unless they potentially wanted to get in Percy's pants. 

Will had washed his arms past his elbows three times after hearing that. 

Piper leaned against the bathroom door, flipping through Eros' journal. "Leo, did you not read the fine print?! You have to count the number of drops you put in!"

"I did! But then I lost count and just added an extra one to be safe," Leo groaned. "I didn't think it would have this big of an affect!" He yelled from the shower, muffled through the door. 

Will and Hazel sat on the carpet slowly trying to piece back together the broken bottle. Hazel had snagged some rubber gloves from the janitor's cart in the hall to keep from touching the potion all over the glass. 

"I just thought, hey, look! A perfect solve to our problems! A potion that can make someone best friends  or even like family  with their worst enemy!"

Piper scowled, "If you'd counted right! But no, instead my boyfriend  now is under the "Cupid" love potion." She fumed, "Want me to read the description? Two words, Leo! "Irresistible Lust!'"

Nico held his head in his hands and sighed, Piper had been at this for ten minutes straight and he didn't know how much more he could take. 

Jason sat on the far corner of the bed, still eyeing the bathroom viciously. He was almost certain that when that scrawny fire boy showed his face again he wouldn't be able to restrain himself from running a sword through him for the threats he made to Percy. 

Sitting next to him, Percy yawned, glancing over at Jason's clenched jaw and crossed arms. He slowly slid his foot across the carpet, touching Jason's. Jason straightened, breaking his glower to look down and then back at Percy. 

Percy pretended not to notice, acting focused on Will and Hazel's progress with their glass puzzle. 

Jason loosened a bit, moving closer to Percy on the bed and immediately feeling calmer. All this yelling was only confusing him even more. Their words were too hard to focus on, before he could even process what they were saying someone else was yelling too. It made his head spin. The one thing he did understand was that Leo had directed only bad intentions toward Percy; which made his insides boil and his fists clench. 

But being near Percy was enough to pacify him. Percy was the only thing that was comprehensible in his mind right now, the only voice that was perfectly clear. But being this close made it so tempting to reach out and grab Percy's jaw, pin down his arms, and tear off yet another pesky shirt that was between him and Percy's beautifully tanned skin. 

Percy fidgeted a bit, Jason was staring at him with those eagle eyes and he couldn't even imagine what he must be thinking but the intense gaze alone was enough to make him uncomfortable and even frustrated at this point. He was making it extremely difficult to respect Jason's girlfriend  who was currently in the room! Taking the higher road was such a drag.

Carefully trying to piece together the broken glass, Will said, "Alright, we need to come up with a game plan ASAP."

Piper slammed the journal shut. "Well, I'm not planning on an empty stomach," she huffed, throwing the journal on the bed and picking up the hotel telephone. She quickly ordered some room service. "Ugh, Charmspeak is so much harder through the phone," she said, plopping down on the bed. 

"Okay, now let's talk about whatever is happening with Lethe. When we found Piper and Hazel swimming in the ocean it was like they were in some sort of daze," Will said. 

Hazel pursed her lips, "I can't remember anything after finding Percy on the beach."

"She's the gatekeeper."

"What?" Will frowned.

Nico sighed, sitting up. "When we got to the beach and I saw the water it all made sense. Eros gave me the information we need to get to the Netherlands, but I couldn't find it until I saw the ocean. It's the way into the Netherlands and Lethe is the gatekeeper. So those going in cannot remember their reason for going to the Netherlands and those coming out don't remember being in the Netherlands to begin with." 

"Great," Leo groaned, walking in still sopping wet but with fresh clothes and a towel around his neck. "So how are we supposed to get in without Lethe stealing our memories?"

Jason grimaced and Percy put a hand on his thigh. 

Will shrugged, "From what I could tell, Percy's memories became foggy while in Lethe's direct presence and both Piper and Hazel lost their memories from swimming in Lethe's water. So, hypothetically if we can avoid Lethe and get across the water without coming into contact with it, we might be able to pull this off."

Hazel looked up, "Well, if it's water can't Percy keep us dry as we swim through the gate?"

Percy shook his head. "It's no ordinary water, it took all my strength just to keep it from drowning you guys earlier."

Hazel blinked, "Drowning? We were still in the shallows."

Will frowned, "So what I'm hearing is: we need a boat, some more specifics on how exactly we get through the gate, and Percy needs some practice controlling the angry water." He shrugged, "Great! Simple."

"This bottle takes priority over all of that," Piper snapped.

Will stood, snapping off his gloves, "I think we can multitask, and if all goes well, set sail into the Netherlands in a day or two." He sighed, "Which means Leo you're in charge of fixing the bottle."

"Me?"

"You've got nimble fingers and besides Percy literally calls you Repair Boy," he said, throwing the gloves at him. "Now, Nico I need you to write down as much as you can, maybe make a map, so we have a better idea where we need to go. Piper and Hazel you're in charge of finding us a boat." Will ran his hands through his hair, turning to the bed, "And I'll go with Percy down to the beach."

Percy raised a brow. "And what about my new stalker?" he asked, gesturing to Jason. 

"You're going to try to keep the ocean from drowning him. And who knows, if all goes well maybe Lethe's water will counteract Eros' potion."

Percy glanced over at Piper with a raised brow. She ignored the look, her arms tightening across her chest. 

Percy smirked, "Let's cross our fingers then."