CHAPTER THIRTY:
HEAD ON FIRE

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

ANNAIS TOLD NO ONE about what happened between her and Jason. To be honest, she wasn't sure if there was even anything to tell. They only discussed taking things slow then seeing how everything progressed from there. Really, it wasn't like she was lying, just omitting parts of the truth. When Melanie eagerly tracked her down after the meeting, Annais remained tight-lipped, merely shrugging and changing the subject when she asked why Jason had been in her room. Fortunately for her, Mel wasn't one to pry; the real one to worry about was Ezra.

But as Annais discovered the next morning, Ezra had gotten into some relationship trouble of her own.

Everyone panicked when they woke up to find Ezra, Percy and Annabeth missing from their beds. They scoured the ship from top to bottom, convinced that someone had snuck on board and kidnapped them. Annais tried not to freak out too much, smothering down her anxieties as the group split off to search each section. It wasn't long, then, before Frank called out that he'd found them, and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Crisis averted.

Well, until they -- specifically Coach Hedge -- realised they snuck off to the stables together. Then, shit hit the roof again. Hazel kept on fanning her face, refusing to meet Percy's eyes and glowering when she thought none of them were looking. It amused Annais, how scandalised she truly was just at the three of them kissing each other. Until then, she hadn't really noticed any differences in her sister (was it appropriate to call her that?) but Hazel was born and bled in the 1940s. Sneaking away to kiss your partner -- or in this case, partners -- was not something you'd catch Hazel Levesque even thinking of doing.

As for the others... well, Jason and Leo found it amusing, as did Annais to a certain degree, while Piper and Melanie shook their heads like they were disappointed but not surprised. It was Gleeson who was the most vocal about his opinion. The seven and the Mins sat in the dining room for what felt like an eternity while he paced in front of them and screamed.

"Never in my life," Annais recalled him saying before he turned on an innocent bowl of apples and sent them scattering with his bat. "Against the rules! Irresponsible!"

"Coach, it was an accident," Annabeth sighed in frustration. Annais was keenly aware of her hand in Ezra's, how she refused to let go even with Coach glowering at them. "We were just talking and we fell asleep."

"Besides," Percy snickered, unable to hold back his cheeky grin. In response, Ezra grumbled like she knew exactly what he was about to say. "You're starting to sound like Terminus."

Even Annais winced at that.

Hedge's eyes narrowed dangerously. He held his club like he was considering whacking Percy over the head with it. "Is that an insult, Jackson? 'Cause I'll... I'll terminus you, buddy!"

Percy tried unsuccessfully to hide his laughter. "It won't happen again, Coach, I promise." Annais knew it definitely would, but Coach didn't seem to realise that. "Now, don't we have other things to discuss?"

"Fine," the satyr huffed. "But I'm watching you, Jackson. As for you, Annabeth Chase, I thought you had more sense. And you, Ezra... well, I'm not surprised--"

"Okay," Jason cut in as Ezra's brows furrowed. "Let's grab some food and get started."

The first to speak was Percy, who told them a grim dream he had about Nico while digging into a plate of blue pancakes. Annais was prompt in shoving her food away the second Nico's name slipped past the other boy's lips. How could she think of eating while her brother was trapped in a bronze jar, slowly dying from asphyxiation while two giants taunted him day in and day out? The news seemed to affect Hazel just the same. Like Annais, her eyes were glassy as she pushed her meal around her plate.

"Oh, Gods..." she whimpered. "The seeds."

"Do you know what they are?" Annabeth asked.

Hazel nodded, reaching over the table to squeeze Annais' hand. She hadn't realised it, but she'd reached out to grip her knife and fork, knuckles white from bone pressing against skin. She released the cutlery at Hazel's touch, shoulders sinking with a sigh.

"He showed them to me once," the daughter of Pluto admitted. "They're from our step-mother's garden."

Annais scowled at the mention of Persephone. The Goddess had come to Annais a few times in her dreams. Despite being a daughter of Demeter, she was harsh, with blood-red lips pulled back into a sneer and eyes as sharp as the edge of a sword. Annais didn't blame her; having to live most of her days in the Underworld with no company but Annais' deadbeat father would've been a shitty way to live, but that didn't mean Annais had to like her and her icy exterior.

"The seeds are a last-resort food," Hazel explained, though Annais knew that already. So did Ezra and Mel, for they were grim in their silence. "Only the children of Hades can eat them. Nico always kept some in case he got stuck somewhere, but if he's really imprisoned..."

Then his days were numbered.

"The giants are trying to lure us," Annabeth murmured, sharing a pointed glance with Percy. "They're assuming that we'll try to rescue him."

Annais didn't like how she said it. Like the giants' assumption were just that; an assumption. Hazel didn't seem pleased, either, but her confidence was slowly beginning to waver. "Well, they're right... won't we?"

"Yes!" Coach Hedge exclaimed from where he'd taken up watch in the doorway. "It'll involve fighting, right?"

At the same time, Annais stabbed her fork into her eggs on toast, daring anyone to challenge her as she said, "There's no assuming to be done. I don't care if it's a trap, I'll go on my own if I have to."

"Hazel, Annais, of course we're going to help him," Frank said, his voice catching beneath the weight of Annais' stare. Upon hearing his genuine tone, she relaxed, but the challenge remained in her eyes as she scanned the rest of the table, waiting for someone to disagree. "But how long do we have before... uh, I mean, how long can Nico hold out?"

"One seed a day," Hazel frowned. "That's if he puts himself in a death trance."

Annais winced in sympathy for Nico, heart aching from the harsh sting of failure. She'd failed to protect him, her little brother, time and time again. What if she didn't find him in time? He'd die, and she'd be the one to blame. Not the giants, not Gaea, Annais Min and her role as his self-absorbent sister.

"A death trance," Annabeth repeated with a wary glance at Annais. "That doesn't sound fun."

"It's not," Annais grunted at the same time as Hazel said, "It keeps him from consuming all his air. Like hibernation, or a coma. One seed can sustain him one day, but barely."

"And he has five seeds left," Percy informed them, running a hand over the exhausted lines of his face. "That's five days, including today. The giants must have planned it that way, so we'd have to arrive by July first. Assuming Nico is hidden somewhere in Rome..."

"That's not much time," Piper finished. Annais was prepared to argue, her instinct resorting to the offence, but Piper was quick to reach out and take the hand Hazel wasn't holding, saying to both of Nico's sisters, "We'll find him. At least we know what the lines of the prophecy mean now. 'Twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death.' Your brother's last name is Di Angelo. Angelo is Italian for angel..."

This time, Annais was unable to hold back the tears from falling. They trailed down her face, obvious to everyone at the table, but no one mentioned it as she hastily wiped them away, sniffling into the palm of her hand.

Her fault, her fault, her fault--

I'm coming for you, Nico, she thought, fighting the urge to push away from the table and hide away in her room. I won't fail you again.

"We'll rescue him," Percy insisted, like he was trying to reassure himself and not just Annais and Hazel. "We have to. The prophecy says he holds the key to endless death."

"That's right," Piper said before turning to Annais and Hazel again. "Guys, your brother went searching for the Doors of Death in the Underworld, right? He must've found them."

"He can tell us where the doors are," Percy added, meeting Annais' stare and nodding at her. "And how to close them."

For a moment, everything seemed set in stone. They'd travel to Rome, find Nico, and do what they had to do to save him. Even if that meant knowingly walking into danger...

Or so Annais thought.

"Uh, just one thing," Leo piped up. Annais was keenly aware of how he refused to meet her eyes. "The giants are expecting us to do this, right? So we're walking into a trap?"

Hazel was quick to release Annais' hand, clenching hers into a fist like she was contemplating socking Leo in the face. "We have no choice!"

"Don't get me wrong, Hazel. It's just that your brother, Nico... he knew about both camps, right?"

Something hot and bitter formed in Annais' chest. She had to fight to keep her voice even as she spat, "What's your point, Valdez?"

Leo hesitated. He didn't want to upset her. But he was too far gone to turn back, and the both of them knew it. Annais tried not to let the hurt show on her face when he said, "So he's been going back and forth, and he didn't tell either side."

Much to Annais' surprise, Jason was quick to agree with him. "You're wondering if we can trust the guy. So am I."

"Hey!" she shouted, shoving her chair back from the table. It landed on the ground with a clatter, the sharp sound almost violent as it echoed off the walls. "Nico isn't just some random guy. He's my brother. My family. I said it once and I'll say it again. You don't have to help him, I can do it myself. But if he dies, you can live with that on your conscience. And I'll never forgive you."

Jason stared at her for a long moment, the words hanging between them, acidic, burning everything in their wake. "Annais..." There was nothing he could say or do that would erase that betrayed hurt from her eyes. Like she'd expected it from the others but not from him.

"He brought me back from the Underworld," Hazel added, voice small and full of disbelief. "And you don't want to help him?"

"Nobody's saying that," Frank said, then shot a pointed glare at Leo. At least someone was on their side. Not even Ezra or Melanie had spoken in defence of Nico, and he was their cousin, their blood. "Nobody better be saying that."

"Thank you, Frank," Annais hissed. "For being a better friend than some people I've known far longer than you."

"Come on, that's not fair," Leo disputed. "All I mean is--"

"No, it's totally fair," she snapped. "I put my life on the line trying to save Piper's dad, something I would've done for any of you if you asked me to. And you can't even look me in my fucking eyes when I beg you to save my brother. I've already lost one sister, I won't lose another sibling because my friends think they can play God."

"But Leo is raising a fair point," Jason exclaimed, rising from his chair to match Annais in height. Her shoulders hunched like a startled cat, sneer feral like a lion baring its teeth. "I remember Nico from Camp Jupiter, and now I find out he also visited Camp Half-Blood. That does strike me as... well, a little shady. Do we really know where his loyalties lie? We just have to be careful."

"Oh, shut the fuck up," Annais shouted, shoving a finger against his chest. "You know, I said the same thing when you showed up to Camp Half-Blood. How convenient it was that you had no memories, that you just appeared out of thin fucking air. But I gave you a chance, and now look at us." I've given half my heart to you. Why are you trying to break it so soon, Jason? "What has Nico done wrong apart from keeping the two camps a secret? He's clearly never told either side about the other. He played his part, something everyone has to do from time to time, Mr I-think-I'm-so-heroic-because-I-can-fly."

"Annais, you're being irrational--"

Jason barely got the words out before Hazel's silver-encrusted platter of scrambled eggs exploded into bits of yolk and toast. "You... the great Jason Grace, the praetor I looked up to," she sobbed. "You were supposed to be so fair, such a good leader. And now you..."

Her words were barely comprehensible by the time she decided to flee the room. Annais was eager to follow her, but Jason was reaching for her hand like she'd ever consider touching him again after what he'd just done.

"I mean it, Jason," she hissed. "I'll never forgive you."

Ignoring his call of her name, Annais turned and marched out of the room, shoulders visibly shaking with sobs.

Much to her surprise, she found Hazel curled up in the armchair stuffed in the corner of Annais' cabin. Her eyes were red-rimmed, bottom lip trembling. The second Annais opened her door in the same state, she pushed to her feet and rushed towards her, shocking her by throwing her arms around Annais' neck.

"He's so horrible," she spluttered, tears soaking into Annais' shirt. "I can't believe I used to look up to someone so... so... so selfish and cruel--"

She cut herself off, seeming almost nervous as she backed away from Annais, like she expected the Min girl to lash out for insulting the boy she was clearly besotted with. But Hazel was stunned to find that Annais seemed unbothered. If anything, she agreed with her, jaw locking in disgust at the mention of the boy she'd kissed only a few hours before.

"Can I tell you something, Hazel?" she asked, inching further into the room to close the door behind her. "Something that I haven't even told Ezra and Melanie?"

"Of course," Hazel breathed out, slowly sinking down onto the edge of the bed.

She watched with wide eyes as Annais came to sit beside her, unusually vulnerable as she kicked off her shoes and tucked her legs beneath her, sitting criss-crossed with a pillow on her lap. It was the first time Hazel had ever seen Annais Min so trusting, and it struck her then that this was what it would be like to have Annais as her sister. A lot of distant moments dotted with the fragile ones, the heart-felt ones, in between.

"Last night, Jason kissed me," she stated, so blunt that Hazel gasped and raised a hand to her mouth. "I was so happy. We spoke about going slow, seeing how things went. Now, I feel... I can't believe that I trusted him for even a second. I hate him."

Both of them knew that Annais Min could never hate Jason Grace, but she could definitely come close with the memory of his dubious stare imprinted in her mind.

"I thought they'd help us," Hazel murmured, head bowed low. "I didn't think it was even a question with someone's life on the line."

"Neither did I," Annais admitted, and was consequently stunned by the truth behind it.

For a while, they sat in tentative silence, Hazel with her head on Annais' shoulder while the Min girl played with the ring on her finger. Both of them flinched when a sudden knock sounded on the door, closely followed by Annabeth and Melanie entering the room.

"Can we come in?" Mel asked, sharing a nervous look with Annabeth.

Hazel sat up properly at their presence, waiting for Annais to make a decision. "That depends," the daughter of Hades said after a second's contemplation. "Are you going to say that we should let our brother die?"

"Annais, you know that neither of us want that," Annabeth frowned. "I understand that you're upset with Jason and Leo, and you have every right to be, they're idiots. But don't be angry at us."

Annais sighed, too exhausted to argue that sitting there and saying nothing was just as bad. Instead, she laid back and rested her head on Hazel's shoulder this time, muttering a 'do whatever you want' that prompted Annabeth to close the door and Mel to bound over and sit at their feet. Annabeth quickly joined her, the silence uncomfortable at first.

"I really am sorry, Annais," Mel blurted, nudging the girl's foot with her own. "You're right, I should've said something."

Annais sighed. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to assume that you weren't going to help him."

"No, you had every right to be defensive of your brother," she argued, Annabeth nodding in agreement. "What Jason and Leo were suggesting..."

"Even if he wasn't our brother," Hazel said. "Annais had a point. We don't get to choose who lives and who dies. If there's anything we can do to save Nico, we have to do it."

"And we're going to," Annabeth promised them, beseeching eyes meeting Annais' glassy ones. "If you want, I can beat up Jason."

Annais laughed, though the sound was hollow and numb. "Jason means nothing to me."

Mel scoffed. "Well, that's a lie."

"It's not," Annais sneered. "It doesn't matter what I feel for him. It doesn't matter that we kissed. If he's prepared to risk my brother's life just because of some bullshit moral compass, then he's not someone I want in my life. Not like that."

Everyone knew she had a point, but Mel and Annabeth were more focused on the fact she'd just spilled a pretty big secret than they were on how right or wrong she was.

"You kissed Jason?" Annabeth echoed at the same time as Mel screeched with delight, "I knew something happened between you two. He couldn't take his eyes off you."

"Well, now he's going to have to," Annais grumbled. "I'm done."

"Oh, come on, at least hear him out," she sighed. She knew how stubborn Annais was firsthand, and it was both a blessing and a curse at the best of times. "Annais, it's so obvious he likes you. I don't think he'd want to hurt you on purpose."

Annais, vehement, went to retort but fell silent as the door slammed open once more. Four pairs of eyes snapped to where Frank stumbled into the room, panting from a lack of air and shouting, "Where's Leo? We need to take off now!"

"Where's Percy? Where's Ezra?" Annabeth demanded, beginning to panic when neither of them followed behind him. "And the goat?"

It took Frank a second to get the words out, but he eventually stammered, "They're on deck. T-They're fine. We're being f-followed."

Annais was confused at first, but realised that Frank, Percy and Ezra must've gone on a quest with Hedge while she and Hazel were hiding away in her cabin. The girls were quick to push past him, sprinting up the stairs with Frank stumbling along behind them. Annais squinted at the sudden change of light, the shadows of her cabin long gone beneath the hot afternoon sun. They found Percy and Gleeson sprawled out on the deck, covered in scratches and drenched to the bone from water. Ezra was kneeling beside Percy, patting his shoulder with her own clothes soaked through. She seemed unharmed, unlike the last time she got caught up in a quest with Percy Jackson.

Hearing the commotion, Leo