~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

The Ice Princess

{Jason}

"Um... yeah," Jason said. "That's a good thing, right? My name is Jason."

   Cal looked so surprised, he almost dropped his sword. "Can't be Jason," he said. "Doesn't look the same."

   Zethes stepped forward and squinted at Jason's face. "No, he is not our Jason. Our Jason was more stylish. Not as much as me—but stylish. Besides, our Jason died millennia ago."

   "Wait," Jason said. "Your Jason... you mean the original Jason? The Golden Fleece guy?"

   "Of course," Zethes said. "We were his crewmates aboard his ship, the Argo, in the old times, when we were mortal demigods. Then we accepted immortality to serve our father, so I could look this good for all time, and my silly brother could enjoy pizza and hockey."

   "Hockey!" Cal agreed.

   "But Jason—our Jason—he died a mortal death," Zethes said. "You can't be him."

   "I'm not," Jason agreed.

   "So, destroy?" Cal asked. Clearly the conversation was giving his two brain cells a serious workout.

   "No," Zethes said regretfully. "If he is a son of Zeus, he could be the one we've been watching for."

   "Watching for?" Leo asked. "You mean like in a good way: you'll shower him with fabulous prizes? Or watching for, like, in a bad way: he's in trouble?"

   A girl's voice said, "That depends on my father's will."

   Jason looked up the staircase. At the top stood a girl in a white silk dress. Her skin was unnaturally pale, the color of snow, but her hair was a lush mane of black, and her eyes were coffee brown. She focused on Leo with no expression, no smile, no friendliness.

   Then she looked at Jason, Kiara and Piper, and seemed to understand the situation immediately.

   "Father will want to see the one called Jason," the girl said.

   "Then it is him?" Zethes asked excitedly.

   "We'll see," the girl said. "Zethes, bring our guests."

   Leo quickly grabbed the handle of suitcase Festus, but before he could even take a step the ice princess glared at him and he froze in place. "Not you, Leo Valdez."

   "Why not?" Leo complained.

   "You cannot be in the presence of my father," the girl said. "Fire and ice—it would not be wise."

   "We're going together," Jason insisted, putting his hand on Leo's shoulder, "or not at all."

   The girl tilted her head, like she wasn't used to people refusing her orders. "He will not be harmed, Jason Grace, unless you make trouble. Calais, keep Leo Valdez here. Guard him, but do not kill him."

   Cal pouted. "Just a little?"

   "No," the girl insisted. "And take care of his interesting suitcase, until Father passes judgment."

   Jason and Piper looked at Leo, their expressions asking him a silent question: How do you want to play this? While Kiara's clearly stated: Do you want me to kill them?

   Leo smiled at them with gratitude. "It's fine, guys," he said. "No sense causing trouble if we don't have to. You go ahead."

   "Listen to your friend," the pale girl said. "Leo Valdez will be perfectly safe. I wish I could say the same for you, son of Zeus. Now come, King Boreas is waiting."