ELECTRIC WHISPERS | Jason Grace

Jason's POV: Heat Rises, Clothes Stay Put

Jason and the Redhead who introduced herself as Rachel, put Piper on the couch while Annabeth rushed down the hall to get a med kit. Piper was still breathing, but she wouldn't wake up. She seemed to be in some kind of coma.

"We've got to heal her," Jason insisted. "There's a way, right?"

Seeing her so pale, barely breathing, Jason felt a surge of protectiveness. Maybe he didn't really know her. Maybe she wasn't his girlfriend. But they'd survived the Grand Canyon together. They'd come all this way. He'd left her side for a little while, and this had happened.

Jason's thoughts were a whirlwind, but the moment Viella was dragged through the door, it all came crashing to a halt. His heart skipped a beat as he saw her limp form, pale and breathing shallowly.

For a second, the air seemed to thin, and Jason couldn't look away. Her hair, disheveled from whatever ordeal she had faced, framed her face like a flame barely flickering. The curve of her jaw, the subtle rise and fall of her chest-he hated himself for noticing these things now, but her vulnerability struck something primal in him. She was stunning even in her unconscious state, and it left him raw with a mix of protectiveness and guilt.

"What happened?!" Jason demanded, his voice sharper than he intended.

The blonde girl who had rushed in with Viella, was breathing heavily, her face flushed with panic. "She collapsed. There was... there was this woman. She-she took over Viella. I don't know how, but-"

Jason's mind instantly linked this to the nightmare. "The woman... in black robes?"

Jason's fists clenched as his gaze flickered back to Viella. She looked fragile in a way that contradicted everything he'd seen of her before-her sharp tongue, her unapologetic confidence. He didn't know her well, but there was something magnetic about her. She radiated power and chaos, and seeing her like this made something deep inside him twist painfully.

"Yes!" Regina-probably her name- nodded urgently. "She had a goatskin cloak. It was like she was trying to communicate through Viella. But it was all so messed up."

Jason turned to Annabeth, who had just entered behind him, her expression tight with fear. "Did you feel that too?" he asked, already dreading the answer.

Annabeth nodded grimly. "The same dream. The woman, the prison. It's the same voice that spoke to Piper. That means it's not just a warning. It's real."

Jason's pulse quickened. "What is happening?" he asked, his voice tight.

Regina, standing beside Viella, looked helpless as she glanced at her friend. "She's been possessed. This woman-she spoke through her. Said something about freeing her, or a king would rise and... and that Percy Jackson is alive."

As Regina continued explaining, Jason struggled to focus, his eyes drifting back to Viella's parted lips. He felt heat creep up his neck and immediately shoved the thought aside. This was serious. People were depending on him. But no amount of logic could stop the electric jolt he'd felt the moment he saw her again.

Jason froze, his heart hammering. "What? Percy? Alive?" His breath caught in his throat as both he and Annabeth looked at each other.

Jason froze, his heart hammering. He tore his gaze from Viella to process Regina's words. But even as the weight of Percy's name hit him, his thoughts kept circling back to the unconscious girl on the couch.

Annabeth's face had gone ashen as she instinctively reached for her necklace. "Percy... alive? But if this woman is trapped, and we don't help her..." She trailed off, her eyes narrowing in worry.