Hazel had always been pretty good when it came to fixing relationships. She learned from Aphrodite's daughter herself. Friendships, siblings, to lovers, she always knew what to do. But this situation was serious and Hazel could understand either side of the situation. Aletheia being mad at Apate for stealing Eros and making love with him, and Aletheia getting all the attention and bragging about it to Apate's face knowing well that Apate was insecure about that.
"What are we gonna do?" Hazel fretted as she paced back and forth in the room.
Thalia was picking at her black nail polish, obviously as worried as she was. They had pretty much a week to get the two sisters back together and to somehow get unicorn horn powder before the curse would kill her best friend forever. She could hardly even fall asleep and it was 2:30 AM! But even the bravest succumb to sleep now and then.
She was in the same black space she was in the last time she had talked to Percy, so she knew what was coming. There, gaunt and bloody, was the person she called Percy. His eyes were like a moss green at this point, almost as if it was musty water.
"Percy!" she almost screamed, rushing to hug him.
His feeble form caved in to hug her, leaning on her slightly as she helped him to the ground.
"Sorry," he apologized. "I get really disoriented after transitioning here. You came just in time to save me from some epic beating."
"Beating?" a voice sounded and Hazel whipped around to see Thalia standing there.
"Thalia?" Hazel asked.
"Hazel?" Thalia's eyes widened.
"Hey," Percy waved.
"Just hang in there, okay?" Hazel hugged him close to her, fearing as if she'd lose him if she didn't hold on any tighter. "You've got a week before we'll get the cure. You'll make it out of that pit and you'll come back to us."
"And Annabeth?" Percy's dull eyes shone slightly at the mention of her name.
"And Annabeth," Thalia confirmed, though tears were gathering in her eyes.
"Good," Percy whispered.
"Percy... can I ask you a question?" Hazel asked, remembering the time when he helped repair Silena's and Clarisse's relationship. "How do you fix relationships with siblings that did SINS to each other?"
"Uh..." Percy looked confused. "What sins?"
"Well, you see, we're in Apate's palace right now trying to fix her and Aletheia's relationship. Apate slept with the guy Aletheia liked and Aletheia made sure she got every bit of attention just to make Apate feel insecure about herself."
"Whoa..." Percy's eyes widened. "Uh... have you ever asked why they did it?"
"Apate said it was because Aletheia normally hogged all the attention and Aletheia said it was because Apate slept with Eros. What's new with Greek mythology?" Thalia muttered bluntly.
"Thanks for the sarcasm, Thals. I thought that was my thing," Percy drawled. "Look, the only thing you can do at this point is make sure the sisters talk to each other. If you lock them in a room full of sage and calming herbs and monitor them until they work things out, that's the torturing method. Another method is to talk over blue cookies and blue tea."
"Blue tea?"
"Yeah. I normally keep a pack or two in my jacket's pocket. It's something Aphrodite gave me as a device to get someone to sympathize and it helps people get along. How else do you think I was able to live with myself those years I was away from you, Annabeth, and Nico?" Percy said casually.
"And I conveniently took your jacket when I forgot to pack mine for the trip..." Thalia trailed off, excitement lighting up her electric blue eyes.
"You've got this, guys. Remember that. If all fails, hold them hostage." Of course, THAT had to be the last thing Hazel heard before she felt like she was shadow-traveling and awoke in her bed.
Looking at Thalia, she realized what had happened. "Was that a joint dream?"
"No matter what, we know what we have to do."
"But how do we get Aletheia to come over here in the first place?" Thalia asked.
"Can we say Apate got hit by lightning because your dad accidentally went ballistic?"
"Let's have it be that she got hit by one of your dad's jewelry delivery trucks," Thalia grimaced.
"How about she got struck by lightning and got hit by one of my dad's jewelry trucks?"
"But she's not gonna fall for that. She's literally the goddess of truth!"
"Gods, you're right..." Hazel groaned before remembering a very important detail. "But Aletheia's in town this week... And I can shadow-travel her here and block her exit."
A smirk spread across Hazel and Thalia's face as they formulated the plan. Aletheia and Apate were making up, no matter what happened. Hazel took out two packets of blue tea from Percy's jacket pocket.
"Let's talk over blue tea."