Annabeth said what Piper was thinking: "Run."

It was the only choice that made sense. The two of them couldn't fight off an army of automatons. As it turned out, speed was probably the only thing that saved them. The golden statues were heavy and slow. Their joints creaked as if they hadn't moved in a very long time. Annabeth ducked as a golden tiger pounced, narrowly missing her. Piper dodged out of reach of a twenty-foot tall human statue with sapphire eyes that reminded her eerily of Jason's eyes. She rolled out of the way of a bronze ostrich (seriously? What god cursed a bronze ostrich? Who even made a bronze ostrich?) and came up still holding the necklace. Annabeth slashed her sword across a silver and gold parrot that flew at her, cutting off its wing. The parrot squawked loudly as it spiraled into a display case containing a ruby ring. The instant the parrot touched the ruby, a miniature mushroom cloud went up. The shockwave from the explosion blew the glass out of every display case within twenty feet. Annabeth and Piper were showered with glass shards, though luckily none were big enough to cause much damage. The cuts stung like crazy, though.

They had nearly reached the door when Piper heard a trumpeting noise behind them. She made the mistake of looking back, only to see an enormous golden elephant charging towards them.

"Gods of Olympus!" Annbeth yelped. She dove for the door and yanked it open, shoving Piper through before pulling the door shut behind both of them.

Piper doubted the wall would stop a ten-ton elephant, but the instant the door shut, all noise from the warehouse of cursed objects was cut off. It was as if the room ceased to exist. Both girls were breathing hard. It took Piper a moment to realize that everyone in Tiffany's was staring at them. She straightened up and hid Harmonia's necklace behind her back, hoping the Mist would help to conceal it, as the saleswoman who had dismissed them earlier came hurrying over, looking scandalized.

"What on earth were you two doing?" the woman hissed. "That is an employee only area!"

"Sorry," Piper said, trying to force charmspeak into her voice, even though she was still out of breath. "We were looking for the restroom."

If it was possible for the woman to look any more scandalized, that did it. She drew herself up, her jaw set. "This is a high-end jewelry store. We do not have a public restroom. I suggest you leave before I call the police."

"Not a problem." Annabeth grabbed Piper's arm and pulled her toward the store's front door. "We're out of here."

Harmonia was waiting for them on the street.

"We got the necklace," Piper said, holding it out.

Harmonia smiled, which surprised Piper. "Well done, little sister. As a thief, you will be free of the necklace's curse. But I relinquish my own claim on the jewel. The next person you gift it to will receive both the blessings and the curse of my necklace. So choose wisely."

"I will," Piper said. "Now, where can we find the women of Lemnos, who stole Aphrodite's hairbrush?"

"Oh that's easy," Harmonia said. "They're in a place that's perfect for a makeover—clothes, shoes, accessories, a salon, all in one place."

"And that place would be where?" Annabeth asked.

Harmonia's smile widened. "Why, Saks Fifth Avenue, naturally."

"Naturally," Piper replied.

"It's about six blocks that way." Harmonia pointed down the street, annoyingly in the opposite direction from Central Park and the Pulizter Fountain where Piper was supposed to meet her mother in exactly an hour. "Good luck!"

The goddess shimmered and disappeared.

"Well," Annabeth said, pursing her lips, "let's go shopping."

To Piper's surprise, the Lemnian women were incredibly easy to find. It helped that there were about fifty of them and they were all running around the department store like lunatics, sprinting up and down the elevators, flinging clothes off the racks, wreaking havoc on the make-up counters, and having what looked like a shoe-fight. Piper had no idea what the mortals thought was going on—maybe this just looked like a sale day, or Black Friday shoppers, even though that pseudo-holiday was almost two months away.

Annabeth groaned. "Give me a drakon or some Cyclopes over this any day."

"Agreed." Piper watched in fascinated horror as one of the women ripped a dress out of the other's hands, then began to beat the loser with a hanger. The sight was seriously disturbing, but it did give her an idea. "Come on, we need to figure out which one has the hairbrush."

Annabeth scanned a nearby directory of the store. "Let's try the salon."

They made their way through the store, ducking flying shoes and make-up brushes. While they walked, Piper quickly explained her plan to Annabeth. When they reached the salon, Piper knew immediately that they'd come to the right place. In the center chair sat a woman who was sitting regally, like a queen on her throne. She was fixing her long, dark hair with a pink hairbrush, inlaid with mother-of-pearl swirls on the handle. Even from a distance, Piper could see that the hairbrush glowed with a soft golden light. The woman used the brush to sweep her tresses up into a perfectly formed bun, which stayed in place even though Piper hadn't seen her use any hair pins. The woman lightly brushed a few more strands, which instantly sprang into curls that framed her face. She leaned towards the mirror, tapping the brush against her chin, studying her hairdo. As Piper watched the woman, who was clearly a queen, another name from the story of the Lemnian women came back to her.

"Hypsipyle!" Piper called.

The woman turned slowly in her salon chair until she faced Piper and Annabeth, who were standing in the salon's doorway. "Who dares to address the queen of Lemnos?"

"I do." Piper stepped forward, holding Harmonia's necklace out in front of her. She glared at the queen. "You stole my mother's hairbrush."

Hypsipyle sneered. "You're a child of Aphrodite? Did she send you to retrieve this?" The queen waved the brush in the air. "That is so not going to happen. Don't you understand? With this hairbrush, and perfect hair, I will be able to find a new husband, a better husband, one who will never leave me!"

Piper turned to Annabeth and sighed. "Well, we tried. I guess my mother was right. The queen doesn't want her new gift."

Annabeth did an impressive job of looking sad. "That's a shame. I mean, personally, I'd choose eternal youth and beauty, but maybe perfect hair is a good enough substitute for some people."

Queen Hypsipyle sat up straighter. "Eternal youth and beauty?"

"Yeah, this necklace would give you that. My mother sent it as a gift for you, the queen of Lemnos, to make up for all that horrible odor business. But I guess you're not interested." Piper spun on her heel and gestured to Annabeth. "Come on. We'll just have to tell Aphrodite we failed."

"Wait!" Queen Hypsipyle rose from her seat, a greedy look in her eyes, just as Piper had hoped. "I must have that necklace. Take the stupid hairbrush. With eternal youth and beauty, I wouldn't have to settle for one husband. I could have as many men as I wanted. Hundreds of men!"

Annabeth gagged. "That's repulsive."

Piper elbowed her. She kept a pleasant smile on her face and raised her voice. "Yes, Queen Hypsipyle. I bestow this necklace upon you. It will GRANT ETERNAL YOUTH AND BEAUTY TO ITS OWNER."

The sounds of fighting in the store died down. Piper could feel the eyes of the Lemnian women upon her. Hypsipyle wasn't the only one who wanted youth and beauty and the attention of men. All the women of Lemnos had been rejected by their husbands. As she'd walked through the store, Piper realized that the women were similar to the mania of Jason's mother, who had appeared in Ithaca. They were crazed, craving the things that had been denied to them in life. Piper wasn't sure exactly what was going to happen next, but she guessed that things were going to get ugly.

Steeling her nerves, she stepped forward and presented Hypsipyle with Harmonia's necklace. "This belongs to you, my queen."

Hypsipyle snatched the necklace out of Piper's hands. "Mine!"

She clasped it around her neck. The opal glowed briefly and the queen closed her eyes. "Yes. This will do nicely. A fine gift from the goddess of love, before she is destroyed."

"What?" Piper asked, caught off guard.

Queen Hypsipyle opened her eyes. Her smile was as cold as a snake's. "You didn't think, Piper McLean and Annabeth Chase, that when you defeated Gaea all of the gods' enemies would go silent? The Olympians have made many enemies over the millennia. And you demigods made several powerful enemies this summer. Did you think they would ignore you, now that the Earth Mother is gone? No, there are those who would seek revenge."

Piper shot Annabeth a look. They hadn't been counting on this. Annabeth drew her sword and pointed it at the queen. "What are you talking about?" she asked, her voice low and fierce. "How do you even know who we are?"

Queen Hypsipyle laughed. Her focus was completely on the demigods, but out of the corner of her eye, Piper saw the other Lemnian women moving towards the queen, all of their greedy eyes fixed on her necklace. "Gaea made sure all her servants knew the details in the bounties she set on the Seven. There are still others who are willing to pay for your capture. And the price for you two, Piper and Annabeth, is very, very high."

The queen snarled, Annabeth raised her sword, and Piper fumbled for her dagger. But before the fight could begin, a figure lunged at the queen. Several more followed suit. The queen shrieked, but she collapsed as the other Lemnian woman tackled her, all grabbing for the necklace around her throat.

"No!" Hypsipyle shrieked. "Get off me, you wretches. I am the queen! NO!"

Piper and Annabeth stumbled back from the mob. Within a minute, every one of the Lemnian women was entangled in the fight. Piper wanted to close her eyes, but she was afraid of being attacked herself if she looked away. Instead, she forced herself to watch as the women of Lemnos ripped each other apart in their crazed battle to obtain the necklace.

The fight didn't last long. The women dissolved like the spirits in Odysseus's palace in Ithaca. The last one left was Queen Hypsipyle, who managed to gasp out a final, "No!", fingers grasping for the necklace, before she dissolved. As its new owner disappeared, the necklace, too, faded away.

Piper was shaking. Next to her, Annabeth looked nauseated. "That was horrible," Annabeth said.

Piper didn't answer. There wasn't anything else to say. Instead, she walked forward and picked up Aphrodite's hairbrush, which was lying amidst the remnants of the fight. "At least we got what we came for."

Annabeth's hands were trembling as she sheathed her sword. "But what Hypsipyle said about other enemies of the gods and the bounties still being on our heads—do you think she was telling the truth?"

Piper desperately wanted to believe that the queen had been lying, but in her heart she knew it was true. "Yes."

They locked eyes. Piper saw raw fear and anger in her friend's gray eyes. "We'll never be safe," Annabeth whispered.

"No. I refuse to believe that." Piper took a deep breath. "Look, we'll figure it out. It doesn't matter tonight. The Lemnian women are gone and we now have," she checked the store clock, "fifteen minutes to get this stupid hairbrush to my mother at the Pulitzer Fountain. Let's finish solving one problem before we deal with the rest."

They reached the Pulitzer Fountain at eight o'clock on the dot. Piper spotted Aphrodite standing near the fountain with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground.

"Here," Piper said, slapping the hairbrush into her mother's hand. "You're welcome."

Aphrodite raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Lose the attitude, Piper. Though I am grateful, my dear. To both you and Annabeth."

"Save it," Annabeth said through gritted teeth. "What do you know about the bounty that's still on our heads?"

Aphrodite twirled her hairbrush, which disappeared in a flash of golden light. "That is my favorite hairbrush," the goddess sighed. "And as for the bounty Gaea put on your heads, I believe that is still in effect, yes."

Piper felt like she was trying to swallow Harmonia's massive opal. "So fix it. Get rid of it."

"I wish I could, dear." Aphrodite looked genuinely sympathetic. "But it's not that simple."

"I'm getting really tired of hearing that," Annabeth said.

Aphrodite waved her hand and suddenly the holes in both girls' clothes mended themselves. Their hair was perfectly brushed and styled, Annabeth's in long loose curls, Piper's in a French braid. "I'm afraid there is nothing I can do about the bounties, my dears. That is a problem you will have to solve for yourselves. But because you did me this favor, I can help you tonight. You both look lovely and I've changed your reservation to eight-thirty at Antica Bottega del Vino's, just across the way. It's a very nice restaurant. Feel free to order whatever you like; it's on me."

"That's it?" Piper asked. "'Sorry, you'll probably be murdered, but have a nice dinner?' Mother!"

Aphrodite sighed again. "Piper, you will have to trust me. Since Python returned to Delphi, the future has become murky, even to the gods. But I can foresee that tonight you will be safe. Enjoy yourselves." She didn't add while you can, but to Piper it felt implied.

"Also," Aphrodite glanced at the sky, which struck Piper as weird, "I told your boyfriends to meet the two of you just across the street in Central Park. That open space next to the pond should be right."

"Right for what?" Annabeth asked.

"You'll see." Aphrodite gave an infuriating smile. "Now, I really must be going. Thank you again, girls, for finding my hairbrush. And Piper, my sweet, let this be a lesson to you. Never lose hope. Sometimes the things we lose have a way of coming back." On that annoyingly cryptic note, the goddess vanished.

All the energy drained out of Piper. "Why do I feel like that entire quest was just a waste of time?"

"Probably because it was," Annabeth said bluntly. "Whatever. At this point, I just want to find Percy and Jason and go to dinner."

"Ditto," Piper said. "At least my mom's paying."

They found Jason and Percy right where Aphrodite had said they would be, standing on an open lawn in Central Park, not far from the Plaza Hotel and the Pulitzer Fountain.

"Hey." Jason smiled in greeting and Piper's heart fluttered. "How's it going?"

Piper shrugged. "My mother just sent Annabeth and me on a stupid quest to recover a lost hairbrush so, you know, a typical day in the life of a demigod."

Jason kissed her cheek, which made Piper feel slightly better. "Did you find it?"

"Yep. And returned it to Aphrodite, who told us dinner is on her."

"Awesome," Percy said. "So where are we going?"

"Antica Bottega del Vino," Annabeth said, frowning. "Though I'm not sure why Aphrodite sent us here, instead of just having you guys meet us at the restaurant."

An ear-splitting roar cut through the air. All four of them reached for their weapons, but Piper hesitated to draw Katoptris. Something about that roar…

The roar thundered out again and now Piper was certain there was something familiar about it. Her eyes shot skyward, but she couldn't see anything. Besides, it couldn't be…

Percy frowned. "That almost sounds like—"

Piper met Jason's eyes, seeing in them the same spark of hopefulness she felt. The two of them knew that roar. But she couldn't quite believe it.

And then a column of fire shot from behind a skyscraper. Piper's heart thudded against her ribs as a massive bronze dragon swooped out of the sky from the tunnel of Fifth Avenue and landed majestically on the lawn in front of them. A skinny Latino guy with curly dark hair slid off the dragon's back.

Leo Valdez grinned. "'Sup, my peeps?"

There was a moment of completely stunned silence, during which all four of them simply gaped at Leo and Festus, who had appeared out of absolutely nowhere.

Then Piper lost her mind.

"Leo!" She shrieked and flung her arms around him, knocking them both to the ground, and kissed him right on the lips.

"Geez, Beauty Queen, miss me much?" Leo laughed.

She punched him in the arm. "I—you—Nico said—we thought you were dead, Valdez!" And then, because she hadn't made a big enough fool of herself already, Piper burst into tears.

"Aw, Pipes." Leo helped her to her feet and gave her a hug. "Nah, I'm good. Great, actually."

Jason came over and practically tackled Leo again in a bear-hug. "Dude. It is good to see you."

"Yeah, bro, you too." Leo clapped Jason on the back. "Man, I'm really feeling the love here."

Piper gave a shaky laugh, wiping her eyes as the boys broke apart. Before anyone could say anything else, a second figure slid down from Festus's back. The girl looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. She was wearing sandals, jeans, and a white shirt, with her long hair braided over her shoulder. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide as they traveled over the buildings, the park, and Leo's friends.

"Oh yeah." Leo stepped forward and took the girl's hand. "Guys, I'd like you to meet—"

"Calypso." Percy's voice was tight, like there was a lump in his throat.

Calypso narrowed her eyes. "Perseus Jackson."

There was a tense silence, then Percy blurted out, "I'm sorry. I should have made sure the gods kept their promise to free you, but I didn't and I'm—I'm sorry."

Calypso looked surprised, then she smiled. "I forgive you. Besides," she glanced at Leo, "I think everything worked out for the best."

Relief washed over Percy's face. "Yeah. Yeah, it did."

After that, the tension in the group dissipated. Leo introduced Calypso to everyone, Annabeth and Percy both hugged Leo and told him how good it was to have him back, and Festus nuzzled Piper, who kissed his warm metal nose.

"Do I have to worry about you kissing my boyfriend?" Calypso asked Piper, but her voice was teasing.

"Only when he comes back from the dead," Piper promised.

Over Calypso's shoulder, she saw the way Leo's face lit up when the goddess (or former goddess?) called him her boyfriend and Piper smiled.

"So how long was I gone?" Leo asked. "What is today, August tenth, eleventh?"

"October second," Jason said.

The color drained out of Leo's face. "Huh."

"Don't worry about it, man." Percy clapped Leo on the shoulder. "I lost six months once. You'll recover."

"I told you we should have taken a right at Brazil," Calypso said.

"Yeah, well, I guess you were right, Sunshine." Leo ran his fingers through his hair, then grinned again. "At least this way I missed all the post-battle clean-up."

"Not quite," Jason said. "Bunker Nine is still a mess. We, uh, kind of left it for you."

Leo's grin widened. "Sweet. 'Cause I need to get Festus back there and finish fixing him properly. Disintegrating primordial goddesses makes a huge mess."

Festus's jaw creaked as he yawned. The ground shook as the dragon collapsed and curled up like he was going to take a nap.

"Okay, buddy," Leo said. "Uh, rest up and then we'll head back to Camp Half-Blood."

Sparks flew from Festus's nostrils as he snored.

A thought occurred to Piper and she turned to Annabeth. "I need to see your phone."

"You know calls attract monsters, right?" Annabeth said as she handed Piper the cell phone.

"We have a fifty-ton metal dragon on our side. They can bring it on." Piper quickly dialed a number. While it was ringing, she said, "Leo, get over here."

He looked perplexed for a minute, then smiled. "Are we alerting our California friends?"

"Ssh. Reyna, hey, it's Piper. Pretty good, how about you? Good. Listen, are Hazel and Frank around? Oh, really? Awesome. Can you put Hazel on? Thanks." Piper put the cell phone on speaker and handed it to Leo while Reyna passed the phone to Hazel, who had apparently stopped into the praetor's office to speak with Reyna and Frank.

After a moment, Hazel said, "Hello?"

"Hola, mi amiga."

Silence.

"Leo?" Hazel's voice sounded tiny, as if she desperately wanted to believe what she was hearing, but was afraid someone was going to tell her it was a trick. Piper blinked back tears again.

Leo swallowed. "Yeah, Hazel, it's me."

"Oh my gods! You're alive? You're back? The physician's cure worked?"

"Si, si, and si. Uncle Leo's back, kids!"

"Oh my gods!" Hazel squealed again. There was a shuffling sound on the other end of the line, like maybe Hazel was putting Reyna's phone on speaker. "Frank!"

"Yeah, I heard." Frank's voice sounded gruff, but happy. "Dang, Valdez, I never thought I'd be this glad to hear your voice."

"I love you, too, man."

"So what happened?" Hazel asked. "Did you find—"

"Yep." Leo grinned at Calypso. "Found my way back to Ogygia, swept a goddess right off her feet, and brought her to the Big Apple."

Calypso rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Leo Valdez. You know I still hate you."

"When are you coming out to California?" Hazel demanded.

"Soon," Leo promised. "Just wanted to let you guys know I'm back. And, um, thanks, Hazel and Frank. For everything."

"Glad it worked out, man," Frank said.

After they said their good-byes to Frank, Hazel, and Reyna, Leo handed Annabeth back her phone. "So," he asked, "what's the plan? Any mayhem on the schedule?"

Piper and Annabeth exchanged a look and silently agreed not to tell the others what Queen Hypsipyle had told them about the bounties still being on their heads. Not tonight, not when Leo and Calypso had just come back. "Actually," Piper said, "we have dinner reservations in ten minutes. Let's see if we can get that bumped up to a table for six."

As it turned out, she didn't have to. Aphrodite had already made their new reservation for six people.

"She knew!" Piper said when they were seated. "How did she know?"

Percy shook his head. "I stopped trying to figure out the Olympians a long time ago. Just go with it."

"That is some first-class advice," Leo said.

Piper had to agree. She wondered if her mother had sent her after the hairbrush just to kill time until Leo could arrive. If so, maybe Aphrodite really did care about Piper and her friends. As she looked at her friends gathered around the table, happy and laughing, Piper decided to take both her mother's and Percy's advice. She would just go with it and enjoy tonight.

THE END

***After reading Blood of Olympus, I had to finish the story this way because LEO! Seriously, I hope Rick Riordan at some point does a short story where Leo comes back. Maybe there'll be some clue about it in Crown of Ptolemy, the third Kane/PJO crossover. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this story! Thanks for reading! : )

QUICK BoO REVIEW:

I actually really loved this book. SPOILERS AHEAD I think there was a lot of good character development, especially for Jason (and I thought it was hilarious that he needed glasses-now maybe he won't get hit in the head so much!). I also liked seeing more of Piper and Annabeth's friendship, as well as some friendship develop between Leo and Percy. Leo in general I still love and I thought the final scene was sweet. Originally, I was disappointed about not having Percy, Annabeth, Frank, or Hazel's POVs, but those four did kind of dominate House of Hades, so I understand why RR let the others shine here.

Have to admit, before the book came out I wasn't super excited about getting Reyna or Nico's POVs because I was mostly interested in the Seven, but then I read Reyna and Nico's chapters and they were awesome! So much love for these two characters and the way they handled their quest. Also, the way Nico told Percy he used to have a crush on him was great and Percy's reaction was just priceless.

I did feel like the plot could have used a few breathing moments. For example, it would have been nice to see what happened on the Argo II after people came back from their quests, like when Jason comes back injured, or Frank/Hazel/Leo/Percy return with a tied up victory goddess, or when Piper and Annabeth get back from fighting Mimas. I just really enjoy reading the scenes with the Seven all together.

Also, obviously, I would have loved a few more Percabeth moments, but the ones we got were pretty awesome (and, honestly, House of Hades was really, as Rick said himself, the "Percabeth book"). SPOILER AHEAD Possibly my favorite scene in the book is when they are waiting to walk out onto the Acropolis and looking at the place where Poseidon struck the ground and Percy kisses Annabeth and says the most adorable quote ever, "The rivalry ends here...I love you, Wise Girl."

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book; it was right up there, for me, with Mark of Athena and I think it was a good finale to the series. Now, can't wait to read about Magnus Chase! And Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes! And the next Kane/Percy crossover, of course!