A/N: Where do I even begin? Are any excuses valid when the author takes an almost two year hiatus from updating? Probably not, but know that I am sorry. I hope you'll forgive me for my lack of inspiration (terrible excuse, I know). But here's a new update for the story to prove it has not been abandoned (nothing like a global pandemic to strike inspiration) And yes, the next chapters will follow shortly (so only one year in between this time ;) jk) Enjoy!

Hecate watched from above as the events of Aphrodite's plan were unfolding. She still really didn't understand how two demigods switching bodies was supposed to benefit anyone, but she had to admit that it made for good TV. The two boys were frantically trying to find ways to reverse her curse, and it brought her a lot of pleasure that they thought they could downplay the effects of the switch and control it on their own. It amused her to watch them struggle. Maybe I should get involved in demigods' lives more often, she thought.

"I think the freaky blonde is onto us!"

Leo burst into the Hephaestus cabin, where Jason, still in Leo's body, was trying to blend in with the other campers, just chilling on Leo's bunk tinkering with scraps of metal, while in reality he was working on fine-tuning his idea to get the potion back from Aphrodite. Unfortunately, Leo's entrance made it a little hard to blend in. Upon his arrival, about 10 Hephaestus kids turned to stare at them. Jason looked around sheepishly. "Uh, Jason," he said in mock casualty, teeth clenched as he spoke to Leo. "Let's talk about this somewhere more private, shall we?"

"Dude, what were you thinking?" Jason reprimanded once they were outside. "we don't want anyone thinking we're crazier than we already are."

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking," Leo huffed. "Guess I'm not in my right mind!"

No kidding, Jason thought. "Okay, okay. Just tell me what you were saying before."

"I said that I think the freaky blonde is onto us."

Jason's eyes squinted (Well, technically they were Leo's eyes, but you get the point). "Freaky blonde? You mean Annabeth?" he asked.

"No, Chiron actually...of course I mean Annabeth!" Leo yelled, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Okay, calm down. What do you mean she's onto us?" he asked. Jason thought about how Annabeth had been asking him questions earlier, but he was pretty sure he had been convincing enough as Leo to not cause suspicion.

"I mean she was asking about you and Piper, which means she's probably been talking to Piper, and if she knows what happened on the beach with Piper…" Leo trailed off.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. What happened between you and Piper on the beach?" Jason crossed his arms, but he figured it didn't look as intimidating in Leo's body. He thought about how when Frank got a new makeover, he grew a few inches. When Jason got a makeover, he turned into a scrawny kid with a bad attitude. Totally not fair.

"I don't know! Girls are so confusing. But she um, may hate you now, and wants you to give her some space," Leo gulped.

Jason did not like where this was going. He glared at Leo, who apparently had a death wish, because he added, "And we, uh, kissed. You know, before the 'she hates you' part."

Jason closed his eyes, imagining all the ways he could kill Leo right then, but the soon to be victim's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"If you're thinking of ways to kill me, just remember that you'd actually be killing yourself, since I'm in your body."

Jason opened his eyes and scowled. "I hate it when you're right." He took a deep breath. "Lucky for you I've got an idea to switch us back."

Piper didn't like having to use her charmspeak on her friends, it made her feel way too controlling. But if she was being honest, she felt like she needed to take some control in this situation. She resolved that she would do whatever was needed to figure out what was going on with her ridiculous friends.

Upon hearing Jason's plan, Leo gasped. "You want to use your and Piper's relationship as a bargaining tool to get the potion back?"

"Okay, first of all, who knows if I even have a relationship with Piper after your little incident, and second of all, I wouldn't actually go through with it. Aphrodite would just need to think I was going to. Think about it: why did Aphrodite want us to switch bodies in the first place?"

Leo shrugged. "I don't know, because she was bored? Why do immortals ever do anything?"

"Sure, she was bored," Jason agreed, "but she also probably wanted to mess with Piper and I somehow. Maybe she was thinking it would be a good birthday present."

"Right, 'cause nothing says 'Happy Birthday" like switching your daughter's boyfriend's body with his best friend's."

"I never said her logic made any sense! But I think we need to use that reasoning to get her on our side, so we can get that stupid potion and finally switch back."

Leo thought about it for a second. It was true that the idea of using Jason and Piper's relationship somehow might get Aphrodite to agree, but that seemed too risky to Leo. What if something went wrong? Plus she was a goddess, who knew what tricks she had up her sleeve? And let's face it: neither Jason nor Leo were the best candidates for outwitting Aphrodite. Wasn't their current predicament evidence of that?

"Aphrodite's too manipulative," Leo concluded. "For all we know, the second we see her we'll both be so tongue tied, she'll get us to agree to anything she says."

Jason huffed. "Well, you got any better ideas?"

"I do actually. We tell someone."

Jason's eyes widened. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"Literally yes!" Leo exclaimed. "That's the whole problem here! But you've got to trust me; if we get someone else involved, we'll have a better chance of figuring out how to reverse it, without risking your relationship, and without Aphrodite getting in the way."

Jason sighed, and Leo figured he had convinced him. "Fine, but who would we tell? Piper?"

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea," Leo said sarcastically. "I'm sure that would go over perfectly. 'Hey Piper, the reason we've been acting weird is because we were trying to make you an awesome birthday present, but your Mom sabotaged it and now we've switched bodies!' There's no way she'd believe us. Besides, she probably wouldn't even hear us out in the first place, given that she thinks you hate her and all that."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Wow, what a great reminder."

"Anytime, my friend," Leo patted Jason's back.

"Fine, if we don't tell Piper, who should we tell?"

Leo smirked. "Somebody smart, someone who understands the basics of mechanics, and someone who will not be affected by Aphrodite."

"So not Percy?"

"Obviously."