Forever Friends, Never Lovers
Pairings: One-sided Percabeth, Pipabeth
Side Pairings/Mentioned: Jeyna, Frazel
A.N: Wow, this was a work in progress. The longest thing that I've ever written. It's a sequel to The Value of Lullabies, so if you haven't read that and still want to continue this story after finding out that the main pairing is Pipabeth, I'd suggest you read that first. Now enjoy :)
Percy Jackson was not a patient person. He had never claimed to be. When his mother was in Hades, he would have gladly rushed into battle rather than wait another minute, unsure of what had become of her. The lack of knowledge or ability to take action and try to save her had nearly killed him. On another note, the wait to reacquire his memories had been awful, and as they started to flood back to him, he couldn't help wishing they would move faster. This however was the worst wait he'd ever had. He had not seen Annabeth in gods know how long, and he didn't know how his new friends would react to his Greek brethren.
No matter how much he liked Frank and Hazel, he didn't know how they would react, and he knew nothing of the other Romans, the ones that had shunned and ostracized his friends. Honestly, he knew very little of New Rome and their customs. And, considering the amount of time he had been away from Camp Half-blood, he wasn't sure how much he knew of his friends and Annabeth anymore, either. He shook away the thought. He couldn't let the negative thoughts get to him at this point. Annabeth's smile had been the only thing to keep him going before he met Frank and Hazel. He couldn't doubt her now. It was traitorous, almost blasphemous to Percy's sense of loyalty.
He starred off into the distance, and his eyes focused on the large warship approaching them. The anticipation was worse than the vast majority of battles he'd fought. Frank and Hazel both looked nervous, so he tried to plaster on a smile for them. He was going to finally see Annabeth. His memories told him that they were just friends, but the girl's name sent a flood of emotions through him that a simple friendship shouldn't have been able to produce. In short, he tried to be happy that he was going to see her. No matter how long this wait seemed to take. He was also hoping that they could take their relationship to another level, but his ADHD kept him from being able to focus on these possibilities. Right then, he was just dying for the wait to end.
Percy spent another five minutes of horrible suspense fiddling with his royal purple praetor's toga. "Gods," Percy thought, "I wonder how ridiculous I look in this thing." He looked over to Reyna who looked like a queen with her deep purple toga and her serious and regal expression.
"I can't look as good in it as Reyna does," he thought, ruefully. The ship was right above them, blocking out the sunlight, and Percy wondered what they were going to do. Would they land it in the fields of Mars? Would they hover over the city and drop down a ladder. "Hades", he thought, "would Terminus even let them in?" They were Greeks. Gods, the odds seemed to be working against him. He looked over to Frank and Hazel, who were clutching each other's hands. It made him incredibly happy to see his friends holding hands. They had finally acted on their feelings and found solace in each other's arms. He only hoped, for his own sake, that he could find that same sort of happiness with Annabeth.
He starred at his shoes, and then he felt Frank nudge his arm.
"Dude," Frank said, "look up." There was a small rope ladder jutting out of the bottom of the Greek warship. At various parts of the ladder were heads with different colored hair and almost at the last rung was a head of glimmering golden hair.
"Annabeth," Percy said in a breathless tone. He started walking towards the rope ladder.
Annabeth dismounted from the ladder, followed by a tall, blond boy Percy assumed to be Jason, a tan boy with elfish features and a gorgeous Native American girl.
He heard a voice that he recognized as Reyna's say coldly, "Jason Grace, my former college. I welcome you home, and to your friends, I welcome you to New Rome." Percy caught Annabeth's gray eyes and he smiled. Then he waved. She glared at him and surged forward, griping his purple toga.
"Percy Jackson," she growled.
He laughed, "I missed you, too." She let go of his toga and took a moment to regain her composure.
"Sorry about that," said the Native American girl in soothing tone, "Annabeth hasn't seen Percy in months. She's been really worried."
"I understand the feeling," Reyna muttered.
"It's good to be back," Jason said, and then he looked to Reyna, "Hey Rey. I missed you." Then Reyna smiled, and Percy was sure that was the first time he'd seen her smile since he'd arrived at Camp Jupiter. It made him happy.
"This is my friend, Annabeth," he said, "she normally doesn't grip people by their togas."
Then, gesturing to the Native American girl, he said, "this is my friend, Piper," and then gesturing to the small boy he concluded, "and this is Leo."
"I'm pleased to meet you, Reyna," Annabeth said, sticking her hand out for the girl to shake.
"We have much to discuss," Reyna said, with a wide smile, her eyes drifting to Jason.
After an hour of discussions of quests and diplomacy, with Jason and Reyna flirting on the side, Percy was glad that the council was dispersing.
"Rey," Jason asked, giving her a smile, "would you like to go on a walk with me?" All this flirting between the two was making Percy feel uncomfortable. Reyna had just offered to be "more than friends" with him a few days ago, but it wasn't with the sort of gusto that she was going about things with Jason.
"I'm sorry, Jason," she said regretfully, "but business comes first. I need to have a discussion with Annabeth. Annabeth, would you please come with me?"
Annabeth gave Percy a sorry smile that said we'll talk later, and then she left with the Roman.
Then he heard an unfamiliar female voice say, "so you're Percy Jackson? Annabeth's told me a lot about you." He looked behind him and saw the daughter of Aphrodite, Piper.
"Piper, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said awkwardly.
"What happened while I was gone?" he asked, "other than your quest with Jason and Leo, of course." He remembered the tale that they'd told at the banquet.
She smiled, "Not as much as you'd expect, really. Leo built the Argo II. I met the girl of my dreams. We had a run in with some crazy followers of the wine god."
"Crazy followers of the wine god," Percy chuckled, it reminded him of better days. Days when the a war was something far off in the distance instead of right upon them. Then he focused in on another piece of information.
"The girl of your dreams?" he asked, "So who is this lucky girl?"
"Annabeth," she said with a dreamy tone. Percy tried to hide his shock, jealousy and disappointment. Annabeth, his best friend and crush, she liked girls?
"Of course you know how amazing she is," Piper said with a kind smile.
"Of course," Percy said, trying to keep the venom out of his voice.
Piper must have detected his foul mood and tried to change the topic, "so how do you like New Rome?"
Then he started talking about how lovely New Rome was while Jason sulked at the prospect of not being able to hang out with Reyna. He tried not to think of his jealousy or the pain that it brought to his throat. He was shook out of his trance when he heard a sound akin to gun shots.
"Canons?" Piper shouted, "What?"
"The Greeks are attacking!" came a voice.
"Shit," Jason said.
"What the fuck is Leo doing up there!" Piper yelled, grabbing Percy by the arm.
"What's going on?" Percy asked.
"I don't know," Piper said, as Romans surrounded their group.
Piper put her arms up in surrender and said in a calm, soothing tone, "We aren't your enemies. I don't know what's going on, but this wasn't our intention."
"Liar!" shouted a male voice, glaring at her as the Romans clawed at them. Piper put her arms up in an attempt to shield herself as she was pelted by plates, stones and various objects that they'd found on the ground. From the crowd of Romans came a brick which nailed Jason in the head. He crumpled to the ground in a quick motion.
Piper shouted something that Percy assumed to be an obscenity in, what was that? French maybe? She let go of Percy and tried to grab Jason.
Arion appeared next to Hazel, "Send me an Iris Message when you're safely away." Then she mounted the horse and started riding to distract her fellow Romans.
"A little help, please?" she said, trying to grab the body of her friend. Percy helped get the boy onto their backs.
"Stop them!" came another voice. Piper put up her free arm and shouted in an incredibly persuasive voice, "Get back! All of you get back!"
"Gods," Percy muttered as they staggered towards the ship, "I hope Annabeth's alright."
"That makes two of us," Piper replied.
"Frank," Percy asked his friend, "it's all up to you." The boy gulped and surged towards the Romans. Percy stepped on his toga and tripped. He ripped the fabric off and dropped it behind him.
When they arrived at the ship, Percy ripped Octavian off the bottom rungs and draped Jason's unconscious body over his back. He started climbing, greeted by arrows whizzing quickly by his head.
He heard Piper, who was a few rungs below him shout, "Annabeth! Get up here!" To Percy's relief, his friend started climbing the ladder, kicking at the hands of Romans trying to pull her down. Dragon Frank was fighting off the Romans as Percy made it onto the deck. A few seconds after, Piper arrived on the deck and helped him carry Jason to the infirmary on the ship proper.
"Stay with him," Percy said, leaving Piper with Jason. Piper looked at her injured friend guiltily and Percy knew that she was blaming herself for what had happened. He didn't have time to deal with her emotions; he had to make sure that everyone else was alright. He looked off the edge of the ship. Arrows bounced harmlessly off of Frank's dragon form. Percy couldn't help chuckling about how beast his friend was right now, despite the fact that he knew it wasn't a good time. Gods, he was worried about Annabeth. Frank dragon flew to the bow and deposited Annabeth, and Percy let out a sigh of relief.
Annabeth ran towards to the bridge while the Roman archers readied flaming arrows. He wondered if Riptide had returned to his pocket and felt for the familiar pen. To his relief, he found his pen nestled there. He started to walk into the ship proper and a moment later he felt a shift in the ship. The ship started to surge up and he couldn't help thinking, to infinity and beyond.
They had encountered many obstacles on their way to Rome. Percy had hoped that they wouldn't have to negotiate with a god over whether or not they could cross into the Mediterranean.
"I've got a better idea," Annabeth said, glaring at Hedge, "We send ambassadors ashore. A small group, maybe one or two, and then try to reason with him."
"I'll go," Jason said, "He's a son of Zeus. We're pretty much brothers. Maybe he'll be nice to me."
"Or maybe he'll hate you," Percy suggested, "Half-brothers don't always get along. Triton's my half-brother and he's always been a jerk to me."
"Thanks Mr. Optimism," Jason said, scowling at him.
"Well," said Annabeth, "Piper needs to go. She's amazing with persuasion."
Piper was blushing and no matter how much Percy tried to be okay with the two of them and tried not be jealous, the flirting was grating on his nerves.
"The charmspeak probably has something to do with it," she said.
"And you'll probably need an experienced fighter," Percy grated out, "no offense, Piper, but you don't really qualify. If it breaks into a fight, you need someone who stands a chance against a god known for his strength, heroism and skills in battle."
He could tell that Piper was a bit insulted, but she smiled and then retorted, "and I suppose this is the great Percy Jackson nominating himself for the job, seeing as you made it clear you didn't think Jason good enough for this quest."
"That's not what I'm saying," Percy lied because that was exactly what he was saying.
"Percy," Annabeth said in an exasperated, you're really going there, Seaweed Brain, tone.
"Really, you're my best friend, but," she said, "you sass every single god we meet. You piss people off and we really, really need Hercules to like us. Hopefully it won't even come down to a fight."
"Annabeth," Percy said, feigning hurt, "I'm very likable."
"Maybe not likable enough", he thought bitterly, "because you prefer Piper."
"No," Piper asserted, "I want him to come with me."
"Really?" Annabeth asked, "Percy's kind of like a walking grenade when you're dealing with immortals.
"Yeah, I can handle him, Annabeth," Piper said with an edge to her words, "I need to talk to your friend." Percy grimaced at the tone she'd used on the word friend, as if she'd said it just to spite him. She glared at him and Percy decided that yeah, she was probably spiting him.
"Alright, Piper," Annabeth said, giving her a sad smile, "I trust you." Percy felt hurt. Didn't she trust him too? Gods, wasn't he at least her best friend? He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. This wasn't helping anything.
"Just let me get dressed and we'll set off on our merry way," she said. Frank sent him a questioning look. He didn't know how to respond, because honestly? He wasn't sure what had just happened either.
Leo allowed the Argo II to float just above the shore and they once again dropped the ladder. Percy started to climb down first, followed by Piper. They didn't speak to each other, but that was frankly more civil than they'd been when they had spoken to each other, so Percy allowed the silence to persist. A few moments later, Percy's tennis shoes landed on the white sand.
He took a moment to study Hercules, Heracles, whatever this dude's name was. His feet were bare. He wore majestic purple robes and he clenched a club that looked very much like a baseball bat in his right hand. He had a scruffy beard and was well built.
"So this is the guy that broke Zoe's heart," he thought bitterly, remembering his fallen friend. He pushed aside the memory. That particular thought was not going to help him be diplomatic. Percy and Piper stepped out of the surf and towards the god.
"Hello," Piper said and Percy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Hello, how incredibly creative and persuasive.
"What's up?" he asked in a casual and apathetic tone. A tone that said that nothing mattered to him and Percy suddenly realized why it was so easy for him to leave Zoe. He probably never cared about anything at all. As if afraid that the god could read his mind, Percy quickly shoved the thought to the dark crevices of his mind.
"Uh," Piper said, obviously trying to figure out how to continue, "nothing much. I'm Piper and this Percy."
"Percy Jackson?" he asked.
"Uh," Percy said, completely blind-sided, "Yeah." Hercules had heard of him. No matter how much he resented the guy for what he'd done to Zoe, he respected him and the fact that the god knew who he was, that was possibly the greatest compliment he'd ever gotten. Alright, second greatest. Poseidon telling him that he was his favorite son, that would probably always be the greatest.
"Olympus' great hero," Hercules said, "I've heard of you alright. You refused godhood?"
Percy knew that he was treading on thin ice, but he couldn't lie to the god.
He cautiously replied, "Yes."
"Wise decision, kid," he said, "godhood is a pain in the ass. You're granted immortality, which should be a perk, but it's not. You watch everyone you ever loved or cared for die and then you live alone, forever with the pain and suffering and memories from your mortal life. As a minor god, they assign you something menial and worthless. Me, I ended up as the gatekeeper, a butler to the gods. No matter what they say, Perseus Jackson, godhood is terrible. I envy you mortals."
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Lord Hercules," Piper said, pouring charm speak into her words, "but we're on a quest. We'd like to ask your permission to pass into the Mediterranean."
Hercules shrugged, "That's why I'm here. Stuck on this island for eternity. That's my reward for a lifetime of heroism; the loss of my wife and children, an eternity with the pain and my thoughts on this desolate island. I gave up my mortality and my dignity for this." Percy was almost certain that he'd never heard anyone more bitter, and he'd listen to Luke Castellan's rants about the corruption of Olympus and the futility of the life of hero.
"Can we pass?" Piper asked, a bit more impatient.
"I'll have to give you the standard warning," he said, "The Mare Nostrum is dangerous. Not just any demigod can survive, in fact, you'll probably all die. I'll have to give you a quest to prove your worth yada yada blah blah I don't really care. I usually I give demigods a shopping trip or make them sing a silly song or something. After those labors I had to do, I really don't want to be that guy, you know?"
"I appreciate it," Percy said.
"No prob," Hercules said, sounding laid back, "but what's your quest, anyway?"
"We've got to stop Gaea and her giants," said Percy, trying to summarize a long quest in the fewest possible words.
"Giants, I hate them. Even when I was a demigod. Which god put you up to it?" he asked, "Athena? My Dad? Poseidon maybe? Or was it Aphrodite?"
He raised an eyebrow at Piper, "As pretty as you are, I'm assuming that she's your mom."
"Hera sent us," Percy said, "She brought us together to-"
And then Hercules cut him off with an acidic tone, "Hera sent you?"
"We hate her too," Piper quickly chimed.
"Sorry you two," Hercules said in a cold tone, "but I don't do anything Hera wants. I don't care how worthy your quest is."
"Shit, shit, shit, shit", Percy thought frantically, "what are we going to do?"
He opened his mouth to tell the god off, but Piper glared at him.
"Please, Lord Hercules," Piper begged, "we're not bad people."
Hercules hesitated for a moment, but then he stiffened. Percy knew they were doomed.
"On the opposite side of this island," he said, without a hint of kindness in his voice, "over those hills, you'll find a river. In the river lies an ancient god, Achelous." Hercules paused a moment, as if this information should bring about a panic attack.
"And?" Percy asked, trying not to sound sarcastic.
"And I want you to break off his horn and bring it to me," he said.
"But," Piper said, "It has horns? What is it?"
"Figure it out," the god snapped, and then he took out a small book and tossed it to Piper, "This should help."
Percy wanted to call this god out on his shit so badly, but he held his tongue. He was trying to be mature and let the diplomatic demigod handle this pissy minor god.
"And if we don't?" Piper asked, though her voice sounded weak.
"Then Achelous will kill you," Hercules gritted out, "and I? I will break your ship in half with my bare hands and watch your friends drown."
Percy looked him dead in the eyes, "Really? Can't we just sing Barbie Girl or maybe do The Chicken Dance? Or we could even sing that duet from High School Musical?"
"No," Hercules said, "I'd get going. Sundown or your friends die."
Percy wasn't in the mood to be confrontational, but he wasn't exactly ready to be overly friendly either. He walked beside Piper hoping that she would find something useful in that book that Hercules gave them.
"If we had to be dropped on magical island," Piper grumbled, "why couldn't it have been a nice magical island?"
"Does it say anything about this Etch-A-Sketch dude in the book?" Percy asked.
"Achelous," she said, "it says that he's a potamus."
"He's a hippopotamus?" Percy asked, "I thought Hercules said he had horns."
"A potamus," Piper said as they tromped through the heavily wooded valley, "meaning river god. According to this book, he's the spirit of some river in Greece. I wonder how he ended up here."
"Gods are weird, Piper," Percy said, "Olympus is on the top of the Empire State Building. Mr. D plays pac-man. My dad wears Hawaiian shirts. We live in a world of weird."
"Point taken," Piper replied.
Percy took a moment and then asked, "Hey, is there anything helpful in that book."
"Sadly," she said, "no. The only thing it says that's even remotely helpful is something Hercules about fighting Achelous for some girl and then his horn becoming the first Cornucopia."
"What?" Percy asked because he honestly had no witty retort for whatever that word meant.
"Cornucopia," she said, "I think it's that weird Thanksgiving decoration."
"So we have to fight a god for a Thanksgiving decoration to give to a jerk god," muttered Percy, "this keeps getting better and better."
They arrived at the river and Percy had a strong compulsion to jump into it. He felt drawn to the river. Maybe he should take off his shoes, and just hop in and take a swim. It just seemed so inviting.
"Stop it!" he heard Piper shout. He gave her a confused look and then snapped out of his trance. He was no longer wearing shoes and he was very, very confused.
"Not you," she said, pointing to the river, "him." A figure emerged from the swimming hole. It was a strange creature, a bull with a human face, but somehow it managed to look less monstrous than the Minotaur.
"Hello," he said sadly, "I suppose you came to kill me."
"Um," Percy said, "yeah."
Piper elbowed him in the ribs.
"No!" she exclaimed, "I'm sorry. Hercules sent us. Your name is Achelous, right?"
"That's right," he sighed, "your friendly neighborhood river god. Once I was the spirit of the mightiest river in all of Greece! Now, I am doomed to reside here, though whether it was to punish me or Hercules I will never know."
"I'm Piper," she said, "and this is Percy. We don't want to fight. It's just that Hercules got mad at us and sent us on this futile quest." She explained about their quest to save the world from Gaea's giants. She explained Hercules' temper tantrum upon learning that it was Hera that sent them on this quest.
"My dear," he said, "The legends are true. The spirits, water cannibals." Percy was confused. He had no idea what the god was talking about.
"Hercules has always been that way," said the old river god, "he'll throw a tantrum if he doesn't have his way. He'll steal that which is yours."
"Your fight," Piper said, "It was over a girl, wasn't it?"
"Deianira," he said, his voice wistful, "she was promised to me, until Hercules decided to tangle in our affairs. He insisted on a battle for her hand."
"Then he broke of your horn and made the corny horny thing," Percy said.
The river god glared at him a moment before turning his attention back to Piper.
"Yes," Achelous said, "I will never forgive him for that. It is simply horrible having only one horn. Your head feels heavy and lopsided and off center. My poor Deianira, though, she met a fate even worse than mine. She could have had a long, happy life married to me." It reminded Percy a bit of his own situation. He'd always kind of assumed that he and Annabeth would get together. It would be easy. They're best friends. They'd have worked so well, but fate had other plans.
"A man-headed bull that lives in a river," Piper said. Percy looked at her in admiration. She was starting to learn the ways of sass.
"Exactly," he said, as if Piper's sarcastic comment hadn't even occurred, "It seems impossible to refuse my charm and good looks." He gave a bitter laugh before continuing, "But alas, she chose the flashy, heroic Hercules over the faithful and good husband who would have given her a long, happy and prosperous life. She should have known what would happen next. Hercules was too wrapped up in his own world to be a good husband. He'd already killed one wife, you know. Hera sent him into a jealous rage. He killed his wife and children."
Piper sounded downright disgusted as she said, "Hera made him crazy and Hercules was given the penance."
"The Olympians never pay for their crimes," Achelous said, as if stating a fact. From Percy's experiences, he was fairly sure that it was one.
Then he continued, "My poor Deianira met a tragic end. She became jealous of Hercules's many lovers. She got desperate and listened to bad advice. A centaur convinced her that by spreading some of his blood inside Hercules's robes she could make him forever faithful. The centaur, though, had ulterior motives. Centaur blood is like acid, and it seared through Hercules's skin. What a painful way to leave this world is centaur blood."
"That's awful," Piper said.
"The moral of course is to beware the sons of Zeus," said the god. Percy might not like Jason, but he couldn't imagine the guy doing anything like that. He elected to ignore the god's advice.
Actually, he thought, I almost always ignore divine advice.
"Hercules is a god now," Achelous said, "he married Hebe, but he's seldom at home. He says Zeus forces him to do this, standing guard on that island with those silly pillars. But I think that he prefers to stay here and wallow in regret and bitterness, mourning his mortal life. I remind him of the woman who finally killed him, and he reminds me of the woman who could have been my wife."
"He wants my other horn to humiliate me," said the god, "it might make him feel better, knowing that I am miserable as well. Besides, it would become a cornucopia- a horn of plenty. Food and drink would flow from it and Hercules would simply keep it for himself. What a tragic waste."
Percy wondered how many shattered hearts Hercules had left in his wake: Deianira, Zoe, and the various affairs that Achelous had spoken of. There had to be more. It was terrible. Percy really, really hated Hercules and his selfish, self-pitying, unfaithful self. He found himself agreeing with the river god, which was actually a scary thought. They were probably going to have to fight him and if Percy had sympathy for him, that would make this harder, like his fights against Luke or even Ethan.
Percy steeled himself for the fight that he knew was coming. He gripped riptide in his pocket. He had no idea how much control he'd have over this river. He wasn't sure if his father's realm of influence included other gods' rivers. He didn't want to find out, even though, he knew he was going to.
"I'm really sorry," said Percy, "but we need that horn or Hercules will kill our friends."
"I know," said the god, "and you'll have to forgive me."
God, Percy thought, here comes the fight.
Piper frowned and Percy tried to send her a look to convey, dude! He's going to try to kill us!
"Forgive you for what?" she asked and Percy thought, "Gods, people say I'm the seaweed brain."
"I have no choice either," he said, "I have to stop you."
If Percy couldn't breathe underwater he'd be in deep figurative shit. He tried to regain his composure.
"You're not drowning", he told himself, "you're the son of the fucking sea god. Get a grip, you moron. You need to find Piper." He frantically swam, looking for Piper. She, unlike him, would drown if she were underwater too long. He saw a blob of brown hair and swam towards it. He grabbed her and pulled her to the surface. She gasped for air.
"I'm sorry about this," Achelous said, pushing him underwater.
"Stop it!" he heard Piper scream.
"This is a new one", Percy thought, "I guess hearing perfectly fine underwater is another Poseidon perk."
"I can't stop," he said, "Hercules will not get my other horn."
"There's another way," Piper said, "you don't have to kill us." Percy popped his head out of the water but then he felt the god use his own control over the river push him under. He felt as though he were stuck in a whirlpool. His body started spinning and he realized that he was stuck in an actual whirlpool. He could already feel himself getting dizzy.
He considered trying his water powers for a moment, but remembered something that Annabeth had said, "Hopefully it won't even come down to a fight." He remembered her praising Piper's diplomatic skills and then he thought of how much he didn't want to hurt the god. He decided to give Piper a moment to work this out with words before he broke out his powers of mass destruction.
Achelous hesitated and then trotted over to her, "I believe you mean that."
"I do," she said, "Hercules is despicable. But first I need you to let my friend go." He wondered if Piper knew that he could breathe under here. If she did, then she was playing this really well, making the situation seem more urgent that it was. He was impressed.
"I see," he said, "You would be my Deianira, my new bride to compensate my loss."
"What" Percy thought. This wasn't going the direction that he was hoping. This was bad. He started trying to wield his control over the water. It did him no good, he was too far from his father's domain and the river lord's strength and influence was too great. He cursed his own weakness as he attempted to swim to the surface. He needed to help Piper in some way. The water started pushing him down and gods, for the second time on this quest to go to Rome, Percy felt like he was drowning. He felt like he was being suffocated while Piper was up there, all alone. He hadn't felt this weak for the longest time. And the world wouldn't stop spinning. He wasn't sure if he hated this situation more or less than the one at the aquarium.
"Actually I was thinking," Piper said, but the god cut her off, "You would have to let your friends die. Hercules might be angry, but I could protect you from him. We could be happy together. Let's start by letting this Percy fellow drown."
"Shit", Percy thought. He thought that he'd forgotten about him. The god might not have noticed that he was a son of Poseidon before, but in a few minutes when Percy was still alive, then he'd notice.
And then Percy would be dead and Piper would meet a horrible and sexist fate.
He hoped that Piper had a plan. He hoped to all the gods that Piper had a plan. He hoped that hanging out with Annabeth had somehow rubbed off on Piper more than it ever had on him. Gods, he wished that she were here. He shook the thought and tried one last time to break free of the god's whirlpool of death.
"Lift me up, please," he heard Piper say in a voice sweet as sugar. He thanked the gods because Piper must have a plan. He heard splashing, shouting, and though the spinning was discombobulating, Percy had a pretty good idea what was going on. Piper was riding the bull.
"Let Percy go," she said, in a forceful tone that it made Percy want to free himself even more than he had previously. The god's grip on his whirlpool lessened and Percy was able to swim free of it. He gasped, breathing actual air for the first time in what felt like forever. Piper was on Achelous's head, pressing a knife to his throat. Percy was thoroughly impressed.
"Be a good bull," she warned him.
"You promised," he gritted out, "You promised that he wouldn't get my horn!"
"He won't," said Piper, "but I will."
She slashed through the bull's horn. She grabbed it and her knife and leapt for shore. She landed in the water, a few feet away from shore and she ran out as quickly as possible. Percy followed her lead swam out of the water. Percy tried to focus on the river, he put as much strength as he could into his actions and was able to steal control from the god. He summoned an enormous wave and pushed the god under water as they fled the scene.
As they ran away, Percy noticed that Piper was sobbing.
"What are you looking at," she snapped at him, and he averted his eyes so that she could cry in peace. They didn't slow until they reached the top of the hill. Piper wiped her eyes and Percy could tell she was trying to get her nerves under control. Percy felt bad for what she'd had to do, but this was war. He sighed.
"What are we going to do," he asked, more to himself than to Piper. He wasn't exactly sure where he stood with the girl.
"I know what we're not doing," she said, with a sort of conviction in her voice that would put activists and politicians to shame, "we're not letting Hercules get it."
"I understand," he retorted, "Hercules is a world-class asshole, but does that mean we let our friends die for this? Is that what you want?"
"Are you willing to risk Annabeth for this!" he shouted. He knew that it was wrong. This was not the time to let out his pent-up aggression and jealousy but damn it, the girl that Annabeth chose over him was suggesting they risk Annabeth's life for revenge on a douchebag god. How was he supposed to react! Was he supposed to give her a pat on the back and a box of chocolates?
"Do you really think that? You think that I'd risk Jason and Leo just for some petty revenge? Of course not!" she yelled, glaring at him intensely, "And Annabeth, Annabeth is everything to me. Don't you dare suggest otherwise."
"But you're willing to risk her life for this," he said, knowing full well how much pain the diatribe would cause her, and simply not caring, "where is your loyalty?!"
She looked him dead in the eyes and for a moment, he thought that she might smack him.
"I know that you're her best friend," said Piper, glaring at him, "Hell, I know that you love her, but I love her too. But no matter how much I love Annabeth, this isn't about her. This is about doing what's right." Percy wondered if it was just the charmspeak, but he found himself agreeing with her. He could already feel himself agreeing to whatever stupid, crazy, damn near suicidal plan the girl had concocted.
"So," he asked, grabbing riptide from his pocket, "what's the plan, Bull's Bride?"
Hercules was right where they'd left him. Piper had already sent an Iris message to Leo, so that they were prepared, but this plan still felt absolutely insane to Percy.
"Good," said Hercules, when he saw Piper carrying the horn, "you got it. In that case, you are free to go."
"You heard him," Piper said, "he gave us permission. That means that you'll let us pass into the Mediterranean?"
"Yes, yes," he said, snapping his fingers, "now give me the horn."
"No," Piper said.
Hercules frowned, "What?"
Piper raised the cornucopia at him and Percy couldn't help feeling nervous. He tried to feel the ocean around him in case Piper's plan went askew.
"Achelous was right," she said, "You're his curse as much as he is yours. You are a poor excuse for a hero."
Hercules starred at her as if she were speaking a foreign tongue, "You realize that I could kill you with the snap of my finger? I could throw my club into the hull of that ship-."
"You could be less of an asshat, now couldn't you?" Percy said, letting his normal sass flow freely from his mouth.
"You wouldn't be the first impudent demigod I've killed," Hercules said, the veins in his neck starting to jut out in anger.
Piper laughed, "The pot calls the kettle black."
"I do not understand your reference, girl," Hercules growled.
"Understand this," she said, "We're not going to fight you. We're going to leave this island peacefully with the horn. You don't deserve it as a prize. I'm going to keep this to remind me of Deianira and Achelous and all the other lives you've ruined."
"Do not mention that name in my presence," Hercules gritted out, "You can't seriously think I'm worried about you or that puny spawn of Poseidon."
"He may not be stronger than you, but he's better," she said, "he cares about his friends. You care about no one and nothing at all."
She pointed the horn at Hercules and Percy wondered if it would actually work as a weapon. He held his breath.
A moment later, the horn let forth a raging sea of baked goods, fruits and veggies. Hercules was buried under a mountain of food goods and Percy shouted, "That was for Zoe Nightshade!"
"Percy!" Piper shouted at him, and he remembered his part of the plan. He grabbed her and they jumped into the water. He summoned a pillar of water to propel them to the ship.
"Kill!" Hercules shouted, but Percy and Piper were already on the deck of the Argo II, sailing away into the Mediterranean.
Piper let out an excited wail.
"Great job," Percy said, patting her on the back, "I never thought that crazy plan would work." Piper held the cornucopia like a national championship trophy.
Percy chuckled, "We didn't exactly "work it out with words" though."
Piper gave him a light, playful glare. Percy knew that the others would be meeting them on the deck very shortly, so if he wanted to say anything to her privately, he had to do it now.
"Piper, would you promise me one thing?" he asked.
"Sure," she said, "If you hadn't of been there to help me, I'd have been fucked back there."
"Be," he said, stumbling nervously over his words, "be good to her, okay? She deserves the world."
"You really do love her," she said, "don't you?"
"Yeah," he said, "but it doesn't matter, Piper. She loves you." Piper wisely didn't say anything in response to that but then gave him a sad smile.
"We're friends now," she asked, "right?"
"I don't think that you can go up against a god together and not be friends," Percy said and then they laughed. It might hurt that Annabeth chose her over him, but Percy didn't hate Piper. He wasn't one to hold grudges and he was going to try to let it go. He would try to get over his own feelings for Annabeth because whether or not she was his girlfriend, she would always be his best friend. That meant just as much or more. He gave Piper a smile as he saw Hazel peak her head of caramel colored hair onto the deck.
Percy was sick of worrying. He had been worried sick about Nico during their fight against the twin giants, and a terrible fear for Annabeth had inhabited the back of his mind. Now they were saving her and he felt like he could abandon, maybe, just maybe, he could abandon his worries.
Piper was holding her, and he heard her say, "It's alright. We're together." He ignored the pang of jealousy when Piper looked at Annabeth's ankle.
"Oh Annabeth," she said, "what happened?" She started to explain her situation while Piper held her hand.
"Gods of Olympus," Jason said, "you did all that with a broken ankle."
"Not all of it was with a broken ankle," she said, in an unusual display of modesty. Then she grinned, "just most of it was with a broken ankle." That was more like Annabeth he knew, the prideful one who had almost gotten them killed by the sphinx because she thought that its questions weren't challenging enough. He grinned at her and thought, "just like old times."
"Holy fucking Hades, Annabeth," he said, breathless, "I knew that you were amazing, I just didn't know that you were quiet that amazing. You made Arachne weave her own jail. You did it: you succeed where all other Athena kids have failed. You found the Athena Parthenos!" Everyone stared at the statue in an amazed daze.
"What do we do with it?" asked Frank, "It's enormous."
"We'll have to take it with us to Greece," she asserted, "It's powerful. Somehow, it's going to help us defeat the giants."
"Giants' bane stands gold and pale," Hazel recited, "Won through pain from a woven jail. It was Arachne's jail. You tricked her into weaving it."
Leo made a picture frame around the statue, "It take some rearranging, but I think we can make it work. If it juts out the end, I can always tape a flag to her feet or something." The thought of an American flag wrapped around the statue's feet made Percy chuckle.
"What about you," she asked, "What about the giants."
Percy, Jason and Piper alternated on who told the story. Nico then explained the doors of death, and Percy couldn't help feeling bad for him. Nico was a good kid, he didn't deserve the fact that he'd met in Tartarus, or that jar.
"So the mortal side is in Epirus," she said, "that's good. At least that's somewhere we can reach."
"It's the other side of the doors that's the problem," Nico said, "they're in Tartarus. I wouldn't wish a trip to Tartarus on anyone." And Percy saw a look of fear and compassion in his eyes that sent shivers down his spine. He wished that he could protect him from all the shit that the world had hurled at him. Percy noticed that Annabeth's lower half was nearly coated in spider silk, and he thought about cutting it off. She took a step further. The chamber groaned and then the statue tilted to the side. It's foundation was starting to crumble and all Percy wanted to do was get himself, Annabeth, Nico and the rest of them off of this unstable floor. It felt like it would crumble at any second.
"Secure it," Annabeth cried.
"Zhang," Leo shouted, "Get me up to the helm! The coach is up there alone."
Frank turned into a giant eagle and the two flew away. Jason looked to Annabeth, "I can only take one person at a time. Do you want me to get you?"
"No," Annabeth said, "please. Take Piper first." Piper gave her a pained look, but allowed Jason to wrap his arms around her. They flew away.
"This floor won't last," Hazel said, "We need to get to the ladder."
Dust plumes and cobwebs blasted from holes in the floor and Percy was worried, very worried. The silk support cables on the statue were beginning to snap. Hazel headed towards the bottom of the rope ladder ad gestured at Nico to follow, but the boy was in no condition to run.
"It'll be fine," Percy muttered, though he was almost positive that it wouldn't. He looked over to see Leo shouting orders as Jason and Frank scrambled frantically to secure cables around the statue. Nico had reached the statue when Percy heard Annabeth gasp. She stumbled.
"What's wrong?" he asked. He could tell that she was having difficulties staggering towards the ladder. Her legs swept behind her and she fell flat on her face.
"Her ankle," Hazel shouted from the ladder, "Cut her ankle." For a moment, Percy was confused and he panicked. He lunged towards Annabeth and tried to pull her up, to keep her from being dragged into the pits of hell. He got a hold of her arm, but he was dragged backwards as well.
"Help them," Hazel shouted. Percy heard Annabeth sob. Then he realized what he should have done in the first place. He should have taken out his sword and cut the line. Now, though, he couldn't reach riptide without letting go of Annabeth and he wouldn't risk losing her. She slipped over the edge and Percy fell with her. He gripped Annabeth's arm tightly with his left hand and groped desperately for a handhold with his right. After a moment of falling, his fingers caught a ledge and he held tightly to it. He could feel her being pulled downwards and he fought to keep his grip on her wrist. Percy looked up to the sky begging for someone, anyone to help. He might have even tried praying had he not known it would be completely useless. He saw Nico stick his small hands into the pit in an attempt to help, but it was futile. He knew that Nico knew this as well as he did from the defeated and terrified look on his face. Hazel was yelling for Jason or Frank but they couldn't hear her.
"Percy, let me go," she croaked, "you can't pull me up." Her face was white and Percy knew that she was right. Their situation was hopeless.
"Never," he said. He stared up at Nico and shouted, "The other side, Nico! We'll see you there. Understand?"
Nico's eyes widened in shock, "You can't mean-"
But Percy cut him off, "Lead them there. Promise me."
"I-I will," Nico stuttered.
"Stay safe," Percy said. He could hear a rumbling voice in the distance.
"Percy," Annabeth cried, "what about the others?" He tightened his grip on her wrist.
"They'll be alright," he said with conviction, "and so will we. We'll get through this. Together."
She gave him a sad smile and he hoped to god that it wouldn't be her last.
"I trust you," she said. He looked up one last time, seeing the glorious sunlight for perhaps his last time. He heard Nico and Hazel screaming in the distance.
Then he let go of the ledge, and the two friends fell into the void as they'd always been, together.
A.N: That was the longest story that I've ever written.