Hello! I'm Kathie. I already posted this fanfiction once, but I am doing some real editing. A lot of the words will be different, and the plot has changed permanently. I am really excited to be writing this! I will update every… month, at the latest, and I really hope you enjoy my story. It's going to be amazing! I'm aiming to write one thousand words per day- but it's really difficult as I have my end of year exams – cue the shudders – and am really, really, exhausted. I am younger than most writers... When the exams are done, I'll try to update more frequently- once every two weeks or so? Thank you for reading this, and please review! That magical button… Please.
- Piper McLean -
The seven were covered in sweat and grime, dirt and monster dust. After a few years of being tossed around, used, borrowed and returned, Piper had come to a reluctant understanding. They were just pawns in the gods' endless chess battle.
Unlike during the titan war, the gods had introduced a new sinister way of controlling the demigods. The rules had changed. It was obey… or die. It was a lethal battle, but it was her final one, she promised herself.
To her, there were no facades of… great glory, treasures, or godhood that awaited the one who defeated Gaea.
Piper was too experienced in the art of murder to care about such trivial things. She was old enough to understand that every life lost was just that- a loss. And hundreds, if not thousands of lives had been taken. But in every failure there was a lesson, Piper thought somberly.
"To be a survivor you must kill, and to have the chance to kill, you must survive."
And through the worst of battles, the seven had emerged. Not unscathed, but with memories more scarring than any mortal wound. Battle after battle, death after death.
"The cycle ends today," she whispered to herself.
But then again, that was what she had been saying for the last three years.
A few skeletal like figures huddled in the middle of the field, while the mess of colored battles smeared and blended into one another until they all looked the same. The girl with the owl tattoo gave an order to the grimy boy with the hammer, and he nodded solemnly.
Barking another order, Annabeth started to sag to the ground and grasped on to Percy for support. He offered her his other arm and she gently kissed his cheek.
"Ignore what I just said. That was before the calculation of the monsters surpassed the rate of them incoming at the circle and how fast we can kill them." Annabeth said flatly.
Leo looked stumped. "Um… English please?"
Everyone shared a small smile.
"We have to split up," Annabeth sighed, the sign of pleasure falling from her face. "According to the velocity of how far we'll be able to run, we have to leave in a few minutes. We have enough time to get into groups."
She frowned in concentration, assessing their abilities to give them the utmost chance of survival.
"Okay…" she said after a few minutes. "I want Leo alone, creating an inferno of fire. If he was to have a partner, they would get burned, or Leo would not fully lash out in fear of them getting hurt." Leo nodded in disappointment.
"I guess that makes sense," he muttered.
"I'll go with Percy," Annabeth said, ignoring him. "I can't support myself on my own for very long, and we'll both fight better knowing the other is alright." A wide grin had split Percy's face in half and he nodded empathetically.
"Jason and Frank," she said slowly, as if she was speaking their names for the first time. "That would actually work. Okay, Frank, I want you to shift into a bull and charge at the monsters. Any others trying to attack him from behind will be fried," she said meaningfully, turning to look at Jason.
She turned to the smallest member of the group.
"Hazel," Annabeth murmured worriedly. "I'm afraid I want you on your own. It would be too risky to pair you and Piper up. Just imagine the disaster that would occur if Piper picked up one of your cursed gems." She paused for a second. "Just try summoning sharp objects like crazy. Make a wall around yourself. Hopefully monsters will charge at you. As soon as the monsters pick them up, boom, that's one less monster we have to deal with."
"Piper," Annabeth finally said, turning to face her. "You will be by the gorge. I want you charmspeaking, making all those monsters jump off of it when they come at you. Understand?"
Piper gave a tense nod.
They all shared one last moment, before Frank looked away, wiping away the tears that had formed in Hazel's eyes.
"We have to go now," Percy said sadly, looking as if he wanted to memorize their faces forever.
"You were the b-best family I ever h-had. Nico's f-family, but he's always away, and y-you're always h-here." Hazel choked out, hiccupping. Piper held out her scarred arms, and Hazel ran in to them, a few tears leaking out of her eyes.
"Stay safe," Piper breathed. "Please. Your life is top priority. Understand?"
Hazel nodded into her shoulder, before slowly backing away until she was a safe distance from the rest of them. Percy took Annabeth's hand and shot them one last look that spoke volumes.
"Goodbye," He said solemnly. "Good luck guys."
Annabeth nodded. "I second that," she said.
And they walked away. Jason embraced Piper and then gave them all a smile.
"Fortuna melioribus tibi. Nemini regno dignum morte." Frank spoke in Latin.
"I agree," said Piper firmly, understanding immediately. "Now go, they're coming."
They all shot a glance at the approaching monsters.
Piper just gave them a determined smile before sprinting off in the direction of the gorge. Sparing one last glance at them, she saw Leo's hands, as a beacon of light as two little fireballs danced in his palms, marking the beginning.
-Linebreak-
Hours had passed. The battle was faring well, but Piper could only hope that her friends could make it out alive. She wasn't sure how much more the rest of them could take, before something cracked and the dam holding them together collapsed.
Her leg throbbed furiously; another hellhound bit her hard, scraping the bone that protruded out of her leg. Piper could see the bare whiteness under the layer of bloodied flesh. Grimacing, she dragged her wound out of the way of another attack.
An empousai launched herself at Piper, and the girl snarled in frustration, struggling to land a blow. Piper managed to land a slice on the empousai's back, before she had to go on the defensive, dodging and running to avoid her claws.
The monster retaliated with a vicious kick to her kidney, knocking the breath out of her. Piper gasped and huffed, slashing down with Katoptris, creating a deep gash that started at the creature's left shoulder and ended near her hip. The fanged woman hissed in fury, but after deliberation, quickly retreated.
The monstrosity had a single slender leg that could've made any man swoon if not for the green scales that snaked tightly across her body. Her other leg was made of bronze metal. Her carnivorous teeth dripped with blood that turned her pale pink lips red. She gave a snarl as she turned one last time to glare at her opponent.
I'll be back, her eyes seemed to convey.
"You serve the goddess Hecate," Piper called to her. "She is battling for the Olympians!" The empousai just turned back to give a sneer, showing her teeth, and raced off. Piper tried not to feel overwhelmed as the monsters crowded around her.
She couldn't charmspeak them, as servants of magic they would hear right through her honeyed enchantment. Piper decided it was time to leap in to the fray and abandon her post by the gorge.
The enemy lines had almost been shattered and many monsters were running in chaos, struggling to find a commander. A hellhound growled menacingly and stood over another one who was injured. Most likely his mate, but Piper was too far gone to feel excessive pity.
She darted forward and slit the injured hound's throat, and her labored breathing eased into nothing. The hellhound dissolved gently on the floor.
Before she had time to react, Piper felt claws rake her chest. Thankfully, before it could do any real damage she plunged her dagger into another one of it's wounds, and it exploded into dust.
A flicker of movement at the corner of her vision alerted her to a lunging venti. She waited until it was with in arms reach and then stuck her knife straight up and watched the creature impale itself. However, the venti had a much more airy form than she had originally thought, and the spirit didn't dissolve. Piper withdrew her knife from the wounded creature's body and threw Katoptris at a 90-degree angle; easily impaling it's lungs. She watched coldly as it coughed up blood and dirt. Piper picked up her knife and sighed.
To many lives lost. If only they would surrender, she though briefly, before she started hunting other monsters. She scanned the battle and heard a frightened scream over the clashing weapons. Wiping the sweat from her eyes, she spotted the source and was horrified to see Lacy lying on the ground, blood flowing jerkily from her neck. A hellhound viciously snarled and pounded away with her blood on its teeth.
Piper ran over to her bloodstained figure and desperately held ripped some cloth from under her metal plated breastplate. She pressed it quickly to her throat wound, but the flimsy cotton was soaked within seconds. Her deep blue eyes had a glassy look to them, as the red liquid pulsed, a dying force soaking into the sand. Piper tried to ignore the fang-shaped bite protruding from the side of her throat; cradled her head in her lap. Lacy's eyes held a whisper of a smile, and she nodded breathlessly as her life force ebbed away.
"Be brave," she murmured to her. Piper couldn't speak, and she felt tears gathering in her eyes.
Then Lacy's eyes became unfocused and she stared distantly at the sky, her eyes reflecting the blue of the void and the white of the spotless clouds.
Gently, she closed Lacy's eyes, trying to make her as presentable as she could, smoothing out her hair and hiking up her armor to hide her throat wound. She pried her cold fingers off her blade, and sheathed it in her own belt. Piper gave her one last kiss on the forehead and tore herself away, tears running from her eyes like little streams.
Remorse for her dead sister fueled her anger, and Piper started hunting the hellhound that had caused her death. In the chaos of the battle, Piper saw only rare paw prints of the beast. She knew she was losing time, precious time, but she felt as if she owed this to her sister- to cause the death of her killer, at least for a little bit.
After a few minutes later, Piper finally caught up to it as it attacked another victim from behind.
A nameless demigod was fighting a dracanae. He collapsed as the hellhound dug its claws into his ribs. Piper gave a powerful swing with Lacy's sword and caught the hellhound's abdomen. Its look of fear was a satisfaction she couldn't describe. With a cruel smile, she pulled, tearing the organ right out of its body. It fell to the floor, whining pitifully, and then it burst into dust. Grabbing her new weapon, Piper looked around, trying to assess the progress of the battle.
Turning to face the satyrs, she spotted Coach Hedge screaming at the top of his lungs, as Mellie floated gently beside him, cradling the small bump in her stomach. She had insisted on coming to help, even if she couldn't be much use on the battlefield.
"All you cupcakes better listen to me, you got five seconds to run, one, two, five!" He charged at the line of dracanae, and started bashing them with his club. A ghost of a smile flitted across Piper's lips. Mellie looked absolutely transfixed, while flickering her hand to summon small winds.
Unnoticed, a manticore snuck up behind Mellie. Piper let out a yell of warning, and she spun daintily around, preparing to give the monster a piece of her mind. Coach Hedge got there first. He pounded Dr. Thorn to the ground, giving him a few good lashes on the head. The manticore was unprepared for such an abrupt attack, and there was no room for him to aim and shoot his deadly weapons. Only one poisonous spike had imbedded itself in Coach's elbow, but he appeared not to notice. Fondness for Coach Hedge welled up in Piper, and she had to suppress a smile.
"No one touches her." Coach snarled, in such a dangerous tone that the monster seemed to shudder, his angry yellow eyes glaring. Mellie spotted Piper, and gave her a slightly mortified glance, than put a calming hand on his shoulder.
"Fine," he muttered. "I'll still kill you though," he added in a whisper when he thought Mellie wasn't listening. He gave the manticore one last whack on the head, and Dr. Thorn fell into unconsciousness. Even from ten meters away, Piper heard the breathtaking crack. Mellie made shooing motions at his remains, urging the winds to sweep him away.
She then spotted Annabeth and Percy fighting back-to-back, still a bit frail from Tartarus, but otherwise full of energy and adrenaline. Instead of Percy supporting Annabeth, they now seemed to be supporting one another. They advanced on a horde of monsters, yelling defiance. Grover was playing on his… recorder? No, flute. The weeds and wildlife obeyed his command and inflicted both minor and major damage on the army. Hazel was fighting with her spatha and summoning gems to hurl at the monsters that shrieked in pain as they made contact. Frank was next to her, a rabid, charging bull. Good Frank, Piper thought, her lips quirking in a small grin.
Jason, her Jason with his funny scars and ruffled blonde hair was shouting profanity at several hellhounds as he summoned lightning from above to electrocute them.
She bit her lip, drawing blood, and once again looked for a potential opponent. From behind her, the tip of a blade cut the side of her neck, and Piper spun around, glowering. Her attacker had braided regal hair, and looked Persian. Her eyes shone with thinly concealed arrogance, and she looked imposingly down on Piper. Her skin had a coppery look to them, her face sun kissed, and she stood with an air of nobility, though wearing black sneakers and a gray t-shirt. Not very sensible with the sun beating down, Piper thought, glaring spitefully at her.
She didn't flinch.
Glaring back in return, she looked absolutely murderous. Piper felt some of her original confidence drain away. The girl's skin glowed with natural beauty, and she looked energized, like she had not been fighting at all. She redrew her blade and slashed at Piper. She confidently deflected the shot, but it took some effort, and to Piper's surprise she found hidden force behind the blow.
At her stunned expression, the girl analyzed Piper's face, studying it carefully. Her eyes narrowed as if choosing a strategy from Piper's weaknesses. She started to attack, slashing mercilessly. Two or three times her knife was dangerously close to Piper's throat. Two or three times Piper was dangerously close to hers'. Distinctive black eyes were locked on hers, taking glances at the blades every few seconds. Eyes glinting, the girl suddenly stopped fighting, holding Piper's dagger at a freeze point. The girl's breathing evened, while Piper's grew ragged and desperate. Her eyes shone like sizzling volcanic rock in an ocean of magma.
She struggled against the girl's brute force, her muscles screaming. Her opponent's eyes widened in satisfaction and Piper narrowed hers. It looked like she wasn't even at her full extent of power! With an angry yell, she detangled her knife and launched herself at her opponent, hoping to be able to sink Katoptris into flesh. Instead, the girl dodged, snaking her way around her; she landed on the floor in an undignified pile, on her backside. Great.Piper thought gloomily as blood trickled from her brow.
And before Piper could recover, the girl lunged, placing her knee on her chest and looking at her with surprisingly fierce glowing eyes. Her silky black hair framed her face, and she looked at Piper with grudging respect.
What the girl did next surprised her, filled her with gratitude but also irritation. It was a debt she could never repay. She remorsefully lifted her knee off Piper's chest, upturning the corners of her lips in an attempt of a smile.
"Apologies." Piper tried to disintegrate her with her eyes. The girl had a strange accent. Simply her voice made Piper want to do as she commanded, as if she expected unwavering loyalty pledged to her. Piper briefly wondered if this was what monsters felt like when they were entranced by her charmspeak.
"I am given o-orders." She added, seeming to struggle with the word. "Thou are skilled." To Piper's horror and surprise, her eyes ignited. A translucent black fire dilated her pupils, pulsing and glowing. She murmured a few words and pressed her index finger on Piper's forehead.
She put three fingers near her heart and made a claw symbol- a ward against evil. She muttered: "Chaos." Her hand caught fire. She sent a small but significant fireball towards the sky.
Piper felt something burn through her body, sending little tremors and sparks, which she coughed up. By the time she had been relieved of pressure, Princess was gone- melted into the air like water vapor. Probably a daughter of Hades we were not aware of, Piper thought unsurely. The train of thought came to her distantly, like a thought she couldn't quite place.
Piper snapped out of her trance. The world still seemed out of color and shadowed.
"What the hell was that for?" She screamed. Piper felt the ground tremble.
"What is the matter with you?" She jumped at the sound. Nico was standing behind her, his arms folded disapprovingly across his chest. Warily, Piper turned to face him, the world still spinning in three dimensions. He glowered at her, and she glared right back.
"It's not like I did anything wrong!" She defended herself. "I just… just..." Piper felt dizzy and propped her hands on her knees.
"It doesn't matter," she muttered. "It's not important."
Nico frowned and placed one of his cold hands on her forehead, only to gasp and drag it away quickly. Frowning, she met his gaze, and noticed there was caution in his eyes. Piper spun tiredly around, her sword firm despite her trembling limbs. But there was nothing. Piper turned back to face him. By the time she did, he seemed to have recovered from his worry.
"They're black." Nico said. It was as if his cold exterior wall had been rebuilt again. Piper frowned.
"What?" She must have been visibly confused, because he restated his sentence.
"Your eyes are on fire." He glared; a hint of his old self seemed to be overshadowing the former.
Piper looked at him, judging his expression. It was void of almost any emotion. She didn't feel like Nico had a sense of humor, but in the middle of a battle, now was the time to bring it up? Piper rolled her eyes and smiled teasingly at him.
"Nico, if this wasn't a battle, I would tell you that there's a flying chicken with a pig's tail trying to eat your arm."
He seemed to sense her sarcasm. "No joke," he said deathly calm. A hellhound nearly pounced on him, but Piper shoved him out of the way. He melted into the roars and yells of the army.
She faced the hellhound in bitter fury. Your brother killed Lacy, was all she could think as she stuck her dagger straight ahead. The monster impaled itself on the blade. Dusting off her knife, Piper groaned as she clutched her head in sudden bout of agony. The world started spinning once more as she fell of to the side and collapsed to the ground.
Piper raised a trembling hand and looked into Katoptris. Instantly, she recoiled at her reflection. Her eye sockets were filled with black fire, deep translucent black, and she had to stop herself from screaming out loud. As it was, Piper had scrambled back a few steps. She could still see her black pupils, but they were hidden behind the translucent flame. Though the world was still rotating slightly, Piper managed to see a clear reflection.
Too soon, she heard a menacing snarl behind her, and turned around, flipping her parazonium quickly back into her fencer's grip and facing the new challenge. As soon as the next hellhound saw her eyes, it raced away howling in terror, tail between its legs.
My eyes are that creepy? She thought questioningly.
Chasing the retreating monster, Piper tripped and rammed into an exhausted Annabeth, who looked about to gut her until she realized who she was. She gave Piper a thumbs up and a bored glance: your-eyes-are-on-fire-oh-well-I've-seen-weirder.
Piper went back to chasing the hellhound, meanwhile knocking down dracanae and stabbing a Laistrygonian Giant in the foot. She would've thought it felt like a pinprick, but the giant howled angrily, and toppled off balance, falling with a crash. As it roared, it let out a huff of icy breath. Kampé's tail froze like an ice cube, causing her to let out a snarl of frustration, clawing desperately at the ice as it made her immobile. It was too heavy for Kampé to move, so it acted like some kind of demented leash.
Laughing hysterically at what she'd done, she caught up and sliced the hellhound in the stomach. The blood flowed heavily, and Piper knew that it wouldn't live. She didn't bother to stop it as it fled. She was breathing heavily, the adrenaline of the chase catching up to her.
She blew the dust off her knife before slowly going to find the others. They were fighting off several monsters at a time, and Piper's heart again leapt in worry for my friends. She spotted Jason finishing off the Laistrygonian Giant and Leo rapidly summoning food from his tool belt; stuffing them down each monster's throat. Piper let out a strangled, mutilated laugh, her voice box raspy from the smoke. Leo shot a wall of fire at a few hellhounds, and they exploded, leaving behind a ghastly smell, and raining gold dust. He looked as if he was going to write 'Hot Stuff' and 'Team Leo' on his shirt again. Piper grinned at the thought.
Hazel had stopped fighting with her spatha, and was using all of her metal resources to their full extent. She pelted the army with gold and diamonds from deep within the battlefield. Cries of agony came from the monsters as they touched the precious jewelry. However, Piper didn't have more than a few seconds to marvel at the pure genius of Annabeth's strategy, because suddenly the world seemed to be going in and out of focus.
For the second time that day she sank to the ground clutching her head as she tried to will away the pain. After a few minutes, when she stood shakily back up, Piper realized that everything was blurry and crackling. Even Frank the lion looked like a broken television player.
The world started rotating once more and she shivered uncontrollably. The shape outlines turned fuzzy, and her mind grasped at basic shapes uneasily. Piper felt dizzy and confused. Her sanity faded away, and she felt completely calm and at peace.
Standing up, she walked determinedly to Percy and helped him up, supporting his bodyweight against hers. Annabeth shot her a shocked look, but Piper ignored her and gently pressed her hand to his head as to relieve the pain as she had done for herself earlier.
He stood up and looked at her curiously, but never letting go of her hand. And then they both collapsed together.
And suddenly, the battle tilted at a sickening angle. Hazel looked around in horror as the monsters she had been fighting had turned in unison to attack two of her best friends.
"What?" She breathed. "What's going on?"
Every monster stalked coldly towards the pair, their glassy, blank eyes spreading panic through the demigod ranks.
The monsters didn't even flinch when some of the demigods struck them down. Instead of turning to dust, they continued walking, sand pouring out of the wounds. In an instant, any injuries they had… were gone.
Waking up drowsily, Piper glanced around in horror, as if realizing for the first time that the battle wasn't a dream.
"Percy! Percy wake up!" She put a little power into her voice. "Percy, please do me a favor and wake up now."
He shot up straight, his blurred eyes blinking quickly. "Where am I?" he muttered. "Where's Annabeth?"
She ignored him, dragging herself to her feet. It suddenly dawned on her that Gaea's army was targeting her specifically and Piper's heart thudded even more rapidly against her breastplate. She clutched Katoptris close, resting her hand on her other weapon.
Good lord, Piper thought. Over a hundred monsters and I'm trying to defend myself with a dagger.
"We're doomed." She said aloud. Percy looked like he agreed.
Aphrodite and a few other gods walked calmly towards Piper, as if hoping to help. Arrows shot out of the sand, points of earth, leaf, and metal, binding the goddess to the floor. The arrow pierced through her arms and expanded, keeping her anchored to the ground as golden ichor pooled around her. She screamed in agony and Piper let out a sob of horror.
The earth shook with laughter, no doubt causing tsunamis and a 7.1 on the Richter scale. As if a signal, in the battlefield directly below the Olympians, the same arrows were released, chaining each god to the ground. They impaled legs, arms, even chests, but the gods could not die. They were chained, sinking slowly into the sandy earth.
"No!" Ares yelled, straining to get to Aphrodite, who had passed out from pain.
Aphrodite's golden blonde hair lay strewn on the bloody ground and her face was pale and white. Hestia hissed in frustration, after trying to burn the chain off, emitting light and fire. Artemis forbid her hunters to come near, and Zeus yelled in pain, more than his pride wounded. Poseidon was using hardened water to slowly chip away at his bonds, and taking quick desperate glances at Percy who was trying to help him. Golden blood pooled beneath the demigods' feet.
All the while, the monsters stalked nearer. Fifteen meters. Piper thought warily.
Shakily, Piper drew her sister's sword. She knew that she had had no training whatsoever. But if there were a sharp pointy thing in her reach, the person blocking it would need a god's help to survive the encounter.
Eight meters. She racked her brain and felt Percy's wiry back tense against hers. Five.
Something, anything, she thought desperately.
A thought struck her.
"Gaea…" Piper spoke to the monsters, trying not to let out that she was stalling for time. Piper used the little she knew about the monsters and twisted it into time- time to let Percy figure out a solution while she distracted the primordial. Gaea was living through the creatures.
Think Percy, think, she thought.
And then her minions stopped. Three meters. Piper breathed a mental side of relief. It had worked.
Every single monster hissed. Gaea's voice echoed through their throats, a hoarse rasp. "A stroke of luck, Piper." She coughed weakly, but Piper could tell she was gaining strength.
"I wonder… Are you brave, stupid, or both? Do you wish to die," She coughed again, "the same way as your father?" She heard Aphrodite sob from her bonds, regaining some sort of consciousness.
My father? No, he couldn't be…impossible. She thought, rage flowing through her veins at the barb. Piper tried to find Mellie in the crowd, but she was sobbing into her husband's broad shoulder. Coach Hedge looked unusually grim. Gaea just let out a stronger laugh.
"I killed him." She spat vindictively.
Later, Piper would look back and realize what had made her so angry. She really didn't think that it was the fact that Tristan was dead. While they had many memories together, they were more like… uncle and niece. Tristan… or, dad, as he sometimes insisted, was only there on the most important occasions, such as a funeral, or Christmas.
What made her fury rise was the fact that Gaea said the words like a person would say, 'Ice cream, anyone?' Saying it like it didn't matter. Like it was unimportant. Was worth nothing. For Gaea, humans were puny. Humans were mortal. Unlike her, and in her world, that made her superior. Adrenaline built up in Piper. While she only had memories of Tristan when she was younger, that didn't mean she couldn't remember them.
"You-you…" Piper snarled in fury, shaking. "You killed my father!"
"Yes…" Gaea hissed.
"I have his blood on my hands. Scared out of his mind he was. He was a coward. I see the family traits, no?" She taunted her from afar and the monsters hissed in pleasure at her distress. Piper clutched her head in misery, and another splitting headache made her vision fade to dull, dark colors.
Suddenly, she felt like she was trapped in a bubble- her own personal prison. Almost instantaneously, the bars thickened and widened, and turned from a mild daffodil yellow to a nasty color the looks of a muddy swamp. Piper realized that she was incased in her own mental hell. Gaea's voice snarled from above, echoing in the cavern. Piper knew it wasn't real. She just had to break free.
Images flashed though one side of the box. Like her flat screen TV at home, one of the two she never used. Then the surface of the screen rippled. In split second, she made her decision, diving into the vertical surface. And suddenly…
A chubby baby screamed with joy as her father presented her with her favorite toy, a baby panda called Snow.
A toddler walked for the first time, her nannies cooing with delight.
A five-year-old played Ping-Pong for the first time, crying as she was beaten miserably.
Piper saw different scenes as she progressed though life. I grew up, she thought wistfully. She saw her face go from baby joy and plump pink lips to sad eyes and a strained smile. She sighed, noticing her father's eyes grow darker and more unsure in every scene.
She saw herself surfing with her dad at the tender age of eight, completely failing but having a fun time. After she had wiped out for the fifth time, her dad offered her PBJ, a Piper special.
"It even begins with a P," She remembered him telling her proudly. "P for Piper. Piper for my little girl." And she remembered beaming at him.
Dad was holding out a birthday cake, waiting for her to blow out the candles. It was horrible. The cake was crooked, and it's frosting was orange. But that's what made it special. It wasn't one of the fancy bought cakes from the Paris Baguette. It was the only one that he had baked. Himself. Piper saw each birthday after that, her father paying special attention to her for once.
Then she approached her final childhood memory- the one she knew was coming, but dreaded the most.
Her eleventh birthday. It was a sign- even if she didn't see it back then. That was when he started coming less and less. Then he stopped coming. Altogether. She remembered her first birthday without him.
Piper had woken up at seven and ran down the stairs as the doorbell rang. She had flung open the door and gotten ready for a hug when… Jane had briskly told her that Piper's father was busy, and wouldn't be able to make it. Piper remembered the feeling of tears rolling down her cheeks as she nodded numbly and fled up the stairs sobbing into her hands.
She had later discovered that her Father had not been busy at all, but had simply forgotten it.
The momentary kept rolling.
Then began her demigod adventures. She paused, looking at her quest with Jason and Leo, her boyfriend's arms tucked gently around her as he lifted them back to the safety of the bridge.
Piper relived the moment when Tristan told her she was a hero. She could count how many times they had spoken since on one hand.
She watched herself come to Hazel's aid in the House of Hades.
And then Piper saw her and Jason locked in an embrace, just sitting there on the deck of the ship, talking about the future. Their future. The prospect made her feel warm and happy inside.
But then slideshow changed, and instead of a scene, Piper was left with a picture, just one. It was of right now. She saw herself frozen and ragged while demigods screamed around her. The scene faded to black, but not before she noticed something. A bloodstained figure appeared in the background, clutching a knife. Tristan McLean faded from the scene. The figure melted into the shadows.
Fury punctured Piper's heart, and she punched the screen. Instead of her hand going through the wall like she expected, the shield obscuring her from the world cracked and shattered.
Coming back to reality, Piper noticed monsters surrounded her, their claws inches from her face. She didn't care. All she could think about was the terrified look on Tristan's face before he had disappeared.
Piper took a look at Percy and realized his eyes were red and puffy, the damp trails of tears running dry. "He killed my mom," he managed to choke out, trembling. From fury or sadness she never found out, because at that moment Gaea gave a victorious cry. And Lady Hestia sank into the ground.
Piper shakily stood up- she hadn't even realized she'd fallen. The box that had incased her was gone, and Piper's eyes were slits of hatred and venom. The gods were chained. The hunters were assisting Artemis, and the campers were either too scared or too arrogant. There was no one to help her.
"If I die… I'll take you with me!" She screamed. Gaea's thundering laugh bellowed across the desert.
No, Piper thought in panic. Where was Zeus?
She saw each of the gods sink a little deeper into the sand. Every monster stepped forward, their eyes still misty, to form a shield. From the army away, Piper saw a figure slowly becoming solid.
Gaea.
Piper hesitated, wondering if she would even have any sway on the army if they were under Gaea.
It was worth a shot, she decided. Trying wouldn't kill anyone.
"Really now," Piper cooed silkily to the army, or at least the ranks left. "You are very good at fighting. Such a shame you have to work for… their side." The army started nodding uneasily, and a Cyclops at the front even tore off his shirt and gave a bellow, flexing his arms. But it barely lasted. In a split second, his arm fell still. He stepped back, into the lines of the army and his eyes took on the glassy look once more. Piper growled in frustration.
"You… you… Ugh!" Piper yelled at the figure. It was still solidifying. The figure clenched her half formed fist, before reliving the tension from it.
"A worthy try, demigod." Gaea's voice echoed in her head. "But it is not enough."
Piper let the words sink in. And then…
Anger. That was all she felt.
She murdered my father. Piper thought. She chains my mother. She hurts my friends. And no one hurts my friends. And after all this, she can't even address me by my name? Is that too much to ask?
She felt the adrenaline that pumped through her veins and exchanged a glance with Percy, ready to go out fighting. That's when she realized how Gaea wanted her to feel. She wanted Piper to be reckless, trying to attack the swarm of her minions. The monsters still had not moved.
Gaea wanted Piper to attack. She would be playing into her hands. She was baiting her to do the inevitable. Piper grit her teeth.
Tough luck, she thought, giving Percy the signal not to move. Gaea clenched her fist again.
Then Piper's grip tightened on Lacy's sword and she held her sword threateningly in Gaea's direction.
A smirk adorned her face. She was going to die with style.
Her mind turned to her survival instinct. She selected all possibilities that could end in her possible survival. The result? 0. Then she thought harder, desperate for something- anything that she could use to maim Gaea.
And if Piper died in the process, well. It was a sacrifice she was willing to pay.
Piper wasn't foolish enough to think she and Percy could kill Gaea on their own; their best hope was to injure her and make it easier for the remaining six to kill her. After almost a minute of her silent thinking, Gaea was running out of patience.
"Demigod," she cooed mockingly. "Come out, come out wherever you are."
And suddenly a memory struck Piper. The girl… the girl in the battle! Didn't she use fire? And fire was an element of it's own, probably something that Gaea had no control over. Piper tried to remember what she did.
She slowly but instinctively made a gesture with her hand like a claw. Gaea's figure was almost fully formed now.
I want to cause a diversion, Piper thought desperately. Absolute and utter -
"Chaos," she whispered.
Blinding black-hot fire shot from the end of her fingertips, disintegrating the first line of monsters. The figure looked at Piper in sudden horror. The battlefield was dead silent. Piper stared with complete and utter astonishment at the end of her fingers.
Gaea's voice turned shrill with fear. The figure turned to face the opposite direction, as if shielding itself. The monsters shuffled back slightly.
Gaea exploded in frustration, before piecing herself back together again, bits of earth and vine coming together to weave an intricate dress.
"What game are you playing at?" Mother Earth shrieked. "Stop this! The fates forbid you to interfere!"
Piper ignored her. She had the feeling Gaea wasn't talking about her. Hesitantly making the claw sign again, Piper lashed out at the flinching monsters, muttering 'Chaos' as she did so. The effect was instantaneous. Piper relished the feeling as the flames once again burned them, sending the second line of the enemy to Tartarus.
Damn straight. She thought proudly, looking at all the piles of dust she had made. Ten down, infinite to go.
The monsters hesitated, looking like they either wanted to run or go to the bathroom. Possibly both, Piper thought with a grimace as she caught a faint smell of urine coming from the monsters.
"It doesn't matter," Gaea snarled. "We will not lose! Not again!" She unleashed a powerful earthquake and everyone suddenly looked to see if Poseidon was still there.
And while she saw him immediately, she quickly counted the Olympians and realized two were missing.
Athena and Artemis were gone. Only the top of Demeter's head was visible. No, please no…
And there was a scream, a terrible scream, as Gaea's mouth opened and closed. But the sound being emitted… there was no possibility that it came from the primordial. It was too filled with such excruciation; nothing could cause such a powerful being so much pain. Gaea scrambled out of the projection and paled as she recognized the mark on the ground, and immediately looked up at the cause of the shadow.
A black symbol emerged from the clouds, a flickering hologram that cast an elegant shadow, stretching over Gaea's entire army who moaned in pain as they got burned with each touch. Piper gaped in awe, realizing for the first time that the symbol had come out of a black hole. No one had control over black holes… they were infinite. Yet the sign never faltered as words pixelated in the hologram.
Harm them and I swear on life itself that I will end your pathetic existence.
Gaea's voice trembled.
"You have more than the one?" She seemed to gather her emotions and stood up proudly.
"I see now. I wondered why you chose her out of all people… Very well, Auntie," Gaea snarled, regaining her confidence. "I simply will have an even more powerful blood sacrifice! You're chosen ones!"
She stared vindictively at the sky.
"I hope you enjoy seeing your last hope for peace ripped apart shred by shred."
The sky darkened, and instead of holograms, the black hole spat out four words very solid words.
You've sealed your fate.
And the monsters charged. Quickly, Piper put her hand on her heart, feeling as if she had done it a million times. She thought about all of the memories she had seen, the happy and the horrid. Piper thought about Tristan, her friends, and even Jane in a positive light, something she had never been able to do before. She closed her eyes.
Piper thought of Hazel, the girl that she loved like a sister, of Annabeth, the de facto leader of the quest. She thought of Percy, who'd saved her life on countless occasions, Jason, the love of her life, Leo, her first real friend, and finally Frank, who had defended her at all costs.
The seven.
Once again, Piper made the claw over her heart. She used both hands; held them out in front of her like a shield.
"Chaos!" She screamed as sparks flew over her head and a swirling black wind whipped around not only Piper, but Percy too.
Acrid fire exploded from my palms, with far more intensity then even Leo, the first fire user in a century.
After a few minutes, Piper started to panic. The fire raged strong still, but she knew it would come to a halt. She couldn't do this forever, and already the fire seemed to be sapping her energy.
The monsters had been stupidly raising their weapons, which had later been melted into puddles, and charging straight at the wall of fire, as if hoping to break it. They, obviously, had been burned, and their essence was swept away by a nervous Mellie. She had Coach Hedge at her side, glaring at the monsters and swinging his bat aggressively over his head.
"I'd like to see you try, cupcakes!" He yelled. He glared at one particular monster.
"Yeah that's right. Just one step closer…"
But Piper was losing strength quickly.
"Percy!" she gasped.
"Pipes, how are you doing that?" He breathed, looking at the flames in awe.
"I don't know!" She rambled, tears forming in her eyes from the effort of keeping the fire going. "There was this person with fire eyes! And she just said Chaos, and then there was black fire, and I tried it and- and…"
His eyes widened. "F-fire eyes…?"
Then he looked at Piper determinedly, making the claw sign and -
"Chaos!" He bellowed. The sparks and power grew in intensity as they both started to pant for air as they felt something compress on the chests.
They both shared a look and Percy made a signal with his foot that the crew had invented together, to use if their arms were tied.
It meant attack with everything. She gave a tiny nod.
And with all her strength, Piper pushed her hands as far away from her body as they would go, forgetting all of the happy thoughts she had had.
Turning around to look at Percy, she saw his eyes pulsing a deep glowing green, as the fire grew larger and more powerful. The fire that shot out of his calloused hands was tinted the same color, and when Piper looked at her own fire, she saw pink streaks intertwined in the magical flame.
The fire spread in a circle, and they emitted a pulsing aura so strong that they themselves felt it. Her feet felt as light as air, and looking down, she realized she was floating several feet off the ground, and away from the surface that was Gaea. A colossal force of power shot into the monsters, each of them letting out a scream of agony, before disintegrating slowly, one limb at a time.
The fire diminished.
The silence was horrible.
No one moved, with the exception of the gods, who inhaled oxygen as parts of the earth disintegrated, revealing the gods trapped in the holes Gaea had put them in.
Piper saw Hazel and Nico gasp at the number of deaths they had caused. Somehow, for a son of Hades, the latter somehow managed to turn a shade paler.
So guilty… She thought miserably. She felt awful.
The exhilarating result seemed to overwhelm her mind and in an instant, she was falling at the speed of sound and hit the ground with the force of a meteorite. Piper was exhausted, and the fall had knocked the wind out of her. Without a second thought, she succumbed to the darkness and let go of consciousness.
