Chapter 2: PIPER

He loves me; he loves me not

Piper felt ill throughout the entire journey. She just knew that something bad would happen. Especially after the dream she had.

It was during the journey. They had nothing really fun to do, but hang out, eat, and watch TV. But nobody was in the mood. And soon that got boring. So Piper just slept. But sleeping led to dreams, dreams led to omens, and omens led to disasters.

In her dream, Piper saw Jason, handsome as ever. He looked nervous—almost like how she was feeling right now. And there was another girl; a pretty girl, who made Piper want to gag. The girl was seriously pretty. More like beautiful. And Piper knew exactly where this was going.

She heard the girl say something: Jason.

Jason spread out his arms, and the girl ran into them. And they just stood there, in a tight embrace. But what Piper hated was that Jason looked happy. No, it was deeper than that. He looked like he had been longing for something so badly—like when you lose something precious—and then you finally found it.

Piper hated it. Ever since then she couldn't think right when she was near Jason. What was the point? He already had a girlfriend.

"Piper?" Jason said. "Wake up."

Piper's eyes shot open, and she could feel herself blushing. Jason's face was but a few inches away from hers, and his lightning-blue eyes were making her want to hug him. But she restrained herself. Jason already has a girlfriend, she told herself. There's no point in acting like he didn't.

Piper got up suddenly, startling Jason. "Uh…I don't feel too good."

Concern quickly etched Jason's eyes. "Are you seasick? Queasy? Nauseous?"

Piper forced a sympathetic smile. Go with the flow. "Uhh…I'm fine. Don't need to bother. And I think queasy and nauseous mean the same thing."

Jason laughed quietly, uncomfortable. "Oh, okay."

And that's how it had started. From meeting Reyna to walking through a thick forest just to meet Lupa—whoever that was. Jason was walking beside Reyna, hand-in-hand. He looked back at Piper, but Piper stared at her feet, not following his gaze. She could've sworn that she had tripped twice. Yet each time Leo had grabbed a hold of her before she could hurt herself.

"Th—Thanks," Piper said sheepishly, not making eye contact.

Leo helped her to her feet. "Seriously, what's going on with you? Is it Jason? Is it because of his hot girlfriend?"

Piper grabbed Leo by his shirt collar. "Is she really that hot? Is she really hotter than me?"

Leo kindly pushed Piper away from him. "Um…I think you should ask Jason. Oh, look! They're already way ahead of us." And with that, he ran off, leaving Piper alone in the forest.

Piper sat down, her knees tucked on her chest. The sound of screeching and the low growls of the tree animals accompanied her. Then she heard soft rhythmic thumps, like a horse galloping. And then: "Are you okay?" Piper looked up. It was Chiron, still in his wheelchair form. Piper looked back down, nodding. "You don't look very cheerful. Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine!" Piper screamed. "Okay? Just leave me alone." She could hear the soft thumps as Chiron retreated with alarm.

But he still asked, "Are you sure?" Piper could hear the hurt in his voice. She too was surprised. When did she start acting like this? Chiron said, "I've taught many mortal heroes, so I am not just a trainer, but a counselor as well."

Piper stood up. "I'm so sorry, Chiron."

Chiron thrust out his hand, and said, "I was figuring you might need these." Tissues, Piper noticed. Chiron had brought tissues? Since when did centaurs carry around tissues? Piper pulled out a few anyway. She hadn't noticed she was crying until she had touched her cheeks, causing the tissues to get damp.

Piper forced a tight smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Piper. So why are you crying?" Chiron asked.

Piper felt her eyes getting watery. She hated crying in front of others. Her grandfather had always called her a strong warrior. But right now, she wasn't living up to his expectations. Even though he was dead, those words still meant something to her. Her dad had even called her that. Strong warrior. But she could still feel the tears coming.

"Tissues?" Chiron asked. Piper nodded, and grabbed a whole handful.

After many sneezes and blowing, Piper said, "Chiron, do centaurs cry?"

Chiron shook his head "no." "Lucky," Piper said, grabbing more tissues, which didn't seem to be doing much.

"Actually," Chiron began, "it isn't lucky. Crying is a very helpful process indeed.
It helps relieves tension."

"So you're saying that you wished you could cry?" Chiron nodded glumly. Piper laughed. "And here I was thinking that—"

"Piper!" Jason ran toward them. He looked out of breathe. The others were right behind him. "Oh, good. I thought we lost you."

Piper glared at Leo. "Well, you can all thank Leo."

"What?" Leo said, thrusting out his arms innocently. "At least I kept you from falling."

Piper walked over to him, and stared him in the eyes. "Thanks, Leo. Next time when I'm about to trip I'll call you." Piper pushed him lightheartedly. Leo ended up tripping over a loose root and falling to the ground. He blushed, embarrassed, as everyone started laughing. Then she looked at Jason. "So why'd y'all really decide to come back."

"Actually, we all decided to come back for you," Percy said. "Any friend of Jason is a friend of mine."

"Actually, we came back because Lupa wasn't at her hideout," Reyna informed. She didn't seem to care who heard that, or how they depicted it. Piper knew Reyna and her weren't going to become friends. She still couldn't believe that Jason could date someone so…insipid.

Jason gave Piper a sympathetic look. Piper ignored it, and said, "So do we go back, or—?"

A low rumble echoed throughout the forest. The demigods all exchanged nervous glances. There was metallic ching! as Percy and Jason drew their swords—Jason, his Imperial gold gladius and Percy, his Celestial bronze double-edged sword. Percy's sword Riptide gave off a little light, but the growling seemed to be getting louder.

Piper walked back—and fell into the arms of Leo. His hands were gentle and warm on her skin as he held her, like she was about to faint, which she sort of was. "W-what do we do?" Piper asked, nervously jerking away from Leo.

"We wait," was all Chiron said in a calm, even tone. Piper wished she could have that sense of ease. She felt for her dagger inside her pockets; the familiar cold metal alleviated her tension. In a quick motion, Piper pulled it from within her pockets. She stared at her reflection for a while, admiring how her thin, brown eyebrows slanted down elegantly, and the look of determination in her eyes. Strong warrior, she remembered. Yes, that's what I am.

The branches and shrubbery around them started to rustle and shake. There was such an empty silence that even the chirping of crickets was audible. (That was not a joke.) Then the growling ceased—

And the beast lunged from the shadows.

Piper was the first to scream. It was more like a warlike scream, like the ones when people-run-out-pumping-their-weapons-in-the-air type of scream. Immediately, Piper leaped into action. She thrust out her dagger in a clean arch. There was a satisfying rip when the blade connected with the beast's skin, leaving a streak of blood.

The beast turned, baring its fangs, its golden eyes big with fury. It slashed at Piper's chest—but Piper was too slow to react. All she heard was Leo screaming "NOOO!" After that, she felt the impact; the force of blow knocked her to the ground.

Surprisingly, the pain wasn't as harsh as she thought. She tried getting up until she realized that a limp body was on top of her. Piper recognized the warm, gentle touch as the person's arm brushed against hers. "I told you I got your back," said the person. It was Leo. A small stream of blood trickled down the side of his mouth.

"What…?" Piper said. She pushed Leo off of her—and noticed the four big rips on his back, blood leaking from them. She almost fainted again. Annabeth was already on the move, bringing out healing nectar. Piper rested Leo's head on her lap; Annabeth bent down and slowly poured the healing nectar down Leo's mouth.

Leo's eyes shot open. "What?" Then he noticed his position, his head on Piper's lap, and said, "Well, hello, chica." Piper pushed him away. Leo rolled over three times and then lay still a few feet away from the beast.

Jason ran between the beast and Leo, shouting, "Stop! Lupa, this is Leo. He may be a graecus, but he's still an ally." Piper was shocked; Jason had never called them graecus. Last time she'd checked, that word had never come out of Jason's mouth.

"Graecus?" Piper asked. "Since when did you start saying that term?"

"Actually, graecus means 'Greek'," Annabeth interjected. Piper couldn't help but roll her eyes. She didn't have anything against Annabeth, but children of Athena always seemed to get on her nerves.

The beast strolled forward. It gave off a dignified aura, almost like that of Octavian's, except hers was menacing. Lupa was a wolf that was a foot taller than Piper. She had gray fur that made her gold eyes to stand out more. Even being near her made any person want to move back and give some space. It was like I'm going to bite your head off was what she wanted people to know. "I came here because I smelled a centaur," Lupa said, glaring at Chiron.

"But Chiron's a good centaur," Annabeth said.

"And I'm a good wolf," Lupa shot back. Knowing that that was a lie, Annabeth went mute. "And what are the graecus doing in our territory?"

"Lupa." Jason dared not to look into her eyes as he spoke. "The Greeks are now our allies."

"What!" Lupa yelled. "Preposterous! The Greeks have always been our enemies!"

"Uhh…Lady Lupa," Jason began.

"SILENCE!"

Jason stepped back. "Reyna, you give it a try." Reyna didn't seem to listen. Piper wouldn't have been surprised if she was eating popcorn right about now. Did Reyna care about anyone but herself? No. Piper was beginning to hate her more and more. I have to get Jason back…somehow.

Lupa studied Leo like a lunch menu, deciding if a Greek soufflé would taste any good. Then she glared at Chiron, and said, "I don't trust the centaur. But Jason, you have been my greatest pupil after Romulus and Remus. So I'll believe you for now." Lupa pointed her nose back to camp. "Let's all meet in the praetor's office. I'd like to discuss more on this topic."