Hey, guys, I'm back! And it's to give you another chapter today! This will probably be the last one until Wednesday, the first real day I have to work on stuff. But who knows. Homework and blahblahblah might capture me. You know how it is. Possible update tomorrow, but I wouldn't count on it... probably. This one is kind of short, but I like it, and it sets up the next chapter really well. Oh, boy, wait till you see what's in store next.
Disclaimer: Me no own Percy, Jason, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Annabeth, Piper, Octavian, Reyna, Clarisse, the Stolls... do you get the picture?
IV
Piper
To say the least: Camp Jupiter was amazing.
Piper could only gaze around in wonder as Hazel and Frank led them through it. Jason was too busy running around like a little kid, re-exploring his home.
"Hey, did you see the city?" He asked, dashing up to her and grinning.
Gods, he's cute, Piper thought. Before she could say anything, though, he was off again.
Leo seemed oddly distracted, fiddling with his clothes because of the fact that his tool belt had been taken away. He kept glancing around, like he was worried about something, which wasn't like him.
"You okay?" Piper asked him. He jumped.
"Huh? What? Oh, yeah. I just..." He looked around again. "I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen."
Well, that made Piper kind of nervous. Emphasis on kind of. She knew that demigod feelings were often accurate, but then again, this was Leo they were talking about. He had never said anything like this before, so Piper brushed it off.
Annabeth and Percy were now looking at a set of stables.
"Unicorns," Hazel explained. "You guys have pegasus, don't you? Well, these can't fly, but they run pretty fast. Arion is stabled in there too."
"Arion's Hazel's horse," Piper heard Percy whisper to Annabeth. "He's kind of... different." She laughed.
"Different how?"
"I'll explain later." They both laughed.
Piper was about to indulge in some Drew-like thoughts, but mentally kicked herself before she could.
They had made it to the top of a hill. Piper gasped.
The sun was setting over the horizon, bathing the camp in pink and blue and orange. The temples looked like they were gold-framed and glowing in the slowly fading light. People scurried about, looking like ants down in the city, rushing home from wherever they had been all day. Unicorns ran through the fields, horns glinting.
"It's beautiful," Annabeth said.
Hazel smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, it is," Frank agreed.
Piper was speechless and surprisingly, so was Leo.
Jason joined them. "Oh. You found it," he said in small voice. "This is my favorite spot." He slung his arm around Piper's shoulder.
Piper smiled and glanced around the circle. Most everyone was gazing down at Camp Jupiter, except for two.
Percy was staring away, towards the east, towards the ocean. And Leo was staring at him, with a strange expression, like he was deep in thought. Neither of them looked very engaged in the conversation. Piper decided to have a little fun.
She went up and tapped Leo on the shoulder.
Leo jumped a foot in the air, like it had been Jason who had just touched him and given him an electric shock (literally), not Piper.
"Geez, Beauty Queen, you scared me," he muttered.
"Leo, what's up? I've never seen you this quiet. What's the deal?"
Leo looked uneasily at Percy, and bit his lip. He opened his mouth and was about to say something, when a horn blew in the distance.
Everyone turned.
"What was that?" asked Annabeth.
"Senate meeting," said Percy. "Time for fun with Octavian."
DunDunDun. Fun with Octavian. You know, I'm pretty sure the only one who thinks 'Fun with Octavian' is actually fun is Octavian. And what's with Leo? Some big bad secret. Oh, yeah, the whole Leo/Frank/Hazel love triangle thing. I'll get to that, I promise, but first, we need the last of the seven and a quest to Greece issued! Rome too! So all this and more next time on... SURVIVOR! Just kidding, none of this would be on Survivor, and if it was, I wouldn't know. PS. I don't own that, either.
All flames belong to Leo! Literally.
