LIGHTNING STRIKES

PIPER

The door closed to Percy's house as the last of us entered and sat down on the couch.

"Okay, I don't know what's going on or what happened, but something obviously did. Percy is breaking life right now and it's freaking me out." Jason said.

"Yea, you and me both." Percy said.

"So, why was Percy the only one who didn't get wet?" I asked.

"I don't know, but I feel like I'm getting the bad end of this deal. Can I ever get wet again like how will I shower?" Percy asked.

"Only one way to find out." Nico commented and nodded toward the secret panel. Percy walked over and opened the secret elevator door. Leo and Jason stared in shock as Nico and I followed him in. "You know, it's not much of a secret when you show everybody."

"Whatever, I trust you guys." Percy said. Leo and Jason stumbled into the elevator and Percy pushed the button which would take us to the pool.

"Yea, three peperoni pizzas will be fine. Thank you." Nico said into his cell phone.

"Are you ordering pizza?" I asked.

"Yea, so?"

"It's three in the morning. Where are you even ordering from?"

"Hello, Percy Jackson's cousin here. I have my sources. Besides, we do this a lot. Late nights are part of the life." Leo pointed at Nico with a smile.

"I like this kid. He has his priorities straight."

"It's great having you back, Leo." I said laughing. The doors opened and the others stared in awe at the five star pool underneath their house. Leo and Nico headed towards the hot tub. I followed Percy to the shallow end of the pool with Jason close behind. Percy jumped in and stood in the middle of the pool completely dry.

"Well, this sucks. I guess I can never bathe again. We're going to have to stock up on a lot of deodorant, Nico." Percy said.

"Really focus. Just imagine the water hitting you or something. Maybe it's something you can turn on and off. Percy stood there another moment, concentrating on the water. Suddenly, Percy opened his eyes and looked at us.

"It worked!" He exclaimed. Jason and I just stared at him. The whites of his eyes turned a disturbing blood red color. After a few seconds, they returned to normal.

"It seems like whenever you use your ability you experience some kind of side effect." I said.

"I didn't have a headache that time." Percy said. "I just have to will the water to get me wet."

"That's great but your eyes were like blood red for a second. That must be another side effect." Jason said.

"So, are we all going to get these weird abilities like Jackson?" Leo yelled from the hot tub.

"That's a good question." I said. Just then the doorbell rang signaling that the pizza had arrived. How we could hear it from under the house, I don't know. Since Percy and Nico were in the water I decided to go get it. Jason followed me into the elevator.

"We need to talk." He said.

"I have nothing to say." I replied coolly.

"Look, I get that you're still mad but I can't have you mad at me with everything that's going on."

"I think it would be better if you just didn't come back. If we find anything else out, Percy will tell you." Jason shook his head in disappointment.

"Fine. If I find anything I'll call." The elevator doors opened and we both made our way to the front door. I paid for the pizza and Jason walked towards his car. He was halfway there and he stopped. "Piper, I'm sorry. I wish we could still be friends but I just don't want anything more than that. I just want everything to go back to how it was. You, me and Leo, best of friends." I could feel the tears in my eyes.

"We still can be, Jason. I understand if you don't want to be in a relationship anymore, but I need to know one thing."

"What?"

"Did you and Reyna get together when you were still with me?" He hung his shoulders and didn't respond. "That's what I thought."

"I'm sorry, Piper."

"I'm sorry too, Jason." I closed the door and watched Jason drive away into the night. I took the pizza back down the elevator and wiped the tears from my eyes. I noticed a sign, just above the elevator door that read "Charon's Ferry". The doors opened and I saw Percy becoming completely dry and completely drenched on command. Nico and Leo came out of the hot tub to retrieve their pizza.

"Thanks, Piper." Nico said.

"Nico, did you name your elevator Charon's Ferry?" I asked. He smiled.

"Yea, underneath the house is the Underworld and Charon takes us there."

"You are such a nerd."

"Maybe." He turned around and watched Percy training with his new power. "Looking good, Perce!" He called.

"Does this not weird you out at all?" I asked.

"Are you kidding? This is amazing." Leo came over and Percy swam to the edge of the pool to hear our conversation. "Think about it. Percy's power isn't anything amazing but we could have something better."

"Or we could have nothing." Leo said.

"No way. We were down there just as long as Percy. We have to have gotten something out of that. We all could feel the energy flow into us. We just have to figure out what it is." Nico said convincingly. We all stopped talking to think for a second.

"Do you guys want to stay the night? Our casa es su casa." Percy said.

"Yea, thanks." Leo and I said.

"Where's Jason?"

"He left." I answered. Percy gave me a sympathetic look.

"I know you don't want to deal with him right now, but he went through this too and he's going to need help." I nodded unenthusiastically. "Come on, we can sort this out later." We all headed up to the living room and crashed on the couches.

The next morning I woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon. I rolled of the couch and saw Percy making breakfast and Nico eating everything in front of him. Leo was still passed out on the couch. I sat down next to Nico.

"Wow, Percy. I didn't know you knew how to cook." I said.

"Well, I'm full of surprises." He said. I noticed that it was noon and we had school the next day.

"So, are you guys excited for school?" I asked. Nico and Percy looked at each other and started laughing.

"No." They said at the same time.

"I thought you were taking time off to further your education." I said.

"Yea, that's not true. That's the story for the press. The truth is that someone is threatening me and they want to keep me safe or something." Percy said. I looked at Nico for confirmation.

"Yea, some famous gang has Percy on their hit list. They're called Kronos or something. They've been sending threats regularly. We didn't think much of them, but then they started killing people with weapons from ancient Greece time. Spears in the chest in broad daylight, decapitating people with swords in an alley, shooting people off buildings with arrows, and that's not even the weirdest part." Nico explained.

"What's weirder than a bunch of freaks killing people with swords?" I asked.

"They're all teenagers."

"Teenagers?"

"Yea, we've had some top people looking into it." Percy said. "They're bad people but they have rules. All kids between sixteen and nineteen and they only use ancient Greek weapons."

"Well, if that's the case then why are you…you know…going to a high school!" I exclaimed.

"The problem is that they're expertly trained. They've never been caught but they're still just teens. They think that if they can get a hold of one, he'll crack." Nico explained.

"Who's they?"

"We have some friends working under cover." Percy told me. "It's all under control." He added after seeing the worry in my eyes. Suddenly, my phone went off in my pocket. I answered the phone.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Piper!" Jason gasped.

"Jason?" Percy and Nico looked at me.

"Piper, you guys need to get here fast. It's something with the rock."

"Whoa, slow down where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital."

"Are you okay?"

"Yea, that's the problem."

"Why is that a problem?" He paused to catch his breath.

"They don't know how I survived but I think it's got to do with the rock."

"Just calm down and tell me what happened."

"I got struck by lightning."

"You got struck by lightning?" I repeated in surprise. Percy already grabbed his keys and Nico finished eating.

"Yea, seven times."