Piper's chapter!

-L

The war was over. Finally.

Piper McLean couldn't find words to describe her happiness. And when the demigods thought that all was well, the Fates had to tie another bumpy knot on their strings of life. Piper hadn't met the Fates before, but from all that she had heard and experienced, she pictured them as three cranky old ladies who sewed too much. Or maybe they were evil old women who plotted the deaths of many. Either way, they were cruel.

Sitting with Jason Grace by the lake, she felt extremely guilty. She had Jason, a loving, caring boyfriend, by her side, healthy and conscious, while Percy stayed in the Infirmary twenty-four/seven waiting for Annabeth to wake up from her coma. She felt as though she was making Percy's life more miserable. Piper had no idea what happened to Annabeth, but she was told that it might have something to do with Percy and Annabeth's quest in the Sea of Monsters.

The day that Annabeth went into a coma was still etched in her mind, the memories as fresh as before.

Two months, three days, four hours and ten minutes ago:

Clara Benitez burst into the Aphrodite Cabin and screamed, "PIPER! ANNABETH FAINTED!"

"WHAT?!" came the surprised reply. The daughter of Aphrodite dumped her clothes on her bed and rushed out of the cabin with Clara. On the way to Cabin Twenty, Piper rubbed her ears, thinking that her eardrums had burst. That child of Hecate really knew how to scream.

"Oh. My. Gods," Piper muttered when she saw a blonde girl lying in a heap in the middle of the cold wooden floor of the Hecate Cabin.

Two months, three days, four hours and fifteen minutes ago:

"Someone! Go get Percy and Chiron!" Piper shouted desperately to the watching crowd. They seemed to snap out of their shock. Lacy, a petite daughter of Aphrodite, nodded and dashed out of the cabin at a surprisingly fast speed. Who knew that she could run so fast?

Two months, three days, four hours and seventeen minutes ago:

"Piper, please try again!" the son of Poseidon begged, kneeling on the floor next to her and Annabeth.

"I did, Percy, I did!" Piper replied in exasperation. "I tried everything!"

She concentrated on using her charmspeak. It had worked with Jason when they had been fighting Khione at the Wolf House and he had accidentally watched Hera turn into Lady Supernova. He had been supposed to die, but he had merely fainted and came around soon. Piper whispered, putting all her emotions and energy into the sentences, "Annabeth, please wake up. You are not going to die. You will live and wake up. Annabeth, please."

It was then that Piper felt a pulse. Hope energized her, and she continued to charmspeak. She couldn't stand seeing Percy like that, with his face covered in streaks of salty tears. However, Annabeth didn't wake up. She was breathing normally and all the colour had returned to her previously pale face, but her eyes did not open to reveal the obsidian pupils in the stormy grey irises. Piper felt that something was working against her. Something powerful, something that also knew how to charmspeak.

She wanted to scream at whoever who wanted Annabeth dead. What did she do to deserve death? Piper and Annabeth were good friends, and sometimes the former would have the feeling that the blonde girl was her sister.

Two months, three days, four hours and twenty minutes ago:

Chiron examined Annabeth like she was an interesting science experiment. "No physical injuries…normal breathing rate…normal pulse…," he trailed off, and then turned to the Hecate twins. "What did the woman's voice say again?"

They narrated the incident to the centaur quickly while he carried Annabeth to the Infirmary. "Interesting…," he commented while stroking his chin, his greying brows creased into a frown.

"Interesting?" Percy echoed defiantly. "Annabeth has fainted, Chiron! This is not some joke! She has fainted! And she may die! I can't let her die! She's-she's-" he choked "-she's everything to me."

Piper felt like she was eavesdropping. The others weren't paying her any attention, so maybe she wasn't needed at the infirmary anymore. Really, she felt like she was intruding on some private moment, like when a family member was dying or something.

Piper shook her head as she exited the Infirmary: No. Annabeth would wake up, she knew. Annabeth couldn't die. She wouldn't die. Piper wouldn't let her. The daughter of Aphrodite clenched her fists.

Whoever wanted Annabeth dead was already dead meat.

On the next night by the campfire, the noise of the campers was subdued. The murmurs sounded like they were all mourning. The enchanted flames flickered and burnt low, taking on the bad moods of the campers. Piper found herself glancing towards the crowd of grey-eyed kids who sat behind the flag which represented Athena, hoping to catch a glimpse of a blonde girl. But Annabeth wasn't at the campfire. She was still in the infirmary with Percy by her side.

Piper really worried about the son of Poseidon. He had hardly eaten anything for the last two days, ever since Annabeth became comatose. It was only when Piper charmspeaked him into eating his slice of pizza (with big bites, or he would nibble at it) that Percy ate it, only to feel very guilty for caring about his hunger more than his girlfriend later. Piper knew that a pizza couldn't possibly last him for a day, but the boy was adamant about not eating anything anymore. From his heavy eye-bags, she could tell that he had stayed in the infirmary last night, trying to keep himself from sleeping so that he would be awake when Annabeth came to.

The Apollo Cabin started to lead the sing-along, but hardly anyone was singing. Those who did were just humming the tune sadly or murmuring the lyrics. The songs which described brave Greek warriors didn't fit the mood much. Piper would have to remind the Apollo Cabin about their choice of songs next time. Most of the campers were zoning out, their minds wandering to somewhere that could be a few hundred miles away, for all that Piper knew. She sighed and found her eyes wandering towards the Athena Cabin again.

The sing-along came to an end, and Chiron trotted (eh, hooves?) forward to address the campers. "I am sure all of you know that our fellow camper Annabeth Chase is currently in a coma. She might not wake up for the next few weeks-"

"Chiron!" Drew Tanaka yelped from behind Piper. The latter rolled her eyes. Drew was probably going to complain to him that she had to apply her lip gloss (she did that every ten minutes or so) and the whole campfire session would have to wait until she smacked her lips at her handheld mirror and kept away her lip gloss before it could continue. Seriously, that happened before.

Chiron probably suspected that, too, so he turned to the daughter of Aphrodite with an irritated look on his face. "Yes, Ms Tanaka?" he asked, like a strict teacher addressing his student.

"Rachel!" the girl pointed in Rachel Elizabeth Dare's direction, her brown eyes wide. Everyone whipped their heads around and gasped when green mist swirled around their Oracle. Oh no, Piper thought, not another prophecy.

A few campers grabbed Rachel and settled her down on a stool before she could swoon and hit the ground. Then, all the campers stared at her expectantly, like little children waiting for their mother to tell them a bedtime story. Piper wished that it was a bedtime story. A hiss escaped from Rachel's lips and she spoke in the Oracle's voice:

"Fire's child, you lost a love

Who works at an island's cove.

To find her you will lose your way

Only to find yourself betrayed.

Flames that engulf the betrayer shall curl,

In the dead of the night chaos shall unfurl."

All eyes turned to Leo. His jaw was slack, his expression full of shock. The campfire cast a ghostly light on his face as he gulped and turned to Chiron, then back to Rachel. Piper tried to recall if Leo had ever fallen in love before. Besides trying to flirt with some girls who were totally out of his league, he'd never been interested in anyone else. Piper had never known that Leo was hiding some secret from her. The daughter of Aphrodite shared a look with her boyfriend: We'll talk to him later.

Suddenly, Rachel stood up instead of collapsing onto the stool like she always did after she recited a prophecy. Piper realised that the Oracle of Delphi hadn't left her yet. The campers watched as she strode mechanically past the campfire, out of the Amphitheatre and towards the Infirmary. Chiron cantered after her, signaling for the campers to remain seated.

Oh no, that was not good. Not good at all.

Mini cliffhanger! But not as bad as Uncle Rick's at the end of The Mark of Athena. That was really evil.

I'm sorry if I can't really write Piper's chapter well. I still don't know how she thinks. Or Leo. Jeez, I just can't make Leo seem humorous. Sad, eh?

-L