Hey, everyone! Thanks so much for reading this, I hope you like it! I don't own anything, except my copy of The Lost Hero, which I'm using, and my old laptop. Since this chapter is that scene where Annabeth's showing Piper around, I try to skip over some of the dialogue between them, just to shorten it. Plus, most of you already know what happens in this chapter. Read on!
Chapter 7
The girl, Piper, looks out into the sky. She looks really depressed, and keeps glancing at Jason, who looks kind of uncomfortable. Leo, though, is ecstatic. "This is so cool!" He shouts, spitting a feather out of his mouth. "Where are we going?" I take the liberty to answer his question.
"A safe place. The only safe place for kids like us. Camp Half-Blood." Piper's eyes widen with shock.
"Half-Blood? Is that some kind of bad joke?" She says, with a very insulted look on her face.
"She means we're demigods. Half god, half mortal," Jason says, though I don't know how he knows that. I go on to tell them about the gods, and how each of us have one human parent, and one godly one. Suddenly, lightening flashes, and one of the wheels catches on fire. Crap… Will's going to be angry. We catch sight of our friends, the Anemoi Thuellai. Butch flicks the reigns, and my vision blurs. When it comes back, we're at home. With no reality hits me again, and again, each time more horrid than the last. Percy's gone. But I still put on my child of Athena face. The brave one. I look down and scream; the chariot is going down. "The lake!" I yell. "Aim for the lake!" Butch nods and tries to steer towards the lake. Then- BOOM. Water explodes all around us, as we sink into the Lake. Luckily, the Pegasi were freed right before we crashed.
I let myself sink to the bottom for a second, when I realize, Percy isn't here to bubble me. He hasn't been here for three days, five hours, and fifty two minutes. The realization is like some twisted roller coaster ride, and it just plummeted like, a hundred feet down. I swim back up, using all my strength to take myself up. All I want to do is hide at the bottom of the Lake, like we used to do when our friends got too annoying. Instead, my head breaks the water's surface, and I take Clarisse's hand, and she hauls me up. I look and see that everyone else was saved by the Naiads, except me. Of course. They don't like me anymore, because of my dating wave at me like, Oh, there you are. Didn't see you! Oh, how's Percy doing? Those girls are without a doubt, my best friends. I stick my tongue out at them, and they sneer, and return to the murky depths of their Lake. Malcolm hands me a towel, and a hopeful expression, like I was hiding Percy. No, if he were here, I would have stuck his hand to mine with Guerrilla Glue. And possibly his mouth. I shake my head at Malcolm slowly, and his big grey eyes stare at me and I read his expression perfectly. Annabeth, I'm so sorry. Don't. Give. Up. I nod at my brother, and Will Solace runs up to me angrily. "Annabeth!" He pushes people around, out of his way. "I said you could borrow the chariot, not DESTROY it!"
I sigh. "Will, I'm sorry. I'll get it fixed, I promise." He scowls at his chariot, and the next thing I hear (though everyone is talking to Jason, Piper, and Leo, I don't really answer them), is Will. "Any sign of Percy?" The crowd goes silent, everyone holding there breath.
"No," I admit, angry and sad all over again. Suddenly Drew, the new head counselor for the Aphrodite cabin, comes out of the crowd. Drew is South Korean (Though I suspect sometimes that she's North Korean, by the way she acts), tall, actually really pretty, with way too much makeup, and hair similar to mine, except hers is actually dark. No, I'm not jeallie. I mean, sure, she occasionally flirts with Percy to annoy me, but he always tells her, Thanks… but no. I, um, am hanging out with Annabeth, so please, go get your own boyfriend. The only thing I want from her is her shade of hair. Even though everyone knows she's 100% stupid, and 60% just plain mean, no one calls her blonde. Ever. And yes, it gets to me. I make a mistake, suddenly I'm a dumb blonde. Drew sizes up the three new demigods. She completely ignores Leo, curls a lip at Piper, who I know will hate Drew with every bit of her now broken heart, and smiles warmly at Jason, who, I'm not sure how he's here. Really, Coach Hedge only told us of two demigods, a Latino one, and a Native looking girl. No totally blonde kids in his report.
"Well," Drew says finally. "I hope they're worth the trouble." Leo raises his eyebrows in insult.
"Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?" He asks sarcastically.
"No kidding. How about some answers before you start judging us- like, what is this place, why are we here, and how long do we have to stay?" Jason asks, slightly irritated. Your home, you're you, and forever. I so want to say that, but I know that'd be pretty mean. But… It's completely true. Instead, I go for, "Jason, I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew," I frown at her. "All demigods are worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped." Suddenly Drew and Piper start arguing, and when she steps forward to smack the princess in her royal face, I say, "Piper, stop." She does, with a disappointed look on her face. I don't blame her. I continue to give directions, and tell Piper that I'll give her a tour myself. Leo is to go with Will, Jason with-
"Absolutely," Drew says quickly, lacing her arm into Jason's, making Piper fume. Oh, man, this is going to be hard, telling her. Right before we disperse, someone points at Leo. People gasp. Piper and I turn, and we see a flaming hammer above his head. Holy Hephestus… "That," I say. "Is claiming."
"What'd I do?" Leo yelps, and looks into the Lake. He gasps. "His my hair on fire?" He asks, trying to get rid of the flame.
"This can't be good," Butch mutters almost inaudibly. I tell him to shut up, and that Leo's just been claimed by Hephestus, the god of Fire. Jason makes a remark about how that's Vulcan, and we all turn our heads. "Jason," I say carefully, "how did you know that?" he mutters that he isn't sure. I make a mental note to talk to him later, but for now, take Piper away.
I have to admit, I don't put much effort in the tour. "So, at Camp, we have a lot of things…. You know, we have pegasi you can ride…. Archery is always a favorite… and that-" I say, pointing to the pavilion, "-is where we eat." Piper nods and looks around, like she wanted to know more. "And, most kids, like, just stay the summer… but, we do have year round campers, but most of them are really dangerous, like Clarisse. Percy," I falter at his name, "and I go to different schools in New York City, so we're close to here, just in case, 'cuz our parents are pretty powerful. A lot of people just joined the camp since August, 'cause the gods made a promise to pay better attention to their kids." Piper is oddly quiet, probably because she can tell I'm really disappointed. I'm actually disappointed that her godly parent hasn't claimed her yet. I mean, she's younger than me, but not much. Fifteen, I believe. Suddenly, it strikes me that Rachel could very possibly be waiting for me in her cave. I start leading Piper in that direction. We're talking, but really, all I'm doing is spewing words out, thinking solely about my Percy.
We start talking about demigod reputations. "Right. It's because we're hard wired for battle. Restless, impulsive-we don't fit in with regular kids. You should hear how much trouble Percy-" My heart almost stops as I say his name. "Anyway, demigods usually get a bad rep. How'd you get in trouble?" I ask. She looks at me for a second, almost untrusting, before she tells me.
"I steal stuff," she begins. "Well, not really steal…" She gives me the impression that there's a lot I don't know about her. How could you steal stuff without stealing it?
"Is your family poor?" I ask. She laughs bitterly for a second, then goes back to straight face.
"Not even. I did it for…I don't know why. For attention, I guess. My dad never had time for me unless I got in trouble." Oh. Okay. That's me, except my dad didn't used to like me.
"I can relate. But you said you don't really steal? What do you mean?" She's is still totally confusing me, plus I'm curious, plus I need to get my head off… Of course, that's impossible.
"Well… nobody ever believes me," she begins, looking at a rock on the ground. "The police, the teachers- even people I took stuff from: they're so embarrassed, they'll deny what happened. But the truth is, I don't steal anything. I just ask people for things." She goes on a little more, about how anyone, anywhere would give something to her. And she's telling the absolute truth. But her parent is still a mystery. When she finishes, I say, "Interesting. If your dad were the god, I'd say you were a child a Hermes, god of thieves. He can be pretty convincing. But your dad is mortal…"
"Very," Piper confirms. Something's strange about her, I can see it in her eyes. They're all… guarded, and really dismal looking. And it can't be just about Jason. Oh, the fun she'll have on the top of the hill. Piper watches me, and starts looking uncomfortable.
"Come on. There's something I need to check." I lead her to Rachel's cave, which Rachel, Percy, and I decorated. I remember that bright October day…
Yay! Percabeth in this next chapter, I miss them so much! It's one of Annabeth's favorite memories of hanging out with Rachel and Percy. Then, there'll also be up till the part where Rachel almost kills Piper. Please review! I don't set a quota for my stories, but it boosts my confidence for this story. One more thing: I might be posting a new story, my friend and I wrote it through text together. I'll post more up about it, I think it's almost done, but here are some things: I f and when I post it, do you guys want one long story, or several chapters? It's not super long. Do you want me to even post it? Keep this in mind: It is not a story that is valid at all. It is an extremely funny story that will make you this close / to dying from laughter. It is not serious, I will be changing our names in the story, and know now that I will take no crap about how wrong it is from the actual books. That's. The. Point. It's not inappropriate, just a little wrong. It is so funny, I was rolling around on the ground, laughing. So, do you want it? I still need to ask my co-author, but I think she'll say yes. Rock on, and please review:) -IzzyPJAC
