"Piper!"

She looked up to see someone standing in the doorway of the Aphrodite cabin; it was Dean, son of Apollo, a kid she didn't know too well but liked nonetheless. "Yeah?" she asked, getting up off her bed.

Dean suddenly looked a little shifty. Running a hand through his brown hair, he said quietly, "There's something you probably want to see."

"...What?" Piper didn't like the way Dean was looking at her, almost like he pitied her. And the swell of noise from the mess hall, faintly audible from where she stood, only added to her sense of foreboding.

"It's about Percy and Annabeth," Dean finally said, the names dropping straight into her stomach and making her gut twist. When she raised an eyebrow for him to continue, he looked her square in the eye and said, "They're back."

Piper froze. Everything froze. Dean kept talking, but she wasn't paying attention. That's not possible, she thought. Dean's lying. They can't be back.

"Piper, are you even listening?" the other demigod said irritably, forcing her to look at him. "I'm serious. They crossed the border and the Stolls found them. I didn't believe it either, but—"

"You're trying to tell me Percy and Annabeth are back from the dead?" Piper interrupted incredulously. "And you expect me to believe you?"

"You don't have to," Dean said, meeting her gaze coolly. "But there's no harm in going to see, is there?"

Piper's heart clenched. She didn't want to believe Dean Winchester. Was she a demigod? Yes. Had she seen stranger things than people coming back from the dead? Of course. But she had spent weeks trying to accept the fact that Percy and Annabeth were gone; she didn't know how to deal with the news that they were, apparently, back. From the dead.

"I'll go." The words jumped out of her mouth before she even knew she was saying them. "Just to see how wrong you are."

Dean shrugged, like he knew he was right no matter what she said.

Absently combing one hand through her hair, Piper glanced at the boy now leaning against her doorframe. "Could you...give me a second?"

Dean dipped his head. "I'll be at the mess hall if you need me." Flashing her a smile, he left. And the second he did, Piper let out a breath, turning to stare into the mirror hanging on her wall. What was she supposed to do? Mom, she prayed, you're the goddess of love. I know you don't specialize in romantic love, but I love my friends. I could do with some advice. Or something.

Hoping to all Hades that this would work out, Piper gave herself a mental boost of confidence before heading out the door.

The sky was clear, a gorgeous shade of calm blue that belied the fire-breathing drakons currently inhabiting Piper's stomach. There was no one else around, and it became clear why the closer she got to the mess hall. There was so much noise coming from it that it wasn't hard to believe the entire camp was there.

"Hey!"

She whirled around, only to see Jason jogging toward her from behind. His hair was slightly mussed, like he'd just woken up. "Hey."

"Are you going too?"

His voice was soft, and Piper swallowed as she slowed to a walk, falling into step beside her boyfriend. "Yeah."

"For Percy and Annabeth's sakes, I hope they're really there," he admitted.

She voiced the thought that had been bouncing around in her head ever since Dean had appeared in her cabin. "I don't know what I'm going to do if it's just a giant prank, or something."

"Pipes, everyone loves Annabeth and Percy. They wouldn't do something like that." Jason took her hand in his for a moment, squeezing it gently as they approached the entrance to the mess hall. Piper could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest as she tried to quell her nerves.

Leo, Frank and Hazel were standing just in front of them, and all three of them turned around when Piper and Jason made their presence known. "Yo, Pipes," Leo said, and Frank and Hazel had similar greetings. They all looked nervous, and Piper knew why.

"Let's just go in," Hazel said finally—and that was when they all heard it. 'It' being a voice none of them had heard in months that had felt like years. 'It' being a voice that they had all heard scream battle cries, tell jokes, and laugh with them.

'It' being Percy Jackson's voice. No one could fake that.

Piper was still holding Jason's hand, and so when she burst forward into the hall, she dragged Jason with her. The others all followed close behind, but she was barely aware of them all fanning out into a line to face the crowd of demigods, because her entire focus was on what she could see before her.

The gathered group of people blurred into nothingness as she stared. Black hair, lanky figure, skater-boy-pose. Blonde curls pressing into his side. These two were imprinted in her mind, figures in her nightmares, residents of her dreams. They haunted her like no one else did, because they were two of her closest friends. Percy and Annabeth.

She must have said something, because everyone turned to look at her—at them. Now Percy and Annabeth were facing her, and she wanted to cry. They looked the same as they always had. Maybe a few months older, maybe a little more tired, but they were still looked like they always had. Piper's mind was whirling as she desperately tried to process this, as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that she had been mourning in vain all this time.

But there was something in their expressions that gave her pause. Percy's gaze was curious, but only politely so. Annabeth was studying her with her trademark piercing stare. Neither of them looked like they so much as remembered her name.

That was when a horrifying scenario occurred to the daughter of Aphrodite, and she viciously shoved the thought away the moment it coalesced. No, that can't be right. They remember me. Of course they do. They're okay, they're here, they're real.

What Piper wanted to say was something emotional, something deep, something to show how much she'd missed her best friends, but what came out was, "Do you remember us?"

Percy blinked slowly, eyes closing for a second longer than normal as he said, so quietly Piper almost missed it, "I wish I did."

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that overcame the demigods then.

"Oh my gods," someone whispered. It took Piper a second to realize that it was her. She felt like she wasn't even in control of her own faculties anymore, because she had no idea why she kept saying and doing the things she was. All she felt capable of doing was staring mutely at her two lost friends.

"Annabeth?" Frank entreated slowly. Annabeth, who had helped him with those Chinese handcuffs all that time ago. Annabeth, the smartest of the Seven. And, of course, their best friend.

Her eyes slid slowly to Frank, but she said nothing as her eyes continued searching out all of the Seven's faces. "I know you guys," she said confidently. "I just—"

"—can't remember our names?" Piper said hopefully. A little desperately, actually.

"That's not it." For a blissful second it was just like the old days; Annabeth tilted her head and considered before shaking her head. Her blonde curls even bounced the same way they always had as she said, "I just know I know you, that's all."

"Me too," Percy put in. "I'd…I'd like to get to know you guys again."

For the first time, something like happiness flickered inside Piper as she grinned. But it was Leo who answered. "That would be nice."

"Welcome back," Piper offered. When Percy tentatively smiled back, delight twisted in her stomach.

"Yeah," Nico said from behind her, and he was smiling the widest she'd ever seen him when she turned around to look. "Welcome back."

I know there wasn't much action in this chapter, not that there's much action in any chapter, but bear with me! I have things in store for next time :]

P.S: If you got my ridiculous reference in this chapter, I will dedicate the next chapter to you.