Chapter Eleven

Percy didn't get any sleep that night.

Sitting beside the smoldering fire, he had not moved from his spot on the bench until the sound of footsteps jostled him from his thoughts. Blinking, he finally turned away from the ashes and looked up at the sky. The rising sun momentarily blinded him, and for the first time, he could sense the heat beginning to bear down on him.

Letting out a sigh, he moved his eyes away from the blaring sun and towards the footsteps. Upon meeting the figure's gaze, his eyes widened.

Still dressed in what had to be one of the most beautiful dresses Percy had ever seen, Piper's multi-colored eyes stared into his own. From the way that her now full, lush hair lay across her shoulder, to the makeup that was delicately applied across her face, she was gorgeous. Percy couldn't stop the light blush from adorning his face as he watched her.

As she came to a stop only a few feet away from Percy, she attempted to pull some of the gold ribbons from her hair but huffed when they refused to budge. The necklace hanging from her neck shone in a variety of colors, which made the flowers glitter on her chest. Her eyes flicked to the bench he was sitting on, and after a few moments of indecisiveness, she sat down beside him.

"Percy." she greeted, meeting his eyes once more.

The unknown tension between them was tangible, and Percy shifted uncomfortably in his spot on the bench.

"Piper."

Silence filled the air. Neither occupants of the bench said a word, and the only sounds they could hear were the faint chirps from the crickets in the early morning air.

Percy brushed a hand through his hair while Piper continued to press her index fingers together. He watched as she muttered quietly to herself before clenching the fabric of her dress tightly in her hands.

"So…" she drawled, "You're a god?"

Percy nodded his head. He didn't know how else to answer the question.

"So, do you like… know and see everything?"

He froze at the question. As his face slowly morphed into one of disbelief, he remained silent and she chuckled in response.

"Sorry, sorry," she answered, pressing her palms into her thighs. "I know that it doesn't work like that. Annabeth explained it yesterday. Just needed something to break the ice, you know?"

He didn't. But with Piper's memories scrambled she obviously wouldn't remember that, so he just nodded again.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" she chuckled awkwardly, giving him a light nudge with her elbow, knocking the hair off her shoulder only for it to pop right back into place.

"Urgh," she growled, reaching up to grab the hair hanging over her shoulder. "Do you know how much of a pain this is? I tried everything to undo this! I poured water over my face, messed up my hair… then cut it with a knife, and heck, even tried crying to make my eyes red. But nothing!"

Percy could hear the exasperation in her voice, and while he could not deny how beautiful she was, seeing her dressed up like this just didn't seem right. Patting her hand lightly, he let out a small chuckle. Her reaction reminded him so much of the times her father had forced her to dress up for some important event. She would hate every moment of it.

"Oh? So, you find this funny?" she teased, a smile now beginning to form on her face. "Well let me tell you-"

She suddenly cut herself off. Her eyes glazed over, and the smile disappeared. Percy frowned, but when she turned back to him, he finally spoke.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded her head at the question, although it didn't seem like she was completely sure of herself. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"No reason," he responded.

After a few more prolonged minutes of awkward silence, Percy realized that she wasn't going to speak again and decided to continue. "Why are you here, Piper?"

She paused at his question. Turning away, a shaky smile graced her face as she clenched the fabric of her pants in a tight grip. As she remained silent, Percy thought he could make out the twinkling of tears in her eyes.

"It's just all so much to take in," she started. Percy could sense that she had more to say, and so he kept quiet.

"Annabeth explained that my memories aren't real. She said that something called the mist had something to do with it."

Percy nodded his head lightly. "It would make sense."

She turned her head fully towards him, and he felt his heart skip when he noticed the tear sliding down her cheek.

"I still don't understand how something that I know happened, just… didn't."

Percy didn't know what to say. He had never dealt with anything like this before. But before he could even begin to speak, Piper continued.

"Do you know what really happened?"

Hedge's warning rang through his mind. Despite wanting nothing more than to reverse the change, the threat of the gods looming above made him hold his tongue. Hestia had warned him of something big happening, and if he did anything to endanger the plan that the gods had set in place, he had no doubt that he would pay.

Percy frowned as he realized what he needed to do.

"I don't know, Piper," he finally answered, doing his best to ignore the way her breath shuddered as she sighed.

"B-But…" she sighed, her voice wavering. "It just doesn't make any sense..."

Percy remained silent as her voice faded away. He resisted the urge to say something else and kept quiet, only watching as she turned away once again. He carefully placed a hand on her shoulder but frowned when she stiffened at his touch.

"You will figure it out eventually," he spoke, "When you do, I have no doubt that everyone will be there to help."

She sniffed and wiped a hand across her cheek as she turned back towards him and glanced at the hand on her shoulder. Despite the rubbing, the makeup on her face remained perfect. "You know, I think that half of the Aphrodite cabin would want to fight you for putting a wrinkle in this dress."

Percy could feel the corner of his lips curling up in a smile. From what he had seen from her, he was sure that Aphrodite herself would smite him for such offense.

"How are your siblings?" he questioned.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Good, for the most part." she started, fiddling with one of the gold ribbons in her hair. "Drew is awful though."

"Why is that?"

Another shrug, although this time he could make out the annoyed look on her face. "She just acts like she's the best and bosses everyone around. She even has a pair of shoes that she forces people to wear as punishment!"

At the end, she had thrown her arms up in the air for emphasis. But with a sigh, she let them drop back down to the bench.

"I don't know," she continued, "Out of all the cabins I visited with Annabeth, Aphrodite just seemed like the last possibility."

Percy nodded his head, "I admit… I agree with you there."

Piper looked at him with a deadpan expression, any sign of her having cried being non-existent. "Thanks."

He let out a nervous chuckle and ran a hand through his hair. It was becoming hard to keep this conversation going. "Did you find anything else interesting?"

She seemed to ponder his question for a moment before reaching around her waist. Pushing the folds of the dress out of the way, he was finally able to make out a dagger hanging in a sheath around her waist. The dress had done a good job at hiding it from his eyes.

"Annabeth took me to the weapons shed. She showed me a couple of different options, but I think this one fit me the best."

Holding out his hand, Percy silently asked for the dagger, which she promptly supplied him with. It was well balanced, and while its blade was no longer than his forearm, the metal gleamed and glistened under the sun. As he looked closely, he was even able to make out his reflection in the metal.

He hummed in confirmation, handing the blade back to Piper. "It is a good blade."

"That's what Annabeth said as well," she replied, "It's called Katoptris. Apparently, it used to belong to the Helen of Troy."

"I think you find more use out of it then Helen probably did." He had heard the tale of Troy plenty of times in his life. Both when the event was taking place, and after. It was a sore subject for Aphrodite for plenty of years, and he remembered some of the temper tantrums she would throw on Olympus when the topic was brought up. As a result, Ares would be in an even grumpier mood those days, leading to plenty of bruises and scars for Percy.

"Maybe," she paused, finally letting go of the golden ribbons, "From how she is acting, Annabeth seems to think that something is going to happen. And during the brief moments I have spoken with Chiron, he seems to avoid the subject entirely. Do you think that something will?"

She seemed to be looking away at the camp, but it was clear to him that her attention was fully on him, as if judging his reaction to the question. "I'm not sure Piper, why do you ask?"

Something flashed in her eyes, but before he could determine what, she turned her head away. He took notice of her clenched fist and the way her breath hitched but decided to make no comment on it.

"No reason," she replied shortly.

Percy knew there was more, but if she didn't want to continue, then he wouldn't push it. He knew that with the realization of her memories being scrambled, there was a lot on her mind. And learning the truth about her mother along with the entirety of the hidden Greek world certainly had not helped.

A horn sounded in the distance, making the immortal and demigod turn towards the direction it sounded from. The tension seemed to leave her body, and she relaxed as she turned towards him. "That would be the signal for breakfast," Piper said, pushing herself off the bench.

Percy nodded his head. "Aye."

Turning back towards him, she gave him a light smile. "I'll talk to you later?" she asked, earning a nod from the boy.

With a small wave of her hand, she made her way out of the Amphitheatre and into camp. Percy remained rooted in his spot in a moment before sighing and quickly following.

LINE BREAK

As he entered the Big House only to find both Chiron and Jason both staring at him nothing short of an annoyed expression, Percy realized that he should have knocked.

It was sometime after midday, and after Piper left him at the campfire, he had kept himself busy by strolling around camp. He had encountered quite a few demigods, and while most seemed to leave him be, he had spent some time with two Hermes twins. They had spent a rather uneventful twenty-minute period trying to show him how to do something called a dab… Which he still didn't get.

"Sorry," he spoke.

The centaur let out a light sigh before shaking his head. "Don't be Perseus. I would be more concerned if it was one of the other campers walking in."

Chiron turned back towards Jason, patting his shoulder lightly. "We can continue our conversation later."

Jason seemed like he wanted to argue but relented under the man's gaze. He had just barely taken a step towards the couch before the door was thrown open, and three figures rushed in.

It was easy for Percy to recognize Annabeth, even if her blond hair was a mess and glistening with sweat. He didn't recognize the figure beside her, although he was quickly able to make out the striking red hair that was sticking out from under the hood of her cloak.

Turning to the figure being held up in their arms, his heart skipped when he noticed Piper's unconscious form. She didn't look injured, but as she was gently placed on the couch, she let out a moan.

"What happened?" Chiron demanded, rushing over to the girl, with Percy and Jason following suit.

"I-I don't know," Annabeth panted, "One second she was fine, the next-"

"What do you mean you don't know?" Jason practically yelled, placing a hand on Piper's forehead, "She's ice cold!"

Chiron turned towards Annabeth, "Hurry! Go get an-"

He was interrupted when the red-haired girl spoke, ripping Percy's eyes away from Jason's hand that was laying atop Piper's head.

"I-I think," she interrupted, hugging herself tightly, "I think I killed her."

LINE BREAK

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!

It was a bit shorter than usual, since I ended up splitting this chapter into two parts. Since being at Camp Half-Blood takes up around 180 pages in the book, I figured four chapters about Camp would be fine.

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