Chapter 12

Why Are You Doing This To Me?

There's been some comments about Jason being mean. God, please. Jason is not mean. I didn't mean to make him OOC, but I wanted to show how Piper had left Jason heartbroken.

So, please, Jason is kind of nice. It's just… you won't be seeing any niceness until the Big Fight.

Leo's POV

I was angry all the way back to camp. Seriously. Rachel sent me all the way to freaking Los Angeles for nothing!

Rachel was the first to greet me. I scowled and she smiled at me.

"I take it you completed the quest?"

"Yeah." I gritted my teeth. "Took me five minutes."

"Hey," she raised her hands up in defeat. "I told you. It was crucial to the Big Fight. I couldn't just let a big piece of the puzzle get blown away."

"What are you doing this to me? You honestly wanted to make me pained, didn't you?"

Rachel sighed. "No, I don't, Leo. You are my friend. As much as I hate you getting hurt and confused, I am the—"

"Yes, the Oracle! The good for nothing Oracle!" I stomped off, and Reyna and Jason looked at me like, "What's wrong with him?"

Rachel's POV

I sighed and looked at the couple, pleading. "Go help him, please? He should be so stressed." They scurried off, trying to comfort their friend.

As soon I thought there was no one else, I let out a sigh and turned. "Why don't you show yourself…" the girl stepped out of the shadows. "…Piper."

Piper was still very much Piper, except for a black cap and black rimmed glasses.

"You know if you wear glasses even if you don't need them, you'll get bad eyesight?"

She shrugged. "It's just for disguise, anyway. I took out the glass."

"Ever coming back?" I asked. "To us? To Jason and Leo?" She flinched at their names.

"I came back." She smiled. "Didn't I, now?"

I bit my lip. "I mean as Piper McLean." Her eyes dropped.

"I don't know." It was barely a whisper, I had to listen very carefully to hear. "It's painful, Rachel. I thought… I thought maybe you knew." I had to flinch at that comment. Yes, I admit, I still did like Percy. I only stayed away because I was the Oracle.

"That's different." I snapped. "I have no choice, whereas you have. You're not the Oracle, Piper. You can come and go as you wish. I will never feel sympathy for you, because you are the one who made your choice."

"You chose to be the Oracle," she pointed out. "You've made your choice."

"Enough of this talk." I ruffled my hair and looked into her tired eyes. "Piper. Have you eaten the apple?"

"I did." Her voice was immediately filled with sorrow.

"You saw it, didn't you?" She glared at me.

"Exactly why did you have to tell me? He told me that you told him that Leo was going to the Underground. You came and told me that I had to do the same things that Leo had done. So, yes, Rachel, I followed him into the Underground, I ate the apple, and now I have my memories filled with—ugh!"

I patted her shoulders. She looked up at me with teary eyes. "What did I ever do to you? Why are you doing this to me?"

I bit my lip. "I'm sorry. I love you like a sister, Piper. I truly do." She started crying. She was tough, but now… it seemed as though she was a young girl.

Someone cleared his throat. We turned, looking that it was Jason.

Jason's POV

I heard crying. Someone was crying, right where Reyna and I had left Rachel. I ran, afraid that it might be Rachel.

When I had arrived down the hill, I saw it was Piper. The Piper who had left me. Abandoned me. She ripped my heart and she didn't even care where the pieces went.

I cleared my throat. They turned in alarm. I could see the dread in Piper's eyes when she saw me. Yeah, that's me. The Dread Monster.

"Piper McLean." My teeth clenched. "You better not escape this time." She gulped loudly and began to run.

I had no strength to go and get her. I wanted to drag her to the pits of Tartarus. I wanted to scream at her for her cold heart. I wanted to show how she'd hurt me. But then again, she drained my energy out already.

"What have I ever done to you?" I whispered as I sat flat on the ground. "Why do you have to hurt me so much? Why are you doing this to me?"

Reyna's POV

As soon as I heard crying, I started to run. Jason was faster than me, though. I was filled with dread. What if the one crying was Rachel? I had already lost one friend; I didn't need to lose another.

When Rachel and Jason were in sight, I stopped dead on my tracks. Piper. She had came back. I wanted to run to her, welcome her back, but she had fled, seeing Jason.

Jason would've ran. He would've caught her. He would've yelled at her to the top of his lungs. But instead, he just sat dropped to the ground, sitting.

He was hurt, I could sense it. It… I… There were no words for it. He looked like a broken puppet.

I stared at the trail Piper had taken. "Why, Piper? Why are you doing this to us? Did we cause you that much pain?"

Well, there you go. Lots of heartbreaks…

I'm reminding you, the deadline for the supposed "contest" is tomorrow, until Chapter 13 comes up. Only one of you has actually gave me three reasons… one of you guys gave me one. I suppose no one wants the drawing?

And actually, I sense less and less comments. Do I have to threaten you? Make puppy eyes at you? Or what? Quote: "Why are you doing this to me?"

I'll give a (parody) quote from one of my favorite movies, the Labyrinth: "Just read it, like it, and comment, and I'll be very happy."

-LG