Chapter 14: Piper

Piper watched as Percy said his goodbyes, hopefully he would survive this quest and join his family in Manhattan, and try to live out a normal life. She imagined going to Central Park and having picnics with her friends, and Sally and Estelle. She imagined laughing and smiling, without worrying about constant danger. She imagined actually relaxing.

She reminded herself that this fantasy wasn't necessarily impossible. Just because some of her life was horrible, didn't mean the rest of it would be. It would be her goal, and she would achieve it. Not just because she needed it, but because her friends were in desperate need of a break. If they could manage to find some hope in this dark and dangerous life, they could do anything.

The problem was actually finding hope. After everything they've been through, just not giving up was hard enough. She believed if they were going to win, they needed some positive light. But she had a difficult time being optimistic herself.

She thought back to what Thalia had said: 'you all have someone to fight for.' It was true. That fierce protectiveness would help them survive, but would it be enough to destroy an enemy a thousand times more powerful then them? Not likely.

Evil people--like Medea, were good at crushing the hope out of you. But what if there wasn't any hope there in the first place? Something told her that they would be killed easily. If they wanted to die, why were they still fighting? Was it beacause of the people around them?

Piper realised how close they were to giving up. What would happen if Medea separated them, or killed everyone around her? She didn't want to admit it, but deep down she knew she would rather die. Medea was cunning. She probably already knew their weakness, it wasn't easy to miss. It was alarming how the world's fate depended on a couple of broken demigods. Unless they found some good in the world, this battle wouldn't end well for them.

They needed something--or someone to believe in. Definitely not the gods, it was a miracle they still followed them, even if they were their parents. 10 years in Elysium with no exclamation as to why, not even one visit, turned them bitter. It's not like the gods were ever around anyway. Their parents were cold and uncaring, they were only a little bit better then the enemy. As soon as they crossed the line, she wouldn't hesitate to abandon them.

So that was crossed off the list. They were demigods. What they needed wasn't some greater good--they needed to believe in themselves. First, they needed to stop moping around, and start fighting like the heroes they were. Elysium changed them. Death changed them. She thought that her old self was gone, but it was at her fingertips. The only difference between her old self, and who she was now, was the lack of her resilience. She could get it back if she tried hard enough. It was the same for the others, they just had to see it her way.

She read her friends faces. Percy's eyes were hauntingly broken--completely shattered. Tears pooled in them, but he angrily blinked them away. His knuckled were white, he was clutching them so hard that blood dripped onto the pavement. He walked stiffly.

Annabeth looked no better. Her breathing was irregular and her calm facade was absolutely gone. Annabeth was always the voice of reason, her and Reyna were their leaders. Now she looked close to a panic attack.

Piper remembered Percy and Annabeth had it much worse then her. First, Percy went missing for almost a year, and when they reunited, Annabeth had to go on a solo quest for her mother--one that almost got her killed. That only added to her hatred of the gods. It ultimately landed them in Tartarus, the hell of the Greek world. They weren't even over that before Annabeth witnessed Percy die in her arms, then died herself.

She studied Jason's wounded face. Once everyone got to know him, he got to actually be himself--which was a caring, geeky teenager, who always lost his glasses. (To prove her point, Jason lost his glasses a few days ago.) He was always one to hide his emotions, but after 10 years that habit faded away. Jason was probably thinking about what happened with Percy. Jason didn't have a choice when his mother died, it was unlikely that he even remembered her. Now Percy was forced to leave his mom. Maybe for good.

Then Leo. These last few days seemed to have tried their hardest to break him, and they were close to succeeding. Piper's heart twisted when she thought about everything Leo's been through, and he kept all that pain to himself, even after all these years. There was no bounce in his step. He looked too close to giving up for her liking.

Hazel and Frank fixed their gazes to the ground. They were inseparable, always holding hands and remaining annoyingly positive. Most of the time, that is. Now they didn't look any better then the rest of them.

Will and Nico talked quietly to themselves, frowning. Will didn't have his light-hearted glow around him, and Nico's hair wasn't tied up as usual, but it fell into his eyes and hid his face. Of course it was rare to see Nico smiling, but he got better over the years. Will was always there for him. But maybe this time they had to be there for eachother, even if they couldn't comfort or reasure.

Piper learned over the years that sometimes you couldn't say anything. Just being there was enough.

To a stranger, Reyna probably looked completely normal. To someone who knew her all these years, she looked so much different. Her eyes were empty. They were the eyes of a soldier that had been through to much to comprehend. Reyna had perfected hiding everything behind a wall, and it nearly worked on Piper. But she knew about emotions. No matter how hard you tried to hide them, they always leaked through, all at once or slowly--it didn't matter. The eyes always gave it away. And as she stared into those empty eyes, she felt empty herself.

Frustration bubbled inside of her. There had to be someone to blame for all this unnecessary sorrow that poisoned her friends minds. Maybe it was just the world. Sure, it brought them together, that was the best thing that ever happened to her. Anyone could crack under all this. All the murders, and monsters around them, constantly hunting for demigod blood.

She wasn't some motivational speaker. She definitely wasn't a leader. She had no idea what to say--but she knew her friends weren't completely gone, they were just lost.

She wasn't Percy. Back in Athens, when everyone was doubting they would win, Percy said a few words that changed her: 'of course we're going to win, what else would we do?' It wasn't some huge speech, it wasn't really motivating if you didn't hear it. Those words were filled with so much emotion and love, and he sounded so sure that they would win. Percy was always good at putting together simple words, and saying them in such a way, that it was impossible to doubt him.

Piper would make herself sound like an idiot if she tried that.

She wasn't Annabeth, who knew about the science of the human mind, and used her knowledge to string together a sentence that was just what you wanted to hear. Annabeth would know what to do--if she wasn't currently suffering herself.

She wasn't Reyna. She was a natural born leader, a speech before battle was a breeze for her. She was persuasive without using charmspeak, like Piper had to.

She skidded to a stop. No, she wasn't anyone else, she was Piper Mclean. She was unique in her own way, she couldn't be like Percy, Annabeth, or Reyna. People thought she was weak. She even started to convince herself that it was true. She had a mother who was often stereotyped as useless and girly, and she thought she was the same. Her father's shadow constantly haunted her, how could she be like him? He was never ignored, like she was. All she wanted was her father's attention. Then, she met these wonderful friends who thought of her as brave, smart, and part of their team. They noticed who she really was.

It was doubt that was holding her back.

Jason stopped, turning his heavy-lidded eyes towards her. "Coming, Pipes?"

"There's something I need to say." The others began to turn their heads towards her in interest. "It's important."

She met each of their eyes. She wanted to pour every ounce of love she was feeling into them, heal their broken hearts. Maybe she could do that, but with words. She could pour her heart into her words, and hopefully make them understand.

"Stop," she said.

"What?" Nico furrowed his eyebrows.

"What you're doing," she blurted out. "I know you're sad. I know you're broken. But we can't give up, and I know you're close to."

"Why shouldn't we?" Leo said in a low voice.

Everyone regarded Leo with surprise. He'd just said what everyone was thinking, but they'd never admit it. No one would suggest it, because that made it real.

"Leo..." Annabeth bit her lip. "After everything, we can't just--"

"No!" he snapped. "At least when we were dead, we were free. Now it's like we're slaves. All that follows us is destruction."

Piper glared into Leo's deep brown eyes. They were so grief-stricken that it almost made her cry, but she kept speaking. "That's not true, and you know it! Sure, it's been pretty bad lately. But that doesn't mean it won't ever be good again."

Leo bowed his head. "It's pretty hard to see anything good right now."

"Maybe you can't see it right now," she said. "But it's there. It will always be there, if you're brave enough to go looking for it."

Percy watched her with a sad gaze. "How can you say this right now? All I can see is a couple of teenagers who's lives are miserable"

"Do you want to know?" Her confidence started to build. "I see us together, in Camp Halfblood, helping new demigods."

That seemed to catch their interest.

"I see Percy living with his mom and Paul, raising Estelle. I see a peaceful world, one where we're happy."

Everyone was staring at her now. "I see us going to college. I see us having families, and building something." She smiled the brightest she's smiled in a long time. "I see a beautiful and better world, thanks to you."

"Do you really think that's possible?" Will asked in a small voice.

"I know it's possible," she said. "We can make it happen, if we work for it. We don't know the future. Nothing is set in stone, we can change anything!"

See felt as if the whole world was watching her. Her friends eyes were filled with something--something she hasn't seen in a long time.

Hope.

"Only if we truely believe we can." And she believed. Maybe, just maybe, her believing would be enough to make them see.

"We keep looking at what's right infront of us." Reyna's eyes sparkled. "Piper's right. We have a future, and we have the power to make it a good one."

They were quiet for a long time, before Annabeth spoke up. "The gods, however powerful they may be, don't control us. Remember why we came back? It was for a future. We must have forgot that along the way."

"And, to be together," Percy said. "We're more then friends, we're family."

"Anyone who wants to take that away from us..." Will didn't finish the thought, leaving their imaginations to run wild.

Leo was unnaturally quiet as he heard Piper's words. She could almost see the gears turning in his head, thinking about what she had said. Then, to everyone's surprise, he hugged Piper fiercely.

"Thank you," he breathed into her neck.

She was caught off guard, that was for sure. Leo was almost never serious, and hugging someone and actually meaning it, was rare for him. Her arms were stiff at her sides, before she wrapped him in a tight hug. It was almost alarming how unlike Leo this was.

Before Leo could escape, everyone trapped them into a group hug. He grumbled in protest but she could see him hiding a smile. She could literally feel Will, Jason, and Percy squeezing the air out of her lungs. Annabeth and Reyna, being very tall, rested their chins on her head. Nico and Hazel were moved to the middle by Frank, completely disappearing in the jumbles of arms.

Her worries faded away as she laughed with her friends. All that mattered right now was that they were together, and they were happy. Happier then they've been in a long time.

Of course, after the calm, there's always a storm. Their true test would come many months later, and hopefully, they would remember what Piper had said.

Because it might save their lives.