Hi! It's been a while, but welcome to 2019! My birthday was a little while ago, and I'm finally 12! Yay!

So Soar's been going for a while, about 9-10 months, and I love writing this story. It's great to be able to write out my ideas and share them with you guys. I'm thinking about 10-15 more chapters to wrap this up.

If you haven't yet, check out Do Numbers Go Past Infinity?, another work on my account that my friend wrote. It's for Sailor Moon and is a little Rei x Mina fic. Thanks!

This next chapter is the final part to chapter 21, in which Claire and Piper continue their journey.

Piper POV

We've been walking for days. Three, actually. In those three days, the only thing Claire's told me about herself is that she's fifteen, she lives with her uncle, who is her only family. She has some kind of sickness, but she didn't elaborate.

And that's it. All I know about the strange girl who saved me.

We're going north. North, but other than that I have no idea where we are. Claire claims that we're not lost, and I trust her. Well, I trust her enough to keep watch while I sleep. She never sleeps, and she says she's not tired, but I can see the bags under her eyes. We ran out of the water, and now I hope that we reach the camp soon. I want to see Annabeth and Thalia and Hazel and….Jason. Jason. I haven't seen him in so long.

The sun is coming down over the jungle, painting the sky brilliant shades of pink and orange and purple. I stop for a moment, admiring the view. We're on a tall cliff, close to the edge. Puffy white clouds float through the sky. It's breathtaking. I've never been so deep in nature, not even on the eighth-grade camping trip.

Claire turns around, looking at me. "Why did you stop?"

"I was just looking at the view."

"We can stare at the sky when we're safe."

"Claire, why are you so uptight?"

"I'm not. I just want to get there."

"Well, you might be anxious, but we're human. Don't overexert yourself. You haven't slept in days."

She storms over to grab my hand, and pulls me along, heading forward at a fast pace. "I don't need sleep. I'll be fine."

I stumble over, tripping on a root. The impact cuts my hands, and I can't control the loud shriek that slips from my lips.

Claire pivots as she trips, my fall pulling her with me. We roll off the edge, but I grab a rock and Claire's hand. We're hanging off of a cliff. It's a good ways down, with a rushing, deep river at the bottom. I've never been a good swimmer, and my grip on the edge tightens.

"Piper! Don't let go!"

"I won't! Just hold on!"

I scrape my feet against the cliff face carefully, trying to find a foothold. Claire's doing the same.

The next five seconds can be described as pictures, one for each second.

One. Two girls hanging off of a cliff.

Two. The girl holding onto the cliff finds a place to hold her feet.

Three. The other girl, the one dangling, cries out as her hand starts to slip.

Four. Both girls try to hold on to each other.

Five. The girl slips.

As Claire plummets to the ground, she lets out a scream. Or maybe I do. All I know is that one of us lets out a long, high-pitched sound as she falls. I have to tear my eyes away since if I look any longer, I'll fall too.

I feel numb, but I find the strength to pull myself up.

I haul myself onto the dirt, and I don't even realize that I'm crying until the tears land on my hand. My eyes drift towards the sky, which is almost black. It's getting dark, I'm lost with no food, water, or defense, and the only human companion I had left just fell off a cliff.

Well shit.

"Claire!" I yell. It can't be more than a hundred feet down. She could still be alive. "I'm going to go get help. Hang in there if you can hear me!"

No response. I stare down over the edge, but there's no sign of her.

But then I look back at the sky. There's a tall pillar of smoke rising. Maybe a bonfire? Well, it's worth a try. If Claire's still alive, I have to get help. I have to find the camp.

I stumble, still kind of in shock, tears streaming down my face, towards the smoke. I have to pull my shirt up over my mouth and nose to keep the smoke out, and that's when I hear yelling.

I recognize this spot. A huge rock. This is where Annabeth's baby died.

I'm close to the camp. I manage to keep moving, until I can hear the ocean. I'm greeted by a raging fire. The raft.

The raft is on fire. Even more shit.

People are screaming for help, trying to calm the raging flames. I pull down my shirt, and realize that I must look like a fright. Someone slams into me, knocking me to the ground. My head is spinning, but someone with blonde hair tries to help me up, but then freezes.

"Piper?"

"Annabeth?"

She screams, hugging me tight, possibly breaking a rib. "Where did you-"

"I don't know. But someone needs our help, and we have to go. Now."

"What do you mean?"

"Annabeth!" Someone screams her name, and I can't even register who until I see those ocean eyes. Percy, thank gods.

"Percy. We have to go-"

"We have to get out of here. We have to get somewhere safe. Wait- Piper? Is that you?"

"Yea. But there's someone out there who needs our help."

"No. We have to leave. You guys aren't safe. We're going to find somewhere safe, and then-"

"You're not listening to me-"

"Piper, we need to move! We have to-"

The sound of a slap resounds through the air, and I barely register what I just did. My hand stings slightly, and there's a red mark on his cheek.

"There's someone out there who may be dead. And you're right, it's not safe out here. But I'll be damned if the girl who saved me dies without me knowing or trying to help. So I'm going."

Annabeth takes my hand. "Me too. I'm not letting you go missing again."

Percy shrugs, his goofy smirk returning. "Well, what choice do we have?"

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