A/N: Kinda lazy today, so this A/N will be short. Basically, this is the 25th chapter, blah blah blah. I just got back from Paris, which was fun, but there was absolutely NO wifi. At all. I couldn't do anything on my computer but watch the French versions of Phineus and Ferb with my little sisters on the hotel room TV. It was painful for me, and probably you too, considering the fact that I've left you hanging for the past 2+ weeks. (Piper's POV)
For the first thirty seconds that the girl with the dark hair dressed entirely in gold was there, Piper didn't get it. It wasn't until the 31st second that she was there, when she dove down and gave Jason a bear hug and squealed, "Jay Jay!" that she did. Jason was just staring into space, looking confused, during all of this. Of course. Piper understood. This sparkly, bubbly, happy person was Jason's girlfriend. Piper guessed that she had always known that Jason had been seeing someone back at the Roman camp, but she hadn't expected it to . . . hit her this hard. She felt like the whole world was turning into a dream. The voices of everyone else became muffled and unclear. There was no one else but Piper, standing there, fighting back tears.
But it wasn't a dream. It was a reality. And after all these months of working, trying and (so she thought) succeeding at building a relationship that she'd thought was there before, but that turned out to be a dream too. And now, here she was, full circle, feeling miserable again. Great.
"This is great!" the leech (sorry, girl) who had hugged Jason squealed, springing up and clapping her hands like she was about to open a present. "It all makes sense now! And you—" she turned to Annabeth and gave her a huge hug, which Annabeth did not return. When she pulled away, a look of confusion, annoyance, and disgust appeared on Annabeth's face. "I am so sorry!" She didn't mean it. Whatever she had done to Annabeth that had caused her to have rope around her wrist was obviously not hug forgiveness worthy.
Jason stood up, and for a few awkward seconds no one said anything. He met Pipers eyes. There was a look of guilt, pain, and, desperation that filled up the sky blueness of them. But there was nothing to explain. There was nothing to do. Jason was too nice to even think about breaking the heart of this overly-chipper, childish girl. He turned to the girl and started, "Reyna, I—" but he was interrupted.
"So!" Reyna beamed, clapping her hands together like she was about to address the board of the Miss America paegent. "Why don't I show you all to the guest cabins, and contact Lupa. It's been a long, long, long, long day! We'll discuss everything in the morning!"
As the group followed Reyna, there continued to be a confused, awkward, silence. The only two people who were talking were Percy and Annabeth, who were at least three feet behind the group, whispering urgently. Percy kept nodding, while Annabeth looked slightly agitated, using her hands in big movements while she was talking. There really wasn't anyone who looked that excited, though, even Jason. As the group proceeded into the middle of camp, they were welcomed by quick whispers, stolen glances, and unmasked gasps. A few people pointed at Jason, and he gave them weak smiles. Piper couldn't understand what he was feeling: he was one of those people who didn't share his feelings very easily.
When Reyna finally reached the cabins, she instructed Piper and Annabeth towards a path in the woods that led one guest cabin, Leo to his own path, and told Jason and Percy to go to their own cabins.
"But that's not fair!" Annabeth protested. It was a surprising comment coming out of her mouth. Annabeth usually kept her head low and her opinions silent in these kind out situations. "Jason barely has any memory of this place, he's confused! And Percy—" she took his hand. "He doesn't belong here." Reyna wasn't smiling anymore.
"Percy has been staying and training, and making friends with us here for the past two and a half weeks." She sounded like a combination between an impatient mother and an annoyed flight attendant. "Where else would he belong?"
"Well," Annabeth replied, mimicking Reyna's beyond-annoying motherly tone. "He's been going to Camp Half-Blood since he was twelve years old, and has tons of friends there." Reyna looked taken aback. The whole six years aspect had surprised Piper too. For another long while, everyone was quiet, not really sure what to say. Then, finally Reyna sighed.
"Fine, Jason. Because of health purposes, you will remain in the guest cabin until your tour tomorrow. The rest of you, goodnight." Before anyone could say anything else, she turned around and ran away like her shoes were going up in flames. She left Annabeth standing there, her mouth gaping open. Leo reached over and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder: Percy gave him a look. For the bajillionth time that night, there was MORE awkward silence. Piper didn't think she could take it anymore. She wished everyone a good night, a stalked over towards the path that led to the cabin.
Piper walked for a while, maybe for a ten minutes. When she reached what was supposed to be the girls' guest "cabin", she couldn't believe her eyes. The building was maybe about the size of your average school gym, and it was at least fifty stories high. She walked into the glass double doors, into a miniature lobby, and strode toward what she assumed was the front desk. There wasn't a clerk, just a desk without a chair. Behind it, on the wall, were an assortment of about 100 little hotel room cards, each labled by number. Piper, who didn't see any reason why not to, walked around behind the desk and pulled the card that said, "2" out of its slot. She road the elevator up to the tenth floor.
Piper had no idea how the Legion could afford any of this, and that if they could, then their cabins must have been ridiculously tricked out. When the elevator doors opened, they didn't lead to a hallway, they led directly to her room, which was exactly the size of the lobby: about the size of your average school gym. There was a huge, four-poster king-sized canopy bed that took up the right ride of the room. The comforter, sheets, and pillows, all had the same intercrossing CL embroidered on them in gold, with a bedside table on either side, table lamps, pull-down flat screen TV, and unlimited mini-fridge. On the left side there was a bay window and balcony, sitting area, a huge wardrobe filled with fresh clothes and PJs, and then what looked like the entrance to a giant bathroom. Piper took off her shoes and flopped herself onto the poofy bed. At this point, Piper wasn't really worrying about anything: it had been a long day, and Piper hadn't slept in a bed in weeks. She showered, and walked over to the wardrobe, put on a pair of CL pajama pants and a "CL for Nike" fitted tee shirt. She turned out the light, climbed into bed, and tried to go to sleep. She probably would have, if she hadn't heard a consistant tapping sound. Where was it coming from. Piper waited for five minutes, until she couldn't stand it anymore. She turned the light back on, slid on the pair of "CL for UGG" slippers nest to her bed, and checked the bathroom. The bathtub wasn't dripping, neither was the shower. Huh. And then she heard it again. And again. And again. And—smash! The sound of shattering glass filled the room. Piper lunged for Katoptris, and dove onto the cushion on the bench of the bay window. Slowly, she inched open the window, avoiding the broken glass, and slid onto the balcony. She waited for a few seconds, then slowly stood up, straightening out of her catlike crouching position. Then, suddenly something flew up at her, and if she hadn't ducked, she would have been hit in the head by a . . . pebble? Was this some kind of joke? Pulled on her by the Roman kids? She marched towards the edge of the balcony.
When she looked down to the ground, three stories lower, she wasn't sure whether or not to be angry or happy, but she found the corners of her mouth pulling up. She put down her dagger, and smiled for real. It was Jason.