Percy jumped into the water and floated at the top, as he controlled the tide easily and closed his eyes.
"We got to read, Perce." Beckendorf said
"I know. I'll listen better this way." Percy grinned. Beckendorf chuckled. The sea gang grinned at Percy and the demigods shook their heads fondly.
"I'll read." Amphitrite said.
PIPER IX
Piper dreamed about her last day…They always did.
"Paparazzis." Everybody shook their heads.
"Nice job out there…bodies in permanent marker.
"WHOAAA." The demigods screamed. Percy was laughing so hard that he lost control of the water to make him float and fell right in. This just added to the laughter as Percy came out, grinning sheepishly.
"Permanent marker?" Silena asked
"Uh huh." Piper nodded.
"Seriously. Get a life." Annabeth shook her head.
"I know right!" Piper said. Aphrodite was chuckling.
(Seriously, Piper thought, get a life.)
Piper and Annabeth high fived.
His close-cropped black hair…but he was amazing on the curls
"Skills." Triton said. Piper nodded.
Piper would've given up…ways she could do that
"Okay yeah." Annabeth sighed
"Oh well at least there is something." Piper said
"Yeah, look at the positive." Will said
"Sandwich?"… insides want to come outside
Grover gagged.
"That smells absolutely awful. I totally get where you're coming from." Grover said
"Honestly, I'd turn into a vegetarian if somebody cooks veg better that non veg." Percy said.
"I'll take you up on that." Piper said "Come over some day." She said. Percy smirked at her.
"Seriously?" he asked. Piper grinned.
"Awesome." He said
"I think Sally could make something too." Thalia said
"Seriously, she can cook literally anything. And in blue or black or any color." Nico said. Percy grinned at them.
But it was more than that…Couldn't anything be simple?
"I feel you. Only difference, I don't really care about spending that much time with my parents but yeah the simple part, I definitely agree to that." Rachel said. Piper sighed and nodded.
That's why she turned down…time they went snowboarding
"This is so relatable too." Rachel sighed
"Any tips?" Piper asked
"Doodle on your jeans with marker." Rachel grinned
"No. Do not do that." Nico said
"I feel offended." Rachel said, grinning
"Honestly, there are some things that only certain people can pull off." Will said
"I think Piper might be able to." Annabeth said
"How can you doodle on your jeans?" Silena asked. Aphrodite nodded in agreement with her.
"It looks good." Rachel shrugged. Piper grinned
"Will do ma'am." She said
And she hated the snobby…Dad didn't know yet.
"Oh man." Leo said
Silena gave a sympathetic smile to Piper who was already looking guilty.
"It happens. Don't worry." Percy said sympathetically, coming out of the water and sitting on the sand.
Piper shook her head. "You don't know Jane." She said
"Well I certainly know jerks. Look, sometimes you do crazy things do get your parent to notice you. I mean I literally sent my dad's ex-girlfriend's head to him." Percy said. Grover and Annabeth snorted and nodded. Poseidon snickered a little but felt guilty.
"Oh I remember." Piper grinned.
"He's right. It'll be okay." Jason said quietly. Piper gave them all grateful looks.
She'd meant to tell him…three months?
Annabeth and Piper winced.
"That's quite a lot." Annabeth said. Piper nodded sadly and gazed at the ocean. Aphrodite put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
"What's wrong?"… parents totally mortifying
"Not always." Percy laughed
"Not really." Annabeth smiled.
"Nope. My mom's honestly chill." Will grinned. Apollo nodded.
"Ours pranks us. Literally." The Stolls said. Hermes grinned.
"Ah, I would love to meet your mom then." Leo said
"Me too." Chiron chuckled. The Stolls grinned as everybody laughed or grinned.
But she looked forward to it…always one of her topics.
"Yep." The demigods said.
Piper looked excited at listening to what her father said, though she knew who her mother was. Aphrodite and the gods sighed but then smiled internally. At least now they would get to be proper parents. They felt a little selfish for waiting for their kids to turn into gods but their children hadn't really protested against it.
Her dad shrugged…I never heard from her again."
Aphrodite sighed.
"Do you think she's still alive?"
"Yeah." Silena said. Piper gave a small chuckle and Aphrodite a small smile.
The demigods' gazes were distant, remembering the times that they had asked the same questions to their mortal parent who cared about them.
It wasn't a real question…he tried to bring his wife back.
"Well. Most of that is accurate. You couldn't exactly bring anybody back from the dead." Hades said
Dad nodded…it didn't last.
"That's painful. Emotionally." Reyna sighed.
Piper sighed as well. She was looking forward to doing the research with her dad but not to it getting over.
Lot of similarities between…Women wanted to find out why
"Not really their concern unless they love the guy. I mean liking the person just because you're curious about something just doesn't sit well with me." Leo said
"That's true. That's why I'm not fond of so many women liking my dad either." Piper said "Of course, I'd want him to be happy with somebody who does care." She said
They wanted to comfort him, and they never could.
"They want to because he's a star. Like it's not exactly their concern." Piper said "I don't know if it makes sense." She said
"It does." Aphrodite said softly.
"Oh well then at least I'm not crazy…or selfish." Piper sighed
"You were never selfish." Jason said
Dad told Piper it was…looking for somebody to blame."
"I get what he means. I remember when I was like "it's nice to know that greek gods exist so you can blame somebody' kind of thing." Percy said
"Dude, your bus exploded right before that." Hermes said. Percy shrugged.
"I'm sure something unfortunate happened that he wants to blame somebody." He said
Somebody to blame for Grandpa Tom dying of lung cancer
Piper winced.
"Okay yeah." Hermes said
"Lung cancer. Is that counted as a disease?" Will asked Apollo "Like I mean you know divine or not." He said
"Not my doing. It just happens in humans. I can't do anything about it." Apollo said
"I wonder who he would've blamed if he would've believed in greek gods." Clarisse said
"Well as it's death then Thanatos and dad." Nico said
"Couldn't he blame Aphrodite for not protecting him?" Hazel asked. Nico shook his head
"He would know that it's not her domain." Nico said. Everybody sighed.
Piper thought, before Dad…yet still not happy.
Aphrodite winced.
"Money isn't always everything." Rachel said
"I don't know if she's alive,"… I could stand that, either."
"I'm a little worried about his health now." Nico frowned
"He's right." Hazel said
"Look Piper, I know we can't help much but if someday you want to tell your dad about our world, which you will have to when we turn into gods then just know that we will be there for you and your dad if you have any trouble." Leo said. Piper gave him a grateful look and a hug. Aphrodite smiled at him as well.
"You bet we will." The demigods said.
"I'll be there to help too." Aphrodite said "It's only right if I am." She said
"Thank you so much guys." Piper said
"Don't mention it." Jason smiled.
The gods just had soft smiles on their faces, just trying to think about how loyal their children were to each other that no matter what they were there for each other.
Behind them, a car door…she'd been in touch with the police.
The demigods and a few gods swore and a few gritted their teeth.
"Leave them alone for gods' sake." Annabeth said. Piper looked pained.
Please fall down…But Jane kept advancing
"Throw a rock or something." Ares said
"And make it look like an accident." Clarisse said
"The most important part is making it look like an accident. Give me a call if you need to arrange some resources. I'm sure my skeleton buddies could find a right size bag or something." Nico said. Everybody burst out laughing at that.
"So she's about 5'2." Piper said
"Hmm. Maybe Jules Albert knows." Nico said
"He's a chauffeur." Hades chuckled
"And a zombie. I'm sure he could find a bag or something." Nico said
"Dad," Piper said quickly…Piper had messed up again.
"Tell him before he finds out." Rachel said
"Too late for that. Jane, I swear- That lady can't let us have one day alone." Piper said.
"We'll get back to that… like she'd betrayed his trust.
"Oh no. That is one look you don't want to see on anybody you care about's face. Cuts deeper than a knife and I know how both feelings feel." Annabeth said
"It's freaking depressing." Nico said
Everybody nodded.
"Betrayal is actually the hardest." Percy said
"You know, it makes it even more crazy if you forget what you did like Jigsaw." Thalia said
"We are not talking the punisher here." Percy said
"Just saying. I mean he was kind of psychotic and I don't know if he realized it or not but whatever really." Thalia said
"That was one gruesome series though but I liked it." Percy said
"What all do you watch?" Apollo asked
"You didn't like it?" Travis asked
"No." Apollo said
"Pity. I liked it." Ares said
"Kinda obvious." Clarisse chuckled.
"Can we continue?" Amphitrite chuckled. Everybody nodded.
You told me you would… spilled out of her.
Everybody winced and grimaced in sympathy for Piper. Piper felt some tears and quickly brushed them away. Some of the demigods could relate with what Piper was saying or maybe even felt.
"Dad, just listen for once…We've had this conversation."
"Come on. She's not asking for anything unreasonable." Silena said
No, she thought…in kids with tough issues."
"That was the worst phrasing of words that I have ever heard." Triton said. Percy and Tyson nodded and so did the other demigods.
"Even I agree to that, seeing as the first conversation that I had with Percy was quite awkward until the end." Poseidon said. Percy sighed.
"Yeah, that was awkward all right." He said. Poseidon looked sheepish at that and Percy gave a chuckle.
"He just called her a problem. That's harsh but you can see that he does love her but damn that was harsh." Castor said. Piper was actually biting her lip by now. Aphrodite and Silena put a hand on her shoulder or slung an arm around her shoulders. Annabeth gave a small sympathetic smile to Piper.
"That's what I am."… Jane could now check off her list.
The demigods called Jane such foul names that some of the gods were actually surprised but most of them were nodding in agreement and didn't even bother correcting them on the language. Chiron wasn't nodding or anything but anybody who looked at him could see that he even he agreed.
Piper's dream changed…braided with human bones
A few gods and Chiron froze.
"What is that?" The demigods asked
"Let's just hope that we're wrong." Apollo said
It smiled, and Piper shivered…tied to a stake.
Aphrodite shuddered and Ares kept a hand on her shoulder. Piper put a hand over her mouth. Everybody looked very worried.
"We'll find a way to save him." Leo said
"Definitely." Jason said
She tried to cry out…the word of Enceladus.
Every single god froze at that.
"No. This can't be happening." Zeus said
"You are seriously going to do this again? I don't think that Piper would be hallucinating about him. I don't think that anybody could hallucinate about that!" Poseidon said
"This is not good. Not at all." Apollo said
"What?" The demigods asked
"The giants. Children of Gaia." Apollo said
"The earth goddess?" Leo asked. Apollo nodded.
"She's the primordial goddess of the earth." Annabeth said in a small voice. Chiron's face was very grim. The demigods had paled and so had the gods. Zeus was still in mental denial.
"We're still going to have to fight right? Even though the prophecy is about demigods? We're still going to have to fight as gods?" Percy asked.
"Unfortunately. Most probably." Apollo winced
"The prophecy changed." Rachel said "From demigods to gods." She paled.
The demigods looked pained but nodded.
"We'll help your dad too, Piper." Jason said. Piper gave a small smile.
Fail me ... well…Helen of Troy's weapon.
"Tip to take out your anger is to throw the dagger as hard as you can with your anger into a target board." Annabeth said
So Camp Half-Blood…sickness get your goat!
A few snickers.
"Where — " Piper's voice…straps of his sandals.
"That would be a little bit of a sight to wake up." Chiron said. Piper nodded.
"That's Argus,"… so to speak."
"That's exactly what Chiron said." Percy grinned
"Just without the 'so to speak'." Hermes said. Chiron and Rachel smiled at each other.
Argus nodded. The eye on his chin winked.
Everybody chuckled.
"Where — ?" Piper tried… idea to get possessed.
"Yeah." Rachel nodded. "That was weird." She said "Probably." She added
Chiron healed you with some…"Oh. Fun."
"I know right." Pollux grinned
Rachel sat forward…His eyes all fluttered at once
"Oh dear." Chiron said. Hera gave a small smile at Argus.
"Hera created Argus,"… dabbing eyes all over his body.
Hera's smile actually grew soft. Ares and Hephaestus looked at Hera and swallowed. They shared glances and sighed.
"Poor Argus." Will sighed.
"You're probably going to have to find Hera though." Apollo said to Jason
"I know." Jason sighed
"So ..." Piper tried not to stare… just a trick of the Mist.
Piper and Jason sighed.
Get over yourself…Everyone here would.
"No, we won't." Chris said. The other demigods nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry."… How awesome is that?
"I'm sorry Piper." Rachel winced
"It's not your fault. You don't know about the visions and stuff." Piper said.
Hey," Rachel said…crying like a baby.
"It is honestly okay to cry. For everybody. Especially in your situation." Lee said
Piper gave him a small smile.
"How can you know…"I hope it's Athena."
"Do you now?" Annabeth smiled. Athena raised an eyebrow at Piper as well.
"Maybe not now but then. My dad isn't the scientist types." Piper said. Aphrodite gave a small chuckle.
"To be honest, sometimes you hope for somebody to be your godly parent as if that's going to come true unless you're lucky and then you get claimed by somebody that you wish you didn't but then you just have to actually think and learn about them. Might help. Helped me. Eventually. And so did the reading." Frank said. Ares and Clarisse smiled.
Piper nodded.
"Thanks man." She said. Frank nodded and smiled.
She looked up, afraid Rachel…You guys are a lot alike."
Annabeth and Piper grinned at each other.
"You know, I have to say this. Rachel seems to be growing very comfortable in her role as Oracle. I think she knows where she belongs now." Percy smiled at Rachel who nodded and smiled back.
"That's true. I think I feel like I finally fit in." she said. Apollo smiled at her.
The comparison made Piper…away my secrets, Piper
Everybody laughed and chuckled as well.
And don't worry…maybe not the way you plan."
"Do you think that you know about the vision?" Michael asked Rachel
"I might not know the exact details, just that she has something going on kind of a thing. Like I said to Piper in the book that I know she has a hard choice to face and it's very hard." Rachel said, thinking about it.
"That's not making me…find out who you are."
"Done." Amphitrite said
"I'll read." Triton said