The First Son of Artemis Book Four: The Lost Hero.
Piper I
After a morning of storm spirits, goat men, flying boyfriends, and riding giant silver falcons, Piper should've been losing her mind. Instead all she felt was dread.
It was starting, she thought. Just like the dream said.
The part that was bothering her the worst however now, was the massive headache. She stood in the back of the chariot with Leo and Jason, her head pounding so hard she had to hold onto the railing. The bald guy, Butch handled the reins, and the blonde girl Annabeth, was huddled over a bronze navigational device talking with Jay in hushed whispers. This Annabeth was apparently Jay's fake girlfriend. He realized now the goof probably just stammered out the first thing that came to his head when her and Leo had walked in. She liked that about him, he liked to act tough, and strong to people around him, but on the inside, he was really just a giant goofball.
The headache had started as soon as he dropped her off on the skywalk. It didn't hurt her too bad then, but as more stuff got revealed to her the pain had risen. As she looked at Jay walking back towards them with a silver bow around his shoulders, it throbbed even more. The worse had been when she heard Jay say Annabeth wasn't really his girlfriend. She had felt… well relieved.
Relieved? She had thought to herself.
I have a boyfriend, I have Jason. Jay's my friend but it shouldn't matter to me if he's single or not. She had said, right before the splitting headache really started affecting her.
She felt her head throb again and gripped the railing tighter for support.
"You okay?" Jason said steadying her back onto the chariot.
Piper looked him and forced a smile, "I'm fine. Just a little air sick I guess." She lied.
He smiled at her and she felt her heart strings get tugged, and her head flail in pain again. She felt as if there were two people slamming into each other repeatedly with baseball bats inside her head. Every time they collided her head rang, and it was seriously starting to bother her. The chariot lurched and she had to grab onto the railing for support again. It had no seat belts and an open back; she could fall out with a single bump.
She wondered if Jay would leap off the side and save her on his magic falcon again, or if Jason would fly down and catch her. That was the most disturbing part of her entire morning. Not that Jay had flew down on a magic falcon to save her, or that Jason could fly, it was that the headache rang through whenever she looked at him, and he had no idea who she was.
All semester she'd worked on a relationship, trying to get Jason to notice her as more then just a friend. Finally, she had gotten the big dope to kiss her on the rooftop during the meteor shower a few weeks ago. The last few dating him had been some of the best of her life, however she had remembered this headache persisting. Whenever she tried to remember something her and Jason did, her head panged with pain and Jay came into her mind instead. Then, three nights ago was when the dream had ruined everything, that horrible voice, giving them horrible news. She hadn't told anyone yet, not even Jason.
Now she didn't even have him. It was like someone had quite literally as Jay said, wiped his memory, now she was stuck with the worst 'do over' in history.
Maybe this is a good thing. A thought rang across her head.
How is it a good thing!?" Another thought yelled, as she clutched her temples. Jason stared out into the horizon, not even noticing her.
Meanwhile, Leo was being annoying, as usual. "This is so cool!" He spat a Pegasus feather out of his mouth. "Where are we going?" He asked.
Jay laughed as he an Annabeth looked at them all. "A safe place," Annabeth said. "The only safe place for kids like, us. Camp Half-Blood."
"Half-blood?" Piper was immediately on guard. She hated that term. She had been called it enough times in her life, Half-Cherokee, Half White-and it was never a compliment.
"Is that some sort of sick joke?" She said defensively.
Jay smiled at her, which annoyed her for a minute until she saw the twinkle of pride in his silver eyes. He was leaning back against the railing with his arms crossed. He wore the same orange t-shirt as Annabeth and Butch, with the words Camp Half-Blood, and a flying Pegasus on the front. She had noticed him in an orange shirt often at school, but she realized she had never read what the front said now. He had jeans held up with his belt buckle that could apparently become swords, and white sneakers.
She looked between the face of him and Jason again. It pained her how handsome they both were. That was something she admitted she thought even after she started dating Jason. He smiled at her, those silver eyes, that seemed to sparkle in moonlight, the unruly and unkept brown hair, that scar that ran across horizontally across his cheek may had made some girls look away, but Piper had come to like it. He had never told her how he got it when she asked, he always closed up and said he got it defending someone important to him, but that was it. The scar was Piper's way of knowing that he had her back. She could see why all the girls at wilderness school fawned over him when he arrived.
He laughed a little and shook his head. "Calm down Piper," He said calmly. "She didn't mean it like that. We're all half-bloods here, it-."
"You mean we're demigods," Jason said. "Half human, Half god."
Jay gave him an impressed look and when the two locked eyes Piper's head clashed again. She looked at Jason, he had a more perfect kind of look then Jay, who was more ruggedly handsome. Those icy blue eyes, and cross cropped blonde hair, that cute scar above his lip. His face was kind and gentle, but always a little sad. That was opposed to Jay who always tried to act strong and confident, however she had caught him up late at night before, simply sitting in a windowsill in the hallway, staring at the two leather cord necklaces around his neck, and looking as if he felt miserable.
Her pain subsided for a moment, and Annabeth spoke, looking at Jason. "You seem to know a lot, Jason. But, yes, demigods. My mom is Athena, goddess of Wisdom. Butch here is the son of Iris, the goddess of the rainbow. And Jay here…" She said elbowing him when he didn't pay attention.
The goofball's head shot back towards them. He was biting his bottom lip how he always did when he was nervous.
How do I know so much? Jay's my friend but I never paid THAT close attention to him. One voice said.
Of course, you did! Don't you remember!?" The second said again, and they clashed again.
Piper closed her eyes for a moment hoping the pain would go away. It did and she opened them just as Jay sighed.
"And like you guys know, my name Jason Nicholson, Jay, I'm the first and only son of Artemis." He said with a mock bow.
Leo scratched his chin and seemed to realize something. "Now my Greek Mythology isn't that good but wasn't Artemis…" He said gesturing for Jay to finish the sentence.
He quickly nodded. "Yes, yes I know. My dad… he was the one exception, but you see they never actually-."
"Not important right now Jay." Annabeth interjected.
He shook his head. "Yeah you're right. I'll explain it later but it's super complicated and I don't wanna get into it now." He said nervously.
Piper suddenly remembered another thing she though she knew about Jay. He had told them that his father had died, and he never met his mother. He had been bouncing around foster homes and running away from schools, before the courts sent him to Nevada. She crossed her arms.
"What about… your sister, is she a demigod? You told us your father was dead and you were running away from schools?" Piper demanded.
Jay again bit his bottom lip. "Alex is um… well she's not a demigod she's… something else, that's another story I'll tell you later. My dad well… that part was true. Look Pipes, Leo I… I'm really sorry for lying to you guys."
"Lying about being a monster killing, flipping, falcon flying demigod? Gosh I wish you had shown me sooner!" Leo said with excitement.
Jay laughed a little and rubbed his head. "I wanted to tell you guys the whole time, I really did but demigods… they live a dangerous life. Once a demigod knows that they're a demigod their scent intensifies, attracting even more monsters, we were lucky with just Dylan."
Piper looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes. Not because she was particularly mad, mildly annoyed yes, but she thought the next clash in her head would send her flying back.
He sighed again. "I'm still your friend. I mean that. I'm not gonna stop being your friend. Every minute I spent hanging out with you guys I loved it, it was all real. I hope you can forgive me…" He said his head lowering.
It was all real. That statement made Piper's head flare up in pain again.
She painfully looked up and met Jay's silver pleading eyes. She saw how genuine he looked; she could practically feel it. She gave him a small smile and shook her head.
"Don't worry, we're not mad. Right Leo?" She said, turning to him.
Leo scoffed and shook his head. "Ha, no way! This is so cool; I can't wait to see how some of these things work!"
Piper's head flared up and she shook her head. Demi-gods, monsters, gods, the idea of her mother being a goddess? It wasn't helping her headache as she learned more. She shook her head, she wanted to believe that.
"So, demigods," Piper said. "You mean you really think you're-. You think we're-."
Lightning flashed, and Jay's head shot up. "BUTCH HARD RIGHT-."
The chariot shuddered, and they all grabbed onto the sides. Jason yelled, "Left wheel's on fire-."
Piper stepped back. Sure enough, the left wheel on the chariot had burst into flames. Fire started to flicker and spread to parts of the chariot.
"Malakas!" Jay yelled, as he gripped the railing.
Piper didn't want to think how she had somehow understood what Jay said as Ancient Greek, or better yet how she understood what he said, which wasn't very flattering. The wind roared, she glanced behind them and saw shapes forming in the clouds, more storm spirits were beginning to take shape, barreling towards the chariot, except these weren't human, they seemed more like horses.
She started to say, "Why are they-."
"Anemoi come in different shapes," Annabeth said. "Sometimes human, sometimes stallions. It depends on how chaotic they are, this is going to get rough, hold on. Jay can you take off and hold them off?" She shouted across to Jay.
Jay was busy keeping Leo from falling out of the chariot. He shook his head, "No can do, Agatha would be tossed around everywhere in this wind!"
Annabeth cursed in Greek and shouted to Butch, "Get us out of here Butch!"
Butch responded and flicked the reins. The Pegasi put on a burst of speed and surged forward, casing the chariot to blur. Piper felt like everything she had eaten in the last three days was coming back up into her throat. Her vision eventually went black, and when it came back, they were in a completely different area.
A cold grey ocean stretched out to the left. Snow-covered fields, roads, and forests spread to the right. Directly below them was a green valley, like an island of eternal springtime, rimmed with snowy hills on three sides and water to the north. Piper saw a cluster of buildings like ancient Greek temples, a big blue mansion, ball courts, a lake, and a climbing wall that seemed to be on fire. But before she could really process all she was seeing; their wheels came off and the chariot dropped out of the sky.
Annabeth and Butch tried to maintain control, she felt the chariot jerk again and she tumbled back. She saw the entire back of the chariot sprawled and a giant lake below them. Just before she could go over an edge for the second time that day, she felt a hand grab the back of her snowboarding jacket.
"Gotcha!" She heard Jay yell as she was yanked back.
She grabbed the edge and clamped her hands down as hard as she could. She saw Jay with a rush of relief on his face and she nodded to him, feeling her head suddenly shot with pain again.
The Pegasi labored to hold the chariot upright in a flight pattern, but they seemed exhausted from the burst of speed, and bearing the chariot with the weight of six people was too much.
"The lake!" Annabeth yelled. "Aim for the lake!"
"NO DON'T AIM FOR THE LAKE," Jay yelled in desperation. "AIM FOR ANYWHERE BUT THE LAKE!"
Piper remembered something her dad had once told her, about hitting water from up high was as bad as hitting concrete.
And then-BOOM.
The biggest shock was the cold. She was underwater, so disoriented that she didn't know which way was up. She did however see a flash of orange next to her flailing around like he was in a blender. She just had time to think this would be a stupid way to die. Then faces appeared in the green murk-girls with long black hair and bright yellow eyes. They smiled at her, grabbed her shoulders, and hauled her up.
They tossed her, gasping and shivering, onto the shore. Nearby, Butch stood in the lake, trying to cut free pieces of the harness from the Pegasi. Fortunately, the horses looked okay, but they were flapping their wings and splashing water everywhere. Jason, Leo and Annabeth were already on shore, surrounded by kids giving them blankets and asking questions. She thought for a fearful second that Jay hadn't made it out, but then she heard the groaning next to her. The boy was on his back next to her on all fours spitting out water and spewing out more curses in Ancient Greek.
"Stupid… water…" He muttered among other things.
"Jay!" She heard a voice yell.
A girl, Piper saw she was about 16 with choppy platinum blonde hair down to her shoulders came running over. She had on an orange camp shirt, with jeans like Jay had, but she was wearing what Piper recognized as Greek combat armor over her body, with what looked like a shield and bronze spear latched to her back. She tossed a blanket around Jay.
"Thanks- 'cough, cough' Gwen, help- 'Cough, cough' Piper." He said weakly pointing in her direction.
The girl, Gwen, came over and took Piper by the arms, helping her to her feet. She wrapped an orange blanket around her arms and smiled at her. Piper muttered her thanks between chattering teeth. Apparently, kids fell in the lake a lot, because a detail of campers ran up with big bronze leaf blower-looking things and blasted Piper with hot air, and in about two seconds her and all her friends were dry.
There were at least twenty campers milling around- the youngest maybe nine, the oldest was college age- eighteen or nineteen-and all of them had on the similar orange camp half-blood t-shirts that Jay and Annabeth were wearing. Piper looked back at the water and saw those strange girls just below the surface. They waved like, see ya, and disappeared back into the water. A second later, the wreckage of the chariot was pulled out of the lake and landed nearby with a crunch.
"Annabeth, Jay!" The crowd parted and a girl walked through.
She was clearly a leader amongst them from the way the other campers were looking at her, and Piper could see why. She was taller like Annabeth, her hair was blonde, with dark brown streaks in it, so now it looked more-dirty blonde. She had it tied into a loose ponytail down her back. She was wearing Greek combat armor, but it was all golden, across her back was a bow, and quiver of arrows, along with a sword and scabbard. She had intense icy blue eyes and looked at the chariot.
"I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!" She said in a joking manner.
Jay laughed and even Annabeth managed a smile. "Nikki I'm sorry," She told the girl, she really could be Annabeth's twin. "We'll get it fixed I promise." Annabeth promised.
Nikki sighed at the damage to her chariot and then sized up Jason, Piper, and Leo. When her blue eyes passed over Piper, she could see the intenseness in them, like this girl had been through and seen some seriously crazy stuff.
She turned her eyes to Jay this time. "These the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"
"Claimed?" Leo asked.
Before Jay or anyone could explain she looked at Annabeth with pained eyes. "Any sign of… Percy?"
Annabeth looked down so Jay stood up and shook his head. "No," He admitted.
The campers muttered. Piper had no idea who this Percy guy was, but his disappearance seemed to be a big deal.
Another girl stepped forward-tall, Asian, dark hair in ringlets, plenty of jewelry, and plenty of makeup. Somehow, she managed to make jeans and an orange t-shirt look glamorous. She gave Jay a dazzling smile and winked at him, then sized up Leo, before fixing her eyes on Jason like he may be worthy of her attention, then curled her lip at Piper as if she were a half-eaten burrito that she had just found in a dumpster. Piper knew the girl's type. She had dealt with a lot of them at the Wilderness School, and every other stupid school her father had sent her to. Piper knew instantly they would be enemies.
"Well," the girl said, "I hope they're worth the trouble."
Piper wanted to say something, but Jay spoke out, his voice full of anger.
"Every demigod is worth it Drew don't you forget that." He hissed at her. A few campers nodded along with Jay, but Drew took it in stride.
Leo snorted. "Gee thanks. What are we, your new pets?"
"No kidding," Jason said. "How about some answers before you start judging us-like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"
Piper felt a wave on anxiety wash over. Worth the trouble. If they only knew about her dream. They had no idea…
"Jason," Annabeth said. "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew."-she frowned at the glamour girl-. "Jay is right, every demigod is worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."
"Hey," Piper said. "we didn't ask to be brought here."
Drew sniffled. "And nobody wants you here hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"
Piper went to step forward, ready to smack her, but Jay held his arm out to stop her. "That's enough Drew. If I have to tell you again you and your cabin will get bathroom duty and I'll make sure you participate." He shouted.
This seemed to make Drew back down. Piper looked back up at Jay, who moved his arm from her. She felt her stomach warm up, she could fight her own battles, but what he did was sweet.
"We need to make out new arrivals feel welcome," Annabeth said. Piper wasn't scared of Drew, but Annabeth didn't seem like somebody she wanted to make an enemy out of, her and Jay seemed to be leaders.
"We'll assign them each a guide. Give them a tour of camp. Hopefully they'll be claimed by the campfire tonight."
"Would somebody please tell me what claimed means?" Piper asked.
Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away. At first Piper thought she had done something wrong, and then she noticed the strange red glow around them. She turned and almost forgot how to breath.
Floating above Leo's head was a blazing holographic image- a fiery hammer.
"That," Jay said next to her. "Is claiming."
"What'd I do!?" Leo back up towards the lake. "Is my hair on fire!?"
Leo ducked and dodged his head, but the symbol followed him wherever he went. It was as if he were trying to write something with the light in the sky.
"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse-."
"Quiet Butch," Jay told him. "Leo my friend you've just been claimed-."
"By a god," Jason said. "That's the symbol of Vulcan right?"
All eyes turned to him.
"Jason," Annabeth said. "How did you know that?"
"I'm not sure." He said.
"Vulcan?" Leo demanded. "I don't even LIKE Star Trek. What are you talking about?"
"Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus," Annabeth said, "The god of blacksmiths and fire."
The fiery hammer faded, but Leo kept swatting at it like it was going to follow him. "The god of what? Who?"
Annabeth turned to the girl with the short platinum hair that had helped Piper off the ground. "Gwen, can you take Leo, give him the tour? Introduce him to his bunkmates in Cabin Nine."
The girl Gwen nodded eagerly like she was glad to be given an assignment. "Sure, thing Annabeth. Come on Leo." She said gesturing for him to follow.
"What's Cabin Nine?" Leo asked. "And I'm not a Vulcan!"
The girl rolled her eyes, "Come on, Mr. Spock, I'll explain everything." Gwen said. She put a hand on his shoulder and escorted him to the cabins.
Annabeth turned towards Jason. Piper didn't like it when other girls looked at her boyfriend, to check him out. However, Annabeth didn't seem to care he was a good-looking guy. She was studying him like he was a fascinating blueprint.
Let her, it's not real! She heard in her head.
Of course, it's real! The next voice said.
Piper hadn't even noticed her headache was gone, but now it shot up again. Her winced as she felt the crashing in her head again.
"Hold out your arm." Annabeth finally said.
Piper saw what she was looking at and her eyes widened.
Jason had taken off his windbreaker in the lake, leaving his arms bare. On the inside of his right arm was a tattoo. How had she not noticed it before? She had looked at Jason a hundred times. The tattoo couldn't have just appeared. The thought was ridiculous. It was darkly etched however, completely impossible to miss. A dozen straight lines etched like a barcode, with an eagle and the letters SPQR.
"I've never seen marks like this before," Annabeth said. "Where did you get them?"
Jason shook his head. "I'm getting really tired of saying this, but I don't know."
The other campers all rushed forward to get a glimpse at the tattoo. The mark seemed to bother them a lot, like it was a declaration of war. The girl Nikki narrowed her eyes at Jason, like she was ready to pull out that sword and slice him in two.
"They look burned into your skin." Annabeth noticed.
"They were," Jason said. Then he winced as if his head was aching as well. "I mean… I think so. I don't remember."
Annabeth sighed; she must have been tired of him saying that as well. Nobody said anything. It was clear the campers saw Annabeth, and Jay as their leaders. They were waiting for a verdict from one of them. Jay looked down at Annabeth and they seemed to have a silent conversation, Annabeth nodded to him and he turned to the campers.
"We need to bring him straight to Chiron," He announced. "Nik can you do it?" He asked the girl in the golden armor.
Nikki shook her head. "Sorry Jay, with Percy gone I… I had to take over teaching sword fighting lessons. I need to get back to it."
Jay sighed like he was disappointed. The two of them locked eyes, Piper could see and feel something had gone on between the two of them. She had no idea what, she hadn't recalled Jay ever mentioning anyone named Nikki, but clearly by the pained, and annoyed look in Nikki's eyes and the disappointment in Jay's the two clearly had some kind of history. Piper felt inside do backflips, before her head ached again.
Jay sighed and looked in a new direction. "Drew… would you-."
"Absolutely." Drew laced her arm through Jason's. Piper saw Jay mouth an 'I'm so sorry.' Towards Jason. "This was sweetie. I'll introduce you to our director. He's… an interesting guy." She flashed Piper a smug look and led Jason towards the bug blue house on the hill.
The crowd began to disperse until only Annabeth, Jay and Piper were left.
"Who's Chiron?" Piper asked. "Is Jason in some kind of trouble?"
Annabeth hesitated. "Good question, Piper."
She turned to Jay, "Could you help me give her the tour?" She asked him.
He nodded. "Yeah, I'll come with you. Just let me get to my cabin, I wanna make sure Nikki brought everything from the house."
Annabeth nodded and he turned to Piper. "I'll be back soon Pipes. Annabeth here will start your tour."
Piper felt her headache again. Also, her chest pump harder. She didn't want Jay to leave. He was the only constant thing that had been there through this whole mess. She didn't see any reason for Annabeth to do anything to her, but she would have felt better with someone familiar along. However, she was stronger than that and she knew it. She looked into his silver eyes and slowly nodded her head.
He smiled and nodded, before walking off towards the cabins. Overhead a loud bird cry pierced the air. Piper's head shot up along with Annabeth's. Piper saw a flash of silver dart through the air, a large gust of wind blew Piper's hair back, and a giant silver falcon landed next to them. Piper finally got a good look at the falcon, Agatha, Jay had said her name was. She was a majestic creature, at least the size of a horse, even longer if she extended her wings Piper guessed. She had gleaming silver feathers, that she kept nipping at. Her head was a darker silver, closer to grey. Intense golden eyes stared at Piper and Annabeth.
Piper was frightened for a moment, not that the creature was aggressive, but she didn't know if anyone else could touch her.
Her thought was dashed when she saw Annabeth reach over and rub behind the falcon's ear.
"Good to see you again Agatha, how are you feeling girl?" She said, managing a pained smile.
The falcon gently nipped at Annabeth's face, and cooed, almost apologetically. It was as if the animal knew what she was going through and trying to console her. Annabeth looked at the bird thankfully then turned to Piper. She managed a smile, when she saw the look on Piper's face.
"She's gorgeous, isn't she?" Annabeth said.
Piper nodded her head, and soon her and the falcon had locked eyes. "She's beautiful…" She said wistfully.
Annabeth smiled and gently stroked the falcon's black beak. "She was Jay's gift from his mother. She was raised to be Jay's guardian. Gotten Jay, and the rest of us out of some sticky situations haven't you." She said to her.
Agatha cooed and rubbed her beak against Annabeth's cheek. She managed a small laugh and looked at Piper again. She must have seen how Piper's eyes were trained on the majestic creature.
"You can pet her you know. She's really friendly, Me, Nikki, and… Percy we've been through a lot but, I'm sure she'll let you pet her. Go on, try it." She said taking her hands off the bird.
Piper stretched out her hand and like Annabeth said Agatha let her pet the beautiful silver feathers. Her coat was warm to the touch, and silky smooth. The falcon nuzzled against Piper's hand and coo-ed contentedly, before brushing her beak against Piper cheek.
She laughed and rubbed both hands along the sides of the falcon's neck and looked over to Annabeth. "Haha, she's a sweetheart. She's… so warm."
Annabeth managed a smiled and studied Piper. "Yes, she is. Jay must be in a decent mood. I wonder…"
"Wonder what?" Piper asked.
She shook her head. "Nothing important it's just… were you and Jay… close at Wilderness School?"
Piper felt heat rush to her face. The way Annabeth said close she clearly wasn't asking if she and Jay were just good friends. A ringing in her head flared again, but she quickly shook her head.
"What, no, I have a boyfriend, Jason. Jay and I we… we're just really good friends. He introduced himself to me and Leo right away, we hit it off within the first conversation." She quickly explained, trying to make her face less red.
Annabeth studied Piper again like she was a blueprint she couldn't understand. She looked over at Agatha who was still nuzzling her beak against Piper's hand like a cat or dog did when it wanted attention.
She looked back to Piper. "I've… always had a theory about Agatha. Jay and she they're linked, a bond that can't be broken. She seems to mimic his emotions… and his feelings."
"What do you mean by that?" She asked, obliging the falcon with more pets.
Annabeth came and rubbed the side of the falcon's head. "You see, Agatha will let people like Percy, Nikki and I pet her without problems, we're his best-friends. However, I remember once when Drew tried to come and pet her, she nipped at her fingers. Put Drew in the infirmary for a few days."
Piper resisted the urge to laugh as Annabeth went on. "Jay doesn't Drew that much… so that's why I wanted to ask how close the two of you were. She's quit taken by you." She said.
Agatha cooed contentedly again and nipped affectionately on Piper's hand. She then turned locked eyes with her, and Piper was amazed by the intelligence the creature seemed to show.
The bird cooed again, and Piper could almost make out her saying. Where is Jay.
"He went that way." She said pointing towards the cabins.
Agatha couldn't smile but she looked at Piper and nipped at her hand again before lifting off into the air and flying towards the cabins. Piper watched her leave with a smile. She was thankful to Jay and the falcon for saving her, but she mentally scolded herself for becoming so attached.
She would be forced to betray them in the end anyway.
Annabeth interrupted her thinking again. "How did you-."
Piper shook her head. "I didn't hear a voice or anything! I just got the sense she wanted to know where Jay went."
Annabeth bit her lip. "Jay told me he hears her voice in his head. Although one time… no, I don't want to get my hopes up." She said shaking her head.
Piper was now thoroughly confused, however she knew whatever Annabeth was talking about involved her, so naturally now she wanted to know.
"What, what is it? Don't get your hopes up for what?" She demanded, tired of having so many questions.
Annabeth sighed, and then seemed to look around like she was making sure nobody heard her.
"Well ONE other person was able to hear Agatha's voice, she was also the only other one to ride her as well." She told Piper.
"But… I rode her, Jay saved me from falling to the bottom of the Grand Canyon on her back." Piper explained.
Annabeth waved it off like that was trivial. "All of us have ridden on her back before. However, Jay is her only rider the one to take the reins as you'd say. Well, now he's the only one there… there was someone else who could as well. Piper before we go, I have to ask how… how was Jay at the School?"
Piper felt like she was part of a Dr. Phil episode suddenly. However, she answered as best she could. "He… was fine, I think. On the outside he acts all tough, and strong-."
"As per usual." Annabeth said gesturing for her to continue.
She did. "He… he was always sticking up for Leo and me. I like to fight my own battles, but Jay was always there. He seemed fine to me but…"
"What, what is it?" Annabeth pressed.
Piper bit her lip nervously like Jay did. She didn't know if she wanted to share how she's caught Jay multiple times, multiple nights, sitting on the windowsill in the hallway, or up on the roof of the school. He would be gazing out the open window, or at the roof at the moon and stars, looking between it and the two leather cord necklaces her always had around his neck.
She looked at Annabeth however and could tell she cared about him. If they were best friends like she claimed, maybe she could help him with whatever was wrong, and help him through it. She explained to Annabeth what she had observed of Jay out on the window and roof of the school. She also told her about how now and then he would just get these far off, sad looks in his eyes.
Annabeth sighed; it was clearly not the answer she wanted to hear.
"This isn't good," She said, starting to pace. "We had hoped giving him some time there would help him. With Percy gone, the gods quiet I… I need him now, more then ever."
The way Annabeth sounded, Jay being sad and looking at a leather cord necklace meant the end of the world.
"What do you mean, sending him there would help him? I'm sure whatever's bothering him will go away eventually." Piper said, hoping it was true.
Annabeth looked at her with those stormy grey eyes. "You don't understand Piper Jay he… he's scarred more then you could understand, after what happened to Bianca-."
Bianca. As soon as the name came out of Annabeth's mouth she froze and turned to Piper.
"Whatever you do, please don't mention that name to Jay." She said with urgency.
Piper looked at her miffed. "Um… okay, but who's Bianca? Was she the other person who could ride Agatha?" She inquired.
Annabeth nodded. "Yes, she was. As for who she was. It… it's not my story to tell, it's Jay's. He'll talk to us when he's ready. Now, we should get going. I have a tour to give you."
Piper nodded her head, eager to get off the beach and hopefully finally get some answers. Like why there was a raging headache in her mind right now, why her gym teacher had turned into a half-goat, why her friend could suddenly flip in the air slashing swords, why her boyfriend could fly, why he didn't remember her, and a host of other questions. However, despite all of that the one was at the tip of her tongue currently.
Who was this Bianca and why was it Jay's story to tell?
A/N: So we finally get our first non-Jay chapter! That is one of the things I'm looking forward to the most with Heroes of Olympus, seeing how Jay impacts the lives of all these characters we know and love's POV. The first three Son of Artemis books were all mainly from Jay's POV with a few POVs from Nikki and Bianca.
How did you all enjoy Piper's POV? It is certainly different from the cannon that is for sure. Where do you think her story is going to lead? Once the quest starts, what do you think her interactions with Jay will be like? What will her reaction be when she figures out the story of Bianca D'Angelo...? If YOU don't know the story of Bianca D'Angelo in my stories, go back and read the first three books and as I'm sure everyone agrees she was slightly different xD
I'm also going to explore the relationship and connection between Jay and Agatha much more in this series which is something I am going to LOVE. More news, I also have TONS of ideas for little one-shot or small 1-3 chapter short stories with some of the adventures Jay, Percy, Bianca, Annabeth, Nikki, Gwen, Alex, etc… planned in my head, I may publish one soon so be on the lookout for that!
I'll be sure to have the next chapter of this out for you guys by next week, I hope you all enjoyed! Please, please, please leave a review, nothing makes an author wanna stop writing more then not getting any feedback xD So please, leave your opinions, what you're excited for, what you liked, and what I can improve! PM me with any questions! Thanks again and see you soon!