The First Son of Artemis Book Four: The Lost Hero
Piper II
Piper soon realized; Annabeth's heart wasn't really in the tour. She walked her around the camp, telling her about all of the great things it offered. Magic archery practice, Pegasus riding, lava wall climbing fighting monsters-but showed no excitement, as if her mind was somewhere else. She showed her the dining pavilion that looked out over long island sound. (Yes, Long Island, New York; they had traveled that far in the chariot.) She explained how camp half-blood was mainly a summer camp, but some kids stayed year round, and they'd added so many campers the camp was crowded even in the winter like it was now.
Piper wondered who ran the camp, and how they knew she was supposed to be there. She wondered would she stay year-round or be any good at any of the activities? Could you flunk monster fighting? She was prepared to knock whatever Dylan was out of the sky with the coach's baseball bat, but that was more adrenaline on her part. If not for Jay and Jason, she would've probably been killed. A million questions bobbled in her aching head, which had finally seemed to calm for a moment. Given Annabeth's mood however, she decided to keep quiet. She wished that Jay were there, if he really had been at this camp so long, he'd hopefully answer her questions.
As they climbed up the hill towards the edge of camp and got an amazing view of the valley. All of the cabins were arranged like the shape of a Greek omega. The cabins were absolutely beautiful. Two of them glowed a beautiful gold, and silver color. One was bright red with barbed wire trenches, another was black with fiery green torches. Her eyes however laid on the silver cabin, when she saw Agatha the falcon landed on the roof.
"That's cabin 8, Jay's cabin. The Artemis cabin was vacant for the camp's entire existence until Jay came along." Annabeth told her when she saw her staring.
"How… how is it not snowy? How come all the cabins look so different?" She asked.
"The valley is protected from mortal eyes." She told Piper. "The weather is magically controlled as well. Each cabin represents a Greek god- a place for that gods children to live."
She locked eyes with Piper, trying to gage how she would react.
"You're saying Mom was a goddess."
Annabeth nodded. "You're taking this awfully calmly."
Piper couldn't tell her why. She couldn't admit that this all confirmed some weird feelings she'd had for years, fights with her father, asking why there was no pictures of mom in the house, how he wouldn't tell her who she was, or even why exactly she left. But mostly, the dream had warned her that this was coming. Soon they will find you demigod. The voice had rumbled. When they do follow our directions, and your father may live.
Piper took a shaky breath. "I guess after this morning, it's a little easier to believe. So, who's my mom?"
"We should know soon. It's hard to tell right off looks, Jay has known you longer he may have a good guess. But we should know for sure soon." Annabeth said. "You're what- fifteen? Gods are supposed to claim you when you're thirteen. That was the deal.
"The deal?"
"Long story short, last summer, we defended Olympus from an invading army and saved it. After that Jay and… Percy made them promise not to ignore their demigod children anymore, to claim them by the time they turn thirteen. Sometimes it takes longer, but you saw how fast Leo was claimed once he got here. The same happened for Jay as soon as he arrived in camp, he was claimed that night. Should happen for you soon. Tonight, at the campfire, I bet we'll get a sign."
Piper wondered if she would get a flaming hammer over her head. The more she thought about it, the more her head started to ache again. Whoever her mother was, Piper had no reason to think she'd claim a kleptomaniac daughter with massive problems. The more she heard about camp, in particular Jason Nicholson, the more her head hurt.
"Why thirteen?"
"The older you get," Annabeth said, "the more monsters notice you, try to kill you. Around thirteen is usually when it starts. That's why we send protectors into schools to find you guys, get you to camp before it's too late."
"Like Coach Hedge?"
Annabeth nodded. "He's-he was a satyr; half man, half goat. Satyrs work for the camp, finding demigods, protecting them, bringing them in when the time is right."
Piper had no trouble believing Coach Hedge was half goat she had seen the guy eat. What she wondered however was what Jay had been doing there is Coach Hedge was already protecting her Leo and Jason. She figured she could ask Annabeth, seeing as her and Jay seemed to be close.
"If Coach Hedge was our protector… why was Jay there?" She asked.
Annabeth sighed and looked down towards the cabins, Piper assumed she was looking at Cabin 8, where you could see the faint figure of Jay walking out of his cabin. She turned back to Piper.
"Jay is one of the best of us, has been since he was claimed. Being the only son of Artemis, he's always been powerful. Besides a few a couple campers think he could be the most powerful demigod of this generation. For years it was the four of us, me, our satyr friend Grover, Jay and… Percy." Annabeth explained.
"Dylan called him 'Percy Jackson's sidekick.' It made Jay really angry." She told her, remembering what Dylan said.
Annabeth scoffed. "Jay is far from anyone's sidekick. The four of us we went on more quests then I can count, saved the world and the gods dozens of times. It seems Dylan knew what to say to make him angry. That's besides the point. Him, Percy, Nikki and I are the camp leaders, we led our fellow demigods in the Titan War at the battle of Olympus, like I was telling you about."
Piper had a hard time at first believing goofball Jay had fought in a war. However, the more she thought the more it, kind of made sense. He always had a look in his eyes, a look that seemed like they had seen everything, and experienced everything despite the fact he was sixteen. His eyes had intimidated Piper at first, but after he introduced himself and she got to know him better, she liked to think she saw deeper into them, like she understood him better. She remembered what Dylan had called him during their fight.
"Dylan called him a 'washed up demigod' what was he talking about? From what you say Jay seems far from washed up." She asked.
Piper looked disappointed. "That may be our fault. You see after the battle of Olympus… something happened. It's not my place to tell you what but afterwards, Jay was… broken. For months he wasn't training, coming to camp, nothing. He… he basically stopped being a demigod, if not for Nikki and Alex living and going to school with him, he'd probably be dead."
Piper felt heat rush up her body. That one girl with the golden armor lived with Jay. She felt angry for a moment but was interrupted by her splitting headache. She almost fell to her knees, but thankfully Annabeth caught her.
"Piper, what is it?" She asked.
Piper shook her head in annoyance, she was getting tired of this headache. "This stupid headache! Ever since the Grand Canyon I've had it!"
Annabeth looked at her with pity. "I… I think I know why. Come on, I think I know a way to get rid of it."
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The two hiked a little further up until they reached a cave near the top of the hill. Bones and old swords were littering the ground at their feet. Torches flanked the entrance, which was covered by a velvet curtain embroidered with snakes. It looked like some sort of twisted puppet show.
"What's in there?" Piper asked.
Annabeth poked her head inside the curtain and Piper heard her sigh with displeasure. She closed the curtains and looked back to her. "Nothing right now, a friends place. I've been expecting her for a few days, but nothing so far."
"Your friend lives in a cave?"
Annabeth managed a smile. "Actually, her family owns a luxury condo in Queens, and she goes to a finishing school in Connecticut. But when she's here at camp, yes, she lives in a cave. She's out oracle, tells the future. I was hoping she could help me-."
"Find Percy?" Piper guessed.
Color drained from Annabeth's face, like she had finally lost it after holding it together for as long as she could. She sat down on a rock and her expression was so full of pain Piper felt like a voyeur. She felt bad now for making her mention him when she asked questions.
She forced herself to look away. Her eyes drifted over to the crest of the hill, where a single pine tree dominated the skyline. Something glittered in its lowest branch-like a fuzzy gold bathmat.
No… not a bathmat. It was a sheep's fleece.
Okay, Piper thought. Greek camp. They've got a replica of the golden fleece.
Then she noticed the base of the tree. At first, she thought it was wrapped in a pile of purple massive cables. But the cables had reptilian scales, clawed feet, and a snakelike head with yellow eyes and smoking nostrils.
"That's- a dragon," She stammered. "That's the actual Golden Fleece?"
"You bet it is, thanks to yours truly." A new voice came.
Jay came walking up the camp. He looked completely rejuvenated from his dip into the lake. He had on a new orange camp t-shirt, with tan cargo shorts, and a pair of Nikes on. Piper had known him for a while now, but this felt to her like the first time she had taken a good look at him, the real him. He seemed so much more comfortable. He had a Mediterranean complexion, with a tan that wasn't too dark, but still it looked like he spent most of his time outdoors. His silver irises held a deep look of understanding to them, like he was someone who had seen, and experienced way more than your average 16-year-old should. For the first time as well, she noticed the silver wolf charm bracelet on his wrist, along with a black belt that snaked around his waist, with a silver Greek omega where the buckle should be. His hair seemed washed, but was still an unruly, unkept mess of brown. If Piper had seen him at the mall, she would think he was a jock of sorts who hung out at the sports equipment store, milling through a bunch of things he already had.
'He's gorgeous.' One voice said in her head.
It felt like the second voice was slapping the first. 'No! Jason is the gorgeous one!'
Piper shook her head to stop them and looked at him incredulously. "You're saying you were the one who found and brought the fleece back?"
He laughed a little and shook his head, gesturing towards Annabeth. "Well it was a team effort. If not for Annabeth here I'd be dead, saved my life that day." He said looking at her.
Piper could tell Jay was trying to reassure his friend. Put her in a better mood somehow, she appreciated that about him. He was always trying to cheer people up, whether by humor of encouragement.
It seemed to work for a moment, Annabeth smiled slightly and stood up. "You could say that about a lot more quests. Particularly one's that involve water."
Jay shrugged like the gest didn't matter. "Hey, it's terrifying what can I say. I swear it'll kill me one day. 'Jason Nicholson, 17, dies taking a bath in the river. He is survived by his sister Alex, best-friends Annabeth Chase, Percy Jack-."
Jay froze up as soon as the name left his lips, he looked at Annabeth who's shoulders and face fell again.
Jay sighed. "I'm sorry Annabeth… I… I miss him too."
Annabeth sighed and rubbed her face; her breath was shaky. "It's alright, I'm just… a little tired."
"You look ready to drop," Piper said. "How long have you been looking for your boyfriend?"
"Well about three-." Jay started.
"Three days, six hours, and about twelve minutes." Annabeth finished.
Jay sighed and rubbed Annabeth's back like she was going to hurl.
"And you have no idea what happened to him?"
Annabeth shook her head miserably. "We were so excited, because we had both one on spring break early. We knew Jay was due back soon as well. We met up at camp on Tuesday, so I figured we had three weeks together. It was going to be great. Then, after the campfire, he-he kissed me goodnight and went back to his cabin. In the morning… he was gone. We searched the whole camp, we contacted his mom, Jay's sister tried using her magic to find him. We've tried just about every way we know how. Nothing. He just disappeared.
Piper made a mental note to finally ask what the heck the deal with Jay's sister was.
She was also thinking: three days ago. The same night she'd had the dream. "How long were you guys together?"
Jay snorted, "Ha should've been since they were twelve, considering they were making lovey dovey eyes at each other since then-."
He was cut off when Annabeth elbowed him in the stomach.
"Since August," Annabeth said. "August eighteenth."
"Almost exactly when I met Jason," Piper said. "But we've only been together a few weeks."
As soon as she said it, Piper wished she hadn't. A huge burst of pain erupted inside her head. She fell to her knees and saw a fuzzy vision in her eyes. Her and Jason sitting on-top of the roof at the wilderness school watching the meteor shower. She saw herself lean in and the two kissed. Piper remembered this memory; it was the night he finally agreed to be her boyfriend. It was a great memory, one of the best she'd ever had. However, soon the mist around the vision shifted and a new scene was in place.
She was on the roof; the meteor shower and stars were shining above just like the vision prior. Except, it wasn't Jason sitting next to her, it was Jay! His Minnesota Wild hoodie on, with shorts and Nikes. She didn't hear what was said, but she saw what happened. She shivered and rubbed her arms, so Jay took the hoodie off himself and offered it to her. She put it on and just like in the vision with Jason, she leaned in to kiss him, except… he didn't kiss her back. He looked frozen in shock for a millisecond and then got up, laughed nervously and offered his hand to help her up.
Two completely different memories, two different guys.
"Piper! Are you okay?" She heard Jay say.
Her vision cleared and Jay was above her, she clasped onto his hand and placed her other hand on her throbbing head.
"God, my head, what is going on?" She said painfully.
Jay helped her to her feet and sat her down on the rock Annabeth had been on. She looked up and saw the two staring at her.
Annabeth sighed. "Piper about that… about Jason. I think I know why your head has been bothering you."
Piper knew where this was going. Panic started building inside her, like her lungs were beginning to take on water. "Look I know Jason thought-he thought he just appeared at our school today. But that's not true. I've known him for four months!"
"Pipes," Jay said sadly. "It's the mist,"
"Missed… what?"
"M-i-s-t," Annabeth said. "It's the sort of veil that separates the mortal world and the magic world. Regular mortals can't see through it to process what really exists. It bends reality so that it shows mortals what they can process. They may look at this valley and see it completely empty, they may look at that dragon and see a pile of cables."
"But you said it yourself. I'm not a regular mortal, I'm a demi-god!" She said.
Jay sighed, like the conversation was killing him. "Demi-gods aren't immune from the mist. We can see through it to see things for what they really are, but it can be used to trick even us. Jason he… he was planted on our bus by someone, someone with serious power over the mist. Monsters, gods, even some demigods with power over the mist can use it to create powerful illusions that fool even us demigods. They can create and alter memories from the mist itself."
Piper looked at him and her mouth went dry. Her headache, and the two little voices that had been arguing in her head were now gone. Memories started flooding back into her head like a dam had just been broken.
"But Jason isn't a monster!" Piper insisted. "He's a human, or demigod whatever you wanna call him. I do not have fake memories! Like the time we set Coach Hedge's pants on fire. The time Jason and I watched a meteor shower on top of the dorm roof, and I finally got the big idiot to kiss me…"
She saw Jay bit his lip and wince at that, but she ignored it. She went on to tell the two of them about her whole semester at Wilderness School. She'd liked Jason from the first week they'd met. He was so nice to her, and so patient, he could even put up with hyperactive Leo and his stupid jokes. He'd accepted her for herself and didn't judge her for the things she'd done. They'd spent hours talking, looking at the stars, and eventually finally, holding hands. All that couldn't be fake.
Jay bit his bottom lip so hard Piper saw that it broke the skin and started bleeding. He pursed his lips and sighed. "Pipes, most not all of those memories… they were me and you. Or me you and Leo over the last month."
She froze, she wanted to say something, but words eluded her. The memory of her and Jay on the rooftop, it burned into her brain playing over and over. The sadness and embarrassment she felt that night all came flooding back to her. She remembered being so sure that he liked her, but when he pulled away, she was devastated.
She shook her head not wanting to believe she had been given false memories.
"Piper your memories are sharper than most, I'll admit that, and I don't know why that is but. But if you know him so well-."
"I do!"
"Then where is he from?"
"St. Paul, Minnesota!" She fired back after thinking for a moment.
"Pipes… that's where I'm from." Jay said sadly.
Piper shook her head, and Annabeth asked more. "Did you ever notice his tattoo before today? Did he ever tell you anything about his parents, his friends, or anything about his old schools?"
"I-I don't know, but-."
"Piper, what's his last name?"
Her mind went blank. She didn't know Jason's last name. She broke down and started to cry. She sat on the rock with her face in her hands, she felt Jay sit next to her and put an arm around her. She leaned against him instinctively, and he rubbed her back while she cried. A whole four months of memories she had were fake.
"I… I'm sorry Pipes. Really I am." Jay said.
Piper felt like a fool. Was everything good in her stupid life going to ruin?
Yes. The voice had said. You will betray them for us. You will do exactly as we say.
"Hey," Annabeth said. "Jason is here now. You never know, maybe you two will work out huh?" She said, trying to sound encouraging.
Not likely. Not after she did what the dream had told her to do. She looked at Jay, and she may have been going cray, but she saw a flicker of annoyance in his eyes at Annabeth's words. All the memories were flooding back to her head. The feelings, Jay, everything that had happened. She felt her heart begin to sink, she looked at Jay's reassuring face and all the feelings she had pent up for him came back to her, but now the feelings for Jason weren't leaving. It was the last thing she needed right now.
She brushed a tear from her cheek. "The two of you brought me up here so nobody would see me babbling, didn't you?" She asked.
Jay nodded his head and Annabeth did the same. "I figured it would be hard for you. I know what it's like to lose a boyfriend."
"But I still can't believe… I thought we had something. And now it's, just gone, like he doesn't even recognize me. If he really did just show up today, then why? How'd he get there? Why can't he remember everything?"
"Good questions," Annabeth said. "Hopefully Chiron can figure that out. But for now, we need to get you settled you ready to go back down?"
Piper looked down at the crazy assortment of cabins in the valley. Her new home, a family who supposedly understood her-but soon they'd just be another bunch of people she'd have to disappoint, just another place she'd be kicked out of. You will betray them for us, the voice had warned. Or you'll lose everything.
She didn't have a choice.
"Yeah," She lied. "I'm ready."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
In an attempt to give Annabeth a break, Jay took over leading her tour. Annabeth walked next to them while Jay pointed out even more things Piper had missed. They passed a basketball court where a group of campers where in the middle of a game. They were nailing three-point shots, not even hitting the rim. Piper didn't know much about sports, but she knew those kids were making it look easy.
Jay chuckled when he saw her staring, "Those are some children of Apollo. They're great any kind of projectiles, bows, basketballs, the games are pretty high scoring." He told her.
"Wouldn't you have the same kind of ability then? Apollo and Artemis are archery god's, right?"
He nodded. "You bet; how do you think I'm so good at hockey?"
Piper remembered Jay telling her and Leo how he was a great hockey player at his previous school. She also did remember gym class, dodgeball was never fair for the team he was facing, basketball he could shoot with one eye open. There was also the one time they played floor hockey and every time he shot a ball it would be right into the corner of the net or between the goalie's legs. However, she couldn't get it out of her head that she barely knew anything about Jay, the real Jay at least.
"So, that's one thing that was actually true?" Piper said, not meaning to sound rude.
He sucked in a breath and sighed, "No, didn't lie about that. I would've been all state if I didn't miss a month."
Piper didn't say anything else, Jay clearly felt bad about lying to her and Leo, but she didn't want to press him now. They passed a large green clearing where what looked like a sword fighting lesson was going on. Two younger boys were going at each other, clashing swords and banging shields together while the girl with the golden armor watched with her arms crossed.
"Real blades?" Piper asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"
Jay shrugged his shoulders. "That's kind of point." He stopped for a minute before keeling over and laughing at what he said.
"Idiot…" Annabeth muttered next to them, with a hint of amusement.
Piper couldn't help but laugh a little at his reaction. He finished laughing and came up wiping a tear from his eye.
"Hahaha, oh man bad pun sorry," He said. "But like I said, real blades are important for experience. Besides between the Apollo campers and Chiron, they can heal almost any injury."
Piper watched the lesson, the two young kids were clearly not very experienced with the swords, they couldn't be more then ten or eleven. The flailed their swords, both his each other in the stomach and fell.
The girl with the gold armor, however, didn't get angry. She simply smiled and helped the two young boys up off the ground. The other boys in the line laughed, and the two looked awfully embarrassed.
The girl, Piper remembered her name was Nikki picked up both their swords from the ground and returned them to the two campers.
"Contrary to what you may think, that wasn't horrible, I've seen much worse believe me." She said taking a few steps back.
The two campers lined back up and she pulled her golden sword from her back.
She swung it out in front of her like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"When you're fighting, the sword needs to be like an extension of your arm, part of it. Can you drop part of your arm?" She asked.
A bunch of quick 'No's' and headshakes came, and she nodded. "Exactly, so don't go flailing it around. Grip right under the handle, hold it tight and swing like an extension of your arm."
A flurry of questions came for the girl.
"Is it true you defeated Koios!?"
"Did you really go on a quest after your first week?"
"Were you afraid when you led the Battle of the Labyrinth!?"
"Is it true Percy and Jay trained you themselves!?"
She laughed and held her hands up for silence. "Save all questions for the end of the lesson, come on now, who wants to-."
A big buff voice came next. "Hey Nikki!"
Two larger boys, and one buff looking girl camp striding to the green. Annabeth sighed and Piper could practically hear her roll her eyes.
Jay snickered and pointed to the green. "Oh, this is gonna be good, watch this." He told her.
The one guy in the lead led his beefy friends right up to Nikki, who sheathed her sword and stood there with her arms crossed.
"Can I help you Andrew?" She said calmly.
He grunted and pointed off the green. "We got the green scheduled for practice, you need to get these little punks and clear out."
Nikki shook her head, she looked up at the sun. "Well, as a daughter of the sun god I can tell from the sun it is around 2:30? I have the green scheduled for my lessons until 3, after that it's fair game, but for now, I'm going to finish my lesson." She told him.
The girl grunted, "Ha, I don't know why you even bother. We saw them practicing, pathetic."
Some of the young campers shifted uncomfortably, some looked down in dismay. Piper would have been slightly intimidated by three giant older campers, all carrying swords and spear staring her down, but Nikki laughed and shook her head.
"We were all here at one-point Caitlynn. Now if you wanted to move your slot up, you should have had Clarisse come ask me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lesson to get back too." She told them.
"Here it comes…" Jay said expectantly.
"We ain't going anywhere!" Andrew said reaching out to grab Nikki's arm.
The girl must have been expecting this, because she whirled around, grabbed the boy's arm and twisted it behind his back. Andrew wailed out in pain as Nikki stood behind him holding his arm up. She held the arm in place and looked at her students.
"Now kids, lesson one, in a hostile situation always stay on alert, no matter who you're fighting they'll always look for an upper-hand, just like you should." She said before releasing Andrew arm and kicking him in the back and down to the ground.
Piper scoffed and opened her mouth in amazement.
"This is nothing," Jay said. "Just wait."
Andrew quickly got up from the ground and wiped his mouth of blood. He pulled his sword from his belt and pointed it at Nikki.
"We'll show you! Let's teach her a lesson!" He said to his friends.
Before she knew it, the other two unsheathed their weapons, the one boy with a javelin and shield, and Caitlyn with another sword.
Nikki pulled her sword back from her back and looked at her students. "Lesson two, when faced with multiple enemies, don't panic use your speed, and quick wits."
Andrew came barreling at Nikki like a bowling ball. He went to swing his sword at her, but Nikki quickly ducked underneath the strike and came up behind him whacking the back of his helmet with the flat of his blade and sent him sprawling to the ground again.
"Lesson number three, never go where your enemy leads you!" She said, sounding as if she was having fun now.
The two other campers camp at her, shields raised Nikki simply circled them, avoiding the shields until Caitlyn went swinging wildly trying to get Nikki to open up her guard, but she didn't. Nikki deflected the blow and slammed the hilt of her blade into the other girl's stomach, before sweeping her feet out from under her with the flat of her blade.
"Lesson four, the first lesson Percy ever taught me. Always control he tempo ad dictate the pace and speed of the fight!" She said happily.
The campers watched with open jaws and wide eyes, as Nikki swiftly turned, knocking the spear of the third boy down into the dirt, before slashing her sword down. The boys spear splintered in half, she wacked his shield from his hands and held her blade to his chest. The boy, rather smartly Piper thought, turned and ran away.
The group of students 'oh-ed' and 'aw'ed'. Nikki bowed and then quickly turn around when she heard Andrew come back up behind her. They clashed for a few moments in a bronze and gold whirlwind. Nikki finally got the opening and blocked a strike, lowered her sword to the hilt of Andrew's blade and performed a twisting flurry, and caused Andrew's blade to fly into the ground.
She held her blade up to Andrew's neck and smiled at him. "Now, you can have the green in," She looked up at the sun. "twenty-seven minutes, because that fight took a whole three." She said tapping the boy's armor.
Andrew collected Caitlyn from the ground and ran away with her. The young campers swarmed Nikki, begging her to teach them that move. She laughed and started instructed again.
Piper was absolutely blown away. She had just watched a girl her age single handily sword fight and take down three kids twice her size. How could Piper ever compete with that? The more she saw the more amazed, would she soon learn how to do that? Could she learn how to do it? The one camper said Jay had trained Nikki, would it even be possible, with what the dream had said?
"I… don't think I'll be able to do that," She said to him. "That was incredible."
Jay smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder, and it send a hot jolt down her back. He gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry Pipes, everyone thinks that at first. You'll be a warrior in no time, speaking of which… Annabeth what do you say we go find her a weapon of her own?" He asked the blonde.
Annabeth nodded, "He's right Piper, everyone at camp is a warrior in some way. We all excel at different things. Come on, follow us, we'll get you set up with a weapon."
They went and passed more cabins, one with a large owl on the outside. One had a sun on the front, and she saw the one with the boar's head and barbed wire. The passed cabin 8, it glowed with silver, like the color of a moonlight.
"My humble abode." Jay said as the three of them passed.
Piper could see inside, and only one bed was inside. It was completely spotless, with only one dressed lined with picture frames, and a few spare shorts and shirts, but otherwise it was immaculate. They led her to what seemed like an old shed that looked like it was meant for gardening tools. Annabeth unlocked it and inside were not gardening tools, unless you wanna make war on some tomato plants. The shelves were lined with weapons from swords and bows, to clubs like Coach Hedge's.
"Every demigod needs a weapon." Jay said, wading into the racks of weapons examining them all.
"Athena's all about strategy-matching the right weapon to the right person. Let's see…"
Piper didn't exactly feel like shopping for deadly objects, but she knew Jay and Annabeth were trying to do something nice for her.
Jay handed her a massive sword which Piper could barely hold.
"No," The three said at once.
Annabeth did a little more rummaging and pulled out something else.
"A shotgun?" Her and Jay said at once.
"Mossberg 500." Annabeth checked the pump action like it was no big deal. "Don't worry. It doesn't harm mortals. It's been modified to shoot celestial bronze, so it only kills monsters."
"Um, I don't think that's my style," Piper said.
"Mmm, yeah," Annabeth agreed. "Too flashy."
She rummaged through the racks of crossbows. Jay was fiddling with some old bows. She couldn't imagine being very good with a bow considering how awful she was at basketball in gym class. He was looking through the racks of crossbows when something in the corner of the shed caught Piper's eye.
"What is that?" She said. "A knife?"
Jay dug it out and blew the dust off the scabbard. It looked like it hadn't seen the light of day in centuries. Jay and Annabeth looked at each other skeptically.
"I don't know Piper," Annabeth sounded uneasy. "I don't think you want this one. Swords are usually better."
"You use a knife. And Jay uses two of them." She said, pointing to the one strapped to Annabeth's belt, and Jay's belt buckle.
"Yeah, but…" She trailed off.
Jay shrugged his shoulders. "Eh let's let her try it out Annabeth. No harm in it, here you go Pipes."
The sheath was worn black leather, bound in bronze. Nothing fancy, nothing flashy. The polished wood handle felt beautiful in Piper's hand. When she unsheathed it, she found a triangular blade eighteen inches in length, they were a little shorter than the ones Jay used, the bronze gleamed like it had just been cleaned yesterday. The edges were deadly sharp. Her reflection in the blade caught her by surprise. She looked older, more serious, not as scared as she felt.
"It suits you." Annabeth said.
"Daggers like these were carried by high ranking officers in the Greek army. They were a symbol of status, that you were a person of power. It was a symbol yes, but it was plenty good in a fight." She explained to Piper.
"I like it," Piper said. "Why didn't you think it was right?"
Jay bit back his lip and Annabeth rubbed the back of her head. "That blade has a complicated history. Most people would be afraid to claim it. Its previous owner… things didn't turn out well for her. Her name was Helen."
Piper let that sink in. "You mean the Helen?"
Annabeth and Jay both nodded, and Piper suddenly felt like she should be handling the dagger with surgical gloves. "And it's just sitting in your tool shed?"
Jay shrugged his shoulders. "We're surrounded by Ancient Greek Stuff."
"We're not a museum. A weapon like that, it's meant to be used. It's our heritage as demigods. That was a wedding present to Helen from her first husband Menelaus. What was it called again Annabeth? Kat-something?" He told her encouragingly.
"Katoptris, that's what it's called." Annabeth said.
"Meaning?" Piper asked.
"Mirror," Annabeth said. "It's a fitting name, considering that was all Helen used it for. It's never seen battle."
"I bet that'll change before long. Congrats Pipes, if you want, I'll show you some moves with that thing later on." Jay told her with a huge smile.
Piper felt her face get hot. She remembered something one of the young students had said to Nikki out on the green. 'Didn't Percy and Jay train you themselves?'. Would she be able to take out three armed fighters at a time? She liked the idea of Jay training with her. If she was going to enjoy herself before having to betray everyone… at least she wanted to learn to fight perhaps.
Piper looked at the blade again. For a moment her reflection changed, She saw flames and grotesque faces. Her dad was tied up in chains, tied to a post in front of a roasting bonfire. She heard the same laughter she had heard in the dream.
She dropped the blade.
"Piper, Pipes, are you alright!?" Jay said holding her shoulders up as her knees buckled.
"Medic! We need some help over here!" Annabeth yelled.
"No, it's-it's okay." She said grabbing hold on Jay's hand on her shoulder.
She locked eyes with him. Her eyes met his, and for a moment she felt her body go into overdrive. If she saw herself outside, she would have guessed her face was completely red. Jay stared into her eyes as well, she saw a small red hue appear in his upper cheek, he looked like he was trying to look down into her heart. Speaking of the heart she felt like her would implode.
But in what felt like after ten seconds he shuddered and moved his eyes away from hers. He helped her steady himself and looked away with his face looking embarrassed.
Suddenly Piper felt like she was on top of the roof of Wilderness School with him again. She felt like a bomb had gone off in her stomach. Annabeth looked between the two of them cautiously.
"Are you sure you were okay Piper? You looked pretty pale just then." Annabeth said concernedly.
"Yeah I just…" She had to control herself. With trembling fingers, she reached down and picked up the dagger. "I just got so overwhelmed, but I'd like to keep the dagger, if that's okay."
Annabeth looked to Jay and they both nodded. "No problem Pipes, and like I said I'll train you myself." He said with a smile.
Annabeth waived off the Apollo kids who had came over. She looked at her and nodded. "If you say so Piper. You looked really pale for a moment."
Piper nodded her head. Every bit of her body was starting to ache. She looked at Jay and nodded her head.
"Yeah… I'm fine. Does… does the camp have a phone? So, I can call my dad?" She asked.
It was time to see if the dream really had come true.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"We started with twelve cabins for the twelve Olympian gods." Annabeth explained. "Then after this summer we added whole bunch of cabins for the other gods who don't have thrones. Nemesis, Hades, Iris, Hecate-." At those words she looked up and Jay who was walking ahead of them.
Piper wondered what the deal was but ignored the feeling for now.
"And the two big ones on the end?" She asked.
"Zeus and Hera." Annabeth explained, frowning at the mention of Hera.
Piper headed that way catching up with Jay. Annabeth followed even though she didn't seem very excited. The Zeus cabin reminded Piper of a bank, it was made of white marble with large columns out front and a polished bronze door with lightning bolt designs on it.
Hera's cabin was smaller but done in the same style, except the door was design sort of like peacock feather designs, shimmering different colors. Unlike all the other cabins that had the doors swung open and were bustling with activity, the Zeus and Hera cabins were silent.
"Are they empty?" Piper asked.
Jay and Annabeth both nodded. "Zeus went a long time without having any children. Well, mostly. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades the elder brothers amongst the gods-they're called the 'Big Three'. Their kids are really dangerous and powerful, really dangerous. For the last seventy years or so they've tried to avoid having any demi-god children."
"Tried to avoid it?"
Annabeth looked over at Jay, who's face had fallen dark. His eyes were looking down at his shoes and he couldn't meet Piper's eyes. Something seemed to have clicked inside him, and now it was like a machine had shut down. He managed to look up at Annabeth and give a small nod before she continued.
"Sometimes they… cheated. We've got a friend, Thalia who's a daughter of Zeus. She gave up camp life and became a Hunter of Artemis. My boyfriend Percy, he's a son of Poseidon. And… there's another kid who comes around, his name is Nico, he's a son of Hades. Except for them, there are no children of the Big Three gods, at least that we know of." She explained.
She didn't fail to notice Jay's head somehow fall even lower at the mention of this Nico person. She made a note to ask him later, but for now she looked over at Hera's cabin.
"And Hera?" She asked.
"Goddess of Marriage." Annabeth said in a controlled tone, like she was trying to control herself from cursing. "She doesn't have kids with anyone but Zeus, so no demigod children. The cabin is just honorary."
"You don't like her?"
Jay laughed next to her, seemingly recovered from his bout of sadness. "HA, don't like is an understatement."
Annabeth shot him a glare and he quickly shut up before she turned to Piper.
"We have a long history." She said. "I thought we had made peace, but then she sent me a vision in a dream the other night."
"Telling you to come get us." Piper said. "You thought you would find Percy there."
Jay looked at his friend with a sympathetic look. Annabeth's head fell for a moment but then perked back up.
"It's probably best not to talk about it." Annabeth said. "I've got nothing to good to say about Hera right now."
Piper looked down at the base of the doors, and it seemed Jay had already found something. "So, who goes in there?" She asked.
Annabeth looked at her confused. "Nobody, it's honorary like I-."
"Um, Annabeth? We may have a problem." Jay said moving out of the way.
Footsteps led into the cabin from the dust that had been there, and it was slightly ajar.
"It looks like someone is visiting Hera." Jay said pressing his wrist charm. His silver bow appeared in his hands. "I swear if this is Connor and Travis with another prank…"
Piper instinctively stepped passed Jay and went to push the door open, and they swung open easily. Annabeth stepped back with Jay. "Piper I don't think-."
"We're supposed to do demigod stuff right?" Piper said, and she walked inside.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
The Hera cabin wasn't a place Piper would want to have her birthday party yet. There were no beds, no furniture, only a furnace, an altar and a giant statue of the goddess Hera. Ten feat tall, with golden flowing robes sitting in a throne. It wasn't what Piper expected a statue of the goddess of marriage to look like. It was brightly painted, if it was normal height it would have passed for human. The cabin reminded Piper of a tomb.
No, this wasn't her mom, Piper could at tell that much. She hadn't come in here because she felt a good connection, but rather because her sense of dread felt stronger here. Her dream, that horrible premonition she had- it felt connected to this cabin in some way. The dream was connected to this cabin.
She froze after taking a few steps, they weren't alone. In front of the altar, kneeling was a person with the hood of a black shawl up. Their hands were up, surely in a prayer to Hera or some god, Piper could hear chanting.
Jay came up behind her first and gasped. "Rachel!?" He said.
The other girl turned around and her shawl hood dropped. It revealed a head of curly red hair and a freckly face of a girl no more then a year older the Piper. She was wearing a t-shirt and jeans with multiple marker drawings on them. Despite the cold floor, she was barefoot.
"Hey, Jay, Annabeth!" She said before running and hugging both of them. "I'm so sorry! I came as fast as I could." She said.
"Holy Hades Rachel, what're you doing in here, you almost got an arrow to the head!" Jay said smiling at the girl.
The three talked for a while about Percy Jackson. How there had been no news, and they were still searching, before Jay remembered Piper was in the room.
"We're being rude sorry. Rachel this is Piper one of the half-bloods we rescued today." Jay apologized. "Piper this is Rachel Dare, our Oracle."
"The one who lives in the cave?" Piper asked.
Rachel grinned. "That's me!"
"So, you're an oracle?" Piper asked. "So, you can tell the future?"
"More like the future mugs me from time to time." Rachel said. "I speak prophecies. The oracle's spirit kind of takes me over and speaks really important stuff that nobody can understand. But yeah, the prophecies tell the future."
"Oh," Piper shifted from foot to foot. "That's cool."
Rachel laughed. "Don't worry, everybody finds it creepy at first. Even me. Most of the time I'm harmless."
"You're a demigod?"
"Nope," Rachel said. "100% mortal."
"Then what are you…" Piper gestured around a cabin.
Rachel's smiled faded and she looked to Annabeth and Jay. "Just a hunch. Something about this cabin and Percy's disappearance. They're connected somehow, I just know it. I've learned to follow my hunches, especially this last month since the gods went silent."
"Went silent?" Piper said, looking at Jay and Annabeth.
Rachel frowned at the two. "You haven't told her yet?"
"We were getting to that." Annabeth said. "Piper, for the last month… well. It's normal for gods not to talk to their demigod children very much but…" She said looking to Jay.
He sighed. "But usually we always get signs, messages now and then. My mom for instance always sends a sign that she's watching me, sometimes she even visits me. The other gods do similar things but… lately we haven't heard anything. No messages, no signs, nothing. Nobody knows why. It's like the gods have ghosted us. Even my mother doesn't answer my prayers, our camp director Dionysus he was recalled-."
"Your camp director is the god of… wine?" She asked.
"Yeah it's a-."
"Long story," Piper guessed. "Right. Go on."
"That's it really." Annabeth explained. "Demigods still get claimed but no signs, messages anything. It's like something bad happened, only bad things happen when the gods go silent… then Percy disappeared."
"And Jason showed up on our field trip." Piper supplied. "With no memories."
"Who's Jason?" Rachel asked.
"My-." Piper stared to say. Her chest hurt when she almost said, 'my boyfriend'. "My friend. My friend. But Annabeth you said Hera sent you a vision."
"Right." Annabeth said. "Th first communication with a god in a month, and it's Hera. The least helpful goddess and she contacts me, her least favorite demigod. She tells me I'll find what happened to Percy if I go to the Grand Canyon and looked for a guy with one shoe. Instead I find you guys, and the guy with one shoe is Jason. It doesn't make sense."
"Something bad is happening." Rachel agreed. She looked at Piper, and she felt an overwhelming desire to tell them everything. Tell them about the dream, tell them she knew what was happening, at least her part of the story. And the bad stuff was only beginning.
"Guys," Piper said. "I-I need to-."
Before she could continue, Rachel's body stiffened. Her eyes began to glow a green color, and she grabbed Piper by the shoulders.
Free me, she said. But it wasn't Rachel's voice. It sounded like the voice of an older women, speaking from somewhere long away.
"Rachel! Let her go, what's going on!" Jay said trying to pry Rachel away from Piper.
Jay tried to pry Rachel off Piper's shoulders, but it was in vein. Free me Piper McLean, or the earth shall swallow us. It must be by the solstice!
"Enough, Rachel let go!" Jay yelled as he and Annabeth tried still in vein to pry Rachel away from Piper.
The room started spinning, Piper didn't know now if she was awake or dreaming. The giant statue of the goddess seemed to rise from her throne. It leaned over Piper, it's eyes boring into her. The statue's mouth opened, its breath like horribly thick perfume. It spoke in the same echoing voice. Our enemies stir. The fiery one is only the first. Bow to his will and their king shall rise, dooming us all FREE ME!
Piper's knee buckled and she fell to the ground.
"PIPER! No, I got you!" Was the last thing she heard Jay yell, before everything went black.
A/N: Hey everyone, I'm sorry this chapter took about an extra week then normally to upload, this chapter was much longer and harder to get out. However, I really hope that you guys enjoyed what I had to offer this chapter! There will probably be a few typos initially since I'm doing this past midnight and I am extremely tired lol.
So, what do you think of the new badass Nikki!? What about seeing thins from Piper's perspective. How is it finally seeing Jay from outside his POV!? I promise the next chapter will be much shorter in terms of release time. I love Leo but his chapters won't be as prevalent in this fic since his story won't be changed too much with Jay in the picture. However, the supersized Mcshizzle will get his chapter, we will learn more about him and Jay along with seeing how Gwen Stacey has been doing in her first few months at camp! I hope you guys are excited.
That's it! Please, please leave a review and let me know how you're liking this so far! See you all next time, have an awesome day!