Hello there
I'm assuming most who are reading this haven't got House of Hades yet.
Don't worry, we'll get through the wait!
Next chapter will be quite exciting, enjoy this one!
If I were Rick Riordan, I wouldn't not have read House of Hades yet, would I?

Chapter twenty-four: Spoils of war

After breakfast, Penelope went to her room for a while, as Coach Hedge had ordered her to rest her leg for a bit. They'd changed the bandages, and the bite looked a lot better than yesterday from what the satyr said, though it still hurt to put her full weight on it.
So Pen was just lying on her bed, reading a book Annabeth had borrowed her on Ancient Greek myths, which was actually quite interesting.
She had just finished reading about Heracles and the Hydra, when there was a soft knock on the door and Piper stuck her head in, asking "Can I come in?"
"Sure" Penelope smiled, and made some room for her on the bed. Piper sat down and then held something out to her which at first looked like an old rag.
"What's that?" Penelope asked, taking it reluctantly.
"Your first spoil of war." Piper grinned "The snake's skin. No idea what it does though."
Penelope looked closer and realised that the piece of skin was anything but a rag. It was dark green and scaly, with intricate golden designs she hadn't noticed before. It was actually kind of beautiful.
"Good thing I do" she told Piper, and leafed back a few pages in the book she was just reading until she found the correct page.
"Amphisbaena. A two headed snake which usually lives in the desert and eats dead bodies. It sprang to life from the blood dripping from Medusa's head as Perseus flew over the desert with it – yuck- and has a poisonous bite.
It is said that expecting women wearing a live Amphisbaena around their necks would have safe pregnancies; however, if one's goal is to cure ailments such as arthritis or the common cold, one should wear only its skin.
By eating the meat of the Amphisbaena, one could attract many lovers of the opposite sex, and slaying one during the full moon could give power to one who is pure of heart and mind. Lumberjacks suffering from cold weather on the job could nail its carcass or skin to a tree to keep warm, while in the process allowing the tree to be felled more easily."
Piper giggled "So you can either cure the flu or chose to become a lumberjack. Sounds good."
Penelope snickered as well, but then furrowed her brow "But it's not mine, Pipes, it's yours, you killed it."
But her friend shook her head. "I couldn't have killed it if you hadn't distracted it. You earned it."
Her tone was so resolute that Penelope didn't argue but hugged her friend instead.
"Thanks" she smiled, a feeling of pride springing to life inside her as she hung her first spoil of war over her bed.
They sat for a bit and talked, about Phorcys and the next few days, but also about normal things, like the people back home and boys.
"What were you and Percy doing up there on your own at that hour?" Piper suddenly said, her voice curious and a bit suspicious.
"We were talking" Pen answered, and when Piper didn't say anything she said, forcefully "Really Piper, we were just talking! I would never do anything like that, you know I wouldn't!"
Piper's expression softened. "I know, I know. Sorry, I didn't really believe you had a crush on him."
"No, I don't" Pen said, but then thought of the weird completed feeling she had around him. Should she tell Piper? After all, she was head counsellor of the Aphrodite cabin, and even though Pen's feelings weren't romantic, she must know general stuff about feelings as well.
"Piper, if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone else?" her voice was low and intent, and Piper looked at her with a questioning eye.
"Okay" she said, slowly and Penelope started to speak, her voice still extremely low
"Well, even though I swear there is nothing remotely romantic between us, I feel different around Percy. " she hesitated, thinking how to phrase this. There was a tiny creak outside the door, but nobody entered so she continued
"It's like, like I'm whole all of a sudden. Like I'm where I'm supposed to be."
There was silence for a minute, while Piper was obviously thinking about what Penelope had told her. Then, she said:
"I don't know why you feel like that, Pen. I'm sorry but I really don't. Unless maybe you're related to Percy somehow?"
Penelope pondered that idea. She did feel a certain connection to Poseidon and Percy, but was this really because they were related? She didn't know.
"Never mind, it doesn't matter" she muttered, regretting she'd brought it up.
Piper seemed to understand, and changed topic, telling Penelope about some prank the Stolls had once pulled on Chiron. It was a funny story, and soon the tension had gone and the two girls were laughing heartily.

Half an hour later they were almost in Atlanta, and they met up again in the mess hall.
"So, Frank, Coach Hedge and I will go looking for Phorcys" Percy told them, when Jason and Leo had sat down as well. "No idea where we'll find salt water here, but we'll try. You guys can stay here and guard the ship or something."
Percy looked at Annabeth with a somewhat let down expression, which made the girl smile.
"I told you, Seaweed Brain, I want to check out something on Daedalus' laptop."
"Yeah, yeah I know." Percy grumbled, and Penelope's mind wandered while Frank, Coach Hedge and Percy discussed ways to find Phorcys, and possible means to get him to talk.
As they were eating in the mess hall anyway, the others hung around, talking with each other or simply relaxing.
Piper and Jason were sitting on the same chair, and Piper giggled as Jason tickled her.
Annabeth came over and asked Penelope if she wanted a game of chess, as she was the only other person except her who understood it.
Though Annabeth won almost every time, Pen still agreed to play, and soon she was losing spectacularly, almost half her pieces knocked out by Annabeth's bishop and queen.
"Gods Annabeth, this is no fun! It's not fair, your mother's Athe-"
but Penelope broke off, having spotted Leo talking to Hazel in the corner.
He was laughing at something she'd just said, and she smacked his arm companionably.
Ever since they'd gone on that search for the lime and celestial bronze together, they seemed much closer, and for some reason this annoyed Penelope very much.
She narrowed her eyes at the pair, wishing for something to interrupt them, for Leo to stop smiling at Hazel like that.
"Er, Pen? You okay?" Annabeth's voice brought her out of her reverie.
"What? Oh yes, fine, sorry." Quickly, she returned to the game, but not before Annabeth could check out what she'd been staring at.
The daughter of Athena shot her a look, which clearly said I know it all and inwardly Penelope cursed the fact that her friend was so quick on the uptake.
It was silly of her to think like that about Leo and Hazel at all, she tried to tell herself.
After all, Frank was Hazel's boyfriend and Leo – and Leo what?
What was it with him? Penelope thought miserably.
Sometimes it felt like he really liked her, for example when she caught him looking at her when he wasn't expecting it, or all those times they'd gone for a walk or down to the lake together back at camp.
He was her best friend, and now, ever since that snake had bitten her, there was some barrier between them. They hadn't even spoken since.
She sighed while she tried to evade Annabeth's check-mate. Of course she had no such luck, and soon their game was over, with Annabeth still having all but two of her pieces and Penelope none but three.
"Rematch?" Annabeth asked with a glint in her eyes. In moments like these, even if it was only a small game of chess, it was more obvious than ever that Annabeth was truly her mother's daughter.
"No, maybe later" Penelope said, suddenly not in the mood to do anything at all anymore.
Annabeth's face fell disappointedly, but she seemed to get what was bothering her friend.
"Look" she whispered, leaning across the table "when we arrive in Atlanta, talk to him. There might be something he wants to tell you"
"What do you mean?" Penelope asked her, wondering what Annabeth knew that she didn't.
"Well, when you and Piper came back here after the snake attack, you came round for a while after Coach Hedge gave you the antidote."
This surprised Penelope "I did? But I can't remember!"
Annabeth was obviously trying hard not to grin "Yeah, well, you weren't exactly yourself."
"What do you mean?" Penelope had a bad feeling about this. What had she done?
"Ask Leo. He'll tell you." said Annabeth, getting up and laying the table.
While all of them were having lunch, Penelope kept shooting glances at Leo, and unless she was imagining things, his eyes darted away from hers every time they were about to meet.