Riley
"That was really piper?" I said, "I can't believe that was one of the people I looked up so much of my childhood. She just seemed so destroyed and angry."
"Don't say anything about Miss Piper", the dryad Juniper said. "She'll find out. She finds out everything." Juniper seemed quiet and afraid. I wondered what Piper did to her.
It should have been magical and wonderful being shown around the place I'd only dreamed of being real previous to this, and I didn't want the memory of Piper to put a damper on the special day that it was supposed to be. We were shown the armory, the amphitheater, the rock climbing wall, the dining hall, the river, the cabins, everything I imagined, but it wasn't as special as I pictured it would be. I looked over at Ethan, to see how he was taking all this. He seemed amazed at how expansive the property was, but also a little freaked out.
"Juniper?" I called out to the poor lady leading out little tour. She jumped when I called her name.
"Yes, dear," she said as she turned to face me.
"I was just wondering when we're going to get some answers."
Somehow her expression got even sadder. "I don't know if you are going to get many answers. Things have been so weird around here lately. Everyone is so stressed, and your mother seems more frazzled than I've ever seen her before," she said, looking at Sophi. "Annabeth is actually leaving now for some business she needs to attend to far away. Since the war, everything's been so calm for years, but people are saying it's getting back like old times. I don't know if we can take another catastrophe."
Sophi looked angry. "My mother's gone? She didn't tell me that! We were promised answers! I need to know what's going on, and why we're dragging innocent people into this mess!"
Juniper smiled wistfully. We were nearly back at the big house. The tour was over. Suddenly from around the big house came a satyr bouncing a little dryad girl on his back. Behind him was a smaller satyr boy who peeked around his dad's legs. Suddenly all the pain melted off of Junipers face as she picked the little girl off the satyr's back.
"How are you, Clover?" Juniper cooed as she cradled her daughter. Juniper set Clover down gently and then threw herself into the satyr's arms, kissing him on the cheek about a thousand times. "Grover, baby, I'm so glad to see you."
He looked surprised, but happy. "I just saw you this morning."
"I know, but I just... I know," Juniper said, pulling back to look at her husband. "I had a bad feeling about today. Must just be nerves. It's a weird time."
We left with a much calmer and happier looking Juniper to the big house, where I hoped everything would be explained. As much as I loved a tour of what had long been my favourite place on a Earth, what I wanted more was for someone to tell me just what the hell was happening, and why everyone was so freaked out. I didn't like all of my favourite characters looking so worried. For how much I loved these books, and these characters that now stand before me, living and breathing people, I didn't really want their problems to be my problems. I was just a normal girl, I didn't want to have the fate of the world in my pale, thin hands.
We walked through the double doors of the recently painted red big house. Chiron was inside, waiting to lead us in.