Percy
I was abruptly woken up by someone pounding on my door. I jumped out of bed and ran-hopped to the door as I pulled on my pants, I was panicking. I'd overslept and missed the show, I'd messed up an act, I was being fired. Each scenario was worse than the previous so when I opened the door to see Drew holding an electric lantern surrounded by pitch black darkness I was momentarily relieved; until I saw her face. Drew looked terrified, honestly terrified. That was when I realized Drew's hair was haphazardly tied up in a loose bun and she was just in her robe. What was happening? "Are you ok?" I questioned urgently. "Piper's missing, have you seen her?" Drew asked urgently, "I've been all over camp and no one has seen her!"
"Is anyone else looking for her?" I asked, my own voice losing its sleepiness as fear for one of my closest friends set in, "Have you talked to Jason, maybe she just went to see him?" Even to my own ears it didn't sound believable. Piper was smart, she wouldn't break the rules just to spend time with her boyfriend. Drew's dark, glassy obsidian eyes were wide … and I really shouldn't have been thinking about Drew's eyes at a time like this. I knew she and Piper didn't really get along but I also knew Drew cared deeply about all the girls in her trailer. "It's going to be ok." I said, trying to calm both our nerves. "I'll look with you." I offered, "We can swing by Jason's trailer and then check everywhere else." Drew took a deep breath, still looking worried out of her mind. "Okay… okay… um" Drew ran a hand through her hair frantically, "The other Aphrodite girls are looking too. I said I would check the big three trailers because she's closest with you guys and all the other girls are going to check the rest of the campsite and then down the road to town." Drew said, words slurring together in haste. I gently rested a hand on her shoulder, "Breathe" I requested gently, my eyes steadily meeting her frantic black ones, "Piper's smart, we are going to find her. Now let's go check the Zeus trailer."
As we quickly walked to the Zeus trailer my hand unconsciously reached out towards Drew's seeking reassurance that she was safe. I withdrew it just centimeters from her hand when I realized what I was doing. But, as I dropped my hand back down to my side Drew's hand reached out and grabbed mine, holding on as her life depended on it. I squeezed her hand gently as we approached the cabin, "It's going to be fine." I whispered. Drew nodded jerkily before knocking on the door of the Zeus trailer. After a minute of waiting Jason opened the door and Drew immediately dropped my hand. From first glance it was pretty easy to see that we had woken Jason up, his hair was messy from sleep, his glasses were crooked and he was still blinking the sleep out of his eyes when he grumbled at us. "Whashappenin?" Jason questioned. "Piper's missing." Drew stated urgently, quickly scaring any lingering sleepiness from Jason, "Have you seen her?" She questioned intently. "Not since the show," Jason admitted frantically, "I don't know where she would go? Let me grab another lamp, I can help you look, where've you looked? Maybe I can think of someplace you haven't thought of?" Jason was quickly moving about the trailer now, tossing things about as he looked for his shoes and lanturn. "What the …?" A voice called groggily. "Thals?" I responded. Thalia flipped on her bedside lamp, blinking tiredly at me and Drew's messily put together outfits, "What's going on seaweed brain?" Thalia asked, using her and Annabeth's nickname for me. "Piper's missing." Drew said bluntly, "Have you seen her?" she questioned, her fear bleeding through her blunt tone. Thalia blinked, "She was serious? Oh my gods!"
"Thals?" Jason questioned, "What do you know?"
"I didn't ..." Thalia paused, searching for words, "I didn't think she would do something so reckless. Piper's always so sensible." She implored, almost begging us to understand. "Thalia," I asked tensely, "What did Piper do?"
"She ... she said a few days ago that a guy visiting the circus had found her after the show and invited her to an event in town." Thalia hesitated, "She said he talked it up, made it sound real fun, but she knew you guys wouldn't approve. A night of debauchery, dancing, and drugs right in the middle of our stay? There was no way any of you would go for it, and for good reason. I asked around, apparently the guy is real dangerous, he bounces around from city to city, causing trouble and mayhem. I told her everything I'd found out but she didn't look particularly dissuaded. Still, I never figured she'd actually go, I'm so sorry. I should've tried harder to stop her, I should've told you guys. I just … figured she wouldn't go." Thalia's face was pale and tightly drawn. "It's okay Thals." Jason said, trying to comfort his big sister. "We know where to look now, we are going to find her, I promise."
Thalia and Jason had quickly gotten dressed and grabbed their lanterns. And now the four of us were quickly walking through the campsite towards the road to town. As we walked we passed other Aphrodite girls Drew told them what Thalia had told us and they joined our group to search the road to town. First though, we sent Valentina and Lacy back to the trailer to wait in case Piper came back. Then Jason, Drew, Selina, Thalia, and I set off down the road to town.
Ok babes~
Here's the next chapter, sorry it was so late :/
As always if there's anything you loved/hated/were wondering about hmu!
Just in case you were wondering: Jason is a human cannonball and Thalia is his assistant. And if you're wondering why Jason and Thalia are sharing a cabin, it's because they are siblings and since they're a headline act they get extra benefits and space.
Thanks so much for reading! The next chapter will be up next week, probably around the same time.