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Piper
"I always knew Octavian was a rat," Piper said grimly. Hazel nodded weakly. She had recovered quickly with a dose of nectar, but she still looked a bit pale. Agrius had hit her quite hard.
"At least he and Amelia won't be able to spy on us anymore," Annabeth said, looking around the table in the hotel dining room where the seven were seated. "I've sent a signal round to not let them back in camp."
Percy and Frank had come back an hour ago, carrying an unconscious Hazel. Once Hazel had been healed they had told the rest what had happened. Unfortunately, Octavian and Amelia had escaped while Percy and Frank were tending to Hazel.
"Now that's done, we have other things to discuss," Jason said firmly.
"Like?" Leo raised an eyebrow.
"He means the prophecy," Hazel realised.
Piper looked at her blankly. "The prophecy of the seven?" Jason and Hazel exchanged looks.
Jason continued, " prophecy, about the war. I heard it when I was in Erebus' house thing. A Titan said it, I think. It was a woman."
Annabeth's eyes widened, and her mouth opened, searched for some words, talked silently and then closed. "Dark hair?" She asked.
Jason nodded.
"And you were in dark?"
Jason nodded.
"Asteria, titaness of nocturnal or dark oracles. Oh, and falling stars. How is she even alive? She's long since been dead. Must be Erebus' evil work, or Gaia's. I still can't believe you killed her, she's not just any old enemy."
Leo nodded. "It wasn't a stroll in the park, more like running the marathon. Whilst a huge dark guy chucks houses on you. And you're in the middle of a lava lake. And-"
"We get it." Piper laughed. "What was the prophecy?"
Jason answered after a moments thought, "Five will go, two will spill, for heaven forbids, all to end, with one single death."
Annabeth thought. "Five will go. Hmmm. I think I may know what that means." Before Percy could interrupt she spoke. "I'll explain in a minute. Two will spill." She thought quietly and then continued. "That must be the amount of people Gaia will use to awaken herself, by killing them, on the stones of olympus." Annabeth shuddered involuntarily. Despite the morbid line, Piper smiled at how Annabeth was analysing it. "Heaven forbids. Hmmm, that is strange, something the Scriptures mentions, again. Definitely worth thinking about. But the last two lines, all to end with one single death. Who's? Hopefully that's Gaia's?"
"Who's death?" Frank asked. "We need to know!"
She shrugged. "Hopefully we'll find out. Now, listen guys." She and Piper exchanged looks. "We need to talk about the scriptures."
Jason leaned forward. "So you guys found it?"
"It wasn't too easy," Piper muttered. "But yes. We did. And we, well mainly Annabeth, have had a look it." At this Piper gestured at Annnabeth, who opened her mouth to speak.
"There is a lot of information. It was made 5000 years ago, judging from the parchment. It says Ouranos must be raised on Mt. Olympus, and it also foretells that there he will show his power." Everyone looked at each other. Annabeth persisted, "It also talks about Gaia awakening, of course with the blood of two demigods. And it also says that it must be done at the stones of Mount Olympus! That must be where Gaia is. I've realised, that surely she would've captured us, or two of us anyway, by now, by just concentrating her forces. Also, why haven't we sighted Porphyrion, or some of the other giants since the first day of war? I have been mulling over it for ages, it must be a diversion! I bet her main forces are based on Mount Olympus, where she plans to rise and destroy the world."
Percy gripped onto Annabeth's hand, looking at her, as everyone was stunned into silence. Piper looked at Jason, who was resting his hand on hers on the table. His eyebrows were raised in worry. Leo shouted out, "Let's go there now then!"
Annabeth raised her hand. "Wait, one last detail before we leave, Ouranos can only be raised with the Spear of Ouranos, where his blood lies, in a clearing on Mt. Olympus."
"So we need to go there?" Frank asked. Piper nodded in response. "But what about the rest of the camps?"
"They stay here, defend the acropolis," Percy responded.
Annabeth nodded in agreement. "Also, I think it's just meant to be us seven going to Olympus. The scriptures refer to the prophecy of seven."
"But what if the enemy attacks here as well? Will the camps be able to hold it off, especially without us?" Hazel asked.
"We don't have a choice. Let's just hope that the enemy don't attack," Jason said, sighing. "We have to leave, now. This war needs to end, the sooner the better. It means the acropolis, the heart of the gods power, is in danger for less time."
At that very moment, Clarisse ran in, a cut on her scalp, her brown hair shiny with blood.
"The enemy," she panted, "they're approaching. Big army, need to defend!"
Piper's blood turned cold. "But we need to leave! What are we meant to do?" She stood up and walked outside, the rest of the seven following her. The Argo II sat in front of them, in the middle of the park, the sunlight glinting off the gold head of Festus. From the hill they stood on, Piper could see the army of monsters from here, and at the lead were two giants. The enemy army outnumbered them five to one- which wasn't difficult considering how small the demigod army was.
"We're stuck," Hazel said helplessly. "We need help."
"But from who?" Annabeth asked.
Suddenly a horn blasted from a distance, the sound vibrating deep in Piper's bones. Then the ground started rumbling, the leaves twirling round their feet, dancing to their own nature song.
"Is that-" Percy and Annabeth looked at each other.
Suddenly a wave of monsters appeared over the hill, all with one eye. Cyclopes! And at the lead was a familiar one, a Cyclopes Piper would often see at camp.
"Tyson! You're here!"
"Percy, brother! Annabeth!" Tyson rushed towards them, enveloping both of them in bear hug. "Poseidon sent us to help!"
Percy grinned. "That's great!"
Annabeth smiled. "But wasn't there also a nature song I heard?"
Tyson laughed."Oh yes," he said mischievously. "We're not the only ones the gods sent to help."
At this nature spirits literally appeared from the earth, dryads, naiads, satyrs, centaurs. And at the lead, a satyr Piper definitely knew. Grover!
Grover grinned and walked over to the seven. "Hey Piper, Frank. Good to see you." Then he turned, and just caught sight of Percy before he was trapped in a man-hug.
"G-man! It's great to see you!" Percy shouted.
"Percy-y-y!" Grover bleated back. "You were gone so long!"
Percy grimaced. "Yeah sorry about that. But we need to catch up once this war is over." Grover nodded as Annabeth came to hug him tightly.
"We need to go Grover," she said, "to Olympus. Can you and Tyson guard here?" She hugged him even tighter when he nodded.
Suddenly an arrow whirled past them, embedding itself into a nearby tree. Piper turned around to see the hunters.
"Sorry we took so long to come back from our scouting mission." Thalia grinned. She quickly hugged Jason, and Annabeth, before punching Percy lightly in the arm. "We can help too."
Piper smiled. Even though the enemy army was still three times bigger than theirs, she believed they had a chance.
Annabeth turned to Clarisse. "And Clarisse, can you take charge of the demigods?"
"Yes," Clarisse said gruffly. "Good luck guys. End this war."
There was a brief moment of silence, before Jason clapped his hands. "So shall we leave?"
There was a long silence as they all stood in the mess hall. Finally Leo broke the silence. "We are half way there, still no trouble, but Festus is getting restless, I'm expecting trouble soon."
It didn't take long for it to appear. That had just landed and Piper was standing by the rail looking out at Greece spread out, as a horde of empousai attacked. Percy, Annabeth and Frank were out getting directions as Leo's navigation was down, but it was still pretty simple to deal with them.
"Calm down, sit and look at the brilliant sky," Piper said, charmspeak easily overpowering them. Jason, Leo and Hazel then quickly smothered themselves in ash whilst killing them. It was a weak attack from Gaia. Seemed like something Gaia would do to try and make them come to her. Now they knew the real reason for her making them go to Olympus, they were one step ahead of her. That was just a luring move. Much worse was to be found at the mountain, this was definitely a conformation of Annabeth's hunch.
Soon after they arrived close enough to Mt. Olympus, and landed for the final time. Leo had explained his reasoning for this to Piper, "We can't exactly fly into Gaia's lair in a giant ship, just as she wants us to. We need to stay one step ahead of her. Plus I don't want Argo II to suffer its predecessors' fate."
Frank led them out onto the grassy field. Nothing seemed unusual, and all was calm. Ahead loomed the silhouette of the mountain. It stood tall, and was lightly coated in snow towards the top. It was eerily silent. Something really wasn't right.
They walked in single file for hours, Piper had no idea how long, but it felt like ages. Slowly they ascended, and now they stopped at a brilliant view for a snack. Piper was ravenous, and wolfed down the small packet of greasy fries.
"Reminds me of the old days," Percy mumbled, holding Annabeth's hands. Annabeth smiled weakly.
They carried on, until finally they reached a narrow passageway. Beyond it Piper could make out a huge cavern, with tunnels leading in and out of it. The mountain was even bigger than they realised, full of caverns that were somehow open to the sky, of majestic courtyards. Of course, Piper realised, it must have been the gods magic, making the mountain bigger, effectively building a giant, now withering palace. Piper could only imagine how big the place was. A chill settled on her. It was definitely big enough for giants to make their lair, for an army of monsters to be waiting, for a bloody battle to take place. Almost reluctantly, Piper stepped forward to make her way through the passage. There was just one small problem. Someone was in their way.
Honestly, if it weren't for the eyes, Piper would've mistaken the figure in front of them for a marble sculpture. Her face was pale, and she had elegantly piled snow-white hair- though she wasn't old. Her face was beautiful but impassive, a certain authority set into it. Even her toga was a pure white. The only colour about her was her completely black, glowing eyes, set into her face.
"Umm... Hello?" Piper said hesitantly. The woman didn't react. Piper wasn't even sure she could hear them. Suddenly, the woman's head snapped towards her, her eyes staring into her.
"Piper McLean," the woman said in a gravelly voice. She then looked at Jason who was holding her hand reassuringly. "And the rest of the seven. I see you have come here seeking battle."
"We're just here to stop Gaia," Frank said, seemingly unperturbed by the woman's strange manner.
"Well you should turn back now. I will not let you in."
Percy narrowed his eyes. "Why not? Who are you even?"
"I am Ananke, the deity of fate, necessity, compulsion and inevitability. I have long since been the guardian of Mt. Olympus."
Annabeth gasped. "You're one of the original deities, older than the titans. You're the mother of the morai, the fates!"
Ananke inclined her heads. "I let my daughters handle the destiny of individual people, but it is I who hold the knowledge of the future of the world, I ultimately have the insight."
Piper now understood why this woman gave off power. To be older than any of the gods, titans or giants, to have so much knowledge of the whole universe... Suddenly Piper felt apprehensive.
Hazel looked at her. "Why won't you let us in?"
"We need to stop Gaia! Don't you want the gods to win?" Jason said harshly.
Ananke looked at her coldly. "I am the guardian. I care little for wars. Years have passed and I have been all but forgotten. If Gaia wins, it will not matter to me. No, you shall not pass."
At this Leo yelled, drawing his hammer from his toolbelt. He charged forwards Ananke, hammer raised. Just as Leo swung it at her, she raised her hand. Leo was thrown backwards. Immediately, the rest of the seven went into the action. However, the moment they raised there weapons Ananke simply sent them sprawling with a thrust of her hand.
Soon they were all on the floor. Piper realised that maybe after a long battle they would be able to defeat Ananke, but they didn't have much time, and it was too risky. No, they needed to persuade her to help.
"Please, Ananke, let us through," Piper pleaded. "If Gaia wins, she will destroy everything good, everything that doesn't bow down to her."
Ananke's features flickered. "That is no concern of mine," she said, but slowly. Was that a glimpse of regret Piper saw, or was she just imagining it?
Suddenly it struck her. Piper knew what she had to say. "Gaia won't allow free will, at least not any will that disagrees with her. She'll interfere with their fate, what they're meant to do, going against your powers. You know Gaia has the power to do that." Piper saw Ananke consider. Not wanting to stop, she carried on. "And Ouranos and Gaia have been fated to rise, that's why we need to go forward. You don't want to intervene with our fate do you?" Piper knew she had hit the jackpot.
"That is true," Ananke rumbled. "I will let you pass, but you shall die anyway. The enemy awaits."
Jason smiled at Piper, hugging her. "That was amazing, Pipes!" Ananke stepped out of the way, allowing the seven to pass through the passage. But Piper wasn't finished.
"Ananke, you can help us! Please, with your power, you can help us defeat the giants!"
"I shall not intefere!" Ananke said firmly. She turned around, facing the light. Piper knew she was leaving.
"Please! If you help us, things will be the way they're meant to be, with everyone having their own fate, doing what they have to do! You, of all people, should know the importance of that!"
Ananke turned her head round, gazing at Piper. For a second she thought it had worked. But then Ananke simply dissolved, becoming the light. Piper felt weight crush her lungs. She had felt sure they had needed Ananke's help.
"It's ok Piper." Jason squeezed her hand gently. Together they entered the massive cavern. It was then that they noticed something was wrong.
A trap.
And then they heard the giants' war cry.
So hope you enjoyed that! This story will be over soon, it will be 29 chapters long. The story is now postponed till we get 15 reviews, so I want at least 2 more. Please review now if you want to read on! I will really appreciate it!