Eventide
part one: civil
ch. eight: the sun
She woke up on the wrong side of the bed. No, seriously. Piper opened her eyes to find Drew standing over her. How great was that?
Piper got up, stretching her arms out and giving Drew a dazzling smile just to piss her off. "Morning, Drew," she said. "Didn't know you liked watching people sleep." Drew glared at her, tossing her black ringlets over her shoulder.
"I actually came to wake you up, hon." Her sister rolled her eyes and stalked out of the door like the room was just another catwalk to trip down. Like she would ever be a supermodel. Drew would probably be mauled by a monster before that could happen, because, well, she wasn't the best person at wielding any kind of weapon, unless curling irons could suddenly be used to kill monsters.
She got up, shaking out her hair, before remembering that she had fallen asleep in the Big House. The events of the day before (or maybe it was still the same day) came rushing back, and with it, her dreams.
Demigod dreams were like horror movies - except there were more terrifying and worse. It was close enough. In the movies, she would sit and yell about how stupid the main character was to walk into the place with creepy noises coming out of it. In demigod dreams, she was the stupid main character.
Okay, so the dream hadn't been that bad, but she had dreamed of Zeus (who was as horrible as any monster, no offense), Hera (now 100% doomed), and the rest of the Olympian council (who were pretty okay, actually. It was just those two crazies... minus Athena, but then again, special circumstances. Piper had watched the goddess destroy Percy and Annabeth, so...).
And of course, they'd been fighting about something. It was clearly the being Thalia had described, the one Artemis had told the Olympians about. Artemis had looked about ready to pull out her bow and a couple of knives to chop off some heads. Athena had been pacing back and forth, yelling. Zeus had been in an argument with Hera. Poseidon was talking quietly with Hades, the two the most calm in the room. Apollo was next to his twin for once, his bow already out. Hermes was throwing boxes at everything. Demeter was throwing what looked like Frosted Flakes (healthier) at everyone. Hephaestus was slamming his hands against his armrests. Ares was laughing at all the fighting. And her mother? She'd been fixing her makeup.
Way to go, Mom. Yeah, sometimes, she wished she was the daughter of some other goddess, though Aphrodite did have her moments.
And then she'd seen something worse than Zeus posing dramatically in a toga - someone in the shadows, watching, laughing, before disappearing. She bet all the drachmas she had that another war would start in the next couple of years and that she'd be involved in it. Yippee.
"Oh, good. You're awake." Chiron was waiting for her on the porch. He handed her some lemonade, which she gratefully accepted, though finding it a little weird. But then again, she was the daughter of a who-knew-how-old-Greek-goddess and she knew a guy who could light on fire, so drinking lemonade was probably pretty normal.
The sky was dark. Not because of the time of day, though, she realized. It was shrouded with storm clouds, closing in on the usually sunny valley. Campers were outside, doing things like skewering each other and playing basketball, but everyone was watching the storm.
She pointed at it. "I thought the valley was storm-proof?" Chiron, too, watched it. He sighed, rubbing his beard.
"Piper, Zeus has called for a meeting of all the senior counselors of Camp Half-Blood and the centurions and important figures of Camp Jupiter. The details are sketchy, but I imagine the lord of the skies-" Thunder cut him off, and he sighed again.
"Fine, Zeus!" he yelled at the sky. "Anyways, my dear, you should head to Olympus. I presume you know the way?" She remembered it - Empire State, 600th floor, and pull out a dagger if the doorman takes too long. Yep.
"Yes," she said carefully. "Of course. Chiron," she said, changing the subject. "How is Amy?"
"She's fine, sleeping, but fine. Don't worry, child, Malcolm has come and apologized to her. He said that you were right about whatever you told him, and that he would make up for his mistakes." She nodded.
"I should go, Chiron. Thanks," she said, setting down the half-full glass on the railing. There was nothing like angry gods to start off her day. She was halfway off of the porch when the centaur called her name.
"Piper," he called. She turned. "You slept through dinner yesterday, and right now, it's one thirty in the afternoon. Get something to eat after the meeting." She yelled another thanks and walked to Half-Blood Hill, making another trek up it like she'd done yesterday, this time more energized.
Thirty minutes and a taxi ride later, she was at the front desk yelling at the reception guy, who was conveniently reading The Prisoner of Azkaban.
"Hey," she snapped. "You know, Zeus called a meeting, I'm supposed to be there, please give me the key. I know Harry is amazing, but right now, I'm not supposed to standing here." He sighed, reaching over and opening a drawer, tossing her the key.
Finally. She marched over to the second elevator, stuck the key in the slot, pressed Floor 600, and waited. And waited. And tried to jam out to Mozart, but no one really jammed out to Mozart. And waited. And also kicked the elevator a couple of times.
She reached the last floor, marked with a ding, and she stepped onto Olympus. It had never failed to take her breath away. Right after the Giant War, she'd been invited to this you-saved-the-world party, and it had taken her breath away. Even half-finished. Annabeth had done a good job.
Piper was still gawking when she reached the double doors of the throne room, though she quickly snapped her mouth shut as she pushed inwards. And there they were, the Olympians, reclining on massive thrones with her friends (Octavian, not really) kneeling on the ground. Everyone turned when she walked in, and feeling a bit self-conscious, she, too, knelt.
"Excuse me, my lords, my ladies," she said. She didn't give an excuse, because no one just told the Olympians they missed an important meeting because they were sleeping.
"Rise, my daughter," Aphrodite called. She looked as beautiful as ever, her appearance changing to having darker hair and darker skin, as well. It matched the perfect mother she'd always dreamed of when she was little. Jason came forward and took her hand in his. He squeezed it, and Piper suddenly felt a little better. Boyfriend alert, anyone?
Zeus watched everyone, one hand on his master bolt, his eyes a stormy grey like that of his daughter's. He finally sat forwards.
"I have called everyone here," he boomed, voice echoing. "because the Olympian council has decided that you are to be rewarded for your bravery in the war."
Bull. Total bull. She risked a glance at Artemis, who was sitting with her lips pressed tightly together. Obviously, this was about that man, and the disappearance of Percy and Annabeth, but no way would Zeus admit it. Glancing at the others, - this was a lot of people - she knew they were thinking the same thing.
"We have decided," he said. "that you are worthy of immortality, and of the role to protect your respective camp."
Whatever she had been expecting, she had not been expecting that. Immortality? Um. Protecting Camp Half-Blood? Um. Did they not think to ask before they told them they were going to be immortal? Ah, well, sucked for Drew. Highlight of the day.
Before anyone could protest, the gods all stood up as one and began to chant. The entire room was filled with light, golden, and Piper stared at it, beautiful streams of energy enveloping them. And then she passed out.
When she woke up, she was officially immortal, which meant that she could call herself immortally pissed. The gods hadn't thought this through. It was in plain sight; there was something going to happen, and the gods thought that taking their best fighters and making them stay alive for forever would save them. Ha. Ha. Ha. Yeah, right.
She was once again in a bed, though this one was slightly more comfortable than the one before. The sheets were a plain white, soft to the touch. She winced as she sat up, the bright lights a tad too bright for her taste. Everything seemed to be white - the infirmary, maybe? Apollo breezed in suddenly, his eyes a cornflower blue as he smiled at her. He looked like any other teenage guy - wearing a tee and jeans, Ray-Bandz, his blonde hair sort of ruffled.
"Good, the sleeping beauty is awake," he said, cheerily. She felt herself flush, heat moving up her neck to her cheeks. Then, she realized what it meant and reached for her dagger.
"Apollo, what do you mean, sleeping-" she hissed, being cut off by his finger suddenly pressing against her mouth.
"Sorry," he apologized, shrugging. He didn't look very sorry at all. "Hey, what can I say, princess? You were sleeping, and you're really pretty. Wanna hear a haiku?"
"Nope," a woman's voice called from across the room. She turned in the bed to see none other than Aphrodite, looking as perfect as ever, with her dark hair and almost glowing skin. "Sorry, Apollo, but I'm going to have to talk to Piper alone."
The god groaned and walked out of the room, leaving her with the goddess. Immediately, she felt like she was underdressed, in her shirt and jeans, next to Aphrodite, who was wearing the classic Greek chiton with a few adjustments.
"Mom, why are you here?" Aphrodite sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at her. She pulled out a tiny makeup compact, applying pink eyeshadow while concentrating using the mirror.
"Well, darling, first thing. You need a makeover. And then we can talk." Piper felt her stomach twist in terror. A makeover with the goddess of love herself, who also happened to be her mom? She moved over, scooting away.
"Um, how about we just talk." Aphrodite sighed again, waving a hand in dismissal.
"Fine, fine. Talk we will. You were right earlier, dear," she said, lowering her voice. "when you thought turning the senior counselors into immortals wasn't just a reward. The being Percy went with - well, we don't know if it's working for good or for evil." At the look on Piper's face, she hurried to talk.
"Of course, we both know that Percy wouldn't have gone with him - it - unless he trusted the being, but we're taking our precautions. And with Annabeth gone, we can only assume she went to find him. The thing is, Piper, we have no means of going after them."
Her friends. These were her friends, and here Aphrodite was, telling her that the freaking gods couldn't go after her friends.
"What do you mean, you can't go after them?" she cried. "You're the Olympians! You can do practically anything you want - and oh, you know, watch two demigods go through the hardest time of their lives alone while not even lifting your finger! They saved the world. And yet you can't go after them?" There was a second of silence after her outburst, before Aphrodite touched her shoulder almost gently.
"Piper, this being isn't someone we can't just trust. It has far more powers than we could ever dream to have. Even love, the most strongest power and feeling in the universe, isn't enough. I can't tell you where they've gone because I don't exactly know."
Piper slumped back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling. Her mom didn't know where they had disappeared off to. And there was a slight chance they would never know. She would never see them again. Her thoughts turned to Athena, and she sat up quickly, anger burning through her veins.
"But Athena-"
"You were watching," her mother commented, suddenly looking interested. The makeup compact disappeared. "You were there." Piper nodded.
"It was a couple of weeks after the war," she began, slowly. "and by this time, everyone had realized that Percy and Annabeth couldn't really... I mean, they needed each other. Especially at night, when the nightmares would creep back. It was hard enough, I guess, having demigod dreams, but when there were nightmares, it was overwhelming. Eventually, Annabeth began to sleep in Cabin Three."
"Continue." She was pretty sure that as the goddess of love, Aphrodite had already known the story, but she kept going.
"Everything was fine. No one commented on the sleeping arrangements. Annabeth still led her cabin, and Percy went back to his old life. There was the occasional flashback, the hallucinations, the shaking - but we'd all been through PTSD. I think it was more than a month later when Athena suddenly showed up, asking for Annabeth. She wanted to talk to her about Olympus, unfinished because of the sudden turn of events." She took a deep breath.
"The two weren't up yet. They'd gone to New York the day before, to meet Percy's mom and stepdad, and the trip was really exhausting - I mean, the whole going through traffic, dodging monsters, telling Percy's family everything. And they did run into a couple empousi after a while. So when Athena showed up, everyone was kind of shocked, because we knew she would blow up if she found out about the Percy-Annabeth thing."
"Our cabin - Cabin Ten - we caused a distraction while I ran. Being lovey-dovey and all that. But I was too late when I reached Cabin Three. Athena was yelling in front of the two, and I could hear things about responsibility and stuff - she thought they were literally sleeping together, and then you and Poseidon showed up, the thing escalated, and she threatened Percy before leaving, finding me hidden outside. I don't remember much after that."
"And then Percy ran away." Her mother's voice was soft, comforting. "And Annabeth disappeared soon after. You have to understand, though, that Athena was not in the right mind. She would have usually accepted this, should she have let Percy explain, but Athena was not herself. She was Minerva and Athena, fighting against what was logical and right. That morning, we had been talking - of course, I was telling her how cute she and Poseidon would look together-"
Her face burned, and she interrupted. "Mom."
"Right, right. I was telling her how cute they could be together, but she ignored that and told me how her Roman side was acting up. She said she wanted to talk to Annabeth about Olympus, as well, but I advised that she wait before she was in control, but she seemed panicky. Like something would happen if she didn't talk to her daughter."
Everything seemed to fall into place. The look of pure rage on Athena's face, her lips pulled back in a snarl. The weird light in her eyes. Everything.
"Zeus had been complaining about the designs for a while, as had some of the other gods and goddesses, even the ones not on the council. Which made sense, of course, seeing as Kronos destroyed almost everything. And so she left, unstable even, to find her daughter, which eventually blew up in her face. Minerva hates the Greeks. But with Athena in mostly control, the worst she could do was separate them, instead of killing everyone on sight."
No, this was too much. It was too much. The goddess who had inadvertently caused the whole mess also happened to have an alter-ego who also happened to hate the Greeks. So, technically, it was Minerva's fault, yet Minerva had grown bitter after the Romans, who had been doing what they'd thought was right. She shook her head and tried to change the subject.
"I'm immortal," she started. "but I don't feel any different."
"No, you shouldn't. Immortal means you live forever, and you can't die, with the exception of joining the Hunters - who are stupid, if you ask me - where you can die in battle. Had we gifted you with powers, then you would be a minor goddess, but of course, our silly king Zeus is terrified of you all having too much power and whatever. Now, come on, Piper, I believe your boyfriend is up."
She was suddenly pushed out of bed by invisible hands, then held frozen, rooted to the spot, as her mother played dress-up. She was allowed to keep the whole t-shirt and jeans look, but the shirt was more high-end and the jeans were skinny, supermodel jeans. Her hair braided itself, makeup was applied, and a bracelet looped around her wrist.
She couldn't even protest as she was forced into these terrible, out-of-her-comfort-zone, tall high-heeled boots. Gods, she had to have the fashion-obsessed mother. Finally, the goddess snapped her fingers, and Piper found herself being dragged out of her room into another, where Jason was sitting up on his own bed.
Things she had learned today: she was immortal. She was immortally pissed. She was, in a roundabout way, kind of related to a goddess that wanted to kill Greeks. She didn't like her mom that much. She didn't enjoy makeovers. She also didn't like how boys drooled over her new-ish outfit.
Oh, and now she was going to live forever, fight monsters forever, and wait for her friends forever. This was shaping up to be a great day, wasn't it?
Um, from reviews only, I'm getting a kind of I'm-bored vibe... I hope I'm not doing something wrong? And also sorry for the late chapter, but I did not get to sixty as I'd hoped (ha, ha, ha) which both surprised and did not surprise me at the same time. Thank you to my three reviewers.
I know, I'm complaining, blah. Yeah, yeah. See you next time! (Come on, tell me what you think about my story! Pet peeves, weird ideas, you-should-make-this-pairing-happen, whatever. And stop telling me to update like I don't have a life.) If you read this, kudos, and write 'pineapples' in your review if you decide to do so. I want to know - who reads the A/Ns? And also, what state/country are you from?
achieving elysium
