XI PIPER

PIPER STOOD AT THE RAILING of the Argo II, watching the crystal blue waves crash against the ship's hull. Cold water droplets splashed onto her face. A cool summer breeze filled the air.

She didn't notice Jason until he was standing right beside her. "Hey," he said, nudging her on the shoulder with his own.

"Hey," she replied, trying for a smile. As he looked out at sea, his blond hair swept to one side in the wind, and his handsome scar from years ago curved upwards in a smile, even though smiling in their current condition seemed to be the last thing the demigods would be expected to do (except maybe laugh, which was actually really depressing). Piper slipped her hand into his.

"Beautiful day," she commented. Jason squeezed her hand and nodded. They had started their route towards Athens a few hours ago, after Leo fixed the engine with a bit of Annabeth's help. Piper had heard lots of explosions.

"What do you expect in Athens?" she asked out of the blue. For a long while Jason didn't respond, and Piper figured he hadn't heard her. But finally he decided, "Lots of fighting. It'll be hard."

Piper instinctively reached down to her side and fingered the hilt of her gold sword. "We've been through hard before," she reminded him. "Right?"

Jason didn't reply. But this time there wasn't a way for him to pretend he hadn't heard.

A white bird landed on the railing a few meters away from them. It looked at them and cocked its head.

"Hi," Piper told it. "You lost?"

The bird cooed and waddled over to them. Piper almost didn't see it, but barely contrasting against its white feathers was a note tied to its neck. The bird shook its head up and down as if trying to make them notice it, or maybe it was just having a neck spasm.

"Could be an automation programmed to explode," Jason noted. "Some monsters trying to blow us up."

"Maybe," Piper replied, but she didn't think so. She carefully untied the note from the bird's neck and it flew off, ruling out the idea of exploding pigeons. Cautiously and with two fingers, Piper unraveled the parchment, easily able to throw it overboard if it decided to shoot lava at her face or grow Popeye arms and start throwing punches.

The writing was written in pink cursive, almost illegible by how fancy it was. Piper squinted at the words, and Jason joined her. There were only two words written.

Hello? Piper?

Piper was officially spooked. She let go of the parchment, wringing her hands. "Oh my—Gaahh..." she exclaimed, slowly walking backwards. Her hand instinctively reached for the cornucopia strapped to her back. A jellybean was weakly spat out. Jason grabbed the letter again before the wind could carry it off.

Oh, hi, Jason! You're there too?

He frowned at the page, and turned it over. He hollered over his shoulder, "Leo, this better not be one of your pranks!"

No, not him. The words appeared in the center of the page, the ones before them simply fading away. Piper, this is for you, so get over here!

Jason turned to his girlfriend. "Piper, the magic letter wants you to read what it has to say," he told her.

Deciding she had seen weirder than parchment with a mind of its own, Piper walked over and took the letter with one hand, the other still gripping her cornucopia hard.

Hey! Piper! So good to see you... theoretically speaking, of course.

Piper wasn't sure how to respond. She glanced over at Jason, who shrugged unhelpfully. She lowered her face down to the page and spoke loudly, "Who is this?"

Oh, no need to do that, dear. Just talk.

Piper wanted to face-palm, but if she did she'd impale herself with the pointy end of her cornucopia. There was only one person who would call her 'dear'. "Mom," she gritted through her teeth.

Why do you sound so disappointed? the parchment read. Am I that much of a let-down?

And worse, Piper thought, but decided it would be better for her health if it remained not spoken out loud.

Jason looked confused. "That's your mom?" he asked, peering over at the sheet. "She has really illegible handwriting."

Sorry, Mr. Demigod-That-Is-Dating-My-Daughter-And-Can-Barely-Spell-His-Own-Name-Right-Due-To-Dyslexia, that my handwriting doesn't fit your handwriting needs. Anyway, Piper, if your boyfriend wasn't so cute I would totally set a bunch of curses on him for that.

"Why are you here?" Piper asked instead. "Even better question: How are you here? The gods are stuck in multiple-personality problems, aren't they?"

Yes, but it's weaker on me because love is awesome and stuff. But if I tried to appear to you guys in person or to Piper in her dreams it wouldn't work, so that's where the letter solution comes in! Fortunately for you guys I was able to push Venus back this long, so I don't have all the time in the world for this—which will be exactly eleven more days if you fail, mind you.

"Thanks for reminding us," Piper muttered.

I'm here to help you! The words faded. Don't tell Zeus.

Anyway, you remember that sorta kinda not-really 'prophecy' Cassie gave you guys? Ha ha... it's funny, 'cause actually, back in the day, Cassandra's beauty was compared to Helen's and mine. Never really liked her because of that, but it's a real pity about her curse.

Jason gave Piper a confused look, like, Who the heck is Cassie? She gave him another look: Long story, not now.

"Focus, Mom," she said aloud, feeling very stupid she was calling a piece of paper 'Mom'.

Of course. You need to seek the slayer of life back the way you came, the protector of life where it all started, the giver of life south and away, and the maintainer just across the shore. Simple, in theory.

"But who are those people?" Jason asked, having no idea what was going on. "Piper?"

"Yeah, I'm getting to you," she told him. "Mom, what?"

She had a feeling the parchment would sigh if it could. You really are clueless, aren't you? Just think about it, Piper. Just—

The paper went blank. The handwriting changed from cursive pink to fancy blue, and the paper flickered pale violet before returning to beige.

"What's going on?" Jason asked. Piper gripped the paper with both hands, and felt it growing warmer in her hands.

No worries! it flickered in pink cursive, but changed to the blue. The two colours flared on and off, as if wrestling for control over the parchment. Just Venus! Okay, GTG. Luv you, Piper! Stay hot, Jason!

The paper kept growing warmer in Piper's hands. She wanted to let go, but there were things still being written.

Oh, and remember! she managed to catch sight of. Homeric hymn number twenty-fou

That was all she could read before the parchment burst into flames. She let go in surprise, and the letter flew off into the ocean.

"Piper!" Jason shouted in alarm. He grabbed her hands and checked for burns. There weren't any, although her palms were slightly red.

"I'm okay," Piper told him distantly. She was staring at the last place she had seen the letter, flying off in the summer breeze. Piper swallowed. She didn't usually feel bad for her mother; she was a goddess, after all. She could summon things out of thin air, and enter the minds of her children just to annoy them. But this worried her.

"We need a meeting," she decided.


It's funny, because before first I was going to have Piper see her mom in a dream (but I already did that twice in this story), then I was going to have her mom evade her mind (but that idea is just dumb), so I ended up settling with a note.

Anyway, I'm half finished the next chapter, and it's really short, so it'll be up soon. Be happy!

I like reviews. And cookies. (::) (::) *nibbles on cookie delicately*