Hello! So, here is the next chapter, and let me just say Piper is hard to write!

This chapter I'm using my creative license. For the sake of the story I'm asking you to believe:

1) That it's logical to drive the 55 minutes with traffic it takes to drive from the Caldecott Tunnel (where the entrance to Camp Jupiter is) to Ella's restaurant in San Francisco to have lunch.

2) That Ella's is open on Thanksgiving Day, and serves Thanksgiving dinner. I've never been to Ella's (I've only ever been to San Francisco once, and we didn't go to Ella's) and really only included it because I google searched diners near Lower Pacific Heights (if you've ever seen Full House, it's those houses). Even with as much research as I've done, I have no idea if it's open on Thanksgiving, or even what days of the week it's open. Ella's website wasn't very helpful.

I've tried to keep this story as realistic as a fantasy story can be, doing research and making sure they only go places I've been, but I felt this was necessary. So if you happen to check a story's facts please do not take offense. It's called creative license for a reason!

Piper's POV

I survey myself in the mirror before walking out of my "hotel" room in New Rome.

After the end of the Giant War and the camps had become friends, campers began traveling back and forth between the two camps, experiencing other ways of demigod life and meeting new people. In response to this flood of visitors, the camps, naturally, built new buildings for the visitors to stay at.

The ones at Camp Half-Blood were designed by Annabeth. They were cabins, like the ones for Camp Half-Blood campers, but rather than representing a specific god, they were all generic marble buildings. They were all neo-classical, taking influence from both Greece and Rome. So of course Leo had to ask Annabeth why she wanted the Romans to stay in mini Supreme Court buildings.

Camp Jupiter decided to have guests who did not want to stay in the new barracks building stay in lodges that were just outside the city limits. They resembled three story school buildings outside, but were furnished incredibly modernly inside.

Leo and I opted to stay in the lodges, as they offered a sort of privacy that was hard to come by nowadays.

"Ready to go?" asked Jason as I exited the building. He was waiting for me to finish getting ready before we all leave camp to go to dinner, or rather, lunch, at Ella's diner. Today is Thanksgiving. As neither of the two camps celebrate Thanksgiving (both Greeks and Romans have their own feast days to give thanks) we decided to go out to Thanksgiving dinner.

The original plan had been to cook the meal ourselves. That idea ended quickly when we realized that even if we manage to figure out how to cook stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams and a turkey, we'd have nowhere to actually cook everything. It made me wish that I still had my cornucopia. Not only could I use it to produce the feast, but also it would have made everything feel even more like thanksgiving. Unfortunately, it had been destroyed in the Battle of Olympus. A cyclops, tired of getting hit in the face by pastries, managed to rip it out of my hands and destroy it.

Going out for dinner was the easiest option. Hazel had suggested eating at a restaurant in San Francisco, then stopping by to visit Annabeth, Percy and Thalia before coming back to camp. A small debate later, we had settled on Ella's, made reservations, and gone to get ready.

Ella's is a very nice restaurant, with a pleasant atmosphere and amazing food. The thing I enjoy most about the meal is getting to talk with the others, almost entirely uninterrupted. I haven't gotten to see Frank and Hazel as much as I would have liked this past year, and catching up is a lot of fun. We trade stories over plates of turkey and mash potatoes or open faced sandwiches.

A little after we finish eating, a waitress comes over to the table. I can tell it's a different waitress then the one we've had all meal, but I dismiss it and turn back to the conversation.

"Could I interest you in dessert?" she questions sweetly. I turn to ask if they have pecan pie, when her voice changes.

"Or perhaps you would like your just desserts."

"What?" yelps Frank.

"We're here to avenge our mistress."

I blink, and the mist shifts to reveal a Gorgon. Other wait-staff and customers begin moving towards us, revealing themselves to be monsters. There are about 40 of them, blocking almost all escape roots. I grab Katoptris from my hidden belt.

"Try to get outside and work your way over to Annabeth's; we're going to need help." mutters Jason.

"Prepare to die, demigods." And with that the gorgon launches herself towards us.