10-11-13
Hello, everyone! Here is the (sort of, not really) last chapter!
So, this chapter contains the first scene I've ever written, the scene that started it all. I originally had Piper Iris Messaging the two camps after this particular scene, but I thought it would be more likely for the camps to come in sooner.
Thank you to everyone who's followed, favorited, and reviewed! To be honest, I haven't been reading the reviews since people think it's amusing to keep spoiling the book for me :P
Enjoy!
PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THIS STORY!
edit: 10-16-13 Minor grammatical and format changes.
~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~
PIPER
Piper didn't know how long they had been leaning on these cursed Doors. Her ADHD brain made it seem like hours. There was about a foot left. They were almost closed. Piper felt her heart leap. They could do this. They could close the Doors.
"Push!" shouted Reyna, swooping down on Scipio. "Come on, close it! We can't hold these things off much longer!"
Piper gritted her teeth. Who knew a door could be so heavy? With Leo, Hazel, Jason, Frank, and her pushing, she'd have thought the thing would close faster. Then again, only Percy and Annabeth were on the other side, and they didn't have an army to watch their backs. She immediately felt guilty about whining, even if it was only in her head. They were probably having a hundred times the trouble on the other side.
Then she realized with a start that the Doors had stopped moving. She peeked around the side of the Door, but only saw darkness beyond. A cold wind blew out of the opening, and she felt herself drawn toward the opening. She quickly retreated behind the relative safety of their Door.
"Why do you think it stopped?" she panted.
Without warning, something hurtled out of the opening, landing spread-eagled on the ground in front of Piper and she nearly leapt out of her skin.
"Ow," the thing moaned. It sat up, and rubbed its head.
Piper realized with a start that the 'thing' was Nico di Angelo.
"Nico," she gasped. "What are you doing here? Are Percy and Annabeth okay?"
As if in answer, the Doors began to move again.
Nico looked up, looking slightly dazed from face planting on the ground. He shook his head and stood up, his expression one of anger and frustration.
"Percy shoved me out," he grumbled. He turned and looked at the rapidly diminishing gap between the Doors, and Piper saw that his eyes were shining with pure relief.
Piper couldn't blame him. Getting trapped in Tartarus wasn't exactly on the Top Ten list of things she wanted to do in her lifetime. Especially if Nico had all ready been in there once.
"What about Percy and Annabeth?" she asked desperately. "Isn't there a way to get them out?"
Nico shook his head, glaring stone-faced at the Doors of Death. "The Doors must be closed from both sides," he said in a gravelly monotone. "There's no way they can get out."
Piper thought about what Annabeth had told her before running back into Tartarus: "Percy won't leave anyone behind. And I won't leave him behind."
She remembered what her mom had said in her dream that seemed like years ago, but had only been a few months: "Love is the most powerful motivator in the world. It spurs mortals to greatness. Their noblest, bravest acts are done for love.
Percy's fatal flaw was loyalty. She had heard about how loyal he was to his friends. His loyalty to his girlfriend? Immeasurable.
He had fallen into Tartarus with Annabeth, even though he could have easily avoided it. All he had to do was let go. But he didn't. And just now, Annabeth had returned the sacrifice: running back into that horrible pit because she just couldn't leave Percy behind.
Could she ever do something like that? Probably not.
The thought made her sick with guilt. Percy and Annabeth had already given so much. They should've been able to hang up their weapons, retire from the life of a hero and live the remainder of their lives as peacefully as possible. No war, no evil warlords wanting to take over the world to worry about. Only the occasional monster. Now, they were giving their lives. An unhappy ending to an unhappy story.
Her eyes filled with tears. They could have gotten married. They could've had kids. But no, they were ending their lives in hell to save the lives of their friends. To save the world.
Someone placed a hand on her shoulder.
She turned to find Jason looking at her, his expression grim. She knew his thoughts were running along the same lines as hers.
They watched the gap close. Six inches…four inches…two inches…
Suddenly, they heard a shout of surprise followed by a blood-curdling scream: "Percy! Percy! No!" All of the demigods practically fell onto the Door in surprise.
As the Doors slammed shut, Piper realized what she had just heard. Percy had shouted. Annabeth had screamed. She sank to the ground as Nico and Jason slammed the bolt into place, her hands covering her ears in a vain attempt to get those screams out of her head. But she knew they would haunt her for the rest of her life.
~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~
Back on board the Argo II, everyone sat on deck in nervous silence. All of the Greek senior counselors were here, as well as the Roman centurions, Reyna, and the remaining demigods of the seven, plus Nico and Coach Hedge. No one dared to say it aloud, but everyone was thinking the same thing. What had happened to Percy and Annabeth after they had closed the Doors of Death? Were they still alive? She shuddered as she remembered Annabeth's anguished cries. Percy! Percy! No! Finally, Piper couldn't stand it any longer. She glanced over at Nico and Hazel.
"Can you tell?" There was no need for further explanation. They all knew what she was talking about. Everyone directed their gazes at the children of Hades/Pluto. Nico and Hazel looked at each other nervously.
"We're not sure," Hazel began.
"How can you not be sure?" interrupted Leo, "They're either alive, or dead, there's no in between." He paused uncertainly. "Is there?"
"No," confirmed Nico. "But as Hazel was saying, we can't be sure. It's almost like they're being shielded from us."
Then Jason spoke up. "Is that even possible? I thought you guys were supposed to be able to distinguish that. Uh, no offense."
Nico shrugged slightly. "Usually, it's pretty easy to tell. But this time…" He spread his hands awkwardly.
Hazel finished for him. "Someone's blocking them from our sight."
Frank spoke up, "Which means they're alive, right? I mean, why bother shielding them if they're already dead?"
No one spoke.
"If only there could be a way to be certain," said Jason.
Piper could tell they were getting nowhere. Maybe she could use Katoptris.
All eyes swiveled towards her. Oops. She hadn't meant to say that last sentence aloud.
Frank nodded his head thoughtfully, "That might work."
Piper shifted uncomfortably under their stares. "It's just a thought. I don't know if it will work. It never really shows me what I want to see."
"It's worth a shot," Jason agreed.
"Wait, how could a knife help us find out what happened to Percy and Annabeth?" asked Connor Stoll.
Everyone ignored him.
Piper sighed. She really didn't wanted to use Katoptris, but she didn't have a better idea. "Okay, I'll do it. Just, give me some space, okay?" She turned away from the group and headed to the other side of the deck. She hesitated. She wasn't really in the mood for confusing, futuristic images, but she had to try. She took a deep breath to gather her nerves, and unsheathed Katoptris.
At first, she only saw her own reflection. Then the image changed. For once, Katoptris showed her exactly what she wanted to see. Sort of. Percy and Annabeth were chained and lying unconscious at the edge of a huge pit. Tartarus. She quickly looked them over. They seemed to be fine. Wait a second. She peered closely at Percy, and realized with dismay that he had a deep cut on his stomach. He must have already lost a lot of blood, because his face was white as a sheet. A dozen drakons came into her sight, hissing and baring their fangs. She realized they were laughing.
"The bounty is ours!" one hissed, and the others screeched in triumph.
"Now their blood will be spilled on the ancient stones, and shall awaken Mother Earth!"
Piper watched in horror as they surrounded Percy and Annabeth and started dragging them away from the pit.
Her horror changed to confusion. Katoptris only showed images. It never had given her sound.
The image shifted. She saw the face of a sleeping woman. Gaea.
"Of course not, my dear. This image was a gift from me. Now, your friends will be sacrificed. I will wake." She heard deep, hollow laughter that seemed to come from everywhere.
Piper's vision swam. Her knees buckled and Katoptris slipped out of her hand as she collapsed onto the deck.
~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~
Piper woke up to find the concerned faces of her friends looking down at her.
"Are you all right?" asked Jason.
"Can you talk?" Leo interrupted.
Piper stared up at them. No, she wanted to say, but she couldn't find her voice. She had just found out that Percy and Annabeth had been captured by Gaea's minions. How could she be alright? Plus, it was really embarassing to just faint on the deck in front of everyone. How heroic was that? She swallowed the lump in her throat and decided to answer the second question.
"Yes," she said faintly.
"What happened?" asked Leo hopping from one foot to the other impatiently, "What did you see?"
"Leo," reprimanded Hazel.
"What? I'm just asking."
"She'll tell us when she's ready."
All of them looked at her expectantly.
Piper wished she could just lie there forever, and forget about all of her problems. But she knew that was impossible. She knew she would have to tell them sooner or later, and putting it off wouldn't do Percy and Annabeth any good. She sat up.
"Okay," she sighed. "But I warn you, it's not good."
Frank nodded, "Naturally."
Piper sighed. She tried to think of an easy way to break it to them, but nothing came to her. She just decided to be blunt: "Percy and Annabeth have been captured by Gaea's minions."
At first, everyone just stared at Piper in horrified silence. Then everyone was talking at once, each one trying to speak over the other. Questions bombarded her from all sides.
"Are you sure?"
"Where are they?"
"Are they dead?"
"Now we're really gonna die!"
Piper just sat there, unable to say anything. She looked over at Coach Hedge pleadingly.
He got the message. He cupped his hands over his mouth and bellowed "SHUT UP!"
Everyone stopped and stared at him in surprise. Piper shot him a grateful look.
"Thanks, Coach." She told them what she had seen and heard.
Leo was the first to speak.
"Now what?"
"Now," replied Jason, "We sail for Mount Olympus. As we go, we form a rescue plan. We've been here too long already."
"Okay," said Coach Hedge, "here's the plan. Go to Mount Olympus. Blow up everything but Percy and Annabeth. Leave."
That was Coach's plan for every rescue.
"Uh, not exactly, Coach," Jason said. "We need something a little more elaborate. It won't be that simple." He looked around the circle. "So, any ideas?"
"Fly to Olympus," Nico said grimly. "It's the only way to get them back."
To get them back. Not to defeat Gaea, not to save the world, but to get Percy and Annabeth back.
"That sounds good to me," Piper said. She was tired of the demigod life, even if she hadn't even though she hadn't part of it for a year yet. She had no desire to rush off to her death for the sake of keeping a few boneheaded gods in charge of the world. But if their goal was to save their two best friends? She'd willingly put her life on the line.
She glanced around the circle at all of the centurions, counselors, and the remainder of the seven. All of their faces were serious, even Leo and the Stolls. Everyone knew what was coming. Another war. And this time, there was a very high possibility that none of them would make it back alive.
"Let's do this," Leo announced, standing up and striding over to the controls. He put a hand on a lever, then turned back to face them. "Ready when you are, General," he told Jason.
Jason took a deep breath, his expression unreadable. His back straightened and his jaw tightened. He glanced over at Reyna. "Are you coming with us?"
Reyna stood up and whistled loudly. Scipio came swooping down, landing at his mistress's feet. Reyna leapt onto his back and took to the air. "I will tell the legions to prepare for battle. We will follow as soon as we can."
Jason turned to look at Clarisee, but before he could say anything, Clarisse announced, "We're in. Nobody picks on Prissy and Princess except me."
The remaining Greek counselors growled in agreement.
They stood up, and Clarisse raised her spear. She looked around the group questioningly. "For Olympus?" she suggested.
"No," Jason announced. Everyone looked at him in surprise as he took a step forward.
"Not for Olympus," he announced. "Our parents have abandoned us, chosen to ignore us in our time of need. We fight for each other. We fight for our legacies. We fight for justice. We fight for the world. But most of all, we fight for our friendship. Percy and Annabeth have sacrificed much more than they should have for the Greek gods, and what do they get as a reward? Falling into Tartarus. No, we're not fighting for the gods. We're fighting for them." He raised his sword high. "For Percy and Annabeth!"
Everyone thrust their weapons into the air. "For Percy and Annabeth!"
Reyna studied Jason closely. She had been the only one not to shout. "That was not very Roman of you, Jason Grace," she said.
Jason gazed up at her, defiance Piper had never seen before flashing in his eyes. "Well, maybe I'm not just Roman anymore," he challenged.
They stared at each other, Jason still defiant, Reyna unreadable. Finally, Reyna flicked the reins on Scipio and began to fly toward the demigods below. "I hope you know what you're doing, Jason," she said coldly before disappearing below the hull.
Proper barely heard Jason mutter, "I hope I do too." Then he turned back toward the others. "Leo, set course for Olympus," he ordered. "The rest of you are welcome to stay onboard or use some other mode of transportation. This is your last chance to go home. Nobody will think any less of you if you quit right now."
Everyone stared at him.
"Dude, is he joking?" one of the Stoll twins asked, Piper couldn't tell which.
"He'd better be," said the other Stoll. "What a stupid thing to say! Our two leaders have been captured, and he thinks we're just gonna walk out on them? Sheesh, he needs his head examined."
"That's what I keep saying!" Leo announced from the dash. "I gave him a prescription, but he didn't want to use it."
Piper felt the heat creeping to her cheeks. Oh, gods.
"What was the prescription?" the Stolls asked eagerly.
Leo grinned almost evilly. "Kissing Piper."
"Oh, really?" Clarisse said, her eyes glinting mischievously. "Kiss her, kiss her," she began to chant.
Soon, everyone on board was chanting along with her. "Kiss her, kiss her."
The Apollo kids began singing something that sounded supspciously like "Kiss the Girl."
Piper's cheeks were flaming. This was so embarrassing. She glanced around the crowd of demigods, silently pleading them to stop. Even the Romans were chanting along, urging their former Praetor on. Frank looked uncomfortable, but he too had joined the row. Hazel had her smal hands covering her face, but Piper could still see her glittering gold eyes peeking through her fingers. Leo was grinning like a maniac, jumping up and down with each sentence. Even Nico was smiling and chanting with the others.
Jason looked stunned and confused. He glanced hesitantly over at Piper who was standing beside him.
The chanting grew louder and more insistent. "Kiss her! Kiss her!"
Jason leaned forward so their noses were almost touching. Piper could feel his breath puffing warmly against her already hot cheeks.
"KISS HER! KISS HER!"
Jason closed the final inches and their lips met.
The campers cheered as Jason wrapped his arms around Piper's waist, deepening the kiss. Piper felt a shock of electricity run through her body, starting at her lips and traveling down to her toes, leaving her whole body tingling. Her heart beat so hard and fast, she was sure everyone could hear it. She was sure Jason could feel it, at least. She let herself get lost in the moment, ignoring the cheers all around her and focusing only on Jason's lips pressed against hers, his arms comfortably wrapped around her waist.
Without warning, something wet and freezing poured onto her head, the chilly liquid soaking her from head to toe. She yelped in shock and leapt away from Jason who had been similarly doused.
She looked up to find the Camp Half-Blood demigods laughing their heads off, Clarisse holding a huge empty bucket in her hands as she guffawed.
The Romans looked absolutely horrified.
Jason face was a bright pink. "What was that for?" he demanded.
Nico stepped forward, barely concealed amusement dancing in his eyes. "You two are officially a couple," he announced. "You have been given Camp Half-Blood's seal of approval. Technically, we're supposed to dump you in a lake, but since there's no lake handy, we had to improvise."
"Excuse me?" Piper asked, embarrassment still heating her cheeks.
"We—" Clarisse gasped, trying to speak through her laughter. "Did—the same thing—to Percy and Annabeth—after the Titan War."
"Yeah—" Will Solace stammered. "They kissed—dumped them—in the lake."
"Unfortunately," Nico said, "no one was smart enough to realize that Percy was a son of Poseidon. We stayed on the bank waiting for them to come up for hours. He turned the joke on us."
"That was awesome!" Leo yelled. "You guys asked for it!"
"Leo!" Piper snapped.
"Anyway," said one of the Stolls, "it's become Camp Half-Blood's initiation ceremony. Especially since Percy and Annabeth totally deserved it. It was obvious to anyone but them that they liked each other since they first met! Well, once they got past the kill each other stage."
"Okay," Jason said, his cheeks still pink. "Fun's over. You guys still haven't answered my question."
"Oh, we're in," Will said. "No contest."
Frank looked at Will curiously. "So, your name is Will?" he asked.
Will raised an eyebrow. "Yeah."
"And you're a son of Apollo?"
"Yeah."
"So, you shoot a bow, your name is Will, and you like to raise one eyebrow," Frank mused.
Everyone stared at him and Frank's cheeks turned a faint shade of red.
"Let me guess," Leo said slowly. "Ranger's Apprentice?"
Frank's cheeks turned even redder. "Yeah. Forget I said anything."
Leo nodded. "We will."
"Well," Piper announced, clapping her hands together loudly. "Let's get going."
"Agreed," said Jason. "Come on, everybody, let's go."
"That was so Dora," Leo muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"It better not be, Valdez."
"Boys!" Piper cried. "Know it off! Leo, get us out of here!"
"Whatever, Beauty Queen." Leo flicked a switch and the Argo II rumbled. "Here we go!"
The anchor rolled itself up and the ship jerked forward, headed toward Mount Olympus. Piper heard cheering below, and looked over the rails to see the remaining demigods rising up behind them, riding in chariots and on pegasi.
She walked up to the front with Leo and stood on top of the bow, gazing out in the direction she knew amount Olympus to be. To the place where Percy and Annabeth were. "Hang in there, guys," Piper whispered. "We're coming."
~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~
IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!
Okay, guys, so like I've been saying (if you've been reading the author's notes) I am going to be coming back and changing and adding a lot of stuff to make this complete. What I'm going to do is publish a chapter that's only going to be an author's note (yes, they are illegal, but it is essential for this story to make sense) and it will list all of the chapters. From there, I will tell you which ones have been changed, and if the change is small enough I'll tell you what was changed so you don't have to reread it. I will also tell you which chapters were added in the middle, and which one's will be moved. I will try to get the first update ASAP, but I'm going to have a really busy week next week, so I'm not sure when it will be.
Okay, if you want to leave the author's note now and leave a review, you can.
So what do you think of the chapter? Let me know in a review!
I hope you guys enjoyed! Check out my other stories, and vote on my poll if you want a say in what I publish next!
I'VE GOT A COPY OF "HOUSE OF HADES" NOW! YEEEEEEESSSSSSS! Unfortunately, I can't read it for awhile since I'm gonna be at a quiz all of tomorrow, and then I'll have to catch up on homework Sunday, and then the weekdays are back. *Sigh*
Hope to see you guys soon!