"Piper, the world isn't as black and white as it is. Most of the time, it's just a darker shade of gray or lighter shade." ~ Catriona Fontaine
Leo fiddled with the bag of cocaine he bought the day before. He still haven't tried it and he didn't know when he will but there's one thing that he's certain of - and that day is going to be soon.
"Don't try it! Don't take drugs! The first day you take it, is the day you ruined your life." The expert said strongly. It convinced Leo long enough not take get drugs but it wasn't enough. Here he was with the packet he bought and it wasn't just weed or anything, it's cocaine. Cocaine, the King of all drugs. His life is pretty much already ruined, isn't it? Nobody can ruin it further, not even drugs.
Leo wanted to feel that sensational moment you're suppose to have while being high on drugs. It's probably his only way of feeling truly happy. Slowly, Leo opened the packet. His mind whirled around him as questions was thrown to him by himself. Did he really want to take this? Is it worth it? Should he take the risk?
"Stop." The expert commanded. "Tell yourself to stop if you feel tempted in anyway. You will not regret telling yourself one simple word - stop. It might seem easy but it is actually difficult at that moment. Nonetheless, you have to tell yourself to stop."
What does the expert know anyway? Well, he is an expert for a reason but Leo can name himself an expert on anything and insist to be called that name for people to actually think he's pro at something. He could easily print out a business card for himself saying stuff like 'Dr Leo Valdez, PHD' for people to think he's a professor but really he's not.
"How do I know?" The expert had been asked. He smiled as he answered. "It was high school, I'm still in Toronto and I had a friend who sells cocaine. He took cocaine and he was always..bliss. I'm obviously curious how it is especially when he always tells me how cocaine is like and it only sounded beneficial at that time. I finally decided to try it once when my friend offered it to me for free. It was sensational as promised. I loved it and gone addicted to it. In my late twenties, the effects turned worse. I had difficulty going to the toilet, I was often dizzy and sweating, my heart beat was irregular, I had stomach pain and my muscles were unusually weak. Later, I started to have hallucinations and muscle spasm. It was terrible. I wanted to stop taking drugs but I can't. I felt like I'm going to die. On top of that, I was close to being broke. Cocaine cost a fortune and I couldn't afford it with the simple job I had back then. In my twenties, I was always in debt but luckily my parents bailed me out. I didn't even tell them I was taking this horrible drug. I lied and told secrets to cover my tracks. Obviously, my symptoms became more and more evident. Even my parents who didn't see my often since I had my own apartment noticed changes in me. I was desperate not to let anybody know I'm taking drugs. I know my parents would be devastated if they knew and I didn't want it to happen. Instead, I finally got myself to visit a private doctor. I was sent to drug rehabs centers and eventually got rid of my addiction. The process is horrifying and was the worst time of my life. I'm here to tell you that it's better for you to not take coke at all than experience all the pain getting rid of the addiction that will kill you."
Peer pressure. Curiosity. That's why the expert took cocaine. That is kind of why Leo bought cocaine. He was curious why his mother took it and couldn't stop. However, now, Leo knew it's more than that. He wanted his pain to go away and cocaine is strong, it'll work. The expert didn't take coke to forget. What would he know?
Sure, Leo could drink alcohol instead of taking drugs to get all high and forget everything. Leo knew it'll work and he can become an alcoholic, it's more tolerable than drug-takers, but he won't feel what his mother felt. Somehow, Leo felt taking cocaine would create some connection between him and his mother.
"Is that cocaine?" Leo jumped as he saw his dad behind him. Shit. He's been caught. He haven't even tried it yet.
Leo quickly took the packet away. "I..I didn't even tried it yet. I was just looking."
Hephaestus sat down and fiddled with a few nails he's been holding and said nervously. "I don't know how to say this. You know I'm not good with..communicating but I have to tell you something. I'm not the type of person who would restrict you to doing what I want you to do. If you want, you can take that. It's your life, it's your choice. Really, I shouldn't be doing anything but I'm just surprised. Esperanza….she took cocaine too. That's why she's gone."
"I know." Leo nodded and admitted. "I haven't took this yet but I have this feeling that I'm somehow connected to my mom with this. She took it and I never tried it before. Was it something special?"
"It was peer pressure." Hephaestus sighed. "You know, don't you? Aphrodite. Tristan. Zeus. Ares. All drug users. I remember how it was before and the gap between the populars and non-populars was huge. Everybody wanted to fit in. Everybody wanted Aphrodite to just accept them. I didn't take cocaine and I was only one of the few who didn't. High school wasn't pretty for me. Even though I was friends with Aphrodite before, just because I didn't take drugs, I was in the bottom of the social ladder. Nobody can handle being in the bottom. It's worse than being invisible. You want to die. I wanted to. I tried killing myself that night Aphrodite - Aph…you don't need to know that, Leo."
"What happened that night with Piper's mom?" Leo asked softly. He knew he shouldn't be pressing his dad for more information. He was already struggling talking to his son but Leo felt like they actually connected that night. Leo was actually talking and learning something about his dad. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He quickly added after seeing his dad's pained expression.
"What's the point? Why do I need to keep it a secret?" Hephaestus mumbled to himself and said aloud. "It's fine. It's just me and Aphrodite were really good friends back in Elementary. It was ironic really. Her being the prettiest girl across town and me being the ugliest guy. However, we were best friends. The type who would keep each other company throughout the night just for the sake of it. In 3rd grade, I had a crush on her. It wasn't surprising, like 99% of the boys in our class did. Aphrodite never loved me back. She started dating that asshole Ares in 5th grade and it was painful seeing my crush and the class bully together. I hated Ares but loved Aphrodite. It was tough. We fell out in Middle School but I never stopped admiring Aphrodite from afar."
"How about mom?"
"Esperanza was amazing but we only started dating in University. Goode High is a big high school, I never really known her from Elementary to High School. I didn't know her properly until I found out there's somebody in the same college as me from the same high school." Hephaestus explained.
"Right, and on to your story about Aphrodite?" Leo prompted him.
"Okay um.. well, do you know that feeling? Like you use to know somebody so well and after you fallen out with them, it's funny how you still know practically everything about that person but you can't even talk to them anymore? Yeah, that was technically me. It hurt just being invisible and gone from her world but then in high school, I was teased and tormented by her. It wasn't big. Just your normal high school mean girls type of thing but it harmed me even more. What happened to us? We use to be such good friends and now I'm just her victim, a nobody to her. I don't know, Leo. I'm going off topic about Esperanza, you and cocaine but that's the truth."
"So Becky told the examiner that the piece was almost as loud as his outfit." Bianca laughed. "Oh my god, I know right? She is getting into so much trouble and she will never pass! I seriously can't believe she said that. You should seen her normally. She's always so nice and polite."
"Uh-huh." Nico said dully. He wasn't really listening but he found out a long time ago that all he had to do was say 'uh-huh' on queue at times, his sister would think he's actually paying attention.
Bianca smiled. "Oh god. And have I told you about Samantha? She just got the cutest boyfriend! He have like the poshest British accent ever, his green eyes are just so magical and his ruffled brown hair is gorgeous! She is so lucky to have landed him! Like everybody has a crush on him!"
"Uh-huh."
"They're going out on their first date tomorrow and Samantha's wearing this purple mini-skirt which looks stunning on her. He is going to fall head over heels for her! They make the best couple!"
"Uh-huh." Nico said again. He only caught a few words of what Bianca was saying but was already puzzled? So is Bianca jealous about this Samantha and her boyfriend or pleased? Sisters..they're so confusing.
"So what's up with you?" Bianca asked cheerfully.
"Uh-huh." Nico said carelessly not even thinking about what he said.
Bianca frowned. "Pardon?"
"What? Right." Nico muttered. "Uh..nothing much. Just same old."
"Have you been looking at anything in dad's study?" Bianca asked, her tone suddenly turning serious. "Did anything happen since I'm gone? Any deaths, accidents, just anything?"
"Nope." Nico lied. "Nothing and I didn't look at anything. I've been doing nothing but watching movies. I watched Zero Dark Thirty yesterday, Olympus Has Fallen today…"
"Thank god." Bianca said. "New York is a dangerous place. I'm glad everything's okay and you aren't sneaking around dad's things anymore. Who knows what happen if you still look through those files? They are top secret for a reason. With the cunning flare of New York, you wouldn't stand a chance if anything happens. How are you friends?"
"Good." Nico told her. "They're fine."
Bianca sighed. "I wish you would tell me more things. I'm sure there's at least some kind of crap happening in New York at the moment and I'm always clueless about it. I am your sister, you can tell me everything. That's why we call each other every week. We update each other on what's happening in both places."
Nico laughed mentally. Update each other on what's happening in both places. True, Bianca tells him about every single detail about her boarding school in Britain but Nico didn't pay attention, he didn't care. He doesn't need to know who used Bianca's toothbrush by mistake that morning. It's pointless and that's why he never bothered telling her anything.
"Right. Totally." Nico said emotionlessly.
"How's mom?"
Nico closed his eyes and heaved a breath. "Just fine. She's missing you a lot."
"Tell her I miss her to!" Bianca called. "Tell her I love her and tell her to pick up her phone. I can never get through to her for some reason. Is she still grieving about dad's death?"
"Yeah. She took it better when you're around. We're like strangers without you. We don't communicate or anything. She never comes out of her room." Nico told his sister.
Bianca said something barely audible that Nico didn't understand and said louder. "I knew this would happen. Nico, please don't let it get any worse. I'll come over the summer break but between now and then, you have to talk to her or something."
"I'll try." Nico didn't mean what he said. He just had too much to do. He had to find the rest of the letters his dad left him before somebody else did, he have mysteries like the Shooting to solve, he had to keep up with where his dad left on and he simply didn't have the time to spend an afternoon having tea with his mom or anything. Don't get him wrong, he loves his mom. He would do anything for her but this wasn't the right time. Besides, his mom isn't exactly thrilled to see him either. Well, not exactly. His mom loves him too but his mom has this crazy idea where she has to protect Nico and tries her best to appear bright and comforting around Nico. The thing is, lately after her husband's death, she couldn't be as happy as she was before. She needed time to grieve properly and probably shed some tears. She couldn't do this in front of Nico, she couldn't break down in front of him. To Maria Di Angelo, Nico is an innocent, harmless kid who needed to be shielded from all the ugly things in the world. She has to stay strong whenever Nico's around and would have to hide from him every time she knew she couldn't maintain her strength.
"Ugh, oh my god, she's such a wannabe." Cat complained over the phone. "Brittany is driving me crazy. She called me like millions of times yesterday just to ask if she should get a stupid purple dress. She said I have to approve it and all that kind of shit. I'm not like Regina George or any of the Plastics, I don't have to approve every fricken clothing you buy. And Chelsea, she won't stop asking me why I'm blowing them off to hang out with you instead. Like, get a life!"
Piper laughed uneasily. She knew she wasn't suppose to contact anybody in Los Angeles but it's not like Percy's dad would ever find out. What, does he watch over every single call made in America just to find if Piper or Jason made a call? Most definitely not. Besides, a single call won't harm. It's not even to anybody he would predict it's to. "I know right." She told her friend. Piper always wondered if Cat bitched about her to other people like what she did with her 'friends' to Piper. She didn't like being bitched about but found it rude to just ask Cat if she secretly hated her.
"Kaylee spend the whole night telling me about her dad's pay raise so they're moving into a 'better' house. Really, you should see the small apartment she lives now. Anything can be better than that." Cat rolled her eyes.
"If you don't really like them so much, why don't you just quit being friends with them?" Piper blurted. She quickly kept herself quiet. She realized how abrupt that sounded.
Cat laughed. "I can't ditch them after what happened to Drew on that boat ride. Without me, they're sure to tell."
"What exactly happened?"
"I shouldn't be telling you this but since you're my best friend, I'll tell you after you sworn to secrecy." Cat whispered as Piper sworn to the secrecy and promised not to tell anyone. "Okay, so we were all on the boat. It was really funny since we're all friends except for Drew. I mean, everybody thought we were all friends but seriously, we hate that bitch. There was like huge tension between us and that silly fool Ms. Indigo never figured out. She's so easy to push around I'm actually glad we got her. Anyway, from that moment we step inside the boat, I knew something was wrong. Drew seemed to know something is wrong too. Don't underestimate her, Pipes. She's dangerous. She knows a lot and I've been watching her for months. I'm beginning to actually know her."
"Does she know you're watching her?" Piper interrupted.
"No. She doesn't but she knows I know a great deal too, probably more than her with the help of my brother. She knows I'm not somebody to cross and that I probably know everything about her that she wanted to hide."
"Right." Piper nodded.
"So anyway, Kerri wanted to take a picture. No surprises there, she keep a scrapbook of pictures. One of her hobbies are photography, in fact you probably saw it from all those pictures she uploads on Facebook. The bit that shocked me a little was when she asked Drew to join in. It wasn't even because Ms. Indigo insisted Drew to be in it. Kerri asked her to join. When I made room for her to come into the picture, my mind raced. I knew why Kerri and Kaylee wanted her to take the picture. I was one step ahead as usual. Drew was going to be murdered right?"
"Yeah, but who killed her? Do you know?"
"Of course. It was simple. We were in the middle of the river. Although if you read the reports about Drew's death, the conclusion would probably be about some trained killers waited by the riverbank and somehow killed Drew. Impossible, really. My dad studied forensic science, my mom is a trained CIA agent. It's not possible. The only logical reason is that somebody in the raft killed Drew. Kerri can't, she was taking the photo. Ms. Indigo is too..soft-mannered to do anything like that. I knew I didn't."
"It was Kaylee." Piper realized.
"Exactly, but I know Kaylee. I knew she won't kill Drew without any other motives. She hated Drew but she won't kill her. After the ride, I took Kaylee aside and interrogated her. I was right, she took the knife and stabbed Drew. We made a deal. She told me her reasons and who she worked for and I'll help her cover for it. It worked. The other girls - who Kaylee didn't even tell - and everybody else believed the whole trained assassin waiting in the riverbank story. They thought Kaylee was innocent and she was fine. Kerri didn't see who killed Drew since it was all behind the backs. We convinced her that the assassin is like a ninja."
"So nobody saw it?"
Cat smiled. "Well, Ms. Indigo did actually, but she won't believe it. We help her by persuading her it's all hallucination and that Kaylee would never do such a thing. Finally, she believed us but was traumatized and thought it was New York which is making her so jumpy and left."
"Why did Kaylee do it?" Piper questioned.
"Do you think Kaylee's a bad person? I mean, murdering is a big crime. It's on the 10 commandments from the Bible. Thou shalt not kill."
"Uh yeah?"
"Piper, the world isn't as black and white as it is. Most of the time, it's just a darker shade of gray or lighter shade. Not everybody is as rich as you or me. Kaylee's family has been struggling for money for years. Her mother has to undergo some surgery to save her life and the family needed money. Kaylee was desperate, she would do anything to get the money for her mother's surgery. One day, she received a phone call saying they'll pay the amount of money for her mom's surgery and extra if she kills Drew. If you're as desperate as Kaylee, you would be willing to do it. Especially when it's to kill a person you hate to safe your mother. It's worth it if you see it in Kaylee's point of view. She agreed to do it and the caller gave her instructions. After she killed Drew, the caller left money at a place where Kaylee was instructed to find and got the money. Of course, her family is surprised to where she got the money so we just lied and say I donated it."
"Why didn't you donate it before?"
"The money for the surgery is an awful lot. I can't withdraw millions off our family bank account for my friend. My parents would kill me. They're as heartless as you can get, they don't care if a person's dying. They don't do charity work or anything like that." Cat shook her head. "Well, at least I'm glad her dad got a pay raise. Thanks to Kaylee's money, her mom survived and needed a bigger house to rest in anyway. Sometimes, one bad deed like what Kaylee did can lead to everything being right again."
Jason and Piper walked around Malibu in (thankfully) suitable clothing that everyday tourists would wear. They decided it's finally time to leave Piper's mansion behind to head for Percy's dad's apartment. With them, were four heavy suitcases filled with clothes, actually edible food, everyday needs, wifi connections, everything they thought they would need.
"Jason?" Something touched him as he jumped.
"What the hell?" He muttered and looked around. He saw nothing in broad daylight. "Piper, am I like hallucinating? Do you see somebody? Did you touch me?"
"No?" Piper frowned. "I just heard somebody calling your name."
Suddenly, both of them felt like they're grabbed by strong forces and they found themselves in a shady alley.
"Thalia?" Jason said, his blue eyes widened in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing." Thalia said. "Piper? Are you guys on your honeymoon or something?"
"Shut up!" Jason blushed. "We're not even going out."
Piper had the same quizzical expression she had on whenever she's confused. "I thought you were going to kidnap us."
Thalia smirked. "Good."
"Seriously though," Jason asked. "Why are you here?"
"Well, let's say I have business to do in California. How's everybody up in uptight New York? How's mom? How's dad?"
"I thought you were in..New York." Jason told her. "Somebody ate the portions of meals we left for you and your bed is slept."
"Ah, never mind that." Thalia shrugged. "You never actually saw me did you? That was my friend. Don't mind him, he's fine. I'm actually in California to do something for my college applications."
"Does mom or dad know?" Jason frowned.
"Nope!" Thalia smiled cheerfully. "The less they know the better."
"What business do you have to do anyway?" Jason questioned.
"Never you mind." Thalia waved her hands. "But it's in San Francisco. You shouldn't be here Jason..or Piper either. It's dangerous out in Cali."
"Then why are you here?"
"I'm fine." Thalia replied dismissively. "I'm okay but you're not. Go back to New York as soon as possible. You're safer home than anything. They won't hurt you there."
"California's not safe?" Piper sighed. "When will the world be okay again? There's nowhere on Earth that seems to be safe anymore."
"Go home." Thalia urged them. "Do whatever you have to do quickly and get your ass home."
"Funny kid, that Leo is." Brad Marshall smiled. "He kind of reminds me of myself. I like him."
Poseidon nodded. "Bought cocaine off you. Kind of sad, really, especially since his mother died because of those stuff. Fully understandable though."
"I hope he doesn't get into any more trouble." Dr. Marshall sighed. "Or that the Shooter won't do anything to harm him. Risky being friends with that son of a bastard Grace."
"Hard to say." Poseidon agreed. "And Piper. Have to say I really have nothing against her but I think they might. She's a easy target."
"How about that kid Annabeth? Used to be dating your son?" Dr. Marshall asked.
Poseidon smirked. "Annabeth? I don't give a fuck if anybody hurts her. My son can do so much better than that bitch."
"Ah..the Athena rivalry?" Dr. Marshall quickly picked up on. It's pretty well-known that Poseidon hated Athena since middle school. They were rivals on everything and ever since Athena beat him on a project (to this day, Poseidon still doesn't see what's so good about Athena's presentation on fucking olives), Poseidon swore to somehow destroy her.
"Don't say her name." Poseidon spat. "She can go to Hell."
"Alright. Calm down. Let's talk about Reyna. You know, the kid who just got out of coma last September."
"She's odd." Poseidon laughed. "And I like it. She's close to the answer yet so vulnerable. I like that kid."
"Vulnerable? She's like those ice queen bitches!" Dr. Marshall protested. "She's so damn strong and as tough as a nut."
"There's more than one layer to a person than what she appears to be." Poseidon replied airily. "When shit gets real, you'll start to see the real her. She can't be as strong as she hopes to be. There got to be something that will break her and I think everybody knows what that is."
"Jason?"
"Precisely." Poseidon smiled. "It's simple. If you want her, just get Jason."
Brad Marshall looked at his IPhone screen. "Crap. Sources say that Jason and Piper met Thalia Grace in California. This isn't good, is it?"
"No." Poseidon muttered gravely. "That's where she's been hiding all along? Fuck. I should have known this. Thalia is so unpredictable..I just don't know. She could be helping the Shooter or might just be somebody like us, finding the Shooter and stopping the game. Go to California will you, Brad? We'll stay in touch."
"Aye, captain." Dr. Marshall nodded solemnly as they parted ways.
AN: Happy Early Easter, guys! What do you have planned for easter? I'm probably just going to go hunting for easter eggs with my little sister again :3 I hope the characters aren't too OCC here, I tried making them stay to their character as much... I hope it worked and you enjoyed this chapter though!
And omg, have you heard of the PLL spinoff, Ravenswood? I can't wait for that!
~Kisses, Emily