Chapter Three
Piper McLean
Piper didn't know her last day in camp was going to be…well, memorable was a way to put it. Maybe full on chaos with a dash of madness? Yeah, she agreed with the latter term more.
She was in the Aphrodite cabin sleeping contentedly, knowing that she would have to wake up in a few minutes.
No way, Piper thought drowsily. I…do not…want to wake up. Yes, ten more minutes…or maybe an hour?
When she was about to settle for an hour, a scream split throughout the camp. "Earthquake!" A girl's voice shrieked, echoing loudly. "Gaia!"
That name brought Piper to her senses. She jolted upwards, her head narrowly hitting the ceiling. Gaia. Now that was a name to be woken up at. Was she here? And then she realized that the girl had said something else:
Earthquake.
Fear rose up her spine. This wasn't supposed to happen in camp. There were supposed to be shields and other guards protecting the camp, how could an earthquake reach the tightly guarded wards? That was a question to ponder on, but right now she had to concentrate on the new task ahead: getting the Aphrodite campers away from harm.
Just when she was about to issue a scream to get the others out, some of the people started waking up.
"What…?" Drew began slowly, yawning and stretching her arms; her usual flawless and sleek hair tangled and messed up, a thing that always happened when she slept. "What the heck is going on?"
Then the cabin started moving from side-to-side rapidly, and the stacks of magazines and makeup that covered the shelves fell to the ground, bottles shattering at the moment of impact and the magazines hitting random people. Terrified yelps filled the air, and one was shouting something about exploding burritos-whatever that meant. Piper remained in her shell-shocked self, trying to get down slip down the bunk bed but with no avail-the ladder had somehow slipped off the hinges and smashed a poster of Justin Beiber, while the floor was scattered with shards of glass of beauty products, the contents of the nail polish staining the floor and the expensive bed sheets.
"Run!" Someone shouted, Piper couldn't identify who. Yuki maybe? She was about to follow her voice and run for her life, but then she remembered something: the earthquake drills they always held in the schools she got kicked out of. Running was bad, according to the teachers at least. Apparently it caused chaos, and Piper had a feeling that chaos wasn't exactly the thing they needed right now.
She cleared her throat. "Guys-" She began slowly.
No one paid any attention to her. All the Aphrodite kids were quickly stuffing various items in their Gucci and Prada backpacks. About half of them were just standing there and screaming, and Piper's eardrums felt like they were going to burst any moment at the noise.
A faint idea echoed in her mind. Maybe she could somehow get them to the woods, or somewhere away from camp? Could it work? Possibly, but the odds were going to be very low. Emphasis on the low.
"Everyone," she shouted, putting her backpack over her shoulder and preparing to jump off her bed. "Listen-"
But her plan was smashed into pieces. People were rushing out the door, only contented on getting out of there and saving their various designer items. They were shoving one another to get to the exit first, completely ignoring her. One or two people looked up to her with mixtures of guilt and fear, and rushed out the door, leaving it open.
Then the cabin shook violently again, making Piper edge unwillingly towards the edge of the bed. Madly trying to regain her balance, she quickly gripped the wooden bars of her bed, but with no luck. Then with her arms desperately flinging in the air, Piper McLean found herself in freefall-
And hitting her head in the ground. All for that very second, she could only feel was the splitting pain ringing all over her body thanks to the shards of glass, and her ears were vibrating at the noises echoing from the ground. She couldn't move, and she registered dimly that something wet was staining the back of her white shirt,
Wait, did that mean-
A small crack appeared beside Piper, moving in a vertical line. She could only lie there, blood, or she assumed the liquid was, beginning to seep out of a small opening somewhere near the upper part of her neck. As much as she wanted to get up and flee to shelter, she had no strength to stand up, let alone make another step.
So this is how I'm going to die, Piper thought feebly. I'd always thought that it would be beside Jason. Or fighting in battle. Or beside a bunch of flowers or something equally cheesy. Now I'm dying…lying down on the floor during an earthquake. Yeah, that's just so heroic.
She couldn't help herself. A bubble of laughter escaped from her lips. Although she knew she was probably laughing in the face of Hades, but somehow Piper didn't care anymore.
I'm going to die, and it feels great!
"Piper?" A voice entered the room, and she could hear the figure stumble as she tripped over something. She couldn't really crane her neck to see anything, not in this position. "Piper, are you there?"
It sounded like Annabeth. Maybe she wasn't going to die after all. "Yeah?" Piper managed, but her voice was drowned by another scream from the outside.
Annabeth cursed in Greek, saying something that Piper couldn't quite hear. Then she could see a glimpse of Annabeth, who was clutching the door for balance. She glanced back at Piper. "Can you stand up?"
Hm, was she okay? Before she could respond, Piper felt herself being thrown here and there thanks to another tremor, her head hitting random items-but thankfully her head didn't suffer that many damage. Although each time the quakes forced her to move, the wound by her back opened further, a small pool of blood already next to her.
"No," she said loudly, with as much voice as her strength held.
"Perfect," Annabeth groaned, footsteps padded closer to Piper in quick movements. "Just great. Look, can you crawl?"
Piper thought for a moment. "I don't think so," she said. "There's lots of glass here and stuff. I'm not even sure if I could move my own head." Let alone have the energy to stand up, she thought, the unspoken words seemed to be heard by Annabeth.
"You're injured?"
"Pretty much."
"Where?"
"Somewhere near my head. Back too, and I feel like dying."
Another curse that Piper couldn't identify escaped from Annabeth's lips. For a while, there was a moment of silence, and she could see that Annabeth was putting her hands on her temples, probably devising a plan. "Okay," she hollered, trying to keep her voice above the din. "I'll pull you up. Hold on for a few seconds,"
She tried to nod, but somehow she didn't have the energy to. Hold on? At least it wasn't as hard as the quest last time.
Piper tried to erase all thoughts of giving up and held on to the fact of surviving. Don't imagine your funeral! She thought angrily. Do not envision Leo setting your grave on fire, and Coach Gleeson fighting the first random person he sees! Although Piper had to admit, it was a pretty chaotic and a weird thought at the same time.
"Done!" Piper had lost all sense to time, but it seemed like a few seconds in which Annabeth had done…whatever it was. "Piper! Try to look up!"
She obeyed her words, and obediently turned to the direction of the voice. Annabeth was perched up Anita's bed, holding something that looked like cloth twisted together to create some kind of rope. Piper hoped that she hadn't used the designer shirts; the wrath of the Aphrodite cabin could be astonishing once they were fired up about something.
"Grab it, and try to pull yourself up," Annabeth explained, shaking the rope for some emphasis. "Hurry, I don't exactly know when the next shake will be."
A dim sense of recognition sparked in Piper's mind. Piper extended her arms to reach for the rope, but her arms had the strength of a feather: light and useless. Just as her fingers grasped the cool cotton, she couldn't heave herself up, no matter how much effort she tried.
"Harder!" Annabeth ordered, a sense of urgency in her voice. "Come on, there's been worse times like these…I guess."
She was right, but then Piper had only very minor injuries back then. Her blood loss was quickly draining, and she didn't know how much she could hold on. And then Jason's face popped into her head.
Piper didn't know how, but somehow that image gave her some strength. With a burst of energy unlike none she had ever experienced, she forced herself to clench the fabric. Then, she moved up, although her vision was slightly wavering, Piper was sitting in an upright position in the air.
Just when she was about to sink back into the sea of glass, Annabeth grabbed her hand. "Not too shabby," she commented.
Then Annabeth pulled Piper up, and Piper landed into the bed headfirst, still slightly dizzy. She couldn't believe that she had done it…
But right now she wanted to go to sleep. Just when she was about to sink into the pillows, Annabeth's voice disturbed her dream. "Come on Piper," she said irritably. "Let's go to the Argo!"
"Why not later on?" Piper moaned, exhausted yet trying to make a small joke. "I'm sleepy!"
"Because if not you'll die? Don't make me use my bucket of water!" Annabeth shot back, obviously frustrated with her.
That got Piper awake. She opened her eyes instantly. "Okay, let's get out of here," she agreed, struggling to stand up, wobbling slightly. Noticing a pair of slipper near the bed opposite of her, she picked them up and put them on her feet. Something to shelter her from the glass was better than none.
Annabeth winced as she noticed the huge gash on Piper's neck. "I'll fix that later. Right now we need to concentrate on getting out of here, alive," she said, standing up and opening the door. "You go first."
Piper nodded, and went outside the open door. And there she saw a scene of chaos.
The campers were running around in circles, and the haunted screams filled the air. The tall pines that were usually tall and firm were uprooted and on the ground, forming some sort of maze. Even the pavilion had been shattered into pieces, the tiles scattered around.
"You see what I mean?" Annabeth said dryly, pulling out her dagger. "You better bring out yours too, you never know-"
Her words were stopped when a giant wind blew from the sides, nearly knocking Piper off her feet. The winds howled and moaned, and a good amount of feet away from her swirled a big vortex of air. The funny thing was, the wind seemed to be getting all the energy it needed from the east…
"Eurus," Annabeth cursed. "The unlucky east wind." She groaned. "Weapons are useless now."
"And the Argo," Piper said, echoing her bitter tone, "we won't be able to set sail."
"Didn't the Hephaestus kids build an engine?" Annabeth asked in confusion.
Piper shook her head. "Nope, Leo said that the engine would be too big for the space needed for the Roman campers, so they just decided to leave it out of the plans."
As the east wind blew, Annabeth was looking really steamed. No, pissed was the more appropriate term. "Gods," she began slowly, "What is up with all of you?"
Before Piper could suggest something, the wind howled angrily once more-and started to quickly spin towards the direction of the Artemis cabin. The cabin refused to give in to the demands of the wind, but then the sheer force seemed to be too strong for it to handle. The cabin began to get sucked into the wind, and the planks swirled around the air, the enigma of the moon sparkling dimly in the cyclone.
"No…" Annabeth said breathlessly, as if not believing what she saw.
"We should-"
"Annabeth! Piper!" Then, she could make out a figure in the distance. It was Chiron she realized, his bow slung over his waist, expression worried. "Get there-"he pointed to the woods, "-now!"
Without any more choices or plans, the two girls looked at each other and nodded. They quickly followed the figure of the centaur, running as quickly as possible to avoid the rubble and the cracks that threatened to suck them into…whatever horror lay down there. As Piper looked back to see what was happening, her mouth formed into a perfect O.
The former Aphrodite cabin, one magnificent with some beautiful glamour, was getting swept away too by the wind. Just like the Artemis cabin, the same thing happened, except it was harder for Piper to handle. Sure, she cared for Artemis, but there was something sad about your room crashing down. The only good thing that came out of it that the posters of her father would be torn down-only if somebody didn't bring one along with them. It also seemed like the Hermes cabin was gone too. Turning her head back to avoid seeing anything else, Piper hurried her pace, only several steps away from Annabeth. The blonde haired girl seemed determined; nothing would stop her now from reaching Percy.
After a good distance away from camp and a few inches close to the forest, the two stopped to take a breath. Piper gulped in the fresh dose of air, while Annabeth walked a few steps closer to an oak tree. The forest seemed like the only normal part that day, there was nothing unusual or different about that place. It was comforting, different from the chaos that she had experienced earlier on.
"I suggest you leave now." Suddenly Chiron appeared near a juniper bush, looking calm and on his guard at the same time, hands fingering his arrows. "You'll never reach the deadline if you keep up at this rate." He advised.
"Chiron," Annabeth said, "how could we possibly reach the deadline if there's an east wind?"
Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Didn't they-"
"They made space for the Romans kids, so there was no more space for the engine," Piper interjected.
"Ah," was all Chiron could say. "That's a…rather unfortunate inconvenience."
"You've got that right," Piper couldn't help saying.
"Stupid Valdez," Annabeth grunted.
The centaur sighed. "Well, I'm afraid I cannot interfere. I am forbidden to help tamper with the works of the Three Fates, but I can however give a helpful hint."
"What is it?" Annabeth asked eagerly.
As he was about to reply, a loud sound that sounded like a giant burst of air whooshed into the woods. Out of nowhere, a group of nymphs burst out from behind a tree, running past Piper and disappearing into the wilderness beyond.
"Now you must go away. Now," Chiron said hastily. "I fear that there will be worse dangers coming in a few minutes. Jason and Leo are already by the beach, and there has been already enough time wasted, so this is all I can tell you: stop by Miami if you wish. There will be someone who has some useful information, tell her an old friend has come to get his part of the bargain back. And don't trust-" He was stopped when he burst into a fit of giggles. "Someone's here! Go, before it-" That was interrupted too when Chiron started laughing again, seeming to almost double back on the ground in his happiness.
"Chiron?" Piper looked at him in curiosity, wondering what was going on. "What's there?"
Annabeth stared into the darkness of the forest, squinting. Her eyes widened. "This is bad. Two gods on her side? She's getting stronger by the minute." Her grey eyes flickered from Chiron to Piper, resting on the shadows. Annabeth grabbed Piper's wrists. "We have to run," she said urgently.
"I realized that the first ten times people told me that," Piper said. "Are we going to bring Chiron?"
"No…" Chiron choked out, still in his fit of laughter. "Go…!"
Annabeth looked like she wanted to argue, but she didn't say anything else. Without taking a glance back, she gave an abrupt nod, and hurried towards the left. Piper hesitated, not so sure if she should leave the centaur behind. But there was no time left. Heart beating with a pang of guilt, her feet kicked up a small storm of the dust of the earth, and started into a brisk jog, following the blonde light of Annabeth's hair.
The path that the Athena daughter was running seemed to be a shortcut that led from the forest to the beach, if her memory wasn't faulty. Struggling to keep up with her speed, Piper put some pressure on the wound by her head. Giving a quick rundown on the condition of her body, her clothes with soaked with blood, but her head seemed like the worst injury. There was only a long gash from the end of her neck to the middle of her back, and several bruises in various locations. The wound by her head was a big bruise near her right ear, but there was a small opening that leaked out scarlet blood, or something like that as Piper slowly touched the injury while running, wincing as pain emanated through her mind as she did. She would be okay she guessed, but she if the events kept on like this, she would be forced to give up, her vision was already starting to blur slightly.
"I think we lost them," Annabeth said quietly.
Keeping up her speed, Piper gave a look back, expecting something to leap after them. Nothing came, although seconds later, a wind swept towards the east, and a shrill giggle pierced the sky. It sounded almost eerie, and the sound of swords clattering added to the effect.
Shuddering slightly, she looked ahead, making out a sight of the brown sand. So they were almost there? That was fast. Piper felt slightly relieved that they were almost there. Annabeth was already by the sand, waiting for her and impatiently tapping her foot. "Where were you?" She asked, shaking her head. "Don't you understand what 'rush' means?"
"I'm so sorry," Piper answered sarcastically. "How about we just hurry up?"
"Exactly my thoughts." Annabeth didn't bother facing Piper. She just ran towards the Argo, in pursuit of the boat.
Piper, feeling slightly annoyed at Annabeth's behavior, followed after her, gaining speed and leaving the ruins of a place that she and a few others thought as 'home'.
She could see two figures on the giant ship, Jason and Leo? Hope started beating a small rhythm in her head. It was possible. Piper hoped that they weren't injured or anything. For a moment it seemed like everything was going to be alright, until the almost familiar sound of the wind rushed through the east once more, causing the Argo to make a sudden turn to the right. Piper grimaced as she noticed one of the figures knocked off by the sudden wind, nearly toppling off the ship, but the other figure carried its fellowman up.
"We don't have much time," she heard Annabeth mutter. "No, no no-"
"Come on," Piper said. "We just need a way to stop the wind and to get on the ship. How hard can that be?"
"Jason!" Annabeth's eyes lit up like a light bulb.
"What?" Piper asked. Then she got what she was talking about. "Oh…"
"Yes," Annabeth looked straight ahead at the ship, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Jason!" She shouted, her voice echoing throughout the beach. "Ask your dad for a blessing! "
She wasn't so sure if he'd be able to hear it over the sound of the rushing wind, but Piper knew that was the only sign of luck they had. Without it, they'd miss the deadline, and Gaia would win. The gods would be destroyed, and the world would plunge into misery.
Surprisingly, Jason gave a thumb up, as if he had heard it. He seemed to close his eyes, but it was hard to tell. Leo was at the wheel of the ship, trying to keep it from going from the east. He was obviously struggling, but with Leo being Leo, she knew he'd be alright. Now there was only one thing left to concentrate on…
"Annabeth," she asked, hoping that the girl wouldn't ignore her or get mad again, "who was the other god you were talking about?"
"Goddess, not god," Annabeth corrected. At least she didn't seem angry or cold. "Eutychia. Goddess of happiness."
That statement felt…wrong. "Goddess of Happiness?" Piper frowned. "That seems…unlikely."
"You saw what she did to Chiron. Just imagine what she can do to others."
"Right…" Remembering Chiron's giggles and laughter, Piper felt slightly sorry that they had left the centaur all by himself.
Annabeth's face darkened. "Gods, what's taking them so long?"
Just as she said those words, suddenly, the wind stopped. She could see Jason's shoulders slump in relief. Then, Leo waved his arms, as if telling them to come to the ship. He turned the wheels, causing the ship to move towards the shore.
All the nausea that Piper had gained suddenly disappeared. So they were going to be okay…she guessed. But the other campers were not, she thought, remembering the damage she had seen to the other cabins. Sighing, she hurried towards the shore, just in case another danger would show up. Annabeth was beside her, anger slightly subdued.
"High ho!" yelled Leo as they climbed up the ship. "Why'd you take so long?"
"Why did you take so long?" Annabeth countered, crossing her arms as she stepped into the wooden planks. "We could've died down there if it weren't for Zeus!"
"Haha, I asked the question first-you have to answer it!" Leo said teasingly.
Piper stifled a snicker.
Jason didn't say anything. He looked at Piper, eyes filled with relief. "Glad to see you're alright," he murmured.
Piper tried not to blush. "Um…same goes with me…" she said softly.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Annabeth brought out her dagger, pointing it at Leo. "If you don't get us out of here in one minute, I will chop you with this dagger, make sure you're in exactly three hundred pieces, and feed your flesh to Gaia."
"And you said you apologized…?" Leo said, sarcasm evident.
"Whatever. Just get us out of here!"
"Gods, what is up with her?" Jason asked Leo.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Probably knocked her head too hard on a pavilion."
"LEO VALDEZ!" Annabeth shrieked.
Piper facepalmed, secretly grinning. If they weren't going to run for their lives, it would actually be funny.
"Okay, okay!" As if nervous to anger her any further, Leo edged towards the wheel. He looked up to the sails. "Jason, could you raise the sail by the left?" he said with confidence. When it came to transportation or anything similar to machinery, he was your man.
Jason nodded and did so. And leaving behind the rubble and horrors, the ship set sail, its white sails proudly flowing in the wind.
Sorry for the late update! I was supposed to post this before I went on vacation, but I couldn't because we had to leave early. Anyways, going to post a new one as soon as possible, hope you enjoy it! Now here's for the comments:
Iamtotallyluvinmylife: Thanks for pointing it out, sorry for that! Someone borrowed all my Rick Riordan books at that time, and I thought I knew that answers…XD, and I just bought the Throne of Fire.
The Queen of Valencia Torgue: That's why it's rated T. I was supposed to, but there was no space left XD
lenalee witch, CheyRainAwesomness: Thanks you!
Now, writing the next chapter!