(Sorry this chapter took a little longer to update... and it's so short. This is sort of a filler chapter anyway.)

And now...

OHMIGODS OHMIGODS 112 REVIEWS OHMIGODS!

This chapter is dedicated to Just another (guest), the hundredth reviewer! YAY! YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!

(And, doing the math, this is my most famous story, because although MODP has 250+ reviews, it also has 40+ chapters.)

I do not own HoO.

Piper

It was absolute torture, but Leo finally finished Chime. It was well past ten, but the curfew on weekends was ten thirty so they were still safe from the harpies.

"Ready?" Leo asked Piper from behind their overturned worktable. Piper had an instant déjà vu of the Wilderness School, when they had been doing the exact same thing in the dormitory lounge.

Piper nodded. She pushed herself up on her knees, so that she could still duck under the protection of the table if necessary, but tall enough to peer over the side to have a good view of the air. Leo turned Chime on from the switch on her stomach, and they waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"Is she working yet?" asked Piper. They must have been kneeling there, staring at the bird intently and trying to order it to move telepathically, for five minutes. But still it lay there motionless, doing nothing.

"Maybe I did something wrong," contemplated Leo. "Maybe it's the generator, or the wires aren't put together correctly, or—"

"Did you put the battery in?" asked Piper.

"Of course I put the battery in," Leo said impatiently. "How would I forget something as simple as putting in the battery?"

"Oh, really?" asked Piper. "Bet you five bucks that when we open the battery compartment there won't be any batteries."

Leo sighed and reached down to grab the small bird. "Okay, just be prepared to be disappoi—" He stopped when the little door opened to reveal an empty battery storage.

"Oh."

Piper held out her hand and Leo sullenly reached into his pocket and pulled out a five dollar bill. Then she reached out to another table and grabbed a small circular battery, popping it in. Leo gently closed the door again, laying Chime down on the floor again.

Nothing happened.

"Did you put the battery in properly?" asked Piper after a minute. "Or maybe—"

She stopped herself to gasp. Chime's electronic little head rose from the floor, looking around curiously. Piper wanted to scrabble away from it as much as she wanted to scoot closer and touch it. (Her, she chided herself.) Chime fumbled to get to her small electronic bird feet, using her silver wings to support her. She flapped them once, twice, but took no air.

"Oh. My. God," said Piper.

"It's 'gods' now," Leo reminded her nonchalantly. Piper wanted to slap him for being so clueless.

"Chime… can actually—"

"Yeah, but I don't think she'll be able to go anywhere today," Leo said, getting up to his feet and turning the table they were hiding behind back onto its four legs. "She's too new at being real. And it's almost curfew anyway. Do you want to take her to the Aphrodite cabin?"

"Me?" asked Piper, looking down at Chime, who was still trying to bat her wings. "Well, she's your bird, so you should have the right to—"

"Okay," said Leo simply.

"NO!" yelled Piper, scooping up Chime into her hands and holding her to her chest protectively. "I keep her," she stated.

"Oh-kah-ay," said Leo. "Just make sure she doesn't decide an electronic mutiny."

"A—what!?" Piper demanded.

"Kidding," said Leo. "She's too well programmed for that."

There was hardly anyone outside at this time, but luckily for Leo and Piper it wasn't past curfew yet, so they still managed to get to home base safely and without being eaten. Piper placed Chime in the new camp clothes she had bought with Lacy earlier that day and tucked her under the bed, where no one would accidentally step on her. She remembered just in time to turn the little switch off.

Just in time.

Ha ha.

I have no idea what I was thinking while I wrote this.

And happy belated Canada Day! (YAY!)

Now... review!

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