Hello, my humble people! I am trying to be as formal as possible because I know that in about five seconds I will have an extreme breakdown—
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This chapter is dedicated to Gabsters, the two hundredth reviewer. Applause!
Piper
Piper and Leo hid in the corner of the armoury, hidden by shadows. It took all her might not to scream. An attack? On her camp!? She had to tell the others—they had to tell the others. She snuck a sideways glance at Leo crouching on his feet beside her, and it was apparent that he was taking this new information just as heavily as Piper was. She guessed it was harder on him than it was on her because of the fact that this was his first real home since his mom had died.
She remained silent, though, even if every molecule in her body wanted to freak out. Piper felt as though she needed to yell something, but somehow resisted against the urge. Panic bubbled inside of her, threatening to break through. It had already been a cold day, but now it seemed even colder. Her hands shook, and she had an itch on the side of her face. She didn't dare reach up to scratch it in fear of making a sound and giving them away.
She and Leo had been practising their swordplay until the campfire. It had been real intense (Piper had finally beat him), but fun. They joked and took their time with putting away the armour. They were just tucking the last of their breastplates in the back corner of the room when the group of five entered the armoury. Piper was about to walk by them on her way out, but Leo pointed out that they were the mysterious five that had arrived all in ten weeks of each other in a rushed whisper. He joked that they might've been aliens with intentions to blow up the camp, and that they had to proceed with extreme caution.
The thought of it now made her want to laugh.
Without thinking, Piper slipped her hand into Leo's in fear, for comfort, and just to make sure she wasn't alone. She had a short déjà vu to that day at the Wilderness School, where the bullies were beating up that younger kid while she and Leo hid from them. But this was much more serious and terrifying. And what didn't help matters was the fact that they were hiding in a place where there were enough weapons to satisfy a dictator. Leo and Piper were good fighters, but it was obvious that these people were better, even if two of them were younger than them.
Fortunately, the people in the Iris Message—Romans, they called themselves—were facing away from them, so they couldn't possibly spot Leo and Piper by accident. The five 'Greeks' would see them if they turned their heads the right way, but they were too occupied with their video that they wouldn't notice them if they kept still and quiet.
The words that jerk in the IM had said kept ringing in Piper's head. Kill anyone who puts up a fight. Make the survivors convert to the Roman ways and board them on planes and ships back to Camp Jupiter. Those who refuse will be either killed or taken prisoner. When we're done with them, they'll prefer being dead. I can guarantee it.
The five began to leave the armoury. Piper took in a shaky breath when she thought they were gone. But apparently they weren't.
"Did you hear that?" asked one of them—Thomas.
"Hear what?" Christine asked, looking around.
"Something," he said.
"Probably the Greeks at their stupid campfire," said Marcy, crossing her arms. "Pointless, if you ask me."
"No, it came from in here," said Thomas, pointing at the armoury. Piper nearly had a coronary. He sent the lowest ranked person to go check it out—Hazel.
Piper squeezed her eyes shut. They would be discovered. She felt Leo tighten his grip on her hand. "We're not here," she moaned quietly to herself, as if by saying those words repeatedly they would come true. "We're not here, we're not here, we're not here…"
Hazel searched the room for a few seconds, the other Romans joking around between themselves at the front. She pulled back armour and swords, searching for anything that might've caught Thomas's attention.
And then Hazel froze right in front of Piper and Leo. They were two feet apart. She turned and pulled a large shield out of the way, revealing them. Piper froze in terror.
For a second, none of them moved.
"No one here!" she yelled out to the others. She seemed dazed, as if she had just been put in a trance.
"Are you sure?" asked Thomas.
Hazel blinked and stared back at Piper and Leo. Something inside Piper whispered urgently, We're not here! We're not here, Piper, say that we're not here! Say it! SSAAAAYYY EEEETTTTT!
"We're not here," repeated Piper out loud, managing to control her voice so that it wouldn't croak.
"No one," Hazel reassured the Romans.
"Must've been your mind," Marcy told Thomas teasingly, elbowing him.
"Whatever," he said. "Let's go." The four of them walked out of the armoury, Hazel tailing behind, looking slightly puzzled as if she had no idea what she was doing there.
For two entire minutes, neither Leo nor Piper spoke or moved, only listening to the drifting voices of the Romans walking away.
Then Piper broke down into tears, digging her face into Leo's sleeve. "I was so scared!" she sobbed. "For us, for the camp… Oh no, the camp…" She lifted her head, trying to wipe away her tears with her hands, creating even more of a mess on her face. "We have to tell them!"
"Not," said Leo. "If we tell camp, no one will believe what we have to say. And the Romans will end up killing us."
Piper wiped away a few tears away on the back of her hand. "I can't believe we never realized I had charmspeak for all these months," she said, her voice sounding calmer than before but still quavering slightly.
"Yeah… Pretty neat, huh?" said Leo. Piper tried a smile but failed miserably.
"Chillax," Piper tried to joke.
"Perfect," said Leo. "Now, wipe away those tears and let's go to the forges."
"Why?" Piper asked.
Instead of replying, Leo closed his eyes and seemed to rack his memory for something. Finally, he opened them and said—
"Now there is only one possible way
To save the future's fate,
The forge and the dove must work together to
Change their persuasive rate."
Piper said nothing for a moment, then asked, "You really think we're the forge and dove?" she asked.
"Remember?" asked Leo. "'We'd do a lot better than Nyssa and Drew'?"
Piper nodded.
"It makes sense now," he said. "You have charmspeak, and I have mondo-coolio fire powers, and BAM! All of a sudden we overhear a plot to take over camp. Now, I have to build something to change the persuasive rate of your charmspeak, or the future's fate is doomed, or something similar to that."
"Yeah…" said Piper shakily. "But, Leo, can we wait here another minute, just to make sure they're gone?"
"I have a better idea," Leo said, getting to his feet. "I'll go check."
Piper wanted to order him to stay where he was, but decided that if he thought it was safe then it was safe. She nodded once. "You do that," she said. "And bring a sword with you, just in case!"
"Will do, my fair and beautiful Beauty Queen," Leo joked, bowing mockingly.
Piper sat there still, watching him leave. Sitting in silence by herself made her feel as if she had no worries—no conspiracy to destroy all Greek demigods, no demigods at all, no deadline, no monsters, no gods, no camp, no Greeks, no Romans, and sometimes even no Leo.
Wait. What was she saying? Leo was a great friend!
Actually…
Because to tell the total and entire truth, it was so infuriating and humiliating when other campers teased them for being in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship when they weren't and Leo would go along with it and add that their honeymoon was the following week. His annoying humour sometimes got a little too annoying, and his oh, poor me act for his dead mom sometimes got excessive.
Alright, those were very cruel things to say. Piper knew she wouldn't be able to live through this new madness if it weren't for him. She wanted to apologize, but by doing so she'd reveal her thoughts. No. By allowing these things enter her consciousness she felt as if though she had spoken them out loud, lightening the burden on her shoulders. She felt much better now.
That was when Leo spoke up. "I think they're gone," he called out to her.
Piper stood up and stretched her legs, running her cold fingers through her damp brown hair.
"Alright, then, Leo. Time to save camp."
It surprised me how many people thought that the 'spies' were other secret infiltration Romans Octavian sent in secret.
Disclaimer: I do not own HoO
Anyway, as we reached 200 reviews (YAY!) I have decided to take another request chapter. Anyone is eligible, and I will try to sneak in the best one in somewhere...
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