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Piper's world got a little blacker.
Jason and Reyna Grace's twins. Those words haunted her, tortured her, echoed in her head and repeated over and over and over.
Percy dropped his sword immediately and dived to catch the swaying girl who started to fall back. The girl- the daughter of Jason and Reyna Grace- screamed and the rest of the crew hurried to make sure their commander was alright. "Back up!" Naden barked as Percy fell to his knees, Piper's eyes barely open and her body numb. Jason and Reyna Grace. Twins. Reyna Grace. Two kids. One looked like Jason. Twins. Jason Grace. Reyna Grace.
"Pipes? Piper, come on, talk to me," Percy pleaded, holding her carefully and looking down at her pale face, her breathing shallow and her head spinning.
"She needs breathing room!" Naden snapped to her comrades as more Romans rushed up and something in the distance rang through Piper's ears, mixing with the words. Married. Twins. Kids. They have kids.
"Piper, come on, stay with me," Percy ordered, his eyes wide with panic and horror. Why did they have to meet the kids now, after her mental breakdown only a few minutes before?
"Hey sorry we're late," Bailey panted, coming up with her team and Piper closed her eyes tightly, breathing deeply, but her stomach knotted and in the Underworld. Twins. Marriage. Grace. "Woah, what's going on here?"
"Yes," Reyna snapped, standing in front of a row or two of heavily armed and trained Romans. "What is happening?"
Upon hearing the voice, Piper's heart clenched and her body was filled with unexplainable pain. Marriage. Reyna Grace. Twins. Kids. She gave off a small scream of pain and Bailey dropped with wide, fearful eyes.
"What happened?" she demanded as Percy's heart pounded with fear. He couldn't lose her now. No, no, no, this wasn't supposed to happen. "What happened, Percy?"
"Percy?" Jason asked with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Piper's mind spun. Jason and Reyna. Kids. How many kids? How long? Marriage. Not Reyna, Reyna Grace. Her heart was hurting and pounding in her ears and those words wouldn't stop bringing itself to her forehead, pushing, trying to break out of the hurtful, heartbroken torture. What was she expecting? Them to just be there? Not be together? No. She whimpered in pain when more memories brought themselves forward. Everytime Jason said he "loved" her, it was Reyna and all those videos...all those lies...those good times...those bad times...Jason and Reyna Grace's twins. Kids, they have kids. Kids. They- They...no.
"Water!" Percy barked, looking up at Naden who was standing nervously behind him. "Someone get me some water or something!"
Bailey shot up and held her sword tip to the boy solider- Jason and Reyna's son- growling, "What happened to my commander?"
The automatons next to Reyna snarled and stood alert, a simultaneous sound of swords being pulled from their hilts or armor clanking as they all stood on the ready to attack. Reyna and Jason tensed up, their own swords pointed at Bailey. The boy- they have a son- paled to an ash white that would've put Hades to shame and winced at the pure anger in Bailey's eyes. "I-I don't know!" he stuttered, even though he was Roman and Romans don't show fear or weakness.
"Name!" she shouted, the girl- Jason and Reyna put together- trembled, though she was ready to attack.
Percy tilted Piper's head back and ordered softly, "Open your mouth. It's just water."
Piper shakily obeyed, his words barely penetrating the whirlwind of thoughts and memories that one goddamn sentence that kept ringing and ringing and ringing in the midst of it all. The water flowed without feeling, though she could feel her stomach rise up from the deepest depths of the Earth. They have a kid! No, two! Or maybe more!
"You dare?" Reyna thundered, her piercing eyes colder and harsher than ever as she pointed to her sword more confidently towards Bailey.
"Reyna, no," Jason said calmly, though a bit strained, as he put a hand on his shoulder and watched Percy hold Piper. She looked familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it. He looked up towards his son and nodded his head. "Tell her."
"N-Nick," the boy- how was this even possible?- answered fearfully. "Nick G-Grace!"
Percy's eyes shot up to Naden and she got the message, standing closer to Bailey who didn't like the information and spun on Jason, her face showing her anger. Percy turned back to the girl on the ground who was now suddenly still. Nick Grace. Jason always liked that name, Piper thought with tears filling her eyes. He wanted to be named Nick, he told me.
"YOU!" Bailey yelled, Jason flinching at the hatred in her voice. "NAME!"
Despite the way his gut told him this was the worst answer in the world, he stood up straight and tall and answered, "Jason Grace, praetor of the First Legion."
Bailey froze, her eyes wide with horror. Piper flinched and Percy picked her up, his own stomach far in the Underworld and panic in his chest. Gods, what would happen between these two when Piper was alright? His eyes widened in terror. What if she wasn't alright? What would happen then? He just got her back, he couldn't lose her again- this would be the third time! That's twice in a single week!
"You," Bailey breathed, dropping her sword and stepping back. She turned on her heel and faced Percy. "You have to fix her! You have to!"
"I-I don't know how!" Percy snapped with no vemon, but pure worry and panic in his voice. Why did everyone assume he could just fix everything up with the snap of his fingers? Sure, he's saved Olympus a few times, and he's immortal and have faced Titans, Giants, Gaea, but he couldn't fix a broken girl and he had help with all of those things! Besides, he can never say the right things! He makes it worse!
"You have to!" Bailey replied, her face white and hands shaking. "You're the only one who knows something about her-"
"You know her too!" he interrupted, his voice cracking as Piper whimpering in pain. Why did he have to do this with the first steps in the place?
"Not like you do!"
"What is going on here?" Jason demanded, Naden glaring at him with worry in her features. "Who is that?"
"No!" Bailey screamed, going to clamp her hand over his mouth, but Piper had already heard it.
Percy's eyes widened in more horror than ever before as she froze in his arms and became absolutely still. He didn't remember me. He forgot me. I haven't even changed that much, she whimpered mentally, tears falling down her cheeks. He has no idea who I am. He married without a second thought, he has kids, he probably never even thought of me.
Bailey climbed hurriedly off Jason who was now on his back with his eyes wide with surprise. "Get her out of here!" she cried, pushing Percy towards the way they came. "Fix her!"
Percy stopped once they were out of the boundaries and placed Piper on the ground so he could remember where they had to go, but she was sitting up with pain in her heart and tears overflowing. Maybe it was because she was Aphrodite's daughter and she fell in love easily, or the reminder he had led her on for years, or he was seeing Reyna behind her back, hell, maybe it was because of her never actually getting over him because of not confiding and not having anyone there for her when she found out, the lack of closure and support, of fake apologies and explanations...It didn't matter what it was, but Piper hurt worse than she had ever felt before. Kids, marriage, happy life, forgetting everything to do about me when I was dreaming about the good times with him...Why, Aphrodite? she wanted to scream 'til her throat hurt. Why are you putting me through this?
Percy turned when he heard her choke back a sob and found her with her knees drawn to her chest, head buried in them and shoulders shaking. He rushed towards her and did the only thing he knew what to do: He sat down next to her and pulled her in his lap, letting her cry into his shoulder and clutch to his shirt for the second time that day. He wrapped his arms around her and decided against saying reassurances because he didn't know what was going to happen. He didn't know if she was going to be okay or if he wasn't going to kill Jason for all this shit he put her through. He didn't know if "making" peace within Olympus or Camps would work; if they wouldn't have World War IV, if she would ever be the same Piper he knew.
Not for the first time in his life, Perseus Jackson had no idea what was going to happen and was terrified because of it.
It passed into night time when Piper stopped crying, everything from the years coming out and everything today bursting the damn she had weakly built. Percy had long carried her in the ship and sat down with her on the bed of one of the rooms, but her tears didn't stop until she fell asleep right there on his lap. Only did then the crying stop. All those lonely nights, dreams and nightmares, memories and wishes, showed tonight. It was like a fashion show. "Welcome to Piper's Mental Breakdown! To start off the night, we have a dashing surprise of a little number I like to call 'Meet the Kids', followed with 'The Grace Family?' That one brought out a little inspiration for 'Forgotten' which then brought on a whole new line of styles. There's the 'Loser of Love...' Oh! This one's my favorite, 'You're Old School!' It's wonderful isn't it? Can't you just see the heartbreak and sadness in it? This one you surely can. Ladies and gentleman, the 'You'll Always be Alone!' Behind her, is the sister, 'Everyone Has Love, but You!' Beautiful aren't they? Just break your heart!"
The cause and effect chart made her laugh bitterly and sob more. When has an effect ever been a good thing? The wars on planets are always caused by an argument and end up with deaths and loss of families, friends, buildings, lifestyles. Nothing is ever good for Piper. Her life is consistent of bad effects and the one cause of falling in love. Before she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, Piper made one last vow to herself: I will never fall in love again.
Percy, half asleep, tried to get her off him, but everytime he would try to move her, she would whimper and clutch to him like he was her lifeline. In a way he guessed he was. He debated his choices when she wouldn't let go of him. He could sleep in the same bed as her; pros: he might actually sleep, she wouldn't have another mental breakdown when she woke up- er, a worse breakdown-, he wouldn't have to wake her up to detatch himself. Cons: Annabeth would kill him, Piper would kill him- when she was better, of course- Bailey would kill him, Athena would kill him, Chaos would kill him, Naden would probably kill him. He could get killed a lot and he wasn't so sure about that option.
Second option, staying awake all night until she woke up. He laughed out loud at that one, Piper only nuzzling his neck further. That was not happening. He was tired, worried, tired, panicked, tired of carrying everything on his shoulder, angry at Jason and Reyna and their kids, and his heart hurt from Piper's crying. So, second option out.
Third option...there really was no third option. He couldn't just wake her up and then leave her! That would be horrible and he knew that much. She would probably think he had left her again when she needed a friend the most and gods, he hated making decisions.
So it was settled, he'd take his chances with the first option. Besides, he would probably wake up before her and pretend nothing happened...
Right?
Piper stirred as she sneezed in her sleep, yawning and moving closer to the warm pillow she was on. Seriously, when has her pillow ever been this warm before? It should be wet, wet with her tears and cold with the air coming in from the vents of the ships. But it wasn't. It was completely dry and hard even, but soft; warm, dry, and hard soft...This was definitely not her pillow. But then again, Piper never really cared for pillows and she was tired and that warmth was very entincing and there was a steady lullaby under her ear. Her arm stretched out over the warm pillow and she sniffled the remainer of last night. There was something around her that tightened and without another thought, she dismissed it as the warmth and pull of sleep, and so, she decided to give into it and fell back to sleep in a minute's time.
Percy, however, woke up a few minutes after Piper fell back alseep and as his eyes fluttered open, he was confused where he was before he felt weight on his chest and something curled around his arm. For a split second, Percy thought it was Annabeth for she had slept with him once or twice like this, but when he looked down, he saw brown hair instead of blonde.
...
...
...
...
Oh.
He let his head fall back on the pillow he was resting on and he yawned, rubbing his eye with his free hand. The other, it seemed, was holding onto Piper's hip with his arm wrapped around her waist. And strangely, Percy didn't want to move. Was this what it felt like with Annabeth, too? The feeling of sleepy perfection and a new weight of laziness making none of him want to move? Was there a tingling feeling from where she was on him, a feeling of something in his heart that was open and not clutched in pain? What about the numbness of his brain? The urge to just lay in bed all day? Was there no pain in the bicep that was around her and surely was asleep? A weird sense of joy at the feeling of hair tickling his neck? It seemed like so long ago that he can't really answer. All he knew was that he was feeling everything and more with Piper's head on his chest.
A mental debate started in Percy as he slowly started to brush the hair out of Piper's face, only to find it tear stained, flushed from last night and her lips slightly chapped from crying. He could stay in bed, he quite liked the feeling of being like this, and he didn't want to be plunged into the reality of him saving Olympus again or that Piper would likely break down again when she saw Jason. Or, he could move and save himself embarrassment, painful deaths, and the nice feelings going away.
Stay?
Not stay?
Feel nice?
Die?
Relax?
Man up and fight?
Sleep?
Force himself awake?
He chuckled to himself. There was no question. He could stay in bed a little longer than normal today.
Sometime during his drinking in of this nice feeling, he had fallen back asleep and Piper had awoke again, only this time, she was fully awake and the pull on her waist couldn't bring her back to sleep. It was the nicest sleep she had gotten for a long time and she was now fully rested. So, instead of feeling her nice, hard soft pillow with the built in nice rythmn, she stretched out her limbs and yawned, her eyes fluttering open in the dark- there are no windows on this side of the ship. She put her hand on the pillow and raised her head to look around a her surroundings, trying to remember when she had got in here since the only thing that she remembered was being down in the woods and Percy...where is Percy?
She stopped at something that definitely wasn't her pillow and blinked wide eyed at the mass of black hair on the pillow. She looked closer and sure enough, Percy Jackson was sitting there, laying in her bed and sleeping. She gasped and looked down and saw her hand on his stomach which means...she slowly replaced her head and found that yes, she had been sleeping on his chest. She blushed a deep red and stuttered to the room, not quite believing this. Surely, she hadn't asked him to stay, so that means it was a voluntary thing...
She layed on her back before getting ready to slip out of the grip he now had her loosely in, but when she did, he rolled over with her, hanging his free arm over her stomach and mumbled, "Don't leave."
Her blush deepened, all events of last night promptly forgotten, and she squirmed under his grip. He was talking about Annabeth. Maybe he thought Annabeth was in his arms and he didn't want her leaving his sleep. Yeah, that had to be it. Of course Percy Jackson wouldn't want her to stay in a bed...wrapped in his arms...with him...even if they had clothes on...
Piper! she shouted at herself, her face borderlining a purple. This is not the time!
Right, right, she assured herself. I have to figure out how to get out of this bed, hopefully without waking Percy up. It would certainly be awkward if he woke up and realized that he was holding her down and to his chest with his steady, warm breath hitting her temple and head, his strong arms making her stomach flip and the warmth from his body making her tingle. He obviously didn't remember that this was Piper and not Annabeth he was laying with.
She lifted his arm around her stomach and tried lifting it to get out, but that only made him stir in his sleep. When she would quickly drop his arm, he would hug her tighter than before, her face burning with a blush that went down to her stomach. This was not good. Not good at all. Someone could walk in any minute, he could wake up, they could ruin the new friendship they started only a few days ago, they could become awkward, Bailey could find out...Chaos, she would never hear the end of it if Bailey found out.
So, she tried squirming to get out under his arms, but his arms were tight and his hand was barely on her side so if she did succeed...ahem, that would be very, extremely awkward. Or if she turned her head...
Her blush deepened and she shook her head. He's a friend, she reminded herself, but she shot back with a very logic point of she was just pointing out what would happen if she did that idea.
That left her with just sitting there and waiting for him to wake up. But then they would both be awkward towards each other and embarrassed. Oh yeah, plenty embarrassed. So...what does she do? She really has to get out of here, she decided. That's it, no questions. She has to get out of this bed she's sharing with her new- and old- friend.
She lifted his arm again and just as she goes to move, his eyes flutter open and he blinks at her in confusion. She's blushing again, deeply and as she does, she prayed to any god, but not Chaos because if he found out about them sleeping together even though they aren't doing anything other than sleeping, and they have clothes on! It's not like he would think, but he'd get pretty darn mad and-
"Hi," Percy whispered, breaking her out of her mental rambling and leaving her struck with wide eyes and her hands softly holding onto his forearm, raised up above her body and a blush that would put bricks to shame.
She squeaked in response and she doesn't know, thanks to the lack of light, but he's blushing, too, being caught in this situation with her. He had been thinking something was moving in the nice positioning the last five minutes of his dream with Piper and him sitting back and watching the sunset on a beach- he didn't want to know why he chose to have that dream when she was right here and more often times, Annabeth's told him that he talks in his sleep. That would've been more awkward than this.
"You okay?" he asked quietly, neither of them moving, but both of them staring with blushes.
She nodded numbly and dropped his arm back on her stomach, her eyes wide.
"Y-You, uh, fell asleep last night," he explained stupidly, his blush deepening as he took his arm off her and rubbed the back of his neck. "You, uh, wouldn't let go of me, so I- er, well- tried to stay awake until you woke up, but I guess," he cleared his throat- gods, he sucks at lying. "I fell asleep, too."
She merely blinked at him in response and swallowed, her neck as red as her face.
He could feel himself getting hotter with all the blood in his face. This was not going as expected. He gulped and ran a hand through his messy hair, his other arm under her. "Er..."
"Sleep good?" she squeaked, her voice up an octave.
He quickly looked away from her face and nodded stupidly and slowly, not sure what else to do. He had slept good, but maybe it was better to take his chances with staying up until she woke up..."What about you?" he asked, clearing his throat.
"Uh, yeah," she coughed.
"That's good..."
MOVE! Piper's mind screamed at her and as if shocked, she jumped out of the bed and stood at the edge of it, Percy staring at her with surprise before he rubbed his face to try and hide his blush, something burning his stomach unpleasantly. "Uh, thanks?" she squeaked again, hastily straightening out the clothes that didn't ever need fixing.
"Er, yeah, sure."
There was a knock at the door and then Naden's voice, "We still have to go to a meeting we set up, guys. I really don't want to come in there."
The two recruits of Chaos blushed down to their fingertips and hurried out. "Did we miss breakfast?" Piper asked, trying to seem normal, though the blush set everything off.
Naden hid a smirk and nodded before leaving the ship. "Well, um, there's always lunch?" Percy said, but it was more of a question.
"Yeah, uh, let's head out then?"
"Good idea."
They were both all but running towards the Roman Camp, Piper's mind on anything but the encounter last night.
Well, that certainly didn't work out well for either of them, did it? But don't worry, this is all essential for their friendship, the working with Jason and future chapters that I am giving you no clue on because that would be spoiling it.
The stuff about Jason wanting to be named Nick is absolutely false and I have no idea what else to put so I thought hey...but yeah, you'll meet his daughter in the next chapter...maybe.
Well, I told you I would be getting this out by the weekend, but I managed to get out early weekend. I hope that's okay.
Let's try to get over a hundred reviews guys, and if we do...I'll give you a SPOILER on what's going on with Percabeth, or what will happen with PercyxPiper in the future...your choice. Just review and tell me what you think of the chapter and which spoiler you want. New chapter up by next week :D Now...
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