Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my mistakes which are probably plenty since I wrote this on my iPod and I read through it a couple
times, but...
Piper did not get any sleep. She was tossing and turning and crying all night. Even after she cried herself to sleep, she woke up a couple hours later, and she would struggle to go back to sleep with the darkness of her room looming over her annoyingly, as if it was reminding her she was once again alone, for another few hours. The cycle would continue.
When she heard everyone else get out of bed and head downstairs, she gave up her fruitless attempt, grabbed a new uniform and took off the one she was wearing. Carefully, she folded each part of it and put it on the desk in a row. Her shirts smelled most like him, she realized as she stared at it with a blank face. Eyes stinging, she headed for a shower. Making it as hot as the shower would allow, she simply stood under it a while. Closing her eyes, she allowed the water to run down her muscles, ease them and her and make her give a sigh as her body slumped forward. Reluctantly, she headed out of the shower when all the hot water started to recede, leaving bitter cold- like what she was feeling inside.
Taking one last glance at yesterday's outfit, fit in a new one for that day, she headed downstairs to join the others. She hoped someone
already got the message not to bring up Percy because she really didn't need to be reminded of anything last night; it was all too painful now that she didn't have him. Besides, she couldn't handle all the joking today. It wasn't a good day. All she wanted to do was go up to Olympus and finish this war so that she could have Percy again.
Everyone was quiet when Piper came down. Faughn shot her an apologetic look and let go of Marcus. Piper ignored them and headed to the refrigerator, but she wondered who knew already and told everyone. As she found some milk, the room got noisy again with everyone talking to each other again as if nothing happened, but you'd have to be dumb to miss the tension in the room and forced smiles and laughter.
Piper was pouring some milk into her cereal when Bailey touched her arm. She looked over, and Bailey gave her a sad smile. "I know we
haven't been real good the past few days, but...I'm still your best friend, or you're mine anyway. You can always talk to me about
something..." She paused, and gave a larger smile. "Or rant about something."
Piper studied her for a moment. She swallowed. "Percy told you?"
"Came in crying," she affirmed. "Probably won't come out until lunch. He feels terrible."
"Did he tell you it's all my fault?" Piper croaked, and she looked back down to her bowl of cereal.
"From what I got, it's Aphrodite's fault. Not yours."
"He obviously didn't tell you everything then."
Bailey's cheeks grew red. "Why are you trying to pin this on yourself? What good is that going to do, huh? What is that going to accomplish besides you feeling lesser to Percy and like you can't do shit right? Is it making you feel better? Is it?"
"I'm just stating facts," Piper mumbled, finding a spoon from one of the drawers. "There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"Yes, there is," Bailey answered simply, standing in front of the bowl of cereal. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared slightly
down at Piper. "You're going to second guess yourself with every decision if you keep thinking like that."
"Like what?" the Peacemaker asked, disinterested.
"Like that! Like you don't know what I'm talking about!" Bailey tossed her hands up in the air, exasperated. "It's really annoying."
"Well, I don't know what you're talking about," she replied, ducking around Bailey to try and grab her cereal, but the peacekeeper slapped her hand away. The demigoddess stepped back and glared at her friend harshly. "What do you want me to do? Lie to everyone and myself that it wasn't my fault? Have everyone view me as this amazing person when I can't even let the most important person in my life know what he means to me without screwing it up royally?"
Bailey's face softened. "No," she admitted, "that's not what I want you to do."
"Then what? What do you want me to do, Bailey?"
Bailey sighed. "I want to stay yourself. I know this is hard for you, and that a lot of pressure is on you, but we need your leadership, and
we need to know that you're making the right decisions. Do that and this war will be over in no time so you can get back with Percy."
"It's not that easy," Piper whimpered, looking devastated.
"I know," Bailey admitted, grabbing her forearms and squeezing her tightly. "But, Piper, you can't be with Percy if you start making
wrong decisions. It's going to affect the end of the war, and you could make it worse. You want to be with Percy don't you?"
Piper gave her an obvious look. "Of course I do. I wouldn't be making a big deal if I didn't."
"Right," Bailey nodded. "And the only way you can be with him is for this war to end- *peacefully*- and the only way you could do that is not doubting the decisions you make and be your amazing self when you're able to make all these decisions without thinking too hard." Bailey squeezed Piper's forearms hard again. "Chaos made you Peacemaker for a reason," she said softly, "because of your smart, quick thinking and being able to do your work when everything else has gone to hell. And you've told me enough about the life you had here that I know that Chaos is more of a father than yours ever was. I know what it's like to never want to disappoint your dad, and you don't want to do it to your dad, so show him that he was right to choose you to be level headed and selfless in the worst situations for you."
"I have been selfless since I joined, Bailey," Piper snapped angrily. "Can't I just be selfish this one time?"
"No, because you're a Peacemaker. Peacemakers are the least selfish people in any universe. That's why you're chosen." She sighed heavily and shook her head. "Look, there's only so much I can do to try to convince you. I don't have Charmspeak, so I don't expect you to listen or understand what I'm trying to say, but..." The young-looking brunette sighed heavily. "I just want you to understand that the only way you can be with Percy is if this war ends nicely and you make the right decisions. If this turns into a huge war, you know it will never end, and you and Percy will grow further apart. You need to end this, and you need to have your head on straight. Only then, when these infuriating and stupid gods are settled down and are arguing about whatever they normally get upset about, and these camps are united and a whole community, can you fulfill all your dreams with Percy."
Leaning back on the counter, her body half sliding down it and her flawless face pulled together in wrinkles that revealed her real age
and showcased all the misery and distraught she had been through, Piper gave a choked sob, "What if he doesn't want to be with me after the war? Is it even worth it to try? No wonder I'm related to Aphrodite, I'm just like her-"
Piper's head whip-lashed to the right as her words broke into a mangled gasp, her nerves lighting on fire with fire on the surface of her
cheek. Fluttering her eyes, slowly she moved her head back to normal and with caution, lifted a hand to her left cheek, as if she was
afraid of what she would discover. The area was sensitive and tingling with aftershock.
Bailey dropped her hand, eyes ablaze with something powerful. She had slapped her.
The sound of it had resounded throughout the room, and everyone sat silent with tensed bodies as they awaited the next move.
"Don't you fucking dare!" Bailey hissed with so much venom that Piper's nerves lit up again in reminder of the power she held. "You
are the farthest thing from that bitch of a goddess! Chaos wouldn't have stopped by to take care of you if you were; the pain would've
been caused by you anyway! He picked you because there is something so freaking incredible about you, that makes you stand out from all the other demigods, that gives people hope. Aphrodite would never, ever be able to do that. And for Christ's sake, woman, Percy wouldn't have so much as glanced at you if you were! He hasn't looked at any of the Aphrodite girls, but you because you are so different from all them and you are so wonderful!
"In case you haven't noticed, Percy's insane about you. I agree with you, the lying thing that was a real bitch move, no matter where it
came from, but he's attempting to make it work. He believes that there still is some part of you that will be honest with him in every way and he knows you've had a hard time, so he's going slow and he's sticking with you. You don't deserve him if you're just going to give up right now." She shook her head and took a step back. "Goddamn, this place really freaking sucks if it turns the strongest person in absolutely any universe into this mess you are now."
She started outside, fists still clenched with frustration and sadness, her knuckles to the point of showing the bone. The way she
carried herself made it evident not to go within a five foot radius of her or a fate worse than just a slap would fall upon you. "You
better man up, Peacemaker," Bailey spat angrily, "or you won't have any followers behind you."
The sound of the door slamming after her made all in the room flinch and it made everything much more serious. The ringing in her ears
bounced around her brain, hitting very precise spots, and Piper was oblivious to the room as it did. One spot that was hit must've been
revived or something another, because Piper snapped back to attention.
Yes, what was she thinking?Jason may have tore her to pieces like a vulture that had not had food for days and stumbled upon a corpse of a dear, but she was never this pathetic. She was still able to get up in the morning then, still able to conduct missions, solve relations, and make her adoptive father proud. She separated herself from this place, resolved to make herself a better person, a stronger person that would not let anyone take control of her like that again. What had changed here? Sure Percy wasn't with her anymore, but by Chaos, he was not gone yet. They still had hope for a future together. For love. For peace and happiness, and Chaos, what was she moping about? Something her idiotic, good-for-nothing whore of a mother said? What does her opinion matter anyway?
"Go pack," Piper ordered in her authoritative voice, spinning around and slamming her hands down on the counter. Her eyes were blue,
electricity that swore to do some damage sparking from her pupil. Her cheek was a fiery red, the hand print barely visible against her skin, but it was burning, and it was burning with power and determination and holy-shit-Bailey-has-never-been-more-right. "We leave at noon." Her eyes swept over the room, daring someone to object. "For Olympus," she said in satisfaction when no one spoke up, "to end this damned thing and get back home."
The room was dead silent for a moment, the atmosphere tense and heavy- then Faughn stood up and saluted. "Of course, Peacemaker."
The rest of the crews immediately stood up and repeated the sentiment. They walked past her to the stairs, and Marcus put a reassuring, heavy hand on her small shoulder. "It's nice to see you back, ma'am."
He was gone before she could respond, and Percy, who had been hiding around the corner, nodded with pride.
Now that was his Piper.
Noon rolled around quickly. No one from the Chaos cabin bothered to leave as they readied themselves for what they knew was to turn into an excruciating battle. The place once filled with laughter and chatter was now somber and serious, metal clanging against each other as they checked their weapons. All of them had battled very dangerous and challenging adversaries, but they had battled in a room where 12, maybe more of some of the most powerful beings on Earth were all gathered together at once. And although they had outstanding powers, the right hit would throw them to the depths of the Underworld to be judged by Hades.
Bailey had only come back ten minutes before the determined time, but she was equipped with a new blade, one that Piper thought familiar but could not place in anyway, and she didn't have much time to. Besides, having Bailey in a bad mood when they fought was almost a good thing, her attacks dealt more damage and the opponent barely had get in any offensive attacks with the way Bailey would wail on them.
Piper didn't know what to feel about the trip. She didn't know what Chaos was thinking when he sent her down her, as if she was able to
get the gods to see reason- if they were capable of setting aside pride then all the world wars and all the wars between would never
have happened. Honestly, all gods were stubborn and conceited, and their side was always right no matter what. How was she supposed to end this peacefully? How was she supposed to break those incredibly thick skulls of theirs to make them see rationally? She did not have that much power- not in anyway.
But she had to try.
For Percy.
No matter how determined she was with this aspect, she was scared. Oh, Piper McLean was so scared of it. Facing all those gods that had once helped her in the Giant War and had once made her feel as if she was not an absolute freak and cast out, and fighting them was something she was not positive she could do. To add to that, these people were very, very powerful with a whole lot more experience than she had ever wished of having. How, if it resulted in combat (which it would), was she supposed to fight them and win? If she lost, the gods would turn on one another and fight them, and Piper would be helpless as she watched, bleeding out on the ground and gasping for breath, as another world war occurred. She would've failed.
She was going to fail.
But she'd attempt not to. For Bailey. For Chaos. For Percy. For herself.
This was something she had to do for herself, to show that she had grown stronger and that Jason and Aphrodite were nothing but pebbles trying to hinder her climb up to the mountain of self confidence. This was something that would prove she was ready for a mature, steady relationship with Percy. This was something that she absolutely had to do in order so she could live and breathe in all the blessings Chaos had placed around her.
The whole camp appeared to send them off. Argus was going to drive them up there, in the fist-sized hail that was inflicting pain on the
earth that would never be forgotten with the scars it was leaving. Before they had left the cabin, Piper grabbed Percy's arm and he looked down at er with that emotionless face again. She looked at him with her own. "You don't need to come with us to do this," she told him, her voice understanding and hard at the same time. "I couldn't ask you to do that."
"You're not asking," he replied, "and I'm not leaving your side." His eyes scanned her face. "No matter what happens, I will always be
with you." He walked out the door without looking back, but his words gave Piper such confidence that she was going to end this petty battle and she was going to win.
Travis came up to Piper and they shook hands. "Thank you," he said, and his voice was so earnest and serious that it genuinely surprised Piper.
"For what?"
"Uniting this camp more than ever before." His eyes locked with hers. "You're a miracle worker, Peacemaker, and if anyone can get out
parents to see reason, it's you. We all believe in you."
Piper's heart constricted. "Thank you," she breathed out. "All of you. Thank all of you."
Travis gave Percy a man hug, and Nico came up to Piper. He grinned. "Am I still able to come along, boss?"
"I couldn't ask you-"
"Piper, shut up, it's my decision. I said I would stick with you for this thing," he rolled his eyes as he sighed, "and that means to the
very end."
She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a very tight hug. Percy chose not to look and instead focus on Annabeth who was walking up to him so that he wouldn't get unnecessarily jealous. Nico grabbed her just as tight, kissing her head. "Thank you for everything you've done, Nico," she mumbled into his shirt; he smelled like dirt and death, but right now, he was the best comfort anyone could offer her (besides Percy, obviously).
"Don't mention it. I told you, I'm always here for you." He squeezed her one last time and pulled back, giving her a grin. "Now, let's go
kick some ass, yeah?"
She smiled and nodded, and she looked over to Percy to find him talking with Annabeth. She tried not to eavesdrop, she really did, but
well...after their conversation last night she had to make sure Percy was going to make an effort to get over her too.
Percy sighed as Annabeth stopped in front of him. She looked at him and they just stared at each other for a few moments until she
whispered, "You really love you, don't you?"
Immediately, Percy's eyes fluttered over to Piper and the tightening of his face at the sight of the hug was visible. "How'd you know?" he asked, turning back to Annabeth.
"You got that look in your eyes when you look over at them. And it's written all over the way you've acted with her this week." She smiled weakly and nudged him playfully. "Besides, Seaweed Brain, we've been best friends since we were 12."
He smiled too. "I'm sorry things didn't work out with us, Wise Girl. I love you, I really do, it's just-"
"-you love Piper more, and she can give you what I can't..." Annabeth sighed heavily and looked down as she shuffled her feet. "Damn, maybe if I wasn't a daughter if Athena, we would've ended up together."
"It's not just the kid thing, Annabeth," he consoled. "We're just looking for different things. After this, you'll be buried in work again, and I just want to get away from hard and busy work and I want to live a nice and calm life. I couldn't ask you to give up your family and passion for me."
"Yeah," she sighed. "You've gotten really boring."
He laughed heartily. "Yeah, well we've been through a lot. I think we've earned something boring, and you want more excitement. I'm sure a guy in this very camp will give you exactly what you want and treat you like the princess you are."
She shoved him. "I am not a princess!"
He laughed, and pulled her into a hug. "I know. You're Wise Girl and that will never change."
She breathed him and tightened her hold on him. "Yeah, and you're my Seaweed Brain, and no one will change that."
He kissed her head, and squeezed her. She sighed and let go. "You need to get going," she announced. "Be careful up there, okay?"
"You know me, I always think out ideas before I do them," he joked, and she laughed, shaking her head.
"Whatever. Go kick Hera for me, would you?"
He nodded and watched as she slunk back into the crowd. He looked over Piper to see her staring at him. He winked, and she smiled shyly before turning to face the crowd. "Camp Half-Blood! You were once my home, my haven, and you've been thousands and thousands of kids' escapes and homes! You are their family! You are each other's families, and nothing will ever change that. Our bond is strong, our hearts large, and our lives connected in so many ways! Our parents may not have DNA, but our bond runs deeper than blood, and we are stronger than anyone else on this planet! We are demigods and I'm proud to be one and to know you all!"
The camp roared with applause and cheers, and Percy felt pride stir up inside him at this amazing woman in front of him.
"Don't ever let anyone bring you down, don't ever let anyone break this bond. Combined we are at our strongest! Combined we are amazing, and I wish for you all to remember that, and remember all you've done to get this family, and how important they are to you." Pausing until the cheers quieted down a little, she grinned wide and opened her arms. "Combined we are Camp Half-Blood!"
These cheers were the loudest, and it was deafening and surprising that absolutely everyone agreed with that statement. Piper had really created a difference here, Percy realized, and it was one of the best differences anyone could've made.
The car ride was silent.
No one could find anything to say, nothing reassuring or determining because they had no idea how this would play out. No idea if the gods were already at war, no idea if there was even a chance of them winning this battle. Argus did not have a single eye looking at them as if he was afraid he would burst into a million tears at seeing these brave young kids go to try to fight the gods to ensure everyone's safety.
The elevator ride was grim.
There was no one in the building, lights flickering, papers and trash all over the ground, as if a tornado ran through here not long ago.
Who knows? One might have. The ceiling was beginning to sprinkle concrete crumbs down on them as if it was preparing them for the shower of debris they were sure to receive on the top.
It probably wasn't smart to take the elevator in this crumbling building for they may not even make it to the fight to ease their worries on how it was going to go, but they saw no other way to get up there. The elevator music was static, and there was barely enough room
for all them, but they felt better all squeezed together, like a huge group hug- maybe their last group hug. Each one of them loved everyone there, and if anyone was defeated was in this battle, it was going to be hard on everyone.
The elevator rocked and shuddered many times so that it seemed like it was trying to stall their deaths and keep them safe (or maybe kill them itself by plummeting), but then the light for the 600th floor lit up. The elevators doors opened with a groan, and Olympus was in front of them.
So...um...hey...
I know, I know, I'm a righteous bitch for not updating for what? 129 days or something like that? It was probably longer. And believe me, I feel really, really bad, but I've just...life's been complicated. You know those years where everything happens all at once and just overwhelms you and then school is piled on top with so much freaking work that you're sure they want to kill you? Yeah, I've having one of those years. And I'm actually gaining a social life, so I don't really have much time for writing. Plus, I've been on like the worst Writer's Block for everything I've been writing EVER. Seriously, like I feel really bad even when I think about writing, and it freaking sucks, but I think I'm starting to get over it.
Anyways, you don't want to hear my excuses. The chapter, yeah, it sucked. A lot. It was really a filler chapter, just Bailey being Bailey and trying to get Piper to be herself again. It worked, obviously. Sorry for the lack of Piper/Percy here (has anyone come up with a cool ship name for them yet, I haven't seen any), but next chapter will be better. And did you notice how I tried to use big words this time? My ridiculously stupid English teacher would be so proud...Um, well, typos are normal for me, you all know, so please ignore or them or if it's really stupid, yell at me please. I'm a bad editor.
The action is taking off, are you guys excited for it? Next chapter will be the negotiation, next next chapter will be stuff (can't give it away), three chapters I think will be another filler, maybe? or it might be the end. My baby's coming to a close, and I'm going to finish it, I swear!
You know the drill, click that button down there and tell me if you...
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