Hey gang :D Kind of a short update today. Thanks to everybody for reading, and all of you who reviewed! Enjoy!

VI
PIPER

The council meeting ended quickly after that and everyone began filing out, a buzz floating in the air made up of mixed excitement and worry. As she allowed herself to be swept up in the crowd, Piper couldn't deny that Percy's contact with Poseidon was good news—really good news. It meant that the gods wanted to help them. The bad news, of course, was that even though they wanted to, they couldn't. At least, not until three of their campers went on a deadly quest to free the god of sleep from the clutches of his crazy mother, the Queen of Night.

A chill brushing across her skin, Piper broke away from everyone else once she'd exited the Big House. She trudged across the wraparound porch and leaned against the railing, looking out over the strawberry fields. Tall, bright, stadium lights were set up around them, just like other major areas of the camp, and she could just barely make out the forms of a handful of people milling about, checking on the crop. It wasn't as though they needed the strawberries at the moment, what with everything going on, but Piper suspected that some of the campers kept up with their maintenance almost as a sort of distraction, something to keep them occupied so they weren't focusing only on the war. A small, almost sad smile touched her lips as she watched them work, longing for the days when she could look out over the fields by the light of the sun.

"What'cha looking at?" a voice interrupted her thoughts, and she turned her head as Leo leaned his back against the railing beside her.

"Just… remembering."

He shot a glance over his shoulder, eyes going to the sky. "The sun would be up right now," he said as though reading her mind. "This whole 'constant night' thing is really disorienting. It's what, nine A.M.? Feels more like nine P.M."

Piper chuckled. "Yeah," she agreed. "Keeping my sleep schedule has been a major challenge." Leo snorted in amusement, and it struck her that he of all people wasn't one to complain to about sleep schedules. Between fixing Festus and zipping back and forth between the various jobs his cabin was conducting, he'd rapidly become one of the busiest people at camp. He didn't let it on, but she knew he'd developed a habit of going days without sleep. Lately he'd still had all the energy of a normal person—which, to those that knew him well, was evidence enough that something was off. Leo's typical energy level was way above 'normal'.

"So… You're leaving tonight," she said, changing the subject as a gnawing worry started to once again chew at her insides and crease her brow into a permanent frown.

"Yeah. After dinner." He was looking straight ahead, staring at the outside front wall of the Big House behind her, and she couldn't read the look on his face.

Piper twisted around so she was leaning on her side, facing Leo. "You'd better be careful," she said firmly, allowing her voice to be powered by just a hint of charmspeak. "You're my best friend. I don't want to lose you to this war."

He turned toward her and smiled—not his joker-like grin, but a real smile, and it actually made her feel better. "You won't," he promised. "I don't want to lose me to this war, either. Frankly, I'd hate to imagine the state of the world without me in it."

Piper had to smile. Leo had a natural way of lightening any situation that made her beyond glad they were friends. "So would I," she said sarcastically. "Still. I know how much you've pushed yourself lately. I guess what I mean is… Just don't be a hero, okay?"

Leo raised his eyebrows skeptically. "Me, a hero?" he scoffed. "I think you're confusing me with your boyfriend, Thor." Piper glanced at the floor, wanting to appreciate the joke but suddenly feeling deflated and empty like a popped balloon. When Leo spoke again his voice was quieter, more serious. "He misses you, you know."

She looked up, wondering briefly if he was joking. But that was stupid. She could tell from his tone that he was being honest. "I miss him, too," she admitted. "But I just… Every time I see him it makes me mad. I hate how much he hates himself. And that he won't let me in anymore. I just feel like I can't reach him, like he's buried himself so deep that soon he's gonna suffocate and I won't be able to save him."

"Maybe saving isn't what he needs," Leo suggested with a shrug.

Piper frowned. "Then what does he need?"

He arched an eyebrow in apprehension. "You're asking me?" he said dryly. Piper smacked his arm and shot him a 'Not helping!' look, and he laughed. "Look, I don't exactly claim to be the Love Guru—"

"Really?" Piper asked in mock skepticism, eyebrows shooting up. "Since when?"

Leo gave a wry grin and went on, "I'm just saying you should probably… you know, try to work things out. You don't know how much time you have left, is all."

She hated to admit it, but he had a point. With the war going on, she had to decide sooner rather than later what it was she wanted to do. There was plenty to keep her busy, but she didn't exactly have the luxury of putting things off anymore.

"You're right," Piper admitted with a heavy sigh. "You know you're right. I'll try." She smiled and bumped her shoulder against his, her way of saying 'thank you'. When he grinned in response, she knew he got the message. "Speaking of working things out," she went on, her train of thought shifting gears, "is something wrong between you and Reyna? You guys don't really spend much time in the same room, but I swear she was acting funny toward you at the meeting. And you were acting funny right back."

"Was I?" Leo asked with a frown. "Beats me. If she's bugged at me about something, I don't know what it is. Like you said, we don't exactly talk." He shrugged off-handedly, but something still told Piper she wasn't getting the whole story.

"So… you guys going on a quest together isn't gonna be a problem," she said with a hint of skepticism.

"Shouldn't be," he replied, and his voice and expression were so normal that Piper decided she must have imagined any weirdness after all. Maybe Reyna just had a lingering irritation toward Leo for his accidental bombing of New Rome a year ago. Even if that were true, Piper trusted Reyna and knew that she wasn't the type to let personal feelings of anger interfere with an important job, so she supposed there was nothing to worry about.

Finally, Piper nodded. "Sorry. Guess I was just thinking too much."

Leo shook his head, brushing off the issue. "I should probably go give Festus a last-minute inspection," he said, stepping away from the railing and stretching his arms.

"Good call. Wouldn't want him falling out of the sky over Colorado, now, would we?"

"You say that like it's a possibility."

Piper laughed. "Go on. I'll be there later to see you off." Leo grinned and bowed, before vaulting over the railing and setting off at a jog toward the forest.

As she watched him disappear into the blotchy shadows between the lights over the forge and the arena, his voice echoed in her head: You don't know how much time you have left, is all. A heavy grip pulled at something in Piper's chest as the weight of this statement settled over her like a blanket. It was the hard truth: not one of them really knew how much time they had left in the world to fix what they needed to fix or say what they needed to say. The Shadow War was like a cryptic death sentence without a specific time or place, just a constant threat whispering in your ear that each day might be your last. It was a scary thought, and Piper wanted nothing more than to just push it away and pretend it wasn't real.

But try as hard as she might to forget, the inky black sky was all the reminder she needed, pulled over their heads like a hood on their way to an execution.

Ominous, huh? I guess darkness will do that. Anyway, another new POV narrator next chapter! Should be up on Friday. Leave me a review in the meantime?

Later days!

-oMM