Okay, so I don't think I'm going to do the experiment chapters after all. Because I tried the first person POV thing, and it was awful. Just terrible. And writing past-tense-ish like Uncle Ricki didn't work out either. So, yeah. I'm just gonna stick with the present tense-ish writing I've been doing.
Oh, yeah, almost forgot. There is something seriously wrong with you people. Chapter twenty-six, I asked ten reviews. I only got seven. Chapter twenty-seven, I asked six reviews. I got twelve. TWELVE. Is that the trick? The lower you ask, the more you get? Well, whatever. It made me happy, so I shouldn't complain.
Happy Reading! :)
Chapter XXVIII
Piper
Piper is really starting to wish she'd never picked Katoptris up. The knife might be useful at times, but she's really getting sick of seeing it prophecy doomsday for the Seven. Honestly, you'd think it would know better by now, considering the fact that the Seven always get past the obstacles it shows. But no, it just has to keep on showing Piper images of everyone dieing.
Okay, so maybe she's exaggerating a little. But not much. And it certainly doesn't help when the image in Katoptris changes to show Octavian leading the Romans into battle against the Greeks, or Nico and Reyna surrounded by an army of monsters.
Normally, she might be concerned or scared at the images the knife is showing her. But right now, she's just angry at it.
She tosses it on her bed in disgust.
Stupid thing, she thinks. It never shows the entire scene anyway. It probably doesn't mean anything.
She might be working a little too hard to convince herself. But she's really, desperately hoping that what the knife shows isn't true.
She stands abruptly and starts pacing around her room, raking her fingers through her choppy hair. She pauses for a second by the window, holding her head in her hands. Then she takes a deep breath and walks quickly out the door.
She needs to get as far away from that stupid knife as possible. Maybe get some fresh air.
With that in mind, she starts up the stairs to the deck. She's almost all the way up when she sees Percy and Annabeth.
They're laying side by side on a picnic blanket, smiling at each other. They're sharing a silver cupcake, eating with their fingers. A spectacular sunset over the ocean washes their faces in golden light.
As she watches, Percy darts a hand out and wipes a big chunk of icing onto Annabeth's nose. She laughs and shoves the rest of the cupcake into his face, getting icing everywhere-in his hair, on the blanket, all over his face. He laughs back and grins, attempting to wipe the icing off with one hand and only succeeding in smearing it and making it ten times worse.
They're so easy together; it makes Piper's heart ache. Why can't she and Jason be like that? Sure, they love each other. Very much, at least on Piper's part. But they definitely aren't as close as Percy and Annabeth are, and Piper fears that they might never have a chance to be.
To storm or fire, the world must fall...If storm is Jason, like she thinks it is, he might not be coming back from this quest. Of course, it could be Leo. But that's not any better. Leo is like a brother to her.
It's not that she wants anyone to die. But if someone has to, she doesn't want it to be Jason.
Percy can make some pretty big storms...She muses, and then immediately hates herself for it. Percy can't die. Annabeth would be heartbroken. And just like Leo is her brother, Annabeth is her sister. They're best friends. And even if she's not all that close to Percy, it's not like she hates him. He's a good guy. And she knows that.
No one is going to die. Piper swears to herself. I won't let it happen.
A traiterous little voice in the back of her head whispers, But what if you have no choice? What if it's inevitable? Surely you would rather Percy die than the one you love.
Shut up, Piper thinks to the voice. She's so tired of someone trying to get her to choose who will die. It's like Kansas all over again. None of them are going to die. She continues repeating it to herself like a mantra. Maybe if she repeats it often enough, it will come true.
She wanders down the stairs, back to pondering the rest of the prophecy.
Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. Well, that was obvious enough, wasn't it? Seven demigods on a quest to stop the evil Mother Earth from waking and destroying the world.
To storm or fire, the world must fall. Oh, Piper is so not going there again.
An oath to keep with a final breath. Piper has the strangest feeling that that particular line has something to do with Leo. If only he'd tell her what happened to him while he was gone...
And foes bear arms to Doors of Death. Piper's pretty sure this line has already happened, on both sides. The remaining Romans and Greeks of the Seven joining forces to get to the mortal side of the Doors, and Percy and Annabeth...Well, she's not entirely sure what happened on their side of the Doors, in Tartarus. She wants to ask them, but they haven't been the same since they came back. She knows it's a sensitive topic for them. And they have a new, haunted look in their eyes that really bothers her. Whatever they saw in Tartarus, it wasn't pretty.
No! You don't say! A sarcastic voice screams in her head. Piper mentally gags the voice and stuffs it in a closet.
She wonders what would happen if one of them did die. How would the others react? If it was Jason, Piper knows she would be heartbroken. And Leo would probably blame himself. If it was Hazel, Frank would...Well, Piper doesn't know what he would do. But Piper can tell that they're close, even if they don't often show it. If Annabeth died...It would be a disaster. Everyone on the Argo would be destroyed, Percy most of all. Of all of them, he's known her the longest, and they're so much more than just boyfriend and girlfriend. They're best friends, and soulmates. But it wouldn't just be Percy. All of them are close to her, whether it's as a friend, or just because she's their leader. Piper knows that Leo respects her more than he's friendly with her, although that's been changing. They've all been getting a little closer.
No one is going to die. She tells herself again. But with just Seven of them against an army of giants, and the Mother Earth herself, it seems impossible that there won't be any casualties.
Piper looks up. She's wandered all the way down to the stables, almost absentmindedly. The glass bay doors show the ocean as it passes beneath them.
The water is beautiful. Clear, and clean. Piper doesn't understand how anything so beautiful could be evil, like Percy says Thalassa is. After all, she supposedly controls this part of the ocean.
But then, as she watches, a Nereid with razor-sharp teeth and eyes like twin black holes passes underneath and bares its teeth evilly at her before swimming away. And soon after that, a school of black fish with shark teeth and red eyes passes by. She swears they're all looking right at her.
Okay, so maybe the Ionian isn't as harmless as she thought.
She sits down on the bay doors anyway and continues watching. As evil as it might be, it's still beautiful. Coral reefs with extraordinarily vivid colors are everywhere, and the sand of the ocean floor, far, far below, glitters pure white. Piper wonders if mortals see something different. Otherwise, they'd be swarming all over this place for its beauty.
She sighs and looks up at the ceiling. Beauty. She thinks in disgust. It's so overrated. It's never done anything for her except cause her trouble. And while she can definitely appreciate it, particularly in nature-and in other people-it doesn't mean she has to like it.
She looks back down through the glass bay doors and recoils in shock. Speaking of beauty...
An incredibly beautiful woman is floating just beneath the ship, staring up at Piper with an unreadable expression on her face. Her image flickers, as if...as if she's made of glass.
Or water. Piper thinks briefly. And then the woman disappears in a cloud of bubbles. Piper wonders if she imagined it.
Before she has time to think about it, she hears a sound like an explosion, and the ship is knocked violently sideways, shaking with the shock of it. Piper is knocked onto her stomach, staring down into the water.
Then she hears another sound, a long, drawn-out groan as if the ship is dieing, and the bay doors start to open beneath her.
She tries to scramble away from the widening gap in the middle, but they're opening too fast. She screams for help, but her pleas are cut short when she falls through the doors and the water closes over her head.
Also: To Hope Vandarez (guest), you don't have to worry. I will not be making Annabeth pregnant. Sorry grace (guest), but that's just the way it is. As far as I know, Annabeth is still a virgin, and she should stay that way until her wedding night.
To Leoiscool (guest), yes, I've been trying to find ways to fit in more Jasper and Frazel. It should (hopefully) be coming up soon.