So, everyone's asking for Percabeth and Frazel.
At first, when Percabeth was asked for, I was like, what are you talking about? I just posted Percabeth not long ago. But then I realized that I hadn't posted it yet, I just had it written. Silly me.
And, guys, I know I have a serious lack of Frazel in this story. It's one of my major failings. There's some coming up soon, but I'm pretty sure it's going to suck epicly, because, for some reason, I cannot write Frazel. My muse just doesn't want to cooperate when it comes to them. So, if you guys have any Frazel ideas, feel free to post them or PM me. Just remember that Hazel's only 13, even if she was technically born in the 1930s.
To Lamarquise: I know it's slow right now, but I promise all of these chapters have a purpose later on. Well, most of them. And there's just a few more chapters before things will start going faster, I swear. Just bear with me.
Well, guys, this is it. The last post for five days, until Thursday. Can you wait that long? Hmmm?
You know what would be awesome? Coming back Thursday and finding that I have a bunch of reviews. More than usual. Like, twenty. :) Just kidding. I won't make you do that. But it would be nice...
Chapter XXXIX
Piper
When Piper opens her eyes, it's dark, her head is pounding, her mouth is as dry as sandpaper, and Jason is asleep in a chair next to her.
He's slumped down in his seat, with his arms crossed and his head tilted sideways to rest on his shoulder. It doesn't look very comfortable.
Piper smiles. It's nice to know he would rather be with her and uncomfortable than comfortable and without her.
Her forehead crinkles. Her own thoughts are confusing her. She sits up and kneads her head with her knuckles, as if she could push the pain out of her head. She moves carefully, quietly, trying not to wake Jason, but it doesn't help. He jolts awake, a momentary look of confusion passing across his features until he sees Piper sitting up. Then delight, joy, and just plain happiness fills his eyes. Seeing him so happy, just because she's awake, makes Piper the happiest she's been for a long time.
"Piper!" He cries, "You're awake!" He leans forward and wraps his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. Piper, a little startled at the sudden display of affection, hugs him back. She breathes in his smell, like warm summer rain, and buries her head against his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Pipes." He says, his voice muffled. Piper pulls back and looks at him. He avoids her eyes.
"Sorry for what?" She demands.
"When you fell into the water, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't save you. Percy had to. And then, later, when you were unconscious, the ship tilted again and I dropped you. You would have fallen into the water again if Percy hadn't caught you." He fidgets, twisting his fingers. Then he looks up at her, his eyes full of guilt and pain. "You could've gotten really hurt because of me."
Piper sighs inwardly. Jason really ought to get over the whole he's-not-good-enough-for-her thing. Because she really doesn't care what he thinks. She only wants him.
"Jason, it wasn't your fault. It was-what attacked the ship anyway?" Piper asks him this partially to change the subject and partially because she's genuinely curious.
"Thalassa, Primordial goddess of the sea." Jason mutters.
"The one who's husband Percy killed?" Piper asks. Jason stares at his lap. Honestly, anything involving Percy seems to be a sore subject for him.
"Yeah, that's the one." Before Piper can ask her next question, he answers it for her. "Percy killed her, too. I was down here with you, but Frank explained what happened. Thalassa pinned them all to the deck-well, she pinned Leo and Frank to the controls, which was dangerous, to say the least, and Hazel almost got knocked overboard. Thalassa slammed Annabeth into the wall, and Percy...well, Percy got mad. And, according to Frank, that's a severe understatement."
"What did he do?" Piper says.
"Well, Thalassa sort of taunted him for a while, and then when he didn't respond, she threatened Annabeth. You can imagine how he reacted to that." Jason tells her.
"Yeah, I can definitely imagine. That's when he killed her, isn't it?" Piper continues.
"Yeah. But she didn't just dissolve, like monsters do. Percy stabbed her in the stomach, and she sort of just shattered, like glass. Frank said it was really weird."
"Sounds like it." Piper murmurs thoughtfully. Jason still avoids her eyes.
This time, Piper sighs out loud, blowing out her breath in loud exasperation. Jason glances at her, finally, bewilderment in his eyes.
"It wasn't your fault." She repeats. He looks down again. She grabs his face and forces him to look at her. "Jason. It was not your fault." Piper slips a little charmspeak into her voice and then feels guilty. But seeing Jason relax, even if it isn't much, is definitely worth it.
"But-but-I should have done something. I should have tried. And I shouldn't have dropped you." His voice is strained, and Piper knows this isn't just about her. He's feeling like a failure again, carrying the weight of the whole quest on his shoulders.
"Jason, there was nothing you could do. And I doubt you would have dropped me if you could have helped it. Something must have happened, right?" She drops her hands from his face and grabs his hands instead.
"A crate hit my arm." He mutters.
"Are you okay?" Piper asks, concerned.
"I dislocated my shoulder." He mutters. Seeing the look on Piper's face, he hurries to reassure her. "I'm fine now. It doesn't even hurt anymore."
Piper relaxes. "See, Jason? It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault that Thalassa attacked us, or that the crate hit your arm and made you drop me. And I'm fine now, Jason." Her voice is soft, gentle. But she keeps it free of charmspeak. She has to convince him without using her power, or he'll just go back to thinking the same thing after he leaves.
He looks at her face. "I couldn't stand it if I was the reason you got hurt, Piper. Now or ever." He whispers.
"I know, Jason. But you won't be. You won't." She whispers back. Then she smiles. "Besides, I can take care of myself, you know. I'm a big girl."
He smiles a little at that, but he doesn't say anything, and Piper still see that look lingering in his eyes.
"Jason, we're all equals. That's a bonus of having the seven most powerful demigods on this quest. We can all take care of ourselves. We're smart. We don't need just one person to lead us, to carry the weight of the entire quest on their shoulders. Every single person here has a place. We're each strong alone, but we're much stronger together. It's why we're all here. That means you have to let the rest of us handle things sometimes. And you can't take it to heart when something goes wrong, because it's not your fault."
"If we all have a place, then what's mine?" Jason asks, a little bitter.
"Well, Jason, you're a leader. But you're not the only leader. We're all leaders. Frank took your place as praetor, for Hades' sake. Percy and Annabeth practically ran Camp Half-Blood and led the campers into battle countless times. You did the same at Camp Jupiter. Leo is the one who keeps us on course. Without him, we're lost, because none of us have his talent with machines. Annabeth makes sure we don't do something stupid. She comes up with the winning strategy. Hazel can manipulate the Mist and control precious gems and metals. She also helps make sure we don't get ourselves killed. And she cares for us when we're hurt. We've all done our fair share of that, but I think she might have done the most. And both her and I help keep moral up so that no one gives up before we even get there."
Jason looks intently into her eyes. Piper can tell that he's listening to her.
"We all have a part to play on this quest, Jason. We're all equals. You don't have to be the leader, to be the responsible one all the time. We're all pretty responsible ourselves. We're leaders too. You can relax, Jason. But please don't go swinging through the rigging and jumping off the mast like I heard Percy and Annabeth did the other day."
Jason gives her a slightly incredulous look. "Percy and Annabeth did that?"
"Yeah, didn't you hear? They climbed all the way up to the mast, and when Leo told them to get down, they jumped. Percy used one of the ropes so that they didn't fall to their deaths, but it scared Leo half to death."
A smile tugs at the corner of Jason's lips, and there's a light in his eyes that had been missing for a while. "I can imagine Percy doing that. Although I would've thought Annabeth woud have been the one yelling at him to come down and stop being stupid, not doing it with him."
"I know; me too. But Tartarus changed them. And they don't do anything without each other anymore." Piper says. Jason's eyes darken when she says Tartarus, but not like they were before.
"Yeah, I know. But I'm glad they have each other." Jason says.
Piper smiles. She's officially stopped him from feeling guilty. She stands, and he looks up at her.
"Where are you going?" He asks, his voice a little anxious.
"I'm going to take a shower. I smell like seaweed." She tells him. He smiles.
"You smell fine. And I was hoping we could go up to see the stars. Percy and Annabeth have the right idea." He says.
Piper grins broadly. "We can. After I take a shower. I won't be long, Jason, surely you can wait for a few minutes."
"I don't know...A few minutes seems like an awfully long time." Piper just laughs and walks to her room to get her pajamas. If it's already dark, there's no reason to put on her usual jeans and T-shirt, even if she's going to watch the stars with Jason. Although she kind of doubts he'll be able to stay awake long enough. She knows he hasn't been sleeping lately, and he seemed tired.
She takes a quick shower and puts on her Cherokee eagle pjs. Then she dries and brushes her hair, brushes her teeth, and walks quietly down to Jason's room.
When she peeks her head in, it's just as she suspected. Jason is passed out on his bead, snoring softly. Piper smiles, shrugs, and walks to her room. As much as she would have liked to spend some time with him that didn't involve fighting or being injured, she would rather he get some actual sleep.
Piper herself isn't really all that tired, so she decides to tidy up her room. Not that it's dirty, exactly, but there are some clothes on the floor and her bedside table and dresser are kind of cluttered.
She picks up the clothes and stuffs them in the drawers of her dresser, before turning to her table.
That doesn't take long either.
Finally, she starts tidying up the top of her dresser. She finds a few pictures, one of which is her dad. The others are from Camp Half-Blood. There's a picture of her, Leo, and Jason posing in front of a half-finished Argo II, with Leo standing in the middle, his arms slung around her and Jason's shoulders and a goofy grin on his face. Originally, he'd tried giving both of them rabbit ears, but Piper had punched him. She also might have charmspeaked him a little to keep him from trying it again.
Another picture is of her and Annabeth, standing on the beach, with their backs facing the ocean. Annabeth was smiling bravely, but Piper could still see the pain in her eyes, caused by Percy's disappearance. She'd gotten a little better when they'd finally found out that Percy was most likely at the Roman camp, but she'd still worried way too much.
The last one is of Piper and Jason, posing together in front of the Big House. Piper had her head resting on Jason's shoulder, and their arms were around each other's waists. Piper's pretty sure that one's her favorite.
She sticks them into the frame of her mirror. Then she continues cleaning off the various socks, T-shirts, and other items piled on her dresser. She hangs her hoodie on the back of the door, after finding it underneath a pair of jeans. Then she uncovers another reminder of camp.
A camera. Piper picks it up and turns it over, remembering when Lacy gave it to her.
"So you can take lots of pictures of you and Jason!" The girl had squealed happily. Piper hadn't really been sure there would be much romance on this quest, but she'd taken it anyway, to make Lacy happy. She didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings.
Piper feels a little guilty now. She'd promised Lacy she would at least take a few pictures, and she hadn't even turned the camera on.
She looks down at it thoughtfully. According to Lacy, it was one of the best cameras you could get. And there's still plenty of time to take pictures.
Piper smiles. Time to keep her promise.
And there you have it. I really like the whole Piper sneaking around with a camera thing. It seems like something she would do. And it also sets the stage for a bunch of future sappy sweetness, so...yeah. *hint hint* :)