The Blood Of Olympus

Annabeth

Annabeth froze in her tracks. "What?!" She snapped, spinning around.

Jason's eyes were the size of watermelons, calculation spinning in his eyes. "He's gone! Was he here when we started fighting?" He asked.

"Yeah." Percy looked back at the Argo II, worry clear in his eyes. "Maybe he's back at the--"

BOOM!!!

A huge explosion erupted from the ship, the lower decks exploding to pieces.

"Piper!" Jason screamed as he started to fly towards the ship as fast as lightning. Everyone else started running towards the doc, Annabeth's head spinning with worry. What if Luke was on the ship? Would he be dead? Who set off the explosion? Then she realized she was more worried about Luke than she was Piper. What was she thinking? Piper was her best friend!

They reached the doc and started to climb up onto the smoldering ship. Once Annabeth got onto the deck, she immediately ran down the steps, into the lower decks. It was complete chaos. All the floorboards were demolished, the doors had blown off their hinges, black scorch marks decorated the walls, and the worst part was that all of the rooms were empty.

"Piper! Luke!" Annabeth shouted while she ran through the halls, lifting splinters of wood on occasion.

"H--here." She heard someone croak nearby.

"Luke?" Annabeth guessed hopefully.

"Yeah." Luke groaned. "It'd be nice if you didn't stand on me forever." He chuckled softly.

Annabeth quickly stepped off of the large chunk of wood she was standing on, and lifted it up carefully. Sure enough, Luke was lying under there, his face covered in black soot. "Hey." He croaked, a large smile spreading across his face. Annabeth smiled back and helped him stand.

"What are you doing here?" Annabeth asked curiously, brushing some of the soot off his shoulders.

After the fog came, I couldn't find anyone. So I just came here to wait." Luke answered, staring at the ground like he was hiding something.

Annabeth looked at him suspiciously, wondering why he really came here. "Do you know how the explosion happened?" She asked cautiously.

Luke looked down at the ground again, pressing his lips into a hard line. "I don't think you'd believe me if I told you." He said sheepishly.

"Try me." Annabeth challenged nervously.

Luke sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was Piper."

Annabeth stared at him incredulously, unable to grasp what he just said. "What?!" She gasped. "How?! Why would she do that?! Are you sure it was Piper?!" She asked her eyes wide with shock.

"Yup. When I tried to stop her, she fought me." Luke said, shrugging his shoulders, but he still had that look in his eyes. Like he was hiding something.

"Annabeth!" Percy called from above the deck. "We found Piper!"

Annabeth and Luke shared a look then ran up to the deck, where everyone else was crowded around an unconscious Piper. Annabeth couldn't believe that Piper would do this. Why would she? She certainly wasn't against them, because she had just killed Gaea and her entire army.

"Is she okay?" Annabeth asked nervously, rubbing her forearm. Piper had a big gash in her side, her blood collecting in a big puddle underneath Jason's knees.

"S--someone stabbed her." Jason said in realization. He snapped his gaze up to Luke, anger filling his face. "You!" He growled, getting to his feet and stalking towards Luke.

Luke held up his hands defensively, making Jason stop walking. "Hey! She attacked me first! I was trying to stop her!"

Jason narrowed his eyes. "Trying to stop her from what?" He asked angrily, wrinkling his nose like Luke was a moldy piece of bread.

"She's the one who blew up the ship!" Luke growled back.

"What?!" Leo gasped. "Piper destroyed my baby?! I'm sick of cleaning up this stupid thing! Why don't we all just keep breaking it?! It'll just be easier!" Leo shouted random things as he started throwing a tantrum and kicking pieces of wood overboard.

Everyone ignored him and started arguing with each other, yelling so loud that Annabeth's ears started ringing. It went on for what seemed like hours, until everyone froze when they heard the blood-curdling scream. They all looked down at Piper, who had sweat beaded across her forehead, her breathing short and labored.

"Piper!" Jason gasped, kneeling back down next to her. He put a hand on her forehead! But immediately jerked it back, his face filled with shock. "She's burning up! We need some ambrosia!" He said nervously, ruffling his hair in concern. "I don't believe this." He muttered to himself, his eyes tearing up.

Piper screamed again, but this time, it sounded like a cry of pain. Jason gripped her hand tightly, a silent tear sliding down his face.

Hazel came running up from the infirmary, holding a canteen of nectar. She handed it to Jason and he quickly poured it into her mouth. Jason felt her forehead again, but his face relaxed with relief. He bit his lip as he looked at her side, the wound still bleeding violently. Then Annabeth noticed there were two puddles of blood. One of them coming from...

She was so stupid! How could she forget?! "J--Jason. Your side..." Annabeth trailed off, looking at the gash cut deep into Jason's side.

Jason looked, and his face suddenly contorted in pain as Piper screamed again and he collapsed to the deck, his breathing becoming rapid.

"What the?!" Leo yelped standing in between Piper and Jason.

"Their lives are tied together, remember Leo?" Annabeth said, grabbing the canteen of nectar off of the ground where Jason had dropped it. She quickly poured some onto Piper's side, making her face contort in pain. Jason did the same thing, sweat beading on their foreheads. Piper's wound healed, her face relaxing. Jason's wound healed too, but his face didn't relax.

Piper groaned and opened her eyes slowly, rubbing her head nauseatingly. Annabeth pulled her into a bear hug, nearly squeezing the life out of her. "Are you okay?! Why would you do that?!" Annabeth scolded, anger rising in her throat.

"D--do what?" Piper asked, sounding completely clueless.

"All this! Why did you blow up the ship?!" Annabeth demanded eagerly.

Piper shook her head, staring at her unbelieving. "I didn't do this!" She said incredulously. "I was trying to stop him!"

"Who?" Annabeth croaked, fearing she already knew the answer.

"I did."

Annabeth turned around, tears forming in her eyes. "Luke." She croaked.