Taking The World By Storm

Chapter 16

Piper

The words replayed in my mind over and over again. Annabeth sat next to me, watching me closely but I showed no emotion. "Did you hear me Piper?" she asked taking my hand in her own. I turned to Annabeth. She had just told me that her daughter, future Zoe, had come from the future and told them that I needed to be guarded, and that Chris was my son, the same son that is inside of me right now.

"Piper, are you okay?" she asked, squeezing my hand slightly. I shook my head. "I just sent my son down to Tartarus with my husband, how the hell can I be okay?" I asked, shaking Annabeth's hand off of my own.

Annabeth sighed. "If it makes you feel better, my daughter just came from the future and pretty much told me my husband and I are going to die before we get to see our kids grow up" she said softly.

I smiled. Then, I chuckled. Pretty soon, I was dying of laughter. "Piper? Whats so funny?" said Annabeth with a worried expression on her face.

"Our kids, in the future, are lovers, they came back and told us that you die and now, they are off probably going to die as well" I exclaimed. "Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?" I said still laughed.

Annabeth chuckled then sure enough, we were both laughing our asses off. "Our kids are lovers!" exclaimed Annabeth, still laughing. "I don't even know why my son's name is what it is!" I yelled.

Suddenly there was a knock at my door. We both looked over and saw Leo standing there, leaning against the door. He looked very confused.

"Um, whats going on?" he asked. Annabeth and I's laughter subsided and we looked at one another. "I just sent my son into Tartarus with my husband and you're going to die soon" I said softly. Annabeth nodded solemly. "Yeah" was all she said.

Leo walked over to us and sat on the bed. "I'm here to take you to camp" was all he said.

_______________

Jason

As we made our way through Tartarus, no one said a word. Occasionally, Percy would mention something or someone would spot a monster and we would have to hide but other than that, we remained silent.

I didn't know if it was because we were afraid of being caught or because no one had anything to say.

We came to a cliff over looking a canyon, about the size of the Grand Canyon, probably bigger. "We have to get across" Percy said. "How are we going to do that?" Reyna asked.

"We fly" said Chris. Before any of us could react, Chris jumped right off the cliff. I ran to edge and watched as he plumeted to the bottom of the pit. "Chris!" I screamed as I dove off the cliff after him.

Just before Chris was going to hit the ground, he stopped and gently landed on the ground. He looked up at me then shot into the sky like a rocket. I stopped mid air and then shot right after him.

I followed him to the other side of the canyon and I landed beside him. "What the hell is worng with you? You can't just run off like that whenever you want! We are a team, we go across canyons as a team!" I exclaimed. "Jason, you need to-" he started but I cut him off.

"Right now, I'm sure you don't want to listen to me but if we are going to make it out of here alive, you need to shut up" I screamed.

Chris gulped. Slowly, he reached for his sword and just when I thought he was going to fight me, he lunged past me.

I whirled around and saw Chris attacking a massive beast, easily 4 times his size, if not more. I instantly regconized the monster. A Manticore. A monster with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and a tail that can shoot spikes. I unseathed my sword quickly then ran to help Chris.

According to myth, the only way to kill a Manticore was to stab it with one of its own spikes. The only problem was, if you touch the spike, you are poisoned and you die.

"Chris, the spikes! We have to use the spikes!" I screamed. I sprinted towards the beast and jumped on its back as Chris continued slashing at its legs. I crawled done its spine and when I got to its tail, I slammed my sword right through it, cutting it off.

Black tar-like liquid spilled everywhere. The Manticore screamed in pain and began

swipping maddly at Chris. Chris dodged the first few attempts to hit him but I knew it was only a matter of time.

I jumped off its back and made a b-line towards the tail. I ripped off a piece of my pant leg and wrapped my hand in it. I grabbed a spike sticking out from the flesh and pulled. It was maybe half the size of my sword and wicked sharp.

I raced back to the monster but before I could reach them, the Manticore made a swipe at

Chris, sending him off the edge of the cliff, into the pit below. I took off into the sky, dropping the spike and flew after Chris who was falling lifelessly into the canyon.

I grabbed him just before he made impact. I pulled him over my shoulder and took off into the sky, heading straight for the Manticore. When I got back on land, I set him down then ran to pick up the spike.

Before I could reach the spike, the Manticore had already taken it. The Manticore roared and I noticed that he had regrown its tail. "That was unexpected" I muttered. Suddenly, spikes shor from its tail. I dove to the ground.

I looked up and saw the beast running right in my direction. I jumped up and readied myself. The Manticore shot more spikes from its tail and I narrowly dodged each. Then, I had an idea.

Just as the beast came at me, it sent another round of spikes at me. I swung my sword and it hit a spike like a baseball, sending it right back at the Manticore. The spike hit the monster right between the eyes, causing him to fall to the ground in a pile of dust.

Picking up my sword, I sprinted towards Chris who remained passed out on the ground. I examined his injuries and as far as I could tell, he "only" had a large gash on his forhead, maybe a few inches long.

After insuring that he would be fine for about 2 minutes while I got Reyna and Percy over here, I left. When I got back, he was still unconcious.

I fell to my knees and wrapped his head in a bandage from my pack. After feeding him some ambrosa, we had to get moving.

"We need rest, there is a hut about a mile from here. Its Bob's" said Percy. We carried Chris to the hut. The whole way he was muttering nonsense. I could make out the occasional word. He said "Zoe" often which made me smile, if possible in a place like this.

By the time we got there, we were exhausted. The air was much thicker and we were almost through our water supply. I set Chris down on a monster skin bed and joined Reyna and Percy in the kitchen.

Reyna was cooking a stew of sorts in a big pot and Percy was sharpening his sword. I sat down between them.

"Dude, your son is in the room, right over there" said Percy. I groaned. "Gods, don't remind me" I muttered. Reyna came over with 3 bowls of stew and sat with us. "Our lives suck" she said, taking a spoonfull of her stew. I nodded my head.

"Bro, your daughter is in love with my son" I said. Percy groaned. "Gods, don't remind me. I don't care if he is your son, he does not deserve my Zoe". I chuckled. "At least you've held your daughter, as far as I'm concerned, my son is still inside of Piper".

"Gee, thanks" said a voice. I turned around and saw Chris leaning in the doorway, he didn't look amused. "Gods, Chris, I didn't-" I began as I stood up. Chris held up his hand to stop me. "I don't want to hear it" he said turning away.

I began to go after him but Reyna put her hand on my shoulder. "Let him go, I'll talk to him" she said with a reassuring smile. I sighed and sat back down. "Nice" said Percy. I punched his arm and went back to my soup. This sucks.

***Another short chapter but I think you'll get over it. I don't really have much to say so as always, I love you and hope you enjoyed this chapter! I love you little demigods -Izzy