Taking The World By Storm

Chapter 20

Jason

I sat down, head in my hands, staring at the ground. I felt numb. Of all the people on this gods forsaken quest, Reyna was the least likely to go. The worst part was, it could have been prevented. If I had moved just a second earlier, she could be with us right now.

"Jason, we have to get moving" said Percy. I remained quiet and continued to stare at the ground. Right here, on this exact spot, she died.

"Jason" he said again. I looked up. Percy had dried blood running down the side of his face, probably from the most recent fight. He was covered in dirt, blood and monster dust. He had bags under his eyes and basically looked like death, then again so did I.

"Percy, I'll talk to him" said Chris. Percy nodded and walked off to continue gathering Reyna's things- at least anything we could use.

Chris came and sat next to me. I rolled my eyes, the last thing I wanted to do was deal with my estranged son.

"I didn't mean for this to happen" he said as he grabbed his knees, pulling them close to his chest. I scoffed. "You don't get to be upset, you barely knew her" I growled, angry that he would even imply something like that.

Chris bit his lip. I looked up at him and saw pain in his eyes. He was holding back tears. "I can assure you, I knew her better than you think".

After a long pause, I said "Tell me about her". Chris took a breath, then began.

"She was my best friend. She fed me, housed me, trained me, she even sang to me when I was little and I couldn't sleep. She raised me. She was more than a friend, she was my second mother" he said as he twisted his dagger in his hand.

"And in your future, is there a Piper or a me?" I asked. Chris just looked off into the distance, answering what I kind of already knew. He had the same look in his eyes that half of the other campers did. He was an orphan.

I simply nodded. "Thank you" I said. "No problem" he said roughly before he just stood up and walked away without another word. Glad to see he's back to his old self.

I just rolled my eyes and got up to follow him. We walked for a good 6 hours, taking breaks whenever we needed. We fought off a few small monsters, nothing we couldn't handle.

***************

Piper

I laid in bed, staring at the clock. I wanted so badly to see him, my heart ached. It was hell, eventually, I just couldn't take it.

I stood up, feeling woozy. I stumbled out of my room, dragging my IV stand behind me, using it for balance. When I made it to the end of the hall, I could barely stand.

"Oh shit" I muttered as I began to see black dots in my vision. I couldn't breathe. Suddenly, I saw a familiar face in the corner of my eye. I turned and saw Chris standing there but he was 18 again.

"You're back?" I gasped. Chris didn't move, he just stood there. I stepped forward and Chris smiled.

"Oh you stupid woman" he sneered. Chris began to walk towards me, his eyes darkening to a sickening black.

"What's going on? Chris? Are you hurt?" I asked desperately. In the blink of an eye, Chris struck his arm out and his strong hands coiled around my throat like a snake.

"Chris" I gasped clutching my throat as he held me up high in the air. "P-please stop" I choked. I felt my body go numb the it all went black.

Distantly, I heard a voice. It got louder and louder. "Piper!" Exclaimed the voice. My eyes shot open and Nico was standing over me with his hands on my shoulders trying to wake me.

"Nico" I exclaimed. Nico sighed in relief and to my surprise, pulled me into a hug which I eagerly obliged. I mean, how often do you get to hug Nico De Anglo?

"You were having a bad dream" he said and he sat down in the chair next to my bed. "I'm fine" I said in a not-so-very-nice-tone.

"Chris, is he okay?" I asked. Nico nodded. "Annabeth is down there with your mother. Aphrodite has vowed not to let anything touch him. He is safe"

I sighed in relief. "And his health? Is he getting better?" I asked. Last I heard, he had a machine breathing for him.

Nico took a breath. "He's fine". I stared at Nico and I knew he was lying. "Nico, I have a right to know. If you won't tell me, I'll get a doctor to tell me" I barked. Nico pursed his lips. "I'm sorry Piper, there was a complication. His heart is working over time, it stopped, they were able to get it going with the help of another machine. He is still having to breathe through the ventilator" said Nico.

I cupped my mouth in my hand and shut my eyes, trying to stop the tears. "How do we fix this? I mean how do we proceed?" I asked. Nico sighed. "They said they will have to wait a day, if he makes it through the night, they will have to operate tomorrow on his heart and place a device in his chest until he is older. That should fix the heart problem".

"What about all of the other problems?" I asked. "He needs to have this done and the rest will come on its own" Nico said.

"He's just a day old. Can't we wait for him to be stronger?" I asked weakly. Nico shook his head. "He needs to have the surgery for him to get stronger. Besides, he's god the blood of the gods running through his veins. He will be fine. If all goes well and you rest up, you can't even see him in 2 days"

Closing my eyes, I nodded. "You get some rest, you're going to need it" said Nico. I nodded again and before he could say another word, I was fast asleep.

***So kind of a long chapter, not really. I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry for taking so long, I had a lot of stuff going on this week. Thanks for your patience! I love you little demigods! -Izzy