Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus - the House of Hades

Piper XIII

Piper had been having horrible nightmares.

She dreamt about a work camp; animals being held hostage against their wills and being forced to work. Nymphs which Piper thought looked drained, their skin papery white and their cheeks hollow, being made to carry heavy metals. Their feet were chained to one another, their thin, bony wrists bound. Harpies were made to use their blunt beaks to peck relentlessly at precious jewels; Piper thought she saw diamonds and rubies. Pegasus' were chained and used as ploughs, to gather crops. Harnasses cut into the pegasus' soft flesh and created bruises and rises.

Piper woke up groggily with the faded images lingering in her mind. As her eyes focused, she saw a figure standing by her door.

"Hey, Pipes," Jason began.

Piper realised she probably looked vile. Major bedhead, cherokee eagle pyjamas and bleary eyes didn not help her case.

"Hi." She squeaked, rising out of bed and stomping into the bathroom. She quickly mouthwashed, brushed her hair through and moisturised before joining Jason.

"Sit down with me...I need to tell you something." He said. Piper studied his face and thought he looked a little sickly.

She sat on the bed. "You okay?"

Jason sat next to her. "Last night...I woke up and Nico was in my room. It was weird; like he'd stumbled in there by mistake, he said he thought it was Hazel's cabin," He paused to draw in breath, "But this morning, in my water glass I saw something...shimmering."

"You think he spiked your glass?" Piper queeried.

"I don't know," Jason shrugged, "I don't want to get paranoid."

"Nico's a bit of a drifter, but i'm sure he's not dangerous." Piper assured him.

Jason nodded and began to leave. He turned and smiled. "Thanks, Pipes."

He closed the door, and the day began.

After Piper had got dressed and eaten breakfast, she consulted Leo who was driving the ship.

"Hey, Leo," She started.

Leo turned around and grinned at her, before setting his coffee cup down. He nudged a lever with his shoulder by mistake as he turned, and the ship violently lurched to one side.

"Whoops." He said absent-mindedly before hoisting the lever back up. He rubbed his hands and turned to face Piper, an apologetic look on his face.

"Leo, when was the last time you slept?" She sighed.

"Like, three hours ago! Why? You worried about the Leo Meister?"

"No." She said solidly, "Definitely not."

He shrugged. "So, what brings you to the stern on such a fine day?"

"Wanted to see how you were doing. And, when are we going to get there?" She fessed.

"Hmm, well," He consulted an archimedes ball which was conveniently floating nearby, "Judging by my Nico-Dar, we'll be four days. But, once we get over mainland Greece, we're expecting more attacks. Obviously the zapper will take care of that, but occasionally the big monster will get in through. It probably won't happen, but if it does...then, we'll need to be ready." He looked Piper in the eye.

She gulped and nodded, suddenly uncertain of their plan.

"Exactly. You're thinking 'What if shrimpzilla attacks again?', right?"

Piper just nodded. "Without Percy and Annabeth, we're not as strong as we used to be."

Leo nodded slowly. "But this new goth kid, Nico. He might look weak, but I'm getting vibes that he's really kinda powerful. Son of Hades, and all." He offered.