Estelle

Chapter 20! We carpool with way to many people

Hi! How is everyone's summer?

I know I haven't posted in forever but this is a long one!

I added a title to the chapter. I might continue with that! Do you like it?

This chapter is a Piper P.O.V and was very fun for me to write!

It definitely will have a few trials of Apollo spoilers if you haven't read it. Just a warning.

I an dedicating this chapter to @RavenclawxVibeZ who's nice messages were actually AMAZHANG!!!!!

Piper P.O.V

"I was at Camp Jupiter with Shel, Blah Blah Blah. Got a call from Percy, grabbed some friends, and here we are!" I explained, to Percy, Rachel and random-girl-don't-know, while we were smashed together in the three old ladies' car. "So, you're Piper?" Random girl asked. "Uhuh, and this is Grover, Hazel, Frank, Nico, Will, Leo, Calypso, Shel annnnnndddddddd Me!" I said, pointing to each person as I went. "How did you get everyone here on such short notice?" Percy asked. "Well, not everyone. Reyna's doing a training thing with Artemis. Tyson couldn't come because he's on vacation with Ella, somewhere in Canada." "And Juniper couldn't come because she's on a wilderness retreat in Nicaragua." Grover interrupted. "But we got more than we expected, especially because no one knows why were actually here." Percy looked like he was about to answer, but they hit a giant pothole, and the three old hags in the front kept arguing who's fault it was. "Maybe we should talk about this later." Nico suggested, "Good idea." Frank agreed.

For the rest of the (very bumpy and dangerous) car ride, I caught up with everyone. I talked to Nico, Will and Percy the most, we hadn't seen each other since Nico and Will's wedding last year. "So..." I said wiggling my eyebrows. "How has married life been?" I said wiggling my brows some more, to emphasize the point. Nico's pale skin turned a very dark shade of red, and Will laughed. "Pretty good!" Will said, saving Nico the embarrassment of answering. "We took a two-month honeymoon last September to Hawaii, and we did a lot of extra curriculars, if you know what I mean." Will said with a wink. Nico didn't look like he could have been anymore embarrassed. Percy stopped the conversation and said, "Hold on one second. Rachel said that you and Nico were at camp with her. How did you show up with Piper then? Did you lie?" "I didn't lie!" Rachel said from the seat next to us.

It was very hard to have a private conversation when you were stuck with ten other people in a very confined space going 100mph. "I have my ways." Nico said mysteriously. Percy snorted. "You shadow traveled from camp into the car so you could make a more dramatic entrance, didn't you? "My ways will never be revealed" Will nodded his head over Nico's shoulder to confirm Percy's story.

"We've arrived!" The three sisters screamed simultaneously from the front. They screeched to halt, and we all tumbled forward like a human washing machine. I reached my arm out blindly from the bottom of the pile and handed them the 20 Drachmas. "Now get out! They screeched in unison yet again. They waited for exactly three seconds and decided we were taking to long, so they ejected us out of the car. I groaned as my face became aquatinted with my lovely friend, Asphalt. My light brown hair splayed in all directions, and my nose throbbed in pain. They would not be getting a good review on Yelp. I looked around and saw that we were in the heart of New York City, and we were laying in front of Stark tower. I groaned as I sat up. I saw all of my friends also splayed across the sidewalk. New Yorkers were just stepping over us, not even giving us a second look. They probably just thought we were drunk cosplayers or something. I don't know, but it definitely wasn't the weirdest thing they'd seen that week.

I slowly stood up, and the world was spinning. I closed my eyes to try to steady myself-You will never win, the voice hissed. The voice sounded almost female... Everyone you love will die and you will watch the world be consumed by darkness.

I gasped as I opened my eyes, I looked up into one of the many windows of Stark Tower. There was a dark figure in the window... I blinked and it went away. Maybe I was just hallucinating, but I didn't think so.

"Are you alright?" I heard the concerned voice of Hazel as she leaned my body against hers, I steadied myself. "I'm fine." I said, rubbing my temples. I was just about to tell her and the rest of the group what I saw when I loud rumbling noise was heard from above us. "It's time." Percy said, his eyes getting dark. Leo was the only person in the group that was still on the ground, so Percy kicked him. Leo's nose lit on fire, and he looked agitated. "What was that fo-" He cut himself off as he saw the anger in Percy's eyes. For the whole car ride, I had been dying to ask What had happened. All that he had said on the Iris message was that Annabeth and Estelle had been taken. I had wanted to ask him more, after all my best friend had been kidnapped, but the darkness I had saw in his eyes- I just knew not to push it.

Grover came up to Percy sensing his anger and distress, he put his arm on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Percy's shoulders relaxed a little, and the fire in his eyes seemed to dim ever so slightly. Grover was the only person besides Annabeth that seemed to know how to calm Percy down.

As we climbed to the top of Stark towers (with a lot of Mist I might add) the rumbling sound got louder. It wasn't thundery, it was more... like a plane... or maybe a Helicopter... Percy seemed to know what it was but didn't care to enlighten the rest of us. Maybe Rachel knew too... she kept looking at Percy worriedly like she knew something about the plan that we didn't. We kept climbing the sleek black stairs of Stark towers. The door on the right of me said 25, and there was a little sign pointed up that said helipad. Maybe I was right. Maybe it was a helicopter. I was walking next to Leo, Shel, and Calypso. Calypso kept patting out small fires on Leo's body as he fidgeted with some tools from his pocket. I anxiously stared at Percy as he walked with Grover, Frank, and Rachel. I could tell he was worried about Annabeth, and I was too. I couldn't lose another friend, not after-. Shel squeezed my hand from beside me. She knew me too well. She could always tell when I was thinking about... J-Jason. Even thinking of his name brought tears to my eyes. My therapist in New Rome said the only way to get over him was to embrace the pain and move on. She also said thinking and about and saying his name were vital to accepting his death. And I had... but it was still hard. Even after we broke up, he was one of my best friends.

Shel squeezed my hand again, bringing me back to reality. It had been more than 10 years and it was still hard. I leaned my head against Shel's shoulder as we moved.

We walked for about ten more flights of stairs, mostly in silence. Leo cracked a few awkward jokes and Hazel and Grover made a few comforting comments. When we finally made it to the top my legs were aching, and my back was sore. Why couldn't I be 18 again. Now I have back pain, Ugh. Percy slowly opened the door and peeked through the door. The random girl was blocking my view of the outside. I should probably have learned her name. Eh, maybe later. The helicopter noise was now deafening as Percy slowly exited. We all made a line and quietly followed him, making sure the Mist was wrapped around us tightly. I was the last person to leave the stairwell and as I looked around my breath caught. It was beautiful. We were on a giant helipad the size of 2 football fields, and I could see the beautiful New York skyline, as the rising sun reflected off all the metal and glass, tinting the whole world orange. But none of that was even close to as cool as the thing in front of me, I couldn't describe it. It was kind of like a boat, but flying and plane like, but also like a helicopter. As it landed the air coming out of it pushed me into the metal door behind me. It was so loud that it made my ears pop and my hair rush in all directions. From the corner of my eye, I saw Percy push against the wind and get closer.

This was going to get interesting.