Heroes of Olympus - The Blood of Olympus (Discontinued)

Chapter 3 - Piper

Chapter 3 - Piper

A colossal force collided with the ship, throwing Piper out of bed, rolling into the side of her nightstand. Katoptris went skittering off the side of the shelf, sliding along the floor, almost disappearing under her dresser, but not before Piper grabbed it. Getting unsteadily to her feet, she was nearly thrown forward into her wall as something slammed the Argo II from behind, rocking the vessel back and forth.

Monsters? Piper was sure of it. But she couldn't hear the usual creaking of Festus from above, or the sound of the alarm bells going off. She looked into Katoptris, hoping in vain it would show her what was going on above deck. The blade shimmered once, then the bronze metal melted away displaying an image of the Argo II. Piper exhaled. Usually the knife only showed her the future, not the present. But she couldn't complain. She expected to see some deranged sea monster attacking the ship, or a swarm of Telchines bursting from the waters. What she saw made her stare at the blade in utter shock.

Two half-bloods were flying around, one propelled by the force of the water, the other riding the winds. Percy and Jason, fighting...?

As Piper watched, Jason sent a small wind storm at Percy, but Percy morphed a small watery shield directly in front of him, protecting him from the strike, deflecting the tiny squall, sending it spiraling into the hull of the Argo II. Just as Piper watched it careen into the ship's side, a great force sent Piper flying off her heels. Fortunately, she landed on her bed, but it was still enough to make her stomach twist itself into knots. Now she knew what it felt like to be Hazel.

As if on cue, she heard the unmistakable noise of someone throwing up in the room next to her. Poor Hazel. Piper threw open her cabin door, and the first thing she saw was Leo stumbling around the hallway spluttering, "Ship... attack... monsters... I hate WATER!" His hands kept trying to ignite, but a jet of ocean spray came shooting down the hallway from the upper deck. Piper ducked back into the safety of her bedroom, just as she heard an outraged chocking noise coming from Leo, followed by the sound of a body crashing into the opposite wall.

Piper came back out of her cabin room to find Leo at the end of the hallway, his butt plastered to the wall, his feet sticking up in the air, his doused hands smoking. The doorway opposite of her flew open, and Annabeth stumbled out, her hand clutching her ivory sword, her gray eyes darting about. "Who's attacking us?" she demanded.

"It's not monsters," Piper assured her, showing her Katoptris. Annabeth looked at the knife for a second, then her shoulders relaxed, and she shook her head in disbelief. "I am going to kill him..."

Piper followed her, and the two girls came above deck just as Jason streaked by, riding the winds, Percy right on his heels. Percy leaped off his personal tsunami, sailed through the air for a second over Piper and Annabeth, clearing the entire bulk of the Argo II, then summoned another tidal wave on the other side landing on its mass like an acrobat as he pursued Jason around the hull as if he were some sort of Aqua Spiderman.

"Are they fighting?" Piper gasped, thinking back to their visit in Kansas when the Eidolons possessed Percy and Jason turning them upon each other. Then she saw the grin on Jason's face, and she could hear Percy laughing above the howling of the wind.

"Gods, they're behaving like children..." Annabeth huffed. She dropped her sword and marched to the end of the deck. "Perseus Jackson, Jason Grace, you two get down here right this instant!"

Piper had to suppress a laugh. When Annabeth got angry, you did not want to cross her, but seeing her behave like a scolding mother...

Piper joined her at the railing. The boys weren't listening, continuing their aerial war games as if they had all the time in the world. Hazel came stumbling onto the deck, her face greener than Guacamole. Frank and Leo followed, Leo dripping wet, his black curls stuck to his forehead.