Percabeth's Child: Children of Olympus Book #1

Chapter Twenty Two: I Become Superman

After flying for a few minutes, he came to a horrible sight. The storm was just as damaging here as it had been in Camp Demigod, except that this wasn't Camp Demigod.

This was New York City.

There were people in the streets running, screaming, buildings on fire, lightning striking everything in its reach.

He had to stop it. Even though he knew he hadn't summoned the storm, he somehow felt responsible for all of the damaging. And so, that left him no choice. He needed to do something. He closed his eyes, trying to draw from the power deep within his gut.

A familiar voice soon distracted him from his concentration.

Piper.

"Jason! You need to save them!" she called.

Them? Jason was confused. He needed to save Piper; that was why he had come out originally. Sure, he had thought for a second of saving the whole city, but now all that mattered was Piper. The other Olympians would surely stop Zeus before he destroyed all of New York City.

Jason dove downward, following the sound of Piper's voice. He found her huddled under the awning of an outdoor restaurant, shiver.

Easing the winds around him, he let himself fall lightly to the ground next to Piper.

"Jason," she whispered. "You need to save the rest of the city."

"No, I need to save you," he replied, starting to pick her up. But she fought back.

"Jason, you can help me afterwards. There's a whole city waiting for you to be saved; aren't you a hero?"

As Piper said it, he started to feel foolish. He had been so worried about Piper that he had tossed aside the rest of the city in his paranoia.

"I guess you're right," he admitted sheepishly. He took off his coat and placed it around her shoulder. Giving her a quick peck on the lips, he made her promise to stay safe. Then he took off back into the wind.

Refueled by adrenaline and his encounter with Piper, he tried again to take control of the storm. He could feel the winds around him start to calm down. But then-

A huge, roaring, crashing sound filled his ears. Just as it happened, it seemed that every pedestrian on the streets or in neighboring buildings began to scream and yell at the top of their lungs. He was almost afraid to open his eyes.

His heart dropped when he saw the building start to collapse. It wasn't any well-known building, wasn't the tallest skyscraper in New York City, but it had to have been at least thirty stories tall. And it was falling.

Right where Piper had been.

As the skyscraper crumbled, people sprinted for their lives in every direction away from it. He could see a crowd quickly oozing out of the lower levels, people jumping from the higher ones.

And yet, all that was on Jason's mind was Piper. He rocketed toward the spot where Piper was, straight into the debris and chaos.

With a deafening roar, the last of the building collapsed. And Piper was still nowhere to be seen.

"PIPER!" he screamed, though he knew no one would hear his cries over ear-splitting sound of the skyscraper hitting the ground.

He dove downward, searching the wreckage, but he couldn't find her anywhere. He must have been there for a half an hour, deaf to the cries of the city as he searched for his wife.

But he couldn't find her, and he couldn't hear her.

Jason didn't want to admit it, but the felt one salty tear rolling from his eye nonetheless.