The Mark of Athena (Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 22- Piper

     The Argo II came into sight. She pounded up through the door, but she didn’t make it very far. She sat down and put her head between her knees. Stupid, stupid, stupid…

     She rocked back and forth. How stupid she was! Reyna was right. She was wrong. Tears dripped onto the wooden floor. She pulled out Katoptris to see her choppy hair, her bloodshot eyes, sooty face, bloody camp shirt, and a tear streaked face. No wonder Jason wanted a girl like Reyna.

     Piper sat there for what seemed like forever. She knew she had to hide before the others came back. She scrambled to her room before hiding in the corner and putting her head back between her knees. She wasn’t herself anymore. She felt bitter and cheated now, like she was played. She nearly choked on the air she was breathing on. Petty and pathetic is what she was being right now, like a true daughter of Aphrodite.

     Creak… bam. The door opened. Someone was coming onto the ship.

     “We’re back,” Leo sighed from a few rooms over. “Gods, that fighting were intense! I thought I was dying.”

     “I second that,” Percy offered. “Dude, I’m dead. I thought the Mark of Athena was gonna kill me and Piper!”

     “Where is Piper?” Hazel asked, concerned.

     “Probably here somewhere,” Annabeth said with a yawn. “I’m going to do something like eat or sleep. I want to act normal for a while.”

     The tears made a puddle on the wooden floor. Piper squeezed her eyes shut. There were footsteps in the hall. Her door creaked open slowly. She couldn’t move.

     “Pipes, why are you hiding in the corner?” Leo asked uncomfortably.

     “Go away,” she demanded thickly.

     “Are you crying? Piper, is it about Gration? You killed him, it’s over.”

     “No,” she answered. “Was Reyna there when you woke up?”

     “Yeah,” he said. “She wanted to talk to Jason, and he was real peeved. He wanted to go back to the ship to find you.”

     Piper sniffed. “She- she…”

     “I know. Told you about staying away? She’d make a dangerous enemy? Yeah, she kind of repeated her little lecture to us. But we won’t let her push you away from us. We love you.” He paused. “You want to be alone?”

     “Yes,” she squeaked. The tears were making a puddle on the floor again. The door clicked shut so she could cry in peace. She was there for a while, her neck ached, but she couldn’t move. The door was opening outside. There were footsteps in the hall.

     “She’s in there,” Leo whispered under his breath. “Reyna apparently spoke to her while we were all asleep.”

     The door opened slowly, making a low creaking sound. Piper couldn’t move, but her tears were still dripping onto the floor.

     Behind her, Jason said softly, “Piper?”

     She couldn’t speak.

     “What did Reyna say to you?”

     “Things,” she whispered. “She said pretty much the same thing what Gration and Gaea said.” She mopped up her wet face and turned around. “And that she’d make a dangerous enemy since I was dating you.”

     Jason sat in front of Piper, but stayed a few feet away. His blue eyes studied her face like it was the first time he was noticing her battle wounds. He was messed up as well, with a dirty face, his clothes ripped, and some ash in his light hair.