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Piper XII

"Piper XII," Celin read.

PIPER COULDN'T EXPLAIN HOW SHE KNEW.

"Could be a sixth sense." Leo suggested, drawing an UFO.

"How did Piper know about the eidolons before Hazel?" Annabeth couldn't help but wonder.

"She hasn't really had time to sense them with the Narcissus problem and the two other eidolons were possessing Jason and Percy when they left the ship." Nico reminded.

...Cherokee spirits were always restless. They often lost their way to the Land of the Dead, or stayed behind with the living out of sheer stubbornness. Sometimes they didn't even realize they were dead.

Hades rolled his eyes. Spirits are always so annoying when they forget they died. Never bring their own paperwork or money, then I have to listen to Charon complain.

The god rubbed his temples and heaved a sigh.

The more Piper learned about being a demigod, the more convinced she was that Cherokee legends and Greek myths weren't so different. These eidolons acted a lot like the spirits in her dad's stories.

Finally Hazel exhaled. "Piper is right."

"How can you be sure?" Annabeth asked.

"I've met eidolons," Hazel said. "In the Underworld, when I was...you know."

Dead.

Piper had forgotten that Hazel was a second-timer.

"That's an interesting way to put it." Nico considered. "Better than 'zombie'."

..."So..." Frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair as if some ghosts might have invaded his scalp.

Travis and Connor nervously snickered.

"You think these things are lurking on the ship, or—"

"Possibly lurking inside some of us," Piper said. "We don't know."

Annabeth and a few others grimaced.

The tension grew in the air.

[Jason]. "If that's true—"

"Then we can't really trust anyone." Annabeth finished. "Even if there's just three of them, the eidolons can possess any one of us at any time."

"We have to take steps," Piper said. "I think I can do this."

"Do what?" Percy asked.

"Just listen, okay?" Piper took a deep breath. "Everybody listen."

The readers were quiet, everyone focused their attention on Celin.

Piper met their eyes, one person at a time.

"Eidolons," she said, using her charmspeak, "raise your hands."

The readers waited with bated breath.

There was tense silence.

Travis forced himself to laugh, breaking the silence in the room.

"What is she doing? Some kind of séance?" he joked. "There's no way that would work."

"I know right?" Connor said, fighting back the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Who be dumb enough to raise their hand?"

Leo laughed nervously. "Did you really think that was going to—?"

His voice died. His face went slack. He raised his hand.