Disclaimer: I've honestly done this so many times now.... but basically, PJO isn't mine, but the plot is.
Piper's POV:
A new month was supposed to be good. Such were the lies Piper had been told. Especially after everything that had happened in October, Piper had been hoping for a miracle or something. Maybe all the captives would be miraculously found! Maybe Piper would understand her Calculus homework! Or maybe Annabeth would even help her cheat on it!
Instead, she was in the self defense center, practicing her aim and also on the phone about the new Suicide Prevention Society. Of course, it was totally necessary, and Piper definitely wanted to support it. Especially after Halloween, it was necessary. But Piper hadn't known Nancy very well, and, well, she suspected there had been some nefarious play in her death.... but Chiron was not having it. She was going to lead the club with Drew, because that's just great.
All right, maybe she was slightly grumpy because of the making out that she'd witnessed. And yes, it was Drew and Jason. Well, Khione and Leo were making out too, but it didn't bother her too much. She'd hoped that her fake relationship would distract her, but it hadn't seemed too.
So, here Piper was, agreeing to the club while throwing knives.
"Okay, thank you for doing this Piper," Chiron said. The raw emotion in his voice made Piper feel bad.
"Of course. See you on Monday!"
"Yep!"
Piper dropped her phone to the ground and grabbed her knife from the target, before throwing it again. It sliced through the air, hitting the target perfectly. Piper grabbed it, sitting down on the bench.
Despite it being a Saturday, everybody was busy today. Frank was writing a gossip article, Percy was swimming, Jason was making out with Drew, Leo was making out with Khione, Hazel was doing a lab experiment, and Annabeth was working on her homework, but had not let Piper cheat off of her, unfortunately. Clarisse had mid-terms coming up, so even she couldn't come.
Piper sighed, burying her face in her hands. She was so bored and annoyed. They'd had so many close scrapes with death, so many dangerous experiences, yet they barely knew anything. People had died, been taken captive, yet they still couldn't get them back nor understand a single clue. And this stupid one word was rattling around her head, some word that was somehow important......
A flashback overtook her senses.
Piper was unsure. "Are you sure I should be here?"
Jason tugged her forward. "Everybody else is off at camp, so we have the whole place to ourselves!"
"Well, yeah, you told me that, but why am I here?" Piper pulled her hair into a ponytail.
Jason grabbed his gun. "In case things get bad, which they might, you should know how to use a gun."
"A gun?" Piper was incredulous. "Jason, I'm a vegetarian and a pacifist. I can't just..."
"Would you rather use a knife?" Jason said. He pulled out a shiny knife.
Piper rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Piper lay on her back, enjoying the warm summer air. It had honestly been too long since they'd had the opportunity for a date. They'd been so busy coordinating with the FBI and trying to slow down the deal process, that they had barely had anytime to themselves. But today, Jason had surprised her with a picnic date, so Piper had put on her favorite yellow dress and flats, and off they went.
Jason wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Wow. I forgot how beautiful the sun is."
Piper laughed and swatted his shoulder playfully. "Don't go so cheesy on me now, Grace."
Jason smiled and kissed her.
Piper looked up at the beautiful blue sky. "If this doesn't work... what are we going to do?"
Jason sighed. "If they don't get it, we probably won't remember this all. We need a record of it all."
Piper thought for a bit. "We could put your journals."
"But where would they not dare take it?" Jason said.
"We need to hide it. Maybe in one of your globes?"
Jason nodded slowly. "And we need to hide it somewhere safe. I know just the place."
He ran to his office and back, carrying a globe. "How about we use this?"
"Does it have a lock?" Piper asked.
"I have yet to set a password," Jason said.
"Well, what's something we would both remember?" Piper said.
"Maybe.. un-"
Piper gasped, falling to the ground. Warm arms held her up.
"Are you okay?" Annabeth said. Two blond faces hovered above her. It took her a few moments for her to realize it was Annabeth and Jason.
Piper pushed herself up. "Yeah... I figured out how to open the globe!"
-----------------------------------------------------
Jason's POV:
Jason ran a hand through his hair. Sunday, and they were going to find Aeolus. Hopefully, they would not be attacked this time. Especially since he know knew that those people were part of the gang he'd once been in. They might have been friends once. But he couldn't think like that.
"All right, cupcakes, let's go," Coach Hedge said, slapping the car.
Unfortunately, with even more kidnappings, Coach Hedge was coming with them. Not that Jason minded that much, but like, seriously. What were they, little kids?
Piper sat down next to him. "Where are we going?"
The globe had opened, but there had been nothing in it, just dust. Piper had somehow known the password, but refused to talk about how she knew.
Jason made way for Leo, who was coming for the seat on the right. "I forget the address, do you remember Leo?"
Leo didn't respond.
"Leo?" Jason glanced at Leo. His eyelids were red and puffy, like he'd been crying, and his brown eyes were downcast.
"Are you okay?" Piper said.
Leo laughed bitterly. "Yeah. I'm just great."
"What happened?" Jason said softly, knowing Leo probably needed a gentle friend.
Leo sighed. "Khione broke up with me. On the phone."
Jason patted his back, not knowing what else to say, but: "Sorry."
Leo kept his eyes on the horizon as Coach Hedge started to drive away from Olympus, not even bothering to wave at Hazel in the other, just barely mustering a tiny grin. "No, it's fine. She's not worth it, anyways."
Piper patted Leo's shoulder. "Yeah, she didn't deserve you, and doesn't deserve you now. I'm sure that your perfect person is somewhere out there, just waiting to be found."
Leo smiled, but the happiness didn't reach his eyes. For the next half an hour, they were silent. Almost completely silent.
Well, except for the sports commentary that blasted from the radio, of course.
"Where are we?" Piper said, as she got out of the car.
Jason ducked his head to get through the door. "This is the Four Seasons Hotel, apparently."
Leo scampered out, his bad mood seemingly dissipated. "All right, what's that?"
"What?" Jason said, confused, but then he saw it. It was, well, an ice bridge. Or, on closer look, glass that was cold to the touch, stretching from the street to the building, glass arches covering the bridge. Beneath it, there was, well, nothing. Just an endless fall that would end in death.
"Oh no." Leo was crouching beside the bridge. "This is pyroglass."
"What does that mean?" Jason said. Piper crouched beside him, while Coach Hedge finished parking the sports car.
Leo sighed. "It's glass that is especially sensitive to heat. Like, very very very sensitive. Anything over 100 degrees will cause it to shatter."
"Well, hopefully no one has a fever," Piper said.
"Yeah," was all Jason could think to say. It was a cold autumn day, so it would probably be fine..... right?
Squeak! The sound of screeching tires brought him out of his thoughts. The white van that Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, and Percy had traveled in skidded to a stop in the parking lot. They all tumbled out, while Argus just tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, before driving away.
Percy rolled his eyes, while Jason helped him up. "Argus is a horrible driver."
Annabeth nodded, being helped up by Piper. "Yeah. We almost got into three accidents. Three!"
Hazel and Frank both got up from the ground.
"Crazy, crazy," Frank couldn't stop muttering.
Hazel, however, proved she was the best cousin, by being the first to notice the bridge. "What the heck is that?"
Leo explained the whole situation from the ground.
Annabeth frowned, her eyebrows furrowing. "What about your flamethrower? Didn't you engineer it to be-"
Leo shot up. "Right. Um, guys, you should probably go first."
Jason was confused, but he said, "okay" with the rest of his friends. Annabeth and Percy took the lead, Hazel and Frank talked in the middle, Coach Hedge grumbled in the middle, so Piper and Jason brought up the rear, looking after Leo, who was clutching his flamethrower and moving as quick as possible.
"What did you do to it?" Piper said.
Leo darted across the bridge so quick, that Piper and Jason could barely keep up. And, like, c'mon. How was he not slipping?
Leo waited for them, holding up his flamethrower. "I made adjustments to it to make it more powerful, but in doing so, I made it constantly have a way higher temperature than anticipated."
Percy and Annabeth had finished crossing the bridge, and Frank and Hazel were at their heels.
"Cmon, guys!" Annabeth said. They disappeared into the reflection of the glass, Coach Hedge, Frank and Hazel melting into the camouflage moments later.
"Leo..." Piper said nervously. She pointed to Leo's flamethrower, which was smoking, and the glass below them... well, was shattering.
Jason's eyes widened. "Let's go!"
They ran as fast as they could, but they were only halfway up the bridge, and glass crunched under their feet with every step, cracks widening. Jason got to the lobby first. Piper was there a second later and Leo was almost there.... but the fissures were too wide and too big- Jason grabbed Leo's arm, almost sending him tumbling down, but Piper grabbed his legs, just barely pulling them back in.
For a moment, they just sat there, savoring the fact that they were alive and in one piece, despite being covered in glass powder.
Piper was the first to get up. "We should go. The others are probably waiting for us."
Jason took her offered hand, hoisting himself up. "Yeah. Where did they go by the way?"
Leo got up and looked around. "Well, it is kind of confusing."
Jason had to agree, as they started walking. While the floors were polished hardwood, the walls were of really reflective glass that made it impossible to tell where they were.
"Percy?!" Jason called.
"Annabeth!" Piper said. "Hazel?"
"Coach?!" Leo yelled. "Uh, Frank?"
They heard nothing but echoes of their voices bouncing off the walls.
Jason was starting to get creeped out. "Um, where are they?"
"I don't know," Piper said.
They creeped forward, going toward the light they saw, a dazzling spotlight, reflecting through the walls.... and found themselves in a ginormous garden. The garden was separated into four parts: one was of holly and evergreen pines; one was of multicolored orange and brown and red foliage, drifting softly to the ground; another of potted succulents and cacti, with small pink buds decorating a few; and the last of them was made up of blooming flowers that smelled beautiful.
Well, the perfume, well, it kind of reminded him of his mother... so he didn't really want to see that. As he looked up, he saw the spotlight they'd been seeing. On the roof, small ant like figures were clustered around it.
He pointed it out to his friends, and a second later, with the help of Leo's ladder he kept hidden, and a bunch of jumping, they reached the roof.
"How may I help you?"
They all jumped back, well, because, a woman had surprised them with her entrance.
She smiled. "Hi, I'm Mellie, Mr. Aeolus's newest assistant."
Mellie had a timeless face, pointed ears, and dark hair swept over her shoulder. She wore a white dress that blew in the wind.... in the non cliche way.
"Are you from Olympus?" she asked.
"Um, yes," Jason said, looking at Piper and Leo. He wasn't sure if she should have said that... but oh well. Hopefully she didn't want to kill them.
Mellie showed off her gleaming teeth. "We've been expecting you."
She gestured them to follow her, turning around the corner.
Piper glanced at both of them, then nodded and said, "We might as well."
So Jason and Leo and Piper followed Mellie across the roof, till they reached the setup they'd seen before.
"Mr. Aeolus, children from Olympus are here!" Mellie said.
Coach Hedge turned towards them, his face lighting up as soon as he saw them. "There you are, cupcakes!"
"Hi Coach," Jason said.
"Where are our friends?" Piper said at the same time.
Jason immediately kicked himself. He should have thought of the other people!
"Not sure," Coach Hedge said, his eyebrow furrowing. "We got lost in the tunnels."
Mellie looked surprised. "Oh, you did? Did they not send you the badges? Mr. Aeolus values his privacy, so every visitor is given a badge that will guide them through the tunnels. Mr. Aeolus doesn't like guards, so we have the tunnels and the bridge."
Jason felt stupid. Of course, that's why there were no guards!
Luckily, Piper saved them, by saying, "Oh, no, they didn't."
Mellie looked scandalized. "Oh dear. I'm very sorry about that. I'll make sure badges are sent to you should you return. Now, let me bring you to Aeolus. We can squeeze you in between his 10:12 and 10:14."
They continued walking to the lights and cameras.
"Mr. Aeolus?" Mellie said.
An old man turned towards them. He looked like your average weather guy, white hair slicked back, gruesome makeup, and a blue suit.
The guy smiled, a blinding, totally fake seeming, smile. "Ah, Jason Grace, again."
Jason stiffened. "How do you know my name?"
Aeolus's smile was still frozen, even as the makeup brushes, gripped by makeup artists, flurried over his face. "Don't you remember? You were sent here by your father to get the official ownership papers?"
So, he had been here before, but he didn't remember it. Sure, it looked a little familiar.... but, honestly, pretty much everything looked familiar these days, so it didn't matter anymore.
"Um, not really," Jason said. "I have amnesia. But, um, that's not what we're here to talk about. We were wondering if-"
"Well, yes, yes, of course. I will definitely give you a chocolate." Aeolus picked up a box of chocolates. "Here, take one."
The box of chocolates was the most beautiful he'd ever seen. Which sounded like an exaggeration, but, well, his head was getting a tiny bit fuzzy, but the chocolates were multicolored and covered in multicolored gloss. Leo and Jason took one, and Piper took one too.
"Thank you," Jason said, swallowing the last of his chocolate. "But, actually, I, well, we met with Boreas, and-"
"Oh, the death policy?" Aeolus didn't seem very concerned about it, which worried Jason. "Did I not cancel that, Mellie?"
Mellie shook her head, tapping her iPad with her pen. "No, you decided you didn't want to, sir, after your toast was burned."
Aeolus frowned. "Ah, well, let's knock that off, now, especially since they're here now. How about, well, we send them all a box of chocolates."
"A 20$ box of chocolates to every child?" Mellie's tone held a lot of skepticism, which was probably smart, though Jason wouldn't have minded a box of chocolates.
"Oh, too expensive. Never mind- oh, I'm on air!"
He dashed back to the lights.
Mellie slumped. "Sorry about that."
She smiled at them, though most of the smile seemed to be focused on Coach Hedge. And honestly, the eyes he made back at her? Ugh.
"Is he normally like that?" Leo said.
Mellie's eyes drifted to where Aeolus was animately talking about the weather(?). "Well, he's never been exactly... stable. He's a weather forecaster in his free time, but also the CEO of one of the biggest hotel chains in the USA. It's a lot of stress, and well, it's enough to make anyone go.."
Mad. Mellie didn't finish the sentence, but she didn't need to. Jason recognized the madness in those eyes. It was the same madness he'd seen in his mother's eyes as a kid, when he was starting to realize that his mother wasn't all quite that there.
Eventually, Aeolus finished his- well, whatever it was -and came over. "So, what were we talking about?"
"This is Jason Grace and his friends," Mellie said.
"Yeah, right. I remember, he came before."
"But sir, they're from Olympus."
Aeolus's demeanor immediately changed. "Of course, of course. Now, can we change the ownership slightly? I know I did sell my h-"
"Um, right, yeah, we can hopefully get you that. But, uh, first, it depends on if you can hopefully answer a few questions?" Jason said.
Aeolus nodded. "Of course, of course. What would you like to know?"
Piper took over from here, explaining the whole situation with more grace and poise Jason could have ever mustered.
She concluded with the question: "So, did you witness anything?"
"Also, have you seen our friends?" Leo said. "They came with us."
"First, no, I haven't seen your friends," Aeolus said. "Second... well, no. Nothing really happened that day.... nothing that I can disclose without permission."
Jason was confused. "Permission from who?"
"Your parents." Aeolus sighed. "I wish I could help you, but as your parents... they have control over what you can know."
"Well, if you ask them, maybe you can give us the information," Leo suggested.
Meanwhile, Mellie and Coach Hedge were looking into each other's eyes... which was kind of gross.
"And, also, I've been looking for my father," Piper said. "Do you possibly know where he is?"
Aeolus bit his lip. "What's his name?"
"Tristan. Tristan Mclean," Piper said.
Aeolus tapped his hand against his pants. "Well, I do believe he checked into a Four Seasons hotel with someone a couple weeks ago.... Mellie?"
Mellie snapped to attention, tearing her eyes away from Coach Hedge. "Yes, let me see..." She scrolled through something on her iPad. "Indeed he did, with Jane Mclean." She recoiled. "Oh."
"Oh, what?" Piper said, her tone frantic.
"That's the one where they had the slight breach of security," Mellie said. "It was solved a few hours later, of course."
Piper still looked worried, so Jason squeezed her hand, and said, "Don't worry, we'll get him back. I promise."
Leo, however, focused on other important matters. "So, can you ask our parents for permission to tell us anything?"
Aeolus sighed. "I suppose."
He pulled out a shiny white phone and dialed their parents. "Well, I suppose, yes, Mr. Grace. Okay, thank you Mr. Valdez. Well, yes, that is correct, well, the party isn't for a few days, Mr. Grace. And no, there is no guarantee that Hera will make it back in time to supervise you at your party."
Jason wanted to smack his father. What was he thinking? Who cared about his so many marital affairs when so many people were kidnapped, including his wife?
"All right, yes, they should know whatever I know, as they are the heirs to being my boss, yes, Mr. Valdez." He turned to them. "All right, so, I don't know much, but all I know, is that somebody said that they spotted Hera at Wolfhouse, though it's a long stretch, and your father at Mount Diablo."
Mount Diablo? That was all the way in California. How were they going to get there?
Piper echoed those similar questions: "With school, when are we going to be able to get there?"
"I can fix that!" Aeolus said. "I have so many frequent flyer miles, honestly, you're going to be fine! Mellie?"
Mellie tore her eyes away from Coach Hedge again. "Um, yes. Four first class tickets to California?"
"Actually, eight," Leo corrected.
Jason cursed himself again. They had to find Percy and the rest of them.
"Um, are you sure you haven't seen our friends?" Jason interjected.
"No, I don't think I ha-" Aeolus froze, as a notification beeped on his phone. He tapped it with shaking hands, then looked up slowly. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to die now."
"Wait, what?" was all Jason could say, but Aeolus waved three women over, each holding a gun.
"No!" Mellie shouted. She suddenly pulled a lever, which made the tiles underneath them shift and become a silver slide, which they violently slid down.
"Child of Zeus, you know basic physics, right?" Mellie said.
"Um, kind of?" Jason said.
Bullets pierced the side of the slide, making it groan painfully.
"Cmon, what do they teach you in school, cupcakes?" Coach Hedge said.
Leo shrugged. "Um, for every action there is an equal opposite reaction?"
"That's just one of Einstein's rules, right?" Piper said. "Or is is Newton?"
"Well, um, I think we just need to watch out for that!" Jason said. Up ahead, a large prickly cactus in their way. They all squished to the sides as they hurtled down, just barely missing being scratched.
"All right, get through the tunnels, just run as quick as you can!" Mellie shouted over the wind. "I got this."
"Are you sure?" Coach Hedge said.
Mellie smiled gently. "Of course. Call me!"
And then, she jumped out of the slide and pulled another lever, plunging the garden's curtains down, creating white flimsy fabric walls. It was astonishingly brave... but they needed to get out of there, now.
"Let's go!" Jason said.
They all got off the slide and ran as fast as they could, all through the tunnels. At some point, Jason collided with a warm body.
"Jason?"
"Just follow me, people are trying to kill us!"
"So, just another normal day?"
"Yep!"
For so long, they ran in the darkness, until finally they were out in the light again.
"Where's the car?" Annabeth said.
"Over there!" Leo said.
They ran to the car but familiar screams pierced the air.
"Piper!" Jason shouted.
"Frank!" Percy shouted
Piper and Frank was being dragged away by two guys wearing purple and gold, and despite their best attempts, they were pulling them away. Jason ran towards them, grabbing his gun and trying to shoot at them, but they dodged and ducked like they knew exactly what he was doing.
Annabeth managed to trip one of the guy's leg and Percy and Hazel quickly freed Frank. Leo and Jason tried to get the guy holding Piper, but the guys were dragging her into the white van and the white van was going and going getting farther and farther away.
"No!" But it was a useless plea. They were gone.
So, again, sorry for the late update. Yeah, I've been off my game. Anyways, this chapter is really important, and the book is almost over! Of Course, there will be a sequel(but not five books of course), tho I'm considering if I should just make it part two....
But anyways, also I got this amazing graphic from @barelyastarwarsnerd!!!! It will be in Memory Extras, and it's a mood board for Annabeth, and absolutely awesome!!!!! You should totally check out the rest of her work!
See you next time!