Piper's POV
DREAM
Percy ran to us, now all of us ready to go. His eyes were stormy.
"Piper, I think I have to go now." He glanced at my dad. "You stay here till Monday. I'll pick you up then."
My dad cocked his head. "Why do you have to go? Is it urgent?"
He bit his lip. "There was an.. accident with my family."
He nodded, "I see. Piper, lets go."
"Wait. I want to go too."
My dad sighed. "Piper-"
"You stay here. I'm not going with you." Percy said.
"But I want to go!"
Percy looked down at me with his stormy eyes. His eyes told me he was serious. He was going alone.
"Percy..."
"He's right." my dad said. "Stay here for a bit."
He ran to the van that was parked next to my dad's car. I needed to go with him. I sighed.
"Dad." I charmspoke. "I'll be going too."
he nodded, dazed. I ran to the van and jumped into it as he started driving.
"Piper."
"I'm going." I said stubbornly.
He sighed and I felt us disspear into mist.
♬
We were at a parking lot.
when I went out, he locked the doors and ran, and I barely followed him. We went to a old apertment. He cursed as he pressed the elevator and didn't come down. I followed him as he ran up the stairs, and it seemed to be never ending. We finally reached his floor, and he patted his pockets for the key. He opened the door to see a peaceful scene, two middle aged people drinking coffee. The woman looked up aruptly when he opened the door. Percy's shoulders relaxed.
"Mom."
She hugged him tight without a word.
"Mom, don't cry." I could hear her quiet sobs into his shirt. The middle aged man stood next to the woman.
"Welcome back Percy."
he nodded silently, patting his moms back.
The middle aged man turned to me.
"Hi. I'm Paul. Come in."
♬
I came into the small living room with a old blue sofa. I had introduced myself, and Percy explained everything that happened. I noticed he left a out a lot and changed the dangerous parts to less dangerous. He mostly left out things about himself anf even Tartarus. I wanted to add, but I knew what he was doing. Sally sat hext to Percy, holding his hand tight. There was a plate of blue choclate chip cookies, fresh from the oven on the table. Paul poured me some lemonade.
"So... They all died?" he asked gently.
Percy nodded.
"And you had a vision. Of a monster."
"Yes."
"Why don't you stay here for a while?" Sally said quickly. "Maybe for the weekend."
Percy looked at me. I realized he wanted me to choose.
"It's fine. We can stay."
"I'll sleep on the sofa." Percy said flatly. "Piper can sleep in my room."
"No, its fine. I'll sleep on the sofa." I said.
"Go to your room." Sally said, standing up. "I'll tell you when dinners ready."
"Come on." Percy stood up, and I followed him to a small room that was painted blue, and it was a little dusty. He picked up something on the floor and stared at it. He put it on the messy table and flopped on the bed.
"Feels good to be home."
♬
Sally cheerfully placed the blue pasta on the table. I stared at it.
"Oh, its food coloring. It's really good." Percy said, inhaling it.
I smiled. I hadn't seen him eat so well in a long while. Now I knew why he liked blue food. I took a tentative bite, and started inhaling it like Percy.
"This is really good!" I exclaimed.
Sally smiled. "Thank you."
we ate in a comfortable silence, and after eating, Sally brought in pie. Blue pie of course.
"How long has it been?" Paul asked, taking a big bite of the pie.
"About 6 months. Its been a long time." Percy said.
"You need to visit more often." Sally scolded, sitting down with her piece of pie.
"I will, now that I have nothing to do." He said. "Piper will come too."
Sally smiled. "Bring more friends."
Percy nodded.
The atmosphere was warm and friendly. Sally was wonderful. It was so unlike the tension I felt in my dads house. Sally got all the dishes.
"Mom, I'll wash the dishes."
She nudged Percy, who was taking the dishes. "Its fine, I'll do it."
He shook his head and took the dishes from his mom.
I felt awkward. Now thinking, I had never washed the dishes. or walked the dog, made breakfast, cleaned the house, or watered the plants. Even if I wanted to, it would all be done and finshed. I couldn't. I didn't know I could be so happy in a old rickedy apartment. But they were so nice. So happy. I could hear the bustling sounds in the kitchen.
Sally sighed and turned to me. "Do you want to watch a movie?"
"Sure."
"Finding Nemo!" Percy called from the kitchen.
Paul chuckled. "We watch that every time Percy."
"Still!"
Sally laughed. "Are you okay with that?"
"Of course."
Everyone exept Percy went to the living room. Paul rummaged around in the dusty cabinet for the DVD. I sat on the old, worn out blue sofa. It was more comfortable than I thought. I ran my fingers on the couch unconsciously. It was soft. Softer than the new shiny sofa we had. The TV was small. Smaller than ours. But it seemed to be enough. Paul found the DVD and put it in the DVD player. Percy came in with a big bowl of popcorn. I took a handful as Finding Nemo started.
Something was different.
I had never been so content before outside of camp.
♬
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Percy on the sofa.
His eyes were nearly as dark as the circles under his eyes. His hair was messy, there was gold dust on his clothes. The most concerning part was the big scar on his arm and other cuts on his legs.
His stormy eyes turned to me. "Good morning."
I rubbed my eyes. "What... What happened?"
"Monster." he said grimly. He ran a hand though his hair, shaking off some of the dust. "They didn't know we would get here so soon." he said. He glanced at the kitchen. "One escaped. They can come back."
Sally came to the room with a brown cardboard box. Percy took it and poured nectar on his wounds, healing them to white scars on his tan skin. Sally brushed his black hair, nearly getting all the dust off. Her blue eyes were filled with worry. But she didn't say anything.
"Go back to sleep." Percy said, screwing the cap back on.
I looked at the clock. 4am. I yawned, suddenly feeling sleepy.
"Is it comfortable enough?" Sally asked.
I smiled. "It is, thanks."
She nodded and stood up, looking at Percy. "I'll go back to bed. You do too."
Percy nodded listlessly.
Sally went to her room. I layed back down on the sofa. I didn't hear Percy go to his room.
"Why aren't you going to your room?" I asked.
"Monsters." he muttered. "Go to sleep."
I sighed, knowing it would do nothing but tire me if I tried to pursuade him. He wouldn't stay up the whole night. I closed my eyes.
"Good night."
♬
I was wrong.
He did stay up the whole night. The dark circles under his eyes were darker, but his hair was devoid of golden dust. It was less messier. I watched him flip pancakes, yawning.
"Aren't you tired?"
"No." he flipped a blue pancake. "Not at all."
Sally came in with her old blue nightgown, yawning.
"Good morning." she looked at Percy. "You did go to sleep." she said doubtfully.
"Of course." he was good at lying.
She sighed and looked at the pancakes. "That looks wonderful." she got out the plates, forks, and a bottle of blue maple syrup. Percy put the pancakes on the plates as Paul came out with his messy salt and pepper hair. We drizzled the maple syrup and ate in a comfortable silence. I paused.
I had nearly forgot about Jason.
Those thoughts suddenly weighed me down, making me lose my appetite. I felt how I was so happy when I forgot about Jason. I looked out the window to the blue sky. It was like Jason's eyes. The pancake that I had eaten felt like cement. I remembered all the things I wanted to do with Jason. Take a walk in the park, eat dinner together, go to school together, get a house together, live together, die together after a long peaceful life.
"Piper, are you okay?"
I didn't realize I was crying.
"Oh-" I wiped my eyes. "I'm fine."
Percy handed me a tissue. I blew my nose, hard. I swallowed and took a bite of the pancake. It stuck in my throat.
I couldn't forget Jason.