A/N hey guys! I know, I know, I’m bad at updating quickly… but this is a long chapter! Just over 5 pages on Word!! Ain’t ya proud? Anyways, here is chappie numero siete! Read on my faithful…. I need something to call you guys! Leave me ideas in the comments please. And that reminds me! Please please pleaseee leave comments, and vote! It makes me feel all warm and cuddly inside. Plus, it motivates me to write. Yeah so this is kinda a crappy chapter, a little bit like a filler, but I needed to get some of the events in because it was going to bother me. Also, I really don’t like Piper. Not at all. She annoys me and is a wimp, in my opinion (no offense!) so I will not have many chapters from her POV. Anddd do you guys think that I should have a short Izzy chapter once in a while? Comment your answer! Ok! So now that I’m done talking (for the moment) here it is!
Chapter 7:
Piper
Castellan. That name bothered Piper, like something or someone she should remember. Maybe it was a camper at camp or something? And she had said she was a daughter of Hermes. That was crazy, even for them, that they should find a half blood in the middle of a forest. Wasn’t there some rule about having to been claimed by 13 or something? [I’m not sure if it is 13 or 12, and I was too lazy to check… tell me if I’m right!] Oh well… she would figure it out sooner or later. A groan interrupted her thoughts. “Leo!” a collective shout went up as Leo opened his eyes.
“Hey guys. Miss me much?” Leo grinned as he looked at their worried expressions. Piper stormed over to him. Then she did something very Piper-like. She slapped Repair Boy across the face.
“Don’t you EVER get captured again! We almost had a heart attack! What were you thinking? You could have been dead by now!” Piper realized she was screaming. Leo held his hands up in defense.
“Well as you can see, my ultimate sexiness has not decreased so therefore, I am fine, and all thanks to this very lovely lady! I never did catch you name, by the way.” Leo grinned cheekily and the girl. Piper had forgotten that she was still there.
“My name’s Izzy” she grinned shyly back at him, red staining her cheeks. Piper, as a daughter of Aphrodite, was able to pick up on this obvious attraction. Maybe Leo and all of his annoyingness won’t be forever alone, as she had previously predicted Piper mused as the rest of the kids said their “Glad you’re okay”s to Leo. Jason interrupted her thoughts.
“Guys, as heartwarming as this is, we really should get back to the ship. We don’t want Hedge burning down the forest looking for us, do we?” The demigods grinned as they thought of their rather wacky protector, Gleeson Hedge. Hazel piped up.
“Yeah. I want to get back to Nico anyways and see how he’s doing. Leo, are you okay to stand?” Leo timidly tested his weight. He stood up straight and then strutted around the small room.
“Perfect as ever.” Leo crowed. However, there was the awkward issue of Izzy. She had been standing quietly off to the side, but now Piper wondered. Should they take her with them? She could easily be a monster. If there was one thing Percy had taught them, it was that if things seem too perfect, it’s usually a monster. She could tell that the others were wondering the same thing. However, after a quick glance at Leo, they could all tell that he would fight to bring her. So they did. As they walked back to the Agro II, Leo and Izzy kept up a running commentary that made no sense whatsoever to anybody but themselves. Nico ran out on deck.
“Oh! There you are. I was starting to get worried.” Piper felt a flash of warmth toward the younger kid, but it was quickly displaced by a sense of distrust. She didn’t think that anybody really trusted him yet. Nico looked grave as they boarded the ship. “Guys, I know that nobody want to do this, but we need to—“ Nico was cut off by a loud bleating sound. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Then a familiar voice called up
“Hey!”
“Grover!” the Greeks shouted. They all rushed off the ship. Standing there in all of his furry glory was the wonderfully familiar satyr. “My goat senses were tingling and I had to check it out!” he laughed. Nico hugged him. Grover seemed a little surprised, but hugged him back. “Nico! Glad that they found you.” However, Piper could tell that he wasn’t fully focused on them. His eyes were roaming, glancing every which way. Looking for Percy and Annabeth Piper realized. She cleared her throat. This was going to be painful. Grover interrupted her before she could go any farther. “Oh great… You guys let Percy and Annabeth be alone together?” he said jokingly. It only made them feel worse. Jason spoke up.
“Well… you see… we, uh didn’t actually mean to… um what I mean is… well…” Jason choked up. Piper took over.
“They aren’t here anymore. They fell into *gulp* Tartarus. I’m sorry Grover, so sorry.” Grover seemed shocked.
“W-w-what?” His eyes filled with tears. “No, No, NO!” Grover broke down completely. Jason and Nico awkwardly patted his back.
“Here’s the good news; they’re not dead. I can feel it.” Nico announced.
Grover looked up, taking deep breaths. “Good. Percy is the most powerful demigod I’ve ever met. Percy won’t let Annabeth die, and Annabeth will stop Percy from doing stupid things. I know that they can survive. They can do this.” Grover seemed more resolved now. “Has anybody contacted camp or their parents?” Queue awkward silence, crickets chirping, and everybody staring at their suddenly oh-so-interesting shoes. Grover sighed. “Okay. Come on, who has a drachma. Give it here.” Somebody produced one and handed it to him. “Oh Iris, accept my offering. Show us Chiron at Camp Half-Blood.” Chiron shimmered into existence. He was in the Big House, during a councilors meeting. Jason awkwardly scratched his head and coughed to get their attention. They turned, and after they got over their shock, said their hello’s. However, it was obvious that they were confused. To Piper’s immense surprise, it was Clarisse who finally asked the dreaded question.
“Where’s Prissy and Annabeth?” she deadpanned. Piper felt her eyes fill with tears. Now Malcolm, Annabeth’s brother, spoke up, worry clear in his voice.
“Yeah… I thought that they were with you guys?”
Leo said haltingly “They, um, well they fell.”
The camp councilors stared at him, not quite getting what he was implying.
Leo gulped “Into Tartarus.” he finished. Silence. Then, a cacophony of sound ensued, mostly sounds of disbelief and anger. Piper was pretty sure that at least three people were crying. Chiron just looked pained, like somebody had taken a hot iron and shoved it straight through his heart. Finally the noise died down, but random hiccup-sobs could still be heard. Chiron pulled himself together and wiped a tear away that had was dripping off his nose.
“I will contact his mother. We will hold a funeral here tonight. Clarisse… alert the campers. They-” here Chiron’s voice broke. “They need to know what has happened.” Clarisse looked up, her eyes already red from crying. Wow. She cried? Chiron sighed heavily. “Goodbye young ones. Take care.” and swiped his hand through the image. Suddenly, there was a crackle of lightning. Piper looked over at her boyfriend and had to hold in a laugh, because Jason’s hair stood straight up. They all drew their weapons, even Izzy and her strange sword, when they heard a laugh behind them.
“Oh please! Can’t you ever take a joke?” Jason dropped his weapon and spun around, a grin splitting his face in half.
“Thalia!”
“Hey there little bro!”
“How are you?! We missed you!” Jason looked so happy that his sister was here. Grover spoke up.
“Howdy Pinecone Face.” He smirked as Thalia scowled.
“Grover! You are sooo lucky I’m in a good mood goat boy, otherwise I would fry you! And anyways, only Percy is allowed to call me that. Speaking of which, where is him and Annabeth?” At this everybody looked down at their shoes. Izzy backed away uncomfortably with an odd expression on her face. Thalia seemed to have not seen her yet. She got a puzzled look on her face. “Guys? You DID find him, right? This isn’t funny.” Nobody met her searching gaze. Jason looked up with pain in his electric blue eyes.
“Thals… Look. I don’t wanna say this, but they aren’t… they aren’t here anymore.” Jason’s voice cracked. Thalia took a step back, like she had been physically pushed.
She stuttered N-n-n-not here? What do you m-m-mean? Are they dead?” Thalia’s voice broke on the last word. Nico seemed to think that now was a good time to jump into the conversation. She had apparently not noticed him either.
“They aren’t dead, they just aren’t… here.” Thalia looked confused.
“Well if they are not dead, and they aren’t here, then where in the name of Hades are my friends?” she shouted.
“Tartarus.”
This time, Thalia actually fell to the ground, on her knees. She looked stunned and lost.
“No… nononononoNO! This can’t be happening… they can’t be there… they can’t… they won’t make it out alive!” at this last statement Thalia started sobbing. Jason went over to his sister and crouched by her.
“Thals… come on. Let’s get on the ship. We’ll sort everything out there.” Thalia nodded numbly and allowed herself to be led aboard the Argo 2. Piper looked back at Leo and the other demi-gods.
“Come on, let’s go. You too Izzy.” They followed her on deck, but Izzy was still wearing a wary expression. Leo noticed this too.
“What’s the matter? You look scared Izzy.” Leo asked.
“That girl. She scares me for some reason. I feel like I should know her.” Leo put a comforting arm around her shoulders.
“It’s okay. You’re safe with us!” Izzy smiled up at him. Piper almost laughed. Maybe, just maybe, Leo had a chance.
A/N yeah I know, no cliffy, but I wanted to give you a break after my last chapter. Speaking of which, guess who’s POV is up next?!? It is (Drumroll please!) ----- just kidding. I’m not going to tell you! you are just going to have to wait. But it will be in Tartarus. Anyways, comment vote, fan, it all makes me fuzzy in my organs! Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoH, sadly. *Random Spiderman poofs into my room, hands me a tissue, and poofs away* Okay… that was weird. Anyways, love you all!
Stay Foolish J