Disclaimer: I don't own PJO sadly enough. Rick Riordan owns everything except the plot I created.
Piper's POV:
Piper groaned, annoyed that she had ended up in the hospital again.
"That really happened?" her dad said.
Jane rolled her brown eyes(AN: Uncle Rick never really describes her, so we'll go with this for now). "Yes, honey. How many times do I have to tell you that? The paparazzi are dangerous. Look what happened to poor Piper?"
Piper winced at 'honey,' moving forward a bit, then overall winced at the movement. Ugh. Her ribs really hurt more than she'd thought.
"Can you tell me, Piper?" her dad asked.
Piper sighed. "Okay. One more time."
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3 hours ago.......
The day hadn't even started out well. First, her dad decided that Jane and her needed to spend time together. Which was bad enough on its own, but Piper had made plans with Lacy that day, who needed to help her remember cheerleading positions. Her dad made her cancel those plans all to spend time with wonderful Jane.
Second, Jane suggested they go to the mall. And Piper hated the mall. Like seriously hated it. Normally she got caught stealing there, and she didn't really see the point of shopping anyway. It never had been her thing. Her dad seemed a little worried about going to a public place too, but for a different reason. After all, paparazzi followed him around as much as they could. Jane was his newly engaged fiancee, and Piper was his daughter. They could easily be recognized too.
Jane seemed a little worried about that, as they didn't want the engagement news out yet, but she wanted to go to the mall, so there they went, chauffeured by her dad's driver in an awkward limousine silence.
The trip started out okay. The clothes Jane picked out were okay enough, just some cute sweaters and blouses, a couple pairs of jeans, and a few dresses that she pointed out could be needed for parties or galas. Which Piper knew was true.
But then, Jane made her get a haircut. She claimed, "It's a desperate bid for attention, Piper."
Piper knew that it was a bid for attention, but still. It was one of the things that hadn't changed since before her memory gap.
But sadly, Jane wouldn't take no for an answer. So, two hours after they'd come to the mall, at 11:00, Piper had a new haircut. It wasn't that bad she supposed..... but she missed her choppy hair. The haircutter at least knew what she was doing, creating a light layered hair.... but for some reason, she added blonde highlights. And that was not the best. Piper didn't have much time to evaluate her new hair however, as Jane pulled her to the cafe for lunch.
And that was when Piper snapped. Jane got her a salad with bacon in it. Bacon! Bacon was meat! And Piper was a vegetarian. She did not want bacon in her salad!
But then, the day got even worse. Because somehow, somehow, somebody noticed them, and recognized them. And somehow called a reporter over.
The reporter was a perky woman, with obviously dyed orange hair, and a blinding smile. Piper was used to seeing such people now though. Her Hollywood childhood had prepared her for this stuff.
"So, Jane, any plans of engagement soon?" she said, pressing a microphone towards her face.
Jane tucked her hand into her pocket, hiding the sparkly ring. "We'd prefer not to talk to the press. Come along, Piper."
For once, Piper listened. She had no desire to face the paparazzi. She took Jane's hand, and they started to walk away, but unfortunately, more shoppers had started to recognize them.
"Aren't you Tristan Mclean's daughter?" Yes. What's the big deal?
"Are you Tristan Mclean's girlfriend?" Yes she is. Go away already!
"Could you get me an autograph?" Sorry, no.
"Where are you guys going?" Away from you people.
Then the real flocks arrived. Not of birds, but of reporters and photographers. And that was where everything went wrong. Piper and Jane were close to the car, but already, reporters and photographers were in their way.
Out of the corner of her eye, Piper saw Jane take off her ring and hide it in her pocket, while Piper took them down a different part of the mall. Yet they still followed. Piper's ribs were starting to hurt now, reminding her that unfortunately, they were still not fully healed.
They had almost reached the car when a determined reporter shoved a microphone just a little too close towards her arm, accidentally dropping the microphone on Piper's chest, causing giant pinpricks of pain to shoot through her stomach and chest. In the distance she blindly heard Jane shouting for them to get away, the ambulance's chimes, but it was all too overwhelming, and the darkness overtook her.
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"And that's what happened," Piper said, finishing off her story of the disastrous morning.
Her dad sighed. "I see what you're saying. Okay. Well, first I'll put out a statement about privacy. After that, we'll do the engagement one, and start our wedding preparations."
"Sounds perfect!" Jane chirped.
It didn't sound that perfect to Piper. Would a social media statement keep back paparazzi? She seriously doubted it. But oh well. It would have to do for now.
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Hazel's POV:
Hazel was finally out of Alaska. She was finally away from her drug-induced mother and that horrible mining place.
For a moment she just took it in, breathing the city air of New York. Well, more like New York Airport. It wasn't quite as clean as Alaskan air, but from the sizzling grease of nearby pizza to the smell of fresh bread, it smelled like New Orleans, her old home.
Oh how she wished she could go back there. But no. She'd decided on New York because this was where her father lived. She needed his help if she wanted to survive without her mother. She'd only met him once, but having looked him up on the plane, she knew he was rich.
A honk startled her out of her thoughts. Hazel took out her phone, something she was still trying to figure out how to use. She'd only bought it the day before she left, using the money she stole from her mom.
She went back to the picture she'd taken of the address, and mapped it out with some weird looking app that surprising did amazing things! She frowned when she saw how far away it was. She pulled out the wad of cash she had, but she only had a couple hundred left. Maybe just enough for a taxi fare.
Hazel went to the bathroom first, as who knew when she'd find another bathroom. While in there, she tried to make herself look older, as she was only fourteen. She wasn't sure what the age law was about taxis, so she pulled her curly hair into a bun, and used some 'borrowed' makeup.
Fifteen minutes later, she walked out looking reasonably older maybe? Hopefully good enough to pass.
The taxi driver, at least, believed her lie about meeting her parents there, which was technically true. When they arrived at the rich neighborhood, they were blocked by the gates that surrounded it.
"Sorry, kid. This is as far as I can take you," the taxi driver said.
Hazel shouldered her bag. "That's fine."
Hazel paid the driver, then started walking on foot towards the neighborhood. She got past the gates by saying she was "delivering a package" which was technically true. Mostly at least.
As she walked through the streets of the neighborhood, her skin prickled. It felt like somebody was watching her. But that was impossible.... right?
Who would be watching her? Her mom was still in Alaska, her friends were all in New Orleans, and nobody would be out to get her.....right?
Hazel wished she could stay calm, but her mind drifted with what she'd heard about what happened to Bianca di Angelo, who was supposedly her half sister. Apparently she'd been poisoned two years ago, all because Hades was her father. But that couldn't happen to her, right? In fact, Hazel herself hadn't known her father was Hades. She'd met him once, and had found his name in her mother's old journal.
Yet it still felt like someone was watching her. That tingling sensation crept over her again. She saw a flash of movement in the corner of her eye, but when she turned it was gone. She continued walking towards the house that she knew her father lived in, but then she heard it. The bang of a gunshot, a sound so unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time. And that was when she felt the pain shoot through her leg, and she saw that the bullet had grazed her leg, tearing open her jeans and leaving a mark.
She started running. She was almost to the house. Twenty feet. Ten. Five. She was almost there! She was going to make it! With adrenaline coursing through her veins, she leapt forward, but greatly underestimated her leg injury, and managed to stumble over herself and accidentally launched herself to the ground. The door to the house opened. She saw three blurry silhouettes, but then, the world faded away, as she lost consciousness.
Dun-dun-dun!!!! So... the rest of the 7 are almost here! And it's starting to get more scary!! We saw what Piper went through, the poor baby, and not really as much Jason, but you'll see it more next chapter too. Next chapter will be the first day of school back, and new characters will be introduced! Also, on an unrelated note, I've started to make a new story, which is basically all the outfits and inspiration for each chapter of Memory. SO yeah. Check that out if you want to! Also some writing tips and rants all bundled into another book!
And on another note, this chapter is dedicated to Aglaiass, who was the first to vote for this, and an amazing person over all! If you have time, check out her amazing story too!
That's all for now, and sorry for such a long AN. See you next time!