PIPER

~•♡•~

the others were a little surprised when piper came back on a pegasus with two unconscious demigods. while frank and hazel tended to blackjack, annabeth helped piper get percy and jason to sickbay.

"at this rate, we're going to run out of ambrosia." hedge grumbled as he tended to their wounds. "how come i never get invited on these violent trips?"

piper sat at jason's side. she herself felt fine after a swig of nectar and some water but she was still worried about the boys.

"are we ready to sail?" piper asked.

"should be." annabeth replied.

piper frowned. "where's leo? and aruna?"

"leo went to talk to aruna."

ah. piper nodded. "do you know how to get us aloft?"

"i can go up, but i can't get us anywhere else." annabeth replied. she carefully investigated the horseshoe-shaped dent on the back of percy's head. "what hit him?"

"blackjack."

"what?!"

piper tried to explain as coach hedge began applying a healing paste to the boys' heads. annabeth lead piper out of medbay and to the control panel, passing by aruna's door in the process. piper stared at it fondly, wanting nothing more than to check on her other friends.

"hazel!" annabeth called. hazel snapped her head over. "can you get leo and aruna? tell them it's an emergency."

hazel ran off, and annabeth quickly called, "KNOCK FIRST!"

annabeth tapped some controls, and yanked the ship upwards. they heard a set of footsteps running up the stairs, and leo dashed to the control panel quickly, his face red and sweaty. piper wrinkled her nose at his stink.

"bro, what happened?" leo groaned as he manned the panel.

"we'll talk about it in a second! set course for atlanta!" piper called as she and annabeth ran down the stairs. hazel passed them.

"where's runa?" piper asked.

"she 'got to pee'." hazel quoted.

"oh. okay."

piper and annabeth made it back to sickbay in the nick of time. piper watched as both boys groaned and opened their eyes.

within a few minutes, jason and percy were sitting up in their berths and able to talk in complete sentences. both had fuzzy memories of what had happened, and piper filled them in on the details. shortly after she'd finished explaining, aruna walked in the doorway eating a mango.

"hey, buddies!" aruna grinned sarcastically. "clearly, y'all had a grand ole time."

"i'm sure you did, too." percy retorted.

"oh, fantastic."

"knocked out twice in two days." jason groaned. "some demigod."

"yeah, shame on you." aruna nodded as she leaned against the doorway. jason flipped her off and then glanced a percy.

"sorry man. i didn't mean to blast you." he said.

percy's shirt was peppered with burn holes. his hair was even more disheveled than normal. despite that, he managed a weak laugh. "not the first time. your big sister got me good once at camp."

"yeah, but... i could have killed you."

"or i could have killed you."

jason shrugged. "if there'd been an ocean in kansas, maybe."

"i don't need an ocean to fuck you u-"

aruna clapped twice, loudly, and silenced the boys. "enough comparing dicks. you both would have been great at killing each other. right now, you need some rest."

"food first." percy pleaded. "please? and we really need to talk. bacchus said some things that don't-"

"bacchus?" annabeth raised her hand. "okay, fine. we need to talk. mess hall. ten minutes. i'll tell the others. and please percy- change your clothes. you smell like you've been run over by an electric horse."

on her way out, annabeth turned to aruna. "and you... you smell like leo."

aruna bit her mango and nodded, staring annabeth dead in the eyes. "that's because we had a hot 'n heavy makeout session while percy and jason fucked each other up." she said with a full mouth.

annabeth rolled her eyes. "whatever."

~•♡•~

leo gave the helm to coach hedge again, after making the satyr promise not to steer them into the nearest miliatry base "for fun". aruna seemed for the military base thing because, "i want to see if i can rob them of a minigun, and how far i can get before they inevitably give up".

they gathered around the dining table. piper managed to find some light in aruna's unique chair, and the way she was sitting in it wrong; with her back to the left armrest, her legs over the right armrest, and dangling in leo's lap. she had moved on from a mango to a bowl of ice cream instead.

piper explained what had happened at topeka 32; their conversation with bacchus, the trap sprung by gaea, and the eidolons that had posessed the boys.

"of course!" hazel slapped the table, which startled frank so much, he dropped his burrito. "that what happened to leo and aruna, too."

"woo-hoo?" aruna questioned.

"so it wasn't my fault." leo exhaled.

"you thought it was?" aruna asked as she shoved a bite of ice cream so large into her mouth, it should not have been possible.

"well, no, but, also, yes." leo shrugged. he looked flustered and refused to meet aruna's eyes, his gaze instead on her legs in his lap. "i didn't start world war three. i just got possessed by an evil spirit. that's a relief!"

"but the romans don't know that." annabeth pointed out. "and why would they take our word for it?"

"i suggest we post camera footage of what happened with a cheesy clickbait thumbnail." aruna said. she sounded very sure of that suggestion. "like- POSSESSED IRL?!- MY FRIENDS GET POSSESSED!!!! and then you see some dumbass with his mouth wide and fish-like."

"please shut up." annabeth groaned. piper snickered at how confused hazel looked.

"we could contact reyna." jason suggested. "she would believe us."

hearing the way jason said her name, like it was a lifeline to his past, made piper's heart sink. he turned to her with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

"you could convince her, piper. i know you could."

piper felt like all the blood in her body was draining to her feet. annabeth looked at her sympathetically, as if to say: boys are so clueless. aruna shook her head and covered her eyes with her hand like she usually did when someone did something you just don't do. even hazel winced.

"i could try." piper said half-heartedly. "but octavian is the one we have to worry about. in my dagger blade, i saw him taking control of the roman crowd. i'm not sure reyna can stop him."

"well, y'know, not to be racist-"

"do not start a sentence with that." annabeth advised.

"-but, who in their right damn mind would listen to a little overcooked noodle like octavian over reyna?" aruna said.

"oh, that wasn't so ba-"

"the romans are kinda not smart- they're all dumbasses."

annabeth just shook her head.

"'cause, y'know, me personally-"

"please stop." piper pleaded. she looked at jason, who seemed darkened- not by what aruna had said- but by piper admitting that maybe reyna wasn't in control anymore. she hated bursting his bubble, but the other romans- frank and hazel- nodded in agreement.

"she's right." frank said. "this afternoon when we were scouting, we saw eagles again. they were a long way off, but closing fast. octavian is on a warpath."

"if i visit him in his dreams and tell him to fuck off, will it help?" aruna suggested.

"probably not." frank huffed, like he'd actually hoped something like that could work.

"But it would be funny." leo grinned evilly.

"no." annabeth groaned.

"no, this sounds fun." percy offered.

"let's focus." annabeth groaned.

hazel looked sad and hurt. "this is exactly the sort of opportunity octavian has always wanted. he'll try to seize power. if reyna objects, he'll say she's soft on the greeks. as for those eagles... it's like they could smell us."

"they can." jason said. "roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical scent even better than monsters can. this ship might conceal us somewhat, but not completely- not from them."

leo drummed his fingers as aruna licked the inside of her bowl, which seemed to gross jason out. "great. i should have installed a smoke screen that makes the ship smell like a giant chicken nugget. remind me to invent that next time- though, i imagine it would make aruna want to only eat the ship."

"what the fuck do you mean 'next time'?" aruna questioned.

hazel frowned. "what is a chicken nugget?"

"oh, man..." leo shook his head in amazement. "that's right, you've missed the last like, seventy years. well, my apprentice, a chicken nugget-"

"doesn't matter." annabeth interrupted. as she did, aruna held up a little, warm, brown nugget in her hand, and tossed it to hazel. hazel easily caught it, sniffed it, and took a bite. she seemed to enjoy it, and spawned a few more on her plate. "the point is, we'll have a hard time explaining the truth to the romans. even if they believe us-"

"you're right." jason leaned forward. "we should just keep going. once we're over the atlantic, we'll be safe- at least, from the legion."

he sounded so depressed, piper didn't know whether to feel sorry for him or resentful. "how can you be sure?" she asked. "why wouldn't they follow us?"

he shook his head. "you heard reyna talking about the ancient lands. they're much too dangerous. roman demigods have been forbidden to go there for generations. even octavian couldn't get around that rule."

frank swallowed a bite of burrito like it had turned to cardboard in his mouth. "so, if we go there..."

"we'll be outlaws as well as traitors." jason confirmed.

"oh. that's nothing new." aruna said.

"yeah, i'm used to that." leo nodded as aruna offered him a bite of chicken nugget. instead, he took the whole thing, and giggled evilly when aruna glared at him.

hazel stared. "what... what did you two do?"

"long story short, we are wanted in the new england area." aruna explained.

"for?" percy asked.

leo breathed out. "uh, attempted murder-"

"HUH?!" frank yelled.

"moving on." jason grumbled. "any roman demigod would have the right to kill us on sight. but i wouldn't worry about that. if we get across the atlantic, they'll give up on chasing us. they'll assume that we'll die in the mediterranean- the mare nostrum."

percy pointed his slice of pizza at jason. "you, sir, are a ray of sunshine."

"deadass." aruna muttered.

jason didn't argue. the other demigods stared at their plates, except for percy, who continued to enjoy is pizza, and aruna, who was really digging her chicken nuggets. where either of them put all the food, piper didn't know. both ate like a satyr.

"so let's plan ahead." percy suggested. "and make sure we don't die. mr. D- bacchus- ugh, do i have to call him mr. B now? anyway, he mentioned the twins in ella's prophecy. two giants. otis and, uh, something that started with an F?"

"ephialtes." jason replied. aruna stared at percy.

"you are about as smart as a rotten apple."

"i have dyslexia."

"it starts with a different letter and he said it out loud-"

"twin giants, like piper saw in her blade..." annabeth ran a finger along the rim of her cup. "i remember a story about twin giants. they tried to reach mount olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains."

frank nearly choked. "well, that's great. giants who can use mountains like building blocks. and you say bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?"

"something like that." percy said. "i don't think we should count on his help this time. he wanted a tribute, and he made it pretty clear it would be a tribute we couldn't handle."

"if i dance like shakira, would it work?"

piper broke into a coughing fit of laughter as annabeth groaned.

"runa, remember what we said about saying stupid things?"

aruna frowned. "uh... to not to?"

"and what did you just do?"

"i did."

"uh-huh." annabeth rolled her eyes. even with aruna's attempt to lighten the mood, everyone fell silent again. everyone could hear coach hedge above deck singing 'blow the man down' except he didn't know the lyrics, so he mostly sand, 'blah-blah-hum-de-dum-dum.'

piper couldn't shake the feeling that bacchus was meant to help them. the giant twins were in rome. they were keeping something the demigods needed; something in that bronze jar. whatever it was, she got the feeling it held the answer to sealing the doors of death- the key to endless death. she also felt sure they could never defeat the giants without bacchus's help. and if they couldn't do that in five days, rome would be destroyed, and hazel's brother, nico, would die.

on the other hand, if the vision of bacchus offering her a silver goblet was false, maybe the other visions wouldn't come true either- especially the one of her, percy, and jason drowning. maybe that was just symbolic.

the blood of a female demigod, and the blood of a male. piper, my dear, choose which hero will die with you.

"she wants two of us." piper murmured.

at once, everyone's eyes were on her. it must have been weird for a child of aphrodite to not want to be in the spotlight, but piper had spent her whole childhood watching her movie-star dad deal with fame for years. she remember when aphrodite had claimed her in december, zapping her with beauty-magic in front of everyone. it had been the most embarassing moment of her life, and here, with only seven demigods, piper still felt on the spot.

they're my friends, she told herself. it's okay.

and yet, she had a strange feeling... as if more than seven sets of eyes were watching her.

"today on the highway," she said. "gaea told me that she needed the blood of only two demigods- one female, one male. she- she asked me to choose which boy would die."

jason squeezed her hand. "but neither of us died. piper, you saved us."

"i know, it's just... why would she want that?"

"ayo." aruna piped up. "remember at the wolf house? queen snow, khione? she talked about spilling jason's blood, how it would taint the place for generations. maybe demigod blood has some kind of voodoo-hoodoo type shit."

"oh..." percy set down his third pizza slice. he leaned back and stared at nothing, as if the horse kick to his head had just now registered.

"percy?" annabeth grabbed his arm.

"oh, bad." he muttered. "bad, bad." he looked across the table at hazel and frank. "you guys remember polybotes?"

"the giants who invaded camp jupiter." hazel said. "the anti-poseidon you whacked in the head with a teminus statue. yes, i think i remember."

"bro." aruna gave percy a fistbump, which he gladly reciprocated.

"i had a dream," percy said. "when we were flying to alaska. polybotes was talking to the gorgons, and he said- he said he wanted me taken prisoner, not killed. he said: 'i want that one chained at my feet, so i can kill him when the time is ripe. his blood shall water the stones of mount olympus and wake earth mother!'"

"cringe." aruna commented.

"you think the giants would use our blood... the blood of two of us-" piper gaped.

"i don't know." percy said. "but until we figure it out, i suggest we all try to avoid getting captured."

jason grunted. "that i agree with."

"but how do we figure it out?" hazel asked. "the mark of athena, the twins, ella's prophecy... how does it all fit together?"

"well, dear friend, they are all mentioned in ella's prophecy. that is how they fit together." aruna grinned.

annabeth glared. "runa-"

"sorry."

annabeth pressed her hands against the side of the table. "piper, you told leo to set course for atlanta."

"right." piper nodded. "bacchus told us we should seek out... what's his name?"

"phorcys." perc answered.

annabeth looked surprised, like she wasn't used to her boyfriend having the answers. "you know him?"

percy shrugged. "i didn't recognize the name at first. then bacchus mentioned salt water, and it range a bell. phorcys is an old sea god from before my dad's time. never met him, but supposedly he's a son of gaea. i still don't understand what a sea god wiuld be doing in atlanta."

leo snorted. "what's a wine god doing in kansas? gods are weird. anyway, we should reach atlanta by noon tomorrow, unless something else goes wrong."

"don't jinx it." aruna groaned.

"it's getting late." annabeth said. "we should all get some sleep."

"wait." piper piped.

once more, all eyes were on her.

rapidly, she felt herself losing her courage, but she forced hersef to speak.

"one last thing, the eidolons- the possessing spirits. they're still here, in this room."

everyone stared. piper couldn't explain how she knew; she just did. she thought of restless cherokee spirits her granddad used to tell her about. the more she learned about becoming a demigod, the more the realized greek mythology and cherokee stories aren't so different.

when she was done explaining, everyone except aruna looked at her uncomfortable. aruna's face was reserved again and she sat normally, as if the conversation was only just now important and serious. up on deck, hedge was singing something that sounded like 'in the navy' while blackjack stomped his hoof, whinnying in protest.

finally, hazel exhaled. "piper is right."

"how can you be sure?" annabeth asked.

"i've met eidolons." hazel explained. "in the underworld, when i was... y'know."

dead.

piper had forgotten that hazel was a second-timer. in her own way, she was a ghost reborn, too.

"so..." frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair as if some ghosts must have invaded his scalp. "you think these things are lurking on the ship, or-"

"possibly some are lurking inside of us." piper said. "we don't know."

aruna scooted forward. "then, why can't i feel their emotions? i can always feel the emotions of secondary presences."

piper grimaced. "because... well, two reasons. one; i think you can't tell when they go dormant. and two; i think one is sort of... blocking you."

aruna seemed to understand. her eyes iced over and she nodded as she stared at her cup.

"okay... that's fucked." leo huffed.

jason clenched his fist. "if that's true-"

"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."

piper met their eyes, one person at a time.

"eidolons, raise your hands."

her voice was silky, an effect of charmspeak. for a minute nothing happened. aruna looked around, like she was looking for an entity.

leo laughed nervously. "did you really think that was going to-"

his voice died. his face went slack. he raised his hand.

jason, percy, and aruna did the same. their eyes turned glassy and gold. hazel caught her breath. next to leo, frank scrambled out of his chair and put his back against a wall.

"oh, gods." annabeth looked at piper imploringly. "can you cure them?"

piper wanted to whimper and hide under the tabe, but she had to help jason. she couldn't believe she'd held hands with... no, she refused to think about it.

she focused on leo because he was the least intimidating, which was still hard, because next to him, aruna stared into piper's very soul. piper knew aruna could be scary if she wanted, but for it to be directed at piper... it was different then.

"are there any more of you on this ship?" she asked.

"no." leo said in a hollow voice. "the earth mother sent four- the strongest, the best. we will live again."

"not here, you won't." piper growled. "all four of you, listen carefully."

jason and percy turned to her. aruna leaned in closer and smiled evilly, like she knew how to make piper's skeleton suddenly feel claustrophobic.

it only fueled piper's anger.

"you will leave these bodies." she commanded.

"no." aruna said, her voice almost ancient and gravelly.

leo let out a soft hiss. "we must live."

frank fumbled for his bow. "mars almighty, that's creepy! get out of here, spirits! leave our friends alone!"

piper felt like the most malicious spirit inhabited aruna. she whipped around immediately, glowering at him with ichor colored eyes. "you cannot command us, child of war. one with life so fragile has no right to command one as mighty as i. your own life could burn at any moment- don't think i have yet to see that."

piper wasn't sure what that meant, but frank staggered like he'd been punched in the gut. he drew an arrow, his hands shaking. "i-i've faced worse than you. if you want a fight-"

"frank, don't." hazel rose. next to her, jason drew his sword. with a flick of her wrist, aruna spawned a single blade.

"stop!" piper ordered, but her voice quavered. already, she was losing faith in her plan. she'd made the eidolons appear, but what now? if she couldn't get them to go away, it'd only result in more bloodshed.

"listen to piper." hazel pointed at jason's sword. in his hand, it seemed to grow heavy. at once, it clunked to the table and jason sank back into his chair. hazel did the same to aruna, but instead, the blade turned back into a cute moon-charm on her wrist.

percy growled in a very un-percy-like way. "daughter of pluto, you may control gems and metals. you do not control the dead."

annabeth reached toward him as if to restrain him, but hazel waved her off.

"listen, eidolons," hazel said sternly. "you do not belong here. i may not command you, but piper does. obey her."

she turned to piper, her expression reassuring and clear; try again. you can do this.

piper mustered all her courage. aruna was glaring at her again, her eyes a different kind of dark, with a sinnister being dancing with joy behind the golden light of her eyes. piper turned straight to jason- straight into the eyes of the thing that was controlling him. "you will leave these bodies." piper repeated forcefully.

jason's face tightened, and his forehead beaded with sweat. "we-we will leave these bodies."

"you will vow on the river styx never to return to this ship," piper said. "and never to possess any member of this crew."

aruna, leo, and percy hissed in protest.

"you will promise on the river styx." she repeated.

a moment of tension- she could feel their wills against hers. then, in unison; "we will swear on the river styx."

"you are dead." piper said.

"we are dead."

"now, leave."

all four slumped. percy fell face first into his pizza.

"percy!" annabeth grabbed him.

hazel and piper caught jason's arms just as he slipped out of his chair.

leo and aruna weren't so lucky. leo fell toward frank, who made no effort to catch him, and leo hit the floor. aruna, on the other hand, fell the the side, and cracked her eyebrow on the armrest of leo's chair.

"ow!" leo groaned. aruna made an incoherent mumbled that piper was fairly sure was minoan, and she sat up while rubbing her eye.

"are you alright?" hazel asked leo. he stood up, with a piece of spaghetti in the shape of a three on his forehead.

"did it work?" he asked as he pulled aruna up.

"it worked." piper said, feeling pretty sure she was right. "i don't think they'll be back."

jason blinked. "does that mean i can stop getting head injuries now?"

piper laughed, exhaling all her nervousness. "come on, lightning boy. let's get you some fresh air."

~•♡•~