the great wave | percy jackson

𝑣 - piper

Piper woke up after dreams of her father and the giant Enceladus to find out that she'd missed dinner. That was unfortunate, because she was hungry. Also, the idea of a campfire freaked Piper out; it made her think of her father, tied to a stake next to a huge purple inferno. Like she'd seen in her nightmare.

What she got instead was almost as terrifying: a sing-along. The amphitheater steps were carved into the side of a hill, facing a stone-lined fire pit. Fifty or sixty kids filled the rows, clustered into groups under various banners.

Piper spotted Jason in the front sandwiched between Annabeth and Ash. Leo was sitting nearby with a bunch of much more muscular campers. Standing in front of the fire, half a dozen kids jumped around leading a song about their grandma getting dressed for war. Everybody was singing with them and making gestures for each piece of armor. It was quite possibly the weirdest thing Piper had ever seen, but with everybody participating in the dim light, it was kind of corny and fun. As the energy level got higher, the flames did too, turning from red to orange to gold.

As the song ended to raucous applause, a guy on a horse trotted up. At least, Piper thought it was a guy on a horse, but when he stepped further into the light she realized that only the bottom half was a stallion. The top half was a middle-aged man. The centaur brandished a spear impaled with toasted marshmallows. "Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first--"

"What about capture the flag?" somebody yelled. Grumbling broke out among some kids in armor, sitting under a red banner with the emblem of a boar's head.

"Yes," Chiron said. "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

"And kill people!" one of them shouted enthusiastically.

"However," the activities director continued, "until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

He turned to Leo's group. Leo winked at Piper and shot her finger guns. The girl next to him stood uncomfortably. "We're working on it."

"How, Nyssa?" an Ares kid demanded.

"Really hard," the girl answered.

Nyssa sat down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which caused the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamped his hoof, making the campers fall silent.

"We will have to be patient," he said. "In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" someone asked. The fire dimmed further, but Piper didn't need the flames to sense the crowd's anxiety.

Chiron gestured to where Annabeth and Ash were sitting. Ash took a deep breath and stood shakily.

"We didn't find Percy," she announced, but choked up, making Annabeth stand too.

"He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like we thought," her friend continued. "But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere."

"Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters--everyone's out looking. We will find him." Piper could tell Ash was trying to sound strong, but raw pain laced her tone.

"Chiron's talking about something different," Annabeth guessed, putting a hand on Ash's back. "A new quest."

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" A girl called out.

Everyone turned. The voice had come from a group in back, sitting underneath a rose-colored banner with a dove emblem. Someone Piper hoped she'd never have to hear from again stood up: Drew. Everybody looked surprised. Apparently she didn't address the crowd often.