𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫. ── 𝐣𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞

𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐢𝐬

PIPER POV

PIPER DIDN'T RELAX UNTIL THE GLOW OF Quebec City faded behind them. Jason had been talking to Aella the entire time. About Kopis, her blade. About the Thals. About anything they could think about.

"You did great," he had told her. Well, she didn't feel great. She had saved all of their sorry arses with no help in Boreas' throne room, and Aella was getting about all the attention. Or at least, the attention she cares about.

Jason kept rambling on to the point where it was funny. "Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopper, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before—"

"Shut up, Static," At this point, Aella had become irritated. "Piper, can you switch with Jason? I need to talk to you." She nodded and pushed Jason to the front, who was pondering something and playing with his coin.

"Piper... I need to tell you about the deal with Khione..."

(translation will be provided in the description.)

"À propos de Khione, eh bien, quand j'étais dans le labyrinthe il y a quelques années, mon ami était avec moi et nous sommes tombés sur Khione. Elle pensait qu'il était beau, et elle l'a gelé et l'a pris pour elle. Alors..." her voice caught, "J'ai dû le combattre, dans la guerre des Titans. Je l'ai tué!"

Piper's hand, without her knowing, soon found it's way to hers.

"C'est horrible. Je suis toujours la pour toi. Always." Maybe Aella wasn't as bad as she thought. She was funny, and used humor as her coping mechanism. She couldn't help being as pretty as she was, and Piper knew that feeling. Not wanting all that attention, and everyone giving it to her anyway.

Aella silently sobbed, and finally, Jason caught on. "Ellie? Are you ok?" He scooted towards her on the dragon and held her hand, making Piper's heart pant with jealousy. But she couldn't do that to Aella, but she couldn't help it.

Piper closed her eyes, not being able to bear the fact that Aella had curled up of Jason's chest and fallen asleep. And as soon she closed her eyes, she drifted off to sleep.

In her dream, she was back on the mountaintop. The ghostly purple bonfire cast shadows across the trees. Piper's eyes stung from smoke, and the ground was so warm, the soles of her boots felt sticky.

A voice from the dark rumbled, "You forget your duty."

Piper couldn't see him, but it was definitely her least favorite giant—the one who called himself Enceladus. She looked around for any sign of her father, but the pole where he'd been chained was no longer there.

"Where is he?" she demanded. "What've you done with him?"

The giant's laugh was like lava hissing down a volcano. "His body is safe enough, though I fear the poor man's mind can't take much more of my company. For some reason he finds me—disturbing. You must hurry, girl, or I fear there will be little left of him to save."

"Let him go!" she screamed. "Take me instead. He's just a mortal!"

"But, my dear," the giant rumbled, "we must prove our love for our parents. That's what I‟m doing. Show me you value your father's life by doing what I ask. Who's more important—your father, or a deceitful goddess who used you, toyed with your emotions, manipulated your memories, eh? What is Hera to you?"

Piper began to tremble. So much anger and fear boiled inside her, she could hardly talk. 

"You're asking me to betray my friends."

"Sadly, my dear, your friends are destined to die. Their quest is impossible. Even if you succeeded, you heard the prophecy: unleashing Hera's rage would mean your destruction. The only question now—will you die with your friends, or live with your father?"

The bonfire roared. Piper tried to step back, but her feet were heavy. She realized the ground was pulling her down, clinging to her boots like wet sand. When she looked up, a shower of purple sparks had spread across the sky, and the sun was rising in the east. A patchwork of cities glowed in the valley below, and far to the west, over a line of rolling hills, she saw a familiar landmark rising from a sea of fog.

"Why are you showing me this?" Piper asked. "You're revealing where you are."

"Yes, you know this place," the giant said. "Lead your friends here instead of their true destination, and I will deal with them. Or even better, arrange their deaths before you arrive. I don't care which. Just be at the summit by noon on the solstice, and you may collect your father and go in peace."

"I can't," Piper said. "You can't ask me—"

"To betray that foolish boy Valdez, who always irritated you and is now hiding secrets from you? To give up a boyfriend you never really had? Is that more important than your own father?"

"I'll find a way to defeat you," Piper said. "I'll save my father and my friends."

The giant growled in the shadows. "I was once proud too. I thought the gods could never defeat me. Then they hurled a mountain on top of me, crushed me into the ground, where I struggled for eons, half-conscious in pain. That taught me patience, girl. It taught me not to act rashly. Now I've clawed my way back with the help of the waking earth. I am only the first. My brethren will follow. We will not be denied our vengeance—not this time. And you, Piper McLean, need a lesson in humility. I'll show you how easily your rebellious spirit can be brought to earth."

The dream dissolved. And Piper woke up screaming, free-falling through the air.

— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - -- -
"About Khione, well, when I was in the maze a few years ago my friend was with me and we came across Khione. She thought he was handsome, and she froze him and took him for herself. So..." her voice caught, "I had to fight him, in the Titan War. I killed him!"
Piper's hand made it's way to hers.
"It's horrible. I am always there for you. Always."