²Olden Crown, heroes of olympus

019.

OLDEN CROWN
━━ chapter nineteen

━━ PIPER DREAMT SHE was back on the Wilderness School dorm roof.

The desert night was cold, but she'd brought blankets and wore her warmest jumper. Despite the coziness, Piper couldn't help but frown. She was getting the weirdest sense of déjà vu, but she didn't know from what.

The air smelled of sage and burning mesquite. On the horizon, the Spring Mountains loomed like jagged black teeth, the dim glow of Las Vegas behind her.

The stars were so bright, Piper had been afraid she wouldn't be able to see the meteor shower. But the meteors did not disappoint. One streaked across the sky almost every minute—a line of white, yellow, or blue fire. Piper was sure her Grandpa Tom would have some Cherokee myth to explain them, but at the moment she was busy creating her own story.

The door to the dorms creaked open, and a head with blond hair poked out. Jason. Suddenly, that sense of déjà vu became clearer than day. She had a distinct memory of the two of them seeing the meteors together, but ... she didn't remember him showing up late.

He walked over, pulling a blue sweatshirt over his head, as two meteors skipped across the atmosphere and formed a cross.

"This isn't right," she blurted.

Jason paused, and then frowned. "What?"

"This isn't—" Frustration began to build in Piper's chest. "This isn't what I remember."

"Pipes, are you okay?" he asked, moving to sit down next to her, but Piper stood suddenly. Jason's concerned eyes followed her.

"Don't call me Pipes." The words practically got lodged in her throat. "This isn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to go."

Jason blinked up at her. "You mean Delaney and Leo not coming? I mean, you did invite them, didn't you?"

No, Piper hadn't. Because this; this meteor shower, this alone time, time for Piper and Jason; was supposed to be her and Jason's time together—alone, without Delaney and Leo there. But the longer it happened, the longer that alone time unfolded, the more wrong it felt.

It felt wrong to not have Leo and Delaney there, even felt wrong to not have Elisa either. Over the quest, Piper had grown so used to it being the five of them. But before that, all she had ever wanted was to get rid of Leo and Delaney so Piper and Jason could finally be alone.

"Piper, it's fine they didn't come up," Jason said earnestly. "Delaney goes on and on about needing beauty sleep."

Piper's heart ached. Delaney had done that all the time back at Wilderness School. This dream—memory? Could it even be a memory when Jason was technically never at Wilderness School until he woke up on the school bus?—was bringing back things Piper never thought would be painful. Piper never thought she would spend her time wishing she was back at Wilderness School, but here she was. It was simpler. Easier. Back when the façade of mortal life hadn't been broken. Back when Piper had no idea her mother was Aphrodite, Goddess of Love.

Once, after lamenting frustration of Jason's lack of acknowledgment to Delaney, the daughter of Erebus told Piper about something her mother told her. To help me process stuff, my mother would always have me write stuff down, then burn it, she told Piper. You let it out, and then you burn the frustration away. Then, it's no longer there to bother you.