The Blood of Olympus

Piper XX

Piper saw the giant Polybotes yell charge, Piper already heard a scream of agony but then both armies clashed together with a deafening roar, she was wielding Katoptris with deadly precision even though she did not have a lot of practice with it. Her mother, was beside her telling all the monsters to kill themselves and it was working almost every monster that heard Aphrodite stabbed themselves and crumbled into a golden dust which Aphrodite scrunched her nose in disgust at. 

A hellhound lunged at Aphrodite's back but Piper tackled the hellhound and rolled with it, they both got to their feet. The hellhound looked at her and snarled, Piper set her face and charged the hellhound jumped hoping to crush the demigod and rip her throat out. But Piper slid on the ground and put her dagger up stabbing the creature and tracing a line down it's stomach making it shudder and howl in pain before it crumbled to ashes. 

Piper and her siblings were faltering back, Aphdrodite and her children were not fighters and as a result most of them getting pushed back by the viciousness of the monsters. All the sudden out of no where a blast of fire came roasting the lines of the monsters giving Piper and her siblings a much needed breather. She looked over and saw her friend Leo Valdez son of Hephaestus roasting monsters with his left hand and hacking at them with Achilles sword with his right. He slit the throat of a dracnae and than shot a fireball in the mouth of a lunging hellhound. 

"I thought you could use some help." Leo shrugged at the incredious look of Piper and her siblings. 

"Thanks no let us finish these off and we can help the other demigods." Piper said and montioned for her siblings and Leo to charge at the recovering monster line. They charged Piper and Leo the first ones connecting and carving a path of destruction into the monsters lines. They covered eachothers backs like they have been fighting for years together, their technique almost flawless. 

Piper was drenched in sweat her limbs tiring from wielding her dagger for so long. More fire came from the left she figured it was Leo but this fire seemed to have a life of it's own, she glanced over to see Hephaestus and his children coming to the aid of the again struggling Aphrodite children. Piper looked to her right in concern when she didn't see her mother at first, she looked back and saw a sobbing Aphrodite holding one of her Roman daughters. Piper felt her heart break at the loss even though she didn't know her, she was still Piper's half sister. 

She fought the monsters with new energy, the kind of energy that is fueled by rage and loss. She noticed Leo wasn't with her anymore, she ran up to Hephaestus.

"Lord Hephaestus where is Leo?" Piper yelled as she stabbed an empousia in the throat. 

"He had to help Perseus and Jason take down Gaea." Hephaestus said with worry laced in his voice and in his eyes.

"He will be fine, I am sure lord." Piper said confidently. Before she jumped back in the fray protecting her sisters and brothers from being slaughtered. 

She continued to fight she looked back up after glaring at the now golden dust as she held her arm in pain, it was cut but it wasn't to severely injured. As she looked up she saw a drakon, Piper stood their frozen in shock. Unfortunately she recognized it from her monster classes, it was a lydian drakon. It was rumoured that only a child of Ares or Mars could kill it. 

Before Piper charged a strong hand  gripped the back of her shirt and yanked her back. Piper looked at the back of her attacker, she recognized the blood red armour of Clarrise La Rue. 

Clarisse looked back at Piper with her brown eyes near tears. "I will not let another Silena tragedy happen. Stay back Mclean I got this." Clarisse turned her back to Piper and screamed at the forest green drakon. "You came back for more huh? Well your return will be short termed you worm!" 

Before sprinting at the drakon, it looked at Clarisse with utter hate in it's eyes and snapped at her but Clarisse was faster and lunged to the side and stabbed her spear into the Drakons eye. It whipped it's head back and if drakons could scream Piper swore this one did. 

Clarisse got launched in the air but instead of screaming like Piper thought she would she calmly pulled out her sword as she began her thirty foot descent, instead of slowing her fall in the slightest she angled her self so she fell faster her sword out in front of her. The drakon looked around confused trying to find the demigod that blinded it. It's remaining eye focused on Piper, it snarled and rose it's head getting ready to spit acid at Piper who sat there terrified. 

"Do not touch my friends!" Clarisse roared in fury as she reached the drakon driving her blade into it's skull her impact slammed the drakons skull into the ground with a thunderous boom. 

"Clarisse!" Piper screamed and ran at the crumbling drakon trying to find her friend in the carnage fearing the worst. When she got there Piper vomited up her breakfast, the blunt end of the spear went completely through Clarisse's back. Piper ran up to Clarisse who was gasping for breath. 

"Don't worry Clarisse I got some ambrosia and nectar we can fix this." Piper said fighting back her growing tears. She looked down to get her ambrosia when a pair of bloody hands grabbed her own stopping her from getting the godly food. 

"Why?" Piper asked as she dry heaved. 

"They killed Chris. I need to be with him. Please let me pass into Hades." Clarisse begged her eyes telling Piper all she needed about grief and loss. 

"Fine rest in peace Clarisse, you will not be forgotten." Piper said as her friend closed her eyes for the last time. Piper got up and and charged at the monster line but just as she reached them she got hit by a snowball that threw her back ten feet. 

"Khione." Piper snarled. 

"I see you pathetic demigod survived the blast and some how managed to make it to the war." Khione said with a smile but Piper noticed the anger in Khione's voice. 

"Well wasn't that hard, Gaea must be upset. Every time she tells you to do something and you fail her completely must suck huh?" Piper yelled back. 

"Well I will make amends with Gaea after I kill you and defeat your friends army." Khione sneered as she shot three icicles at Piper who dodged the first one cut the second one in half but the third one grazed her left arm leaving a bleeding gash. Piper yelled in rage and charged the ice goddess who conjured up and ice sword and swung at Piper's neck Piper ducked and cut the snow goddess's knee. Khione snarled and pressed on with attack's leaving Piper's only option with defense. Piper kept up with the snow goddesses pace but eventually she made a mistake, she stabbed at Khione that caught the blade on the hilt of her sword with a flick of the wrist she disarmed Piper and with no hesitation drove the blade deep into Piper's stomach. She heard Annabeth scream her name but with a grunt Khione pulled the blade out and Piper dropped to the ground, her legs refusing to work. 

"Have fun in Hades." Khione snarled before disappearing in a flash of snow. 

Piper sat there holding her wound, she reached for her ambrosia fast, to fast for her brain which made her feel really dizzy. Piper coughed and to her disgust she felt flecks of blood fall on her skin and tasted the iron taste of blood on her tongue. 

Her vision kept getting darker and darker she saw Annabeth's crying face before her vision going black. It went completely black before a grinning skeleton appeared in front of her, Piper screamed in shock.

"Charon?" Piper asked depressed.

"You got it. Do you have payment? We accept mastercards, visa and credit." Charon explained.

"How about these?" Piper said pulling out two drachma. 

Charon grinned even more. "Ah like the good old days, those will do rather nicely. Please get in." 

Piper got onto the boat getting increasingly nervous about judgement.